Good luck on your performance review!!!

Hope you get a nice raise (so you can buy more cat toys and yarn, of course)!!

GOOD LUCK!

Yes, I will second the corn pasta! It is pretty good, as GF pastas go. My daughter has a wheat sensitivity, so I am the Queen of Gluten Free Stuff. Some of the rice pastas from Asian markets are excellent, and there are many, many to try. Another good GF pasta is Quinoa. I like the Ancient Harvest brand. I used to be able to get it at regular supermarkets around here (I live in NY), but now I can only find it in Health Food Stores. I'm pretty sure Whole Foods does carry it though. If you ever need some good GF dessert recipes, I have a ton! :-)

While I'm no pasta expert, spaghetti is one of the few meals my kids will actually eat so I make it a lot. One tip I've picked up--to keep your pasta from sticking, spray a tiny bit of non-stick cooking spray into the water before you put the pasta it. Works like a charm!

Which blog software do you use, Laurie? I use blogspot.com
http://www.nondualnow.blogspot.com/ (that's my blog)
I like the way your comments are set up.

I would like mine to be set up just like yours, if that is possible.

Okay, you guys, visit my blog :)

Thinking of you at your performance review. Hope they love you as much as we do.

Hope the performance review went/goes well :-)

Good luck with your review.

I think that people who don't find value in daylight savings time must not live on the eastern end of their time zone. I live on the east coast and if it weren't for the time change, the sun would be up by 5:00 in the morning in the summer.

I recently discovered tofu noodles. I absolutely love it and it says it is gluten free. http://www.house-foods.com/Tofu/tofu_shirataki.aspx

WOW! Q&A day... Q&A day....

hmm... How about where did you get the names for your cats?

I hope you get a good raise! I have a question about traffic. When you are stuck on the highway and not moving, what do they say at work when you're late? It seems like it's fairly often you're stuck.

Ooh, goody, the buttons...I haven't finished the little sweater that I was going to put the buttons on yet so this is good timing...maybe I'll go try to find it so I'll be ready =-) Luckily there is no specific baby it is meant for...just another project in the pile...

Good luck with your performance review! Are you wearing grown-up shoes? That's where I usually go wrong at these events.

I don't have any questions, but if anyone is interested, http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ is a good website. She used her crockpot every day for a year and blogged about it. I *think* all her recipes are gluten free, due to a sensitivity in the family. She has a cookbook out now, too. There are some good recipes there, even for those of us who can/do eat wheat. I'm not affiliated at all, just fan.

Vicki -- I use movable type and have no idea how to fix everything that is wrong with it.

- - -

Barbara-- you must plan for traffic! I'm almost never late to work, unless something is on fire or the whole freeway is closed. Even then I could take the metro. It's part of life in L.A. You just plan for it.

That's why nobody here gives distance in miles, they give it in time. Such as, "How far do you live from downtown?" The answer is "Thirty minutes with light traffic, an hour with heavy."

- - -

Suzi, I'll have to search for those entries, I know I wrote about it somewhere. Soba was named after an informercial, long-gone Roy told me his name, Bob was going to be named Bruiser but he was just a Bob, and Frankie... looked like a Frankie!

- - -

As for my review, I would not say I got a "raise" per se unless you count all the post it notes I stole from the supply closet.

Have you tried quinoa pasta? I think it's better than the rice OR the corn pasta. It holds up better during cooking and tastes great. I get mine at Fred Meyer, but I don't think they have those in California, so Whole Foods is probably your best bet. Makes great fettucine Alfredo with GF sauce! Ohhhh, I'm so hungry now...

Do White Guys In Ties Inc. know that
you are a two-time author, or do you
keep this life completely separated from
that one?

Gini -- most people know, but we're very good here about keeping personal life and business separate.

I haven't tried quinoa pasta but I will pick some up this weekend, thank you guys for the tip! I love trying new stuff. Wonder if that counts toward my new recipe goal???

Hi! LOVE your blog and books. Am currently reading your second book- got it for Christmas but had to wait for Mom and Husband to finish it first- half of it was read outloud to me by giggling people and I could only understand half of that (due to excessive giggling).

I am gluten-free and will put in a vote for the Tinkyada pasta- it comes in lots of shapes, isn't sticky or yukky, holds up well without becoming mushy, Husband and I can barely tell any difference from wheat pasta, and it's widely available. Good stuff. I'll have to look for corn pasta, that sounds good too!

Val -- thanks so much for the nice words!
What is Tinkyada pasta made from?

A good friend of mine recently went GF and since I occasionally feed her I've been wondering what I can now feed her. Thanks to you and your readers for giving me some great pasta ideas and if you have pizza crust idea send them on. Also hope the review goes well. Cheers.

Heaven knows you deserve a raise, after practically living in your office for most of last summer as best I recall. Sadly, WGIT have short memories, especially for anything that might cost them money. Let us hope that your boss is struck with an attack of decency at just the right moment. I wave my pompoms in your general direction!

Here's the thing about daylight saving time (sorry, I missed yesterday's post): you don't have as big a swing in amount of daylight from winter to summer solstice as we do here in the frozen Northeast -- although, having just looked it up on the US Naval Observatory site, dang I love the USNO, I'll admit that you have a bigger one than I thought. (Do I get extra points for using those last 11 words in a completely innocent context? Remind me to tell you about my son's favorite construction video sometime.) In mid-December our sunrise and sunset are at about 7:15 and 4:15 EST respectively, and things don't start to improve noticeably until well along in January. In mid-June those numbers are 5:10 and 8:30 EDT. If we kept standard time all year round our summer sun would be up a couple of hours before most people; if otoh we went on permanent daylight time our winter sun wouldn't rise until after 8 am. We actually did this in the winter of 1974 (or maybe 75? dang, I'm old) during the energy crisis; I commuted to school by train at the time and stayed after school for gymnastics, so I'd board the 7:25 in the dark and arrive home by the 6:13 in the dark. It was extremely depressing, and I at least got to go outside in the daytime if I had a free period. There are also legitimate concerns about the safety of little kids walking to school in the dark, and of course the time change really does save lots of money.

I want to commend you for this:

"I need food that is less fussy about its cooktime, so the corn works better for me. It's a good alternative for people who want to eat less wheat or those who have a sensitivity to it."

My cause is promoting the correct use of "its" and "it's," and since I often fear that it's a lost one, to see them used correctly in such a brief span warms the cockles of my tiny heart.

My questions are: what the heck are heart cockles anyway? And do you hate really long comments? And do I need to get out more?

Tinkyada - rice pasta
http://www.tinkyada.com/

Yay, finally made it in before the comments close!

No question, I just wanted to thank you for your roasted cauliflower recipe. While I've always liked cauliflower, now I love it. I make it at least every other week; it's better than candy to me!

Doh! Now I can't think of any questions!

Oh, wait, here's one: Is it maybe, perhaps possibly possible that you can (now that you have an awesome new camera) post photos for us of your new digs? I am busting at the seams to see it! We've had tantalizing glimpses of your staircase, kitty vase, the floor, a wall and little bits here and there. I love what I've seen so far.

I mean, only if you want to. :) I totally understand if you want to keep it private.

sending "big raise" thoughts your way!

Non-wheat pasta - not carried in the store I usually go to. I'll have to keep an eye out for it when I go to a store that has more specialty items.

My opinion as far as time change - just put it half way between and leave it there. When this was started during World War II, people might have had a couple of clocks and a watch to change. Now I keep finding clocks (house, car, computers, appliances) for a week that need changing. And they all operate differently. There are places in the U.S. that don't change times now, and people have learned to deal with it, it should be do-able to be 1/2 hour off from the rest of the world.

of course, I also wish we'd go metric.

I really like Asian rice noodles (not sure if those are gluten-free or not), but with those you have to remember that they aren't quite the same as Western noodles so they taste best with different things, like bean sprouts and ginger and sesame seeds.

Have you ever tried Tofu Shiratki pasta? It is tofu and yam flour and it is delicious.

Suzi: The post about how Roy told Miss Laurie his name is her most wonderful post ever!!
Look for this under the Insane Kitty Posse category: July 11, 2007 The Story Of Roy

I go back and read it every so often because of its beauty.

Miss Laurie, you ROCK!!

'Three Good Rats' needs to move to Saskatchewan. No daylight savings time, all metric and (special bonus!) government health care (just ignore the awful winters).

Good luck with your review. Reviews are one of the things I *don't* miss about working in the corporate world.

Tania and Laurie, I think that Tinkyada is pretty good and found it to be pretty no-fuss. It's more expensive than other pasta but you can overcook it to pieces and it comes out really well as long as it's in a giant pot. You need need need to rinse it though. Tinkyada also makes gluten free lasagna but I hear the zucchini is pretty good, but can be wet, which is an attribute I Do Not Like in my lasagna.

Are you gluten free? I must have missed a post on my feed reader, hmm.. I prefer the corn/rice combo pasta, I think it's Ogran that I usually buy. If you find yourself in need of any gluten free support I've been there for a while now, feel free to email. And Udi's is the best bread by far, but it's high fiber and doesn't agree with some people's tummies. Best to you!

What are you knitting right now? That's my question.

Oh, yes, totally want the metric! Even though I'd have to stop thinking "how cold/warm/many miles/many inches/many ounces or pounds is that?" for every metric measurement.

My corn pasta experiences (over many years) have been less than satisfactory. But oh, how I do love Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta - it's the most similar to wheat-based pasta of the various gf pastas I've tried.

How is the fiction writing coming along?

and I am kicking myself as I can't remember their names!! But did "they" ever make it go in Mexico? The couple you wrote about yonks ago and shared some here... did they drive off into the sunset? Or do they still pop up in your thoughts every once in awhile?

xx

Lucia, write away :)

Leeny, I guess I feel weird posting really expansive pictures of my apartment for 2 reasons: 1) it's a mess right now and 2) it's always good to be careful with your privacy online.

Sasha -- I do try to eat gluten free as much as possible. Except on vacation. If anyone has good pizza crust options I am SO open to hearing them. I have tried Glutino, Amy's and the Whole Foods crusts and all are so so at best.

Shaz -- Fiction is turning out to be much tougher for me than essays and nonfiction!

Gretchen -- I am making squares for a baby blanket that my work snb group is making for one of the gals who is expecting. Next, though, I think I want to make gloves!

I'll have to look for the Tinkyada pasta!

Shaz-- It's katie and armando. Sadly, the impact that 9/11 had on border crossings created some complications in my storyline!!!

Question: Are you on Facebook? Why or why not?

I myself just took what I refer to as "the Facebook plunge." I resisted for a long time...but then finally gave into peer pressure.

> Bob was going to be named Bruiser
> but he was just a Bob

Hmmmph. Whaddya mean, JUST a Bob?

And that extra hour of sunlight burns up the grass, so I don't have to mow as often.

Bob

Katie and Armando!! How could I forget... ta. xx

lmao Bob!

Christy, not on facebook and not going to be ... I have my hands full with this site!

Bob is a good name... he just wan;t a Bruiser!

I think I may have said this before, but the three most popular novel genres seem to be Horatia Alger (Horatia because women read more popular novels than men do), romance and mystery. Closely trailing those is Bildungsroman, followed by horror and humor. I can think of numerous successful series that combine two of the five; it would seem that if you could combine three you'd have a sure hit. Katie and Armando seems to have themes of romance and coming of age, with elements of mystery, humor and maybe horror.

Have you ever seen Pleasantville? Bildungsroman (or rather Bildungsfilm) for a whole town at once. It's one of my favorite movies.

(You will of course note that I myself am not a bestselling novelist, so I'm not trying to say any of this is easy.)

I guess I'm a bit of a loser because I can't think of writing as a formula to success. i have to write what's in my head, not some melange of storylines that may or may not sell. You know?

Which is probably why I still work at a bank and get post-its as my bonus....

Did you ever own one of those Sobakawa pillows (the ones from the infomercial)?? If you did, did Soba use it as a cat bed?

I used to work for a telemarketing company that took calls for those. (the pillow company was a client of the crappy company I worked for) We had a sample of one of those pillows in our breakroom for awhile...until someone broke it open and all the buckwheat husks got everywhere.

Another question...Do you ever cook with eggplant?? I've recently discovered the wonders of eggplant.

and still another question (geeze, I'm nosy!)...are you planting a bucket garden this spring??

I'm a little jealous of your performance review. Mine are usually given on a daily basis, at the top of my boss' lungs. And are heavily peppered with the F word.

And then he doesn't understand why morale in our very small company is horrifyingly bad.

hohoho about Daylight Savings time---we change the clocks up here in Alaska and wonder why, every time we do it. makes no difference for us in the winter or in the summer. I was also wondering if you can start gardening already and if you have a spot for pots or hanging things.

Taking a turn with the pasta thread, I had to make lasagna for the family for Christmas, but I'm on Atkins. So I made myself a container with cabbage instead of noodles. Someone suggested it on Ravelry. It was pretty good!

I was going to post about the tofu shirataki noodles, but two people beat me to it. I was actually going to ask if anyone had tried them as I am slightly terrified of them, but it sounds like they may be a good option. The thing about them that is awesome is not only are they gluten free, but they have like, no calories. Or rather, they have 20 calories per serving rather than 120. When I eat pasta I want to EAT ALL OF IT. I guess I'll have to try them now.

My question is related to a few previous questions...what kind of outdoor space do you have at the new place? Do you have gardening space? And if so what are you going to grow this year?

I'm am a staunch pooh-pooh'er of DST. Trashalou has a point: It depends on where in your time zone you live. I used to live on the west edge of the eastern time zone and hated that there was sunlight in the sky at 9PM. Made it very difficult for this night person to go to bed on time when it hadn't been dark long enough.

Now I live on close to the eastern edge of the central time zone and have the opposite problem -- when we change over in a few days, it will be pitch freaking black when I have to get up in the mornings. Remember that "night person" thing up there? Yeah, that's a problem. I like the extended evenings (at least it's dark by 9PM), but getting up in what feels like the middle of the night has never been a good thing for me.

Thank God for my Bio-Brite clock. It sits on my bedside table and gradually gets brighter and brigher over a 30 minute period, like the sun coming up, allowing me to wake up more naturally. (I can sleep through just about any noise-maker clock.)

Pick a time protocol and stick with it year-round, that's my vote.

Hi Laurie! (and Soba..lol)

Here's my question for ya:
If you had a weekend to do anything you wanted to do...other than travel...what would you choose to do?

I've been working hard to convince the next generation of how much easier the metric system is than the "customary" system! So far I've got about half of my 6th grade students convinced of it!! =)

I really like TJs brown rice noodles, softer then wheat but I think the taste is very similar. The tofu noodles are super gross. They had the exact same texture as gristle. In my opinion. I love to try new foods, and some people love them, so give them a try. But I thought they were terrible. I just couldn't get past the texture. I hope you'll have a better experience! And hooray for fractured sentences!

Diamonds or pearls? This is not a trick question. I just want to know which you like better. I ask people this all the time and invariably get the same answer--diamonds--which I don't really get because I've always thought pearls were so much more elegant.
And thank you for the corn pasta tip. My child has recently been switched to a gluten-free, dairy-free, flavour-free, convenience-free diet. I need all the help I can get.

I know I'm weird but when you mentioned the time change, when anyone mentions the time change, I always think of that episode of "1000 Ways to Die" that my Dad was watching one day. They start out to the car and the bomb starts to beep. "Daylight Savings Time!" they scream together.

Every time Spring comes now, I think of that and I wonder, if the bomb kills them, how did they know that's what happened??

Dangit McTwin....You made me cry at work. Beautful Post, that one there in July 2007.
Love your blog. Keep up the good work!

Saskatchewan already mentioned this - at least they are lucky not to have to "time change" - but the metric thing ... in Grade 9, none of us "got it" ... made no sense. Then Canada goes metric, all in one fell swoop, and, still, no-one "got it" 25(?) years later, I'm still all about the conversion! and don't get me going on gas mileage - mpg, kilometers/100 litres??? What is that? Thanks Laurie, for space to vent - not looking forward to DST this weekend either, now that we are a week earlier than before, to coincide with .... our largest trading partner, and airline buddy, too ... you guys!!! I'm soooo glad you blog, and write - I'm saving book 2 for my vacation days!

I'm east coast, and I STILL hate EST! Also, keep your metric, thankyouverymuch; fabric folds logically into halves, quarters, eighths, etc., so those measurements developed logically. And they work well with my logic.

However, I will defend to the death the correct use of "its" and "it's". We HATES the grocer's apostrophe, we does!

Laurie, I'm sorry WGWT seem to have forgotten all the hours you put in. :(

he Laurie,
Simple Q for you :-) One of your 2010 resolutions is healthwise. Good food, eating right and trying to cut down on junk food. In one of your latest posts you mentioned still needing a healthy morning start.
I think I have the perfect breakfast recipe for you: oatmeal cake. Oatmeal is *powerfood* and the other ingedients too: nuts, dried fruit, eggs, honey, coconot etc.
The beauty of the oatmeal cake is that the recipe is simple, quick and you can freeze the slices. When I bake a cake I get 12-13 slices out of it, enough for a week for hubbie and me.
So my Q is: if you're interested I would like to send you the recipe?
I got it from my health coach and it is in Dutch only. But I can translate it for you to try.

Cheers from Amsterdam,
Syts

Trader Joe's rice pasta is pretty darn good and not terribly expensive. My picky teenager doesn't like it, but he's a pasta freak. I think if you haven't had "real" pasta in awhile, TJ's will pass any pasta tests you have in store for it.

Syts - That oatmeal cake sounds delish! Could you post the recipe for all of us?

~Heidi

If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?? (Hey if its good enough for Barbara Walters, it's good enough for me!)

About the pasta: I have found the trick to cooking g-free pasta. A drop of olive-oil in the water before you cook it, watch it like a hwak until the pasta is Almost done, rinse it in cold water, heat up a pan of fresh water and when the water is hot add the cooled pasta to cook until finished. I think that it has something to do with the starch that is in the first pan of water that makes it all gooey and not so good. Anyway, it works for me with all g-free pastas and is always worth the extra few minutes of cooking time!

I just saw a Sobakawa commercial last weekend. I also have a question for you. What are your favorite books that you have ever read? I'm looking for something really good to read.

So how do you feel about tanning? I masquerade as a redhead because I can't tan. I mean, I can brown up a lot relative to my year round color but other don't think I look tan so why bother. I'm just wondering how you feel on the subject.

And that would be "DST", because EST is something else entirely, although I gather a lot of folks don't think too highly of that, either. 2 + much passion = bad typing, with a subset of (strangely-worded post). Still hating on the metric, although I DO know that it's 2.54 centimeters to the inch, and 39.37 inches to the meter, and a kilometer is 5/8 of a mile (which is 5,280 feet, so that's 3,300 feet). (I said I didn't LIKE metric, not that I couldn't do it. Now ask me about ells! [Scottish? French? English?])

I, too, would DEARLY love the Oatmeal Cake recipe! I used to make a highly-modified oatmeal cookie recipe, which was much less sweet, and very yummy; very like a little cake, in fact. Dogs, cats, and humans all tried to snitch them.

I actually have a fruit bread recipe, too; maybe you would like that, Laurie? It has NOTHING to do with Christmas-type fruitcakes, either!

I definitely give a thumbs up to the Tinkyada brown rice pasta. We usually cook it with the "energy saving" method--let boil for a couple minutes and then turn off the stove--which might help some people with the overcooking problem, but I should note that both our burners and our pots hold heat REALLY well.

Erin -- I'm not much of an eggplant fan. I like it in Middle Eastern food, though.

As for my gardening space -- I have a rooftop patio but I probably won't plant anything this year. Maybe some herbs. Rooftop patios in the Valley get VERY hot in the summer.

Suzi asked " If you had a weekend to do anything you wanted to do...other than travel...what would you choose to do?" Well, I would stay home and hermit. Those are my favorite weekends.

Wendy -- freahwater pearls. I am a southern gal, we love our pearls.

Lynn-- A tree? Uh. Maybe a lemon tree!

Syts -- I don't eat oatmeal but thanks for the offer!

Cathy -- My favorite books are The Stand, The Awakening, Turn of the Screw, Case Histories and Gone With The Wind.

Amy -- aside from spray tan (which I've only done a few times) I am just pasty white all the time.

comments closed, thanks!