Poached eggs. Ous escalfats

I have never, to my knowledge, had a poached egg before Wednesday.

No he tingut, en tota la meva vida, un ou escalfat abans de dimecres.


As I have mentioned before, I received the Ferran Adria cookbook for Xmas, and one of the things that are called for are poached eggs.  Though he actually often uses some machine that mimics a Japanese technique of cooking eggs in hot springs for an hour or so.  I have no such ambitions.  The poached egg, however, seemed like a good challenge.

Com he dit abans, m'ha regalat el llibre de receptes de Ferran Adrià per nadal, i un dels coses que cuina són ous escalfats.  Però sovint utilitza un tipus de maquina que imita una tècnica japonès per cuina ous en fonts calens en un hora més o menys.  Jo no tinc ambicions per fer això. L'ou escalfat, tanmateix, sembla una bona repta.


Ferran, bless his talented heart, says to simply slip the egg into the nearly boiling water.  May I say, that even with the most radically fresh eggs, which I have as I buy them from the farmer every Wednesday still warm and poopy from the feathery behinds they have dwelled under, these turned into a mess.

En Ferran, Déu el beneeixi, explica que simplement hem de llisar l'ou cap a l'aigua quasi bullint.  
Podria dir que, encara que tinc ous tan fresc, que compro cada setmana del pagesa, encara calenteta i cagades dels culls plomats a on habitava fins ara, no quedava juntes quan toca l'aigua.  Un desasatre absolut.


So.  The Joy of Cooking and also Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (Deborah Madison, a vegetarian's J of C) were broached.  Various strategies were put forth, stirring the near boiling water vigorously and pouring the egg into the seething vortex (those were the J of C's words.  GOTTA love that cookbook).  Vinegar in the water was also suggested.

Llavors.  El Joy of Cooking i també el Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (Deborah Madison, una J de C per vegetarianes)  eren consultats.  Varius estratègies estaven presentats, remenant l'aigua quasi bullida molt vigorosament i triant l'ou entre el centre del vòrtex bullint furiosament (els paraules em falta per trobar un equivalent tant ben fet com ha fet el J of C, un llibre de receptes que estàs absolutament obligada d'encantar).  Vinagre també estava una suggeriment.


Swirling was tried, with significant improvements.  Perfection, no, but better.  Vinegar was tried.  Disgusting.  Honestly, never do this.  I was pretty content with the swirling.  Then today?  Today, success.  Absolute success.  Here's the trick.  You have to swirl the water SO vigorously, so enthusiastically that a whirlpool forms, like the water draining from a tub.  You have to be able to see the bottom of the pot and worry that your egg is going to burn on it rather than poach.  (Laws of physics and inertia be d*mned)

Arremolinant?  Intentava i notava bastants milloraments.  Perfecte, no era, però millor, sí.  Provàvem vinagre.  F.A.S.T.I.G.O.S.  De debò?  Mai ho fas.  Estava bastant contenta amb el tècnica de remolí.  Doncs, avui?  Avui, èxit.  Un èxit absolut.  Mira, aquí és el truc.  Has de arremolar l'aigua TAN vigorosament, amb tanta entusiasme que un remolí es forma, com quan l'aigua baixa de la banyera.  Has de veure al fons del pot i has de patir que el teu ou es cremarà en lloc de escalfar. (Normes de física i inèrcia..pah)


Honestly, this is probably not such a discovery for some of you out there, but let me tell you, Youngest and I have been enjoying some seriously delicious poached eggs today.  Mmmmmm.

La veritat és que això probablement no és un gran descobriment per alguns de vosaltres, però vull dir que la Petita i jo hem disfruitat alguns ous escalfats, tans bons avui!  Mmmmmmm.


Bon appetit!
Bon Profit!

Read these somewhere. Ho he llegit en algun lloc.

The problem with posting late at night!  I got it into Catalan and not English!  What a loser.

Anyway, I saw these two phrases somewhere

Blunt as a bag of wet mice


He keeps missing the opportunity to shut up.


and thought they were hilarious.  Below is an explanation of these crazy phrases, but I thought the English speakers could enjoy them on their own.
Sorry folks!


Aquests dits he llegit en un lloc, no sé a on.  La primera, no sé com el puc traduir.  Si una persona és 'blunt' vol dir que no té cap mena de tacte, que sovint diu coses que seria millor que no ho digués.  'Blunt' també vol dir que no té tall, com un ganivet que no talli.  Per això tenim: 'blunt' com un sac de ratolines xopats.  Segur, això no pot tallar, i probablement no és gaire diplomàtic tampoc.

Blunt as a bag of wet mice

El segon està més senzille.  Que algú continua de perdre l'oportunitat de calla!  Peró en general, calla no està tan maleducat com 'shut up'.

Keeps missing the opportunity to shut up.

Youngest's. El de La Petita

Below are posted some of the pieces done by Youngest.  I have to reiterate that she does these out of her head.  No drawing, no erasing, no images in front of her.  She picks up scissors and paper, starts at the edge of one foot and goes on around.

Aquí baix he penjat alguns peces fet per La Petita.  Haig de reiterar que els fa des de la seva cap.  Ni dibuixa, ni esborra, ni imatges des de que treballis.  Agafa tisores i paper, i comença a una banda d'un peu i va des de allà.

I find this amazing.

Els trobo increïble.

Eldest's. El de la gran

Here's what she's been working on!  Mira!  Aquí tens el que feia la gran!

And it is related to this story called The Rise and Fall of Rua Gorbachova that she's been writing on Figment, so if you're feeling really keen, you can go over there and read it too!

El dibuix està relacionat amb una historia (en anglès) que és diu The Rise and Fall of Rua Gorbachova.   La gran està escrivint aquesta historia a Figment, per això si vols, pots anar-hi i llegir-ho també!

The upside of being ill...tbc. Les coses bones de estar malaltes...en continuació

The girls, as I have mentioned before, have been sick for a while.  They are improving and I have seen some heartening changes, specifically, the nausea is mostly gone and they can east most anything, particularly in the middle of the day.  A big improvement.

Les meves filles, com he dit abans, han estat malaltes per un estona.  Estan millorant i he vists alguns cavis que em deixen contenta, específicament, que ara, més o menys, not tenen nàusea i poden menjar quasi tot, especialment per dinar.  Aixà és molt bé.


At first, they were really too sick to do much of anything, and pretty much lay around....then they improved a bit and ate a bit more and lay around, now watching screens endlessly.  Computer screens.  Now they are that much better that they are getting creative.  Eldest has produced some amazing drawings, one in particular that she has worked on for a few days.

Per començar, van estat massa malaltes per fer res, en realitat, no feien res, només quedar-se al llit....llavors, van millorar una mica i menjava una mica més i quedava estirats mirant pantalles sense fiiiiiiiii.  Pantalles dels ordinadors.  Ara estan tant més sanes que les seves creativitat ha ressorgit.  La meva filla gran ha acabat uns dibuixos extraordinàries, un en particular, que ha passat dies per acabar-lo.


Youngest has discovered a whole new skill.  She sat down one day with a blank piece of paper and some scissors.  That's it.  No pencil, no tracing, her head, her hands some paper and scissors.  She has been producing the most amazing silhouettes of people.  They are astonishing, truly and all from her head.  Right down to the feet...which are tough, no erasing only cutting.

La meva filla petita ha descobert una facilitat completament desconegut per ella abans.  Un dia va buscar un full de paper i uns tisores.  Tot.  Ni un llapis, ni una manera de copia un dibuix.  Nomes el seu cap, les mans, paper i tisores.  Ha estant produint silhouttes/perfils de gens.  Són increïbles, de debò i tot del seu cap.  Fins i tot els peus, que són molt difícil, i sense esborrant res, només tallant.


Their mother, on the other hand, having spent a day and a half reading Harry Potter 7 aloud (I CRIED!!!) has not had so many creative endeavours, not ever taking photos of these oevres, I'll have to post them tomorrow.  I did get a good run in though!

Les seves mare, per l'altre banda, havent passat un dia i mig llegint Harry Potter set en veu alta (PLORAVA!!!!) no ha fet tants coses creatives, ni fotos dels obres de les meves filles.  Ho hauré de fer demà.  Però, he anat a córrer, i ha anat molt bé!

Harry Potter Marathon, el marató de Harry Potter

Kids are getting better and a big fat thank goodness for that, we had about a nine hour read aloud today, as in I read aloud almost all of the last Harry Potter book today...we have 6 chapters to go tomorrow!

Les meves filles estan millorant i unes moltes gràcies super gordes per això, hem passat nou hores avui, llegint in veu alta.  Vol dir que he llegit en veu alta quasi tot del ultim llibre dels de Harry Potter....ja només tenim 6 capítols fins que acabem!

The girls are now eating most anything and mostly willingly, they are showing moments of energy and high-spirits, though they aren't quite ready for school.  I took them with me to walk the dog, a 20 min walk in town, and they struggled to say the least.

Les nenes ara estan mangant quasi tot i generalment amb ganes, tenen moments quan mostren energia i entusiasme, malgrat això, encara no estan preparats per anar a cole.  Avui anaven amb mi per passejar el gos, un petit passeig de vint minuts, i han lluitat per tornar.

On another note, I am up PAINTING!!!! YEAH!!!!! with drive and energy, but also knowing I have to stop and go to bed at a reasonable time.  I still, simply cannot get sick.  It's not an option.

Per un altre banda, estic pintant!!!! YEAH!!!! amb ganes i energia però conscient que haig de parar i anar a dormir a un hora raonable.  Simplement, encara, no puc ser malalta.  No està un opció.

Today, I have to sleep. Avui, haig de dormir

So, I send you here to this fabulous letter.  Worth reading right to the end.

Per aixó, t'envio aquí per aquesta carta fantàstica (en anglès).  Val la pena llegir-la fins al final.


Good night, bona nit.


O

Lunch out and smelly dogs. Hem dinat fora i el gos fa pudor.

The man and I went out for lunch today, heartlessly abandoning the sick kids...they've been sick for three school weeks, now, and we needed a meal and they'd survive for a bit on their own.  They aren't THAT sick, they just can't get to school

El home i jo hem anat a dinar fora avui...facilament abandonant les nostres filles.  Han estat malaltes per tres setmanes de cole ja i nosaltres necessitàvem un àpat i elles poden sobreviure per una estoneta sols.  No estan TAN malaltes, simplement, no poden anar a cole.


It was WONDERFUL.  The food was fine, nothing spectacular, but good and we didn't cook it.  It was out and we were relaxed, no one was complaining and we just chatted.  LOVELY LOVELY LOVELY:)

Estava FANTÀSTIC.  El menjar estava bastant ben fet, res espectacular, però bo i no ho hem cuinat nosaltres.  Hem dinat fora, hem descansat, ningú queixava i hem passat els temps xarrant.   PRECIÓS PRECIÓS PRECIÓS.


The dog is equally pleased with himself.  He managed to roll in something today that looked like snow, but doesn't smell like it, let me tell you.  We get a little extra nudge when he comes in the room.  It wasn't so bad that we immediately washed him, but *phew* he has a certain presence.

 El gos està molt content amb el mateix.  Ha trobat no sé què en la muntanya i li ha estirat en això.  Semblava neu, però no fa aquest olor, te a juro.  Sabem quan entra un habitació.  No feia tan de pudor que li hem de rentar de seguida, però  *oooohhhh* té un cert precènsia.


Can I just say that he has been wagging all day and is QUITE pleased with himself about it all.

Haig de dir que ha passat tot el dia remenant la seva cua.  Està MOLT content amb el mateix sobre tot aquesta tema.

Little does he know. Bathtime tomorrow!  Heh heh heh heh heh.

No sap que demà.....el banyaré!  Jejejejejejejeeee

Snow day! Dia de neu!

I never thought I would have a snow day in Catalonia, but there it is.  Today there was one.

Mai he pensat que tindrem un dia de neu, un dia quan tanquen les escoles i llocs de treball, però avui...ho hem tingut.


We got maybe a cm of snow, as in 1 cm.  That's on the roofs and cars.  Nothing stayed on the ground at all.  Schools closed and my work shut down.  A lecture I wanted to attend also was shut down.  I have to say, that it was fine by me.

Potser hem tingut un cm de neu, vol di 1 cm.  A sobre les cotxes i sostres.  No quedava res als carres i al terra.  Les escoles tacaven, i el meu lloc de treball també.  Una xerrada que volia veure estava anul·lada també.  Sobretot, per mi, cap problema.


Hung out with my still sick kids, walked the dog, enjoyed an utterly snowless snow day.  A little weird, but nice.  My boss at one point asked if we would shut down in Canada for this.  I just looked at her.  What can I say. Clearly not.  That said, they were calling for more snow and if it had gone far enough below freezing the roads would have iced up and no one has winter tires here.

Passava temps amb les meves filles, encara malaltes, passejava el gos, i desfruitava un dia de neu absolutament sense neu.  Una mica estrany, però genial.  La meva cap m'ha preguntat si a Canadà tancarem les coles i tot per aquest quantitat de neu.  No he dit res, només la he donat un cop d'ull.  Que puc dir.  Clar que no.  Igualment, haig de dir que els meteoròlegs deia que tindrem més neu, i si les temperatures han baixat bastant, tot seria gelat, glaçat i ningu té pneumàtics d'hivern.


Now to get some painting down and see if I go in tomorrow.  I'd be surprised if I didn't.

Ara, pintaré i miraré si vaig a treballar demà.  Em sorprendre si no.

Today, maybe, for the first time in ages, I may pull it off!

Avui, per la primer dia fa molt de temps, potser, ho faré


There are a certain number of things I have promised myself I will do every day/ regularly.

1.  Draw for half an hour every day
2.  Paint every day
3.  Run and do Pilates regularly (if I manage three times a week I'm ecstatic)
4. Read every day
5. Blog every day

Hi ha uns quants coses que m'he promès a mi mateix que faci cada dia o sigui, regularment.


1.  Dibuixar per un mig hora, cada dia.
2.  Pintar cada dia
3. Córrer i fer pilates regularment (si pot ser tres cops a setmana, estic super contenta!)
4.  Llegir cada dia
5. Escriure aquí en el meu blog cada dia.



Then there are the things I desperately want to do, basically spend time with my family, that's not too hard to pull off every day, it is my absolute and final #1 priority.

També hi ha coses que són imprescindible, bàsicament, passant temps amb la meva família.  Això no trobo difícil d'aconseguir cada dia perquè és el meu prioritat absolut.  No hi ha cap cosa que sigui més important.


There are other things which I have to do like work, and cook and do errands....they tend to get done as well.  There are also things I'd like to add to the list, like study Catalan and Spanish more formally......

Hi ha altres activitats que haig de fer, com treballar, cuinar, anar a comprar.  Generalment, aquests ho aconsegueixo.  Altres activitats voldria fer cada dia, com estudiar Català i Castellà més formalment, amb mestres i tot!

Lately however, the have to dos, like work and errands have been getting done.  Family time, absolutely.  The activities I've promised myself?  Not so much.  Today though?  Today looks to be shaping up to be a red letter day, one where I get it all done.

Recentment, no obstant això, les coses que haig de fer, com anar a treballar i comprar, ho faig.  Temps amb la meva família també.  Els activitats que he promès a mi mateix?  No tan.  Però avui?  Avui, em sembla, que serà un dia molt especial.  Un quan faré tot.


And a good thing too.

Una cosa molt bona això.