apple_pathways | Sherlockmas, Garden Pics, Coleslaw Recipe, & Miscellaneous Bitching (Reply)

First, some miscellaneous bitching: I need a faster computer. I see no reason why I can't have 10 different tabs open in Firefox, two Notebook pages, a Word document, iTunes, Spider Solitaire, a few different folders, email, and still be able to edit photos in GIMP. I feel a big 'ol sulk coming on.

Anyway. My frustration with my computer's inability to develop superpowers means that I don't have a shiny, pretty graphic to advertise that:

Posting for Spring Into Sherlock over at

sherlockmas opens tomorrow! Super exciting, y'all: I'll have a banner eventually for anyone who wants to help promote, but in the meantime let me just say that I am very excited, and there are some fantastic submissions to the fest!

Now, since I can't edit the size of pics in GIMP at the moment, I'm going to resize these photos using the IMG tag. If it don't work in your browser: lo siento! (I'm sorry.)

"Oriental" Coleslaw with Peanut Sesame Ginger Dressing
(It's like cold sesame noodles, but with cabbage! And raisins...Mmmm...)

(I forgot to take a picture until it was almost all gone, so my apologies for the sloppiness of the presentation!)

As always, measurements are approximate: add more of what you like, less of what you don't, and play around the taste seems right!

Ingredients

Salad:

Small head of cabbage, shredded or sliced thin into strips. (Use 1/2 to 3/4 of it.)
2-3 carrots, peeled and shredded.
3-4 green onions, sliced thin.
A couple handfuls golden raisins.
Sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds--whatever you like. I used only sunflower seeds this time, because I couldn't find my sesame seeds to add in addition.

Dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil
about 1/2 cup rice vinegar
1-2 Tbs peanut butter
2 tsp sesame oil
A few Tbs soy sauce. (I prefer tamari.)
1-2 Tbs honey. (You don't need much, as the raisins add a lot of sweetness.)
Big pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
black pepper

Directions: Whisk together dressing ingredients, and toss with salad ingredients. Best to make it no more than an hour or so in advance, or else the cabbage loses some of its crispness.

It was over 80 degrees today. It was CRAZY! I took the kitty out to explore while I cleaned up my perennial herb garden. Here are some photos of what's coming up. (No blooms yet--still too early for this clime!)

Hyacinths emerging: