Okay, I have to admit, having people ask me for cooking tips is unusual. But, apparently my curry adventure was intriguing. Let's see, first to answer Tom's question, my advice only applies to the Thai style curries, I have yet to attempt Indian, but I'm sure I will eventually. The biggest tip I have is don't skimp or substitute on the ingredients. The kaffir lime leaves and the Thai (or Holy) basil are critical, even the fish sauce (which, I only use half what the recipe calls for, the smell nauseates me) is important to the final outcome.

Gwenstylez asked about cooking it in the crock pot, since most curries are stew-like, I think crock-potting it makes it better.

And for doraemonxo (I find many recipes can easily translate to the slow cooker, it is the best gift I ever got) here is the how:

First the credit, the original recipe (from which I greatly deviated) comes from the book Perfect Thai, from Parragon Publishing. Page 62, Hot Beef and Coconut Curry.

My first deviation is that I used pork, Central Market had some beautiful thick (about an inch) pork chops on sale, and since I hadn't thawed the chicken I intended to use yet, I went with pork.

Ingredients
14 oz of coconut milk
2 tbsp Thai red curry paste
1 tbsp minced garlic
(or 2-4 cloves crushed or finely chopped)
1 lbs meat cubed
(I used pork, but for this, chicken or beef would work too, I would use a different recipe for a seafood curry)
1 carrot sliced
(I use my Keyocera ceramic knife so I easily get those cool long ovals out of the carrot)
2 medium turnips cubed
(the turnips end up much like eggplant in consistency in the end, so if that puts you off, don't add, try a potato or other veggies)
1 stalk of celery sliced
2 tomatoes cut in big chunks
1 half of a medium onion
1 heaping tbsp of shredded kaffir lime leaves
(I used them from a jar, but if you can find fresh, I'm sure that would be even better)
3 tbsp (plus several extra squirts) of lime juice
1 tbsp Thai fish sauce
(the original recipe calls for 2 tbsps, if you aren't sensitive to it like I am, go for 2)
1 tsp of red chili sauce
(the Asian kind with the seeds in it)
1/2 tsp of tumeric
3 six inch cuttings of fresh Thai basil
(I grow my own, it is easy to grow and has beautiful tiny purple flowers)
1 handful of cilantro
freshly cooked rice, jasmine is best, I think

Method
In a skillet, wok, or fy pan lightly sautee the onion and garlic till the onion starts to turn clear.

Add the pork and cook till all sides change color (it will still be pink inside, but the slow cooking in the crock pot guarentees that you it will be fully cooked before you eat it, and it will be so tender it will melt) in your mouth.

Put the coconut milk in the slow cooker on low, add the curry and stir till the curry and milk are mixed.

Add the fish sauce, lime juice, kaffir lime leaves, tumeric, and chili sauce. Then add your onion, garlic, and pork.
Then add all the vegetables but the tomatoes (which aren't technically vegetables, but, work with me here, people).

Leave in slow cooker 4-6 hours (stir occassionally if you, like me, can't stand to not do so, but it doesn't make too much difference, though, you will notice the coconut start to form a top layer, but it mixes in easily when stirred).

Then add your cilantro and basil. Cook another 2 hours. (If you do this while you are at work, you could and should probably add the cilantro and basil at the end, but I would add one cutting of the basil in the beginning then for extra flavor.)

Add your tomatoes.

Serve over rice.

4 real servings 2 US size servings.

This particular curry is spicy with a slow burn. It never got me to the point of flushing like the really hot dishes I love do, and my dad who doesn't care for spicy hot foods liked it too, the coconut milk, I think balances any heat out. But, if you don't like super spicy, cut back half a tbsp on the curry and half a tbsp on the chili sauce.

I'm on a budget—there is a recession on, you know—so, limited dining out. I bought a $4 Thai cook book (Marshall's) and for Christmas I got a Crock Pot slow cooker (my corned beef is now officially to die for). Yesterday, I decided to make my second attempt at cooking a Thai curry. It was absolutely delicious, I won't claim it is as good as my favorite Thai place (in San Francisco, Dallas, or Austin) but it was really good.

So, the adventure part, you ask? I added some (in my Thai eating experience) vegetables to it, like celery and turnips (I never knew I liked turnips till I went to England) and they complemented it nicely.

Unless I am baking I use recipes as guidelines more so than instructions to be followed to the letter. Usually, it works out, occasionally it is a disaster, but it is at least more interesting that way.

I really despise that phrase. Probably, because I identify so closely with it. Oh, that sounds so morose, I know. But, true. I've had this unshakable feeling for the last few years that I have screwed up everything. Beyond repair. I feel my friendships, my real, solid friends, confidants and kindred spirits, slipping away. Slipping away and I have neither the energy nor the ambition to bring them back.

My constant need for change, no, for vicissitude, that constant state of regular change. My need for upheaval is in contrast to my need for roots. I think I had roots, once, in my adult life, not the roots of childhood. But roots based on personal decision and desire. Then I ripped those out, and as any gardener knows some plants don't recover from that.

I read some of my subscribers and admire them; going back to school,  getting the right job, or God, even getting married. Everyone seems so confident about their future. I remember that feeling. A year ago I kind of had it, but "we shoulds" are not commitments, but pipe dreams, and real life has a funny way of pushing those to the background.

I'm sort of left with the question; where do we* go from here?

I really don't have an answer. I have a list of possibilities, but everyday that passes, I just seem to settle more into my malaise.

Okay, enough of the pity party. I'm putting on The Arctic Monkeys and getting my head on straight.

*We, being me, myself, and I  not the Royal "We" the Queen uses. Or as I jokingly refer to my diametrically opposed personal desires: my multiple personalities.

I had my first mammogram today. Though it was not nearly as painful as I had been led to believe it would be, it still wasn't exactly "fun" as the older woman waiting in the lobby said she thought they were. I honestly couldn't tell if she was being facetious or not. I was not really caring, the big surprise for me was the bruising, that's great. Of course the most traumatic part came from inside my own head, I kept thinking about that scene in Weeds when Valerie puts Nancy's breast in the mammography machine and leaves the room.

I'm still probably at least a year late in getting it. Especially given my hereditary risk factors. Now I am a bit paranoid waiting for results. Hopefully, they will be better than the results from my dentist x-ray this morning (I have a cavity, it's a tiny one, but still).

Anyway, if you want a PSA about mammograms, you can go here. As for me, I am indulging in a mid-afternoon glass of wine, to quote alcoholics and ad execs everywhere, "It's five o'clock somewhere."

The worst thing to come out of the Bush Administration, is, in my opinion, the socialization of failure. Also known as bailouts. For those who fear that an Obama Administration will take the U.S. deeply into socialism you can thank the Bush Administration for paving the way.

The Wall Street Journal has a great article about how we are now living Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand's 1000 page novel about socialism and capitalism. (Rand is thematically one of my favorite author's, I still remember reading Anthem in elementary school. Imagine a world where the word "I" no longer existed.)

Written by Stephen Moore (sr. economics writer for the WSJ) I think it is a "must-read" for anyone concerned about the economy:

I honestly believe the single best thing the government could do for the economy right now (besides extending the Bush tax cuts) is enforce the Sherman Anti-Trust act and other anti-monopoly laws. But, that's me. Your mileage may vary.

At the doctor's office. To be fair it was probably mostly hormones, you know, that one time a month where I honestly think I could use the insanity defense if I did anything illegal. But, my new doctor reminds me of my paternal grandmother, if my grandmother had been of Punjabi descent rather than Austrian. Which, is cool.

Today, I cried again, but that was happiness, I got a whopping check from a client and more importantly a message from a friend I thought I had alienated.

I need to be reminded constantly that things are not as bad as I think they are.

Oh, hey, it is a new year. I should do something about that. Like not cry so frakking much.

Definition of insanity, baby.

At some point, you have to accept that something just isn't working.

Someone just doesn't want to be your friend. Some paths just weren't meant to be trod upon. Some things you just aren't supposed to do.

No matter how much you want it or hard you try, some things just weren't meant to be.

Doesn't make you a bad person, and it doesn't make the others involved bad people* it just means it is time to move on.

Purge, baby, purge.

*Unless, of course, they are just right bastards, but, even if, it isn't like you can control that anyway. You can only control your response to their bastardishness.

...did you know?

Did you know that the Army has raised its maximum enlistment age to 42?

Did you know that the Peace Corps pays you just over $6000 at the end of your tour to transition back to your life?

Did you know that I am getting restless again?

It's Marianne Marie Beetle and Muffin Buffalo! Where is Jaye? I love continuity between shows by the same creators.

Also, Beth Grant is a fine actress.

But, I just found out the bastards at ABC have canceled Pushing Daisies. Today just sucks.

Live one to go. Next week. I feel like I rocked the phone...hopefully, will feel the same after the in-person interview.

I feel like I am on the precipice. As though this is my opportunity to get my life back. Not back on track, but back. The job won't be perfect, but it will be mine, and something I know I enjoy and can do well. Fingers still crossed!