Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

3 large garlic cloves, peeled

2 RED Jalapeno or Serrano peppers, deseeded unless you like it hot

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup white vinegar

1/2 T salt

1 T cornstarch or potato starch

2 T water

In the blender, puree together all the ingredients, except for the last two.

Transfer the mixture to a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to medium and simmer until the mixture thickens up a bit and the garlic-pepper bits begin to soften, about 3 minutes.

Combine the cornstarch and water to make a slurry. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture and continue to simmer one more minute. The cornstarch will help the sauce to thicken slightly thereby causing nice suspension of the garlic-pepper bits.

Let cool completely before storing in a glass jar in the refrigerator.

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Source: http://www.shesimmers.com/2009/02/how-to-make-thai-sweet-chili-dipping.html

Manhattan Apricot Salad

By Phyllis Zibell, from Maureen Morgan

Combine:

2 pkgs of orange jello-2cups boiling water

1 cup pineapple juice-1 cup apricot juice

Then:

Mash a large can of drained apricots (reserve juice), add to jello with one can crushed and drained pineapple (reserve juice). Cover with small marshmallows. Put in refrigerator to set.

Topping:

Take 1 cup pineapple juice and 1 cup apricot juice, put into saucepan with 2 T Flour, 2 T Butter, ½ cup sugar and 1 beaten egg. Cook until thick, stirring so it doesn't burn. Let cool, add 1 cup whipped cream, add to juice mixture, blending together, then spread on jello salad.

I always buy little cans of pineapple juice and apricot juice to add to the reserve from the canned fruit.

Ceiling Cat Bible

File this one under "People who have too much time on their hands. Oh, and a cat fetish." I know that's not going to fit well on a file folder, but it's true. There is a made-up language called "LOLcat" or "lolspeak" which is a sort of pidgin language; this one a cross between English and Cat. It came about as people were captioning cat pictures in a cat's voice. See examples and make your own at icanhascheezburger.com. Pretty harmless, right? Captioning a few cat pics seems like gentle fun. It is, until you translate the entire bible into LOLcat using a wiki.

In the project, "God" is translated as "Ceiling Cat". Maybe you've seen it, since it's been around the internet for years, but here is the original Ceiling Cat LOLcat (or, just Google LOLcat and view the image results).

That particular image/joke is not even featured in the project, but its legacy of irreverent humor is. Take for example, this saucy passage from Ezekiel in its original form and then in lolspeak.

Or, how about one of the classics, like John 3:16:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

In LOLcat:

So liek teh Ceiling Kitteh lieks teh ppl lots and he sez 'Oh hai I givez u me only kitteh and ifs u beleeves him u wont evr diez no moar, kthxbai!

Most of the Bible is interpreted this way, illustrating the power of crowd-sourcing really banal shit. The Bible is almost secondary to the heart of the work, which is to find the best passages that are the most fun to translate, and to generally have fun talking like a cat. I could see other texts taken on in the same fashion once all they have left is "begat" verses.

This project could be seen as offensive to some because it doesn't treat the Bible with the reverence that it deserves. I can understand that sentiment, but I think it is outweighed by the need to have freedom for artistic (high-brow) or just silly (low-brow) expression. I imagine the God from Quest for The Holy Grail having Ceiling Cat as a pet and that seems to bridge it all together for me.

More reading.

Climate Change Report (Now with Pics!)

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released the Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation. The Working Group III spent a great deal of effort reviewing the potential for various renewables around the world and finds that with a coordinated effort by governments around the world, we could transition to a primarily renewable-fueled world in 20-30 years. They basically mapped the way to freedom from carbon-based fuels if people can find the will to make it happen.

So, to keep in mind what this is all about, NASA's Earth Day photo album.

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