Sesame Noodles with Stir-Fried Beef and Veg and a Lattè
OK, here we go. Fiona (who is vowing this year to read 100 books and tell us about them – so maybe that can be our other stay-home-in-your-jammies book club? We can then make intelligent literary conversation at the gym/water cooler about the book “we” just read, and no one will be the wiser?) suggested I ditch the (Apple) Safari web browser that came with my iMac and download Firefox. So lets see if this works. Sadly my index is still nowhere to be found (on my computer anyway – so odd that a few people are getting it. You’d think as admin I’d have access to it if it was on the server. Maybe if you’re seeing it it’s in your cache?).
I spent the afternoon hiding/decompressing (if you can call it that with 4 toddlers underfoot) at K’s house over far too cheesy artichoke dip and a chunky chorizo-bean-tomato-pineapple dip J made that I may have to bug her for the recipe for, scooped up with baked whole wheat pitas (how virtuous are we?) and dragged my feet home at around 5. Having started to cull the contents of my freezer for anything appetizing/usable/bulky I had already committed to making something out of one of the first frosty packages to go: thinly sliced beef that I bought to make Bulgogi (Korean Barbecued) Beef. Fortuitously I had picked up some Shanghai noodles (the thinnish ones) at the market last week and so morphed the two. (The next month I swear is going to be re-runs from last year. I found some roasted squash and ricotta ravioli in there too.)
So I poured equal amounts of soy sauce and rice vinegar and about half that of brown sugar over the beef and let it sit while I made some sesame noodles, and threw a few stalks of asparagus and frozen broccoli trees into the water during the last few minutes of cooking. Drained the lot while sauteing up some sliced peppers and the beef in its marinade, then tossed the lot together in a big bowl and sprinkled it with chopped peanuts. It was OK. The beef was sublime, but the noodles got overcooked as I went to retrieve a naked W from the gritty snow in the back yard, and I don’t think I’ll ever get used to frozen broccoli.
My addiction these days is coffee. I never drank coffee until about 5 years ago, and I still don’t have more than one or two cups a day. Typically Americanos or the odd lattè – because they are espresso-based drinks, lower in caffeine than coffee – which might be why I don’t have any problem drinking them in the late afternoon/evening. It’s comforting to have something to sip on for an hour or so, it’s a way to be sociable that involves food, and I let myself go to Starbucks more often than I used to (partially due to my Christmas gift cards) because I need that something. Here’s a tip: a tall Americano in a grande cup, topped up with whole milk, is like a frugal lattè ($2.36 vs. almost $5, although it’s not as hot and has no foam, but you can drink it faster and rewarm it if you need to) for about 100 calories, or a grande Caffè Misto – equal parts coffee and steamed milk – is only 110 calories; both will provide some protein, too. I don’t add sugar, but one packet of sugar is only 11 calories.
Speaking of book club – I have about 15-20 takers. Yahoo! (If anyone still wants in, email me anytime.) I’m trying to figure out a venue and best time of day, so will email you all directly. It’s hard for me to imagine us all sitting around not drinking coffee and eating cupcakes.
I would do just about anything for a cupcake right now. Anything? Yes, anything.
OK… you know how all Mac users are all, “Its so intuitive!”… well, everytime I try to use my sister’s Mac it takes me twice as long to navigate just to check my email… and don’t get me started at how long it took me to program my ipod. I’ll agree that Mac’s look pretty, but you’re not alone in your frustration. And yes, I would love a cupcake right about now.
Dinner just isn’t very pleasant around here (breakfast or lunch either for that matter). I am trying to spoon feed my 7 mo old as I am shoveling food into my own mouth. My 4 year old is usually saying, “Gross.” Or he is talking about some bodily funtion. So…. many times I find myself with a plate of food after they have gone to bed just to eat it in peace and quiet and actually taste the food. So…. I am going to blame any extra weight on them!
Did you see Cakespy’s latest post about leaving cupcakes in random places – maybe you’ll find one of her sweet treats.
So yesterday i saw your index heading at the top but when i clicked on it nothing came up…today that is no longer there…
on the left handside of my screen is the list of recipes in their categories….but not the index that you worked so hard on last year! that sucks!
i could go for a crave cupcake but they are all out there in calgary…..i still can taste that, words cant describe sweet taste of their cupcakes and i had one last summer!!!!so yummyyy 🙂
Wow I can honestly say I find Macs so much easier to use than Windows. Anyhow.
Julie – have you thought of asking at the Apple Genius bar? Do you have an Apple store in Calgary?
Oh yes, I’ve spoken to AppleCare 4 times, and had my neighbour over this afternoon. I think I’ve figured out the blog problems, but not the wireless (yet) – and the disappearing file folder missing from my desktop was in the trash – not sure how it ended up there!
I’m sure once we work all the bugs out I’ll love it. I just didn’t anticipate so many glitches!
So – I do see the index on mine, but up until the soup category each heading is followed by all the recipes in on long paragraph! From soup onwards, all is as it should be…
Cupcakes all around!
Yes – that’s new. I managed to salvage the HTML code and pasted it into an email to send myself, and just popped it back in tonight. It had been condensed down to one massive run-on sentence though, so its taking me awhile to pick through and separate them back into lists.
It seems those who were seeing it were thinking of the column labeled “looking for a recipe?” on the left.
There is a new Apple Store at Market Mall with the aforementioned Genius bar, but I’m sure you can get the same service at the MyMac store, which is closer to you.
Yay bookclub!!
I want the Diet Guard. I’m not kidding.
Ok I hadn’t looked before but I see the index of recipes link at the top of the page, and if I plunk “Index” in the search box it brings me to https://www.dinnerwithjulie.com/?s=index too. I can’t imagine how frustrating the computer problems are for you… I’ve been dealing with a keyboard my ds pulled 12+ keys off of (now very familiar with how often I use ‘r’ and ‘spacebar’) but that’s nothing compared to the issues you’re having.
Hope it gets sorted out soon. Latte art is nice, maybe we should meet at Beano 🙂
Yes I just put the index back last night. I had managed to save the html code when it disappeared – just cut and pasted it into an email and sent it to myself – and put it back last night. Now I have to go through and chop it up into individual entries again!
I was thinking of a coffee shop – the back room at Buffalo cafe maybe – but 16 people (if everyone can make it) might be a little hard to seat!
You make me laugh…I love your blog, mac problems and all 🙂
I love that you share the here and now, I feel part of your day, thanks for that.
I’ve always been curious of macs but because of my lack in computers knowledge, I’ll stick to what my brother can help me with, he’s a PC genius.
I’d love to live in Calgary, just to be able to be part of your “club” but I’m happy reading about it here.
Thanks for being there Julie, you make me smile.
Manon from Ontario
Julie I would like to buy the two books you have on your web page, but I don’t have an account with pay pal, since I don’t usually buy from the internet.
Can we do this over the phone with a credit card?
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
MFO
Julie, my Mac is on the internet via a wireless router that is connected to my roomates Windows pc. I had no problem setting it up that I recall. But you may have to go into the router administration and fiddle with the security keys – I think I may have changed from WEP security to something else or vice versa (it’s been a while and I’m not at home right now to check on it). Worth a shot anyway. I would open up the security just to test the connection and then increase the security until it stops functioning.
Good luck!
Yes, thanks I’ll try it! Maybe it’s blocking everyone – I don’t know. I just know that it’s picking up the neighbour’s networks, and I didn’t program them in!
Thank God I got your index again. Phew!
From the minute amount that I understand of wireless networks, my guess is that your neighbour’s routers either have no security or the bare minimum – dangerous for them – which is why they would be available to you. Your Mac is basically waving at every network that it can find and your neighbours are giddily waving right back. Your router is playing it safe and saying “Back Off, I don’t want what you’re selling!”. I’ll be back home on Saturday afternoon and can check my setup then if you still need help.
They are locked though – you need a password to get in. But they are at least showing up.
there is a setting in the router I believe (there is in mine anyway) that determines whether to broadcast that the wireless network is there so that other computers can see it. Maybe that’s the culprit? I’m trying to think of all the possibilities without being at my own computer.
I had been a faithful Mac user from 1986 (when they first came out) until just a few years ago when I became retired & couldn’t keep up with the cost of new hardware & software. So I switched to a PC, but still fondly remember my Mac days. From the problems you have described, I am pretty certain that there is something physically wrong with this particular computer or your set-up. Mac is plug & play & it should be easy, not like pulling teeth. You may want to bring this to your local Apple retailer & have them give it a once over for bugs. Then check with your internet provider for other possible problems. I fought with ours for almost a year until I finally gave up & bought my own wireless router (instead of the one they provided) & haven’t had a problem since.