What significant things have I done today?

[Aggie]

Thank you... once I get accustomed to singing to music, I will likely take you up on some more detailed advice.

In the meantime, I have a pretty good 'music memory' (I can play songs I know well back in my head, and often even pick out from memory certain instruments, such as a bassline) and seem to pick up new songs fairly quickly.  I think the fact that I re-discovered my voice while listening (and singing along) heavily to Tom Waits (especially Bone Machine and Brawlers) gives me a little.... flexibility. 

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

As long you're not using his technique...

[Aggie]

I can do the growl, but only for about half a song before I go into coughing fits. I adapt his stuff to my voice, but I appreciate his range and the way he uses his voice as an instrument to produce sounds rather than just singing words.

[Swatopluk]

I voted
Today there are parliamentary elections over here.
I was the first in the polling place (apart from the election helpers of course) and voted (in theory) one minute before the official start (7:59 AM; polling places are offcially open from 8AM to 6PM).
It was the most boring election campaign in living memory.

[Aggie]

Won or lost an Iron Chef competition.  The outcome is yet to be determined; I just wanna make some good food that the judges haven't tasted before.

[Griffin NoName]

If I was a man I wouldn't vote as nothing to vote for, but as a woman I feel I have to use the hard won right. This is a dilemma.

Looks like Merkl's won.

[pieces o nine]

Won or lost an Iron Chef competition.  The outcome is yet to be determined; I just wanna make some good food that the judges haven't tasted before.

When do you find out?

[Opsa]

I think that everyone who has a right to vote should exercise that right. Good for you, Swato.

Where was this Iron Chef competition, Aggie?

[Aggie]

They held the event at a small local winery (not sure they really make wine, so it's more like a venue in a vineyard, IMHO).  I posted in the morning before the competition.

We went in as the underdogs, and I was happy with the results. The judging was done by a panel of 4, plus one audience member as a 5th judge on a course-by-course basis.   The official scores were based on only the 4 regular judges, who had sampled all the courses. Our competition won, at 307 to 302 points. We lost it mostly on the first dish, which turned out pretty much how I intended it, but was perhaps a bit simple for the contest. We scored well on the salad, but could have done better; we had that dish fully tuned in based on radicchio, but had to modify it for endive (and ended up changing it significantly) due to the food supplier failing to provide the pantry list as previously issued. The two main dishes that I put extra effort into turned out fantastic and were very well received; we ran out of time to make crepes for the dessert, but it actually proved to be a lucky thing as we were forced to re-jig the fillings and cream into goat cheese and fresh strawberry parfaits with hibiscus-basil syrup and some local blackcurrant liqueur (won double gold at the World Spirit Awards; the producer was named Distillery of the Year for 2013, by the World Spirits Organization).

_{I got to take a look at the guest judges' scorecards after the competition was complete; we scored 5 points higher in total over 5 courses from that one scorecard, which did not count in the official scoring.} 


Everyone involved had a lot of fun, and there is some talk of collaborating with our competition on some bigger regional events (i.e. regional competitive cooking teams facing off against chefs from other nearby areas, or perhaps some sort of show-cooking event).

[Opsa]

Wow! Those parfaits sound out of this world!

[Aggie]

They were the last dish of the evening, so they were a nice light finish. The other team did a fresh donut hole, which was tasty but would not have favoured us if we'd had a heavy dessert to present.

Dried hibiscus and fresh basil makes an incredible tea that can't really be described, but it turned out well in syrup form, too.

[Griffin NoName]

Sorted out my contents insurance with new insurer......... been a bit of a saga getting the cover right........ worth it as paying half as much as last year for better cover............but oh dear it completely does me in, I'm utterly exhausted from one phone call.

Why oh Why are these tasks such hard work? They are almost all my life consists of nowadays as there's always something to be sorted out, and that always does me in. I am getting more and more scared because my health is  deteriorating quite badly, that soon I won't be able to do such stuff. How is one supposed to funcction then? Whoever said wealth does not make one happy was nuts. I'd be ecstatic if I could just renew everything every year whatever the price, so no work involved.

[Opsa]

You and me too, Sibling. But good for you that you got it done. I hope you gave yourself a good rest when it was over.

[Bruder Cuzzen]

Wealth would be nice , I could accept being miserable in outrageous comfort .

[Griffin NoName]

Exactly.