Hey all.

I've finished moving and i am more or less set up now, so it's time to have a housewarming. It's going to be low-key and relaxed. I will open the door sometime around 6 on sunday 14 march and close it sometime around midnight if there is anyone hanging on.

All i'm really looking for is the pleasure of your company, so please, no gifts. Just bring whatever it is you plan to drink and a friend. Or a lot of friends.

I'll probably cook a bit too. I'm looking forward to seeing you if you can make it.

The details:

200 Hwy 54
Apt D101
Carrboro, NC 27510

Chickpea flour (also known as Gram flour - for those of you shopping for it) is a common ingredient in Indian cooking. Most famously it makes pakoras when it has a variety of vegetables like onions, broccoli, cauliflower and spices (curry powder, garam masala, etc) added to it and deep fried into weird shapes commonly available on Indian restaurant buffets.

The basic recipe for just about anything you could want to do with Gram is:

.25 teaspoon Baking Powder
2 tablespoons oil (cooking oil, olive oil, etc. depending on your flavor combinations)
1 teaspoon salt

1 cup Gram flour

I know I'm a little behind the times, but have you seen this? Well, Put down your beverage by 1:50 if you haven't. It appears to be a viral marketing campaign of some sort. If any of you know more, clue me in.

Can anyone lend me a hand with moving a couple of couches into my apartment tomorrow? It would be sometime around early afternoon (I pick up the van from U-Haul at noon). I offer beer and/or food in payment, in accordance with tradition. If you can give me a hand, call or email. Thanks.

Hey. Thought I would let you know that Hulu is featuring "Wine for the Confused" narrated by John Cleese. It's relatively short and is a good introduction to wine (plus it has John Cleese in it). It doesn't have much depth, but it's a good starting point for anyone who is interested in getting started in drinking wine. John Cleese makes some remarks at the beginning that are particularly poignant (to me) and finishes with some good remarks about buying and how the wine business works (again, not too much depth, but reasonable for the time constraints).

So, I've been drooling over the possibilities offered by sous vide (thanks Dawoo for adding yet another food related obsession). The stovetop is ok for now, but requires a great deal of attention and care (especially for a drop it in and forget it method). Plus trying to microadjust using the thermostat on my decrepit stove in my apartment sucks. The downside is that real sous vide equipment is expensive (thermal recirculators - especially those that haven't seen laboratory duty or are rated for food use - start at 975 usd). That's not including the water bath and other little additions.

And like a blessing come from heaven
for something like a second
I was healed and my heart
was at ease."

-Leonard Cohen, "Light as the breeze"

I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who were able to make it to the easter thing. I really appreciated your company. It was a day that made me very happy - as I hope that it made you happy too. (It seemed like it).

I even got help with the clean up. Thanks Drew and Lindsey!

For those of you who were unable to make it due to work (or whatever), I missed you. I hope you can make it next time.

That, the Gorman street entrance to the Walnut Creek Apartments (formerly Dominion) is closed for resurfacing. Go to Avent Ferry and turn towards the lake (away from downtown - roughly west), look for Lake Dam Road on the left at the first stoplight after the Gorman/Avent Ferry intersection. The entrance to the Apartment complex will be on your left. Turn left once you're in the complex onto Walnut Creek Parkway. I have updated my google map.

Here, you can see the pictures.

Here's a link to my google map:

Where I live