Keith Olbermann talks about Proposition 8. He admits that he doesn’t have a horse in this race; he’s not gay, nor is anyone close to him. I thought it was fascinating. He’s such a great speaker. I mean, yeah, it’s fun when he goes off on a righteous rant, but that’s not what this is. For him, it’s all about love.

Last night…
Snook: There’s something going on in the city tonight that you’re going to be mad you missed!
Me: What?!
Him: They closed off the George Street bus stops in front of the cinemas because of a special event…
Me: Ooh, a movie premiere! Is somebody famous in town?
Him: Teenage girls EVERYWHERE.
Me: Oh, man! It can’t be Twilight yet…
Him: Nope. But you’re close.
Me: OH! High School Musical 3??
Him: Zac Efron is here.
Me: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Letter from a Veteran. Lovely blog post from my old roommate Eileen about her grandfather, who served in WWII. Her aunt recently found a letter that he had written home to his parents and Eileen’s posted it on her site.

Oh neat! I was telling the Snook about that “Craig’s List bank robber guy” the other day and how he’d apparently been caught thanks to some DNA evidence. But what I didn’t know is that the DNA sample they used to match him came from his chewing tobacco spittoon-cup! Gross, yet fascinating.

A Veggie Conundrum
I went to pick up our veggie box last night from Michael at the Sustainable House. He let me swap a few things (I know from experience the two of us can’t get through a whole cos lettuce in a week) and he even gave me an extra jar of this week’s special treat, a hot Sri Lankan eggplant pickle. Anyway, I got the box home and started unpacking… and HOLY CRAP, we have a lot of vegetables! I put a list on the whiteboard so we would be reminded to work our way through them. It reads: red cabbage, pumpkin, zucchini, mushrooms, broccolini, beetroot, fennel, sweet potato, sweet corn, rhubarb, choy sum, capsicum, onions, and potatoes. Note: For most of these items, we just receive a small amount suitable for two people. (Personally I like this, while the Snook feels he’d rather have more of a few things and less variety.) Anyway, here’s the kicker – our oven is broken! Friday night I was pre-heating it for a pizza when it tripped the circuit breaker. We flipped it back on, and nothing. No fan, no heating element. Thank God the stove still works. So we’re ovenless until we can get it repaired, which makes using up all this veg that much harder. Any suggestions?

I used half a dozen potatoes, a quarter of the red cabbage, and a carrot from the fridge in last night’s dinner: Veal Schnitzel with Coleslaw and Rösti.

It was fantastic! That was the first time I’d ever made rosti (using this recipe) and it turned out really great. Who needs Una’s when you can whip this up at home?

They’re back! Iron Chefs Sakai and Chen are cooking up a dinner in Sydney again. We went last year but I somehow doubt we’re going to get another unexpected tax windfall… (Link courtesy of Eva.)

Chippendale Food Box Blog. Fun! We get to pick up our next box tonight. We’ve got a nice selection of stuff in there – sweet corn, fennel, potatoes, zucchini, eggs – along with a few things we don’t normally eat, like button mushrooms and rhubarb. It’s going to be a challenge!

I discovered this morning that Vogue UK recently featured a Roald Dahl-inspired photo shoot. WHAT THE–? Dude, only about three of those photos have any connection to Dahl’s work at all. See, I knew this is what would happen when Tim Burton remade Charlie. People who haven’t read any of Dahl’s stories now associate him with some generic Burton vibe of KOOKY and DARK and WEIRD, as if that sums up everything. (In my opinion, none of them are especially Burton-esque as written.) The only photos I really liked – and felt an actual connection to Dahl’s work – were the Red Riding Hood one, the one with the giant peach, and the Glass Elevator at the end.