So, it is party time again, folks!

[wiseheart]

Each year this time, we launch my virtual birthday party, which starts on October 1 and ends on October 9 at midnight, sharp. The goals of the party are to post as many comments and collapse as many threads as possible, on as many new pages as we can. It is always great fun, as you can see if you check out the similar entries of the last few years.

This year, I'll also throw the real party at mid-time - and post the recipes of all the food that will be there for you, so that you can all participate if you want to. Virtual food has no calories.

Fandom-related discussions are as welcome as the ones about coffee or chocolate (just to name a few favourites from previous years), and, of course, pictures and recipes of birthday cakes. ;)

So, drop by, tell your story, post your pics or silly poems, ask questions you always wanted to ask and have a good time!

Soledad, in excited expectation




Oh, and by the way, to provide birthday gifts hobbit-style, I've got a revived story and a Kansas 2 update for you.

Enjoy!

Comments

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

I gave up alcohol almost entirely when I was in my twenties. It was quite difficult -- work colleagues were often very pushy and my parents were very hostile about it -- but I've never regretted it. I do drink occasionally now but rarely in group situations and only then when I feel totally comfortable. Most of Mr EA's family is teetotal for religious reasons, which does help.

I've never fitted in, so being the weird teetotaller didn't bother me too much, except for all those people who assumed I must be trying to get pregnant.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

It's saying 301 now, so our work (for tonight at least) is done!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

It is really annoying, the different formats of things and how you can't save a sensible off-line copy! Finger's crossed LJ won't eat the party this year, and that you get the importing issue sorted with DW.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

One of the rubbish things about being brought up in the UK is how difficult it is to learn languages -- it really isn't the norm and it isn't catered to much in broadcasting.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

We seem to have reached -- and exceeded -- our target of 300 comments for tonight, so I will say good night! Looking forward to continuing the party tomorrow.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Good night! I might not be around much over the weekend, I fear.

[sammydragoncat]

Sampling is the best part of baking - It's best to do most of the prep work the day before the party, it's just so exhausting. I'm sure your guest will love everything you've made.

[lhun-dweller.livejournal.com]

Others have already done a fine job of explaining the "wild-crafted" yeast, so I'll just add that it's a fancy schmancy hippy dippy term for, as several of you have noted, something humans have been doing for thousands of years! [grin]

Alas! the first effort did not produce an edible product: way too dense and still sticky in the center, despite copious amounts of flour. Nice smell, and the bit that baked enough to sample was, indeed, tasty and tangy.

Reading through the comments, I wonder whether I should try the feeding-and-chucking-half thing for a bit to get enough yeastie beasties growing to lift a full loaf. I certainly had to leave the dough sitting a day or so at each stage to get it to rise. Well, I still have half the original starter in a jar in the fridge, so I could give it another go. And we're back down to the house by the sea next weekend -- we decided some more time down there was A Good Thing -- so I could try a fresh start. I'll keep you posted.

[lhun-dweller.livejournal.com]

What is an "Aga"?

[lhun-dweller.livejournal.com]

I cannot drink coffee, even though, as someone once noted, my tea is dark enough that it looks like coffee! However, The Beloved is quite fond of his coffee. He grinds his beans, and when buying them at the store, often mixes a couple of the choices. So, I get to enjoy the wonderful aroma!

[lhun-dweller.livejournal.com]

I, too, tried to learn to drink coffee, and I could enjoy the taste. But my belly simply will not tolerate it: not in a cup, not in a cake or any other food. So, it's tea for me, and enjoying the smell of others' cups. [grin]

[lhun-dweller.livejournal.com]

Oh, and in college, my then-boyfriend's roommate sat down at the dining hall table, looked at my cup, and said, "I thought you couldn't drink coffee?"

"I can't," I replied. "That's tea."

He looked hard into my cup, looked up again, and said, "No. That's coffee!"

[lhun-dweller.livejournal.com]

And over here in the New World, I shall also sign off, move my dog a bit and slide into bed!

[rcfinch.livejournal.com]

So sorry! I was going to make a few more comments yesterday and then something came in between and I forgot.

[rcfinch.livejournal.com]

Fortunately, I am thinking of it now!

[rcfinch.livejournal.com]

Making it to page three is the least we can do today!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I haven't got a car, though I am intending to buy one since it can be very useful for getting things for the house and garden, not to mention getting out into the countryside. However, my plan is to exchange my Swedish driving license for a Northern Irish one (as the UK government tells me I should do after living in the country for more than three years) before getting a car; that way I won't have the hassle of trying to get a car insured with a non-standard driving license, or having to change things over when I do have to 'renew' my license in a couple of years' time. The progress I have made on this plan so far is: 1) Getting the form I need to fill in, which was not as straight-forward as you might think; it certainly wasn't available on-line and I had to email several times before someone actually answered and then sent one by post. (Achieved a few months ago) 2) Getting photographs of myself to send with the form. (Achieved this week).

At the moment I mostly cycle, to work and to do grocery shopping. For going into town, I use the train; my house is less than five minutes walk from the nearest railway station, so it is really handy.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I took French in school, but I don't really speak it; I think one of the main reasons people in Sweden are as good at English as we are, is that we get a lot of British and American television series and films, and we do not dub them except for very small children. Therefore you do hear a lot of spoken English and that helps you learn the language. Lovely though French is, it is a smaller language and we got very little French spoken on Swedish television. So despite taking it for six years, I don't really speak or understand spoken French. In the same way you don't get exposed to a lot of any one other language in the U.K. so it is difficult to learn another language even if you do want to; then there is the added problem when English is your first language of what other language to learn. It may not be official, but English is very much the common language in much of international communication, even between people where no one is a native English speaker. That makes it the sensible first choice for a foreign language to learn; there isn't really as clear cut a choice for native English speakers as far as I can see.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Mum gave up 'regular' coffee, when she had an ulcer decades ago. She found she could still drink the instant kind, with about half coffee/ half milk. Indeed, she says she prefers instant coffee to the other types, though most other people I know who like coffee think instant is a disgrace to the name.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

It is a special type of cast iron heating stove and cooker, invented by the Swedish Nobel prize winning physicist Gustaf Dahlén. We have never had one in any of the homes I have lived in, but everyone I know who has loves them!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I love pineapple, but rarely buy the fresh stuff, partly because of the effort involved in getting to the eating. The other part is that a whole pineapple is usually a bit much for me on my own. When I have bought pineapple in recent years it has mostly been the precubed stuff, though I find my shop often doesn't sell just pineapple; rather you have to buy their selection of fruit salad which is sometimes to my taste and sometimes not.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Hope you have a great weekend, and don't tire yourself out too much with gardening. The party will still be going on afterwards, I think!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I kept getting caught up in interesting discussions...

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

You are setting a very good example for us!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I believe we can make it!