To make up for the book autopsies (I don't really apologize for that, but I needed a segue...) here is a link that takes you to the most comprehensive list (and pictures!) of the world's most beautiful and intricate libraries. Clear some space, it'll take you a while to go through them all, if you've not seen this before. Oh, so lovely. I loved the chained books in one of the older places. That web blog, Curious Expeditions, is one of my favorite places to visit online. Part Steampunk, part travelogue, this couple posts some of the more thoughtful and through provoking posts you'll find. This link in particular strikes my fancy - it's a flickr set from a museum in Austria that made all of the creatures out of blown glass, instead of traditional taxidermy. Outstanding.

I still think Jay Walker's personal library is one of the most amazing in the world, simply because he has things like Sputnik in it. The actual Sputnik.

Today is Chinese New Year! Happy Year of the Ox! Here's what the kids and I are eating (so far) tonight:

• Soup with lobster balls


• Leek and pork pot stickers


• fried rice


• Long Life noodles in sauce with steamed veggies (broccoli and cauliflower)


• blanched spinach with sesame - I use this recipe, and the website is awesome. I love the Engrish and the recipes are DIVINE. Er, mine won't look as pretty as his.


• and hopefully HOPEFULLY some Xiao Long Bao, which I had the pleasure of having proper Shanghai soupy dumplings in Chinatown, and educated on how to eat them, courtesy of cherusha. I can't remember the name of the crunchy seaweed salad we ate, but my helpful Asian market worker who didn't speak any English tried to understand what I was looking for and... maybe I have it, or maybe I'll have something new?

My Soup with Lobster Ball recipe
I'm lazy and don't make these from scratch, but I have an excellent market that makes these fresh every day. I like to brown them in a skillet, first, because the crunchy texture is nice, but it's not necessary.

You can either make fish stock from scratch, or if you're lazy like me, you can add some fish sauce to boiling water. About a tablespoon for 4-5 C. of water.

Get the water boiling, add some finely minced ginger and a clove or two of garlic, also minced. After a minute or so, add the fish balls (I'm using lobster this time) and some green onion, julienned. I've had this with some pan-fried scallion slivers served on top, a sprinkling of cilantro (coriander leaves) and some delicious Rooster sauce (garlic chili paste) and it's FABULOUS. Very light and refreshing.


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I am FREEZING today. Yesterday I tried to race ahead of a cold front and get my onions and potatoes in, which resulted in me spending about 8 hours cleaning up the garden and adding an additional 600 pounds of compost. I'm so sore and my hands are beat to hell. This morning I didn't help things by attempting to go walk in sleet (dumb) so I have hot coffee, my Kindle (reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Anyone checked that out?) and a warm bed. I think I'll spend most of my morning there. Brr.

Oh, one last thing! Everyone's picking up on this in Big Love: "Kansas" is the YFZ ranch in Texas? I snort every time they say the Kansas compound. Ha.