seattle public library

the new main branch of the seattle public library, designed by frank geary's twisted shadow, rem koolhaus, adds to seattle's architechtural landscape, which already has buildings by lots of notable modern architects, like: geary (the EMP building), holl (the chapel of st ignatius), graves (the physics and astronomy building at the udub), gwathmey, (the henry art museum addition) and venturi (the seattle art museum) it makes seattle a real tour de force for a visiting architecture class. i can't think of many modern us cities that are investing so much in their skyline.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/local/library/

from the slideshows and virtual tours, it's a hell of a building, one to outmatch the claustrophobic EMP building, and it's getting rave reviews from everybody. if i remember correctly, the impetus for the design was a tall and precarious stack of books. i realy wish i could go back to tour it. the pictures look wonderful. i wonder if they can keep the bums out?

(no subject)

( boring table behind cut, comparing 2000 election results to radio market percentiles. )

green vegetable curry

we had a soup at a local laotian restaurant that dagoski and his wife took us to, it was so good that we went back, and i had a bowl to myself, with the intent of trying to decipher the recipe.

last night i made a soup that captured the spirit very well, although theirs uses green beans, broccoli, silken tofu, and enoki mushrooms, i used what i had. i'm sure you could make do as well with various veggies that you have around the house.

1 to 2 cups of stock (veggie, fish or chicken)
1 zuccini
a small handfull of cherry tomatoes
1 carrot
2 or 3 waxy type potatoes, like yukon golds
1 clove of garlic, minced
4 or 5 mint leaves, julienned
or you could use 5 or 6 basil leaves.
2 or three curry leaves
half of a small onion, diced
1/4 cup diced fresh mushrooms of choice
1 can of lite coconut milk
2 tsp green curry paste


1/2 pound firm tofu, cut into 1 inch cubes, set aside to drain.
1/2 cup of toasted, salted, macadamia nuts, processed in a food processor until
they reach the size of a large grain, like millet.

about a cup or two of precooked rice on the side...

spread the macadamia nut grain on a plate, dust with a little flour, and put the drained tofu cubes on the plate. roll them about until they are coated. this won't stick very well, but when you cook it, as you stir the cubes about, the nuts will stick to the tofu more and more.

cook this tofu in a skillet with a little oil in it. when it is browned, take it out and set it on paper towels to drain.

in a small saucepan, start the zuccini, carrots, garlic, onion, mushrooms, and potatoes in the stock on the stove on medium or so. the small amount of liquid will cook this more quickly, so after about three to five minutes, add the coconut milk, the mint, the curry leaves, the tomatoes, and the curry paste. stir to incorporate, salt to taste, and stir from time to time from now on, the coconut milk could stick and burn. you can add the tofu towards the end, and the nutcoating will come off in the curry, which tastes great, or you can serve it on the side. normally i would add a bit of a sweetener now, but the mint and the nuts made it so that this wasn't necessary. if you find that the balance is off, add a tiny amount of brown sugar or maple syrup.

if you have it, add fish sauce when you add the curry, a good dash will do.