alexist

go http://www.venus365.com/ - I finally rang them yesterday to sort out the returned package, and I got the items today, no extra charge. That's good service. So, I heartily recommend them, just know that they send items next-day signed-for, so be home or have time to go to the Royal Mail office!

Prices and selection were good too. :-)

Recipes that specify amounts like "juice of 2 lemons".

This is not a defined amount of juice. Lemons are variable in size, and people's abilities to juice said lemons also vary. Of course, this doesn't matter in every recipe. But in, say, lemon curd (or the lemon creams I just made), you want a consistent result, and if you use a different amount of lemon juice from what the recipe writer uses, you're not going to get that. Too little lemon juice, and it will either not set up or be sickeningly sweet.

Measure, people. Cups and spoons and scales were invented for a reason!

also, don't be a ponce and specify vanilla sugar. Not all of us store our vanilla pods in the sugar jar and we don't want to decide to make things 2 weeks in advance so we can. Include a vanilla extract substitution. It's not the stuff of the devil if you use the real thing. (And in my experience, it's simply not worth the effort to use pods in cakes and cookies. Save them for custards, etc where the vanilla is a primary flavor and there's steeping time to extract it.)

Am I being an anti-snob, or am I just a snob about snobbery? Don't answer that question. :-)

While we're at it, cooking with lemons is a surefire way to discover every miniscule cut on your fingers. Or not so miniscule ones, like the one on my left index finger from yesterday. Never slice a bagel when you're still half asleep. At least I cut my finger with a very sharp knife, so it was a clean cut! (Albeit quite a bloody one.)

I appear to be coming down with a cold.

What I want is a hot shower.

Unfortunately, our electric shower unit is dying a slow, horrible death, so I only got a lukewarm (just) one. Neil asked for B&Q vouchers for Xmas/Chanukah a few weeks ago, when it started acting flaky, so we're going to try to put up with it for another week. (We looked at B&Q's website; a new shower will cost us about £100-150, so it's just not worth repairing this one.)

On the plus side, I slathered my hair in Biolage Ultra Hydrating Balm (aka Extra-Strength Hair Grease) and it does seem to be an improvement: my hair didn't have that squeaky-dry-stressed feeling after I rinsed and combed it.

I still have to go to the opticians. That's so going to suck. Specsavers or Boots, or does it actually make a difference? (Need exam, frames + lenses [high index], contacts [monthly torics]). Specsavers has just opened, so who knows, they might be doing deals...