Go forth and fill your libraries with media.
Seriously, thanks to everyone for being so amazing and patient. You are the reason I love Vox.
I was just told that the Amazon Conduit will be fixed by tomorrow. I will post here as soon as I get word that it's back up and running.
I know this has been frustrating and I am sorry there wasn't more I could do to make it less so. I really appreciate your patience though.
Cheers,
Bad news. As many of you have probably noticed, the Amazon Conduit was not fixed in the last week's release. Unfortunately, there was an undetected bug that is preventing the conduit from working.
We are working on this bug fix and hope to have the Conduit back up and running this week.
I will keep you posted.
Thank you for being so patient.
Blog Action Day is every October 15th, when blogger are asked to post something about a single issue to show our strength and conviction as an online community. It's a great way to feel connected to the greater good, and the participation of so many bloggers to support the world's leading non-profit organizations is something you can do to help, right now. By blogging today, you're supporting some of the world's leading non-profits and sharing your voice for change.
This year's topic is climate change, and we'd love to read your thoughts on the topic. If you participate, leave us a link to your post in the comments, so we know to check out your post!
Go to www.blogactionday.org to learn more, get a badge for your blog showing your participation, and see some ideas for your post on climate change.
Can't wait to read your posts!
~ daisy
The Amazon Conduit will be working again on October 15, 2009. Thank you to everyone for your patience.
Have a great weekend,
daisy, Team Vox
In my last Team Vox post, I let you know that we're aware that the Amazon conduit is broken and that we're working to fix it. Many of you want to know when it's going to be fixed and I'm so sorry I haven't gotten back to you about that sooner.
Unfortunately, I don't have an exact date to give you, but rest assured, the Amazon conduit will be fixed in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, I'm about to finish my latest book and I could use a few suggestions as to what to read next, so... if you don't mind, let me know in the comments what's on your nightstand and/or what book you think I absolutely must read next.
Thanks! :)
Some of you may have noticed that right now you cannot add books from Amazon to your Vox library. Giving people a glimpse into what's on your night stand is important to many of you, so I just wanted to reassure you that we are doing our best to get this bug fixed. I'll keep you posted.
So sorry for the inconvenience.
Hope you have a great weekend!
daisy
Unless we're playing flip cup or Scrabble or fantasy football, competitive isn't exactly the word I would use to describe myself. I'm way too laid back for that kind of intensity, but if the occasion should arise, you'll see a whole different side of me. So when Jamie's dad challenged me to a potsticker and fried rice throwdown (a la Bobby Flay), I immediately laughed it off, but once the smack talking got started, so did I. "How does an A.B.C. know how to make potstickers? A.B.C.s don't know how to make potstickers." That's Jamie's dad talking smack on me for being an American Born Chinese. Well, just because I'm not an F.O.B. doesn't mean I didn't spend a good many hours of my childhood folding potstickers. Coincidentally, fried rice was the second dish I ever learned how to make behind my dad's ghetto grilled cheese (Kraft singles with Wonderbread warmed in the toaster oven). I felt like I had the basics down, but there's nothing like a little healthy competition to feed creativity, especially when the prize is a bottle of Blue Label!
Jamie came up with rules and regulations to dissuade any cheating, even though there may or may not have been a few rules bent. We were each allowed one sous chef and our dishes would be judged equally on three categories: originality, taste and presentation. It would not only have to taste good and look good, but we would also have to put our own twist on originals. How would I put my signature on dishes that have been made a hundred times over?
For the potstickers, I knew I had to make my own wrappers. I love making fresh pasta and it really makes all the difference in the world in a simple dish. My filling was pork based, because pork gives you the juiciest dumplings, which just might have something to do with the fattiness. I mixed ground pork with the traditional napa cabbage, shiitakes, ginger, chives and scallions. For bonus flavor points I added dried shrimp, tiger shrimp and kim chee. My trusty sous chef, Misa, helped me assemble the potstickers. Thanks, Mees!
For the fried rice, I wanted to present two dishes: one classic and one contemporary. My classic dish was a replica of my mother's fried rice. Chinese sausage, peas, eggs, shrimp and rice, of course. I drizzled in some homemade chili oil spiked with orange zest right at the end. My second dish was an arancini (fried risotto ball) studded with corn, zucchini, carrots, ginger and garlic. I borrowed a bit of inspiration from Italy. Here are the little nuggets rolled in Panko and ready to be fried.
Since my competitor had home court advantage, I did all my prep work at home. Here's everything ready for transport.
Even though it was a "blind" taste test, the open kitchen pretty much gave away any secrecy. I'm sure many of you will recognize my plating style too. Without further ado... I give you the side by side comparisons.
The garnish on this is dried oregano by the way. Maybe too original? The filling is shrimp, crab and pork.
That's a little chayote slaw on the side. Always nice to have a fresh counterpart to fried foods.
Where's Chiquita Banana? One rice is bacon and ketchup and the other rice is mustard greens, ham and eggs. Team B used Basmati rice, whereas Team a used traditional Jasmine rice.
Thanks to the Changs for hosting and letting us destroy the kitchen. Thanks to all our judges!
Whenever I tell people I cook with lard they look at me like I've just told them I like to kick bunnies for fun. Gasp! Mon dieu... quelle horreur?! I know, I know. Lard definitely has a bad rep around these parts, but there's nothing else that quite gives you the same deliciousness. Just ask any tamale or pie crust and taste the difference for yourself.
Since I had some lard leftover from tamale making and fresh peas were in season, I immediately thought of making empanadas filled with harissa, ground beef, peas and carrots. I also made a vegetarian version with chick peas and a butter crust.
Shelling peas and peeling chick peas is definitely a labor of love. I passed the time by watching episodes of The Wire - many of them. Lucky for my finger tips, I had friends to help me form my empanadas.
It's clear to me that Voxers are some of the most environmentally conscious and creative people out there, which is why I wanted to tell you about Six Apart's “Green by Design” contest. All you have to do to enter is create a Green Badge with an earth-friendly design and/or message.
In April, I told you about a few Green Badges we created for your blogs, and said that when the badges reached 100,000 impressions across the blogosphere, Six Apart would donate $1000 to The Climate Project. Well, as of June 1st, we surpassed that goal by nearly two million impressions. Needless to say, a check is in the mail!
When we realized how many of you were adopting the Green Badges, we thought it would be cool if we came up with a contest that allowed you to put your creativity to good use and make your own Green Badges.
Like the previous badges, the winning badge will link to the One Million Acts of Green brought to you by Cisco website. One Million Acts of Green is a collaborative environmental campaign encouraging everyone to go green. One act at a time. The goal? One million acts of green because, as we all know, we’re more powerful together than we can ever be apart.
Each weekly winner will also receive a one-year subscription to MailStopper, a junk mail stopper service provided by Tonic. Plus, we will donate $150 to a charity in the winner’s name. (For a list of charitable organizations the winner can choose to donate to, please see the contest rules.)
Two runner-ups each week will receive an honorable mention, as well as a one-year subscription to MailStopper.
Plus, when the badges receive a million impressions (and we know they will!), Six Apart will donate another $1000 to The Climate Project.
Here’s what you need to know in order to submit your design:
- The Submission must include a positive environmental message.
- The Submission must be in the JPEG file format.
- The Submission must be 160 x 90 pixels in size at a resolution of 72 dpi.
- The maximum file size of the Submission is 500 kilobytes.
- The Submission must be accompanied by an email address.
- The Submission and each element thereof must be the original work of Participant.
Please email your entry to badgecontest@sixapart.com and don't forget to include your Vox user name and your email address.
There's still time to get your entry in for this week's judging! We're accepting entries until end of day on Friday. If you aren't able to submit by this Friday, don't worry: There's another week left in the contest. The deadline for submissions is June 25, 2009 at 11:59:59 p.m. Pacific Time. Winners will be announced on Everything TypePad; however, if a Voxer wins, we'll also announce it here, of course.
View all contest rules here.
GOOD LUCK!
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