T P O

T   P   O
The Patient Ox (aka Hénock Gugsa)

G r e e t i n g s !

** TPO **
A personal blog with diverse topicality and multiple interests!


On the menu ... politics, music, poetry, and other good stuff.
There is humor, but there is blunt seriousness here as well!


Parfois, on parle français ici aussi. Je suis un francophile .... Bienvenue à tous!

* Your comments and evaluations are appreciated ! *

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

"The English Language!" - by Anonymous



"The English Language!"
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Anonymous

If you speak fluent English, you must be a genius! Peruse at your leisure, English lovers.

Reasons why the English language is so hard to learn:

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, it must be time to present the present.
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail
18) After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests
21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France (Surprise!). Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.

Quicksand works slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?

If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend. If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? Is it an odd, or an end?

If teachers taught, why don't preachers praught? If vegetarians eat vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? In what language do people recite a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?
You must marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they're visible, but when the lights are out, they're invisible.

P.S. - Why doesn't "Buick" rhyme with "quick"?










Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Injera (The Ethiopian Staple) - by TPO




Injera (The Ethiopian Staple)
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TPO

Ingredients:
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1. Warm Water - 2 1/2 cups
2. Teff Flour or Flour(*) - 1 3/4 cups
3. Self-rising Flour - 1/2 cup
4. Dry Yeast - 1 packet
5. Baking Soda - 1/2 teaspoon
6. Salt - 1/2 teaspoon

Process:
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Dissolve the yeast in the warm water first and then add in the flour until a thin, smooth batter is formed.
 

Set it aside for three days to rise, stirring the mixture once every day. [No religious implications there ! :)]
After the mixture has risen, add the baking soda and salt and set aside for 15 minutes.

Then heat a pan and pour the batter until the pan bottom is evenly covered. Cook until the Injera is browned on one side (the bottom side) only and then remove. The top side (with the eyes?) should never be flipped and cooked.

Suggestions:
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One Injera is a single serving. It is recommended that you make several injeras (up to 30) at a time, and refrigerate what is not consumed right away. Do not store over 5 days. Otherwise, the injera may dry up, get stale, or worse get moldy.

Injera is a must-have when one is consuming stews of chicken, beef, or lamb.
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(*) - If you can't get hold of teff flour, you may substitute with wheat flour or a mix of rice and barley flour. Millet is a great substitute too. Go ahead and improvise ... nothing ventured, nothing gained!