Hello,
I was doing some exercise practice for the JLPT 3 exam, and I came across several sentence structures that I have never seen before (this is making me panic, bleh):

１．さんまは秋が旬の魚で、１０月から　１１月に　かけてが　一番おいしい　ころでしょう。
→ I don't quite understand the sentence structure: why is the て-form followed by a particle - in this case, が？ How do you use this sentence structure, and what is it used to express/used for?

２Ａ．また、あなたが家にいない時間に録画をしたいときは　録画の　予約ができ、たいへん便利です。
２Ｂ．それから、コピーの　機械の　ふたをあけ　コピーしたい　げんこうをおきます。
→ I've kind of figured out by guessing that this sentence structure (i.e. using the stem of a verb's ますform) functions somewhat like the て-form of a verb, in the sense that it's used to join sentences. One question that I have though, is this: when is it appropriate to use the stem of a verb's ますform and when to use a verb's て-form to join sentences?

Help will be much appreciated because I am really quite confused! :(

Thanks a million in advance! :)

Hello! Could you please tell me what does this mean:

復旧の目処は立ってない。

I'm doing this science project of sorts, it pretty much consists of whether or not egg substitutes are as efficient as eggs as a leavening agents.

Would I be better off finding out which leavening agent is more efficient, baking powder, baking soda, or active yeast?

Anyone have a quick and easy recipe that I could easily substitute the above ingredients?

Hello all I'm back with another lactose free recipe. I actually found it in Dairy-Free Cookbook by Jane Zukin. I added my own twist by adding nuts to it.

( click her for banana yumminess  )</div></div>

I apparently don't know how to go to bed before 04:00 anymore :(

Also, this was just about the worst week I've had that I can remember. I seriously thought about just giving up for the first time since starting grad school :(

12079 / 50000 words. 24% done!

I am just barely ahead of my "should be"; clearly this means I will have to be Super Productive tomorrow in order to restore my in-case-of-emergency head start. Also, grocery shopping and further job-hunting and Northgate.

In the meantime, have an excerpt! Because why the hell not. *strokes it carefully* Okay, actually there are plenty reasons why not, I have not let ANYONE read any of this yet except for Crazy Muslim Guy On The Bus--but now I'm letting MANY people read it! Because that makes sense. Really.

Well, at least it saves me E-mailing it to the usual suspects.

( Nox believed in a higher power solely because her name was too damn ironic otherwise, and because no matter where she went in life it was always the same damn story. )

A Long Time I've Wanted To Say Something

A long time I've wanted to say something
and not know the next word until
it busied my mouth. Love talk, anger, consolation,
lies, mad hints at the edge of green
water where fish and snakes swam
weirdly away from my lonesome post -
five dozen kinds of greetings
and one of severance
entered this conversation
I am having with the earth.
O world, I want to love you
better than I do, forgiving
every satellite dish bolted to the roof
and pointed towards the
ubiquity of the sky,
and all it holds within it like a gravid cloud -
darkness first of all
and then the post-mortem flare of the stars,
and fixed between both,
satellites soaking our cells
with beamed, invisible pornography
and all its stark frustrations,
its spacey coupling, its theater of vicious hunger.
How many times have I gone
home through that rain,
my body perforated by
waves of strange ecstasy?
World, I've wanted to box you
on your huge ear, or hide
something from you
that you badly want, right then, that instant,
this now. I've wanted
to pour you out
until you're empty,
worth filling up again.
I am not talking to you,
anymore. Tired
as I am of gravity
and tired as I am
of my bones, the sullen sameness of their pain,
let me just whistle
a sad song
into the newness of the air.
Let me plan out,
let me devise and arrange
and braid one lost
path to the next.
Let me save something from vague peril.
It is all around us,
after all, danger,
or love, or war,
or spontaneous jamborees on a hilltop littered with fiddles.
I am thinking of love.
Which means in my tongue
that I am praying for it
to be saved from never knowing me.

-- Paul Guest

I'm going to keep this really short and really sweet.

This is NOT a debate space. When someone says something that violates the rules, makes the space feel unsafe, or bothers you, PLEASE email the mod team. DON'T argue with them. Its rude to the op, its rude to other commenters, and it is not the purpose of this space. This space functions best as catharsis, not as further frustration. This is why you have a mod team, we are here to maintain the integrity of this space for all of you, but we can't be here every second. We will find issues a great deal faster if you bring them to us, and then we can prevent them from turning into 100 comment clusterfucks.



Thank you, I will now step down from my soapbox and let you all go back to your regularly scheduled rages.

Hi. It's my friend's birthday today, and we're having a small party tomorrow. She asked me to make her a pecan pie, and I've heard her and my dad say a good pecan pie should have a shortbread crust. I've looked at this thread: http://community.livejournal.com/bakebakebake/2450545.html and various tips throughout BakeBakeBake and I haven't seen any mention of a shortbread crust. Most just say 'one pre-made unbaked crust'. Is the shortbread crust just how people THINK it tastes, or is there a way to make a crust from crushed shortbread/ baked in place like how lemon-bars are? I'm a bit confused by this possibilit, but would like some input. It's my first time trying to make a pecan pie ^^;

I just seem to be under a cloud of bad luck in the past week or so. I won’t waste time by divulging sad details, but the thought of Christmas being less than 8 weeks away has been a definite comfort, since it really is the most wonderful time of the year to me. Endless baking, being with my family, Bing Crosby on repeat… it’s just a happy time. And although I should be focused on Thanksgiving and that menu in the near future, I can’t get Christmas off my mind, or the classic flavor of gingerbread, which is so quintessentially Christmas to me. So I looked through my “To Cook” list I have posted on my fridge (it’s long, trust me) and saw these way down near the bottom.

I love gingersnaps but most of the time end up playing with recipes to make them, well, less snappy. I’ve always been a fan of those “extra soft” versions of store-bought chocolate chip cookies (it’s practically like eating raw cookie dough, mm) so the idea of a soft ginger cookie piqued my interest quite a bit. Also because they have two very unconventional ingredients in them: molasses and Dijon mustard. I know, I know, most people are going to scrunch up their face and say “WHY?” but trust me when I tell you – it adds this smoky, mysterious flavor layer to the cookies that gives it an extra zing without tasting at all like actual mustard.

Tons more pics and info at my blog, jonesing for...

( Recipe and more pics under the cut! )

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So apparently we're a solid week into November. Nobody told me. But a new month means a new theme, and once again we had a lot of people with the same suggestion - so we're doing it: CRANBERRIES! Fresh cranberries are amazing, but sweetened dried cranberries are acceptable too.

And, even more importantly, here's the contest poll for last month's theme. Voting will end either Sunday or Monday night, whenever I can get online, and the winner will receive a 2-month premium account! Here's a link to the community's paypal account if you would like to help support our bakers of epic win:



Poll #1482270 October Theme - Pumpkin
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 151

Pick your favorite post!

EDIT: I didn't add the Pumpkin Chiffon Pie by rowangolightly to the poll. If you want to vote for it, please reply to this comment. I apologize for the fail.