This recipe is made up four parts, but I will cheat on the pasta—instead of home made pasta use whatever  dry long form pasta that’s in your cupboard; it will save you so much time.

1. Teriyaki Chicken

1 whole chicken cut into 8ths

4 oz soy sauce

4 oz rice wine

2 oz sugar

grated ginger

Directions:

1. Marinate the chicken in soy sauce, rice wine, sugar and grated ginger for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.
2. Heat some vegetable oil in a frying pan. First, fry the skin side of the chicken on medium heat until the skin is browned.
3. Turn the chicken over to fry the other side on low heat.
4. Pour sauce used to marinate chicken in the pan.
5. Cover the pan and roast the chicken on 325F until done (165F internal temperature) or leave it on the stove top on medium heat.
6. Remove the chicken from sauce and simmer until sauce becomes thick.

2. Vegetable Tempura 

8 egg whites

8 cup Pastry flour

1 cup ice water

2 cans club soda

Directions: 

1. Beat 2 eggs in a bowl
2. Add ice water in the bowl. Be sure to use very cold water.
3. Add 6 cups of sifted flour in the bowl and mix quickly.
4. Be careful not to over mix the batter.
5. Wash, dry, peel and dip vegetables (carrots and zucchini) into tempura batter.
6. Set the deep fryer to 375F.
7. Fry the vegetables until crisp.

3. Spicy quick pickles

4oz cup rice vinegar

3 oz sugar

1 oz soy sauce

1 oz fish sauce

½ teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

2 large English hothouse cucumbers

Directions:

1. Whisk rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce, and crushed red pepper in large bowl. This can be made one day ahead covered and chilled.
2. Slice cucumbers crosswise into ¼ inch thick round or thinner.
3. Add cucumbers slices to vinegar mixture.
4. Toss together and make sure cucumbers are very well coated.
5. Cover and chill ten minutes to 1 hour, tossing occasionally.

On top of  the pasta, place the chicken, and behind the chicken add three vegetable tempura sticks. Garnish with the pickled cucumbers and chopped green onions or parsley. Beautiful--the mix of green and oranges set against the browns and white, and so delicious.

Teriyaki Chicken

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Eddieizzardshow

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Wedding fever continues and the inlaws are here from New Zealand. Last night we went for a very nice meal at a Gordon Ramsey restaurant and I found myself thinking how odd it is that I have nothing in common with these people at all, and yet so much in common with their child. I think maybe my own background is just rather alien to them because my parents are very cool (my dad smokes my fags and my mum drinks Bloody Marys and Gin and Orange for breakfast) and very young at heart...

Anyway.

I still have a week left at school. I wish more than I can say that this was not the case, but it is and things are still full on, with new timetables and directives and trying to survive in a place with tons of chiefs and very few indians. At least I get to wear pretty sticky out skirts though. There are perks to working in a place that doesn't allow you to wear trousers.

I also worked out that I haven't opened a single door for myself at school this term (unless of course, I have been completely alone). Nice boys.

Someone has just let off a stink bomb though - the eggyness is wafting under my office door. It's like existing in an Enid Blyton book here sometimes.

When I go home I will have to be nice to people, which is bound to involve me getting drunk as I am a girl who needs to smooth my way into niceness. I don't want to get drunk though. But I will.

We are going to go back to my parents tomorrow and my dad is cooking an eight course meal and there are rumours that we will be eating at the special Christmas dining table...!!

Shall I change my name at work? Or is it too much hassle to get the kids to remember?

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this dress is made of a tablecloth and doggie bags

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The George Eastman House has put some of its photographs into the flickr commons, and I've been having a trawl through two sets of them. Here are three I particularly liked.

Prince Hussein Pacha Khedive

What a moustache! What a hat! What a costume! And yet he puts this all together with such insouciance. Now that's style.

Rollin Heber Neal

This chap captures another side to male fashion. Somewhat more louche, and yet still pleasing to the eye. After all, the ladies love a rogue. Withnail, is that you?

A monkey riding a rhino

It's a monkey riding a rhino. If you don't like this then I humbly suggest you need your head examining.

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"There's only one way to succeed in anything
and that is to give everything."
- Vince Lombardi

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To Pret for a rare treat lunch. I have (had - burp) a ham and egg sarnie, a cappucino - with not one but two sugars - and a chocolate bar. Added to this are an apple and a pack of Frazzles from home. For the missus a chocolate cake and a hot chocolate. Well, she is eating for two.

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And so I am going home. I told my boss. At which point he told me that apparently the company are introducing a new system whereby if we have to go home for any reason, we have to ring a phone number and tell this 3rd party who then log our attendance at work.

This is my first sick day off as far as I can recall since I joined the company 18months ago, so I'm a wee bit peeved, especially given how much time he and my colleagues have had off collectively through illness!

Anyway. I shall be sitting on the sofa, probably with a bowl of porridge. Or soup.

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Yesterday I forgot to take a hayfever pill. I was fine all day (air con office...) until I got home.

I then developed a painful sore throat, sinus ache and headache.

This morning I have all that and can barely swallow, and ache all over. My glands are swollen, and driving was agony.

I think it's hayfever, but I'm not sure, and I have so much work to get done today.

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Caucasian invasion, originally uploaded by Yod!.

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