The Cosmopolitan Blog

On my old PC that died, i had installed an RIA (Rich Internet Application) version of Google Analytics. It was basically a version of Google Analytics that you could install to your desktop (but you need to be connected to the web to have up2date data). I’m looking to re-download it from the web, but it seems that the guys who had it in beta, gave it a new home. But this new home is now capitalizing on it and looking to sell components of it (that’s what it seems like, anyway). So they have no direct link to download this application anymore.

Anyway / anyone know where to find a free download of this?

With a group of my girlfriends, we usually get together once a month for a brunch potluck at each others’ houses. Regularly, i bring my homemade banana bread with brown sugar, which always goes down well. So i thought i’d share the recipe. THIS IS NOT MINE, i’m not taking credit, i found it on allrecipes.com, it’s nothing new, but it’s the perfect banana bread.

Banana Bread

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 4 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. Stir in vanilla and banana. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. Blend the banana mixture into the flour mixture; stir just to combine. Fold in walnuts. Pour batter into prepared pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean.

Original recipe is here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Brown-Sugar-Banana-Nut-Bread-I/Detail.aspx

Now, i am looking to diversify. I want to make roesti (which is the swiss version of hash brown potatoes), and am looking for a good recipe (although, again, it’s simple stuff, not brain surgery, so…).

Roesti Potatoes (Swiss Hash Browns)

INGREDIENTS

• 1kg / 2.2lbs of potatoes, boiled in their jackets the day before
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of butter
• 1 to 2 medium onions
• salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

In this recipe you can choose to either make one large roesti or 4 individual ones.

1. Firstly peel the cooked potatoes and grate them through a coarse grater.
2. Slice the onions into thin wedges (Lyonnaise).
3. Melt the butter (please resist the temptationto use oil as you will not have the same result!) in a non-stick frying pan and add the onions and sweat them until they look glassy and transparent.
4. Add the grated potatoes and the salt and stir through. Fry while stirring them around in the pan for about 3 to 5 minutes.
5. Press together to form a flat cake and fry over medium heat until there is a golden crust on the bottom.
6. Place a serving platter on the pan and turn the pan upside down, so the Roesti falls on the platter with the crust on top.

Original recipe: http://www.cuisinedumonde.com/roesti.html

I haven’t tried this last one yet. Does anyone have any tips or tricks for making rosti potatoes? What about other brunch recipes, do you have any to share? What’s the perfect dish to bring to a brunch potluck?

Living in Quebec, Canada, i spend a whole lot of time writing documents in both English and French. With a French mother and a French education, but having grown up in England, i consider myself 100% bilingual.

But even the best of us, occasionally, have moments when we can’t think of the equivalent word in the other language. So, in my browser, at all times, i have at least 2-3 sites bookmarked for finding the fastest answer.

Until now, my main resource was the “Grand Dictionnaire Terminologique” that lets you enter keywords in either languages. But actually, I find that for the “common” words, it always comes up with so many different uses, that it’s overwhelming.

In the past, i’ve used all the other common ones, Reverso, Babelfish… For those, i found that the interface was not user-friendly, especially for someone like me who uses my keyword for shortcuts and hardly uses my mouse.

In the past few weeks, i’ve been using Google Translate (the one that’s part of Google Dictionary, not the actual Google Translate, just follow this link and select your language choice from the dropdown), and my experience has been nothing compared to what it had been when i had tried it a few years back. It’s perfect now, simply interface, 100% accuracy (for me, so far), with just enough different options, but not too many.

Anyone else out there who translated a lot, all day? What are your favorite free tools? Do you pay for translation tools, and if so, is it worth it? Would love to hear from you.