11.08pm 30 Oct 2006 Monday
I've been having the most bizarre dreams recently. Each dream features different characters but the underlying theme is the same - in all of them, I'm somehow involved with someone I'm not supposed to, and all the protagonists have, at one point, been the object of my affections.
Today you feel very far away. Talking to you and the kids on the phone felt so much like a chore, an unfamiliar burden. I don't want to have stepchildren. I don't want to have debts to start off my independent life. Those are problems that should be worrying me when I'm older, not while my contemporaries are talking about the latest fashion or their daddy-sponsored graduation trip.
When will you finally leave me alone? Perhaps the conviction that marriage as an institution is nothing to be revered, nothing sacred has finally been drummed into my head.
But that's not why I came in here to write today. I had been looking for some recipes for the upcoming party when I stopped by some food blogs. It seems that everyone is blogging, everyone is cooking and everyone loves eating so much, that a food blog is dime in a dozen. If writing served only as a salve to my soul, then why was I so bothered that there's nothing unique about the things I do?
The truth is, I'm probably like every other blogger, writing for an audience and waiting for my shot at 10 seconds of fame.
Maybe we all seek different things in love. You seek support and encouragement, while I see your suggestions as fuel to a grandiose puff of smoke. Right now I feel like at the end of this all, there will be nothing left of me but a pile of debts, a garbage can full of castles in the sky, and a pathetic heart full of misguided optimism.
I struggle with how to end this essay because I think of Alan, and how easily hurt he was. There was a discernible change in that carefree lark's personality after I told him to harden his heart, and I will never forget how I took a fragment of my boy's poetic soul. But the question now is, who are you going to be true to? A self that is always checking itself in trying to be PC, or a self that shows the world how bitter, vindictive and quarrelsome she truly is, deep inside the black heart?
Monday, October 30, 2006
Thursday, October 19, 2006
One
9.51pm 19 Oct 2006 Thursday
I had to dig through all my godly possessions to find my SS card and just as I was cursing and swearing at myself for throwing it away accidentally, I found it amongst a pile of old correspondence.
How long should one keep letters? I could never bring myself to throw away some things: red packets (I came up with the idea that it was inauspicious to do so) and letters/cards from friends. So I had a ball of a time looking through all those letters and cards I had even forgotten about. Of course now I regret deleting 'Tis so completely, because it'd have been fun looking back and reading those entries.
But I digress. The post is named "One" to commemorate what else, but our first anniversary. It has been one long year, and I'm happy to say that I think it'll be the start of many years.
When H and I first started out, I was unsure about the whole relationship. Every other day I thought about giving up, something which I thought I had quit doing since I was 15. We quarrelled about big things like the relationship itself, and how we were communicating. And we quarrelled about small things like can-you-do-the-dishes-NOW.
We moved in together. I visited Germany in all its cold and (unusually) snowy glory and fell in love with the adorable cottages. You visited Singapore and together, we visited everything I grew up with, even the Zoo. Throughout this 1 year, we were in 5 different countries (Germany, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, USA), visited 11 different cities (Kiel, WHV, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Bangkok, Singapore, Bintan, Las Vegas, Prescott, San Francisco, LA) and even took 2 long haul flights together without breaking up. Not to mention competing together in 4 different competitions (Smash Bash, Mettendorf, UA, GCSG) and losing in all of them; and finishing a 5000 (??) piece jigsaw puzzle in a goggly-eyed-and-tiring week or so.
Then we moved apart, and for a while there, I relished my newly-regained independence so much, I envisioned being alone. And one day, it dawned upon me that I'm happy in the relationship with you. Without even realising it, I had stopped running. The distance made me realise how accepting you were of my shortcomings, and how well we matched each other like lock and key.
Sometimes the lock refuses to open even when you jiggle with the key for 15 minutes (reminds me of my bike lock during freshman year - it'll always not lock/ not unlock when I'm in a rush) but most of the time the well-oiled duo fit perfectly and open up to each other without as much of a pip squeak.
I know I still think of Jeremy, and how intense the feelings had been, and I compare those times to our vanilla existence. But you know, the more I think about the past, the more I realise how flawed memories can be. I see things clearer than before - that a relationship doesn't always present its prettiest self when you first approach it, but in time you'll catch a glimmer of its brilliance and in time, as you chip the rough exterior away, you'll be left with a jewel. But as with all jewels, it requires polishing and care and all that good stuff.
So there. Happy Anniversary my dear KKK/BR/SSS!
I had to dig through all my godly possessions to find my SS card and just as I was cursing and swearing at myself for throwing it away accidentally, I found it amongst a pile of old correspondence.
How long should one keep letters? I could never bring myself to throw away some things: red packets (I came up with the idea that it was inauspicious to do so) and letters/cards from friends. So I had a ball of a time looking through all those letters and cards I had even forgotten about. Of course now I regret deleting 'Tis so completely, because it'd have been fun looking back and reading those entries.
But I digress. The post is named "One" to commemorate what else, but our first anniversary. It has been one long year, and I'm happy to say that I think it'll be the start of many years.
When H and I first started out, I was unsure about the whole relationship. Every other day I thought about giving up, something which I thought I had quit doing since I was 15. We quarrelled about big things like the relationship itself, and how we were communicating. And we quarrelled about small things like can-you-do-the-dishes-NOW.
We moved in together. I visited Germany in all its cold and (unusually) snowy glory and fell in love with the adorable cottages. You visited Singapore and together, we visited everything I grew up with, even the Zoo. Throughout this 1 year, we were in 5 different countries (Germany, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, USA), visited 11 different cities (Kiel, WHV, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Bangkok, Singapore, Bintan, Las Vegas, Prescott, San Francisco, LA) and even took 2 long haul flights together without breaking up. Not to mention competing together in 4 different competitions (Smash Bash, Mettendorf, UA, GCSG) and losing in all of them; and finishing a 5000 (??) piece jigsaw puzzle in a goggly-eyed-and-tiring week or so.
Then we moved apart, and for a while there, I relished my newly-regained independence so much, I envisioned being alone. And one day, it dawned upon me that I'm happy in the relationship with you. Without even realising it, I had stopped running. The distance made me realise how accepting you were of my shortcomings, and how well we matched each other like lock and key.
Sometimes the lock refuses to open even when you jiggle with the key for 15 minutes (reminds me of my bike lock during freshman year - it'll always not lock/ not unlock when I'm in a rush) but most of the time the well-oiled duo fit perfectly and open up to each other without as much of a pip squeak.
I know I still think of Jeremy, and how intense the feelings had been, and I compare those times to our vanilla existence. But you know, the more I think about the past, the more I realise how flawed memories can be. I see things clearer than before - that a relationship doesn't always present its prettiest self when you first approach it, but in time you'll catch a glimmer of its brilliance and in time, as you chip the rough exterior away, you'll be left with a jewel. But as with all jewels, it requires polishing and care and all that good stuff.
So there. Happy Anniversary my dear KKK/BR/SSS!
Sunday, October 08, 2006
The most important ingredient
9.17am 8 Oct 2006 Sunday
Eating is about the exquisite tastes and the warmth that envelopes you when you enjoy the food.
Cooking, is a process of accumulating faith.
Today I woke up and decided to make a quiche. As I was researching for a good recipe, I changed my mind and tried a pot pie recipe instead.
On Friday I had felt adventurous and bought a butternut squash despite H's warning that he didn't really like it. It was certainly hard to prepare, since that darn thing was as tough as bricks, but I managed to chop it up without destroying the countertop nor losing any fingers. The taste of a boiled butternut squash was.. not repulsive. Maybe I can ignore its taste in the final product.
Then I started making the sauce with my own proportions because I was too much of a skinflint to waste, ahem, I mean use, all my good Kerrigold butter for the recipe. So la di da di da... everything looked ok, until I tasted it. Somehow there was this flat taste so I thought maybe the flour was undercooked. The Sambuca I added had a strong licorice taste that I didn't like, but well, I'll cook it a little longer to evaporate more of the alcohol. Eee and I think my veggie stock has that strong weird taste I can't even identify. Must have been the carrot tops. After 10 minutes, I realised that the taste wasn't going to change anymore and I just have to make do with what I had. It's just 4 meals anyway.
I dumped the veggies into the sauce unceremoniously and stirred, a little disappointed at the whole experiment. After transferring the filling into 4 ovenproof bowls, I decided to eat the rest of the veggies instead of trying to stuff everything in.
To my great surprise, the unassuming veggies and the weird tasting sauce that I didn't even fancy, somehow morphed into a totally different taste when mixed together. The licorice/ anise taste from the Sambuca faded into the background. The sweetness of the butternut squash shone through the savoury, creamy sauce. Heck, even the potatoes tasted good with a little bit of the sauce.
Then I came to my great big conclusion: The most important ingredient of all, when cooking, is faith. It isn't about a million and one herbs to spice the thing up, nor does it rely on expensive and high quality ingredients. I had went with my instincts to use only 1/4 of the butter called for, 1/4 the amount of onions, homemade veggie stock in an estimated amount, and a whole lot of veggies. I took a shot at adding the amount of flour, and milk instead of cream. The original recipe had fennel, saffron, pearl onions, blah blah... I don't have no fancy schmancy fennel (and I think I'd have died from the licorice overload) so I just dunked in whatever I had, in a proportion that felt right.
You see, I realised a commonality in all my cooking attempts - it's all about faith in your ability to get a right feel for the right mix, the right taste. And a finished dish is not about its individual components, but the sum total of all your intuition.
Eating is about the exquisite tastes and the warmth that envelopes you when you enjoy the food.
Cooking, is a process of accumulating faith.
Today I woke up and decided to make a quiche. As I was researching for a good recipe, I changed my mind and tried a pot pie recipe instead.
On Friday I had felt adventurous and bought a butternut squash despite H's warning that he didn't really like it. It was certainly hard to prepare, since that darn thing was as tough as bricks, but I managed to chop it up without destroying the countertop nor losing any fingers. The taste of a boiled butternut squash was.. not repulsive. Maybe I can ignore its taste in the final product.
Then I started making the sauce with my own proportions because I was too much of a skinflint to waste, ahem, I mean use, all my good Kerrigold butter for the recipe. So la di da di da... everything looked ok, until I tasted it. Somehow there was this flat taste so I thought maybe the flour was undercooked. The Sambuca I added had a strong licorice taste that I didn't like, but well, I'll cook it a little longer to evaporate more of the alcohol. Eee and I think my veggie stock has that strong weird taste I can't even identify. Must have been the carrot tops. After 10 minutes, I realised that the taste wasn't going to change anymore and I just have to make do with what I had. It's just 4 meals anyway.
I dumped the veggies into the sauce unceremoniously and stirred, a little disappointed at the whole experiment. After transferring the filling into 4 ovenproof bowls, I decided to eat the rest of the veggies instead of trying to stuff everything in.
To my great surprise, the unassuming veggies and the weird tasting sauce that I didn't even fancy, somehow morphed into a totally different taste when mixed together. The licorice/ anise taste from the Sambuca faded into the background. The sweetness of the butternut squash shone through the savoury, creamy sauce. Heck, even the potatoes tasted good with a little bit of the sauce.
Then I came to my great big conclusion: The most important ingredient of all, when cooking, is faith. It isn't about a million and one herbs to spice the thing up, nor does it rely on expensive and high quality ingredients. I had went with my instincts to use only 1/4 of the butter called for, 1/4 the amount of onions, homemade veggie stock in an estimated amount, and a whole lot of veggies. I took a shot at adding the amount of flour, and milk instead of cream. The original recipe had fennel, saffron, pearl onions, blah blah... I don't have no fancy schmancy fennel (and I think I'd have died from the licorice overload) so I just dunked in whatever I had, in a proportion that felt right.
You see, I realised a commonality in all my cooking attempts - it's all about faith in your ability to get a right feel for the right mix, the right taste. And a finished dish is not about its individual components, but the sum total of all your intuition.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
YUMMY!
4.03pm 7 October 2006 Saturday
Remind me of the reason I don't cook often please.
*thinks hard*
OK, I hate cleaning up, but there's the dishwasher to help me out. I've to vacuum and mop the floor after my efforts because I'm too messy, but hey, might as well kill 2 birds with 1 stone, right?
I digress.
This afternoon I decided to try my hand at making lemon curd and a butter pound cake for tea, and I must say that there's nothing better than an unexpected success. Am eating my cake with the lemon curd, and both taste so delicious!
I mixed up the number of lemons and limes I have on hand but since I've already started the whole process, I thought I'd follow it through and see how the whole thing turned out. It involved about 30 minutes of hand whisking since I don't have the nice and convenient immersion whisk H's mum uses for her jams, but once you get into the rhythm of the whole business it actually feels rather therapeutic to just whisk and not think. The end product of all that whisking was a beautiful buttercup yellow, semi-liquid... curd of a creamy consistency. I poured most of it into a container but shoved the rest into the freezer so that I could eat it with my cake, and lo and behold. After about 7 minutes the thing took on a fantastic texture but best of all, the taste is so refreshing, I feel like I'm almost going to break out in sweat.
First of all, it's not too sweet. Secondly, it's wonderfully tart despite adding only 1/2 the amount of lemons the recipe called for. Thirdly, the mouthfeel of the lemon curd as it enters your mouth is.. so silky and smooth! I mean, I can eat this with scones, ice cream, even plain because it doesn't feel like a jam, which is what I think of it as. Somehow as I savoured its taste in my mouth, it felt like I was eating the essence of a lemon. Lemon ice cream is usually to tart for me, and lemonade usually has so much sugar that my tooth aches. This recipe has such a great balance between sweetness and tartness, that I cannot imagine another ratio.
My next accomplishment that left my kitchen in a mess from all the weighing (which I inadvertently always manage to spill no matter how careful,) was a pound cake. H laughed at my ignorance for not knowing the name "Pound Cake" was derived from the fact that the simple recipe consisted of 1 pound each of flour, eggs, sugar and butter. My goodness, that must be part of the reason why only rich people get fat - I don't think people can afford such luxuries back in those days of early settlement! The scrooge in me protested loudly when I measured out 1/2 measures of everything, which to me, was far more than enough. There was nothing difficult about the pound cake - mix and pop into the oven. That's it! Geez. Had I known it was so easy, I'd never have stupidly thrown my money at Sara Lee... The end result was a pretty golden cake with a rich egg-y and buttery taste. Yum yum..
Hrm. I've to say, discovering the Miss Read series really made me feel... homely. I've always liked cooking and baking, and to be honest, I do so because I'm sick of eating out. Anyway. Making the granola stuff and today's stuff really makes me feel alot more contented. Just hope I can do it more often when H and I are together. All my thoughts of cooking fly away when he's here. mm.. think I'll do this again when my mum, aunt, H and his parents come! It'll be such a delectable afternoon tea.. =)
Recipe for lemon curd: (Adapted from Alton Brown's recipe available at Food Network)
5 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice (reserve zest - might be a good idea to chop it up into small pieces)
1 stick of butter cut into pats and chilled
Steps:
1. Prepare a double boiler with gently simmering water. A gentle simmer means you can see an occasional bubble burst onto the surface. Use a pot that is just slightly bigger than your bowl - DON'T LET THE BOWL TOUCH THE WATER!
2. Using a bowl slightly smaller than the pot so that it can still fit into the pot but not touch the water, whisk egg yolks with sugar till creamy.
3. Add lemon juice + zest. Whisk till creamy. I only had 2 lemons, so I added the juice from 2 limes.
4. Put the bowl over the double boiler. MAKE SURE BOWL DOES NOT TOUCH WATER. OK, if I repeat something 3 times, it must be important right..?
5. Whisk the mixture for about 8 minutes till it thickens. What does thicken mean..? At the start of the reaction you'll see a liquid-y mixture. Upon heating, the egg yolks get cooked and the whole mixture thickens like a scramble egg. You want to whisk all the time so that the mixture will be smooth!
6. When you're satisfied that the mixture has thickened, remove from heat. Immediately whisk in the butter you've chilled previously, 1 pat at a time till it's completely melted. (I got tired at the end at stopped with about... 1/5 of the butter left so you can always judge for yourself.)
7. At this point, your curd is done! Transfer into a contained and gently put plastic wrap on the curd itself to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate to solidify the curd, and use within 2 weeks.
NOTE!!! A little bit of lemon curd goes a long way so be prudent in using... Now I've a whole lot left on my plate because I was too greedy, but on the other hand I'm too parsimonious to throw it away...
Recipe for Pound Cake: (I kind of made it up..)
200g butter
about 50g cream cheese
230g flour
250g eggs (weighed with shell on)
210g sugar
pinch of salt
pinch of baking powder
pinch of baking soda
Preheat oven to 350F or 170C
1. Cream butter and cream cheese.
2. Add sugar and whisk till creamy.
3. Add in eggs 1 by 1. (I used 4 eggs)
4. Sift in flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
5. Mix till just incorporated - minimise mixing to keep cake soft and fluffy!
Bake till stick inserted comes clean. (Mine took about 45 mins, some recipes gave 1h 15 mins, so just bake for 30 mins and observe its progress.)
Remind me of the reason I don't cook often please.
*thinks hard*
OK, I hate cleaning up, but there's the dishwasher to help me out. I've to vacuum and mop the floor after my efforts because I'm too messy, but hey, might as well kill 2 birds with 1 stone, right?
I digress.
This afternoon I decided to try my hand at making lemon curd and a butter pound cake for tea, and I must say that there's nothing better than an unexpected success. Am eating my cake with the lemon curd, and both taste so delicious!
I mixed up the number of lemons and limes I have on hand but since I've already started the whole process, I thought I'd follow it through and see how the whole thing turned out. It involved about 30 minutes of hand whisking since I don't have the nice and convenient immersion whisk H's mum uses for her jams, but once you get into the rhythm of the whole business it actually feels rather therapeutic to just whisk and not think. The end product of all that whisking was a beautiful buttercup yellow, semi-liquid... curd of a creamy consistency. I poured most of it into a container but shoved the rest into the freezer so that I could eat it with my cake, and lo and behold. After about 7 minutes the thing took on a fantastic texture but best of all, the taste is so refreshing, I feel like I'm almost going to break out in sweat.
First of all, it's not too sweet. Secondly, it's wonderfully tart despite adding only 1/2 the amount of lemons the recipe called for. Thirdly, the mouthfeel of the lemon curd as it enters your mouth is.. so silky and smooth! I mean, I can eat this with scones, ice cream, even plain because it doesn't feel like a jam, which is what I think of it as. Somehow as I savoured its taste in my mouth, it felt like I was eating the essence of a lemon. Lemon ice cream is usually to tart for me, and lemonade usually has so much sugar that my tooth aches. This recipe has such a great balance between sweetness and tartness, that I cannot imagine another ratio.
My next accomplishment that left my kitchen in a mess from all the weighing (which I inadvertently always manage to spill no matter how careful,) was a pound cake. H laughed at my ignorance for not knowing the name "Pound Cake" was derived from the fact that the simple recipe consisted of 1 pound each of flour, eggs, sugar and butter. My goodness, that must be part of the reason why only rich people get fat - I don't think people can afford such luxuries back in those days of early settlement! The scrooge in me protested loudly when I measured out 1/2 measures of everything, which to me, was far more than enough. There was nothing difficult about the pound cake - mix and pop into the oven. That's it! Geez. Had I known it was so easy, I'd never have stupidly thrown my money at Sara Lee... The end result was a pretty golden cake with a rich egg-y and buttery taste. Yum yum..
Hrm. I've to say, discovering the Miss Read series really made me feel... homely. I've always liked cooking and baking, and to be honest, I do so because I'm sick of eating out. Anyway. Making the granola stuff and today's stuff really makes me feel alot more contented. Just hope I can do it more often when H and I are together. All my thoughts of cooking fly away when he's here. mm.. think I'll do this again when my mum, aunt, H and his parents come! It'll be such a delectable afternoon tea.. =)
Recipe for lemon curd: (Adapted from Alton Brown's recipe available at Food Network)
5 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice (reserve zest - might be a good idea to chop it up into small pieces)
1 stick of butter cut into pats and chilled
Steps:
1. Prepare a double boiler with gently simmering water. A gentle simmer means you can see an occasional bubble burst onto the surface. Use a pot that is just slightly bigger than your bowl - DON'T LET THE BOWL TOUCH THE WATER!
2. Using a bowl slightly smaller than the pot so that it can still fit into the pot but not touch the water, whisk egg yolks with sugar till creamy.
3. Add lemon juice + zest. Whisk till creamy. I only had 2 lemons, so I added the juice from 2 limes.
4. Put the bowl over the double boiler. MAKE SURE BOWL DOES NOT TOUCH WATER. OK, if I repeat something 3 times, it must be important right..?
5. Whisk the mixture for about 8 minutes till it thickens. What does thicken mean..? At the start of the reaction you'll see a liquid-y mixture. Upon heating, the egg yolks get cooked and the whole mixture thickens like a scramble egg. You want to whisk all the time so that the mixture will be smooth!
6. When you're satisfied that the mixture has thickened, remove from heat. Immediately whisk in the butter you've chilled previously, 1 pat at a time till it's completely melted. (I got tired at the end at stopped with about... 1/5 of the butter left so you can always judge for yourself.)
7. At this point, your curd is done! Transfer into a contained and gently put plastic wrap on the curd itself to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate to solidify the curd, and use within 2 weeks.
NOTE!!! A little bit of lemon curd goes a long way so be prudent in using... Now I've a whole lot left on my plate because I was too greedy, but on the other hand I'm too parsimonious to throw it away...
Recipe for Pound Cake: (I kind of made it up..)
200g butter
about 50g cream cheese
230g flour
250g eggs (weighed with shell on)
210g sugar
pinch of salt
pinch of baking powder
pinch of baking soda
Preheat oven to 350F or 170C
1. Cream butter and cream cheese.
2. Add sugar and whisk till creamy.
3. Add in eggs 1 by 1. (I used 4 eggs)
4. Sift in flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
5. Mix till just incorporated - minimise mixing to keep cake soft and fluffy!
Bake till stick inserted comes clean. (Mine took about 45 mins, some recipes gave 1h 15 mins, so just bake for 30 mins and observe its progress.)
Friday, October 06, 2006
Super Size Me
10.30pm 6 October 2006 Friday
OK, I know I'm a little late in watching the movie but tonight I finally sat down in front of the computer to watch the DVD of Super Size Me from my friendly neighbourhood library, with my piping hot dinner before me. The movie started, and the dinner was soon forgotten (although it was a perfectly healthy dinner of kai lan with beef and mushrooms...).
An incredible documentary, although I did google on it to see if there were any alternative views offered. Apparently a Swedish professor replicated the experiment to results that were much less horrific than that of the movie's producer. That was most curious, although I wonder if they took all the blood tests right after a meal or after fasting, since the baseline data was based on fasting levels.
In any case, the comparison of food decomposition was certainly interesting - my rubbish smelt so bad after I stupidly threw out a piece of frozen meat on Saturday night when garbage collection was on Wednesday, that I cannot imagine why or how it's possible that the french fries didn't decompose after 10 weeks. Could be the high salt content since salt is an antimicrobial agent. Whatever the reason is, I'm glad I've never had MickeyD's since I came here, except for an odd McGriddle once in a blue moon.
It's funny how people arrive at food choices - Initially when I first came to the US, I made a conscientious effort to avoid McDonald's except an occasional breakfast. But over time, I didn't even have to go out of my way to accomplish that. But I definitely agree with the correlation of food and memories. When I was a kid, we used to go to McDonald's for breakfast only when my dad was in a good mood. So I naturally associated McD's Hotcakes with Sausage with Good Times. When I came here,you can imagine my ecstasy at trying out IHOP's pancakes, the Good Egg's pancakes, and eventually H's pancakes. You marvel at the things you used to eat before you discovered the Real Thing. H's pancakes only consist of flour, milk, eggs, and butter for the pan. That's it!!! I don't even want to think of what McD's pancakes contain..
But anyhow. Back to my point. I was going somewhere with all these thoughts... Take for example today, when I spent $52 on groceries. I bought a small piece of beef (about 3oz, which is the correct amount for 1 serving of meat) and I felt like a miser because it was half the size of 1 package of meat that's supposed to be some guy's steak. And I didn't even manage to finish half the beef, despite it being tender, juicy and flavourful! The only other meat I got was like, 100g of ground pork, which is get this, only 20% of the smallest packet available, but slightly more than the recommended serving size! Assuming that I cooked with the groceries I got today (you can even subtract like, $5-10 for the non-food items), I can eat for at least 5 days on all those ingredients; I'll probably meet all the nutritional needs I have... The only problem is, people ignore the long term costs associated with fast food and only focus on the short run.
Sure, I spent time making dinner. Of course I had to move to get the food on the table. But consider this - you've to drive to the restaurant (10 mins), look at the menu (5 mins), order and wait (10 mins) = 25 mins before you eat! I can probably cook something that I really want within that time span too. After H left and I had to start cooking again, I realised what a terrible lifestyle we were living - lunch AND dinner AND occasionally breakfast outside. Now the kitchen is messier than it was, and I often violate my own no-dishes-overnight rule, but I think overall I'm eating better, and I'm actually exploring different types of food.
Ah well. Not very coherent thoughts but all-in-all, I'm giving myself a pat on the back for making granola and granola bars for school next week. I've come to realise that I'm one of those people who eat and eat throughout the day, and if I don't eat something at 11-ish, I get grouchy, grumpy and pretty unhappy in general. So will try my new granola stuff to see if it helps... Made 3 kinds!
1. AB's Maple flavoured granola - made with rolled oats, almonds, pecans, brown sugar, butter, 100% pure vanilla extract, 100% pure maple syrup!
2. AB's granola bars (1) - made with rolled oats, wheat germ, almonds, hazelnuts, brown sugar, butter, mesquite citrus honey I bought at the Farmer's Market today from the beekeeper himself, and golden raisins.
3. AB's granola bars (2) - all of the above, sans golden raisin, but with some old-fashioned peanut butter made with nothing but peanuts + salt, and choc chip!
All taste pretty good, although I think I added a little too much salt so everything is tasting a bit weird. Still good, of course. Will be making something involving lemon somehow or other, most probably a lemon curd of some sorts, and sandwiched between two butter cookies.. mm yummy!
Very tired - will have a nice soak in the tub with my newly bought dried flowers and Epsom salts. Anticipating a good night's sleep!
OK, I know I'm a little late in watching the movie but tonight I finally sat down in front of the computer to watch the DVD of Super Size Me from my friendly neighbourhood library, with my piping hot dinner before me. The movie started, and the dinner was soon forgotten (although it was a perfectly healthy dinner of kai lan with beef and mushrooms...).
An incredible documentary, although I did google on it to see if there were any alternative views offered. Apparently a Swedish professor replicated the experiment to results that were much less horrific than that of the movie's producer. That was most curious, although I wonder if they took all the blood tests right after a meal or after fasting, since the baseline data was based on fasting levels.
In any case, the comparison of food decomposition was certainly interesting - my rubbish smelt so bad after I stupidly threw out a piece of frozen meat on Saturday night when garbage collection was on Wednesday, that I cannot imagine why or how it's possible that the french fries didn't decompose after 10 weeks. Could be the high salt content since salt is an antimicrobial agent. Whatever the reason is, I'm glad I've never had MickeyD's since I came here, except for an odd McGriddle once in a blue moon.
It's funny how people arrive at food choices - Initially when I first came to the US, I made a conscientious effort to avoid McDonald's except an occasional breakfast. But over time, I didn't even have to go out of my way to accomplish that. But I definitely agree with the correlation of food and memories. When I was a kid, we used to go to McDonald's for breakfast only when my dad was in a good mood. So I naturally associated McD's Hotcakes with Sausage with Good Times. When I came here,you can imagine my ecstasy at trying out IHOP's pancakes, the Good Egg's pancakes, and eventually H's pancakes. You marvel at the things you used to eat before you discovered the Real Thing. H's pancakes only consist of flour, milk, eggs, and butter for the pan. That's it!!! I don't even want to think of what McD's pancakes contain..
But anyhow. Back to my point. I was going somewhere with all these thoughts... Take for example today, when I spent $52 on groceries. I bought a small piece of beef (about 3oz, which is the correct amount for 1 serving of meat) and I felt like a miser because it was half the size of 1 package of meat that's supposed to be some guy's steak. And I didn't even manage to finish half the beef, despite it being tender, juicy and flavourful! The only other meat I got was like, 100g of ground pork, which is get this, only 20% of the smallest packet available, but slightly more than the recommended serving size! Assuming that I cooked with the groceries I got today (you can even subtract like, $5-10 for the non-food items), I can eat for at least 5 days on all those ingredients; I'll probably meet all the nutritional needs I have... The only problem is, people ignore the long term costs associated with fast food and only focus on the short run.
Sure, I spent time making dinner. Of course I had to move to get the food on the table. But consider this - you've to drive to the restaurant (10 mins), look at the menu (5 mins), order and wait (10 mins) = 25 mins before you eat! I can probably cook something that I really want within that time span too. After H left and I had to start cooking again, I realised what a terrible lifestyle we were living - lunch AND dinner AND occasionally breakfast outside. Now the kitchen is messier than it was, and I often violate my own no-dishes-overnight rule, but I think overall I'm eating better, and I'm actually exploring different types of food.
Ah well. Not very coherent thoughts but all-in-all, I'm giving myself a pat on the back for making granola and granola bars for school next week. I've come to realise that I'm one of those people who eat and eat throughout the day, and if I don't eat something at 11-ish, I get grouchy, grumpy and pretty unhappy in general. So will try my new granola stuff to see if it helps... Made 3 kinds!
1. AB's Maple flavoured granola - made with rolled oats, almonds, pecans, brown sugar, butter, 100% pure vanilla extract, 100% pure maple syrup!
2. AB's granola bars (1) - made with rolled oats, wheat germ, almonds, hazelnuts, brown sugar, butter, mesquite citrus honey I bought at the Farmer's Market today from the beekeeper himself, and golden raisins.
3. AB's granola bars (2) - all of the above, sans golden raisin, but with some old-fashioned peanut butter made with nothing but peanuts + salt, and choc chip!
All taste pretty good, although I think I added a little too much salt so everything is tasting a bit weird. Still good, of course. Will be making something involving lemon somehow or other, most probably a lemon curd of some sorts, and sandwiched between two butter cookies.. mm yummy!
Very tired - will have a nice soak in the tub with my newly bought dried flowers and Epsom salts. Anticipating a good night's sleep!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)