I hate wisdom teeth.
So one of my wisdom teeth has been coming in and it stopped for awhile so I didn’t make an appointment because I thought it just might go away. Now it’s pushing through again so I’m probably going to have Nathan make me an appointment since I’m too scared to even think about it. Ugh…never had braces or teeth pulled (well by other people) so it’s kind of freaky. But I’m sitting here sort of gnawing on my gum-covered tooth which is kind of weird so I suppose I really ought to just get it over with and have them give me laughing gas.
Nothing new since I’m super boring but I do have some pics. I’ll get the pics out of the way instead of ranting on about something random but I suppose that tactic works for keeping readers but oh well. I made some more stuffed mushrooms last week (or maybe two weeks…I need to update more) but I used a different recipe. Button mushrooms stuffed with seitan, bread crumbs, veggies, and spices. I baked them for about 10min in some olive oil so the juices released and added that to the stuffing. Came out nicely and way easier to eat than portobello or shiitake mushrooms since the button variety are like little wells of yumminess.
I’ve been trying to spice up my veggies for Chinese since it’s good to eat different types of greens but I love bok choy and broccoli so it’s hard to remember there are other veggies in the world. Made some roasted asparagus with peanut oil, toasted sesame seeds, and toasted sesame oil. I generally don’t like roasted food items but didn’t want to boil them or steam them since the wok takes up a fair amount of room and there was a ton of asparagus. The veggies actually ended up being way better the next day…not sure if the oils absorbed into the greens more or what but either way it both days were great.
Tried my hand at Greek dolmas and was surprised to find out that other types of dolmas in that general part of the world mean ’stuffed veggies’ and so many of the recipes I found were for a variety of veggies that were stuffed with the rice mix. I really don’t know why I decided to make a full jar of them since we couldn’t possibly eat the whole platter of them. So I ended up placing them on a plate to freeze the left overs and forgot about them and they ended up with freezer burn. Kind of a waste of food but the rice mix wasn’t all that costly (1 cup rice, onion, random spices) so it was more of a waste of some time but we did eat some so that was a plus.
I should have taken pictures of actually folding them since it was pretty interesting. I layered the first tier of dolmas with extra grape leaves and placed the rest on top. Then I sliced some lemon and also juiced one to add extra flavor. I also added some olive oil. Seriously, those lemon slices released so beautifully and I could really taste the lemon in the dolmas. I’m not sure if the rice absorbed the juice or the leaves but it was really tasty. Personally, I think fresh grape leaves would have a better texture but oh well. I had to let the leaves soak in boiling water for 20mins. in order to get the brine off but I’m not sure if the soaking water even had brine but I did it for good measure. Re thought it was stinky but decided she liked having her face steamed anyway.
The only other terribly interesting thing I’ve made is Red lentil soup with Black rice. Apparently there are two types of black rice (or so I’ve read) and I was worried that I had the sticky, short-grained version but it turns out (after looking up the product website) that I had the medium grain version. The only reason why I was concerned was that I made a veggie soup last week when it was cold and I ran out of rice so I used my short grained rice that I use for sushi. It came out alright but I could taste the difference and since I was already using a new rice I didn’t want it to taste gross. But it was fine so this whole paragraph is pretty much pointless.
I add way too much crap to my food now and I’m sure some professional chef would be grossed out but I just love spices. I won’t even list all the spices but I did cook the rice separately since lentils and rice tend to absorb quite a bit of liquid. It’s kind of joke between the two of us that our stomachs will explode from the ever expanding rice in soups because it feels like it can just keep getting bigger.
Great left overs. We just finished it off today and it really is a great lunch soup…filling but not overly so. And the soup pics look a bit weird in color but I think the yellow one just got a bit too much flash. The orange one is closer to the actual color but the rice actually bled into the soup and made it a purple-tinged orange.
I really need to get around to making tamales but it seems a bit daunting. I’ve been kind of stumped this past week or so on new food since there is only so much I can think up. I reference my cookbooks constantly but I go through periods in which certain foods just don’t sound all that great. I really need to find a good Vietnamese cookbook since I love the soups and Nathan loves that cuisine in general.
I did actually make Tofu lo mein (or chow mein I’m still trying to figure out the difference and apparently one of the two is fried noodles I think) with lots of veggies: onion, broccoli, bok choy, garlic, ginger, snow peas, bell pepper, and bean sprouts. Apparently I’m totally lame because I didn’t realize bean sprouts are mung beans although I suppose I could argue that there are lots of types of sprouts that come from beans but I mean the general term that everyone uses. So I looked lame asking my friend at the market about them but he was nice about it. Anyway, the lo mein was a bit more laborious than I had hoped since I had to fry the tofu first (the whole 14oz. in cute little triangle shapes), cook the noodles, cut the veggies, and then…then finally cook it in the wok.
I’m not sure why I started writing about that but yes…I’m in a food slump. Although maybe to regular folks I seem to have interesting food but I really need to find new recipes.
So yes…I finished my fingerless gloves/mittens finally! I know…I’ve been working on them for some time but I really I finished one glove and then didn’t start the other for awhile. The pattern in my opinion is probably 7 out of 10 since it isn’t all that form fitting and the thumb wasn’t as great as it should have been. Either way, they look cute and I’m at least proud to have finished my first DPN (oooh…double pointed needle) project. What a learning experience. For new knitters as myself, I would encourage people to try it since I find that the first couple of rounds are the hardest to deal with because they seem to be going every direction. But once those rounds were done I notice the needles were less mobile and easier to understand. It’s kind of amazing to read how to do things and then expierence how the yarn and needles work in actuality. Honestly, I kind of like the male version of my gloves better so once I start (and finish) Nathan’s gloves then I might make myself another pair for lil ole me.
My fingers look really fat and I should have cropped them out haha. If anyone wants to make these then the pattern can be found on Knitty.com under archives. Of course I didn’t make the pattern and I can’t make more than one of their published patterns since I’d be violating some copyright so I’m just writing this to make sure no one thinks I’m that creative. Anyway, on the closer pic the cables are easier to see and I’m proud of them since it was my first time trying cables. To be honest I hated starting these at first because of the cast-on method but I doubt many people know this knitting language so I don’t go into it. But really, now that I’ve done the project I must say I like the the cable cast-on method (I believe that is what it’s called but I’m too lazy to look it up again) because it adds a pretty twist to the beginning of the piece.
Exciting times…I finally decided to read Orwell’s 1984 since it’s one of the few books in the house that I haven’t read. I’ve actually tried (along with Crime and Punishment) but I never was able to get past the first 50 pages. But I’ve been really itching to read something that isn’t online so I started reading it and it’s actually pretty interesting. I had a really weird upbringing academically since I moved a handful of times and honestly many of my teachers were either into newer authors or really old, west-oriented pieces. I think the only Shakespeare that I read was Othello and I’ve hardly read any Classic American lit. But now that I’m not under the guidance of teachers/prof.s I get to pick my own lit but too often I pick non-traditional pieces. Which isn’t bad but I suppose I should know what people mean when they reference books but I’m not sure if that makes me a sell-out or a person attempting to learn…probably both. It’s kind of weird because I didn’t realize that I some how jacked the book from my mother since the first page is dated on her birthday and there is a little note about having a nice birthday. I actually never looked at the date and kept wondering who had owned the book before, especially since the note doesn’t make all that much sense…at least to me. But yesterday I noticed the date and thought…wow that is familiar…omg it’s my mom’s book…then…how did I end up with her book?
The book even has those back pages in which people could tear them out and make a mail order for more books from the publisher which I find so funny because I can’t imagine myself doing something like that to a book. I don’t even know if they had copy machines back in 1981 so it just seems like a horrible act to rip a page out of a book. Anyway, I think the book has some interesting points but some of it really rubs the wrong way…maybe it’s my feminist ideology. It just seems (at least from the first half of the book) that the main woman/love interest is so sexual because it is an act of rebellion towards the ruling party. But he writes that she is only interested in rebelling in aspects that pertain to her life…as if her sexuality is one of the primary sources of her intellectual protesting but beyond that she can’t be bothered. I guess I like it on one degree because even in this day women can’t truly be sexually liberal in the main stream (at least from my perspective) so I find the character interesting because she seems to be using sex as a way as a gateway to protesting. But then (at least at this point in the book) she seems to be confined to using sex as her way of expressing anything at all which makes me wonder…why is it that women are either whores or pillars of purity? Maybe it’s hard to analyze the book since it’s was published in 1949 so women’s lib and all that was quite a ways away. It’s almost like Orwell is giving some recognition that women can be strong and rebellious and political but only to a point and then men take over in the truly intellectual arena. The main character loves the intimacy (sex and just human connection) but realizes that his lover can’t see the bigger picture…like he will rise above her in enlightenment and she isn’t more than a slightly more intelligent lower class worker.
I don’t know. I’ll have to finish the book this week and think about it. It’s just hard to understand why authors write so heavily about men/boys/young men/etc. Even some women writers. Maybe it has to be done to sell books. The media is full of male oriented content and sometimes I feel like women are pushed to appriciate a male’s perspective but women’s perspectives are never really delved into. But I suppose there are plenty of examples to counter my statement and I know plenty of films, lit, media, etc that features women but I think there is still room for more media/lit. that explores women and their understandings of the world (even if the women can only fill a few roles at a time…in terms of race, gender, sexuality, class, nationality, etc).
Anyway, that is my random blog for the day. Hopefully it was somewhat enjoyable to read.
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