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I am sick.
Fiance gets colds more frequently then I do and I generally manage, through fastidious hand-washing and withholding smooches until he's stopped coughing, to dodge whatever it is he brings home. I did not manage it this time. I am now on Day 5 of being full of goop and sounding like Tom Waits and right when I keep thinking I'm beating it it rolls back on in.
Worst part was I wasn't sick enough to skip work on Thursday and Friday (though I wasn't especially productive either), but I was sick enough to miss out on an outing I had planned today.
---
Fiance and I did go back to our local Renaissance Fair on Saturday, which was one of the two things I was supposed to do this weekend and which probably did not make my sinuses any better given how dusty it was. I've already been a couple of times this year and the part that I like best about Renn Faires are the artists and craftspeople selling things, so I've more or less seen everything new and made most of the purchases I can afford/have room for. Fiance is more into the dressing-up aspect of it, and I am as well, but my "costume" is a bit cobbled together and I've been hesitant to make the investment to make it more complete.
Plus, I went in costume for the opening weekend this year and that was the weekend I thought I'd lost my engagement ring and spent an hour bawling on my friends' shoulder while a crowd of other people looked for it, and I was so ashamed at being emotional and not helping to look that now I'm nervous to bring my costume back out in case anyone recognizes that I was The Crying One.
(We did eventually find the ring - someone found it in the same place we lost it and contacted the Fair lost and found and we got it back the next weekend - which of course made me even more embarrassed about having a meltdown about it. I've been drinking less at Fair after that weekend.)
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As a way to mitigate my own stress about environmental news, I've been looking at more vegetarian or low-meat recipes, and as a birthday gift my brother got me Jose Andres' Vegetables Unleashed cookbook to aid in my ventures. It's a fantastic book, full of stories and scrumptious-looking photographs, but there's the small hiccup that the average recipe in the book requires a) a grill, which I don't have, or b) two to three hours of prep time, which I rarely have. There are some that could be doable on a weekend that I'd like to try, though. And for all its elaborately-prepared recipes the book also showed me how to cook corn on the cob in the microwave, so that was a timesaver on its own.
I've also been using bok choy more in stir-fries and as a side dish (since the grocery store near me has it in stock now) and while I greatly enjoy its flavor I do not enjoy that cleaning and slicing it takes approximately a year. Am I being finicky and over-trimming it? Is that what's going on?
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I have been good about keeping hydrated and eating easy to digest things but if my throat is still gross by the end of today it may be hot toddy time.
Fiance gets colds more frequently then I do and I generally manage, through fastidious hand-washing and withholding smooches until he's stopped coughing, to dodge whatever it is he brings home. I did not manage it this time. I am now on Day 5 of being full of goop and sounding like Tom Waits and right when I keep thinking I'm beating it it rolls back on in.
Worst part was I wasn't sick enough to skip work on Thursday and Friday (though I wasn't especially productive either), but I was sick enough to miss out on an outing I had planned today.
---
Fiance and I did go back to our local Renaissance Fair on Saturday, which was one of the two things I was supposed to do this weekend and which probably did not make my sinuses any better given how dusty it was. I've already been a couple of times this year and the part that I like best about Renn Faires are the artists and craftspeople selling things, so I've more or less seen everything new and made most of the purchases I can afford/have room for. Fiance is more into the dressing-up aspect of it, and I am as well, but my "costume" is a bit cobbled together and I've been hesitant to make the investment to make it more complete.
Plus, I went in costume for the opening weekend this year and that was the weekend I thought I'd lost my engagement ring and spent an hour bawling on my friends' shoulder while a crowd of other people looked for it, and I was so ashamed at being emotional and not helping to look that now I'm nervous to bring my costume back out in case anyone recognizes that I was The Crying One.
(We did eventually find the ring - someone found it in the same place we lost it and contacted the Fair lost and found and we got it back the next weekend - which of course made me even more embarrassed about having a meltdown about it. I've been drinking less at Fair after that weekend.)
---
As a way to mitigate my own stress about environmental news, I've been looking at more vegetarian or low-meat recipes, and as a birthday gift my brother got me Jose Andres' Vegetables Unleashed cookbook to aid in my ventures. It's a fantastic book, full of stories and scrumptious-looking photographs, but there's the small hiccup that the average recipe in the book requires a) a grill, which I don't have, or b) two to three hours of prep time, which I rarely have. There are some that could be doable on a weekend that I'd like to try, though. And for all its elaborately-prepared recipes the book also showed me how to cook corn on the cob in the microwave, so that was a timesaver on its own.
I've also been using bok choy more in stir-fries and as a side dish (since the grocery store near me has it in stock now) and while I greatly enjoy its flavor I do not enjoy that cleaning and slicing it takes approximately a year. Am I being finicky and over-trimming it? Is that what's going on?
---
I have been good about keeping hydrated and eating easy to digest things but if my throat is still gross by the end of today it may be hot toddy time.
sick
(no subject)
And so much sympathy on losing your engagement ring, too, oh my gosh! No wonder you were upset. I'm so glad you got it back. And I'm glad you've gotten plenty of time to look around the Renn Faire this summer -- I haven't been to one in years and years, but I remember there being some really cool offerings.
I wish I could offer you some amazing plant-based recipes, since I'm a vegan, but I'm also pretty new to cooking anything more complex than, like, oatmeal, so my repertoire is still quite limited. But go you for finding a way to make a difference that feels right to you!
1/2 since I'm grabbing computer time in the morning.
Everyone at the fair was so, so kind and generous when I first lost the ring, too. So many people were just passing by and stopped to help look, got me glasses of water when I was crying, everything. There's one of the vendors that my friend runs the counter for who let me stay up on the couch in their booth until I felt well enough to go back to the car and reassured me that people go through the fairgrounds during the week with metal detectors specifically to turn lost jewelry and keys into the lost and found. He even gave me a silver ring from his stock - as a gift, he wouldn't take money for it - so that "I would still have something for my ring finger". I was absolutely blown away by how good everyone was to me.
I'll have to post the links for a few of the regular vendors at our fair, but if I had the space for it I would own so very many art glass and stoneware mugs. I can't always afford the jewelry or ironwork on display there (or, for the ironwork, I'd have no place to put it if I could), but I can afford mugs and there are so many pretty ones every year.
Re: 1/2 since I'm grabbing computer time in the morning.
It's wonderful that people were so kind, especially the one who gave you the silver ring, oh my gosh! That's beautiful. And I'll look forward to taking a look at any links you post.
2/3 probably because I think I had more to say but it's super late
One of the things trying out more vegetarian recipes has made me realize is how much my previous vegetable preparation relied on "put vegetable in pan, add oil and garlic, wait for magic to happen". I knew so few actual recipes! I've had to try deep-frying things despite not having a frying thermometer or any idea what I was doing! It took days to clean up!
I don't know if I'd call it 'making a difference' - I want to maintain perspective on how much any individual action is actually worth in the long run - but the thing is doing these personal actions also makes it easier for me to then talk to to others about those actions, and encourage and help them to do what I'm doing, because I have more resources to point them towards and advice I can give them if they want it.
Re: 2/3 probably because I think I had more to say but it's super late
You know, I totally went back and forth about my phrasing in that sentence before settling for "making a difference". Maybe "slightly reducing your personal contribution to particularly harmful industries while giving yourself a tangible reminder of your values" would have been a better fit?
Anyway, I love your point about it making it easier for you to talk with other people and give them help and advice. Any individual action is obviously extremely limited in its effect, but maybe you can be part of a shift in the society-wide conversation. Or at least share some delicious recipes, I guess?
(no subject)
"Having a tangible reminder" is a very good way to put it! I keep feeling like I need to be doing more, taking more dramatic action and being more involved in local activist efforts, but at the same time I feel like if I try to go directly from "spending my free time mostly at home" to "trying to organize and participate on things on multiple weekdays - even perfectly legal action", then I'll burn out and go to meetings for two weeks and then stop after that.
I don't know. There's a lot to think about, and my thoughts aren't super organized, and now that I've finally got my life to a place that I'm happy with I worry that that comfort is a liability now. But I don't want to not be happy!
One day I'll have to actually trace my thoughts out about all of it.
(no subject)
Much sympathy on the whole doing what you can without burning out thing. If you ever do put your thoughts into words, I'd be interested in reading them!
(no subject)
Also if you want to try some easier/beginner recipes, the Veganomicon (Isa Chandra Mowskowitz) is a pretty excellent oldie but goodie, I’ve had my copy a long time, and I still use it as a reference. The chili recipe is really good, and the pound cake and vegan pastry cream are pretty solid. There’s also a good recipe for curried carrot dip that I definitely recommend. There’s a new book out this fall titled Whole Food Cooking Everyday by Amy Chaplin that’s supposed to be pretty excellent, but I haven’t had a chance to look yet. If you want to try Israeli and Israeli inspired recipes, you might look into the series of books by Yotam Ottolenghi: Jerusalem and Plenty More are my favorites, the recipes are a bit more complex, but they’re very adaptable.
I hope you feel better soon!! ❤️
(no subject)
I have been meaning to get lavender! I don't have any at the moment, but my friend was kind enough to make me lavender-infused sugar. Also, among my fancy gin collection is a set of lavender-infused gin from a distillery/lavender farm about an hour from my house. I suspect neither of these will have the medicinal properties of the lavender plant itself but they do smell very nice.
And I'll have to try the gin in black tea idea, especially with the lavender gin! I've been meaning to find more warm drinks to make as the weather gets colder. As much as I like hot toddies it'd be nice to have more options.
Thank you for the book recommendations! I'm especially intrigued by the idea of the vegan poundcake recipe that actually tastes good, haha. I've had more vegan baked goods over the past few months since some of my coworkers are vegan and bring in cookies or brownies, and I've been pleasantly surprised by most of them! They tend to have a texture a bit like carrot cake or cornbread, but I like both of those things, so it works out.
I'd love to try the Israeli cookbook too! One of the things I tried making on my new recipe adventures was falafel. Unfortunately I kind of leaped into it without realizing I didn't have the equipment to deep-fry anything, so I ended up using my Dutch over as a deep fryer and having to clean carbonized oil off of it for days. Plus, no oil thermometer, which means the oil got too hot and the bigger falafel balls didn't cook all the way through, and because the oil probably burned I couldn't save it for another time and I ended up having to take it to the county recycling to throw it out instead. It tasted okay but if I make it again I'm definitely just making little pancake-shaped falafels in an inch of oil instead of trying to impromptu deep-fry.
(no subject)
Between the air fryer and the sous vide (which I also super recommend), we almost never use the oven or stove, waaaaaaay less mess all around to clean up.
Honestly, if you can find it one of the best cake books for vegan baking is called “Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World”. It’s also by Isa Chandra Mowskowitz (and also way old), but all the recipes are excellent! In general, with vegan cake baking the best thing I’ve ever learned is that 1) you can replace eggs with a tablespoon of vegetable oil per egg and 2) for any recipe that calls for milk/buttermilk, measure an equal amount of soy milk into a container and whisk in a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to it for every 8 ounces of liquid; allow it to set for five to ten minutes to curdle and then add it to the recipe, it works very well (and is basically vegan buttermilk). If you look for it, you might be able to find a used copy, but I think that book might be out of print.
(no subject)
I also assumed that they'd be expensive, so I'm glad to hear that they're not! A lot of the recipes in the Jose Andres cookbook call for frying so being able to do that without days of cleanup would open up my horizons a lot. I'll have to bring it up to Terry and see what kind he'd want!
(Plus we were just looking for stuff we could put on a wedding registry since we have most of what we need - mixers, toaster oven, Instant Pot, stuff like that. An air fryer would be exactly the kind of thing we could ask for!)
I knew that adding vinegar to regular milk would make buttermilk, but I didn't know you could do that with non-dairy milks! I also had no idea that you could swap out vegetable oil for eggs - I knew about swapping it for butter, but I figured you'd need more protein to actually substitute for eggs. That was why you had people using aquafaba as an egg substitute, because the beans gave it protein. But according to the Test Kitchen (since I only am just reading the details now) aquafaba doesn't actually have that much protein? So much more research to do!
(no subject)
The bottom line is that there are so many interesting options!
(no subject)