A Nom Heard ‘Round the World

“His house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking, best, or a pleasant mixture of them all.”
~J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Hobbit”

We keep a happy, cozy house here, especially during wintertime. I like to use the phrase, “the luxuries of a hotel, the comforts of home” to describe it, though it may come off being a little arrogant. If you ever have the opportunity to taste my husband’s cooking, you will not think me too unjustly proud.

Jesse cooks almost every night for us. I am the prep cook and clean-up crew. Sometimes I make simple side dishes. For the most part, every night there is cooking to be done, it is done together. It is a pleasure to observe a skilled cook during the creation process. It also makes you gain about five pounds (currently 125 lbs) from eating the result of such artistry. That’s a small price to pay for a home-cooked meal every night, especially when you’ve grown up barely cooking yourself.

It is little known that I love Indian food. Very often, I enjoy it more than sushi, my fare of choice. Maestro turned me on to it years ago when he would constantly rave about he ate: chicken tikka, vindaloo, curry, kebab, etc. (Side note: the best Indian food, outside of India, is in England. You would kill toddlers for this food. I am not kidding.)

Jesse has recently discovered a new Indian recipe website. The best part about this is that it’s designed for two-person servings, as the lady is cooking for herself and her husband. Technically, some of them serve two people twice, but usually when we have a dinner, he takes some the next day for lunch. It is so refreshing to see a food website that doesn’t assume just because you’re married, you’ve got children, or two spare wives, for that matter. He made this for us tonight and it was excellent. Very authentic-tasting, and I highly recommend you try it if you’re in the mood to do so.

“I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate.”
~Julia Child

 

“What a nice night for an evening.”

With a minimum of bloodshed, property destruction and general chaos, our household has changed over to a wireless internet connection. This is wonderful as our router has been repeatedly trying to commit seppuku the past few months, though the problems were minimal and only noticeable on my computer. Then the router started to affect Jesse’s computer’s internet connection in a BIG WAY this week, so something had to be done. We did consider smashing things with hammers as a possible solution but decided against it in the end.

I am so tired. Jesse did all the computer work so it’s not from that. It’s just late.

Side note: I finally tried cactus and lengua today at the taqueria. Lengua is cow tongue and yes I know it sounds gross but it’s actually pressure-cooked for a very long time so the meat is rather tender and very tasty. The cactus was very good too. I had them both on tacos. No, not together. I had four other corn-tortilla-wrapped tasties but those were the only two worth mentioning.

I almost didn’t get the tongue. One part of me was saying, “Dude, it’s going to be all grisly and tough, like the tongue inside your own mouth.” And of course, it wasn’t. So often when we hear that little voice in our head, it’s our way of convincing ourselves through bad logic. Then again, if you actually hear a voice in your head too much, you need to get off the computer and seek medical assistance.

The experience reminded me of something Andrew Zimmern said about the way western people, especially Americans, either get freaked out or disdain other cultures’ foods. Food is such a social paradigm. What seems normal in one culture may seem disgusting in another, so you can’t just take for granted that your way is right. Think eating bugs in Africa is gross? Zimmern’s talked to Africans there who were absolutely grossed out by the concept of cheese. Now just think about what cheese is…cheese is pretty hideous by description no matter how you slice it (no pun intended). But Americans get past that concept every day and eat cheese to their chubby little hearts’ contents. Heck, I’m not a huge fan of cheese but I still enjoy a nice slice of Gouda on a tasty water cracker.

It’s strange. People get scared of food. Not because it’ll make them sick, like from food poisoning, but just because it will taste bad or gross them out in some fashion. Both states are extremely temporary. You try it; you move on. I admit I used to be the world’s pickiest eater. I learned that trying new foods is just like getting into a swimming pool. Just dive in. Sometimes it’s hard to get on the diving board, but if you just go for it, you’ll feel a lot better afterward that you did.

Next time we go, I’m trying the cow head. Cheers.

“Getting older is no problem. You just have to live long enough.”
~Groucho Marx

 

“It’s a piece of cake to make a pretty cake.”

The past couple of days have been busy. Jesse’s been putting together his new Warhammer collection, and thankfully, the cats have not discovered his goblin horde yet. He also discovered the new Asian grocery store in Reno that he says is excellent. They have everything he needs for his new foray into curry-making and Thai cuisine, and the proprietor is amiable and knowledgeable. (I did not visit the store as I was home waiting for a package from UPS to arrive.) He came home with some sake, some plum wine, and a sake bottle and glasses set.

We had some of the plum wine tonight. The grocery store proprietor said that if we were ever tired, we should eat one of the plums inside the wine.

A reasonable facsimile of our booze

Now then, it is no secret I dislike white wine. I find it too sour. However, the plum wine was decidedly fruity, both sour and sweet at the same time, with a sweet, light aftertaste. It was the most bizarre, incomprehensible alcohol I’d ever had. Jesse couldn’t figure out if he liked it or not initially, but the complexity grew on him. He concurred that it was “good”, and I would have to agree. If you’re ready for an adventure into something different, an Asian plum wine might be for you.

On my end, I’m making swift progress through my Algebra “review book” and I made a spice cake today. Yes it was from a box but Alton Brown says it’s okay to do so. So nyah.

Every so often, I like to check out urban exploration sites. I love seeing the pictorials, reading the history of the towns and locations, and seeing how the decay of time changes the world around us. It’s interesting to see how nature is so resilient and always makes its way back to recover what it had lost. Today, I’d like to present to you a little town which suffers a fate that seems stranger than fiction:

Centralia, Pennsylvania – zip code 17927
also known as “The Real Silent Hill”

As recently as 1981, there were over 1,000 residents living in Centralia, although the population has now dwindled to 11 (we’ll say that again: 11 people) as a result of a 40-year mine fire burning beneath the borough (we’ll say that again: it’s been burning for 40 years… underneath the town). This is certainly not unlike Silent Hill, which was left deserted since devastating coal fires ravaged the town and its people.

The inferno started when a trash fire was lit in an abandoned mine pit in Centralia in 1962. The fire ignited an exposed vein of coal and spread throughout the mines beneath the borough. Several attempts have been made and millions of dollars have been spent unsuccessfully to extinguish this fire that still burns today.

The “problem” wasn’t really acknowledged until a series of accidents in the ’70s and ’80s, including the appearances of sinkholes hundreds of feet deep. In 1984, Congress allocated more than $40 million for relocation efforts, and most residents moved to nearby Mount Carmel and Ashland.

However, a very few families opted to stay, and they’re still there, despite the fact that the state of Pennsylvania has condemned all the buildings in the borough and the US Postal Service has revoked its zip code of 17927. The 11 holdouts include the town’s 89-year-old mayor, Lamar Mervine, who refuses to leave because “I like it here.”
http://www.offroaders.com/album/centralia/Silent-Hill.htm

The town was the basis for the “cinematic version” of Silent Hill, according to the both the Offroaders.com site and the Centralia Wikipedia entry. Here is more about the town, the history of the mine fire, and photo gallery. I highly recommend looking at the photo gallery:

Reading the Wikipedia entry, it looks like the population of Centralia is now down to nine.

 

“If you talk to God you’re religious. If God talks to you, you’re psychotic.”

So you go to the internet, the bastion of all things good and gracious in this wide world, in search of a tasty yellow cake recipe. The internet is tricksy, however. It has other plans for Ye Olde Google Searche. Instead of your goal, you get side-tracked looking in awe at this real recipe for Tufeen Hushani (Vulcan Wedding Cake). This blew my mind only slightly less than when I found out that Klingon and Elfish (from Lord of the Rings) both have complete and extensive linguistic rules, structures and alphabets.

I think I need to start updating this in the morning. In the evening, I’m too easily distracted by people or things. My brain has more momentum around 6 a.m. from morning chores than it does around 10 p.m. Speaking of chores, I still have to brush the cats.

I started on my math review project today. My major at TMCC is going to be Computer Science, which will require a good amount of math. Plus, I’m going to have to take an ACCUPLACER exam before school starts. The test is mandatory and is used to place students in math/English courses when they haven’t taken the SAT/ACT (or in my case, haven’t taken it in many moons.) I’m not sweating the English side of things at all. My math skills need work though. I’d like to place high so I have less math to take before transferring to UNR. So long story short, I’m starting back at Algebra to review what I used to know.

It’s amazing what your brain retains, especially at the mechanical level. So much information came back to me today which I thought I’d forgotten, and I felt oddly at peace doing my math problems – it was almost meditative. Since it was all review, I found myself doing my math problems back the way I used to when I was 14. Only when I started stressing about the placement exam did the process get sour. I am pleasantly surprised that my brain hasn’t completely gone south on me, and that there is still some processing power in it yet.

I think the secret to success for this whole project, and math in general, will be to embrace the subject, rather than avoiding it as I did for so long. I think that if I meet these challenges head-on, apply myself, and have confidence, I will have great success.

“A man has one hundred dollars and you leave him with two dollars. That’s subtraction.”
~Mae West

 

“There are only ten minutes in the life of a pear when it is perfect to eat.”

So it has been a few days since I wrote last. A few things have happened, not least of which is the whole “new prez” gig. I even voted this time ’round, having not voted since California (e.g. Los Angeleans) chose to oust Gray Davis in exchange for Ahnold back in 2003. (Fun fact: I voted for Schwarzenegger.)

All of the Nevada propositions were all terribly boring in comparison to the flashy gay marriage/medical marijuana/euthenasia propositions bouncing around the rest of the nation. Example: one of ours talked about getting rid of the six-month Nevada residency requirement before being able to become a registered voter in Nevada. Something about it’s actually supposed to be one-month residency requirement and that it was going to go that way no matter what or go to the Supreme Court or Congress or not and that a vote for it was to repeal it or a vote against it was to get rid of the limit and I can’t recall what I put. I think it was Yes to get rid of it, but really, if you live someplace for less than six months, are you that inclined to vote in local politics? I can’t remember what people voted for either.

One must remember, though, that Nevada is a state with legal prostitution. Not much fazes the inhabitants of a land where it can snow and wildfire and one can lose one’s entire life fortune in the same day. It will probably be a very long time before we get an exciting proposition on the ballot.

It being Jesse’s birthday yesterday I was busy for two days straight getting preparations ready. After a talk with Krakatoa, I felt a lot more confident about venturing back into the Congo (a.k.a the kitchen), machete and whip in hand. I made a yellow cake with chocolate icing in the day, which was “okay” as I forgot a critical point in baking: always follow a recipe exactly. My mistakes: not having a standing mixer, using regular baking flour instead of the cake flour I bought ESPECIALLY for that recipe. Anyway a hand mixer doesn’t cut it when dealing with cake. You must bring out the big guns.

I am surprised we have survived this long without a food processor and a standing mixer. Add to that list a a bread maker but fortunately I am getting that from my in-laws for XMAS. I have wanted one for years. Jesse always contended that we had a bread machine already: the oven. Hrmph. He does agree with me on the mixer and the food processor, however.

But I digress…for dinner, we had baby greens, lobster bisque and marinated grilled shrimp. I also got us a bottle of merlot and yes I know I should have gone with the white because it’s a seafood dinner and blah blah blah. Call me a barbarian but I find most white wines to be incredibly bitter.

The dinner, unlike the cake, was a rousing success. My shrimp got an 11 on a scale of 1-10. My cake got a 6. The taste was better than the appearance for the cake but it was my first. It really was “the thought that counts”. I ask Jesse for honest judging because that’s how I can tell how I’m progressing. Now with the cake, I knew it wasn’t going to score terribly high because I couldn’t stop laughing at it after I made it. I kept imagining the cake on this website and it made me cackle every single time.

Fun baking learning experience: Put on sprinkles before you put a cake into the fridge. Once a cake’s frosting is cold, the surface is too hard for traction. Sprinkles will go simply EVERYWHERE when the birthday recipient goes to blow out the candles.

Jesse’s brother, David, called while I was grilling the shrimp (on the cast iron grill, no less.) His brother was envious that Jesse was getting such a nice dinner for his birthday. David’s wife (who as I’ve said before is even less of a cook than I am) made him pancakes for his birthday. She cooked them on a surface that was too hot and burned the outsides black while keeping the insides mushy. He described them as “Oreos”.

“The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.”
~Calvin Trillin

 

“Welcome to the Church of the Holy Cabbage. Lettuce pray.”

I have a few major problems whenever I decide what we’re going to have for dinner that day or week. It is up to me, mostly, being the one who is learning to cook, to choose what I will be making.

One: I can’t figure out what I want as there are so many choices on the internet and in the cooking books we own – most of which don’t really excite me. Hello people: casseroles are easy but they are not good. Well not usually. Most are bland and lifeless. If I wanted that on a platter, I’d order something from Applebee’s. And the recipes that do excite me require me to have a hunting license.

Two: Sometimes the thought of food makes me just sick to my stomach. There are times food is fabulous and I’m starving so it’s definitely on my mind. It’s that time when I enjoy picking out recipes. Two hours to spend on a recipe seems fine. Other times, the whole process just disgusts me.

Three: Cooking in general – I wouldn’t do it if I lived alone. There’s nothing quite like making art and then getting rid of it entirely. What a waste! You’ve spent X amount of time on a meal and then nothing ultimately to show for it once it’s been eaten, except a load of dirty dishes. Yes, you could take a photo but that is not quite the same as making a painting or a sculpture. Cooking only matters when it’s for other people. Well on top of that, most recipes somehow imagine everyone on the planet living in groups of 4-12 people (serving sizes).

Add to that my complete disdain for grocery shopping and you’ll see why I struggle with this whole “learning to cook” thing.

Jesse has requested that I make him something for his birthday using either the dutch oven or the pressure cooker (both which he got as birthday gifts from his parents.) That said, I am very angry at the dutch oven because Jesse thought it would be a fine idea to store soup in it overnight (it is not a fine idea, it turns out) and I had to strip it of its seasoning finish and re-season it, which didn’t turn out the way I wanted. Everyone on the internet has a different idea of how to re-season cast iron and CLUTCH THE PEARLS if you don’t do it in the proper fashion. So far my experiences with cast iron and the care of have been less than illustrious. I think I will see what can be made with the pressure cooker. And so far no recipes stand out in my mind.

I’ve never had an issue with eating a lot or an obsession with food. I love good food and believe in “quality over quantity” but if I’m not hungry, I really can’t stand to think about eating. Maybe that’s kept me thin all these years – maybe that’s one reason why I’m still a beginner cook.

We’ll see how this struggle of mine pans out. Pun intended.

“It’s so beautifully arranged on the plate – you know someone’s fingers have been all over it.“

~Julia Child