Made a 24-hour chicken bone broth which I filtered four ways this morning. Now it’s setting up in the fridge, waiting for me to skim off the fat. I’ll freeze it in smaller portions to use in dishes where I want the flavor and smoothness to shine. On Friday, I picked up chicken parts from an Asian market; of course, I couldn’t resist grabbing some Japanese KitKats while I was there.
Category: Home Living
From Ug to Yum
Picked up ingredients for a braise, including one each of these gnarly beauties: a rutabaga and a celeriac.
How We Live
Movie night tonight! The blockbuster anime “The Boy and the Heron” is finally available for rent at a reasonable price. Today, I’ve been skimming the 1937 Japanese coming-of-age novel “How Do You Live?” (in translation, of course), which apparently provides some of the philosophical underpinnings of the movie but not the plot. Interestingly, the novel also makes an appearance within the film itself. The author’s backstory is a lesson for our times as we slide towards authoritarianism.
Scratching for Dollars
Finally got around to scratching my birthday gift from my sister-in-law. The first card revealed I’d won $2. In the end, my total winnings were $7.
Colorful Greens
Picked up a bunch of local Swiss chard to stir-fry with dinner. Normally this veggie is not on my radar, but Dwight suggested I should look out for some.
All Set for Sausage Saturday
Looked straight ahead as I walked past Kramarczuk’s extensive display of cakes to pick up garlicky house-made Ukrainian sausage at the meat counter. Next, I braved the chilly walk-in beer cooler at Surdyk’s, just down the road, for a local brew. Earlier I’d picked up crusty bread, a massive cabbage, and ice cream at Seward… Continue reading All Set for Sausage Saturday
Brushes With AI
At the Victoria & Albert Museum it was Digital Design Weekend. Here, museum visitors are on a date with a difference. They’re communicating via phones using language restricted by AI. Meanwhile another AI system is generating social media comments on how the date is going. Elsewhere, machines creating water colors inspired me to imagine the… Continue reading Brushes With AI
Sunday Afternoon
As you walk through our home today, you walk from great cooking smells to the intense smell of rubbing alcohol. I’ve been preparing dinners through Wednesday, Dwight’s been spraying plants that have attracted bugs. Tonight, mushroom risotto; tomorrow beans (with a Spanish-style sofrito base) and rice; Tuesday, risotto patties; Wednesday, beans and polenta. “Food is… Continue reading Sunday Afternoon
Teacher Appreciation
At Coastal Seafoods, I pointed at a slab of fatty Atlantic salmon and asked for a piece to be cut from the thicker part then deboned. The cashier asked if I was a teacher, as they were offering a 20% discount to teachers. I replied that I was a volunteer English Language teacher, which she… Continue reading Teacher Appreciation
Katydid’s Camouflage Fail
I’ve lived in the Twin Cities for 45 years and only today saw one of these cleverly camouflaged creatures on our window presumably sheltering from rain. It looked like a folded leaf! Its body was about two inches long, and it was walking vertically on its six legs, which seemed to have suction cups at… Continue reading Katydid’s Camouflage Fail