Today, I did many things. I got up early and read the newspaper. I made breakfast. I bought a new nike+ kit since my first sensor died. I ran. I applied for a job. Also, Lindsay and I went to Chipotle for lunch. It was tasty. You can see the photographic evidence here: Lunch at Chipotle
Oh my. This is so boring. Tomorrow, perhaps, I’ll write a better post. It might be fictional, though. You’d be okay with that, right? Let me know.
We saw CJ7 today (IMDB page, Wiki page). It was a fun movie. We didn’t really know what to expect; Seth’s students had said it was an action movie, while the girl who sold us the tickets said it was a little bit of everything. It was fun, but since it’s not available in the states yet, I’m not going to say anything more. Well, except that we liked it and I recommend it if you can find it.
Things I Can Do In The US That I Can’t Do In Taiwan:
So, I decided to make some no-bake cookies tonight.1 I used my regular recipe, and then added a scant cup of pistachios (mmmmmm………). They’re awesome, sure, but I overboiled the chocolate before I added the oatmeal and the pistachio, so they cookies are dry and crumbly, which just bugs me to no end. Seth sees no problem (chocolate? yup. oatmeal? uh-huh. pistachios? check. awesome? you betcha.), and yeah, sure, they taste good, but they’re just. not. right. So, no recipe, since I want to make a pretty post with pictures (of proper-looking no-bakes, not dull, crumbly piles).
Anyway, we had some (very) minor issues with our tickets. We bought them through a consolidator (or something, I dunno really), and as it turns out, they’re paper tickets. Paper. I had no idea paper tickets even still existed. So, of course, those tickets need to be shipped, which brings the cost up such that any savings we realized from going through this place initially is pretty much completely obliterated. Bah. They’re on their way now, anyway (well, I think - I asked that they hold off on shipping them until Friday so that they’d be sure to arrive on a work day, since our mailing address is, uh, our work address), so it’s done.
And, yeah, that’s the news. Since I completely forgot to post yesterday, today we’ve got a double header:
Things I Can Do In The US That I Can’t Do In Taiwan:
Today, in my kindy class, I let my students “read books” as they finished their snack. They love this, even though they don’t so much read as idly look at the pictures and then leave the books on the floor to stomp on as they go for another. I don’t really expect much more from three-year-olds, but it’s a little hard on the books. It’s especially hard on the hard-cover picture books with regular, thin paper. For whatever reason (I’ve given up on trying to find any logic in almost anything I don’t understand here, especially as it relates to this particular job), we don’t have many board books, but lots of pretty picture books.
Guess what? A few finally broke under the stress of providing 15 3-year-olds with such unrestrained entertainment. One lost 2 or 3 pages, but the other one actually BROKE - its spine split and the covers tore apart. My co-teacher sort of lost it on the kids, and wanted me to back her up. I did, but only half-heartedly. It seems unrealistic and unfair to expect these kids to understand how and why to treat the books properly, and honestly, I’ve never heard her say anything to the kids regarding the proper care and feeding of the pretty books (in Chinese or English), and nothing I’ve ever said about being nice to the books has really registered (them not really speaking much English and all). I think if I ran the world (or just had some modicum of authority over the materials my classroom was equipped with), I’d toss most of the regular picture books (or at least hide them and use them for story time only), replace them with lots more board books (and maybe even some fabric books) of the more indestructable variety, and enjoy the fact that the kids want to read books instead of getting angry when they love them too violently. (Oh, and I’d make sure a lot more of them were in English, since it’s a bilingual kindy and the parents are clearly paying a premium for all that super English learning. But that’s another issue, I guess.)
Things I Can Do In The US That I Can’t Do In Taiwan:
We woke up to a dry sky today, the sun struggling to (and briefly succeeding in) breaking through the cloudes. Two days in a row, people, TWO DAYS IN A ROW. Call the news stations, notify your neighbors - it’s a freakin’ miracle.
And, for a fun non-sequitor, I’d like to introduce a short series, folks. It’s called “Things I Can Do In The US That I Can’t Do In Taiwan” and I’ll post one thing a day.
Things I Can Do In The US That I Can’t Do In Taiwan:
So, tomorrow is the last day of kindy for a while. We’re taking next week off at management’s suggestion, and then Chinese New Year begins the following Wednesday, so we’re lumping that Monday and Tuesday in with the week off. We’re both really looking foward to some time to sleep and get over the lingering illnesses we’ve both been dealing with. Also, I’m thinking I might try to knit a bit.
In the meantime, we made a mad-dash run to Costco tonight after classes. Seth wanted to pick up some Jelly Bellys for his kindy and I wanted to replenish our supply of flour tortillas. Oh! The flour tortillas? They are fantastic. With scrambled eggs and the pesto I’ve mentioned before, they make a quick and easy supper. They only appeared in the last few weeks, I think, and I’m glad they’re here now. I’d missed them. Oooo, maybe this weekend we can run down to Taoyuan to get some more beans and then have burritos. Come to think of it, we probably really need to do that anyway soon, since I promised Kate some Mexican eats while she was here visiting over the holiday.
Mmmm….time off with Mexican and margaritas….I can’t wait.
Whooo, boy. I made dinner over an hour ago and I’m still saying to Seth, “Really - that was really good! It was good, right? I mean, really good? It was good.”
It seems so obvious - mixing two of my favorite pasta sauces together and dumping them on some noodles. But, in this case, I think the sum is greater than it’s parts. I think I’ve found my new awesome fantastic dish to serve people so they’ll think I’m super. I’m almost reluctant to share it, but then, it’s so good, you really ought to be able to have it.
Okay folks, here it is: Macaroni and Cheese with Pesto. That’s it!
Granted, when I say Macaroni and Cheese, I don’t mean the blue box. No, sirree! I mean a home-made mac and cheese. I personally fall in the bechamel/stovetop camp, and I think in this case, especially, the creamier sauce-style dish works better than an oven-baked custard style. Basically, make your roux and then (this is important!) add heavy or whipping cream. Really, 2% or skim isn’t going to cut it. Then add some American (I know! It’s a travesty! But really, the taste works here, I promise), sharp Cheddar (see? I redeem myself), and Parmesan cheese (ooooh! It’s a three-cheese party now!), and mix until creamy. Now, dump in an obscene amount of Pesto. No, really. That spoonful you’ve got there? Not enough. No - more. More. Oooookay, now you’re about there. Taste it real quick. Good? Eh, it could probably use a little more pesto.
Stir the cheese and pesto into some pasta (I used Radiatori - lots of nooks and crannys for the sauce!), add a little salt and pepper if you want, and holy moly is it good.
My macaroni and cheese varies a little everytime I make it, and the variation is always dictated by a few things. First, the cheese - American, Cheddar and Parmesan were what I had in the fridge. I’ve made it in the past with farmer’s cheese, white queso, Gruyere, Havarti, whatever. It’s all good, really. Second - I’m lazy. I can’t be bothered to measure the butter or the flour or the milk when I make the bechamel. I do it by feel and smell and the way it looks. I used to measure and time it carefully, getting out my Joy of Cooking every time. But then I moved to Taiwan, and that was one of many books that didn’t make the trip with me. So, you know, look up a recipe if you need to, as long as it’s a bechamel with cheese you like, you can’t go wrong. Third, the pasta! Any shape will do in a pinch, but I find that I take a special delight in eating my mac and cheese when it’s not just a boring tube of macaroni. I mean, I call it mac and cheese, but that’s so you know what I’m talking about, not because it’s actually macaroni. Spiral shapes are probably my favorite, but this radiatori may be surging ahead of the spirals and spiral variations.
Oh! And although I may by raked over the coals for this one, you don’t need fresh pesto. I mean, really? In January? If you’re living in the northern hemisphere, have fun with that one. Besides, fresh pesto is best tossed with some bowties on a summer evening, when you’re really craving the flavor of green. As a component, the just-chopped and blended freshness is probably lost. Don’t get some completely crap canned pesto or anything, but a decent prepared pesto will do the trick - mine comes from Costco.
Oh, my - American cheese and commercially made pesto from Costco. And still, it was good enough that I’m still thinking about it (and trying to taste it still on my tongue) almost one and a half hours later. Truly, this was swoon-worthy pasta. Go make yourself some.
*Radiators with cheese and pesto. Pasta always sounds better in Italian, doesn’t it?
Oh, black beans, I love you. For you, I will ride a train over an hour each way to get to the store that sells you. For you, I will pay more than is really reasonable. For you, I will spend my free afternoon in your pursuit.
In return, you give me a taste of home. You give me fiber while keeping most of the calories away. You give me a quick meal without the guilt that ramen brings to the bowl.
Black beans, I think it’s time I made my commitment to you public. There are times when I try to branch out, or I go away and it’s hard to find you or make time to seek you out. But I’ve realized the folly of my way. You and me, black beans, we go together like peas and carrots, like biscuits and gravy, like peanut butter and chocolate. You and me, we’re okay on our own, but we’re better together. From here on, it’s you and me, baby - I’ll make sure I always have you around.
I love you, black beans.
I hate it when experiments fail. Even though, by definition, that’s what happens with experiments more often than not.
I’ve made a few batches of No-Bake Cookies this month, and I plan to make some for our Christmas party. I also thought I’d like to try to find some recipes that use rice, since that’s more plentiful and cheaper than wheat flour. Not rice flour, but rice. Cooked rice. Do you see where I’m going?
Cooked rice is a softish grain that still has some tooth to it, like oatmeal. Alas, it doesn’t seem to work as a replacement for oatmeal in No Bakes. I put it 6 cups of cooked rice (twice the amount of oatmeal called for!), and either I really screwed up when I was cooking the chocolate and drastically undercooked it, or there’s some thickening property of oatmeal I hadn’t considered. Considering it now, I guess oatmeal does thicken when cooked like there’s some starch there, unlike rice, which is all distinct little granules, huh? Dur. So, now I’ve got a bunch of chocolate and rice puddles hanging out on parchment paper. Maybe I’ll try scraping it all back together and incorporating something that might help bind it. Like, I dunno, oatmeal. Or maybe I’ll dump in some hot cocoa mix - that might be interesting, right? I mean, as they are now, I’ve pretty much written the cookies off.
Don’t worry though, if you’re planning to come over - I’ve got a new canister of oatmeal, so I can make a standard batch that should be fine. I got a lot of chocolate chips today at Costco, too (seriously, an embarassingly large amount of chocolate chips), so we’ll have all sorts of variations on chocolate chip cookies. I got the goods to make brownies, too, and assorted other spendid sugary, high-fat, yummy treats.
Also? I still have lots of rice to play with. How’s rice pudding sound? Oooh, or maybe I’ll try puffing rice (I’ve read it’s similar to making popcorn) and make some rice krispy treats!
Well, maybe not the last one. Another batch of brownies would probably by a good deal easier and more likely to taste good.
While our friends and family at home are finishing up their power-free stints courtesy of one absolutely wicked ice storm,
we’re missing the winter weather, (well, I am,) because it’s between 60 and 80 F on any given day here. Granted, with 100% humidity virtually 100% of the time, anything below maybe 68-70 is a little cold, especially on a scooter. Still, most days it feels like a crisp mid-spring or early-fall day, which makes holiday spirit a bit difficult to muster at times.
So we’re manufacturing it! We made a tree on the wall entirely out of lights and tape, (pictured at the top in glorious low-res animated .gif!,) and though neither of us are fans of blinking Christmas lights, they’re stuck on blink because they don’t work without the blinker bulb at the end, and didn’t come with non-blinker replacements. No biggie, really, we’re just glad to be starting our decoration.
We’re having a party for Christmas, we’ve invited all(?) of our friends in Taiwan (unless we’ve missed anyone, in which case, if you read this and didn’t recieve an invitation, please feel free to drop in) and we’re going to eat cookies and stuffing and basically all of a Christmas dinner minus the main courses, because our oven is actually a toaster oven (no one bakes here) and it just isn’t quite big enough for a turkey. We’re planning to do a small gift exchange, and to watch lots of classic Christmas specials and movies, and to just enjoy each others’ company and be family to each other. We and most of our friends here have come to think of each other as surrogate family, especially those at Hess, because we just need it here. We have some friends who are quite well travelled and have spent holidays alone abroad before and not been at all bothered by it, and are just so bummed by the conditions at this school that they feel they really need it this year. That’s not happy, change of subject!
So we’re cleaning house/watching TV right now, off and on, and Lisbeth’s making some cookies, too. We’re pretty stoked to see everyone, and to have people to spend Christmas with. It’s always been one of my favorite times of year, partially for the complete and total unpredictability of it (my family has an unofficial tradition of celebrating Christmas differently every year) and partially because it’s just great to see people you love.
Merry Christmas to all of you at home, all of our family and friends. We’ll miss you all this holiday, and we hope we can see every one of you in the months following our return home, or in the month during which we visit home, if we decide to stay here more than one year, which quite frankly is still undecided for us at this point. Despite some negative experiences we’ve already whined and moaned about here, and quite a few more we haven’t discussed here, we’re really enjoying this country, and (probably shouldn’t post this next statement where my employers might see it) though there is absolutely zero chance at this point, particularly after an event this past week that I won’t get into at the moment, that anything on Earth could persuade us to sign on for a second year with Hess, if we can find employment at some other place next year, there is every possibility we’ll stay here a while longer.
Sorry there was so much un-Christmas-y stuff in there, but there are a few days left until Christmas. I promise I’ll post at least one all-cheer-no-gripe post before it passes.
PS: The photo set of the ice storm was shot and posted by Jon Brisbin. He’s a great guy I know from writing (and a few other English related) classes at Pitt State. I don’t know if I’ve linked him before on here, but I think I should go ahead and name-drop him now while he still knows me, because I’m about as sure as I can be that within the foreseeable future you’ll be able to purchase novels with his name on the cover. Pop on over to his blog, he’s full of interesting thoughts, and had some great stuff about the recent ice storm, elements that photos and even television news coverage (I got to see NBC’s coverage because I discovered this week they’re video podcasting the Nightly News now) can’t express. And when you see this, Jon, you’ll be glad to know that though Lisbeth and I have considered ourselves to be an OS-agnostic household, we recently picked up a MacBook, and we’re total converts now. We have Windows, Linux, and OSX in the house, and now anything other than OSX borders on infuriating an awful lot of the time. Never would have guessed I’d be as thoroughly sold as I am as quickly as I was.