Skip to main content

Day 9: All is Fine

Here we are, the second weekend indoors.  I resolved to minimize my news intake today, to have an actual rest.  I read a book, did some more yard work, fit in some yoga and meditation, and also...we cooked and ate.

It is amazing how, even with just two adults home, there feels like so many more chores to do now.  Dishes, laundry, the extra cleaning/sanitizing, and preparing three meals a day at home means everything adds up quickly.  I know that others are managing this multiplied by many additional members of the family, some too small to help out much.  My heart goes out to everyone, as we adjust to the new normal.  

Today was a day to use up the leftovers.  On the Must Finish list: a substantial part of the giant tub of baby greens we've eaten all week; expiring today. The second half of the teriyaki pork tenderloin from Wednesday.  The polenta from last Sunday.  And the artichoke tapanade from Tuesday, which is still kicking around the fridge.

Wontons, Two Ways
Assembling our own wontons is something that we wouldn't normally take the time to do.  But now... nothing but time!  I picked up a pack of premade wonton wrappers on a whim during our last grocery shop.  Tonight, they helped us re-imagine a bunch of bits in the fridge.  
The veggie ones (baked) have finely grated carrot, four dried shiitaki mushrooms I found in the back of a cupboard, green onion, garlic, ginger, and the rest of the tub of baby greens, chiffonade for better distribution.  I sauteed the garlic and ginger, then added in the other veggies (mushrooms rehydrated) until heated through. For seasoning, I used Trader Joe's Mushroom Umami seasoning, on a whim.  It was great!  It has a slight bit of red pepper for heat.  Then a drizzle of toasted sesame oil, and we were ready to go. After stuffing, I sprayed with a bit of oil spray, placed on a baking sheet lined w/ parchment, and baked at 425 for 10 minutes.  Next time, I would go lower temp and longer, as some of the dough could've been crispier.  Still, not bad for not using a recipe!

The key to a soft, juicy meat wonton is to really grind the filling it into a paste.  I chopped garlic and ginger in my chopper, then added the pork, cut to 1" cubes.  Pulse with green onion into a paste.  The tenderlion was pre-marinaded, but I added a little soy sauce and sesame oil too, just in case.  Boiled in a frying pan with 1" water, lid on.  5 minutes on each side. They were delicious!

Omelette and Cheese Grits
Jeff took the reins on breakfast.  Omelette had wilted baby greens, sauteed mushrooms, and nubs of Boursin herb cheese.  Cheddar in the grits, topped w/ green onion.


Tapanade Toast, Salad, Apple
It was food.  That we finished before it went off.  Salad had balsamic, apples, and almonds.  The rest of the apple was cut in slices and sprinkled with a bit of cardamom rounding out the meal, bringing it to a sweet end.
That is it for today, friends.  I hope that you found a way to mark the weekend, wherever you are!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Constructivist Crap

Reading this post was like deja vu for me! I took a class just like this as an undergrad... (surprise, surprise) in the education department. I made it through that semester by taking solace in two facts: (a) I was also taking The Sociology of Education in the soc department, with a professor who actually taught the material and (b) most of us in my little liberal arts bubble wouldn't end up teachers, thus wouldn't have an opportunity to inflict such pedagogical torture on kids who needed to actually learn stuff. It would appear that Newoldschoolteacher has neither of those to help her out. God save her. The professor in my class repeatedly insisted that we were a "democratic classroom" and that she wasn't any more of an expert on the material than us. WHAT? I paid good money for that course, money that employed her to teach me. I hope that she was more expert on the material than I was! Also, when I "took responsibility for myself" and said that ...
5 comments
Read more

Privilege of Being

Robert Hass Many are making love. Up above, the angels in the unshaken ether and crystal of human longing are braiding one another's hair, which is strawberry blond and the texture of cold rivers. They glance down from time to time at the awkward ecstasy-- it must look to them like featherless birds splashing in the spring puddle of a bed-- and then one woman, she is about to come, peels back the man's shut eyelids and says, look at me, and he does. Or is it the man tugging the curtain rope in that dark theater? Anyway, they do, they look at each other; two beings with evolved eyes, rapacious, startled, connected at the belly in an unbelievably sweet lubricious glue, stare at each other, and the angels are desolate. They hate it. They shudder pathetically like lithographs of Victorian beggars with perfect features and alabaster skin hawking rags in the lewd alleys of the novel. All of creation is offended by this distress. It is like the keening sound the moon makes sometimes, ...
5 comments
Read more

Singing Metro Man

This morning on the Orange Line train to work, Singing Metro Man made an appearance. If you ride the Orange or the Blue Line, you may know of him...I’ve heard from other passengers that he’s been around for years, though I can only confirm the last three. He’s an elderly Asian gentleman, well-dressed, who steps onto the train right before the doors close. Once the train begins to move, he clears his throat, says a polite but insistent “Excuse me,” and begins to sing a hymn from his songbook. The effect is eerie. The silent morning train, everyone still half-asleep before their first cup of coffee. The whoosh of the tunnel. The man’s gentle, earnest voice singing a capella (he’s not half bad) about how we should trust in Jesus. As he reached his crescendo this morning, I half expected the train to explode or something—the moment just felt very... cinematic. Luckily, life is not a movie, and after the song was done, he wished us all a good day, exited the train and moved to the n...
2 comments
Read more