A Scoby in the Chili Oil
The bottle of Sichuan chili oil I made months ago developed a scoby (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast). Time to modify the recipe.
Porked
Made Italian sausage from pork tenderloin and added some fat from a pork butt I had just cut up for pulled pork (cook pork chunks for many hours on low heat with orange juice, garlic cloves and spices). The sausage came out totally dry but when crumbled it was suitable as a supplement to a sad Trader Joe’s frozen processed junk food treat - Bambino Pizza Formaggio. Topped the pizzas with onions, fresh basil and grated Grana Padano.
Tomato Delusions
Wishful thinking led me to believe I could use some ripe-looking tomatoes from Trader Joe’s to make my favorite late-summer dish - pasta tossed in tomatoes, basil, garlic and olive oil. It tasted off somehow. Tomatoes don’t travel well and Seattle is not a tomato town. And it’s April. The coldest April in Seattle since F.D.R. was president.
Tomato Hallucinations
For some reason I thought I could make late Summer tomato salsa with jalapeños, onions, cilantro and lime but it was not great and it ended up in some chicken chili with kidney beans that was also not great. Will try again in July.
Down the Rabbit Hole
One of our teens designed this Easter egg. This digital image of the egg will live for eternity and no, we did not make an NFT out of this but you can do so. Good luck!
That Guy I criticized Died
Scott Morrow, longtime organizer and godfather to Seattle’s tiny-home villages, dies
-Seattle Times
In the Nirvana Wok story Yay! Our First Hate Mail! I wrote that “Morrow seems to revel in the power he has to evict people from homeless camps. Charming.”
In a follow up, Yay! Our First Apology!, I wrote that “A friend pointed out that I needlessly disparaged Seattle activist Scott Morrow.”
The guy may have been problematic but at least he devoted his life to something other than designing software for Raytheon or Boeing or Amazon.
Not a Bagel Town
Ah, the mythical Nirvana Wok headquarters in Seattle. Located in a gentrified neighborhood in one of the richest cities in the richest country in history. And yet - life is so hard. Because the new local bagel place does not meet expectations.
At Muriel’s the Bagel and Lox is $18.50. With tax and tip and a beverage that means your morning bagel is gonna cost you a Jackson plus a Lincoln. Plain bagels are $2.50 each. And they have not perfected their bagels.
Muriel’s did a crowdfunding campaign. I thought crowdfunding was for helping to raise money for people in trouble, not for launching for-profit businesses, but I suffer from tomato delusions and tomato hallucinations.
Without knowing where the good New York bagel places are anymore I searched for Russ & Daughters and found that their bagels – in the most expensive city in America – are $1.50, and a bagel and lox sandwich wih cream cheese is $15.
Muriel’s shares a space with a bookstore and a beer shop in a room packed full of people (not wearing masks - the pandemic is over, apparently) who can afford to be there. Because they work for Amazon - and not in the warehouse. Fine. Amazon (the corporation) did not exist 30 years ago and it won’t exist 30 years from now. Enjoy your fun while it lasts, minions!
Mutual Aid?
Didn’t do any food donations this month. Been busy. Big plans for cooking noodles this Summer using locally made Tsue-Chong products and delivering dishes made with those noodles around town.
–Alex