Things I learned today: North Korea apparently has the nickname "Hermet Kingdom." An innocent-sounding name, but that regime is one fo the most brutal at punishing defectors or people trying to escape, often torturing and killing those who try to escape but are caught; really terrible stuff. There's a lot going on in the world that's horrible and wicked that feels difficult to comprehend, like the Israeli military forces now using what happened on Oct. 6 to go after Hamas in a brutal way but also killing civilians in the process. A classic "fighting wrongs with more wrongs" scenario. It makes one thankful to be living in America, where immediate death or threat to one's life (some counties excluded), but then again we're entering a Presidential election year where it's almost certain Trump and Biden are going to have a rematch, and more likely that we have President Trump again by next year (even if he's in prison). 2016 (a lot of celebrities died, Trump turmoil) and 2020 were NOT peaceful years.... taking a deep breath that we whistle past the graveyard this year.
On the bright side this year, MJ has already made some great dishes for us to eat thanks to a meal service called Purple Carrot. Lots of veggies, whole foods, new ideas, and "protein-rich" courses....trying to avoid processed foods as much as possible this year. (I'm also trying to implement anger management control on myself because for aforementioned reasons, there will likely be quite a lot of triggers). Farro was one of the ingredients in an excellent salad dish that didn't make me full but made me feel healthy; no I did not know what farro was before eating. Apparently it's one of these "ancient" foods that have been around since the Mesopotamia civilization, and it tastes, smells, and feels like rice. As a kid in my Chinese food-eating household I would have just called it "rice." There is, apparently, a lot of distinction between grains than just "rice" like basmati rice, jasmine rice, sapphron rice, and then a bunch of rice substitues like farro and couscous, something I warmed up to due to it feeling a little less coarse than rice. Feels like eating Dip N' Dots except without the sugar and ice cream of Dip N Dots. Then there's this Italian dish called arancini or "little oranges" that are just rice balls that I'd like to try. I guess I was just not a very adventurous eater as a kid (although my weight certainly reflected that I was), the sad thing is I got chubby just from eating the same ol' same ol' without even trying new ethnicities of food or learning what I was eating, basically just inhaling food to satisfy my hunger, which is ANOTHER thing I'm trying to do this year, chew food more (fletcherizing) and take my time eating. Not the easiest thing to do on a busy work schedule, but important for health.
Due to my limited cultural aptitude for fine dining options (if only there was an SAT for food vocab in high school, I would have studied my butt off) I am terrible at the food and drink categories in trivia, and the worst part is some of those meat courses like osso bucco (Italian dish of bone marrow) or beef wellington, I now probably won't experience because I don't want to make MJ feel bad, when I go to a fine dining option it is usually with MJ in tow, unless of course there is a vegan version of them, which is becoming more and more common: we went to a vegan Chinese restaurant in London and if they can make Fuqi Feipian (or husband and wife meat slices) into a vegan dish, anything is possible. Seriously, I'm just waiting for duck l'orange or beef bourgignon or lobster risotto to show up at on a menu of one of the restaurants MJ has on her Instagram feed, and we're in!
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