Ja, der Titel sagt schon alles

H1N1, ganz Europa ist seit Wochen am Impfen. Die Schweiz begann vor einer Woche! So weit so gut. Überall wird Werbung für die Impfung gemacht. Blablabla.

So weit so gut, hysterie pur. Was solls?!

Mein Bruder ist ein Risikopatient. Deshalb hat er vor 2 Wochen eine Termin abgemacht (um in dieser Woche) die Impfung machen kann. Anfangs Woche Absage vom Hausarzt bekommen. Er habe kein Impfstoff, das nahegelegene Krankenhaus auch nicht Impfen kann man sich zur Zeit nur direkt in der Stadt…

Zuerst die Impfung gross ankündigen, dann alles verzögern, weniger Impfdosen bereitstellen, Ärzte nicht beliefern und Risikopatienten & Erkrankte im gleichen Wartezimmer warten lassen. Apropos Hygiene…

In diesem Sinne noch mein Witz vom Tag:

Ein Löwe, ein Bär und ein Schwein treffen sich. Sagt der Löwe: “Wenn ich brülle, dann hat der ganze Dschugel Angst!”. Prahlt darauf der Bär: “Wenn ich brülle, hat der ganze Wald Angst!”. Das Schwein: “Wenn ich grunze, dann hat die ganze Welt Angst!”

Lg ämpee

Nun kenne ich also wieder ein neues Wort. Eigentlich hatte wir ja nicht vor uns impfen zu lassen, weil wir der Meinung sind ausreichend fit zu sein, um notfalls auch eine Infektion zu überstehen.

Nur leider ist Mrs. Coretex’s Immunsystem dank der Chemotherapie ja derzeit kaum vorhanden, und noch dazu darf sie selbst im Moment auch nicht geimpft werden. Da aber eine Familie in der Regel dicht aufeinander hockt, wird es sie wohl unmittelbar mit erwischen, wenn es einen von uns erwischt. Also treten das Töchterlein und ich am Freitag zur Ringelschwänzchen-Impfung beim Kinderarzt an. Ich werde berichten.

Oink, Oink! Oh no! I am turning into a pig!! I keep getting these urges to roll around in the mud and converse with spiders!

Oh wait, no I don’t.

This weekend I had a bit of a fever and a cough. I decided to go to the health center because I was afraid that I might need an antibiotic or something. Within two seconds of my being at the health center the nurse began talking about quarantining me! WTF lady?!?! I do not have swine you paranoid freak. I got that vaccine and I don’t feel all that bad. Before the lady could confine me to my room and kick out my lovely roommates I decided to tell her that I would just peace out and go home. That was yesterday. Today I have no fever. No flu. DUMB LADY. At least I got a mini vaca at home where I got to watch Australia on the HBOLatin channel and download a shit ton of music like this song!

Awesome, I know. I also get to play with a very cute puppy tonight… a real one. But I get to drive back to escuela en la mañana!

Hasta bitches,

Bee

Enkrat pozno poleti, bolje rečeno kar sredi jeseni, ko na Blokah dozori grozdje, sem zabaval pujse. Oba sta bila neverjetno nora na grozdje, celo čeljustno sta se spopadla, če sem grozd vrgel le enemu. Kakor koli – oba sta predla od ugodja in zadovoljstva. No, pujsi verjetno bolj rigajo kot predejo. Želim ti prijetno poslušanje, zvočnike daj na glas.

When I daydream about opening up a restaurant and formulating a menu, I always come back to the idea of a “Chicken and Rice” portion of the menu, where we would feature different versions of chicken and rice from all over the world. I’ve posted my Indian version, and I have aspirations of making it in all different styles: Cajun, Italian, German, the list goes on. People love chicken and rice. What’s not to love?

This is based off of a Weight Watchers recipe from ages ago, and I’ve always really liked the simple flavors. This is a classic leftovers invention: take cooked chicken, cold rice and frozen veggies, and cook. Couldn’t be simpler.

CHICKEN FRIED RICE

Have leftover pork in the fridge? By all means, use that instead. You must, however, use cold rice that was cooked  in advance – it’s a trick to great fried rice. The cold rice is drier than freshly cooked rice, which allows you to get a nice char on it.

Serves 4 as a main course.

Preheat 1 tsp. vegetable or canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add:
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Cook the eggs, stirring frequently, until they are scrambled and firm, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from the skillet and set aside.

Place the skillet back over the medium-high heat and add 2 tsp. vegetable oil. Add:
1 tbsp. ginger, grated fine or minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup green onions, chopped

Saute for one minute, stirring constantly. Take care not to burn the garlic! Add:
4 cups cooked, cold brown rice
2 cups frozen peas and carrots

Saute the rice and veggies for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add:
2 cups precooked chicken breast, chopped

Saute for another 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add:
the reserved scrambled eggs
3 tbsp. soy sauce

Cook just a few minutes more, or until all the ingredients are warmed through. To serve, sprinkle with some chopped green onion, and dig in. Chicken and Rice, China style.

Pork tenderloin used to be on my table once a week. Lately, the popularity of pork tenderloin has made it more expensive, and I haven’t purchased it in months.  Ben and I were in Kroger out of desperation for milk the other day (I am not a big Kroger fan) when we came across these gigantic pork tenderloins for like $3.50! I had a coronary right there in the refrigerated section. We bought 3 of them, with plans to freeze 2 of them and cook one this week.

Cooking is very therapeutic for me, and even when I’m busy or stressed, I always try to find time to cook dinner. It calms me down, and Ben and I talk about our day/lives/etc while we get dinner ready. I love having him in the kitchen with me. These last few days I have been suffering from excruciating back pain, which has really put a damper on things. Last night, Ben comes in to our room and says, “How do you want to cook the pork?” and I was like, “Okay. Dried rosemary, fresh thyme, fennel seed, lemon, dijon mustard, olive oil…” and I watched his eyes glaze over. So I got up out of bed (back pain and all), put this together, threw it in the oven, and laid back down.

This is pretty standard pork stuff. Pork likes fennel, rosemary, thyme, lemon, and mustard. Pork is one of those “scary” meats because if you’re not careful you can overcook it and essentially eat sawdust for dinner. You’ve got to keep an eye on it, and for goodness sakes go buy a meat thermometer! They are $3 at the grocery store and it will save you lots of heartache.

HERB CRUSTED PORK TENDERLOIN

We ate this with potatoes and corn – a simple weeknight meal. If you’re going to pull out all the stops, I would suggest trying this with Butternut Squash Barley Risotto. I like to start my pork at a lower temperature and then crank it up during the last 15 minutes of cooking, just to caramelize everybody and get some color on the meat. ps. We were out of garlic, so if you want to add a minced clove to this, knock yourself out.

Serves 2-4, depending on the size of the tenderloin.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Mix the following together in a small bowl:
1 tsp. fresh thyme, minced
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary (crush the spice between your palms to break them up a bit)
1/4 tsp. fennel seed, crushed (you can use a heavy skillet or a spice grinder to break them up)
1 tsp. Montreal Chicken seasoning, McCormick brand
juice of 1/2 lemon
zest of 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. dijon mustard

Rub the mixture on all sides of a pork tenderloin. The problem is that they come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The one we cooked with tonight was about 2 pounds, which is gigantic for pork tenderloin. Whatever you find at the store should work fine, as long as it’s consistent in shape. Sometimes tenderloins (not just pork) can be tapered at one end, which is natural, but try to find one that’s not terribly tapered; if it is, you’ll find that the ends are dry and overcooked by the time the center is done.

Place the pork tenderloin on a nonstick cookie sheet and put in the 400 degree oven. Bake for 25 minutes. If your tenderloin is on the smaller side (say, less than a pound), check the temperature at this point. You are looking for an internal temperature of  145-150 degrees. If you still have some degrees to go, crank the oven to 450 degrees and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until the pork reaches the right temperature.*

*If you are wondering how to make this process simpler, you can purchase a meat thermometer that stays in the meat for the duration of cooking and beeps when the meat has hit the right temperature. It is a fabulous invention, and relatively cheap – we found ours for $25. For more info, click here.

Remove from the oven and transfer the pork to a cutting board. Cover with aluminum foil and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. I believe I’ve harped on y’all enough about letting the meat rest. Just do it.

To serve, we sliced it into thick slices and went to town. The flavors all make sense, and most of us have this stuff lying around in our pantry. If you don’t have fresh thyme, used dried whole thyme leaves, and reduce the amount to 1/2 tsp.

This dish was so simple and flavorful, I may be dropping by Kroger more often.

oink oink shlurp oinkie oink.

boo

OINK!!!!OINK!!

All Saints Day:

In all the years we’ve lived here in the house at the end of  the long dark lane not one child has ever come trick or treating despite us carving a pumpkin and stocking up on candy bars for the little goblins. Of course Dane doesn’t mind this at all cause he gets to eat all the candy. Kate tells me she and Vinnie had separate pumpkins on their respective floors and greeted many many Halloweiners. I hear Vin was dressed up and that his little night visitors were treated to some of his original accordion tunes.

Oh well, HELLO! It’s been an eternity since I last posted, and by eternity, I mean 10 days, but that’s totally comparable to forever, so I’ll run with it.

What, pray you ask, has been keeping my nimble fingers and mind from littering the Internet with more of my word vomit? Well, first there was an anxiety filled week of preparation for a trip cross-country with an infant. Then there was said trip cross-country. And then there was the aftermath of said trip cross-country which included none other than the acquisition of H1N1. As in Swine Flu. As in, I’M BIG ON THE PIG!

*Oink*

I seriously can’t stop snorting and oinking at James every time he enters the pig sty, as we’ve taken to calling the room in which I am quarantined. Every possible lame pig joke has been overused and abused during this three days of flu-ridden hell. I’ve been demanding that James purchase me a faux pig nose, but alas, he claims that there are more important things to attend to like say, keeping our fragile fragile infant healthy and tending to his sick wife. I say, BALLS to that, I want the damn snout, but he’s the nurse-Nazi and I do what he says.

I have been dreading, as in fearing, as suffering from anxiety-induced insomnia at the thought of swine flu. Do you know how fragile and innocent and untainted by illness a four month old’s immune system is? VERY! The thought of my Bug plagued with fever and chills and holed up in one of those hospital incubator’s strapped to tubes and needles is as horrifying as my memory of watching Dr. Giggles at a slumber party at age 12. Disturbing. Nausea inducing. NOT OKAY!

Of course, because I have been gripped with fear and terror, I obviously had to become sick with none other than THE swine flu. Like a life lesson, or some shit.

Here’s how it all went down.

We returned from a crazy, wonderful, whirlwind trip to our Nation’s Capital where we saw some of our most favorite people in the whole wide world, witnessed a beautiful marriage, and were reminded that traffic in DC really is just as horrendous and I-want-to-drive-off-a-cliff-inducing as LA. As we drove past the Mall the night we arrived, I made everyone’s ears bleed with a rendition of the National Anthem. The city is just so damn patriotic. I pointed out the Washington Phallus, er Monument to the Bug and explained that much of our country’s history was an ode to the great, white male penis. I am a stellar U.S. History buff.

SLAVERY CAUSED THE CIVIL WAR.

Anyway.

We crammed as many people as we possibly could into a three day stay, which wasn’t awkward at ALL when I had to email these twenty some individuals and say, Oh hey, great seeing you, and hugging, and kissing, and embracing, and generally sharing air with you this weekend. Btdubs, I have SWINE FLU! Besos!

Yeah. Awesome.

We arrived home Monday night and I wasn’t feeling so hot. James swore that this would all be cured by a solid night’s sleep. Except, that solid night’s sleep allowed the evil piggies to settle into my system in a profound and debilitating capacity. I woke up feeling like I’d been run over by a bus. I mustered the energy to meet with my thesis adviser, all the while holding, cradling, and generally sharing air with my poor, sweet, precious infant. By the afternoon, I was shaking and aching with chills and fever. The tell tale signs of the flu.

Panic.

I called my doctor and they said they could see me ASAP, so James left work to meet me and scoop up the babe. Upon assessing my symptoms, and the fact that the seasonal flu has yet to take the world by storm, Mr. Doctor was fairly convinced it was H1N1. He ran the test, and sure enough POSITIVO!

Right, so I’m flipping out. And weeping. And starring at my precious child, who, as I mentioned, I’d been cradling, and holding, and BREATHING ON all day.

JESUS CHRIST WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!

Someone, somehow, managed to talk me out of my panic, and handed me a prescription of the antiviral Tamiflu.

And here’s where shit gets interesting, because then I’m informed I have to stop breastfeeding…

Um…

Excuse me?

I AM SO NOT READY! WHAT?! WAIT?! WHY?!

Basically, the doctor informed me, and then the pharmacist informed me, and then the pediatrician informed me that I would POISON my child if I breastfeed while on antivirals. If I wanted to resume after the course of medication, PUMP AND DUMP was the name of the game, ya know, because pumping is just oodles of fun, especially when quaking with fever. The extra sweat all over the machine gives it a little grease, er something.

In my delirious, exhausted state, we took the doctor’s word, picked up some formula, and gave our child the most vicious, stinky, RANK farts ever known to mankind. Like a skunk had up and died in our home. And the poor thing moaned and groaned like a fat man with a belly ache all night long. It was heartwrenchingly pathetic.

Then, while pumping at 4 in the morning, because I was so engorged that I had awoken not from the fitful fever and body aches but from the sheer pain of my chest, I tweeted about this little debacle, and MY GOD did that stir my meager 376 followers to action. I had mothers and breastfeeding advocates all over passing me links and information about breastfeeding and swine flu. The resounding opinion was, if you’re sick with swine flu, KEEP BREASTFEEDING! Breastmilk is like liquid gold and jam packed with immunity-boosting, sickness-busting antibodies. This is all well and good, however, this did not address the potential contamination of my milk thanks to the antivirals. After much tweeting and research, I was sent this link. Now that sure stirred up the whole contaminated milk theory. Then I was connected to a hotline called Motherrisk where I spoke with a consultant who elaborated on this study and confirmed that breastfeeding while on antivirals was in fact not going to cause my child to grow an extra eye or froth at the mouth like a rabid dog. At that point I was sold. It seemed to me that doctors were playing it safe because there has not been much research and they just don’t really know what the hay may is going on with this crazy flu. While I understand that, I am grateful that I was given some solid information on the issue and able to make an informed decision for my family. Because I had a fever, I expressed milk and James fed Addison so as to avoid unnecessary contact with my pig-piggie self. Once the fever subsided, however, I washed my hands religiously, singing the ENTIRETY of the ABC’s, before nursing her myself.

That 24-hours when I was unable to hold or kiss or cradle my daughter has been the toughest, most heartbreaking moment of motherhood thus far. Screw the postpartum soreness, the sleepless nights, the explosive poop, the wails of sadness- not being able to hold my child absolutely tore me in two. I knew it was for her safety, and I was kicking myself for not researching the breastmilk situation sooner as I lay in my quarantined room listening to her baby moans across the house as the formula ripped through her unsuspecting belly. I am grateful to the power and support of my proactive Twitter folk who encouraged me to delve deeper and research the issue and make decisions based on this information and do what was ultimately best for my baby and our family.

I’m grateful that I am feeling better by the hour, and that it seems as though both James and Addison have dodged this bullet.

I’m grateful that I have a husband who will stay home from work to care for his child and sick wife 24/7, even if he does tint the laundry blue in the process.

I’m grateful that I have a big, burly, huggable dog that I can cradle when I feel my worst, knowing  that she won’t be infected nor will she care if I snot all over her coat.

I’m grateful that I am in a Master’s program where the faculty understand and respect that my health and family must come before any and all academic obligations.

I’m grateful that I have family and friends all across the country who sent wishes of love and support, reminding me that even at my grossest people love me.

I’m grateful that tonight I will get to share a bed again with my partner and best friend and when our squawky, wee babe awakes at 3am I’ll be able to scoop her into my arms and rock her back to sleep.

Apparently the pig reminded me of how damn lucky I am. Swine flu and all.

Now I’m off to read Charlotte’s Web and watch Penelope, because obviously.

(I couldn’t resist one last lame pig joke, cut a sick girl some slack).

Die Auszeichnung “Oink der Woche”, die ab sofort freitäglich vergeben wird, geht diese Woche an das AMS für die hervorragende Performance des Arbeitslosenzahlen-Graph. Über 300.000 Menschen (inklusive den aus der offiziellen Statistik hinausgeschönten Schulungsteilnehmern) waren in Österreich im September arbeitslos – ein Plus von 27,9 %, während die Zah der offenen Stellen um etwa den selben Prozentsatz (24,3 %) zurückging.

Geradezu alarmierend sind die Zuwächse an Arbeitslosen. In Oberösterreich ist die Zahl der Arbeitslosen im Vergleich zum Vorjahresseptember um über 50 % gestiegen – die Auswirkungen der oberösterreichischen Wirtschaftspolitik spiegeln sich im Wahlergebnis wieder.

Doch auch in Niederösterreich sieht die Lage nicht rosiger aus. Im Reich des Prölls verzeichnet man immerhin ein Drittel mehr Arbeitslose als letzten September.

Die Anzahl der “in Schulung” befindlichen quasi-Arbeitslosen ist um 35,6 % gestiegen.

Für diese ausgezeichnete Performance verdient sich das AMS das OINK DER WOCHE.

Herzliche Gratulation.

Weiterlesen:
Zahl der Arbeitslosen steigt weiter (derstandard.at)

hapi bertdi

jevilene
(sep 25)

As a kid, I loved comics. The Beano was delivered weekly, and that was really the key title for me in 1981. I’d pick up Buster and Whizzer and Chips on a fairly semi-regular basis, absolutely loved the newspaper sized Summer Specials, went wild for the small, book-length Comic Libraries, and would occasionally, slightly begrudgingly, pick up The Dandy if there was nothing else.

I never liked the Dandy – it seemed somehow inherently glum, and, although I didn’t quite realise it at the time, it’s hugely Scottish (it was, like The Beano, published by DC Thompson in Dundee, but it had far more bleak, highly intricate, quite old-fashioned strips that constantly referenced being Scottish, like the strip about the Highland dog – so brilliantly parodied by Viz as Black Bag – and The Jocks & The Geordies, neither of which I’d ever heard of, living in a suburb of North West London.) It just seemed a bit bleak – but recently, I’ve been flipping through a book of The Broons, and just marvelling at the artwork by Ken H. Harrison. I’ve never seen a comic strip with such astonishingly well-proportioned, natural-looking body movement in my life. Incredible when you think he drew thousands of these, each week, to such a high standard.

Then came Oink!, which changed my life as a child – a kind of junior Viz, I thought (and sort of do still think) it was one of the greatest things I’d ever seen and it totally blew the old-fashioned Beano out of the water. After that, it was Marvel Comics – I can still remember the very first Marvel comic I bought, a copy of Uncanny X-Men 210 in a newsagent in Headstone Lane, which I was so amazed by, I wrote the script out word for word so I could read it like a book. It started with an ethereal mutant being shot dead as she ran terrified through a train depot. I can still, 23 years on, picture the bottom panel on the first page as clearly as if it was in front of me now.

But the leap to American comics meant I missed out on the next stage of British comics – and in the mid-1980s, there was either 2000AD (which I kind of hated – it was too sciencey for me, and I’ve never much liked science-fiction, or space, or aliens, or black and white, so it was never in with much of a shot) and the war comics published by IPC. I recently picked up a pile of Battle Picture Weekly, and they’re absolutely nuts.

Devised by long-time UK comics writers Pat Mills and John Wagner, the title was a surprise hit, running from 1975 until 1988 when it merged with The Eagle. But it’s not the comic strips that make it mental – in fact, the long-running Charley’s War, a WW1 serial set on the Somme, is regarded as one of the greatest episodic British strips of all time – Word Magazine “called it simply the greatest British comic strip ever created.” (you can get it in a collected volume here.) And both it and Johnny Red (a British fighter pilot flying for the Russians) were cited as massive influences by Garth Ennis, the acclaimed writer of Preacher.

But it’s the bits in between the strips that make the comic so jaw-dropping today. The issues I have are from 1981-1982 – the period when Britain went to war against Argentina, and the comic regularly details the weapons being used in the conflict – each issue, there’s detailed information pages about, say, the Exocet missile, troop carriers or US-army issue pump-action shotguns. It’s just a really odd, glorious celebration of death, war and guns…for children.

The best (i.e. most mad) bits are the reader contributions, which 99% of the time are about the Nazis, who, as the bad guys, were most exciting to children of the 1970s. Mainly because you knew your grandad had fought them, so they were more real and tangible a threat that Stormtroopers and Sand People from Star Wars. Imagine either of these reader contributions being used in any magazine today, let alone a comic. 

from PM’s CC Vol I. Here’s a pretty good, and not too complicated, sweet and sour pork recipe. PM stir fries sliced pork tenderloin with green peppers and water chestnuts; the meat is tender, and the vegetables are fun and crunchy.

糖醋 tang2cu4 — sweet and sour, or really “sugar vinegar”

荔枝 li4zhi1 — lychee

肉 rou4 — meat

First time I've used red food coloring with savory food.

I was kind of excited that PM asks us to marinate the pork with a little red food coloring. She also wants us to slice the meat with the grain (instead of the usual across), score in two directions on one side, roll each slice into a cylinder and deep fry it. I did the first two and not the second. Scoring the meat helped it cook a little faster, I think, when I stir fried it.

As usual, the steps are (1) marinade (2) fry meat alone (3) stir fry vegetables until desired level of softness (4) add sauce (5) add meat, stir to combine, remove and serve. Here the sauce is soy sauce, sugar, white rice vinegar, sesame oil, and cornstarch + water to thicken like any respectable sweet and sour sauce.

Time taken: 45 minutes

Difficulty level: medium

Stir-fried by David.

Bajatelo.

Oink – Demo 2002

Via: <a href="“>My Life My Own Way

What you are looking at is a slice of the most moist and delicious cake I have ever made.  I had an old recipe for a buttermilk cake that I thought would be stellar with the addition of the raspberries I had gotten in today’s CSA box from HighCross Farm.

Seriously, Best….cake…ever!

This is such a simple recipe. It took me 10 mins to prepare and 30 mins in the oven.  It doesn’t make a big cake (you will need only one round cake pan or small bundt pan).

This cake is beyond moist, and when you get a bite with the raspberries… the tart meets sweet will (not to sound corny) make your taste buds sing. 

I am going to have to bring this to work in fear of eating it all by myself.

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

• 1 c all purpose flour
• 2/3 c sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 pint raspberries
• 1 stick of butter, softened
• 1/2 c buttermilk, shaken well
• Powdered sugar for garnish

Preheat oven to 375

Grease a 9 inch cake pan and line with parchment. I used a smallish bundt pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and baking salt.  Set aside

In a kitchen aid mixer or with a hand blender, cream butter and flour until light and fluffy (about 2 mins). 

Add the vanilla and egg  making sure it is mixed together well.

Turn your speed down a bit and alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk.

Spread the batter into the span smoothing out the top.  Scatter raspberries on top.  Since I used a bundt pan, I took a knife and marbled the raspberries throughout the batter.

Bake for 30-40 mins or until golden brown and a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

Let cool and dust with powdered sugar.  Try not to eat it all yourself. 

Another close up.

from PM’s CC Vol II. Another pork belly recipe, but this time with taro. Five spice powder gives the dish a very aromatic flavor. The pork is soft and chewy and the taro melts in the mouth.

荔甫 li4fu3 — no idea what this means. 荔 is lychee; 甫 is, according to my research, just now. Huh.

扣肉 ko4rou4 — mold pork!

A tisket, a tasket, a basket full of garlic.

What a recipe! The pork is boiled, dunked in soy sauce, deep fried, soaked in cold water, sliced, then steamed with the (cooked) taro for 2.5 hours. I started cooking this at 8pm, which meant I was up until midnight doing the last of the washing up.

This is my first time cooking taro, and I was crushed, crushed to see that the ones I got weren’t purple on the inside. They were white. I was happy that the skin came off easily with a vegetable peeler, so no fancy and dangerous knife skills were needed.

I shallow fried the pork during its frying step, then drained most of the oil and stir fried the taro until it was soft. I alternated taro and pork slices in the steaming bowl, then poured the sugar/wine/soy sauce/five spice/garlic mixture on top. Ideally one would invert the cooked contents into a serving platter.

Time taken: 4 hours

Difficulty level: a little complicated

Uninverted.

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from PM’s CC Vol II. A clear, delicate soup with spinach and tofu, seasoned with a bit of pork and a splash of pepper.

菠菜 bo1cai4 — spinach

豆腐 dou4fu3 — tofu

湯 tang1 — soup

Hunka hunka pork, with sidekicks.

There was an option to use dried black mushrooms or bamboo shoot, and I had the mushrooms on hand. Tasty, though since they have a strong flavor (I added the soaking liquid to the soup as well), using bamboo shoots would definitely give a different feel.

The soup could be easily made vegetarian by omitting the pork and ham. PM tells us to serve with a sprinkle of black pepper; a dash of sesame oil would be great as well, particularly for the veg version.

Time taken: 30 minutes

Difficulty level: easy peasy pie

Flecks of pepper