If Eastern Market feels like Bishkek City or the produce stalls at a bazaar, the market off Florida Avenue felt like the container section. It's optimistically called DC Farmers Market in some places, but I think Florida Avenue Market is a better name. Most of it is wholesale, but there are a reasonable number of places that are retail too. If you're looking for something you can't find elsewhere, I think this is a good place to try. There really is a wide variety of stuff tucked away if you're willing to poke around.
I was a little closer to the edge of my comfort level here that I usually am. But I'll definitely go back on my own again.
14 May 2013
Eastern Market
I couldn't believe how much it felt like I was walking in Bishkek City (the market in Bishkek, not Bishkek itself) when I visited Eastern Market. I'd seen it compared to other public markets in the US, but it didn't feel anything like Pike Place Market.
I was there on a Tuesday and it was an election day so things were focused on that, but I'll trek over there again if only to feel like I'm in Bishkek.
I was there on a Tuesday and it was an election day so things were focused on that, but I'll trek over there again if only to feel like I'm in Bishkek.
The Octagon House
A lot of interesting places in my interesting guidebook aren't open anymore, but the Octagon House is. I don't know why it's called that since it isn't actually an octagon, but it's a good place to visit for lots of reasons. There's official American history- the Treaty of Ghent was signed there because the Madisons lived there after the White House was burned. There's architecture- it's a federal-style building that is now owned by the American Institute of Architects. There's family history- the Tayloe family lived here for years. There's lots of other history too, especially in the 50-year gap between the time the Tayloes moved out and the AIA took over. And it's even haunted.
And they let you wander around as you please. You can download several mp3 tours, or they have a nice brochure that tells about all the different rooms.
And they let you wander around as you please. You can download several mp3 tours, or they have a nice brochure that tells about all the different rooms.
29 April 2013
Guadalajara
So we already know the next place we're going- five months in advance! That's that longest advance notice we've had in years.
Guadalajara isn't where I was hoping to go, although I was expecting it. It's hard to hear people refer to Central Asia as the "Ickystans" when I so much would rather be there (and they'd probably rather be in Guadalajara).
But there is a lot to look forward to. Here's what I've come up with so far.
But there are some things that make me itchy. There's a Wal-Mart there. And Costco. And a bazillion retirees. And it does get hot for several months. And we can't take the bus or the metro. But I can get around a lot of that (please mock me if I ever admit to going to Wal-Mart while I'm there).
Guadalajara isn't where I was hoping to go, although I was expecting it. It's hard to hear people refer to Central Asia as the "Ickystans" when I so much would rather be there (and they'd probably rather be in Guadalajara).
But there is a lot to look forward to. Here's what I've come up with so far.
- It's not as hot as most of Mexico (but the people who refer to it as perpetual spring don't define spring the way I do)
- If I'm not in Central Asia, at least I won't be in the US (not that I dislike the US, I just don't want to live here all the time)
- Visitors! Kyrgyzstan didn't exactly attract a lot of people (even though it should have).
- Great food. And I'll get to learn how to cook it.
- Mangoes. And other fruit. All year.
- Lots of things to do in the city and nearby
- Lots of Mormons
- Spanish. It's time.
But there are some things that make me itchy. There's a Wal-Mart there. And Costco. And a bazillion retirees. And it does get hot for several months. And we can't take the bus or the metro. But I can get around a lot of that (please mock me if I ever admit to going to Wal-Mart while I'm there).
22 April 2013
Tokmok and Other Stuff about Boston
So when the news started trickling out on Friday about the background of the Tsarnaev brothers, I listened especially closely because they were supposed to have connections with Kyrgyzstan. Since there aren't many Chechens still living in Kyrgyzstan, and since we knew Chechens in Tokmok, I wondered if they might be from Tokmok. There was plenty of confusion as the day went on whether they were from Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan which doesn't* surprise me, but by the end of the day, they were from Tokmok.
Some articles had them bouncing all over the Soviet Union, but it sounds like that's really not how it was. From what I've read, their path, while not quite typical for Chechens, was far from unusual. If you're short on Chechens' recent history, here's a quick summary. Stalin deported the lot of them after WWII, as he liked to do, and sent them mostly to Central Asia (all those stories you hear about being sent to Siberia? well, often they were actually sent to Central Asia). They (and other deportees) were allowed to leave Central Asia in the late 1950s and most returned to Chechnya, although a reasonable number stayed in Kazakhstan and northern Kyrgyzstan.
The Tsarnaevs stayed and lived in Tokmok. Tokmok is right on the Kazakhstan border and it's easy to cross there, and many extended families are on both sides of the border. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, most Chechens living in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan left for Russia, but some, like the Tsarnaevs, returned a few years later because of the war in Chechnya. They apparently moved into a house across the street from School #1 (I probably have a photo of the gate on this blog somewhere because it was just down the street from our house).
Finally, the family left Kyrgyzstan with their Kyrgyzstan passports about 10 years ago, arrived in the US, and were granted asylum. The older brother was about 15, and the younger was about 8.
I know this is mostly only interesting to me since we lived in Tokmok. I doubt the brothers' Kyrgyzstan roots have anything to do with what they did and I'm skeptical that they have connections with alleged Central Asian terrorist groups just because they grew up in Kyrgyzstan. But if you're interested in their background, look at the Chechen diaspora in Kyrgyzstan because that was the family's community- and it still is, in some ways. Chechen boys growing up in Tokmok would have had a significantly different experience than Chechen boys in Chechnya.
And about the parents' reaction to the accusations against their sons? It's completely unsurprising, and I'm quite sure that most Americans would have the same reaction to hearing that their children were accused of a horrific crime in another country, especially one whose government they didn't trust.
*I do think it's crazy that the Czech ambassador had to release a statement saying that Chechnya has nothing to do with the Czech Republic. I'm not surprised that lots of people made the mistake on Twitter or whatever, but if you're in a position to want to contact the embassy about it, you might notice that the spellings, at least, are quite different. But there it is.
Some articles had them bouncing all over the Soviet Union, but it sounds like that's really not how it was. From what I've read, their path, while not quite typical for Chechens, was far from unusual. If you're short on Chechens' recent history, here's a quick summary. Stalin deported the lot of them after WWII, as he liked to do, and sent them mostly to Central Asia (all those stories you hear about being sent to Siberia? well, often they were actually sent to Central Asia). They (and other deportees) were allowed to leave Central Asia in the late 1950s and most returned to Chechnya, although a reasonable number stayed in Kazakhstan and northern Kyrgyzstan.
The Tsarnaevs stayed and lived in Tokmok. Tokmok is right on the Kazakhstan border and it's easy to cross there, and many extended families are on both sides of the border. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, most Chechens living in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan left for Russia, but some, like the Tsarnaevs, returned a few years later because of the war in Chechnya. They apparently moved into a house across the street from School #1 (I probably have a photo of the gate on this blog somewhere because it was just down the street from our house).
Finally, the family left Kyrgyzstan with their Kyrgyzstan passports about 10 years ago, arrived in the US, and were granted asylum. The older brother was about 15, and the younger was about 8.
I know this is mostly only interesting to me since we lived in Tokmok. I doubt the brothers' Kyrgyzstan roots have anything to do with what they did and I'm skeptical that they have connections with alleged Central Asian terrorist groups just because they grew up in Kyrgyzstan. But if you're interested in their background, look at the Chechen diaspora in Kyrgyzstan because that was the family's community- and it still is, in some ways. Chechen boys growing up in Tokmok would have had a significantly different experience than Chechen boys in Chechnya.
And about the parents' reaction to the accusations against their sons? It's completely unsurprising, and I'm quite sure that most Americans would have the same reaction to hearing that their children were accused of a horrific crime in another country, especially one whose government they didn't trust.
*I do think it's crazy that the Czech ambassador had to release a statement saying that Chechnya has nothing to do with the Czech Republic. I'm not surprised that lots of people made the mistake on Twitter or whatever, but if you're in a position to want to contact the embassy about it, you might notice that the spellings, at least, are quite different. But there it is.
10 April 2013
Fort Ward
Since we're only in DC for a short while, we're getting out as much as possible while we're here. I won't blog typical stuff like the standard Smithsonian museums and the monuments unless there's some amazing reason to, but I do want to write about less well-known things we happen to find.
My nephew was visiting last week, and in addition to all the typical stuff, we went to Fort Ward because I wanted to get him to a Civil War site since he's always lived in the western US.
Fort Ward was part of the defenses surrounding Washington during the Civil War and so is obviously a Northern site. That was a change after seeing Confederate sites for the last year around Charlottesville. There's a small but interesting and free museum, and then you can walk around the fort, including a corner of it that has been reconstructed.
It turned out to be the perfect place for our group to go since there was room to run around, some walking (but not too much) involved, and some history too. We had three older boys and a 5-year-old. It's not necessarily something that should be high on your short list of places to go, but it's a pleasant and quick visit that was convenient for us.
My nephew was visiting last week, and in addition to all the typical stuff, we went to Fort Ward because I wanted to get him to a Civil War site since he's always lived in the western US.
Fort Ward was part of the defenses surrounding Washington during the Civil War and so is obviously a Northern site. That was a change after seeing Confederate sites for the last year around Charlottesville. There's a small but interesting and free museum, and then you can walk around the fort, including a corner of it that has been reconstructed.
It turned out to be the perfect place for our group to go since there was room to run around, some walking (but not too much) involved, and some history too. We had three older boys and a 5-year-old. It's not necessarily something that should be high on your short list of places to go, but it's a pleasant and quick visit that was convenient for us.
02 April 2013
Colonial Williamsburg
We have finally moved into our new place in DC, but before I do anything about that, I wanted to write about our quick trip to Colonial Williamsburg. I think I'd been there once before, but since it was 30 years ago and I was only 7, I don't remember any of it.
The place was fascinating for so many reasons. You have the whole theme park/resort/spa/vacation side of things with the hotels, Busch Gardens, the water park, etc. Then there's the history side of things in Williamsburg itself with the museums, archeology, and traditional trades, but it was really interesting to see how the acting side of things interacted with the "real" side of things.
I'm not saying at all that the actors weren't doing real jobs, but the wheelwrights and blacksmiths and coopers weren't acting- they are wheelwrights, blacksmiths, and coopers even though they have to wear period clothing to work. One of the wheelwrights in particular made it clear to visitors that he wasn't doing his work for the visitors, even if that was a side benefit of doing the work at Williamsburg. Sometimes the whole thing felt theme parkish, with the clean streets and reenactments, and I understood why he made a point of saying that to so many people.
The family as a whole enjoyed watching the tradespeople most of all, although one of my sons really liked the reenactments. I felt like I could ask whatever I wanted and everyone had lots of interesting things to say. One of the coopers showed us all sorts of tools, and I talked to another cooper, a woman, about her job and Colonial Williamsburg's (not the 18th-century town, but the modern organization) past policies on women and minorities. There's a lot more to CW's history than what they put on display and it was very different talking to the people who practiced a trade instead of acting.
One thing that I learned that should seem obvious is that the colonies really did have a colony-type relationship with Britain. I knew we'd had a hard time transitioning our economy during and after the war, but I hadn't realized how little our economy had developed before the war. It was a traditional send-your-natural-resources-to-Britain system on our side and a traditional we'll-send-you-everything-you-need-and-you-can-only-buy-it-from-us system on their side. There were so many times that people would say that this or that was made in England because it was cheaper to buy made-in-England products instead of made-in-the-colonies. Fascinating stuff.
I was also really curious about the work the modern tradespeople did and the value of that work. Colonial tradespeople's labor wasn't valued (for example, iron tools were simply sold by weight, no matter the labor costs), but valuing a bedrug that a weaver makes in 2013 is a totally different thing. So it appears that CW pays a salary to its employees who are tradespeople and those employees create things that are, for some of the trades, priceless because they are the only people with the skills to create those items in that way.
There were a few items for sale from the silversmiths and the difference in price between pieces created with modern techniques and colonial techniques was huge, and I'm still betting that the prices of the colonial-style pieces didn't reflect their true value. From what I asked, it sounds like a lot of what is produced in CW is used on-site (for example, the blacksmiths have been doing lots of work for a new building in town), or produced for other museums. A museum in North Carolina provided the materials for a couple of bedrugs and the weavers at CW are making them- apparently all the NC museum will pay is for the materials (which is historically accurate, in a way). The wheelwrights were working on the carriage or whatever you call it for a cannon.
In the evenings after the shops closed, I went over to the museum twice. They had a really interesting but really short display about the hospital that the museum is in, and while I was there the last night, looking at the amazing display of musical instruments, one of the CW musicians came and tuned and played several instruments to get ready for a function that night. That was cool because I was the only one around and he answered lots more of my questions.
The whole thing was really interesting and gave me a lot to think about.
One thing that I learned that should seem obvious is that the colonies really did have a colony-type relationship with Britain. I knew we'd had a hard time transitioning our economy during and after the war, but I hadn't realized how little our economy had developed before the war. It was a traditional send-your-natural-resources-to-Britain system on our side and a traditional we'll-send-you-everything-you-need-and-you-can-only-buy-it-from-us system on their side. There were so many times that people would say that this or that was made in England because it was cheaper to buy made-in-England products instead of made-in-the-colonies. Fascinating stuff.
I was also really curious about the work the modern tradespeople did and the value of that work. Colonial tradespeople's labor wasn't valued (for example, iron tools were simply sold by weight, no matter the labor costs), but valuing a bedrug that a weaver makes in 2013 is a totally different thing. So it appears that CW pays a salary to its employees who are tradespeople and those employees create things that are, for some of the trades, priceless because they are the only people with the skills to create those items in that way.
There were a few items for sale from the silversmiths and the difference in price between pieces created with modern techniques and colonial techniques was huge, and I'm still betting that the prices of the colonial-style pieces didn't reflect their true value. From what I asked, it sounds like a lot of what is produced in CW is used on-site (for example, the blacksmiths have been doing lots of work for a new building in town), or produced for other museums. A museum in North Carolina provided the materials for a couple of bedrugs and the weavers at CW are making them- apparently all the NC museum will pay is for the materials (which is historically accurate, in a way). The wheelwrights were working on the carriage or whatever you call it for a cannon.
In the evenings after the shops closed, I went over to the museum twice. They had a really interesting but really short display about the hospital that the museum is in, and while I was there the last night, looking at the amazing display of musical instruments, one of the CW musicians came and tuned and played several instruments to get ready for a function that night. That was cool because I was the only one around and he answered lots more of my questions.
The whole thing was really interesting and gave me a lot to think about.
21 March 2013
18 March 2013
Hello, DC
We're not quite there yet, but here's what I'm looking forward to about living in DC. We won't technically be in DC, but I'll be close enough to walk there, so that works for me.
- Walking! I truly did love our location in Charlottesville, but I did miss being able to walk to things. Except for walking around our neighborhood, I couldn't walk anywhere from home. I don't think there is much of anything I won't be able to walk to in our new home.
- DC sites. That's pretty much self-explanatory.
- Metro
- Ethnic foods of all types
- Lego store for the boys
- Friends. We have so many friends who live in DC that we haven't seen in years
- Much closer to the temple and much smaller wards, geographically speaking
- No cleaning. We'll be in temporary housing and someone else cleans it once a week.
- More stuff for the boys to do
- And so much more. Come visit!
Goodbye, Charlottesville
So we've already moved from Charlottesville, after less than eight months there. That wasn't nearly enough time, and I feel like things were so busy the entire time we were there, especially the last two months. But I'm also glad that we were able to move on from that job quickly because they'll be staring furloughs soon.
Anyway, here's what I loved about Charlottesville.
Anyway, here's what I loved about Charlottesville.
- History. There are so many interesting things to see around there, and since we lived there, we were able to get much better deals at places like Monticello and Montpelier. We'd drive by historical markers every day and there was always something new to learn.
- The house. We rented our house on a bit of a whim, not knowing if it would really work for us, especially since it was different than anything we'd ever tried before. But I loved living there. It was so quiet and beautiful, there was no traffic, it was still near Charlottesville, there were hills and a creek and plenty of room for the boys and me to run around and camp, and so much more. The house itself wasn't the best ever since the kitchen was small (I especially missed the silverware drawer) and it would have been nice to have more than one bathroom, but there were so many windows which is really important to me. And I loved the wood stove. I'd never used one before, and I really enjoyed it, especially when we'd cook on or in it.
- Our congregation. We've lived in all sorts of places with all sorts of wards, and this ward was a good one. I don't think we're leaving with many lifelong friends that we'll keep in contact with for very long, but we feel like we were able to contribute and our boys have been so happy.
- Homeschooling. We didn't get very involved in the homeschooling community, but we never do, so that's okay. But we were on a yahoo group for the area that had so many wonderful ideas and we were able to do lots of things with our family because of that.
- Shenandoah National Park. I've written about this before, and as national parks go, this isn't a very impressive one, but it was nice to be in the hills in 30 minutes. We could even pretend we were in the mountains.
22 February 2013
Old City Cemetery in Lynchburg
My middle son wanted to visit some more Civil War sites before we leave central Virginia, so we went to Lynchburg last week. Since it's the opposite direction of DC and we probably won't get down to that part of Virginia again.
I'd forgotten some of what I knew about Lynchburg, like the fact that it's Jerry Falwell Land, but I was immediately reminded when we drove in to town on the Jerry Falwell Highway. And when we saw Liberty University.
We saw forts and earthworks and the older part of town. The last stop was the Old City Cemetery. We were going there because it has a Confederate section. The brief description of the cemetery indicated there was a small museum, but I really wasn't expecting much more than your typical cemetery. I was completely wrong.
It turned out to be the most interesting cemetery I've ever been to, and I've been to a lot of cemeteries. We drove in and parked on the side of the road near the entrance and immediately noticed many small plaques telling about various people who are buried there. It was so interesting to be able to read those, especially since they weren't just about the famous people there, but about all kinds of people.
We walked up to the entrance where they had a lot of brochures about the cemetery- maps and a calendar of events were included. They have all sorts of events, like maple tapping next Saturday (people planted many sugar maples in the cemetery in the late 1800s), garden events (there are many old roses in the cemetery that they've identified and preserved, along with creating other garden areas), and candlelight tours in the fall.
As we wandered down to the Confederate cemetery, we continued reading all the plaques. The cemetery is estimated to have at least 20,000 burials, most of which aren't marked. It was the original cemetery in Lynchburg, established on land donated by the son of John Lynch (that's obviously where the name of the city comes from). The oldest section is on the right at the entrance and had many interesting burials, none of which we would have known about without the plaques. I not only learned a lot about the people there, but also Lynchburg history. The cemetery was the public cemetery in town, and as time went on, other private cemeteries were established. But anyone could be buried at the Old City Cemetery, which means that a large percentage of the burials are African-American, and that's who most of the history was about.
The Confederate section was in the lower part of the cemetery, and looked very different from the rest with its straight rows of markers. During the war, Lynchburg took care of a large number of wounded soldiers in its tobacco warehouses and homes, and there was a pest house right next to the cemetery. I believe that most of the Confederate soldiers buried there died of smallpox in the pest house, and that there are around 2000.
There also were about 200 Union soldiers buried there who had died in the pest house while prisoners of war, but their remains were moved to Norfolk shortly after the war. It was interesting and worthwhile to read about that from the perspective of the Lynchburg press. I'm not a southerner, but it always bothers me to see how insensitive the north was after the war in so many ways. Not every way, and not everyone, but it's so easy to the victors to want to rub it in the conquered's faces all the time.
We also went down to the museum that talked about mourning in particular, and had a lot of books about gardening and the cemetery. There also was a knowledgeable woman working there who could answer questions and tell us new things about the cemetery.
I've been to other cemeteries that could really benefit from running things like this cemetery does. The plaques in particular were amazing. I've gotten packets of information at some cemeteries, but that's nowhere near as convenient as the plaques, and the cemetery office had to be open, and I usually don't visit cemeteries from 9-5 during the week. I also loved the idea of emphasizing the garden aspect of the cemetery and being creative about getting the community to the cemetery for all sort of events.
I'd forgotten some of what I knew about Lynchburg, like the fact that it's Jerry Falwell Land, but I was immediately reminded when we drove in to town on the Jerry Falwell Highway. And when we saw Liberty University.
We saw forts and earthworks and the older part of town. The last stop was the Old City Cemetery. We were going there because it has a Confederate section. The brief description of the cemetery indicated there was a small museum, but I really wasn't expecting much more than your typical cemetery. I was completely wrong.
It turned out to be the most interesting cemetery I've ever been to, and I've been to a lot of cemeteries. We drove in and parked on the side of the road near the entrance and immediately noticed many small plaques telling about various people who are buried there. It was so interesting to be able to read those, especially since they weren't just about the famous people there, but about all kinds of people.
We walked up to the entrance where they had a lot of brochures about the cemetery- maps and a calendar of events were included. They have all sorts of events, like maple tapping next Saturday (people planted many sugar maples in the cemetery in the late 1800s), garden events (there are many old roses in the cemetery that they've identified and preserved, along with creating other garden areas), and candlelight tours in the fall.
As we wandered down to the Confederate cemetery, we continued reading all the plaques. The cemetery is estimated to have at least 20,000 burials, most of which aren't marked. It was the original cemetery in Lynchburg, established on land donated by the son of John Lynch (that's obviously where the name of the city comes from). The oldest section is on the right at the entrance and had many interesting burials, none of which we would have known about without the plaques. I not only learned a lot about the people there, but also Lynchburg history. The cemetery was the public cemetery in town, and as time went on, other private cemeteries were established. But anyone could be buried at the Old City Cemetery, which means that a large percentage of the burials are African-American, and that's who most of the history was about.
The Confederate section was in the lower part of the cemetery, and looked very different from the rest with its straight rows of markers. During the war, Lynchburg took care of a large number of wounded soldiers in its tobacco warehouses and homes, and there was a pest house right next to the cemetery. I believe that most of the Confederate soldiers buried there died of smallpox in the pest house, and that there are around 2000.
There also were about 200 Union soldiers buried there who had died in the pest house while prisoners of war, but their remains were moved to Norfolk shortly after the war. It was interesting and worthwhile to read about that from the perspective of the Lynchburg press. I'm not a southerner, but it always bothers me to see how insensitive the north was after the war in so many ways. Not every way, and not everyone, but it's so easy to the victors to want to rub it in the conquered's faces all the time.
We also went down to the museum that talked about mourning in particular, and had a lot of books about gardening and the cemetery. There also was a knowledgeable woman working there who could answer questions and tell us new things about the cemetery.
I've been to other cemeteries that could really benefit from running things like this cemetery does. The plaques in particular were amazing. I've gotten packets of information at some cemeteries, but that's nowhere near as convenient as the plaques, and the cemetery office had to be open, and I usually don't visit cemeteries from 9-5 during the week. I also loved the idea of emphasizing the garden aspect of the cemetery and being creative about getting the community to the cemetery for all sort of events.
Reaching Out
I'd hear "reach out" before we went to Kyrgyzstan, but it seems like it became common in the time we were there, because it's everywhere now that I'm back. People on message boards reach out to me. Facebook groups talking about reaching out. Websites are full of reaching. With this new job, we have so many people reaching out to us. It always makes me want to slap their hand away because I don't know these people anywhere near well enough for them to reach out to me. You're welcome to email me, or call me, or even stop me on the street. But please, no reaching.
Thanks, I feel better now.
Thanks, I feel better now.
Spinners
I liked this take on Rumpelstiltskin.
I also like to be reminded periodically that I can still read a book in less than a day.
I also like to be reminded periodically that I can still read a book in less than a day.
13 February 2013
Backyard Birds
My five-year-old got me a bird feeder for Christmas. It took the birds a few weeks to find it, but for the last month we've enjoyed having birds out the window. I don't have my own photos, but here are our most common visitors (besides the sparrows).
Blue Jay- I like the blue jays I see here better than the Stellar's Jays of the west coast. Maybe it's just me, but they seem less obnoxious here. And I like their look better.
Red-bellied woodpecker- I love to see woodpeckers at the feeder. These birds are always nervous, it seems, looking up constantly. Or maybe they're just looking for a hole near the roof to live.
Cardinal- How can you not feel more cheerful after seeing a cardinal out the window? We have a male and female that make regular appearances.
Slate-colored junco- These come in groups of at least six, usually and hop all over the deck.
Blue Jay- I like the blue jays I see here better than the Stellar's Jays of the west coast. Maybe it's just me, but they seem less obnoxious here. And I like their look better.
Red-bellied woodpecker- I love to see woodpeckers at the feeder. These birds are always nervous, it seems, looking up constantly. Or maybe they're just looking for a hole near the roof to live.
Cardinal- How can you not feel more cheerful after seeing a cardinal out the window? We have a male and female that make regular appearances.
Slate-colored junco- These come in groups of at least six, usually and hop all over the deck.
Moving On
So I've hardly been the most diligent blogger. But I always blog
more when I'm not living in the US or when I'm reading lots of new
books, and neither of those are happening now, so it's quiet around
here.
But. We are planning on moving back overseas, somewhere, in the next few months, and certainly within the next 15 months. It could be anywhere in the world and I cannot tell you how excited I am for that possibility. And it will be with a real job that ships things. A two-year supply of coconut milk and fish sauce? Yes! Unless we go to Thailand, in which case I will have the most wonderful two years of cooking ever.
But. We are planning on moving back overseas, somewhere, in the next few months, and certainly within the next 15 months. It could be anywhere in the world and I cannot tell you how excited I am for that possibility. And it will be with a real job that ships things. A two-year supply of coconut milk and fish sauce? Yes! Unless we go to Thailand, in which case I will have the most wonderful two years of cooking ever.
29 January 2013
Burma Book
Here's my current list of what we've tried from Naomi Duguid's book on Burma. I thought the Kachin carp curry was a little boring, although I didn't have the sawtooth/culantro and I'm willing to believe that makes a difference; and I'm going to have to try the fermented soybean paste again in a few months because it needed to sit and ferment in a warm place which I don't have in the winter. They molded rather than fermented.
I still have at least 15-20 recipes that I want to try.
I still have at least 15-20 recipes that I want to try.
Fried shallots page 24
Shallot oil page 24
Fried garlic 25
Garlic oil page 25
Chile oil page 24
Dried shrimp powder page 30
Toasted chickpea flour page 32
Chopped roasted peanuts page 35
Chile-garlic sauce page 36
Spinach and tomato salad page 44
Succulent grapefruit salad page 45
Long bean salad with peanuts page 50
Roasted eggplant salad page 56
Carrot salad page 62
Fish cake salad with cabbage page 70
Silky Shan soup page 94
Chickpea soup with lemongrass and ginger page 97
Okra shallot stir-fry page 102
Tamarind pumpkin curry page 103
Simmered cabbage, Shan style page 116
Eggplant delight page 120
Fluffy lemongrass fish page 138
Easy coriander tomato omelet page 121
Golden egg curry page 122
Paneer in tomato sauce page 124
Pale yellow Shan tofu page 126
Deep-fried Shan tofu page 128
Fish cakes and fish balls page 133
Kachin carp curry page 142
Standout tomato chutney page 206
Fish stew with aromatics page 145
Chile-oil fish page 152
Chicken in tart garlic sauce page 162
Everyday cabbage-shallot refresher page 220
Peanut and rice porridge page 234
Perfumed coconut rice page 237
Egg noodles with pork in coconut sauce page 248
Shan village khaut swe page 266
Mandalay noodles with chicken curry page 270
Deep forest monklets' sticky rice cake page 279
The Cutting Season
I like a lot of things about Attica Locke's books, but I just don't really like mysteries in general, and since that's a major part of her plots, it doesn't quite work for me. But the characters are interesting and the issues are too, so I do read them.
18 January 2013
Confessions of a Prairie Bitch
This is the memoir of the actor (do you think it should be actress?) who played Nellie Oleson on Little House on the Prairie. It's exactly what it should be. And lots of fun to read. As you can guess from the title, this isn't your squeaky clean memoir. But it's also not out to get anyone (except possibly her brother, but he deserves to be gotten), and it's honest, and it's funny.
I've finally decided that I'm going to have to shift gears with reading and stick with lighter stuff for a while. I won't bore you with the reasons, but there it is.
I've finally decided that I'm going to have to shift gears with reading and stick with lighter stuff for a while. I won't bore you with the reasons, but there it is.
10 January 2013
Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker
It was a lovely and warm sunny morning today and there were many birds out. Plenty of sparrows and robins and finches, but also some blue jays and maybe a hairy woodpecker and some cardinals. There haven't been many birds out when I've gone out recently, so when I heard this woodpecker, I ran back to the house so I could get a photo.
03 January 2013
Shadow of Night
It feels like I spent the last six months trying to get through this book, even if it wasn't anywhere near that long. In the first book of the trilogy it felt like the plot got lost sometimes in all the other stuff the author was trying to do, but this was one was far, far worse. It felt like I caught only the faintest glimmers of the plot every so often. I'm still not sure what the point of the book was, unless it's just about the relationship of the two main characters and I fear that really was the point. Their relationship was even more boring than the details about clothes, and that's saying something.
So why did I finish? It wasn't taxing at all, and that was nice over the holidays. I kept hoping something like a plot would come together, although I was disappointed. The author has some really interesting ideas, but she doesn't seem to write about them. I'm not sure I'll give the last book a chance unless someone like Melissa tried it first and likes it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)