#Egg Drop Agar Agar Jelly

[bonefall]

So uh I saw a post about ShadowClan have like mushroom related names and out of curiosity I decided to look up what kind of mushrooms can be found in England and like.

List of clan affixes that I think are made possible because of mushrooms found in England: Prince, Pavement, Medusa, Macro, Scaly, Inky, Blushing, Stainer, Spring, Fieldcap, Peel, Snake/skin, Grisette, Death/cap, Amanita, Agaric, Panther/cap, Blusher, Destroying, Angel, Funnel, Jelly, Smoky, Bracket, Bolete, Ascot, Hat, Ruby, Scarletina, Satan, Slippery, Jack, Sepia, Penny, Bun, Summer, Polypore, Bulgar, George, Amethyst, Winter, Dryad, Saddle, Shaggy, Parasol, Trooping, Aniseed, Miller, Inkcap, Club, Webcap, Alfred, Cake, Dapperling, Beef/steak, Velvet, Funeral, Bell, Rust/gill, Cinnamon, Pie, Elfin, Terracotta, Lion (if it's like an au where the cats don't know about lions tigers and leapords), Mane, Parrot, Wax/cap, Jubilee, Hood, Sulphur, Fibre/cap, Widow, Curry, Milk/cap, Fenugreek, Blewit, Dome/cap, Pestle, Mosaic, Fairy, Champignon, Morel, Porcelain, Egg/head, Mottle/gill, Dyers, Maze/gill, Stink/horn, Oyster, Shield, Goblet, Liberty/cap, Butter/cap, Russula, Charcoal, Geranium, Brittle/gill, Earth/ball, Cauliflower, Turkey, Knight, Custard, Truffle, Rose/gill

Would the cats have that many names for all of these species of mushrooms so that all of these names can work? Probably not. Are all of these mushrooms capable of being found in the same general area that the Clans live in? Probably not. But do we really care? Especially when you can have names like Beefsteakpaw or Georgestar?

Honestly I LOVE the idea of breaking up Mush/shroom into a prefix and a suffix, and I've considered using -cap as a suffix. I also have actually used Morel, Button, and Truffle for OCs (Plus Reishi, which I've found growing where I live so I allowed it for a FanClan set locally)

Personally I just filter out plants/fungi that have human names and stories attached to them, because I LOVE warriors-ifying stuff like that. Queen Anne's Lace, for example? I'd adapt the story into being about the first Warrior to discover weaving. They who worked their pads to cracks, leaving a little drop of blood in the center of the flower.

So there wouldn't be a Queenpaw or an Annepaw, but the plant would be called Snowheart's Lace and any cat named Lacepaw would know the story by heart.

Plus, I just have a softness for ShadowClan. I'd love for them to have all these amazing stories for their apprentices. I wonder what they'd think of Rusty, if he joined ShadowClan? They could have named him Rustpaw after rustgill mushrooms! It could have been taken as a good sign.

[twistedtrust]

Rainbow raindrop cake

The wedding menu is sumptuous and very expensive, the cake alone cost 3,000 euros. This translucent jelly-like dessert made from mineral water and agar first came out in Japan in 2014 under the name mizu shingen mochi, which translates to water cake. Pippa Middleton, Kate's sister, wife of the future King of England William Windsor, got married in recent days. Raindrop Cake, which debuted during the fourth week of Williamsburg’s Smorgasburg, is the focal point of online buzz right now, attracting New Yorkers and out-of-state foodies alike. Is Nutella a cream (therefore, less caloric for consumers), or a 'topping' for ice cream (therefore, more caloric and less suitable)? Pippa Middleton's wedding cake cost € 3,000 Nutella faces a new problem: the FDA, the American food safety agency, has created a survey. The recipe of the beautiful mirror marble cake, the mirror cakes made clever on Instagram by the Russian pastry chef Olga Is Nutella more of a jam or a cake topping? The drink and dessert menu changes seasonally. They also have popular Korean desserts such as sky drinks, strawberry daifuku, raindrop cake and baked ice cream. Other tasty toastie fillings include sweet potato, pizza, and ham and egg. A pastry chef in the United States created a $ 90,000 cake, one thousand for each Queen's year Mirror cake: the irritating perfection of the Russian pastry chef This cafe is known for their rainbow-coloured cheese toasties. The sugar paste cake created by the winner of Bake Off Uk to celebrate 90 years of Queen Elizabeth is not royal enough. But the new fashion is called Raindrop Cake, a beautiful cake invented by chef Darren Wong, which has the appearance and texture of a large drop of water Yes, the $ 90,000 cake for Queen Elizabeth exists In the beginning were the cronuts, invented by Dominique Ansel, a French pastry chef in New York. Raindrop Cake: which of you will prepare it first?

[altercooking]

Cold Oil Spherification

It probably goes without saying that the gnollish people I once belonged to weren't interested in molecular gastronomy. But that doesn't mean it's not a useful tool for a variety of nonhumans. Not only does it give a futuristic vibe that may be comforting to machinekin and those who once lived in more technologically complicated worlds, it's also a good way to recreate soft, jelly-like egg textures for roe and similar dishes.

In my opinion, cold oil spherification is the easiest method, and you will likely be able to find the ingredients at specialty health food stores (or online). It doesn't produce the popping effect of alginate spherification, but the bubbles are still fun to crush with your tongue. They're satisfying to stir around and look at, too!

Fun liquids to spherify include juice or flat soda for a tasty treat, or double strength seaweed broth for a tasty caviar or roe substitute. The liquid must be water based and noncarbonated - oil will not spherify in this method.

A time is not given for this recipe, as it depends on how quickly your eyedropper or syringe drops liquid in. It took me about 40 minutes for a full recipe.

Ingredients

A bottle of canola oil, refrigerated for at least 12 hours. Do not substitute olive oil -- it may not remain thin enough when cold.

120 grams (appx. ½ cup) of liquid to spherify

1.5-2 grams agar agar powder

Equipment

A tall, thin, and ideally clear glass

A kitchen scale, to measure the agar agar powder and liquid

A small saucepan

A fine mesh strainer

A foodsafe syringe or eyedropper

Thermometer (optional)

Instructions

Measure and add liquid and agar to your saucepan. Transfer oil to the freezer.

Bring liquid to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil for a minute. Remove from heat.

If you're using a thermometer, wait for the liquid to reach 120 degrees. This is slightly cooler than the maximum water temperature on most American taps and will take about 10 minutes; if your temperature is too high, the liquid won't spherify correctly, but it will be obvious, and you can always wait longer and try again, so don't worry too much.

Remove the oil from the freezer and pour into the tall glass. Using the syringe or eyedropper, slowly drop little drops of liquid into the oil - do not stream the liquid in. The cold will cause the agar to set, solidifying the spheres and making them sink almost instantly. If they're not sinking, especially after a very gentle shake, return the oil to the freezer and let the liquid cool a bit further.

Drain spheres from the oil and rinse in the mesh strainer.

[love-takes-work]

THE “OH MY GOD I CAN’T BELIEVE SHE ACTUALLY WENT THERE” COLLECTION

These are the recipes that I had to invent something weird, come up with a bizarre solution, or go to unusual lengths to make a Steven Universe dish. Photo evidence of kitchen weirdness after the jump. List of recipes:

Three-Way Sub from “Say Uncle”

Clams, Peanut Butter, and a Side of Fresh-Cut Grass from “Bluebird”

Crystal Lizards from “Lion 2: The Movie”

Donut Box from “Sadie Killer”

Everything Pizza from “What’s Your Problem”

Pizza Bagel & Fantastic Fries from “Restaurant Wars”

Gem Harvest from “Gem Harvest,” including 3-tier Wedding Cake

Off Colors Graduation Cake from “Little Graduation”

Alien Thorax from “Jungle Moon”

Jungle Moon Fruit from “Jungle Moon”

Korean Lunch from “Steven’s Dream”

Pizza Burrito from “Bismuth”

Cool Kids Potluck from “The Good Lars”

Giant Strawberry from the strawberry battlefields seen in “Serious Steven”

Together Forever cake from “Together Forever”

Zoo Fruit from “The Zoo”

Three-Way Sub from “Say Uncle”: I baked an actual three-prong bread that didn’t even properly fit in my oven. It is all one piece and homemade from yeast rise to egg wash.

Clams, Peanut Butter, and a Side of Fresh-Cut Grass from “Bluebird”: I don’t eat clams (or any seafood) so I made clam-shaped CANDY. The shells are banded white chocolate painted on the inside with white chocolate, made from a mold, and the insides are homemade vanilla cremes. I also bought edible easter grass. (It exists.)

Crystal Lizards from “Lion 2: The Movie”: These are homemade from scratch white chocolate lizards dusted with sprinkles and green rock candy for the crystals!

Donut Box for the Cool Kids from “Sadie Killer”: Yes, I made multiple different donut recipes (plus jelly donuts) and even a Dog-Nut to put this box together. Donuts are from scratch, all of them.

Everything Pizza from “What’s Your Problem”: Since (again) I don’t eat fish, I made a fish out of BREAD in a special fish-shaped pan and also made fake sardines and fake shrimp from tofu cut into shapes, in addition to all those other ridiculous toppings. The pizza is also made from scratch--the dough is homemade.

Restaurant Wars food from “Restaurant Wars”: Yes, I got ketchup inside the fries. Yes, it was super messy. No, I don’t recommend it.

The entire Gem Harvest from “Gem Harvest”: My friends helped me make the whole feast, and it’s a homemade chicken, corn on the cob, homemade mashed potatoes, homemade bean casserole, homemade yeast rolls from scratch, and I made an entire three-tier wedding cake from scratch including frosting and white chocolate spouses, because of course I did. The cake was chocolate on the bottom tier, lemon in the middle, vanilla on the top.

Four-tier Graduation Cake from “Little Graduation”: Yep, four chocolate cakes with three layers and three kinds of homemade frosting, plus fondant models I made of the Off Colors and cake accents made of fondant or specialty paper.

Alien Thorax from “Jungle Moon”: Made of a Tofurky Roast and legs made of plantains, with a pretty disgusting purple gravy.

Jungle Moon Fruit from “Jungle Moon”: This giant pear thing is a complicated cake flavored with ube flavoring and sugar plum extract. I made it in a sports ball cake pan and created my own vegetarian mirror glaze for the frosting. The stem is a stick of licorice candy.

Korean Lunch from “Steven’s Dream”: This consisted of Korean sushi (gimbap), noodle soup (naengmyeon), dumplings (mandu), and pickled radish (danmuji). I made the gimbap from scratch and bought all the ingredients from a local Asian market, but I must admit the naengmyeon was from a noodle pack (which I added my own ingredients to, like the egg, the fake bacon for beef, and the korean pear), and the dumplings were frozen and steamed to softness.

Pizza Burrito from “Bismuth”: Pizza was made from scratch, and burrito was added with potato chips sprinkled on top. Rolled into large burrito and later eaten in slices because I cannot eat it baby bird style like Amethyst.

Cool Kids Potluck from “The Good Lars”: I made the Snack Sushi (avocado and cheese puff sushi), which itself was an endeavor, and then on top of that I customized my soda, made Fish Stew Pizza boxes for pizza (I used frozen pizza this time), and managed to gather the exotic fruit--no small task considering one of them was the famously smelly durian. (The others are a pineapple and a dragonfruit.) The episode does not include them actually preparing and eating the fruit but I did that too.

Giant Strawberry from “Serious Steven” and others: I made a strawberry cake from real strawberries and made it look like a giant strawberry from the fields. The frosting and the chocolate seeds were all homemade too, with mint leaves grown in my kitchen.

Together Forever cake from “Together Forever”: Made with real strawberry batter swirled into vanilla batter, and homemade frosting in three colors. I’m not very good at piping so this was a big deal for me to make a replica of Steven’s ill-fated proposal cake.

Zoo Fruit from “The Zoo”: This is a vegetarian recipe that isn’t jello. Made with agar-agar, water, and juice, they turn firm after several hours of refrigeration.

(Some not-pictured honorable mentions that were weird and required creativity but weren’t particularly difficult or impressive include Guacola from “Drop Beat Dad,” birthday cakes and a pie for the Gems from “So Many Birthdays,” the pizzas Bixbite prepared in “Guidance,” homemade cereal I created for cereal dust in “Greg the Babysitter” and fruit loops in “In Dreams,” homemade Chaaaaps from “Monster Buddies,” a cloud made of meringues because Amethyst ate some cloud in “Steven the Sword Fighter,” good old Cookie Cats from “Gem Glow,” corndogs from “Too Short to Ride,” marshmallows from several episodes, durian juice, Fish Stew Pizza, the breadsticks and shrimp appetizer from “Fusion Cuisine,” Lion Lickers, mooncakes mentioned in “Little Graduation,” homemade onion rings from “Garnet’s Universe,” homemade oyster crackers for Sadie, Amethyst’s pile of food from “Reformed,” protein bars and pine tea from “Gem Hunt,” pumpkin bread shaped like a pumpkin and the ube roll from “The Good Lars,” and Amethyst’s gross tuna burrito from “So Many Birthdays.”)

This kind of crap is why no one can think of something I haven’t made

[matthewpoer]

Egg Drop Agar Agar Jelly

[sutekiyomitsu]

2.5 Jigen Danshi: Torigoe Yuuki

[TRANSLATION] 50 Questions to 2.5D Boy: Torigoe Yuuki 2.5次元男子に50の質問：鳥越裕貴さん

Profile

Q1. Date of birth? 31 March 1991 Q2. Place of birth? Osaka prefecture Q3. One strength? If I’m a boke, I’d keep a straight face (tsukkomi) to the end [1] Q4. Favourite part of your face/body? My chin Q5. Special talent? Acrobatics Q6. Blood type? B Q7. Nickname? Tori-chan, Tori Q8. One weakness? Being noisy Q9. A hobby? Going to theatre to watch stage plays, touring shrines Q10. Favourite motto? Working diligently enduring hardships

My Instruction Manual

Q11. Favourite food? Omelette rice. A half-boiled scrambled egg with ketchup on the top. I also like it with sausages. Q12. Favourite fashion? Clothes that are a little loose. Q13. Favourite music? Taylor Swift, Nakamori Akina. From Akina’s cool songs like “DESIRE” to cute songs like “Shoujo A”, they are really amazing! Q14. Favourite colours? Red, White Q15. Favourite sports? Baseball Q16. When do you get upset? When there are accidents on stage, and when ad-libs go badly Q17. When are you happy? When I make someone laugh. “All right!” I’d say. On the contrary, even when I bomb the joke I’d still say, “All right!”. I also like bombing the joke. (laughs) Q18. What do you want others to do when you’re upset? Please give me sweet things! I especially like milk kanten! [2] The ones that my mother makes for me are very delicious. She added things like mandarin orange. Q19. What is the one thing you absolutely cannot handle? Rollercoasters and the sudden sound of explosions Q20. What is one thing that you cannot live without? The stage.

 My Ideal Girl!?

Q21. What kind of gesture from a girl do you find attractive? Scrunching up (the face) while laughing. Q22. What kind of hairstyle is ideal? Short bob Q23. What kind of clothes do you like on a girl? Whatever suits her! Anything other than a character costume is fine! Q24. What is a line you wish to receive? 「It’s comfortable to be with you」 Q25. What kind of personality is ideal (in a partner)? A cheerful girl with charm Q26. From Questions 21-25, draw your ideal girl.

Q27. What is a meal you would like her to make? Omelette rice Q28. What is a place you want to go to with your girlfriend on a date? The park Q29. If you fought with your girlfriend, how would you make it up to her? Say it is always useless and surrender everything to her. Q30. Please propose to your beloved girlfriend! 「I want to be with you all the time. You make me smile, so please be with me.」

IF…

Q31. If you had not become a performer, what would you be? A kindergarten teacher. I really like kids!! Their innocence and their honesty are great. Q32. If you struck the lottery, what would you do? To spend time in a café in a beach resort. Q33. If you woke up one day as a girl, what would you do? Just once, I would do a standing side split [3]. After I wake up, I’d immediately do it. Now I also lift my leg, but I wonder how much a girl could lift it. (laughs) Q34. If you could time travel, which time period would you want to go to? I want to go to see if, in reality, Francis Xavier really looked like how he does in textbooks. I want to meet him to confirm if that hairstyle was real. I want to expose history textbook’s lies. (laughs) Q35. If the world was going to end, what is the last thing you would do? Go to a beer garden.

Q36. What is a dream you would like to achieve in ten years? Films and stage plays. It’ll be good if I can broaden my range. Q37. What do you want to do right now? I want to brush my teeth. Q38. What is your treasure? Friends Q39. Describe yourself in one kanji.  「鳥」（とり）(T/N: Bird. It is the first kanji of Torigoe’s name.) Naturally, because I’m Torigoe. (laughs) I want to grow up from a baby bird to flapping my wings!

 Lifestyle ~My daily routine~

Q40. What is the first thing you do when you wake up? Stretch Q41. What is the thing you do the most when you are on the move? Listen to music Q42. When you are free from work, what do you do the most? Talk to someone Q43. What is the first thing you do when you get back home? Watch my recorded TV programmes. I watch a lot of comedies. Like, Yoshimoto Shinkigeki. Because I study Shinkigeki as a play, I am watching it. Q44. Do you cook? What’s your specialty? I don’t cook at all Q45. Do you use the bath? Or do you shower? I use them! Q46. When you are bathing, where do you start washing first? I start washing from my head Q47. What is your sleeping posture? Facing up Q48. What do you wear when you sleep? My underwear etc. Lately, fast fashion released underwear that makes me look thin, so it’s good. (laughs) Q49. What is the happiest time of your day? When I am watching stage plays

Q50. Last comments! Even if it was just a little, did you let out a giggle?

Translation Notes:

[1] Boke and Tsukkomi are references to Manzai, a type of stand-up comedy. The double act involves a ‘funny man’ (Boke) and a ‘straight man’ (Tsukkomi), usually with the boke saying/doing something stupid and the tsukkomi eventually losing his temper at him. Boke and Tsukkomi are also used to refer to the lines that are used in such an act.

 [2] Milk kanten is a Japanese confection, kind of like milk agar/jelly.

 [3] Literally translated to ‘Y-pose’. Torigoe seems to really love this pose.

More translations from 2.5 Jigen Danshi Photobook:

Sato Ryuji’s 50 Questions Ota Motohiro’s 50 Questions Matsushita Yuya’s 50 Questions Hirose Tomoki’s 50 Questions (translated by withchantomo)

Personal Note:

For a moment I was thrown off by his kansai-ben but I did it yay ٩( ᐛ )و  Here’s my second translation from the 2.5 Jigen Danshi Photobook!

I scanned in the pages with the questions for your reading/viewing pleasure~ Here are some scans of the photos too! (They’re really cute, please look at them.)

As usual, if you have a better translation for any of these lines, just drop me a message here or DM me on twitter! (Especially for question 3 on his strength, which I wasn’t sure about…)

[torontoeats150-blog]

Growing up in Singapore in the 1960s and 70s, these tarts, amongst other pastries, were a perennial favourite during the Chinese Lunar New Year festivities. The Chinese or Cantonese name for pineapple is similar in sound to the words “prosperity arrives” and was thus considered an auspicious food for the new year. Family and friends would visit each other’s homes and red envelopes with money inside to symbolize fortune and luck in the coming year were exchanged. Sweets would be offered from a special box symbolizing togetherness containing candies that in turn represented good health, luck, wealth and a great many progeny.

The weeks leading up to Chinese New Year was a busy one with much activity in the kitchen in anticipation of guests dropping in over a period of the two weeks that Chinese New Year was observed. Soft carbonated drinks in glass bottles would be ordered and these came in long wooden crates. Special cakes and cookies were baked by my father and these were decorated by my siblings and me. Rose water syrup, a legacy of the South Asian and Arab influence in Southeast Asia were made to be diluted with iced water and served to young guests. Firm jellies made from agar agar (a type of seaweed), rock sugar and rose water, were poured into ceramic molds and chilled in the fridge to be served in slices, and of course pineapple tarts.

These tarts were quite a production that involved everyone in the family. The pineapples were bought and prepared by removing the skin and core, then grated and cooked in a wok with sugar and whole spices to make a jam. The pastry was prepared by my father and instead of the butter that you will find in the recipe below, lard was used. This in itself was a production, for lard was not available in the convenient ready-made form in a box. Cuts of pork fat had to be purchased and rendered and chilled before you could even start making the pastry. Scales were brought out of storage as Singapore was a former British colony and one of its culinary legacy was the use of weights rather than measures in baking. Instead of a round pastry cutter, we used a sherry glass to cut out the rounds of pastry. Upon this round was placed a dollop of pineapple jam and then a strip of pastry was laid around it which was then crimped with metal crimpers in a decorative fashion. Several thin strips of pastry were then laid cross-wise over the jam to be crowned by a small bead of pastry on top. The final act before these went into the over was to brush them with a beaten egg to create a lustrous glaze. Each tart took an inordinate amount of time to make, but as it was a household of eight children, child labour was not an issue and the rewards were scrumptious! Nowadays, one can use molds to create the same effect, but of course, it’s not the same bespoke look.

The recipe below is an adaptation of what was produced in our home, but nonetheless, it will be delicious.

--Philip C.

Ingredients Crust:

·         2 cups all-purpose flour

·         1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

·         ½ teaspoon salt

·         1 stick + ¼ stick of salted butter

·         1 beaten egg

·         2 tablespoons ice water, more if necessary to bind the dough.

Ingredients Filling:

·         2 cups grated fresh pineapples, skin and core removed.

·         1 ½ cups sugar

·         4 whole cloves

·         1 tablespoon lemon juice

·         Inch stick cinnamon and half star anise (optional)

·         1 egg, beaten for glazing.

Directions:

1)      In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the beaten egg and ice water. Bind the ingredients together gently and add more water if necessary. Do not over knead as this will toughen the pastry. Form the pastry dough into a ball and cover in plastic and refrigerate overnight.

2)      In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine pineapple and sugar. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently for 30 minutes or until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

3)      Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

4)      On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to ¼ inch in thickness. Cut 24 rounds, using a 2 inch round fluted cutter. Place on cookie sheet. Put a spoonful of pineapple jam in the center of each piece. Decorate with criss-cross strips of pastry over jam, extending slightly onto pastry shell.

5)      Cut 24 more 2 inch rounds, then, using a smaller cutter, cut out the centers, creating a ring shape. Moisten the edges of each pastry, and place the rings on top of each pastry shell. Brush the top of the pastry with beaten egg.

6)      Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

[superfitbabe]

Back with another recap once again, baby! It’s only the third day, and I pretty much was spoiled with more food in one sitting than I used to eat in a week prior to my vegan days. My stomach already feels like bursting just looking at all of the photos!

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The first part of my breakfast comprised of classically plain corn flakes with some ripe apple bananas and unsweetened soy milk! I was worried that I’d be bored with the bland flavors, but the sweetness from the banana and the crunchiness from the corn flakes harmonized together beautifully! Of course, I enjoyed drinking all of the soy milk afterwards. It tasted like banana milk with a few crushed corn flake pieces! Honestly, who on Earth would skip drinking milk that’s just been soaked in cereal?

Couple minutes later, I was surprised with baked purple sweet potatoes, Japanese sweet potatoes, and chè with black-eyed peas (may or may not have said mung beans in the video!)! In Vietnamese, this beverage-like dessert is pronounced chè đậu trắng, and it is made with coconut milk, water, sugar, and broken rice! There are other variations that use sesame seeds, adzuki beans, black beans, potato, agar agar, jelly, mango, durian, bananas, and more! Before, I never liked the taste of these desserts, but this chè was oh-so-delicious! I think I just needed to try a truly authentic creation of it. Oh yeah, and you bet I smothered all of it and more atop my bowl of purple and Japanese sweet potatoes with corn flakes! I was absolutely stuffed afterwards, but it was worth it!

To tell the truth, I only did a little window shopping at a clothing market that was very similar to Ben Thanh, as well as my uncle’s jewelry store. I didn’t see anything that special aside from a uniquely adorable shirt that I bought, so I didn’t take any pictures of scenery and such today. However, you can still take a look at my video to find out what went on then!

At the jewelry store, I met my younger cousin Anna for the first time and practically fell in love with her at first sight! She was pretty shy, but everyone showered her with so much attention that my youngest sister could relate to what it’s like having a younger sibling. I totally lost track of how many times I tried to get Anna to say my name and give me a high-five. Never successful for either of them. Not even once.

Do you see a resemblance?

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Lunchtime eats called for something incredibly special. Not for any particular occasion, but a few of us were craving banh xeo. Hence, our wishes were granted once we arrived back at my grandmother’s home! I myself feasted on not one, not two, but FIVE banh xeo crepes that were stuffed with mushrooms, tofu, and onions along with a head’s worth of lettuce!

Seconds after believing I was done, there’d be another banh xeo right in front of me to eat. At first, I was extremely nervous about eating the banh xeo pancakes because I wasn’t sure if they were made with eggs, but we got the OK after the nanny disclosed the recipe: rice flour, coconut milk, and turmeric! Woohoo! My shorts felt like they were going to explode after I finished eating. The food coma kicked in so quickly that I passed out in my room a minute later!

Hour and a half passes by, and we decide to play a board game that involves racing horses. Because of the rules, the game turned out to be such a pain in the neck that it initiated a lot of competition between me, my cousins, and my sisters.

Objective: complete the entire race on the board four times (each player is given four horse figures); the first to finish the race wins.

Roll two dice.

If you land on snake eyes, you lose all of your horse figures and have to start the race over again.

If you land on the same sides, you have to roll again until both dice land on different numbers or you land on snake eyes. (both are threes or both land on six). If you land on doubles by the third try, you have to skip your next turn.

Two horses aren’t allowed to land on the same spot. The player that arrives to the spot next kicks the other player out.

For dinner, the family enjoyed some warming soup to calm our stomachs after a wildly special lunch! The housekeepers prepared me an incredibly simple but wonderful kabocha squash soup with some onions and spices! I ate around half of the soup in the entire serving bowl, even though I was still pretty full from the crepes. When in Vietnam, you eat like a queen when food is personally homemade.

Anyways, the rest of the night was spent in the citywalk, enjoying the life in the night.

Our car dropped us off right around the building of the People’s Committee and the famous statue of Ho Chi Minh!

Seeing these famous monuments sparked me to reflect on the political turmoil and the absolute chaos ensued by a single rebellion. It made me wonder how the experiences of oppression from an overpowering government that practiced so much violence towards its people would truly feel. I immediately felt sad for my parents and my relatives, but so grateful that they now lead prosperously loving and happy lives today.

Debate regarding political systems is inevitable, but treatment towards the people is what everything boils down to. So as long as citizens are satisfied with their freedoms and their privileges, then the country is indeed at a healthy state. Of course, Vietnam has modernized drastically from its Communist government, hence living here is much more pleasant than it would be decades ago.

Do you drink milk after it’s been soaked in cereal? What are your favorite historical monuments?

Day 3 in Vietnam: Cute Cousin + Vegan Food (LOTS of It) Back with another recap once again, baby! It's only the third day, and I pretty much was spoiled with more food in one sitting than I used to eat in a week prior to my vegan days.