One would think that after 4 years here, communicating with people from all around the world, vitsiting their places etc, you'd have a better understanding of some of the aspects about how people choose to live. In all ways, really, but the one I got thinking about just now is stockpiling food.
A friend lived here for a year and didn't even own a knife, not to mention ever having any food at home, constantly eating either out or pre-made food (I may have mentioned this before, can't be bothered to check). Another typically had a few favourite ingredients at home to fry up, freshly bought, but almost no spices for example. I know two who, in addition to canned and dry ingredients, have huge piles of fruit and the like in their shelves and baskets on the floor, mostly in a state of about-to-go-off. So I wonder - what the typical average normalcy is? How large stockpiles do people need to feel "safe" or "convenient"?
For me? I am used to having access to many different ingredients (and endless teas, spices and sauces) to be able to make a variety of whatever comes to mind, which is why I tend to have a pile of frozen, dry, canned food stashed away in my place... Not that you'd notice it much - I'm rather good at tetris... And then I load up the fridge with the fresh ingredients (basically just unfreezeable veggies, eggs, if I've run out) perhaps once per two weeks. Meat is lately either absent from diet, consumed when eating out (konbini chikin steeki ftw), or gets frozen after buying to be used later. In any case - close to nothing ever spoils or needs to be thrown out.
And this makes sense for me. Or at least it did when I could still, with some sort of confidence, predict, what and how and where I'd be doing, come, say, the next month. This is no longer the case, meaning that the logical thing is to try to lessen the stocks I already have, even if it means getting slightly repetitive in my diet. (Which, incidentally, I am trying not to do, but, you know, any food is better than no food - three meals a day is the first goal.)
Random insert: am finding it extremely hard to write at the moment, because abilities to focus on anything and create text have seem to have gotten lost in the fog lately. Don't think I've ever had to look up so many (common) words for such a short post before - just not remembering them. Therefore, quality may suffer, haven't got a good way to judge. And not saying sorry, because have been doing that way too much.
The combination of too-many-stocks, unable-to-focus and must-eat led to this complete improvisation today:
Large-grained cornmeal into pot with 2/3 water, 1/3 soy milk.
Add some salt, sugar, vanilla extract - make it just very slightly sweet.
Boil a bit (from turning on the stove, took perhaps 10 minutes?)
The amount or flour is experimental but it does expand a lot, sort of like cous-cous or manna (the Estonian one, leave the Israelites out of this). You'll want the mass to be slighly liquid when turning off the heat, but solidify once cool.
Smooth the mass either into the same pot or into some other dish.
In another receptacle mix half a can of pure pumpkin paste with a dash of soy milk (to make it smoother and less clumpy. Add ground cardamom, some sugar and a few squirts of "summer fruits squash".
Mix and lather the mass onto the solid surface of cornmeal.
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Nice not-too overpoweringly sweet, slightly christmasy-spicy dessert, ready in about 15 minutes.
I just made it in a pot and ate direct with a spoon, but I imagine that splitting it into small bowls, muffin cups or using thicker consistencies, layering into a dish covered with cooking paper, removing that when solid and cutting slices to serve as cake, would work well as more fancy, less home-alone solutions. And could decorate, of course - saw a rather inspiring FB vid about how to make caramel decorations yesterday.
Possible modification - use butter, either mixed in while boiling (the easy way) or have it room-temperature and mix into the covering.
Cheers,
Hedi
