But... but... why?

Violinist, chellist, pianist, accordionist, guitarist, bassist, harpist, flautist, violist, organist, saxophonist, trombonist, vocalist, percussionist, keyboardist, clarinetist, harmonicist...

When suddenly: drummer.

Cheers,

Hedi

May the fourth be with you

Didn't feel like typical dinner, so decided on a bunch of random stuff to snack on. Got back from shop, set it all out, and... coconut, cider, cheese, chicken, crackers... Then spent a while thinking whether I should add some carrots and cucumbers to the pile. (And of course this page exists.)

This coconut, by the way, was a special experience -  not the mature brown hard shelled one we typically imagine and have to hammer into bits with great difficulty to get at anything edible, but a "young" one. In those perhaps only about half of the inner liquid endosperm has (sort of) solidified into the normal coconut "meat", the rest is still in liquid form and super tasty! Today's version was sold with the outermost green layer chopped off, the fibrous white coconut coir part still attached. Which means that after stabbing the nut with a metal straw and drinking the surprisingly large amount of the coconut water, it took a while of hacking to get that layer separated (it is now drying outdoors, because of course I will be using it in the garden). Some more hammering on a throwaway-grade kitchen knife and we were through the next layer - the hard brown shell - and into the generally desirable white centre, which was.. sort of a letdown. Taste was ok, but the texture was somewhere towards the slimy-jelly end of the spectrum. Somehow still kept eating it, though, and am now waiting to see whether the rumors of young coconuts having slightly laxative effects prove true or not.

Cheers,

Hedi

Minimärkused

Läpakavahetusega windowsilt macile vahetus ka komme virtuaalset klaviatuuri eesti- vs inglisekeelse variandi peal hoida - nuppude asetus eelmise (füüsilise) klaveriga võrreldes tiba teine ja selle vähese eestikeelse kirjutamise taustal, mis ma veel teha suudan, ei ole esimene variant enam mõttekas. Mis muidugi tähendab, et kui täpitähti vaja, on totaalne kaos, eriti kui enne kiirelt mingi vastussõnumi tippimist ja automaatselt enter'damist ei märka, et täielikku jama olen kokku kirjutanud. (Sinna hulka veel ka muidugi roteeruvad kolm erinevat jaapanikeelset virtuaalklaviatuuri. Korea ja vene tähestikud mingil hetkel eemaldasin täielikult.) Kirjamärkide muutlike asukohtadega muidugi ka jama. Aga tegelikult on üllatav, kui kiiresti selle uue, pisut teistsuguse paigutusega ära harjus. No ok, uue opsüsteemiga harjumine oli ka hämmastavalt valutu tegelikult, kartsin palju hullemat. Igatahes, iva praegu selles, et iga maakeelne postitus võtab nüüd juba puhtalt füüsiliselt hulka kauem aega, isegi kui aju parasjagu koostööd teeb ja õiges keeles mõelda suudab.

Sattusime nädalavahetusel hanami'le (see kirsiõite vaatamise piknik, mille eri osad tihtipeale harja punaseks ajavad... hmm... mõtlesin, et olen seda kuskil juba kirunud, tahtsin linkida, aga otsing varasemate postituste hulgast hetkel igatahes üles ei leia... näis, kas viitsin mingil hetkel täpsemalt seletada...) Seltskond, kellest paari viimati 4 aastat tagasi trehvas, ülejäänusid üldse ei tundnud, oli selleks hetkeks, kui me kohale jõudsime, juba korralikult... uhhuu. Paarile minutile punasel piknikutekil istumisele järgnes pooletunnine pakkimine, mille käigus Vist ei lõhutud midagi (nõud kõik keraamilised, ei mingit papptaldrikuteemat seekord, much impressed) päris lõplikult ära, üks 1800ml-ne sake pudel pandi küll ilma korgita küllili kotti, ja kogu kupatuse (mõistlikult) lähedalasuvasse korterisse kärutamine, kus pidu sama hooga edasi läks. Kainena kõrval istuda omaette kogemus.

Ja siis tulid mingil hetkel kuskilt välja kaks väidetavalt pikka aega ootel olnud kingitust "abiellumise puhul". (Is that a thing? Pole aimugi, aga hakkab nii tunduma.) Pakend oli väga lahe - kortsuline, ühelt poolt roheline, teiselt poolt punane krepp-paber (jõulukaardiaeg?) mingis origamilaadses voldingus (ÕS'i arvates on see päris sõna, jee). Sisu aga... Kaks erinevat paari kruuse. Mõlemad kujundusega, mida ise eales ei valiks... (If it IS a thing, make it stop!)

Veel veidi hiljem lisandus neile pakk 30 x 5 cm ereroosasid dildosid. Mis tegelikult, tuli välja, olid umbes nagu magusad mõnglid, aga valmistatud mitte maisi- vaid nisumassist. 

Ma olen enam ja enam veendunud, et D'l on mingid erilised üliaktiivsed maitsepungad, mis minul puudu. Üks kõik palju kordi ja kui erineva maitsestusega kastet ma teen, kui supilusikatäit shirodashi't (umm, kalapuljong pmst) sisse ei pane, on D arvates tulemus maitsetu. Ja iga kord kui selle lusika lisan, kiidab. No ei ole võimalik, et lihtsalt kokkusattumus, kui nähtus muudkui kordub, sellest täiesti olenemata, kas kasutan india karrit, vahemerelisi maitsetaimi, eestipärast pipart-soola, jaapani soja-mirini segu, korea vürtse või midagi muud. Mul endal pole aga sooja ega külma, kas on dashi sees või ei, kastme maitsvus sõltub selgelt teistest teguritest ja D hinnanguga eriti ei korreleeru.

Aasta võttis aega või nii, aga jõudsime lõpuks Suzie-Q nimelisse "US diner" stiilis restorani, mida M kogu aeg taevani kiitnud on. Njahhh, mõistan. Väga väga hea, mis siis, et umbes seitsmel tasemel ebatervislik toit. Hiiglaslikud portsjonid (mis ilmselt on umbes 1/4 nendest, mis USAs päriselt), vahvlid ja burritod ja krõbekanamäed ja friikad ja burgerid jne. Omanikeks-kokkadeks-teenindajateks on enamvähem meievanune väga muheda olemisega jaapanlastest paar. 4 lauda + mõned letiäärsed kohad, seinad ja letid täis kõikvõimalikku ameerika pudipadi, millega ooteaega täita. Raudselt läheb varsti tagasi. Aga seekord katsub veidi väiksemate portsjonidega piirduda, päris keeruline oli pärast lõunat koju veereda.

Cheers,

Hedi

Totaalne temporaalne segadus

Kaks nädalat tagasi olid miinuskraadid ja sadas rahet. Üleeile, 31. märtsil oli väljas 28.1 C sooja (kogu ajaloo rekord, jah). Pole ime, et lisaks taimedele (tulbid ja hüatsindid mul kõik nt 50cm asemel 10 cm pikkused, aga sellest hoolimata sujuvalt õitsevad, aastaringsetest maasikatest, roosidest ja saialilledest rääkimata) on ka enesel juba täiesti sassis, mis aastaaeg parajasti on. Kuuldavasti olid munadepühad just. Aga tänane õhtusöök sai... noh...

Aurutasin kartuleid ja tegin karrimaitsestusega liha-aedoa jahukastet, värskelt valmistatud soolakurgid kõrval. Ja kogu kokkamise aja käisid neelud köögiaugus poolkogemata tallel oleva jõuluglögi järgi. Möödaminnes, plaanimata tegin ingveriteed (keev vesi, sügavkülmast värske ingver ja lusikatäis mett), sest kellaaeg päris tee jaoks liialt hiline ja tahtmine oli millegi maitsekama, kui palju kuuma vee järgi (mis enamasti õhtusöökidega kaasub). Alateadvus vist tegutses ka omapäi, sest kastme maitsestus klappis selle ingverijoogi ja lõpuks ka päriselt välja kaevatud vürtsiveiniga ideaalselt.

Ja kõigest eelnevast täiesti teadmatuses oli D meile söögikõrvaseks meelelahutuseks Kongen befaler'i spets-jõuluepisoodi välja otsinud. Niiet nüüd mul kummitavad lihavõtete ajal, kui siin lapsed (üli)kooliaastat alustavad, ligi 30 kraadises kuumuses ja kirsiõite meres surfates jõululaulud...

Cheers,

Hedi

Completely off topic

Goodreads is seriously lacking the functionality to make up shelves with ranty descriptions. What I would have needed goes sth like:

"Memo for self. NEVER CONTINUE! Aka book series that beat even the OCD that usually manages to make me finish stuff once started. Entry in the list is whichever book I managed to read before reaching the point of actually setting the whole thing on fire, had I had a physical copy. No one-shots, only series that my fail of a brain might at one point feel compelled to complete."

No choice but to de-tox (and have an extra memo) here now. Because somehow there have been a few of these in a row, and I'm pissed. List in read order goes:

• Renegade's Magic (The Soldier Son #3) - never been so disappointed in one of my favourite authors than with this fatfatfatfatfat... luckily no hint of the series continuing so far.
• The Wide Window (A Series of Unfortunate Events #3) - works ONLY to create childhood depression, nothing else.
• Freya and the Beast (Fae Twisted Fairytales #2) - there is ZERO grammar, praying to high heavens this never continues, made my brain bleed.
• Unraveled (Steel Brothers Saga #9) - got to 9 only because all of it was in a single mindless-scroll file, each book is a torturous copy-paste.
• Saved (Honor Bound #1) - list of the wrongs is endless but mixing up a sadist and a masochist in a book supposedly heavily focused on bdsm summarises enough.
• Court of Bitter Thorn (The Fae of Bitter Thorn #1) - no logic, no grammar, no story, no characters... why has the world decided to torment me??

No authors, no links, DO NOT look the names up, these deserve no clicks / internet traffic.

Cheers,

Hedi

Feelin' fancy

Had a seriously classy "dinner" by accident the other day.

Wasn't feeling like proper food (blame the spring, would just keep munching cucumbers if I could), but had picked up some fresh red and green grapes that morning. Along with some properly delectable apples and tomatoes, both of which seem to have returned from whereever they spent their winter holidays hiding at. Added the last chunk of hard Estonian cheese and a disk of Camembert and dug up some whole-wheat crackers from the long-lasting-stuff-kept-in-the-hole-just-in-case. (Yeah, we have an actual food hole in our kitchen floor.) Complimented the pile with the dregs of a white and a red wine left from the recent Miau taste-test. Awesomeness achieved!

Fun facts. A slice of (that particular) fresh apple on a salty cracker somehow managed to taste exactly like apple pie. Wine'n'cheese is a tried and tested combo, naturally, but our personal preferences, frequently aligned, went in the exact opposite directions in this instance - I basically refused to let go of the glass of CabSav, while D was only happy about that in order to get at the Moscato.

Those kinds of testings, as well as any sweets, will have to stay on the shelf again for a while now, though, while doing yet another round of "will there be less pains while avoiding certain foods". Sad face.

Cheers,

Hedi

Rule of thumb, maybe?

After the long-long lists of dietary restrictions of the past couple of years, we once again occasionally have some wine in the house. Of course, since the source is, unavoidably, some random grocery store, the available options are not especially... appealing. But through trial and error have succeeded in finding a couple of palatable, as well as reasonably priced, options. 

Combining the recent experiment notes with memories from earlier years has sort of led me to form a mental guideline of "Avoid ALL wines from the most common grapes and go for whatever is the rare one in any given shelf of bottles." I guess the logic is that many people who buy wine here just go for a name they have heard before, so the makers can bottle absolute garbage, get paid for it and the people then pretend that what they are consuming is great, because that's what they say in books, movies or tiktok... Meaning that Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc (from the whites), Merlot and Pinot Noir (from the reds) are to be completely avoided, while Moscato and Syrah have some likelyhood of being drinkable, depending on the maker. Special cases: two of the Sauvignon Blancs I've found work better than anything else for cooking (whereas the rest are simply paint-removers) and (if one gets through the nasty ones) some goes-nicely-with-meat Cabernet Sauvignons also exist. Tempranillo and Garnacha need further taste-testing, should I find any anywhere at all at any point. 

And that's about the limit of what grapes one can find here - forget about the rest of the "world top ten wine grapes" lists, not to mention the other 10'000 different varieties that the original Vitis vinifera has been bred into so far.

Disclaimers:

All of the above is valid for 2024 Tokyo suburban setting, probably not so much for other, more wine-knowledgeable countries, nor central parts of the city, nor specialty wine shops.

I am still seriously missing the two limited edition bicycle-wines (whatever the real brand name was) we could easily get 4 years ago from shops near the then-home.

Cheers,

Hedi

Jubedus ja mitte

Võta maguskartul.

Keeda koorega ära.

Lisa soola.

Keeda kokku lääge munakreem (custard).

Purusta kartul ja pane see volditud paberist korvi.

Kata sentimeetrise kreemikihiga.

Sinna peale kalla pruunikas veidi kalamaitseline kallerdis.

Kõrveta veidi pealt ära.

Sildista asi creme brulee'ks.

...

Ja keegi geenius kuskil arvas, et see on HEA idee?? Täielik õudukas oli. See hinnang minult, kes muidu nii maguskartulit kui custard'it alati igast asendist sööma on nõus.

Kartul polnud läbi küpsenud vaid kohati krõmpsus, pool kallerdisevedelikku polnud kallerdunud vaid paberivoltide vahelt vedelikuna välja imbunud, paber oli läbi vettinud ja muutus söömisürituse käigus pudruks, mis suurema enamuse selle külge kleepunud kreemiga ära tuli visata, ühtegi head maitset polnud kogu kupatuses järel. Ja "Crème Brûlée"??? Tahan "dislike" nuppu!!

See siis nädalake peale seda, kui aastapäeva puhul sama poe kõrvalletist samanimelise uudistoote - koogi sedapuhku, ehk kah mitte õige nimi õigel magustoidul, aga see selleks - haarasin, mis täiesti pingutamata viimasel ajal tarbitud toidu (nii vana tuntud kraami kui uute katsetuste) nimekirja tippu lendas. Igavesti nämmu.

Ühtlasi paistab, et mulle on karamellimaitseline kraam kohe päriselt meeldima hakanud. Varasematel aastatel pigem eemale hoidnud, aga viimastel kuudel tükki neli-viis karamellitoodet super head olnud. Huvitav nihe maitsemeeles. (Ja ei, selles tänases õuduses ei olnud karamellist haisugi.)

Cheers,

Hedi

Timers

It takes serious effort to find a time keeping device worse than the Windows Explorer "time remaining" predictions. But, well, I succeeded.

Our not-fancy but waterproof electronic bathroom clock, you know, the device with the singular task of telling the correct time, gets delayed by 5 minutes every couple of months. Right, ok.

The electronic living room clock is supposed to radio-wave sync to some central time-keeper somewhere and always stay accurate. Except that I have to manually set it a few days after every battery change after waiting for it to try and fail to accomplish this task.

There are also timer functions on some of the kitchen appliances. 

The cooking ovens that most of the developed world is used to having under their cooking surfaces (be it gas-, electric or wood-fuelled for all I care) don't really exist in most of Japan. No idea why. What are quite common, though, are smaller "fish-grills" (essentially sideways toasters) and microwave ovens with the additional "real oven" functionality. And best of luck to you, if you mix up the programs and put a metal cooking tray in the microwaves or try to quickly warm up a plastic bento tray of rice but click on the "grill" button by accident. Anyway, ours seems to be timing things relatively normally, or at least closely enough that I've never been triggered to properly re-time the thing.

Likewise, I haven't checked the food drying cupboard timer, because it really doesn't matter when the ON periods are several hours at the least in any case. However, judging by the many-tens-of-degrees-wrong thermometer of the same machine, I wouldn't place bets on the timer making sense either.

Next is the rice cooker, that, when first turned on, happily claims to need 33 minutes to cook whatever amount of rice and water on whatever program one selects. After it has had a while to ponder, it is anyone's guess where the number displayed on the screen comes from or what it means. I've seen the count go up as well as down (despite the contents of the pot being identical when starting); I've seen quite logical down-by-one-minute-at-a-time counting; I've seen the thing stop at 9 or 13 minutes for 5 minutes at a time; I've seen it drop instantly from 22 down to 15 or to 3; I've seen it get stuck at 1 minute for 10 minutes etc. Regardless, the longest it takes to get the food is a bit over half an hour + it does keep the rice warm after it's finished, so whatever the electronic synapses think they are doing doesn't really interfere with life much.

And then there is the washing machine.

It technically has an overnight timer function - load the laundry and detergent, set the program and wake up in time to hang everything out to dry to catch the longest rain-free period possible. Except that the bloody thing manages to miss the target time by hours. On either side, unpredictably. So much of plannability. Oh, and the timer isn't based on the actual time of the day (let's call this the absolute time), it is subjective, so the whole thing depends on first knowing the time you happen to be setting it up, then calculating hours until the morning, then adding a couple as buffer and then still having to either wake up at a wrong time, wait for an x amount of time for it to finish, or suffer from the too-long-wet-in-the-machine-now-smelly-and-wrinkled clothes. On top of that the "running timer" behaves in all the ways the one in the rice cooker does - jumping back and forth, getting stuck on random numbers etc. An especially peculiar situation tends to occur when setting the machine for a 10 minute blow-dry function, only to be presented with the error of "load too heavy to blow-dry", followed by the machine blow-drying while still blinking the error, for exactly 10 minutes before unlocking the door. Wait... eh??

And don't get me started on the temperature regulation of the thing. Because one can not simply set the washing water temperature to the desired number. Noooo, one can activate the function to add +0 up to +40 degrees of warming to whatever temperature water happens to come out of the pipes. The pipes that, like the rest of the house, have no insulation. In a climate that in the winter is at -5C and in the summer is at 40C. Who the f thinks this is a good design decision... Well, at least we have a washing machine that does, in fact, warm the water a bit. Because like some Japanese person proudly told me a while ago, washing clothes in cold water is good, because their laundry detergents are also good. Followed by wearing a shirt three times and then throwing it into trash, because it stinks to high heavens due to the biohazard that has, obviously, not been washed out with this magical cold water of theirs. The number of people in public places that stink like wet dishrags, is also absurdly high, I might add. By the way, did I mention that wearing perfume is considered rude here?

All in all, if the relatively simple electronic devices cannot manage an accurate timer, I shudder to guess what havoc all the smart-home and AI appliances can/will cause.

Random side-note, time is also behaving strangely with regards to books... read total of February at the moment with a week still to go is 23, with 2 half-read and at least 2 more to be added before the end of the month due to them being sequels. So at least 27 then. But that is how many days there are in the entire month. Am I imagining things or? Not a clue how I managed all that. Well, maybe a bit of a clue - got the notion of putting on random audiobooks as background to exercise or housework, but even disregarding those 9, the count seems a touch absurd.

Cheers,

Hedi

Ringiga tagasi

FYI. One 500 gram pack of Forte hard cheese makes five batches of pasta carbonara (that is, five meals for two persons). No, that food still doesn't contain cream, and yes, I was terrified to make it again after a break of several years. (That last due to the constant array of limitations and outright bans on random foods in the interim time + the complete overhaul of available foodstuffs after moving and having to switch grocery stores.)

The far-travelled cheese from mom finally triggered the impulse to make it again, though. Trouble was, literally ALL the other ingredients, with the exception of eggs perhaps, were also completely different from the ones we were using for the so-well-tested-that-don't-have-to-think recipe before.

Well, managed to make food, memo for the next batch:

• Used fresh fatty pork, instead of a block of smoked long-lasting bacon that the original (and by that I mean the actual historic recipe from the coal mines) calls for. I suppose fresh meat might be healthier, at least prof. K claims so. In any case, works ok-ish, but has less depth to the final flavour.
• Forte seems to be more acidic than the whateveritwas cheese we were using before, as well as the combination of the original two cheeses that are actually supposed to be in the dish. Therefore - can use a bit less, and
• Must NOT add any white wine while rendering the bacon. Used to always add a few splashes to get all the bacony taste off the pan, but in this combination of ingredients the sauce gets just too sour.
• Also might have overdone on the garlic paste today. Since the tube I can get here has a much larger opening than the one I used to use, the autopilot keeps messing things up. Boo. And anyway, should just not be lazy and use actual freshly minced garlic... it's not like I didn't have it right there in the fridge...
• Pasta changed too, from normal durum wheat (or sometimes random gluten free) penne to what is supposed to be spelt wheat.. uh.. whatever the little bowl shaped pasta pieces are called. Again, allegedly healthier (prof. K). Cooks pretty much the same way, tastes nice. Whether what the ads on the package claim are true, god knows, of course. NB, though - four handfuls was clearly too much... Oh shoot, or did I end up boiling five? Literally just finished eating before starting to write this (in an effort to struggle out of the writing slump of the past, uh, too many months), and already forgot. Anyway, will try 3 handfuls next time and see. Al dente.
• Oh, and used two eggs, but just now looking up the link to the older recipe saw that we used to use one. Oh well, worked either way.
• Pepper was broken today. Kept grinding more and more, but the taste just got lost in the rest of it. Strange.
• No added salt - plenty in the cheese.
• And had a bit too much liquid today. Can either drain the pasta more, or the problem will solve itself when skipping any wine.
• Also, I'm being asked to get bread on the side next time. Don't really miss it myself, but, well, habits.

Oh yea, and a general note. Each batch needs to be made fresh: cheese mix in a few minutes before eating. This is one food that really really cannot be stored.

Cheers,

Hedi

Väljas praegu

• õitsev saialill
• õitsev roos
• 10 cm lumekiht
• punased maasikad
• äikesetorm

... ei, loodusega on kõik korras... riiiight.

Cheers,

Hedi

Marinaadikaste

Meelespea, jälle, eiteamitmendat korda, iga natukese aasta tagant ununeb täiesti ära:

Jääsalat + kurgid-tomatid-seened-jne + mingi lihakraam on väga mõnus õhtusöök!

Ühtlasi, see kaste ei pea tingimata lihaetappi läbima, et nt salati peale super hästi sobida. Viimasel ajal korduvalt lihtsalt tonkatsu, balsamico, mee ja musta pipra segu pannil või ja veiniga kuumutanud ja otse tarvitanud. Ei ole muidugi nii vinge maitsega, kui originaal, aga hapusust taluvatesse situatsioonidesse klapib kenasti.

Cheers,

Hedi

Notes from a BBQ

25C and blooming cherry trees on the first week of November - are you for real, climate??

Turns out that our local big park has a massive rentable-plots BBQ area - book a time-and-space slot, get a number on a stick, arrive early in the morning to claim your preferred spot with the stick and plenty of blue plastic sheets, have your couple of hours of event, clean up every scrap, return number and pay up.

I've never even SEEN so much awesome wagyu, not to mention eaten it. For a totally reasonable price to boot. Some other good/interesting food too, but... I mean, the world's higest rated beef, straight from a charcoal grill, cooked by a semi-professional chef!

Vinegar-marinated raw onions and cucumbers were, despite all common sense, really good - need to try to make it for sure. So were salty potato chips with chocolate. But I'd rather leave the Indian-origin dish containing whole cardamon and anise seeds, cloves, bone splinters and a million other, actually edible things, to someone else.

Did not expect someone to whip out a canteen of water, gas burner, freshly ground coffee, kettle, paper filters and a fold-out metal funnel and start making hot coffee under the table, but woah, it did smell nice. Someone had also brought a made-that-morning pumpkin pudding, guess all the Halloween leftovers had to go somewhere. Bit of a flop, haha, that one, though, I thought it too bitter, D, too fatty.

Having every other person present be a tennisomaniac puts somewhat of a restraint on the conversation topics. But it feels like despite a loooong time of not actually using the language, my Japanese ability has improved a bit. At least the understanding, if not the speaking part. And at least for the middle part, where brain had sort of gotten into gear, but not exhausted... yet.

Murder-wasps apparently understand Estonian, listen to what I tell them to do, and go pester some other group of picnickers (had to google the spelling of this) for the rest of the event. Hint: flapping hands at them really doesn't do a thing except potentially piss them off. Neither does spraying aerosol poison towards the completely innocent hawk moths that happen to be passing by (because you cannot tell one insanely different bug from the other, I presume). The trigger-happy people (from another group, luckily) did succeed in spraying said poison all over themselves, their friends, things and food, though. Oh well, natural selection.

Time behaved funnily - first 1.5 hours took aaaages, the rest disappeared in a blink, and suddenly everyone was jumping up cleaning and packing stuff. And ohhh boy, that was a moment I wish I'd been paying more attention, because apparently one (or two) of the Japanese guys just upped and threw away all of the still uneaten food from the table. Neither us nor the organiser, originally from Fiji, could believe our eyes, and I suspect some of the more sensible Japanese couldn't either. The actual fuck, there is actual wagyu and grilled chicken left on the trays and you throw it into a trashbin??? No, really, days later, I still can't get over this... Anyone who has EVER been under the misconception that the Japanese culture is not wasteful - here you go then...

After the clean-up started, time slowed down again, though, and it took ages to finally get out of the park, because a million rounds of standing around, thanking eachother, clapping, preceeded by practicing clapping, speeches, packing the car, photography (an undertaking shared with the neighboring group of veryveryvery drunk people on their highschool reunion or sth), bowing etc. just do not end at that kind of event in this country. Consider yourself warned.

Cheers,

Hedi

Eestipärane tiramisu

... ehk küpsisetort kausis.

Kuna D oli, nagu ikka, sünnipäeva tähistamiseks hommikust õhtuni koosolekutel jne (sellest kõigest rääkimata, mis nädala jooksul toimunud oli), tegin vähemalt kiire küpsisetordi, millega teda lühikese pausi ajal turgutada. Viimati ehk 15 aastat tagasi selle tegevusega rinda pistnud, ja voh, andis tunda.

Märkmed järgmiseks korraks:

• Full-grain aga suht maitsetud küpsised käravad kenasti. Kandilised.
• Üks kõik, kui kaugele poodi minema peab, et leida, küpsiseid leotada tugeva earl grey-piima segu asemel piimaga lahjendatud Bailey's'es või Kahlua's või Vana Tallinnas.
• Mitte kasta, vaid leotada! Kaua aega (või kuumaks aetud vedelikus), kuni küpsised veel vaevu koos püsivad, või peale poolpehmete küpsiste kaussi ladustamist vedelikku juurde lisada.
• Mitte unustada kõrgete seintega koogiküna küpsetuspaberiga vooderdada (sest see võimaldaks ehk koogi pärast kätte ka saada, ei peaks tulemust barbarimoel lusikatega ründama... kuigi see ka omaette lõbus tegevus.)
• Meie kausi kohta kulub 2 pakki küpsiseid ja vähemalt 2 totsikut hapukoort, aga 3 oleks parem.
• Hapukoor peale kakao ja suhkruga de-klombistamist värske koore või piimaga vedelamaks segada. (Jaapani oma on täiesti tahke. Tüütu.)
• Ahjaa, ja mitte kuu aega üle tähtaja hapukoor oleks parem variant - vähem hapu teine.
• Ja vahukoort pole kaunistuseks vaja, kreemisust selletagi piisavalt, jube jebimine ainult. Tumeda šokolaadi ja marjajahuga üle riputatud kreemipind on ilus niikuinii, marju või puuvilju võib ka lisada.
• Aga kihtide vahele igatahes palju-palju rohkem mustikaid, banaaniviile ja šokolaadihelbeid!
• Ja siis kõvasti kauem seista lasta, kui 2 tundi.

Cheers,

Hedi

Potiaiasaadused 2023

Aastaringsed: nelja sorti tüümian, majoraan, salvei, rosmariin, kuumaasikad, nelja sorti mündid, redised, komatsuna, oregano.

Suvised: basiilik, shiso, baklažaanid, minitomatid, kurgid, murulauk, küüslauk, saialilleõied, kartulid, päevalilleseemned.

Idee poolest on kolm luffakõrvitsat ka kasvamas, millest loodetavasti nii seemneid kui švamme saab, kui veel natuke aega ilma peab. Jaburarbuus hakkas normaalselt kasvama septembri lõpus, sinnamaani kidus.

Puud ja lillekesed ja suvalised lahedad kõrred ka muidugi igal pool, mida süüa vist ei tasu.

Järgmise aasta plaan, mille suunas põhimõtteliselt töö juba käib: asparaagusevõrsed, normaalarbuus, paprikad ja tšillid, naistepuna, raudrohi, rabarber, butternut squash.

Ja siis muidugi tahaks veel tervet hunnikut muud toitu kasvatada, kui ainult aega/liigeseid/ruumi oleks.

Cheers,

Hedi

Rasvapirdele

500g peekonilaadset liha

2 porgandit

2 muna

1/2 küüslauku

1/2 tassi piima

1/2 tassi kaerahelbeid

2 supilusikatäit cajun maitseainesegu

värsket musta pipart

soola

... kokku annavad kotlette üheksaks eineportsuks.

Tiba jabur saamislugu küll. Pahkluu käitub pahasti jälle, st viimase poeskäiguga tuli ühe jalaga rattal vändates hakkama saada. Tulemusena oli pea väga laiali otsas ja järgneva päeva toidukraami unustasin hoopistükkis ostmata. Tagasi supermarketisse põrutada jalg ei kannatanud; idee parajasti 3 km kaugusel pargis toimuvale festivalile minna ja sealt miskit söödavat hankida kukkus samal põhjusel läbi; D'd ei saanud ka poodi saata, sest ta oli parajasti suutnud sama lombakaks hakata, kuigi saavutas selle minust erineval meetodil; ja konbinitoit, mis lähemal saadaval, kõlas ka mittesoovitavana.

Seega kaevasin sügavkülmast mingid paksud 'peekoni'viilud välja, mis aga hilise stardi tõttu lõunat valmistama hakates alles pooleldi jääs olid. Mis seal ikka, munadega koos köögimikserisse, et teeb libahakklihaks... Pole päris õige masin selleks tegevuseks, tuleb tunnistada. Kohati oli tulemliha suurte kamakatena puutumata, osaliselt muundus aga heleroosaks pastaks, millest hästi vorste teha saaks, ma kujutan ette. Noh, ja siis jäi kogu kraam sisuliselt mikserikannu kinni. Ilmselt peaks tänulik olema, et ilmad külmemad ja seega toas jahedam, kesksuvel oleks see värk mikserisse ära ka veel küpsenud (jah, meil piisavalt võimas vitamix, et pmst saab erituva kuumusega selles toitu kuumutada - püreesupid on soovituslikud). Igatahes, peekonirasvane liha + mikser ei ole parim kombinatsioon.

Kui suurem enamus sellest siiski konteinerist eemaldada õnnestus, viskasime porgandid, küüslaugu ja veidi piima asemele, et järelejäänud massi veidi vedelamaks ja koostööaltimaks (aldimaks?) muuta. Toimis, võitsime toidu tagasi. Ainult see jama, et lisatud juurikad said nüüd kaugelt liiga lühikest aega mikseriteradega tutvust teha ja jäid lõppproduktis ka suurte jurakatena.

Igatahes, lihakraam sai kaussi ja maitsestatud; tekstuurilisajaks/niiskushoidikuks paar minutit piimas leotatud kaerahelbeid sinnasamasse. Lisaõli nende kotlettide praadimiseks vaja EI olnud, sa nuga, see peekon ikka...

Aga kokkuvõttes kukkusid väga mõnusad välja! Ja said järgmiste päevadega söödud a) riisiburgerina b) praeriisiga c) riisikausis d) naaniburgerina.

Pidevmuundumises kokandusprotsessi jooksul omandas toode ühtlasi rekordilised neli nime, millest praegu paar päeva hiljem meeles pealkirjaks kasutatu - ju oli siis kõige õigem.

Oh, ja paksust külmast rasvakihist, mis lihamassist mikserisse maha jäi, sai lahti superlihtsalt: nõudepesuvahend ja soe vesi kannu, minut aega mikserdada ja voila. Oleks kööki pannilt laiali pritsunud õli, porgandijuppe, küüslaugukesti jamidaiganes ainult nii lihtne kasida olnud...

Tagantjärgi tark versioon, mis tegelikult suurema jamata samas situatsioonis toimima peaks: suurem mikserikonteiner, alustada aedviljadest, siis lisada väiksemateks juppideks lõigutud !väherasvane liha, kaerahelbeid leotada pikemalt või soojemas piimas.

Cheers,

Hedi

Aeg lendas ära

Saabus taipamine, et septembris sai selle blogi esimesest postitusest kümme aastat mööda. Uskumatu. Ei tea kas oleks pidanud tähistama? Või kogu asja algusest peale mingi reaalse poindiga pidama, publitseerima, marketeerima vne? Ei klapi nagu selliseks otstarbeks küll need suvalise ajastusega suvalises keeles suvalised mõttejupid. Oh well.

Cheers,

Hedi

Nasumince for rice

Slightly brown chopped eggplants in butter on a non-stick pan. Season with salt-pepper. Add some white wine and steam the veggies until soft.

At the same time lightly oil a copper pan and fry the mince with chopped garlic until slightly crispy, season with cajun spice.

Mix everything on the first pan, then shift the solids to the side to reveal any liquid (wine, eggplant juices, oils). Tilting the pan poach an egg in that for 1-2min.

Eat on brown rice.

Quite fast, simple and very very tasty :)

Tamarind (a.k.a "turds growing on overgrown ferns", as some people have put it) for dessert. Found an unexpected cheap half-kilo box on sale the other day, D had never eaten any, so for once I got to show off my botany-classes-garnered knowledge. Is a tree, is a legume, nothing to do with ferns, can be eaten fresh, although maybe not too much at a time, is supposed to be mildly laxative. Taste is sort of a mix of dried dates, sour citrus and something else. Frequently used in savory cooking, which sems like a total waste to me, because the fresh ones are so tasty and tons of fun to eat. Procedure:

• Take dried pod, rinse and gently dry.
• Thoroughly dry hands to avoid causing extra slimy/sticky mess.
• Squeeze until the pod breaks into shards and essentially drops off.
• Remove all of it and reveal the even turd-ier looking pulp inside.
• If any parts have molded or been eaten by worms, toss those segments.
• Hold by the nub on the tip where the tentacles meet.
• Peel off the tentacles (like a banana).
• Bite off one turdblob at a time from the narrow connecting part.
• Eat the pulp and inner shells as you would a cherry.
• Avoid biting into the pit, spit it out.
• Be amazed how much the shiny seed looks, feels and sounds like a piece of stone.
• Keep the seeds, because...
• Toss the tentaclecage.
• Repeat.
• Wow everyone who has never heard of this thing before with the experience.

Cheers,

Hedi

Smack in the middle of the 'meh' category

Doorbell about a month ago. P, having had a random idea, dropping off a couple of left over books written by a friend. Actual books, made of paper, so, of course, I read them. Eventually. Wasn't the easiest task, though. Non-fiction scenes about life in Tokyo, author basically lives down the road from our place. Got awards and everything. First one written in 2005, published 2014, read 2023. Which was a problem.

Picture how much life has changed in the recent years. Now double that, because Tokyo (and even Japan will eventually be forced to enter the current century, I'm sure). Meaning that a large part of the book induced cringing over the outdated "This is so and that is so" statements. Turns out 18 years are nowhere near long enough to be able to read and dismiss the stories you've been living in yourself as irrelevant pieces of funny history, so instead they spawn a swarm of thoughts like "Oh god, if someone who hasn't lived here for at least ten of those years reads it and actually takes this stuff at face value..."

A few "snapshots" apply even after the time warp. Vending machines and nigh magical postal delivery, anyone? The chapters about ways of holding on to train handles, the Donkihote shopping experience and a few others were very good throughout. On the other hand, if those pearls hadn't existed, perhaps I wouldn't have had to spend my time on the rest of it. (Nah, who are we kidding, I can't not finish a book once started, even if bad.)

Because scattered throughout were views that I can't but describe as narrow-minded ignorance of a trueborn 'Murican. To clarify, during most of the book I did not know the author was American, but the inherent, probably-not-conciously-meant-in-a-bad-way-but-nevertheless-insulting-to-everyone-else aura of entitlement the writing gave off was just unmissable. Newsflash - not everything in the whole world works/looks exactly as in the States, from things to people to motivations. Which, based on the list of countries-lived-in printed in the final chapter, the author should know extremely well. So how exactly one manages to lead a life wandering the world and still be (or at least pretend/claim to be) shocked to their core about cultural differences, I couldn't guess.

Perhaps stemming from that, a bunch of the claims were just plain wrong. A rant about the Japanese people always walking fast, as a random example. No, they really don't. If I tried hard, I could come up with a couple of people who may think so, but the most typical foreigner complaint is, and has always been, that the locals move so goddamn slow, it's a total headache to keep having to swerve around them to ever get anywhere. Apply thought equally to walking, biking and driving.

(Note: in case of the last, I don't suggest anyone should be speeding, but I do wish they'd actually teach proper car control here instead of how many times one needs to point and nod at things before even starting the bloody machine; I do wish that people would stop holding up traffic and drive up to the speed limit, when it is clearly safe to do so; I do wish that drivers would stop watching TV while in control of hazardous metal monsters (Noteinanote: if you own a car, you are required by law to pay the insane monthly fee to the local TV network); and I do wish that the millions of very elderly wouldn't automatically get their licence extended way past when their health situation should put a stop to that, if any common sense applied.)

Then there was the constantly repeated obsession about banners, signs, maps, ads, kanji etc. NO, the average Japanese does not mean a thing with whatever nonsense is written on their T-shirt in broken English. Simply because they can't read it. And this in 2023, not to mention twenty years ago. Forcibly attaching witty meanings to this blatant fast fashion consumerism is just revolting.

Which sort of illustrates the rest of the book - the absolute Japanoworship. Like, serious blind hardcore belief, that ANYTHING Japanese is pure and holy with the deepest of deep meanings and the best it can ever be. An example that really drove me up the wall was the outright orgastic section about chopsticks. Not a usage manual or any interesting historical info, oh no. The way the chapter read, if the author doesn't get off on watching the blessed chopsticks in use as opposed to the oh-so-base, disgusting and dreaded Western cutlery, I'll eat my hat.

In that light, the fact that only minuscule mentions of the massively important food culture of Japan were included in the book was probably a good thing. Then again, I've still got the second one to go...

Right. So. Leaving that questionable approach aside, the topics were mostly well chosen. Language usage-wise the text was pleasant to read, the amount of typos wasn't too bad and most sentences made their point clear. The best part, though, were the intermittent Japanese terms, that were all also completely correct! (Also relevant and spaced apart enough to not be overwhelming.) Why it was decided to only add the explanations of those as a list to the back of the book, and not mention neither that fact nor the meanings earlier, is beyond me, though. Attempt to make a non Japanese speaker who has managed to reach the end without understanding any of the key phrases to go read it again, this time with the newly discovered glossary? (Which raises the question about the target audience of the book, but whatever.)

But, clearly, reading it made me personally write this post. To be honest, brain also started auto-compiling excessive lists of good-vs-bad-vs-weird about life in Japan, but writing all of THAT down is a project a bit too big to tackle right now.

Cheers,

Hedi

Tibud

Isehakanud päevalill on viimaks õitsemist lõpetamas. Kust algselt aeda tuli, ei tea, aga leidis ilmselgelt omale sobiva niši, kui arvestada, et õisi on suve jooksul mesimummude rõõmuks kõvasti tootnud. St 200ni pidasime seemnepäid kogudes järge, pikemalt ei viitsinud, kuskil 50 on endiselt küljes ehk, täielik ulme. Taignakausitäis seemneid oli tulemuseks igatahes, paraku muu taimse pudiga läbisegi. Tuulisel päeval õhku loopimine aitas aga terad sõkaldest eraldada ja protsessi käigus tänavale lennanud seemnete üle olid paar müstiliselt välja ilmunud imeilusat tuvi (mitte tavalised hallid linnalinnud, vaid mingi värvilisem metsikum liik) väga rõõmsad. Uskumatult julged tegelased - ei pilgutanud silmagi, kui kõigepealt jalakäia, siis rattur ja lõpuks veoauto 30 cm kauguselt möödusid. Varem samu tegelasi paar korda ehk näinud, niiet muidugi oli huvi, kas tulevad peale pidusööki tagasi. Yep, täna hommikul olid jälle platsis. Nüüd muidugi tunne, et tahaks neile veel kraami sööta, et korduvateks aiakaunistusteks jääksid. Pole eetiline tegevus, muidugi, niiet hoiab end tagasi, aga lahe kohtumine igatahes.

Päevalilleseemned muidu väikest sorti, st otse süüa sisuliselt võimatu. Kas plaan neist õli pressida välja tuleb, näis.

Cheers,

Hedi

I'm being haunted

Despite it, according to the nice and accurate random youtube videos or automatic "news" feeds, being one of the easy go-to party snacks that everyone knows and likes, I've never actually made devilled eggs. Have had a pin in the plan for ages, but keep postponing. Looks like I'm being pushed into making the food happen in the near future, though.

Because basically every book (8 just-read, resurfacing thoughts of 4-5 others), tv show (4 different ones, I believe), computer game (all 3 that I've touched at all in the past year) or other media that I've come into contact with over the past month or so could directly be copied into a word cloud looking (in a completely random order and ignoring capitalization to be fair) something like this: devil, demons, hell, apocalypse, four horsemen, antichrist, 6-9 circles, dante, death, angles (and angels), heaven, satan, monsters, eldrich, underworld, vampires, seven deadly sins, witches, magic, fire, lucifer, god, temptation, candle, red, ...

Yeah, sure, moving from one supernatural movie or video to another, even if subcontiously, makes sense taking the million suggestion algorithms ruling us into account. But to have this spread into every type of media over several separate accounts. Hmm. Or to click on a totally random e-book in a library without knowing anything AT ALL about it beforehand, and it turning out to be yet another story about hell. Or for example to have my main playlist of over 9000 songs on shuffle for it to just constantly pick and play yet another song with the devil in its name. Completely unrelated gameshows or drum lessons have the references, IT newsletters and random interviews with people do too. The already ongoing Halloween madness in shops fits right in.

But when it starts coming up over and over again in daily conversations with D when I know that he hasn't consumed ANY of the same or related media (nor have I mentioned anything about it due to his complete disinterest in any fantasy stuff), that's just bizarre. E.g. I've been making oven-grilled potatoes the same way for several years. And now, out of the blue, he goes and renames them into "potatis satanus".

Cheers,

Hedi

Specializations

(Edit: Not actually "yesterday" by the time I managed to finish this post - not sure of the reason, but just could NOT write words down in any sort of sensical order for loooong, despite rolling with the easier language from the getgo. Seems to be a touch better at present, though. Yey.)

The brightest point by far of the yester-sucks-on-all-fronts-day (the kind that in the morning gets up to speed by me waking up in serious all-over pains, continues into lunchtime with a malfunctioning toilet, a broken microphone/camera, the garden having been dug up by the resident mole, and another typhoon making landfall straight on Tokyo, having a five o'clock tea with a university-wide flu warning at D's workplace combined with him already having a fever, and ends up with a massive work-related fail and the resulting mood from hell) was T describing how the vegetable soup that M had made got put to great use by an albatross (cue song here!), who, passing by the open kitchen window, had proceeded to un-lid the pot and eat the whole thing. Her periodically feeding the birds scraps on the balcony might have something to do with setting up this sitcom to be fair.

I'm extremely tempted to try to become friends with the couple of crows that occasionally patrol our own balcony or make ghost-noises on the roof. So far haven't actually taken any steps towards that, though, seeing as we go through quite many plastic bags every week already, because the crows of the campus seem to gain huge satisfaction/entertainment from removing/breaking every single one of those they come across, which means that keeping the bike saddles covered from elements whist parking has become a bit of a Sisyphus struggle.

Meanwhile, there is a butterfly farm happening in our garden thanks to the efforts of one (at least, I've never seen more than one at a time, so I choose to believe that rather a clan of many, it's the same one that just really really likes our place, heh) persistent Madam, most likely of this persuation, periodically (as in several times every day) flopping around the house, each time laying some fresh eggs on our lemon trees (cue next song). Which, (the eggs, not the trees nor the song) shortly hatch into rather ugly spiky poop-like larvae. A couple of days and a bunch of leaves-turned-into-memories later those grow and morph into rather cute bright green 5cm long caterpillars that a) threaten you with biiiiig orange "horns" should you bother them and b) are able to decimate a tree in a few days. Sure, these particular trees are really young (tallest about 80cm, smallest 20cm, kept in much too restrictive pots), but still, the speed with which the munching goes - if I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't believe it possible. And, of course, the bastards have specialized and refuse to eat anything else... Yeah, it's wonderful to have butterflies around, but, but.. my poor small seed-grown treelings really can't with this... So every few days we keep having to escort the caterpillars of all sizes over the fence into the neighbor's old large citrus tree in hopes that they get themselves fed there and manage to survive until the next life stage.

The even hungrier near 10cm hawk moth caterpillar with a funky tail from last autumn at least chose an abundant weedy vine as its prey and ate half of our back fence-ful, before climbing into a pot of previously-orchid substrate, cocooning up, almost getting itself killed when I tried to empty the pot out for winter, then spending the cold months on my office desk in the relative warmth of 6-10C at night, followed by wriggling about just in time to avoid being terminated again when I went to check the pot in late spring due to the lack of any life signs up to that point, resting a few days in a box in our living room, obtaining wings, pooping on my hand and flying away. Just saw one of them a few days ago - so maybe our Hippo finally made it back home... Species-wise might have been this one? Coloration of the caterpillar on the wiki page doesn't really match, however the adult form does + the species name search does bring up more familiar pictures... But in summary, uhh, I really am absolutely terrible at recognising non-plant species. Scrap that, have gotten bad at plants too. Can recognise butterfly and ladybug eggs now, tho, guess that counts for something?

Cheers,

Hedi

Kardulad

Tegin hakklihakastet. Tekkis tõsimeelne küsimus. Miks on kraanatoit kraanatoit?

Mikrolainekartuliaurutussiga on endiselt super - "keedukartulid" 9 minutiga. Ja kuna avastus, et netist saab otse farmeritelt korralikku (aktsepteeritav sort tuvastatud peale kõigi saadavalolevate läbi proovimist... ei võtnud eriti kaua aega, kartulite valik tõesti EI ole Jaapanis teema... riisi on küll sadat sorti saada, millel kohalikud väidetavalt vahet ka teevad, oeh, mõnda asja ikka ei õpi nii lihtsalt) värsket kartulit tellida, on neid viimastel kuudel hulka süüa saanud.

Paraku sai ka selgeks, et Tokyo suvine kliima on kartulite surm. Isegi keldris, muu majaga võrreldes jahedas ja kuivas (seda viimast ainult tänu elektrikuivatile), pesemata ja pimedas kastis, saavad värsked kartulid paari nädalaga kolmesentimeetrised kasvud külge. Niru.

Ühed teist sorti kunagi suve alguses poest hangitud ubinad... ehh, oot, nood on õunad... ?mugulad kukkusid ka kapinurgal kasvama, niiet sai neist viis oma mullaruutmeetrile istutatud. Katsetuse lõbu peamiselt - temperatuur ja "kasvuperioodi" ajastus ei sobinud üldse, ruumi- ja valgusepuudus ka mitte. Noh, ja siis veel see pagana uncle-infestation (tõsiselt peaks lõpuks välja uurima, mis nende "trilobiitputukate" päris nimi on, ah, misiganes..).

Ja muidugi - meie muttelukas. MIKS see tegelane võrdlemisi lähedaste suurte parkide asemel meie ruutmeetril elada otsustas, või kuidas imemoodi ta ümbritsevatest asfaltteedest hoolimata üldse siia sai, ei tea. Aga parajalt tark paistab teine olema - kolmandat aastat vähemalt siin (kui muidugi mingi järgnevusega tegu pole, ei tea tegelikult, kaua nad elavad) ja lõksudest hoiab 100% eduga eemale (eluslõkse ainult katsetanud, millegi karmimaga ei raatsi läheneda probleemile, loodust niigi vähe ju). Ühtlasi toimib tormihoiatusena - ehk kui kogu peenra üles kaevata otsustab, saame üldiselt nii päeva pärast järjekordse taifuuni selga. Tekitab ilmselt õhurõhkude muutusele reageerides vmt lisaventilatsiooni ja kuivendust omale korterisse - protsess, mille käigus ka mu vaesed kardulad korduvalt mullast välja said nügitud.

Ehk et, ei olnud rõõmsad need konkreetsed kodukasvatatud kartulid, aga söögikorra jagu sai nahka pistetud ikka.

Cheers,

Hedi

Drink, confused in the temporal sense

Gin + hot water + honey + lime makes for as nice a cold-weather drink as mulled wine or minttu hot chocolate. Why the idea of this, essentially hot gin'n'tonic, came into being in the middle of the persistently 38C August, I have no Clue.

(Sentences written: 2. Unintentional refs snuck in: 3. Re-read. Make that 4. And I did deliberately stay my hand from inserting all the obvious ones. Oh. Jeesh...)

Cheers,

Hedi

Ainult Jaapanis... ?

Oleks pea panti pannud, et olen kohalikest müügiautomaatidest varem midagi kirjutanud, aga jupp aega otsisin ja üles ei leidnud. Veider.

Igatahes, Jaapani ise-teenindusega tänavamüügiautomaadid on... mitmekülgsed. Kuuma-külmajoogimasinad on tõsiselt igal nurgal, vahel täiesti keset pärapõrgut mägede otsas vmt. Mõned skaneerivad klientide nägusid ja "soovitavad" tooteid (kuigi päris kindel ei ole, kas noid lõpuks isikuandmete kaitse raames kinni ei pandud...) Teatud tüüpi restoranide uste lähedalt leiab enamasti toidupiletiautomaadi. Šokolaade või muid näkse pakkuvad masinad on muidugi ka sagedased. Jäätisemasinad. Kuuma suppi müüvad masinad. Kümnekiloseid riisikotte müüvad automaadid. Kapslimänguasjade masinad muidugi (ja lõputu valim mängusaalide masinaid, aga nood klassifitseeruvad pigem mängurluse alla vist.) Põllulappide kõrval värsket aed-ja juurvilja müüvad masinad. Puuviljamasinad. Võileivamasinad. Kuuma toitu serveerivatest olen ka kuulnud, aga näinud vist ei ole ühtegi. Alkoholi ja sigarette müüvad masinad, mis mingist hetkest alates isegi ID'd küsima hakkasid, varasematel aastatel loodeti puhtalt alaealiste hirmule ja kuulekusele, kui jutte uskuda. Hügieenisideme- ja/või kondoomiautomaadid tualettides. Hädatarvilike riideesemetega varustavad automaadid. Kasutatud aluspesu müüvad masinad (don't think about it...) Kanistriveemasinad, jäämasinad.

Peale mitut aastat samas kohas poodlemist (illustreerimaks, et kui asja oodata/otsida ei oska, lihtsalt ei näegi), avastasin ühe neist viimastest selle suve alguses oma kohalikust toidupoest. Peale seda märkan muidugi muudes poodides kah. Asja idee, et kui mingit külmutatud kraami ostad, saad selle õues põrgukuumuses minutiga sulamast/riknemast päästa, kui jääga kotti pakid. Tasuta teenus muuseas. Mega, eks?

Täna aga hüppas asi sammukese kõrgemale tasemele, kui kassiir jäätisepakkidele osutades miskit arusaamatut küsis, mu segaduses näo peale paar mündisuurust metallkettakest pihku pistis, ja käega seina poole lehvitas. Läksin kuulekalt uurima, et mis teema on, kas jäämasinal mingi uus kontroll peal, et mittekliendid tänavalt sisse ei jalutaks ja jääkottidega minema ei kõnniks, või mis. Nope, selgus et: kas uus sugenenud või ajus registreerimata pikalt juba seal olnud, tavalise jäämasina kõrval elas nüüd maagiline kuiva jää masin. Metallkettad pilusse ja muudkui tuleb, täitsa lõpp! Ja kui lõbus sellega pärast kodus veel uduvulkaane ja seebimullimasinaid simuleerida oli. :D

Vot ei usu, et selline asi peale Jaapani mujal toimiks, correct me if I'm wrong.

Cheers,

Hedi

Tõsine nõmedus (toiduvaba)

Cannotcannotcannot think/write in Estonian, mis tähendab, et on ilmselt aeg end just täpselt seda tegema sundida. Kas see lausejuppgi on korrektsepoolses keeles kirjutatud? Kuus+ korda muutsin sõnastust ja ikka pole kindel... Juppgi? Juppki? Appi :(

Igatahes, sattusin eile tõsiselt häiriva uue "kirjandustrendi" peale. Nimelt avaldatakse sama raamatut eri kirjastuste / levitajate poolt eksklusiivsete autorilt tellitud lisapeatükkidega. Mingil määral olevat sellist müügitegevust ka varem esinenud, aga, nimesid nimetamata, kõvahäälne poleemika läks lõpuks lahti ühe vaieldamatult populaarseima YA kirjaniku teoste üle, kel kolme seeria (8 raamatu) peale hetkel "mööda ilma laiali" 12 ekstrapeatükki. Ja tegu ei ole mitte ainult paragrahv-kuni-lehekülg-või-nii mahus lisanditega, vaid 15+ leheküljeliste tervikpeatükkidega, millest suur osa lugejatest, kes oma raamatukoopia ühest allikast ja ühes eksemplaris ostnud, seega täiesti ilma jäävad. NB! Tegu ei ole ka  netist vabalt autori õnnistusega legaalselt kättesaadavate lühinovellide vmt'ga, nagu Pratchetti kettamaailma lühijuttudega näiteks seis. Lisaraha ei maksa, jääd ilma.

Okei, idee poolest peaks need spetsiaalmisiganesed olema ainult padufännidele suunatud ja raamatu põhisisu kohapealt ebaolulise lisainfoga. Ja kui maailm meeldib, kes ei tahaks veidike midagi lisaks saada, eks? Noh, spoiler alert... (ehhh, tõlkeprogramm väidab, et see olla maakeeli spoilerihoiatus.. päriselt? Muuseas, mul läks juba arvepidamine sassi, mitu korda praegu kirjutades sõnastikust inglisekeelsele sõnale eestikeelset vastet otsima olen pidanud... paanika keeleoskuse üle punases...) kuna konkreetse autori raamatud kõik ammuilma (ja osad korduvalt) loetud, kontrollisin ise järgi - no EI klassifitseeru lisainfoks miski, mis mõne peategelase kogu olemuse ja interaktsioonid paari leheküljega pea peale pöörab! (Et õiglane olla, tõsiselt kriitilised olid ehk 3/12, aga ka see on juba liig!)

Aga pole viga, läheb hullemaks.

Eelkirjeldatud autor nimelt teatas hiljuti, et tema järgmine raamat, mis oh no nii muuseas seob tema kaks varasemat seeriat ja mõlema tegelased samasse juttu / maailma (loe: miljonid fännid on hullumas), avaldatakse viie erineva lisapeatükiga, müügil viies erinevas USA raamatupoes. Ehk: tahad kõiki lugeda, osta sama raamat viis korda. Oh, ja kui USAs ei ela, F.U.

Noh, ja siis on üks teine kirjanik, kelle kraami lugenud ise ei ole, kelle raamatul pidi neli totaalselt erinevat lõppu olema. Ei, mitte ühes köites ajuharjutusena / vali-oma-lemmik koos. Lõpp, ja seega ka raamatukogemus, mille keegi saab, sõltub sellest, millise variandi peale ta parajasti juhtub. Ropendama võtab.

Ei tea, palju sellest õudusest autorite ja palju kirjastuste või turundustegelaste ahnuse süü on. Aga väga väga loodan, et lugejaskonna selgelt negatiivne reaktsioon sellisele käitumisele on piisav, et asi hullemaks ei lähe ja et tulevikus raamatuid kogumiskaartide kombel peatükk haaval kokku korjama ei pea hakkama. Seniks aga käsi südamel lubadus, et oma raha, aega ja närve sihukese ebardlikkuse peale ei kuluta - kui netist kätte ei saa, kerigu sinnasamusesse.

Cheers,

Hedi

Mission not-at-all-impossible

As rare an occurrence as it is, occasionally snailmail parcels have gotten assembled and sent. From Japan to family-and-friends back home in Estonia (mainly), I mean. The trouble is, after the long time here, my previously ingrained level of understanding about an average non-here person's tastes, preferred food styles, extra ingredient availability at a location, usage methods of certain foodstuffs etc have gotten significantly distorted. Not to mention forgetting that most people neither understand what is written on the packages I might send over, nor are able to look up any necessary instructions due to the small hitch of just having no idea what to type into google. Which is to say that choosing what to get them while trying to balance the exotic-interesting vs edible-useful scales is a rather involved process. Typically.

Enter R, a self-proclaimed Japanaddict, who conveniently also happens to be an inspiring and experimentative cook. So a mission "send me a parcel of JP snacks, the official services that do this are insanely overpriced", basically means I can go to a random shop here, load up the basket with whatever catches my eye and not for a second have to worry about whether the things I choose, both the things I myself enjoy and those I don't care for (oh goddamn it, I'll never be free of these tons of quotes still obsessively circling in my head, sneaking into every second sentence, will I...), will be understood, appreciated or used up in one way or another.

The limitations or outright bans of the postal system as to ingredients (to certain destinations), breakability of some goods, expiry dates etcetc are still an issue, of course. Not to mention the actual admin involved in the process, ughhh.

Cheers,

Hedi

Deconstructed chocolate churro doughnut bites...

...are apparently something we can get from the konbini now. Will be as hard to avoid as the previous fave chocolate brownie, I fear.

Cheers,

Hedi

Lost... it

Nanny Ogg's Cookbook

borrowable legally

(at least at the time of writing, however some bastards

(yeah, I know, I know, authors

(let's not even get to the mess about how much the actual writers vs the publishers or other random leeches in the system get)

(these tabs will be completely messed up when I click the publish post button, won't they.. oh well, good luck)

need/deserve

(well, most of them, anyway, have read some idiotic stuff recently)

their income, but how the heck do these people think libraries and borrowing works work, no matter whether digital or analog??)

(this is fun, btw.)

have complained and sued them in 2020, followup in 2023, so I have no idea how long this heaven-sent

(although at the moment can't quiiiiite get along with the idea of heaven and angels, see below)

availability will last)

for free for 1hr

(used to be a more normal time period measured in days

(to the apocalypse, ha ha ha)

but those aforementioned lawsuits...)

at a time, until you finish the book or get tired of clicking the button, I suppose, here

(a non-mental note: this site is altogether Awesome with a capital

(there are two kinds of people, the ones who can extrapolate from incomplete data)

can't believe I haven't used it pRooPerLy before this year!),

is the most original/fun cookbook I've read by a mile.

Especially after finishing the latest re-read of the 41 books (+ the additional 8 short stories and some other odds and ends) listed in the Discworld series, thus being able to recall and get all the references and inside jokes.

Especially especially when desperately needing a f**kton of !potent! distractions after being utterly unable to get over GOs2... for several weeks... Is just..  so so sosososo Good! Pun intended for at least the 4th time in this post, lost count.

Also realised that everything that I just wrote down sounds/looks like I'm missing some screws. Probably am just now. Blame it on being off my head with the fever, nooothing at all to do with the final 12 minutes... aaagggghhh!!!! ... And commas. Definitely missing some commas. And NOT DUCKS!! Uh, ok, that last is a lie, most certainly missing the ducks. And, just, all of the entire blasted thing!

Curtain.

Cheers,

Hedi

Someone please calculate the odds...

The population of Tokyo (area) as of 2023 is 35.8 million people. 3.6 million (of not necessarily unique ones, I grant) of them pass though Shinjuku station every day - that is, uh, 10ish% of the total? So, in that sprawling mad anthill they still insist on calling a station, randomly running into someone you know, is not very likely, right? Turns out it happens. Several times in not too many years, in fact.

Or how about this. You go to a relaxed evening out at a gay bar with friends, snap a photo with some random Japanese lady, move too far to visit it again. End up going back 7 years later, intentionally with one of the original friend group (who, by the way, worked for some Estonian company or sth in the meanwhile, but is definitely not Estonian). Guess who else is also there and about to completely freak out over the old photo you are about to show her.

One of the rare times getting out of the apartment to go to a part of the city you've never been to before (to find a specific ink only sold in one place, of all things, don't ask, not my idea), only to return to a message from a friend saying he liked the dress I was wearing. Met that particular person through a get-together of Estonians (yes, in Tokyo, that also happened) about 6 year prior, were close-ish for a while, then completely lost touch, because life happens. Oh yeah, and the dress? Blue-black-white one I bought for when president Ilves was visiting here.

Wife of D's colleague? Born in Tallinn.

Almost certain I've mentioned this in some context already, but... The Kansai area is quite a bit smaller place, I know, but still, likelyhood of one of the ten people turning up for a meetup being at that point a complete stranger whose apartment you happened to visit for a bathroom break during Halloween with some friends of friends or sth like that?

Back in Tokyo and present day. Went on a rare (have, sadly, gotten out of the habit otherwise, plus it is waaay too hot to do anything anyway, so..) nighttime walk. Ten minutes away from home were hailed from a car going the other way. Neighbors and kids all waving from the windows, happened to go down just that particular street in the spiderweb of roads in the area. OK, reasonable.

A few minutes later got stuck at a traffic light, waited, waited, waited, then gave up and crossed under the red (street empty of cars), when D stopped to address a biker - I gather that the dude is somehow involved in the same uni as him, they met some months ago at an event. Then I look at the face. Yup, know him too, from an event in Kansai, some four years previous. A Latvian independence day karaoke event (or sth along those lines) to be precise (not really sure how I ended up there, actually).

Walk continues a bit incredulously. We decide to step into a shop for dinner, find kohuke (of the Latvian origin) in the freezer next to ice creams.

Get home, receive a message from mom saying she went shopping, you guessed it, in Latvia.

Food-related add-on:

Getting ice-creams in addition to the English breakfast ingredients we set out to get resulted in a) skipping dinner (ok, fine, fine, ate half of a raw potato, again, don't ask, and 3 'German' chicken wieners) and b) deepening disappointment in the pudding-taste ice creams. 2/3 in the recent weeks have been nigh inedible. And, of course, the third was amazing, as are the memories of similar things from past summers. So what I've got here now is a total first world problem.

Ah yeah, and the population of Estonia is 1.3 million. How... I don't even.. good grief..

Cheers,

Hedi

Suvetoidud

Kraadiklaas teavitab, et hetkel väljas 41 kraadi, toas lõputu konditsioneerimise peale veidi vähem, aga ikka - no EI ole ergas olemine. Ja näljaseks eriti ka ei lähe, mispärast stampmenüüs, kui üldse toiduni jõuda (päris mõni päev jääb lõuna või õhtusöök suisa vahele), selge suvenihe toimunud.

Gyomus on potsikuga päris mõnus hummus (ehk maitsestatud kikerhernepasta) müügil. Ülitöödeldud ja kauasäiliv, seega idee poolest ei tohiks üldse süüa, aga ah, kuradile. Värsked porgandid, paprikaviilud, mingi leivandus ja, usu või mitte, toores seller pulkadeks näpuvahelt dippimiseks, mõnikord veidi mingit varasemast üle jäänud lihakraami kõrvale, ja ongi toit. (Isegi musti nõusid tekib vähe, jipii.) Porknaid võiks niimoodi suht lõputult pista, no niiii hea. Sellerivahemärkus: pean tunnistama, et vähemalt vürtsise hummusega kombinatsioonis maitseb see vähem halvasti, kui kuskil mujal kunagi maitsenud on, aga ikka... Peale põhjalikku tagaotsimist selgus õnneks, et sellerit müüakse siin naabruskonnas täpselt ühes poes, suht närbunult ja hingehinna eest, niiet ei pea seda eksperimenti rohkem jätkama.

Ananass aga, veidi ootamatult, on üks parima hinna-kvaliteedi suhtega puuvilju, mis praegu saadaval. On teised korralikult küpsed ja megamagusad, jagub kahele kaheks päevaks ja hind on sama, kui peotäiel kõige odavamatel viinamarjadel või õunapaaril. Puhastamine ei ole ka eriline pingutus enam, kui paar nippi välja töötatud.

(Aaaghh, appi, siinkohal ei suuda jälle eesti keeles mõelda/kirjutada, nii palju sõnu, mida vaja, kas ei tule lihtsalt pähe või reaalselt ei eksisteeri selles keeles!! Kuigi tuleb tunistada, et näiteks eile kõne ajal üles kerkinud sõna "töötlus" muusika kohta, on kõvasti väljendusrikkam ja selgem, kui kõik inglisekeelsed alternatiivid, mis seni välja olen mõelnud, niiet käib mõlemat pidi ka asi...)

Tee nii: terve ananass ära pesta, lehetutt käega maha keerata (ja soovi korral vette juuri kasvatama panna, mul hetkel 3 taime pottides), alumine ots maha lõigata (sest sealt leiab muidu sageli mingeid ebasoovitavaid hallitusseenelisi), vili koos koore ja südamikuga pooleks, sektoriteks ja need omakorda paari sentimeetri pikkusteks juppideks lõikuda, söömine käest, kui vili küps, on südamik ka toit, puhtaks näritud koor komposti (kui selline moodustis olemas olema juhtub.) Ehk kiire magus värske suvine näks, aitab ehk veidigi lõputut jäätiseisu taltsutada. Too kah muidugi keelatud.

Avokaadod on nüüdseks palju aastaid konstantselt külmkapis/kasutuses olnud. Millegi uue ja huvitava avastamine nendega seoses on seega üsna mitut ajurakku nõudev tegevus, ja nagu mainitud, nood lõõtsutavad kõik kuskil keldris sellise ilmaga. Aga vot eile õhtul õnnestus, mille peale oli selge otsus, et peab siia kirja panema. Konspiratsiooniteooriaid kenasti toites pudenes paar tundi peale seda postkasti uudiskiri lingiga avokaadode erinevatest kasutusvõimalustest.  Njah, mingeid ideid seal ju on, aga minu vaieldamatud kaks lemmikavokaadotoitu on (ja ilmselt jäävad) ikkagi a) kergelt röstitud rukkileival soola-pipra ja värske tomatiga avokaadoviilud, b) riisi-liha-seene-salsa-tomati-avokaado-juustukauss. Aga see selleks.

Avokaadoprobleem on probleemiks, pun intended. Sama asi, nagu Banaaniprobleem, ainult ehk veidi leebemal kujul. Põhimõtteliselt: toores - toores - toores - 5 minutit super - pruun plöga. Pika harjutamise peale oskab enamuse ajast poest kas otse toidukõlbulikke vilju leida või kapinurgal järelküpsevate valmidusastet hinnata, aga vahel on mõni no nii petlik, et lööd noa avokaadosse sisse ja koore alt tuleb välja kartul. Lõikumist takistavalt kõva, maitsetu kummijurakas, see tähendab.

Noh, kui selle viljaliha koorest ja seemnest kuidagi eemaldatud saad, lõigu viiludeks ja pane minikoguse õliga keskmise kuumusega pannile. Mõni minut ühelt ja teiselt küljelt, paar plärakat kokandusveini niisutamiseks, kui kergelt pruunikas, tulelt ära. Tulemus meenutab üsna täpselt veidi hapukat küpset avokaadot... algusest peale küpset vilja siis, mitte küpsetatud vilja, mõtlen praegu, kuigi reaalsuses on tegu just selle teise variandiga siinkohal... pagan, see keel ikka... Pipar-sool võiks ka hea lisand olla, järgmise kartuliga katsetan.

Cheers,

Hedi

Alternatiivpiknik

Kui õues 35C+ sääsed või vihmahood + põletav päike või pilkane pimedus, saab tähistamispiknikku kenasti 34 kraadilt 27 kraadini konditsioneeritud elutoa põrandal pidada. Tekk maha ja valik näpuvahelt söödavat kraami (minitomatid, juustuviilud, paneeritud kana, värskesoolakurgid, kevadrullid, kuivatikartulikrõpsud, värskendavad jääjoogid, tee, arbuus, mandariinid näiteks) ühekordsetes nõudes, et vahelduseks nõudepesu vältida, sinna peale. Paar patja istumise alla, sest põrand kipub tiba kõvem olema, kui murune maapind. Igasugusest õuevariandist suurusjärkudes kõrgema kvaliteediga kõlarisüsteemi ambient playlist suunata ja voila. Ainult küpsiste ja šokolaadi vahele pandavate vahukommide grillimiseks peab kööki gaasipliidi äärde kolima. Metall-fondüüvardad ajavad asja ära, ei lähe nii kiirelt tuliseks ega midagi, kui vahukomm kõrvetub. Soovitus oleks küll vahukommimassi pliidi-mehhanismi peale mitte ajada. :P

Cheers,

Hedi

Kanakoivamarinaad

Sojakaste 2

Mesi 2

Sinep 1

Laimimahl 1

Oliiviõli 1

Küüslaugupasta 1

Ingveripasta 1

Paprikapulber 1

Must pipar 1/2

Tšillipulber 1/4

+

Hunnik kana poolkoibi mõni tund külmkapis marineerida ja siis ahjuplaadil mõlemalt küljelt 20-30 min grillida.

=

Mõnnad maitsekad "kanatiivad"

Cheers,

Hedi

Machine-drying herbs, the memo

Herbs from garden - fancy websites instruct to gather them just after dawn for potency, but ain't nobody got time for that.

Rinse off all sorts of bugs and pollutants, toss any damaged plant tissues. Would be better to not wash in water at all, but with the wildlife abounding in our pots...

Don't bother to remove leaves from stems - easier to do later, if at all necessary (e.g. tea herbs just keep the stems anyway).

Recommended temperature for drying herbs is supposed to be 35-50C. Use 40-50C setting on the dehydration cabinet because even though the temperature in the drier was 20C lower than it claimed to be (last I checked with the thermometer stolen from the smoking pot), setting it to 60-70 (so in reality 40-50) is too high and results in everything turning uniformly dark brown. Still qualifies as food, but has less taste and just looks ugly.

Single layer of herbs like sage or mint, even if they look fluffy enough that plenty of air should be able to pass through a multi-layer pile too.

Squish easily floating stuff like Calendula petals between two trays, or they'll keep turning up in every single impossible place throughout the following week.

Cover bottom of the machine with a sheet of oven paper.

Put thyme onto the lowest trays, because as soon as it dries, it'll start crumbling through the grate-tray onto whatever is below - in this case, the paper. Pro tip - to remove the leaves still stuck to the sprigs, just rub them agains the metal grates a bit.

Takes 2-3ish hours, depending on the specific herb - thyme and calendula are done in the blink of an eye, the fleshy grapefruit mint takes forever. So check the state of the herbs a lot more frequently than when drying vegetables or other juicy stuff, and take them out in batches when 'ripe'.

Oh and during that time the entire house smells vaguely of rosemary + toothpaste, heh.

Find out that you have, once again, ran out of any decent containers to store the dried stuff in and make do with whatever.

Cheers,

Hedi

Wait, what DO you actually mean?

Picked up a nonsensical-fantasy-whateverbook last week for some light entertainment... Thing ended, and I still cannot believe this!!, so insanely tragically, that I next took up re-reading the Asterix comics - those at least are a definitely safely happy dose of absurd fun to recover from that particular shock.

Wild boars, five-o-clock hot water, warm beer, cold red wine, mint sauce, skull goblets, everything in sour cream and other culinary interludes aside, one of the recurrent jokes in the series is pointing to your head / tapping on your temple and exclaiming that the people from whatever nationality the story is currently dealing with are completely out of their mind.

Which is the exact same gesture a passer-by Japanese ojiisan used when referring to me just the other day. Whilst talking directly to me, I might add. The implication in that case being, that since I was in Kyodai, I must have a "good head", a.k.a be smart...

So morale of the story: don't presume gestures mean the same thing in different cultures. ;)

(And yes, this specific gesture I have known about for ages. I do wonder how many I'm still missing even after, uh, what, 9? years of living here, though...)

Cheers,

Hedi

Ripiit

Mingist suvalisest kohast lugesin väidet, et suurem enamus majapidamisi roteerib oma menüüd kuskil kuue stamptoidu vahel. Tobedalt laialivalguv väide küll (no kas näiteks kimchi või soolakurgid peaksid eraldi arvesse minema või kui neid eri toitudega kombineerida, kuidas siis kokku lugeda), aga tekkis huvi, et palju mul neid pidevalt korduvaid go-to roogi on ka. Juhujärjekorras, nagu meelde tulevad:

väga sagedased (+ pruun riis muidugi, nii enamvähem kõigega):

• quickfry
• oven aubergines
• buckwheat and beans
• meat flour sauce
• oven or steamed potatoes
• bulgogi
• homemade muesli
• grilled fish
• popcorn chicken
• fried mushrooms
• boiled eggs
• whatevermush from leftovers
• home-made kimchi
• home-pickled cucumbers
• fluffy pancakes
• sashimi (D)
• grilled chicken
• mexican bowl

vähesagedased, aga pmst ikka korduvad:

• vegetable-meat soup
• tom kha
• steak, butterscotch sauce
• non-potato oven vegetables
• fried eggs
• fried rice
• long-boil shredded meat
• green salad of some sort
• thin pancakes
• scrambeled eggs
• lentils
• oat porridge
• yakiimo
• dried veggies

pole pikalt teinud, sest kas pole lubatud või ei saa koostisosi või pole aega või pole meelde tulnud vne:

• butternut squash
• cornbread
• pudding
• puree soup
• boiled cauliflower with breadcrumbs
• cabbage stew
• pizza
• hotdogs
• sandwiches of any type
• gyoza
• ramen
• any pasta
• lasagne
• bolognese sauce
• carbonara sauce
• protein porridge
• homemade protein bars
• any sweets
• cocoa
• tšadšiki
• sweet-and-sour chicken
• fruit salad
• yoghurt with honey
• french toast
• ...

Tjh, tiba rohkem kui kuus toitu esimeses sektsioonis, aga põhimõtteliselt peaks vist rohkem varieerima küll, ütleb ta peale tänaseks lõunaks ja õhtusöögiks mõlemaks jälle quickfry koostisosade ostmist.

Cheers,

Hedi

Guudo taimingu

Sai eile testiks järjekordne toidulisand tellitud - ei midagi veidrat või hirmsat seekord, puhas kaalium, kuna see pidada magneesiumi ja kaltsiumi kõrval kolmas lihaskrampide esinemist vähendav mineraal olema. Reeglina saab toidust piisavalt (banaanid, yey, aga neid ei suuda peale viimast eriliselt piiratud ringi väga palju süüa), aga jaburdieetide ajal mine tea, niiet katsetab ja vaatab, kas saab selja paremaks.

(Vahemärkuseks:

Kaaliumi kohta lugedes leidsin mingi preparaadi koos joodiga. Tuli meelde, kuidas A hirmsasti mures oli, et me jodeeritud soola ei tarvita, et see kilpnäärme jaoks hädavajalik. Hakkan siis edasi lugema, et kuna Jaapanisse jodeeritud soola importimine on pmst keelatud, äkki võtaks tolle ja... Esimene ette jäänud pärisartikkel teavitas, et: "Seven patients in the iodine-treated group developed subclinical hypothyroidism and one patient became hypothyroid. Three of the seven who were subclinically hypothyroid became euthyroid again when iodine treatment was stopped. One patient developed hyperthyroidism with a concomitant increase in TBII titre to 17 U/l, but after iodine withdrawal this patient became euthyroid again. Only one patient in the control group developed subclinical hypothyroidism during the same time period." Lihtsustatud ülevaate TLDR: lisajood, kui juba kilpnäärme probleemid on, võib esialgu küll olemist paremaks teha, aga seejärel hävitab näärme sisuliselt ära. Sõltub küll geneetikast ja doosidest ja tasakaalust teiste mineraalidega (seleen nt), aga... Hurrah x3 kui inimesed kuulujuttude järgi midagi võtta soovitavad, millest ise ööd ega mütsi ei tea. Oeh...)

Kohale tuli mitte-joodine kaalium igatahes täna hommikul (postiteenistus on siin ikka mega) üle aia väga lõbusa ümara kulleriga, kes mind lillepottide vahelt leides nii siiralt rõõmustas, et kohe terve päeva heaks tegi. Minu kommentaar, et vot, kui hea ajastus "ii taimingu" (ii/yoi = hea) aias olla, sai naerva nõusoleku, et on jah, aga parandusega, et õige on öelda "guudo taimingu". Millele paar sekundit hiljem järgnes küsimus, et kas seda väljendit kasutatakse inglise keeles ka? Itsitasin veidi omaette ja selgitasin, et jah, öeldakse "good timing". Väga rahule jäi tegelane, et oh, nii populaarne kohe see jaapanikeelne väljend. Siiamaani naeran.

'Tea kas sellest inspireeritult, aga klikkisin hiljem oma Duolingo kataloogi lahti: jaapani, saksa, ladina, vene, korea, poola, soome keeletunnipunktid vaatasid vastu. Eesti ja inglise muidugi nendele lisaks - ikka on mõnda õpitud... Teada tahaks seepeale, kaua protsentuaalselt päevas mis keeles mõtlen. (No ajajaotus eesti, inglise, jaapani keelte vahel vähemalt.) Pistelist kontrolli teha keeruline, sest misiganes keeles küsitaks, lülitub ju automaatselt selle peale ümber. Ideed eksperimendiks teretulnud.

Cheers,

Hedi