She should be glad...

© Joselito Briones

I dropped by Handelshof this afternoon on my way back to the apartment from Frankenlabor. When I was emptying my bag on to the merchandise belt by the cashier, I noticed that the bag was wet, and the contents of the oven cleaner that I wanted to buy was all over it. With the politest German that I know, I asked the cashier if she had some paper towels so I can salvage the other items I had in the bag. What did she do? She sneered at me and told me to twist the bottle cap tight. That freakin' beeatch! Like it's my duty to check that all their merchandise is properly closed. If I were fluent in German I'd have told her what a piece of contemptuous shitty twat she truly is.

Anyway... food update again: Pictured, left, was last night's dinner: farfalle in onion and cream sauce, with grilled shrimps (marinated in ginger, lemon rind, and coriander), plus butter and garlic baguette. I know, the sauce looks a bit icky.


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Here's something slightly amusing.

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Egg Wrap

© Joselito Briones

Here's another foodie. I'll probably be putting up a lot of architectural photos later, so I'll show you this one now. It's for tonight's dinner. What is it? If you want something very descriptive, I'd call it an eggwrap with chargrilled aubergine and minced meat filling, sauteed water spinatch on the side. Purrrrty fancy, eh?

If you understand the Filipino language though, you can see plainly that this is "tortang inihaw na talong na may giniling, at may kaulam na ginisang kangkong".


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Food update

© Joselito Briones

My apologies for not having written anything about food to you lately, I remember you said you liked that I was always telling you about food that I make. So here's the update.

Let's see... tonight I made Tom Kha soup with shrimps, the best I've done so far of this variety. I didn't want to eat anything else, so I had to make it more substantial, and I didn't want to put noodles in it either, so I put tofu. The soft and somewhat sweet kind. It went really well with the coconut milk and the rest of the ingredients: ginger, galangal (lots of it), lemongrass, coriander, garlic, lime, kaffir lime leaves, fresh chillies, and shrimps. Oh yeah, and fish sauce (yep, the smelly stuff).

© Joselito Briones

The night before, having discovered fresh mussels in the usually non-existent fish corner in Handelshof, I made steamed mussels in green thai curry sauce (pictured, above). I wasn't planning to do this dish, tonight's food was supposed to be steak and corn-on-the-cob, and some rocket salad (pictured, left) with pears, walnuts, and parmesan, but when I saw the mussels, I just had to do it. I made the steak and salad anyway.

Three nights ago (before Colonel Sander's excellent catering service in Prague) I roasted a leg of lamb (with rosemary, thyme, and anchovies, always a treat) and made potato gratin, to celebrate the completion of the paper lamps in the dining room. I remember making also some egg pancakes for breakfast, with caramelized apple and roasted walnuts, but anything beyond that, I can't remember anymore. I'll try to remember to take photos of them before even touching the plates, next time.


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The Mpemba Affection

© Joselito Briones

I'm sure you've heard of it, the Mpemba effect I mean, smart as you are, but don't you think it odd?

I wonder if it applies to people. I mean, when you're excited about something, your sensors are all hyperactive, any negative input can be easily devastating and put you in the very bottom of depression. If, on the other hand, you're indifferent, preoccupied with something else, any input, negative or otherwise, is more likely to be ignored just as much, and you pretty much stay in the same emotional state. Just a thought.

The photo above has got nothing to do with it, of course. It's just my aluminum chair in the balcony. Except it's the same aluminum chair I was so looking forward to enjoy my ice-cold watermelon drink in during lunch (I've shredded the melon pulp, checked that there's plenty of ice cubes, and made syrup out of water, honey, and vanilla) had the Mpemba effect not decide to intrude.

If it's perfectly OK for these physicists to put hot things in their freezers in the name of science, shouldn't it be alright for me to do the same (put the still warm syrup in the freezer to cool it down faster) for the sake of having the simple pleasure of drinking a home-made version of one of my favorite childhood drinks? What do you think? Oh well.


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A Bleh Day

© Joselito Briones

Yep. Nothing special today. I put up my Interfit 3200W studio halogen light in one corner of the dining area and hang the rescue-mission plant on it. I'm always trimming the plant so much I think it needs rescuing from me now.

For dinner I roasted a whole chicken, with butter, bacon, and thyme stuffing, potatoes on the side. I didn't like it much, I should've baked it on lower temperature and longer. Oh well, next time. At least the leftover should make good chicken stock, bits and all.


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Escape artist

© Joselito Briones

Back to Erlangen. Back to unpacking. Only I didn't know where to continue. I'm stalled. I couldn't unpack all closet contents because the closets aren't built yet, couldn't build the shelves because it required moving out of the way heavy photography equipment (enlargers) that I couldn't move by myself. After cleaning up and doing the laundry, I decided to escape to the park. The students lying on the grass, soaking in the sun, was a nice sight. I didn't stay long there though, I had to go to the pedestrian zone to get some money and do the grocery.

I also went to Handelshof (their version of Walmart). It's a short walking distance from the apartment. I got carried away and didn't realize I've bought too many things to carry by myself. I managed to get home only after having to stop and pause a few times.

Tonight I made humba (or something close enough).


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Something fishy

© Joselito Briones

I've finally found the place to get fresh fish. It was a good thing that it's today that I walked around the area, because it turns out they only have fresh fish on Wednesdays. It's right around the corner from the Thai grocery that sells pea-sized egg plants, baby egg plants, pomelo, and sweet basil, among the numerous other food items they have in a very cramped small space.

When I was packing the food contents of our London kitchen, I made sure to at least buy and stock up on Asian canned and bottled foods because I wasn't sure if there'd by any Asian groceries here in Erlangen. After a week of walking around, I've found four such groceries so far.

Tonight we had steamed seabass in ginger, Chinese key, galangal, and chili sauce.


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These are currently my favorite coffee companions...

© Joselito Briones

I bought this almond crunch (I don't know how exactly they call it, it doesn't say so in the label) from "Paul", and it's just sooooo good. I bought a pack and almost finished it in one sitting. It's crunchy sweet buttery almond heaven. A bit pricey but definitely worth it.

Another favorite for sometime now is the cantucci al cioccolato from "Carluccio's". Not much when eaten on its own, but when dipped in coffee.... HMMMMM MMMN. Wil once brought a pack when he joined us for dinner sometime ago, and now we've been getting some regularly.

Wil dropped by last night to collect the keys to his apartment. He left them to me last weekend when he went to Berlin to see the Liza Minelli concert, because I had to show the flat to a prospective builder to do the rennovation. I was supposed to make rack of lamb for dinner, but realized i didn't have enough lamb for three, so decided on oxtail soup instead. I followed the recipe from Pam's restaurant in Hell's Kitchen. I think I put twice as much star anise as I was supposed to, but otherwise it was fine.


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