happy thanksgiving & fresh green beans

Thursday was Thanksgiving. Did you have a good Thanksgiving? Did you have any Thanksgiving at all?

I went to a Friendsgiving. Yes, yes, I know. My household consists of lonely ol’ me, so yes, I did have Thanksgiving with people outside my household. But fear not, Mr. Cuomo! I see these people every week, so I guess they’re sort of like my pod? And we were being good—only six of us total, no hugging, we kept our distance, used serving utensils, etc.

Anyhow, it was potluck style and I was assigned green bean casserole due to my rudimentary cooking skills and everyone saying it was a “necessity” at Thanksgiving. But in truth, I’ve never been a fan of green bean casserole. I’m also lactose intolerant. Well anyway, I was told that green bean casserole is better with fresh beans, so that’s what I used. I had to Google how to blanch them, because I’d never actually cooked green beans before. All in all, the whole process was pretty easy. Wash green beans. Chop green beans. Blanch green beans. Mix green beans with a can of cream of mushroom, half a cup of milk, some pepper, and 2/3 cup of French’s fried onions. Bake in an 8×8 pan at 350F for 30 minutes, top with more fried onions, and bake for another 5 minutes. And done.

And you know what? Everyone said it was good. (Thank you, kind friends!) But the truth is, I still didn’t like it. It certainly was better than other green bean casseroles I’ve tried, but no amount of fresh greens and extra crispy fried onions will make it appetizing to me. It’s just too much mushiness for my taste. Sure I ate it, mixed in with the mashed potatoes and stuffing and a Lactaid pill … but it’ll never be my jam. Oh, but French’s fried onions? I have to say, those things are delicious. I’ve already eaten all the extra I had. Those beat green beans any day.

holiday chocolate oranges

Howdy there! It’s been a while! Last I posted, I was on my way to Columbus, Ohio, in order to spend Thanksgiving in West Virginia. Then I spent Christmas in New York. And then New Year’s in Montreal. And let me tell you: Montreal was freakin’ cold. But I did learn that “Christmas oranges” are a thing in Canada. Basically they’re those little mandarin/clementine oranges … but it’s a traditionally Christmas thing in Canada. I learned this because A) I was traveling with a Canadian who was super excited when B) our Airbnb host left us a tray of Christmas oranges.

But this is not a post about a tray full of random oranges that were devoured while we huddled together in the warmth of a very cute apartment, away from the crazily negative temperatures out in Montreal. Why were we in Montreal in the dead of winter? Long story. Anyhow, I never knew Christmas oranges were a thing until a few weeks ago, but what I look forward to every time the holidays roll around are chocolate oranges. Yum.

Smash ’em against a wall, which breaks the ‘orange’ segments from the center piece. Then enjoy the taste of orange-y flavored chocolate, which is surprisingly delicious. And somehow these things are only found at Christmas. No idea why. Maybe it’s related to the Canadian orange + Christmas combo? I don’t know. What I do know is that I bought two and ate them in two days (I really should stop eating chocolate for breakfast, but those are the perks of living alone, right?) so now I need to buy more.

Hope you had a good holiday!

hello, it’s me. hello from the other side.

Welcome to 2017, everyone! Yes, it’s me. It’s almost a full month into 2017 and I haven’t posted in over two months, but … whatever.

This was the first year that I rang in the new year in New York. I live about 15 minutes away from Times Square, which means that for New Year’s Eve celebrations, I got AS FAR AWAY from home as possible. Okay, that’s not entirely accurate. I stayed in Manhattan, because late night subway traffic, especially right after the New Year, is ridiculous. But I definitely escaped to the Upper West Side. Only tourists are in Times Square on New Year’s Eve, and they clutter up the place. Roadblocks everywhere, traffic diverted, heavy police presence, and no access to certain subway stations. Total madness. Starting at 2 PM, you had to go through police checkpoints to get east of Eighth Avenue. STARTING AT 2 IN THE AFTERNOON. That meant no access to the NQRW trains for me and long lines of people on the sidewalks. ARGH.

But Upper West Side? Nice dinner, hung out at a friend’s place, then headed over to Central Park and watched fireworks. Yay. Nice and simple. And so far? 2017’s not been too horrible. There’s nothing to be happy about, but at least the world hasn’t exploded or imploded yet, so that’s good, right? The key to happiness is low expectations.

i climbed a mountain – go me! (tbt)

I’m not much of an outdoorsy person, but growing up in Texas, going camping, and taking weekend trips to state parks made me really appreciate fresh air and nature. Plus, sometimes I just need to get out because otherwise it’s too depressing to have carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists at my age from typing too much like the sad indoor grunt that I am. Now I’m in a city among cities, but last year, before leaving China and Shanghai (another city among cities), I climbed a mountain!

My friend &C had gotten involved in one of Shanghai’s many hiking/meetup groups, so I joined her on a group trip to Anhui Province’s Tiejiang Mountain and Wuyue Ancient Path. It was a Golden Week holiday, I had nothing planned, and I was itching to get out of the city. The description said “easy hiking,” but golly gosh if that’s what you’d call easy, then I’d say you’re reading from the wrong dictionary. On the first day I just about died – from exhaustion, my legs giving out, slipping on wet rocks, and half-falling into a river. But I survived (obviously), albeit with a waterlogged camera and legs absolutely covered in bruises, and had a great time!

On the last day before heading back to Shanghai, we took a break by a lake and despite all the trash, it was just so great. All those endorphins, ya know? And ya know what? I had climbed a mountain! I was pretty darn proud of myself for doing all of that. Now I’m back to spending the majority of my day sitting at a white desk, staring at a computer screen. And my go-to footwear are black pointy-toed flats that are merely marginally comfortable. Eh, it ain’t fresh air and it may seem stuffy, but I still like it. When the weather warms up I really need to visit Central Park and Calvary Cemetery though.

in your easter bonnet … in the easter parade

I hope everyone had a happy Easter! Since I last posted, I got a job, I moved, I had family visit, and I joined in on the Easter Parade!

This was actually the first time I’d been to the Easter Parade, but it’s definitely been something I’ve always wanted to do … pretty much ever since I saw the 1948 film Easter Parade. I mean, who doesn’t love Judy Garland? Especially when she sings about walking down Fifth Avenue in Easter bonnets in the Easter Parade … and now I’ve done it! With my sister! Wearing pretty wreaths she made us.

Technically it’s the New York City Easter Parade and Easter Bonnet Festival, because it’s really all about the bonnets. And it’s really not a parade. It’s more like they just closed a bunch of streets so that people can gather and walk around and take pictures of each other. And although there’s nothing to actually do, it’s still pretty fun. Because New Yorkers are weird. And children are adorable.

happy year of the monkey!

Happy Chinese New Year! Today is the start of the year of the monkey – woot! And … I’ve moved back to New York! Surprise!

As you can imagine, Chinese New Year is a big deal. China is currently on a week-long holiday with many businesses closed, large cities nearly emptied as people are in their hometowns, and practically every surface decked out with red knots, lanterns, and ribbons. But here? It’s pretty much business as usual. Last night people were far, far more concerned with the Super Bowl! And I had sushi for dinner.

way behind the holiday schedule

Seriously, what holiday season is it now? Apparently I completely missed out on St. Patrick’s Day yesterday. Easter is coming up on April 5th, so ostensibly it should be Easter season, but that’s not celebrated in China and the next Chinese holiday, Qingming Jie (Tomb-Sweeping Day) is more of an observance than celebration.

But whatevs, it’s been almost four months since Christmas, three and a half months since the New Year, a month since the Chinese New Year, and two weeks since the end of the Chinese New Year (Lantern Festival). And you know what? All my Christmas, New Year, and Chinese New Year decorations are still up. Why? Because I’ve been busy. Can I just get that phrase made into a stamp already?

Oh well. Maybe I should just turn the tree into a year-round holiday tree because I have nowhere to store it anyhow. And the little ram is pretty adorable, so he can stay too!

happy year of the sheep/goat/ram!

Happy New Year’s Eve! Tomorrow is the first day of the Chinese New Year, the year of the 羊 yáng … which translates to sheep, goat, and/or ram. So yeah, that doesn’t make things confusing whatsoever.

And just like on New Year’s Eve of the Western/Gregorian calendar, I am sitting at the Pudong Airport waiting for a flight. But this time it’s domestic and the flight will probably be on time. Woot!

Hope you have a prosperous year of the sheep/goat/ram!

a bit of burned love for valentine’s day

Back when I was still in New York, I attended a cousin’s wedding and they gave out these little candles as wedding favors. Pretty standard little tealights. I like candles. Yay. When I got home, I lit the candle, because that’s what you do with candles. Huh. It charred the back of the L♥VE. Kind of menacing looking, no?

I suppose I could extrapolate some sort of deeper meaning out of this, like how this means that my love life is doomed to go up in flames blah blah blah or whatever, but I won’t. Because I don’t believe in ‘signs’. This just means that the person who designed this tealight did not think things through very well.

So … Happy Valentine’s Day! May your day be less blackened.

airline food for new year’s eve

Happy New Year’s Eve! Yeah, I know, you thought I died or something, right? Well, I’ve been … busy. And lazy. It’s cold! My apartment has crap insulation and when it’s so cold and I’m all snuggled up in my blanket next to the heater, I want nothing more than to watch Miss Marple and drift off to sleep.

But today I’m out and about! Although I’ve spent the last two hours sitting and waiting for my delayed flight to Korea. I wonder, what is it about waiting for flights to Korea that inspires me to post?

Anyhow, because the flight was delayed, they handed out meal boxes consisting of rice, tofu, vegetarian chicken (a tofu patty), and lion’s head (pork meatballs). It was on the level of cafeteria food, meaning not good. But hey, it’s more than a US airline would do!

Have a happy 2015, everyone!