GZM

Everyone seems to love acronyms these days. Using them for the common and deep alike. So why not the ground zero mosque?

After living in the middle east, where minarets are more prevalent than 7-11s in Taiwan, I can say I've been pushed past my ecumenical sense of acceptance by the experience, especially the prolific calls to prayer. I particularly noticed the level of change when I was out hiking and I flinched at a flock of geese calling. It wasn't until I saw the birds that I realized it wasn't the adhan. So personally, I am biased. After living surrounded by Muslims, I have nothing but annoyance left.

Thankfully, I live no where near ground zero, nor do I have any intention of moving remotely close. So I can keep my politics practical and accepting when it comes to the subject. Even so, I heartily agree with Judea Pearl that "Muslim Americans will benefit more from co-ownership of consensual projects than sole ownership of confrontational ones."

Just Peachy

I ate the most perfect peach today.

While sitting at lunch, I was commiserating over how to answer a friend who had recently messaged me to ask how I was doing.

It's not an easy answer lately, if I tell the truth. Since I am given to telling the truth, in graphic detail, I can't exactly get away with saying "fine" either.

So I sat tabulating the negatives of my life and trying to weigh them away with positives to construct an acceptable answer between bites of salad ("I'm unemployed, but I'm not going hungry!"). Then my thoughts wandered to the other times I've done this in the past. Usually at the end of relationships, when I was trying to figure out why it went awry and how to use it as "a positive learning experience." On the whole, it was a pretty glum meal, despite a nice salad.

Then I took the peach. The first bite literally shocked all other thoughts away. It was rapture. The consistency, the flavor, the juiciness were balanced in a way that I don't think anyone thinks is physically possible anymore. And I had actually paused before eating it. I wasn't sure I wanted to eat it. It could just have easily ended up in a clafouti I am slated to make later today.

But I did eat it. And it showed me the best part of my life right now.
I am learning to enjoy simple pleasures with utmost gratitude.

Asian Cooking Adventures!

I really love mochi; a soft, semi-sweet rice based pastry. I also love red bean paste, and since my mother thinks adzuki beans are super healthy and should be bought in 5 lb. bags it wasn't long before I tried to make mochi with red bean.

YouTube was my friend on this endeavor.

Cookingwithdog is basically my hero. Their zenzai and anko recipe is easy to follow and comes out perfectly. Because of the amount of mochi I was making, I turned all my adzuki beans into anko.




I preferred this mochi video because it didn't use a microwave in the cooking process.




Here is my anko, pre-portioned and ready to wrapped in mochi. The toothpick helps so that you don't mar the mochi whiteness.