Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

No one could have predicted…

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

This really is a full service blog.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

The revolution will be supervised.

You cannot shame the shameless.

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If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

You are here: Home / Balloon Juice / Readership Capture / Coming Out of the Rut

Coming Out of the Rut

by | 122 Comments

This post is in: 

I feel like I have been in a rut for about 4-5 months now, maybe longer. I kinda lost interest in a lot of the things I like to do, lost interest in cooking for fun and ended up just cooking to eat, etc. I’m not sure what it is, maybe just depression, maybe I’ve internalized everyone else’s hatred of being cooped up, whatever.

I’m starting to creep out of it, though, and started cooking for fun. I finally purchased a hand hammered wok from China last week, and it was delivered, and I spent several hours yesterday scrubbing off all the shipping oils and stripping it down. I then tempered it over a burner, and finally have it nice and seasoned.

Coming Out of the Rut

She’s a beauty. I’ve always wanted a good one- I’ve been using an electric one I found brand new at a yard sale for a while, but it just did not get hot enough for me. Because I was motivated, I also stripped down my carbon steel skillets, and spent several hours re-seasoning them. It felt nice having something to do and getting the kitchen back together.

For a couple weeks, at last once or twice a week, I have been making this stir fry cabbage dish that I really like, with napa and green cabbage, a little bacon, chilis, sechhaun peppercorns, aged vinegar and soy, and crushed red pepper. I want to learn some new dishes to prepare (I like spicy and I like cabbage and radish and mushrooms, not so much noodles), so if you have any suggestions, holler.

I’m ready for spring.

Reader Interactions

122Comments

  3. 3.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @John Cole:

    Anything by Grace Young or Fuchsia Dunlop. They both have good cookbooks, and you can find a lot of their recipes on the Web.

    Did you get your wok from the Wok Shop?

  4. 4.

    surfk9

    I was in Costco today. They were super busy. Lots of furniture being sold.  I kept hearing comments from people about how things were getting better.  Reason to hope?

  5. 5.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @phein61:

    She did a good guest shot on Sara’s Weeknight Meals and went into all the details. I’ll see if I can find it after I make a scheduled phone call.

  7. 7.

    Ken

    I like spicy and I like cabbage and radish

    Have you tried making kimchee?  It’s fermented cabbage like sauerkraut, but has a lot of onion, garlic, ginger, and chili, and you can add daikon.

  11. 11.

    mrmoshpotato

    @surfk9: I walked up the street a few blocks to pick up dinner tonight.  Saw no less than 5 maskless fuckers.  Reason to start slapping faces Louise Belcher style.

  13. 13.

    RandomMonster

    Spicy and cabbage: twice cooked pork sounds like your dish.

    I’m in the market for a wok myself. Yours looks quite nice.

  17. 17.

    Suzanne

    One of my favorite things to make is this pasta sauce made with burst cherry tomatoes. I actually cook it a bit longer than the recipe calls for, until it really comes together as a sauce. It is the loveliest bright red, and it helps me use up all the cherry tomatoes that I buy for the kids and to eat on salads.

    I have also been using the crockpot a lot in the past few months, because on WFH days, it’s great to throw something together at lunchtime and have it be ready at 6. I’ve been making a lot of creamy tomato soup. I love tomatoes. So, so much.

    I eagerly request anyone’s favorite crockpot recipes.

  19. 19.

    Emma

    Youtube has been providing me with lots of recipes during the pandemic, so I’ll just give a list of channels I really like:

    Bhat ‘n’ Bhat (focused on south Indian dishes. His amrutha phala recipe + cardamom powder tastes almost exactly like the coconut candy that I loved as a kid [and still do]. Bonus points for doing both apostrophes around the “n”)

    Cooking Ah Pa (Chinese Malaysian dad showing you his home-cooking)

    Just One Cookbook (the YT channel of the main blog, foolproof Japanese recipes)

    Made with Lau (Chinese American dishes by a sifu)

    Middle Eats (Middle Eastern dishes. His pumpkin dessert was a smash at work around Thanksgiving)

    Nyonya Cooking (Singaporean food with a Peranakan emphasis)

    Spice N’ Pans (Ditto, but more of a straight Chinese Singaporean focus)

    Tasting History with Max Miller (have never actually tried any of the historical recipes, but I sure like hearing him talk about them)

  20. 20.

    Richard

    That is a fine looking wok! I’m hungry just looking at it. It looks like it will be a joy to cook in. When i was a kid my mom loved to watch Joyce Chen on PBS. Mrs Chen was a wok master. Bien provecho!

    Things are feeling a little more hopeful these days.

  21. 21.

    CaseyL

    I’m feeling the old sap rising, too. What I find interesting is how quickly that becomes the new normal, as if the last few months of dreary slog never happened.

    I went shopping today! I mean, shopping for things other than food and other necessities!

    I used to joke about how shopping was my version of the hunting/gathering instinct, but was able to go nearly a year without missing it much. The last couple of weeks I have missed it a lot. Today I hit a couple thrift stores (I love thrift stores) and scored some very nice purses and a lovely comforter. Feel rejuvenated :)

  22. 22.

    Starboard Tack

    The problem I’ve had with stir fry is getting the pan hot enough on an ordinary stove, even with a gas flame and ring. (Besides it can really damage the stove tip.) I just started using induction burners so I’m curious how well they will work. I’ll have to use a flat bottom wok.

  24. 24.

    Starfish

    I am so glad that you are starting to feel better. Even though you like to play a misanthropic shut-in, you are a really valuable member of your community, and those community times are important even if they are rare.

  25. 25.

    rikyrah

    @Suzanne:

    Pot roast is fantastic in a crock pot

     

    So are any kind of dry beans

     

    Red beans with smoked sausage.

    Spicy pinto beans

     

    Just did corned beef in the crock

  28. 28.

    JoyceH

    I also am starting to regain ambitions that have been lying dormant for a year. I picked up and finished a sock I started knitting over a year ago! Had to relearn turning the heel and grafting the toe. Sock 2 ought to go faster.

    And I’m feeling the itch to get back to the piano keyboard, but that room is still half full of boxes from my sister’s estate and needs to be cleared more before I can sit comfortably at the keyboard.

    Now if I could only write…

  30. 30.

    MagdaInBlack

    I slip into those ruts regularly, John. Two signs are not caring about food, and no music on. I seem to be coming out of it, I have on Delta Blues playlists from youtube.

    How could we not be down, after the abuse we’ve all been through ?

  31. 31.

    Citizen Alan

    I got as far as “I also stripped down” and got the vapors before I read the rest of the sentence.

  32. 32.

    pat

    A chunk of pork sirloin. A package of mushrooms, diced. Two cans of cream of mushroom soup. No added salt. Crockpot high for several hours. Done.

    Serve with noodles or rice or potatoes.

  33. 33.

    trollhattan

    Sooo, this “stripping down” process…setting aside the Standard Cole OCD factor how does one know when one has fully, completely, pleasingly stripped said cooking vessel? Do the heavens part, or what?

    Mildly curious as our still-new to us range came with a wok ring for one of the burners* and I’m interested in learning to properly chow stuff and so a “real wok” not some department store edition might be good for such.

    *Each burner having a Chernobyl-like BTU rating.

  34. 34.

    ChasM

    Because I am so jealous of your hammered wok, I am going to give a recipe for Nasi Goreng. My ancestors were Dutch, and we come by our Nasi Goreng through exploitation and colonialism (Uncle Roger is correct that quality fried rice requires torture). Enjoy!

    You will need:

    Komodo Krupuk Udang – dried shrimp things. They are good. Get either the chips or the sheets. Not strictly necessary, but a great snack you won’t be sorry.

    Blachen – dried shrimp paste. Secret ingredient. Comes in butter sized blocks, but you don’t need more than 1/2 teaspoon at a time. Stinks. Necessity.

    Ketjap Manis – Ancestor of Ketchup. Sweetened soy sauce, essentially. There are recipes if you can’t get Conimex brand.  Carnalizes the rice, so yeah, essential.

    Sambal Oelek – The Sriracha guys’ stuff is fine, maybe even better than Conimex.

    Garlic cloves

    Last nights left-over COLD rice

    Protein of choice

    Eggs – scrambled or the best is a fried one on top

    Shallot thin cut lengthwise, or Conimex  Gebakken Uitjes (Fried Shallots)

    Tomato and cucumber slices.

    Prelims:

    Get some oil nice and hot and fry up the Krupuk Udang. They turn into amazing shrimp chips that you and quests will enjoy as you prepare the rest of the rice.

    If you don’t have the commercial Gebakken, fry up some shallots into thin crispy’s. Drain on some paper towel and save for garnish.

    Main Bout:

    In a mortar, make a paste from about 1/4 tsp shrimp paste, 2 cloves garlic, 1/4-1/2 tsp sambal PER SERVING. This is a pungent fish/garlic/hot/vinegar concoction, so it’s all about personal taste. Experiment.

    Heat some oil (canola or peanut) in wok, add protein stir and brown. Add a tbl/splash of Ketjap Manis and wok it up. Should get nice and carmalized after a few. Set aside.

    Tad more oil, nice an hot in empty wok. Add the paste. Stir and cook 20-30 seconds until fragrant . Add rice and a swirl of Ketjap. Stir-fry hot adding splashes of ketjap until rice is brown and starting to carmalize. Add protein, and cook until done.

    Just before you take off heat, add in the tomatoes and cucumbers and stir.

    If you have a fried egg that you happened to remember to make, or scrambled, this is the time to add.

    Heap into bowls/plates and top with fried shallot and krupek if any left.

    You are welcome.

  35. 35.

    trollhattan

    @rikyrah:

    Lurv a good pulled pork but its Mexican cousin carnitas is where I’m really at. Done often; occasionally done Really Well.

    ETA the other option is barbacoa, which is properly done in-ground but that’s rare, indeed.

  36. 36.

    randy khan

    The NY Times vaccine tracker says 4.575 million doses were reported today.  Previous high:  2.904 million.  It brings the 7-day average up by better than 200K, to 2.531 million a day.

    Just for kicks, if we actually got the 7-day average up to 4.575 million, that would be 329 million more doses by Memorial Day weekend.

    (It won’t happen, if for no other reason than that the daily average will start to drop off towards the end, but it’s a glorious thought anyway.)

  37. 37.

    brantl

    If you learn how to cook orange flavored chicken, kindly send me the recipe. So good you will inhale it off the plate, no utensils necessary.

  41. 41.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I love that wok. Hammered copper always speaks to me.

    I’m really glad you’re feeling springlike, John.

  43. 43.

    Steeplejack

    I found the Sara Moulton episode with Grace Young on YouTube! Well worth watching. (I just happened to see it on TV a few weeks ago.) Young starts with a brand new wok at 2:17 and takes you through the whole process of prepping and seasoning it. She discusses flat bottom vs. round bottom at 10:15. Spoiler: she prefers flat bottom for Western stoves. “Why not use a skillet?” (12:55)

    She has much more information at her website, including (I think) a link to her preferred wok at the Wok Shop.

    ETA: I have her cookbook Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge, which I think is her latest word on the subject. It’s very good, but I have to admit I’ve barely scratched the surface.

  44. 44.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Citizen Alan:

    I got as far as “I also stripped down” and got the vapors before I read the rest of the sentence

    And here you were thinking John only mopped naked.

  45. 45.

    Scuffletuffle

    Took a great walk at Mt Tom this morning and mentioned to my companion that everyone seems friendlier since the new administration….maybe we are just nicer folks?

  47. 47.

    Ken

    @Another Scott: You remind me that I haven’t made pickled turnips in a while.  I like to add a beet slice, for the pink color, and a spoonful of pepper flakes.

    (Sorry if this is a repeat, I’ve been getting a “You are posting too quickly” error.  EDIT: Hooray, not that time.)

  48. 48.

    Emma

    @trollhattan: the thing is, no Asian homecook actually expects to get wok hei outside of industrial kitchens, so errr I’m not sure you should really be aiming for wok hei in the first place. But yes, having a wok ring would be so nice. Frying eggs is so much easier in a wok than on a pan.

    @brantl: This recipe, except 1/4 cup of sugar instead of 1/2, at least for my personal taste. Also, maybe instead of the orange juice and zest, you can try adding dried orange peels for a huge amount of flavor. When I eat a clementine and can be bothered, I scrape off the pith with a teaspoon, dry the peel on a rack for a few days, then store and use as needed. You can also use those peels for dishes like lu rou fan.

    Apparently, the audacity of attempting a 2nd comment gets WP to tell me to “slow down” bahahahaha.

  50. 50.

    JimV

    I have to say I noticed. (The lack of enthusiastic posts, the not-as-much-fun around here.)

    Imagine, as I have, if Franklin Roosevelt had been Trump. Now try to tell me that can’t happen here. I can’t unfeel that and i don’t think I ever will. Good luck with the wok, though.

  52. 52.

    mrmoshpotato

    @surfk9: ​

    The only maskless fucks I saw today were holding “Impeach Gavin Newsome” signs.

    Newsome trying to keep from dying must be taking away their freedumbs.​

  53. 53.

    Steeplejack

    @ChasM:

    Maybe you could tell those of us who aren’t evil Dutch colonialists what Nasi Goreng is, or at least give some idea of what we’re hoping to construct. The Google says “Indonesian fried rice”; is that accurate?

  54. 54.

    mrmoshpotato

    @rikyrah: ​
     Mmmmm roasted pot. I picked up a corned beef brisket from Aldi a couple days ago. Gonna break out the slow cooker tomorrow.

  56. 56.

    laura

    This website!11!

    https://thewoksoflife.com/

    I’ve got a really severe shellfish allergy. Shellfish is hidden in everything- often oyster sauce or dried shrimp. We can’t safely eat out anymore, so this website has been my go to. It’s good enough for my skills and abilities and tastes. Check it out. The Chinese take out recipes are my jam!

  59. 59.

    ChasM

    @Steeplejack: Yes! It is Fried Rice, spiced with shrimp paste, vinegar hotness (Sambal Oelek is red pepper spice), with a sweet canalization on the rice from the ketjap manis. Add the fresh acid of the tomato and cucumber at end. Best fried rice you ever had. Promise. National dish.

  60. 60.

    Chetan Murthy

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Newsome trying to keep from dying must be taking away their freedumbs.​

    Heh, I remember that a significant portion of those who didn’t like the ACA thought it didn’t go anywhere near far enough.  Likewise, I dislike Newsom for the *opposite* reason that these chucklefucks want to impeach him.  So no way I’m gonna help them do this — quite the opposite.

  63. 63.

    guachi

    @randy khan: This record is an anomaly of reporting. I read a tweet from Biden’s Chief of Staff, Ron Klain, that if the normal reporting cutoff time of 6 am was used the number would be 2.98 million, which would still be a record.

  68. 68.

    2liberal

    attn: Low Key Swagger re: popehat.  I emailed him and he is Ok.

     

    2liberal: No tweets for a few days, are you ok? asking for a concerned friend (Low Key Swagger)

    popehat: Thanks for asking. Tough week but I will prevail.

  73. 73.

    Suzanne

    <a href=”#comment-8111543″>@CaseyL</a>:
    <blockquote>I used to joke about how shopping was my version of the hunting/gathering instinct, but was able to go nearly a year without missing it much. The last couple of weeks I have missed it <em>a lot</em>.&nbsp;</blockquote>
    Me too.

    A couple of weeks ago, I took SuzMom to get shot #2, and we stopped at a local mall afterward and walked around. Didn’t buy anything, and it was about an hour before closing on a Thursday, so it was almost completely vacant. It was so nice to just… look.

    I miss Sephora, of all things, even though I am now so grossed out by the thought of germs that I don’t know if I’ll ever enjoy it again.

  74. 74.

    Emma

    @trollhattan: if ever there was a time for a good “FYWP!!!”… XD

    @Steeplejack (phone): no problem, have fun going down the rabbit hole :D

    @NotMax: yeah, I really think lockdown contributed to the start of many of these cooking channels. Tasting History started like exactly a year ago, Made with Lau a few months after that… and Made with Lau has gone from 2k subscribers to over 60k now since I discovered them. Makes me think how my grandfather and great-aunt could have been Youtube stars if they’d only had the right filming set-up…

  75. 75.

    Sister Golden Bear

    I’ve now got a year’s worth of pent up energy for all the home improvements I meant to do last year while I had free (unemployed) time.

    Do your own bathroom model, they said. It’ll be fun, they said….

  76. 76.

    cain

    @Emma: ​
     
    I have a wok my mother gave me, it came with her stove. My problem is that I have a glass top so I have no idea how a wok is going to work that well on such a thing. But it can get super hot, so I must be doing something right.

  77. 77.

    namekarB

    @John Cole:

    Confession. Retired 2008 and took up water color. Got pretty decent at it. Have not picked up a brush in 10 months. I don’t understand me. Pandemic. Hunkered down. A golden opportunity to immerse in my painting. What is wrong with me? Everything is still laid out in my studio office and ready to go. I look at it every day when I come turn on my PC. Eeeets a mystery.

  78. 78.

    cain

    I too seem to be coming out of my shell. I went out for a nice 3.5 mile run. But in general, I seem to be sleeping better (well maybe not anymore )#*($)*#$ time change!) and actually focusing on getting chores done and completely them.

    With TFG out of the way and Biden, his administration, federal agencies doing the work needed to get us out of this mess – I’m feeling optimistic. In an older post, we apparently are doing delivery at 4 times of what we were doing before. Impressive stuff!

    That said, my parents went to a funeral – his colleague and friend died of COVID, his wife died 7 days later. He was born 6 days before she was. They very closely were born and died at the same time.

  80. 80.

    Starboard Tack

    I’ve had a damnable lack of motivation, too. It’s been hard to spend time practicing enough to maintain callouses. I’m hoping now I got the vaccine that spring will revive my interest.

  81. 81.

    Steeplejack

    @namekarB:

    A friend and I were talking about this tonight. Both of us live alone and are more or less retired, so being home and distancing from people during the pandemic shouldn’t have been too different (in some ways) from our “normal” life, but for both of us it was. There’s a difference between doing something because you want to do it and doing something because you feel like you have to do it.

    I think a lot of artists and writers have felt some sense of resistance (perhaps unconscious) to the idea that they now have all this empty pandemic time and they must use it to make art, even if they don’t feel like making art in the middle of a pandemic.

  82. 82.

    MagdaInBlack

    @namekarB: I did the same. Furloughed for 4 months, got out all my art supplies, piddled a bit and now there it all still sits. Couldn’t focus, didn’t care. Anxiety does that.

  83. 83.

    JoyceH

    Saw a couple interesting articles recently. One said that smoking cessation programs are seeing a lot less people trying to quit and that cigarette sales are up. It made me feel better, not that it’s actually good, but that it’s not just me! The other article said that not everyone gained weight during the pandemic, but among those that did, the average weight gain was 29 pounds! And I’ve gained less weight than that, so even though I’ve gained some weight, I can feel a bit proud of myself.

    (Now that I actually wrote that, it seems kinda pathetic…)

  84. 84.

    Chetan Murthy

    @JoyceH:

     but among those that did, the average weight gain was 29 pounds!

    Yikes!  And I thought I was doing badly, gaining 10lb!  Well, on top of my already-chubby bod, it was a lot, so I don’t feel any better.  But still ….

  86. 86.

    VeniceRiley

    I too feel hunkerd down until the pandemic has passed. One thing i can say … That Lume deodorant they always advertise on BookFace really does work … everywhere.

  87. 87.

    NotMax

    @Chetan Murthy

    No or minimal weight gain (2 -3 pounds, max). Zero motivation to engage in computer gaming, however.

    Frankly, my regular lifestyle, outside of masking on the rare occasion when venture where there are people, has been affected very little.

  88. 88.

    Steeplejack

    @laura:

    That Woks of Life site looks great! I spent some time browsing there and was amazed at the depth. I’m looking forward to trying some of the recipes.

  92. 92.

    frosty

    @namekarB: Same story here. I’ve been playing music (bottleneck guitar) for years. Retired a year ago and thought that I could really focus on it an hour or two a day. I haven’t picked up the guitar in three months, played only sporadically through the lockdown. Weird.

  94. 94.

    smike

    @CaseyL: 
    Neat-o, and states it well. I hardly watch any of the shows I record (no big loss), removed golf from my recording schedule (tired of rich, whiny assholes), and generally became less amused with things in general. But things seem to looking up. I wonder why….

  95. 95.

    Steeplejack

    @CaseyL:

    Thanks for the link. I have had some of the other symptoms over the last year, but not much anxiety. I don’t consider myself a fatalistic person, but I have a “hunker down and take what comes” streak in my personality. I took precautions that I thought were reasonable, but I always knew there was an element of chance at work. Who gets it; who doesn’t?

    But the last year has taken a mental toll of some sort. I don’t think we’ll begin to sort it out until it’s a little farther in the rear-view mirror.

  96. 96.

    eclare

    @frosty:  I have a piano, and I can’t remember the last time I played.  I do contract work and am taking a break til I’m vaccinated to go back, I thought I’d play some.  Oh well.

    First Moderna next Thursday, yay!  Good luck in Cali.

  97. 97.

    Steeplejack

    @eclare:

    Good news about the Moderna! ?

    DST just kicked in a few minutes ago here on the East Coast while I wasn’t paying attention. How time flies.

  99. 99.

    Steeplejack

    @eclare:

    Yes, the government stepped in to standardize things (1880s?—too lazy to look it up) when the country was running on “railroad time.” Guess that’s why it fell to Transportation.

    Did Pete break a bottle of champagne over a grandfather clock or anything cool like that?

  100. 100.

    NotMax

    @Steeplejack

    Yay. That mean Maddow comes on here at 3 p.m. instead of 4, which fits in the schedule much better. Also AL’s morning thread shows up around 1 a.m. rather than 2, so am still (more or less) awake.

  101. 101.

    eclare

    @Steeplejack:  I wondered if it had something to do with railroads.  Sec Pete said he didn’t want the power to go to his head, so I assume no champagne.

  102. 102.

    NotMax

    I believe the number of states now stands at eight which have passed a bill favoring year-round DST, pending federal legislation permitting so.

  103. 103.

    Steeplejack

    @NotMax:

    Good for you. I always had trouble adjusting my blog and MSNBC viewing schedules when I was housesitting for my brother in Las Vegas. Maddow at 6:00 p.m. didn’t seem right. And Morning Joe at 3:00 a.m. is right out. Even the replay of the opening half-hour was at 5:00! No bueno.

    How’s your rain situation?

  104. 104.

    Noah Brand

    John, if you’re looking to cook Chinese, I can’t recommend these two companies enough: https://flybyjing.com/ and https://themalamarket.com/

    The first one is a Chinese-American woman getting in touch with her birth cuisine by making and selling absolutely top-notch hot sauces and crisps, including the best dumpling sauce I have ever tasted. The second one is a company dedicated to making REAL Sichuan ingredients available outside China. I’ve got some of their aged vinegar, some of their top-notch soy sauce, and some of their really good sichuan peppers, and it makes a HUGE difference. I gave a gift box of their stuff to my brother, the former professional cook, and he was blown away. Said for the first time in his life he could make Chinese recipes that tasted like they were supposed to. His wife and kids thanked us profusely as well.

    I’m just a regular home cook, and nobody’s paying me to endorse this stuff, but my Chinese recipes have gotten a lot better since I started using ingredients from these two places.

  106. 106.

    Steeplejack

    @eclare:

    (Venturing deeper into mansplaining.) Local jurisdictions used to set their own time, usually by looking at the sun at “noon,” and that became a problem with the rise of the railroads. So the railroads started setting standard times, and it’s been all downhill since then. There was a good article in the universally reviled New York Times a day or two ago, and I’m sure there’s an incredibly detailed Wikipedia article, which I am also too lazy to look up now.

  109. 109.

    NotMax

    @Steeplejack

    When I worked at the ad agency ages ago, had whatever was the equivalent of post-it notes in my cubicle reminding about the split time states (Indiana, for example) when it came to scheduling TV ads to conform with local time.

  110. 110.

    Steeplejack

    @eclare:

    Well, if you’re trying to make the 3:12 from Shelbyville and discover that it came and went at 2:58 local time—not cool! But, hey, it was 3:12 in Capital City!

  111. 111.

    Steeplejack

    @NotMax:

    What a nightmare! There are still problems. My Cox Cable on-screen guide was messed up for an hour or two before the change, which is odd for the change going this way. (Just omit the disappearing hour.) It’s worse in the fall, when there are two 1:00 a.m. time slots.

  113. 113.

    Elizabelle

    Glad you are feeling happier, JCole.

    And thank you all for the excellent cooking/product advice.  Saving this thread. Lot of good links.

  115. 115.

    Richard

    @JimV: JimV

    It feels like we have survived some kind of siege from some weird medieval cult. We are also trying to survive this covid-19 thing that our enemies seem to embrace.

    I will never understand them. They are enemies.

    They think that mr. Potato Head and Dr Seuss will distract us.

    No such luck

     

    .

  116. 116.

    Anonymous At Work

    @Starboard Tack: I’ve never had success cooking with a wok on electric.  Gas would work wonders and I’d cook almost everything with woks that didn’t need a large flat bottom.

  118. 118.

    brantl

    @Emma:  Thanks, I will have to try this. I have been getting this as one of the few dishes I order out, as I haven’t been able to make it. I first had it in a restaurant in Toronto, and thought I would inhale it.

  119. 119.

    YY_Sima Qian

    I am amazed (but shouldn’t be, in this day and age) that Chinese hand hammered woks are available in the US. The most famous, and expensive, are those made at Shangqiu (商丘铁锅). It used to be fairly obscure, but a few years ago a famous documentary series focusing on Chinese cuisine that was shown on Chinese state TV (A Bite of China, you can find it on YouTube with English subtitles, highly recommended) profiled the wok, its incredible history and craftsmanship, and the demand suddenly went through the roof, the prices with it. It also created a flood of knock offs. Some are hand hammered, but not at Shangqiu, so are close in quality. Other are made at Shangqiu, but are machine hammered, so not nearly as good.

  120. 120.

    Elizabelle

    Found this amazing food and photography blog, which seems perfect for this post.  Most current blog entry is a recipe for a Japanese breakfast of soy-glazed sardines with rice and seasoned, gently cooked scrambled eggs , and it sounds easy. Ms. Liu feels the pandemic-world lethargy, too.  (“Acedia”, Greek word for bored, listless, afraid and uncertain, as we learned upstream.)

    Too much has happened in 2020 and since the last time I blogged. Instead of waxing on about them, I’ll go straight to the food, with a recipe for soy-glazed sardine rice bowl ! My pantry frequently alternates between fully stocked and barren, because I go to the shop only sporadically and honestly order a lot of takeout. Cooking has been emotionally draining these days, and I find myself ordering food for Alex and myself or grabbing ramen, and if I cook it’s never something involved. Instead I’m gravitating towards quick, simple meals …

    Betty Liu.

  121. 121.

    Shana

    Maangchi’s Big Book of Korean Cooking and/or Maangchi’s Real Korean Cooking. Along with a package of gochurgaru and a tub of gochujang. We’ve been making a lot of korean food over the last few months after spending a fair amount of time during quarantine evenings watching kdramas.

    We’ve never been to a korean restaurant although I know there are a ton of them here in Northern Virginia and are looking forward to visiting some once things really reopen here. In the meantime we’re making do at home. It helps that we have an HMart nearby.

    YMMV, but the first time I made a recipe calling for gochugaru (powdered pepper) I used the recommended amount and then adjusted for future use. As I recall I cut it down from 2 t to 1.

    There’s a ton of vegetable dishes in the cuisine and not everything is spicy. We’re having a blast with it.

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