stop making sense
family & found family meals, pizza luxury, and a minor katsu error
Hi everyone. I am making a conscious decision to ignore the world around me for the purposes of this week’s newsletter lest I sink into a spiral of dread, because I’m no help to anyone if I’m suffering physically, financially, and existentially, so I hope you’ll understand. I’ve accepted an on-call position for a marketing company which will give me a few hours’ work in August, and hopefully more in the fall, but I am still looking for a more secure part-time job as well, so please feel free to send anything you think I’d be suited for my way.
Last week, Claire was here to visit! I felt so spoiled, seeing a long-distance friend on two occasions less than two months apart. On Tuesday we went to see Star Trek (2009) at the Orpheum with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra playing the iconic score by Michael Giacchino. It was excellent, and more emotional than I expected? I haven’t attentively watched this film in some time, and the music being live really does make it hit different, even if the movies are, as another friend puts it, the Extreme Teen Bible version of the Star Trek universe.
The next day, I made a big batch of popcorn and we continued indulging our Trekkie souls by watching Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock, and The Voyage Home at my apartment. Claire had never seen them before, so it was exciting to witness as she experienced every emotion possible. And I’d never watched the whole trilogy in a row like that— it felt really special, honestly. It was mid-heatwave and I hadn’t bought groceries, so for lunch I put together a nice snack platter of crackers, cheese, olives, dates, and pickles, including some quick pickled zucchini that I’d made the previous afternoon (Alicia Kennedy’s monthly menu newsletter inspired me) using only a wilting zucchini, a mandoline, and a few tablespoons of a bottle of seasoned rice vinegar I’ve been trying to use up. Claire, who is not normally much of a pickle person, gave them her stamp of approval, and I was making sandwiches with them the rest of the week. They were so good and I know I’ll be making more.
After the movies, we made our way out to Key Party, a 70s-themed lounge hidden, speakeasy-style, behind a fake accountant’s office which is all you can see from the street. I visited there last year and was excited to go back, and Claire had been keen to go since hearing about it. Liang joined us, and we each had two very tasty drinks (and even more cheese and olives) and talked until we got buzzed and sleepy.
Jeff and I met up the previous weekend for dim sum with Liang, Tim, and Adam at Sun Sui Wah, which was a brunch experience I haven’t had in ages. We all tried a few things we hadn’t had before and I would definitely get the deep fried taro dumplings again, and the mushroom rice roll was fantastic. Afterward we walked down to Liberty Bakery so that Tim and I, the coffee drinkers who’d found the lovely tea at breakfast to be not quite sufficient, could get a cold brew. There’s one of those little parklets with tables and benches on the street next to it, which was a nice place to sit while we drank and talked. No photos of the dim sum because Adam and Tim are both making weird faces in the only one I took and I don’t wanna do that to them.
Finally, Jeff and I went to Deckchair Cinema to see Stop Making Sense, which he’d never seen and I hadn’t watched since I was probably 17, on a friend’s CRT television at a party. We arrived early enough to go to Earnest for ice cream cones first; I got the vegan key lime pie flavour which is without a doubt one of the best ice creams I’ve tasted in recent times. (Jeff got the vegan nanaimo bar which was also really good.)
We were early enough to get chairs, but it was much busier than the previous time I’d been, so there were lots of people standing along the fence at the sides and sitting on the ground at the front. The movie was amazing and we all clapped and cheered after every song, as though the Talking Heads were actually there performing the greatest concert of all time just for us. People danced, people sang along, people in the nearby hotel had their balcony doors open to listen. Being part of a collective experience can be so healing, actually.
Last weekend, I went to my mom’s for a backyard dinner to celebrate Alice’s birthday, which was at the beginning of July but she was away then, and this was the first weekend that worked for most of the family. It was stupidly hot out, so Jordan brought over her camping gazebos to keep us in the shade, and we had big buckets of ice for all the drinks In true ‘our family’ style, we had a huge late afternoon snack table of charcuterie, devilled eggs (Alice’s favourite), fruit, and veggies with dip that made us not want dinner until after sunset, when it didn’t feel unnecessary and insurmountable to start the barbecue.
Dinner, eventually, was marinated grilled salmon and asparagus, green salad with honey mustard vinaigrette, and a creamy dill potato salad (my mom’s special ingredient is sour cream). We finished the night with a buffet of gelato and toppings including fresh berries, mini M&Ms, Italian wafer cookies, and I reluctantly dragged myself away from the conversation at 11pm with my heart and stomach full— and only three mosquito bites.
Jordan brought some greens from her garden for people to take, and I made a new batch of pesto using some of her basil and some from our own plant, which has been struggling in the heat. The week before, to use up the last of the old pesto I’d thawed, I made a very good pasta salad with grilled patty pan squash, pecorino, and a little white wine vinegar. When I made the new pesto, the weather had cooled some so I made a warm pasta using the very fun fettucce ricce and some vegan nuggets to put on top. I like this vegan pesto recipe because it freezes well and doesn’t taste too different from a traditional pesto, but it also doesn’t cost me a fortune in parmesan and pine nuts.
Another inspiration from Alicia Kennedy’s newsletter: tofu katsu! I messed up the breading process because it’s been so long since I’d done it, so the breadcrumbs didn’t stick as well as they might’ve, but it still tasted great. The process should go flour, egg, then panko, but I did the egg first, whoops. Either the egg or the flour would be the best place to mix in salt and any other seasonings you want to add— I used a bit of garlic powder and white pepper. I was using half a brick of tofu leftover from something else, so I couldn’t do this exactly, but the best way would be to slice the tofu like a filet, along its widest side about half an inch thick so you have a nice big piece you can bread, and then slice it restaurant-style after it’s been fried.
While setting up the breading for the tofu, I cooked some cabbage and onion in the wok. Then I kept the vegetables warm on a plate with the lid over it while shallow frying the tofu in the same pan. It was really quick to do, and I only slightly made a mess of the counter during the breading process. Everything went in a rice bowl with some of the remaining zucchini pickles, teriyaki sauce, kewpie mayo, sesame seeds. Sadly, there were no leftovers.
I drove all the way out to the produce store in our old neighbourhood for groceries only to find the area completely overrun by a film crew, so I couldn’t park anywhere even remotely nearby. I gave up and went to the (more expensive) grocery store nearer to our place, but one benefit of going there is their vast selection of local mushrooms. I picked up a container with a nice variety for our pizza night, which made me feel like a damn hell ass king: shimeji, oyster, button, and chanterelle. It made a really delicious funghi pizza with an olive oil and pecorino base, and a few fresh herbs from our balcony (oregano, thyme, and sage). The other pizza was olives and capers with fresh basil. Both worth turning on the oven for.
Thanks for reading— if you enjoyed this newsletter, please share it with someone new! I like providing this to you for free, but it does still involve time and effort, so any donations, especially while I’m still looking for work, are greatly appreciated. Finally, if you think it’s been a hard week… Bones agrees.