Memory

Long before I thought of going to China, I heard a story about our family friend Herb. (Of course, Herb had many stories.) He had been a missionary in China. After returning to the States, a few years later, he was cleaning out his garage, when he stopped and said, "I smell China." It was as if the scent had traveled from China and landed in Minnesota.

That moment where a scent meets a deep memory or an emotion is wonderful. In Anatomy I learned that olfactory experiences are processed in the same place in the brain as memory, and differently from other senses. But scent sometimes transports me to a place I can't explain, something from childhood, something from which I only remember a feeling, and not a place or person.

I often wonder what will trigger that reaction of "smelling China" for me. Many things come to mind, like burning garbage and exhaust fumes. The good and more subtle come to mind too, like the Bread Diary, the deep, cool, wood and incense of a temple, or the stinging oil used during a leg massage.

Pineapples remind me of China too. The vendors would have it cut and ready in plastic bags with toothpicks to make it easy to take and eat. I cut up a pineapple tonight and immediately took out the garbage.

I was overcome with the scent of lilacs. The hedge between our apartment property and a large, barren field, the hedge I've seen many times before, is actually a long row of lilac bushes, more than 40 feet long, in white, lavender, and dark purple.



I haven't lived in a place with lilacs in 4 years.

-吴碧芙

Sandwich Cred

Cred is something people can respect you for. If your beard makes people at a food co-op look at you a little differently, a nod of respect, you've got Hippie Cred. If your nose ring helps make the scary, skinning, all-dressed-in-black-stuff-that-laces-up woman feel like talking to you on the plane to Omaha, you might have some Goth Cred. If you can make a wonderful sandwich two weeks in a row, you might be well on your way to Sandwich Cred.

As I was sitting studying on the couch, there was some banging around in the kitchen. Then, the most delicious aroma began to circulate. It was a mixture of sweetness and the tang of boiled wine. It was the first step in my favorite sandwich. 文大男 had looked up the ingredient list and the recipes for the ingredients that couldn't be bought. This is the fig confit with rosemary.


The confit reduced and was pureed in the food processor. Fennel, an ingredient I had forgotten about, was marinated in a lemon juice sauce. The sweet potatoes were roasted in the oven. Then we were ready to start building the sandwich, starting with spreading confit on the bottom bread. (文大男 agreed to be the hand model for these pics.)


Potatoes, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, arugula, and spring greens were added in order.


The last bit of love was the balsalmic vinaigrette.


It was the absolute recreation of the sandwich I thought I would never taste again! Oozing with goodness, the depth of the flavors tingling through every bite. Sweet, savory, a little sour...the true test of a good palate.


-吴碧芙

大男-wich

Last weekend was filled with excitement as I embarked on the fabulous world of my Aural Rehabilitation case study. In reality, it was a project that I dreaded and had to drag myself kicking and screaming to complete. I did work on it over the weekend...kind of...when I wasn't feeling sorry for myself and napping. It was another study date, with study snacks and study food, albeit a bit more upscale than our old dorm room fare.

文大男 made walnut pesto and bought the fancy ciabatta loaf. He got coop-fresh unpasteurized cheddar cheese, fresh spring greens, and tomatoes. Artichoke hearts. Need I say more? (click photo for super detail)


It was deliculous! (delicious + ridiculous) It reminded me of my favorite sandwich, served by the Wildflower in Phoenix and Sedona. The Roasted Sweet Potato Sandwich includes roasted sweet potatoes, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, arugula, fig confit, and balsamic vinaigrette.

-吴碧芙

Weird Food

I've often thought that garlic ice cream would be good. There's something about the bite of the garlic with sweetness of the ice cream that sounds interesting. However, since coming back from China, ice cream has been less interesting to me--along with ice water, ice cream is just too cold, and it doesn't give me an overwhelming feeling of bliss, like it used to.

A while ago, I heard about a chocolate bar flavor on NPR. I saw it, and, I must admit, made an impulse buy at the checkout of World Market. I tried it a little apprehensively, but it turned out to be just wonderful. It was on clearance, so I suppose other customers don't listen to NPR and/or aren't as brave.


If you've tried Mayan cocoa or brownies, with cayenne and cinnamon, you might understand the concept behind curry and chocolate. The curry is milder than the cayenne, though, and hits a little lower on the palate. The coconut gives a nice texture. One small piece is satisfying, so the bar has lasted me this whole week, and I still have 1/4 left.

What weird foods or combinations strike your fancy?

-吴碧芙

Fancy Feasting

I feel a change in the tide. Although it's still cold outside, it feels like those Iowa City springs when I would eat cucumbers with salt for dinner, while my roommate and I admired the sky, aglow at sunset. In grad school, I walked some slightly brisk nights, with a tomato in my pocket, for a barbecue with some vegetarian friends. That was how I found out that asparagus is, in fact, palatable. My friend would barbecue it and brush it with Italian dressing.

As another sign of spring, last week I decided to try going to the gym downtown. This new gym, which so far has made my most obscure muscles ache, caters to a more sophisticated crowd than the free student fitness center and includes classes ranging from belly dancing to "Michelle Obama Arms." It's nice to get back into the swing of things.

When I say I want something 文大男 uses some magic and makes it happen. Remembering barbecues in grad school, I suggested a barbecue date. He owns an actual, real barbecue machine...uh, I mean grill...which makes him "very man," as we might say in China. We had Quorn chicken on the grill with BBQ sauce. I made Turkish marinated chickpea salad (middle), and he made some barley salad with onion, cucumbers, and artichoke hearts. (click to enlarge)


This weekend was our very productive "study date." Along with the date came your usual study foods, such as pizza, crackers and cheese, and fruit salad that I had a hankering for. The fruit salad had grapes, cantaloupe, strawberries, kiwi, and mango.


It looked like a rainbow, so we had to take a picture.

-吴碧芙

Yes I Can!

It's been a few crazy weeks of homework and trying to organize my life. I had to decide on a grad. school by Wednesday. I had kind of made my decision, all except the final step of putting my signature on the paper and handing it in. Since it's now written in stone, the Internet can also know that I'm staying put for next year. I'll be in the same apartment complex, but I got an opening for a one-bedroom apartment. I'll be moving a few doors down at the end of May.

With the decision behind me, I feel a little more relaxed and more able to enjoy the grueling weeks ahead as the semester winds to a close.

Kavi likes to climb. In fact, I think he prefers it to flying. I made a video of him climbing from the floor to the couch. I think you can really see the decision-making process in his mind, as he eventually decides to go for it. Blogger is not cooperating again, so I'm providing a link.
"Yes I Can!" Video

-吴碧芙

Kitchen Witch

Perhaps in some ways uglier than my mom's kitchen witch, the one I sniped on ebay finally arrived. I hung her up over the sink. Since then, my cooking has been going well. This weekend I made veggie chili that 文大男 said was absolutely amazing. I added the secret ingredient: Lard (just kidding).


My mom's had little felt feet and a dark blue dress. Her face was grey with a long nose. The new-fashioned ones have cute names like Tiddly Tabitha and pretty faces, with kitchen gadgets hot glued to their dresses. I was deathly afraid of witches as a kid, but not of the kitchen witch, although I thought it was kind of weird to hang it over the sink like that.

-吴碧芙