Breakfast: It's Sunday, so we went to Nick's Diner in Wheaton and had our Sunday brunch. For me, a ham-egg-and-cheddar sandwich on an English muffin, and a side of home fries, and decaf coffee. The ham at Nick's is special: there's a real ham on a spit sitting right next to the grill, and they cut some off the bone every time it is ordered.
Shopping: We needed to pick up a few things after breakfast, so I took my husband to the HMart in Wheaton near Nick's. He had never been there before. The HMart on a Sunday morning was busier than I have ever seen it before, just wall-to-wall people. But my husband was thrilled by the crazy diversity of the shoppers (and, of course, the diversity of food that reflects the shoppers). Then, to accompany your shopping for octopus, kimchi, Salvadorean-style tortillas, and house slippers, there was a soundtrack of American country music and a general atmosphere of camaraderie. He loved it. I didn't expect him to love it. Purchases: two quarts of Chobani yogurt, one vanilla and one strawberry (my husband is on heavy-duty antibiotics), toilet paper, Pepperidge Farms whole wheat bread, mugwort injulmi, kim-bab, cage-free brown eggs, Goya decaf coffee, $36.
Shopping: We needed to pick up a few things after breakfast, so I took my husband to the HMart in Wheaton near Nick's. He had never been there before. The HMart on a Sunday morning was busier than I have ever seen it before, just wall-to-wall people. But my husband was thrilled by the crazy diversity of the shoppers (and, of course, the diversity of food that reflects the shoppers). Then, to accompany your shopping for octopus, kimchi, Salvadorean-style tortillas, and house slippers, there was a soundtrack of American country music and a general atmosphere of camaraderie. He loved it. I didn't expect him to love it. Purchases: two quarts of Chobani yogurt, one vanilla and one strawberry (my husband is on heavy-duty antibiotics), toilet paper, Pepperidge Farms whole wheat bread, mugwort injulmi, kim-bab, cage-free brown eggs, Goya decaf coffee, $36.
 Injulmi |  kim-bab (or kimbap, or gimbap, or kimbob, or however you want to spell it in English) |
Dinner: Madhur Jaffrey's Green Beans with Mushrooms, tucked inside a whole wheat pita, with plain Greek yogurt on top. A simple and not-all-that-filling meal, but I knew we were going to have banana cream pie for dessert.
When I was a kid, my mom often left me with a short list of chores to do while she was away at work,"empty the dishwasher" being the most frequent. In the summertime, there was a close second in terms of my level of resentment. This was anything having to do with green beans: picking them, washing them, "snapping" them. The garden seemed to produce an infinite number of green beans. My mom thought I should be perfectly happy to sit in front of the TV and snap beans, but I was not perfectly happy. I hated snapping beans, and, to be honest, I still do. While I tend these days to leave them whole, the little poky ends have to be pinched or sliced off, and there is always what feels like a mountain of them.
When I was a kid, my mom often left me with a short list of chores to do while she was away at work,"empty the dishwasher" being the most frequent. In the summertime, there was a close second in terms of my level of resentment. This was anything having to do with green beans: picking them, washing them, "snapping" them. The garden seemed to produce an infinite number of green beans. My mom thought I should be perfectly happy to sit in front of the TV and snap beans, but I was not perfectly happy. I hated snapping beans, and, to be honest, I still do. While I tend these days to leave them whole, the little poky ends have to be pinched or sliced off, and there is always what feels like a mountain of them.
Still one of my least favorite kitchen tasks.
A more positive note on the beans: Indian recipes are generous with the spices-- it always blows me away to be adding a tablespoon of this and 2 teaspoons of that (of 5 or 6 different spices, to boot), where a western recipe might add a dainty half-teaspoon. And the taste reflects that generosity. You know what else? These spices are good for us! Why the hell don't we use more?
Dessert: my husband requested a banana-Nilla wafer pie as his January pie-of-the month. I used Whole Foods brand vanilla wafers instead of the Nabisco kind, and made my own vanilla pudding and cream as the linked recipe indicates. I will say the vanilla pudding used by this recipe is probably the easiest, most foolproof pudding I have ever made-- I'm thickening-impaired-- and I will likely save the link to use again for other applications. Also, as a crustless pie that only requires 1) making pudding, 2) whipping cream, and 3) layering, this is one of the easiest "pies" I have encountered. All this is to say, if you like that sort of thing, there is no reason not to make this dessert. It's not really my style, but I had to admit that I liked it too. Husband and daughter both had seconds but I restrained myself.
Dessert: my husband requested a banana-Nilla wafer pie as his January pie-of-the month. I used Whole Foods brand vanilla wafers instead of the Nabisco kind, and made my own vanilla pudding and cream as the linked recipe indicates. I will say the vanilla pudding used by this recipe is probably the easiest, most foolproof pudding I have ever made-- I'm thickening-impaired-- and I will likely save the link to use again for other applications. Also, as a crustless pie that only requires 1) making pudding, 2) whipping cream, and 3) layering, this is one of the easiest "pies" I have encountered. All this is to say, if you like that sort of thing, there is no reason not to make this dessert. It's not really my style, but I had to admit that I liked it too. Husband and daughter both had seconds but I restrained myself.
 Stages of pie: layering |  Stages of pie: dolloping |
Stages of pie: admiring Snacks: 3 other cups of coffee beyond breakfast, 2 regular, 1 decaf, with half and half. 2 (or 3?) kimbab rolls when we got home from the HMart, because they are at their best fresh. Some licks of whipped cream and other goodies (e.g. a naked vanilla wafer, to find out what it tasted like) while making the pie.