teakkurim

recently, i have been experimenting with making some non-traditional kugels. i didn’t grow up eating many kugels (some, but not many) and i haven’t made any until recently. they’ve been great to add into my weird diet that tries not to eat too many grains, is gf, dairy free, and legume free. it’s nice to make a big ol’ kugel and have it to easily heat up and add to my meals throughout the week when i don’t have as much time or energy to cook. this recipe i made up takes inspiration from one of my favorite dim dum dishes (which is the reason i feel it is reasonable to post on this tea blog). i love those crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside daikon cakes served with many dim sum meals. the real daikon cake, Luo Bo Gao , is a lil too complicated for my daily meal prep, so i made this rip-off kugel version that’s a lot quicker. *i don’t measure when i cook, so these measurements are approximations, but i think it’s still pretty spot on ingredients: -one large russet pota...

6 nisan 5781 as i have written about previously, i have a lot of dietary restrictions. bummer. food was a big part of my life. it was my career, it was what inspired me, it was a way that i expressed myself, and it was a way for me to connect to nature and other people. food still is all this for me, but it is something that also brings me a lot of stress these days.   i still love cooking and i  really  love cooking for others, but eating is the hard part. there are only certain foods i can eat and, especially during the winter, what i  can  eat is rarely what i  want  to eat.    that is why tea is so wonderful to me. here is something that maps very well onto the things i love about cooking. like food, tea is richly tied to years of culture including how it is continuing to evolve. similar to how i love the fun and hands on involvement of cooking, i love the act of pouring tea. i also love the aspect of sharing and hospitality that comes wi...

1 nisan 5781 the past couple of weeks my stomach has not been feeling well. it was feeling bloated and i had lots of cramping. there were a couple of days where it was hard for me to eat or drink because my stomach felt so upset. i had no idea what was going on.   i have a lot of health problems and it becomes extra stressful when something is happening in addition to my usual level of discomfort/pain. was it because i had missed a few days of one med that is supposed to prevent the side affects of another med that can cause upset stomachs? was it because i took an NSAID one day for when my body hurt more than normal and the cumulative years of NSAIDs were fucking up my stomach? was it because i had a younger puer and it was too harsh on my body? there’s so many variables it gets hard to figure out what is going on.   after two weeks, my stomach got a little better but not back to my regular level of meh. could it be the puer? i haven’t been drinking anything that young, but i...