Solitude

 Solitude’s my destiny
Nobody can set me free
Forever I shall walk alone
Friendless monster, heart of stone.

May 20, 2022

Seasons 52 (Burlington, MA)

 I don't frequent fancy restaurants. Even having waiters is a relatively rare occurrence for me. However, when invited to Seasons 52, I usually don't say no. It has been a family staple when celebrating big events- important birthdays, graduations, etc... This time? Just celebrating a Tuesday evening in the middle of June. Nothing fancy occurred, but every once in a while, it's important to remember the saying:

Yesterday is history.

Tomorrow is a mystery.

But today is a gift.

That's why it's called the "present".

And so, out we went to celebrate that we were together and that we were fortunate enough to be able to treat ourselves. 

Seasons 52 is famous for a few things. Among them- 52 different wines served by the glass and a rotating seasonal menu that offers fare that is fresh and made with the food that's in season. When we got there, it happened to be the first day of the summer menu. And, amazingly, they had a dish similar to the one that I'd been talking about for a week- watermelon salad. I first tried this at a tapas restaurant. There, it had been a watermelon, feta, and mint salad. Seasons did it a bit differently- watermelon, tomato, feta, and arugula. Of course, I ordered it.

Surprisingly few options on the menu were vegetarian friendly, which is something to consider if anyone in your party has such dietary restrictions. In the end, I partook in the mozzarella, basil, and sundried tomato flatbread that was ordered for the table as a starter, and the aforementioned watermelon salad. They did not skip on the flatbread toppings- gooey cheese, sweet tomatoes that still had a slight tang for contrast, and basil generously coated the bread, which was the most disappointing part of the dish. The watermelon salad was great as well. My only complaint was that the balance of acid was a little off in my opinion- having a little more would introduce a way to cut through the sweetness a little more. Personally, I would have added a little bit of apple cider vinegar. I'm no chef though and I am sure that the people developing the dish have much more discerning palettes.

Service was great, as it always is there. I previously mentioned that it was a Tuesday evening. Surprisingly, the restaurant was packed, making me quite happy that we'd made a reservation. Waitstaff were friendly, but a little frazzled. I had a good view of the bar where the wines were set out in preparation to be served and saw two glasses dropped and broken within a span of three minutes. Yet everyone was friendly and did their jobs efficiently, which is all that I truly care about.

Food: 5/5

Price: 3/5 

Service: 5/5

Dark Skies

The fog rolls in

And all turns gray,

Envelops me

In every way.

It's not quite dark,

But there's no light,

I look for hope,

There's none in sight.

The people near me

Fade away.

The silence shows

It's here to stay.

"Accept me in",

I say to me,

"You are too weak,

Just bend the knee".

Each time I fight

I lose once more.

It rips me open,

Bares my core.

No place to hide,

Accept my fate,

Don't fight no more,

Take it and wait.

Jul 22, 2022

Southern Hospitality

A large family is a blessing, but when it's spread out across the mainland states, visits become a rare treat. Unfortunately, because of this, I can go for years without seeing them. So, to round out this rather travel-filled summer, I jumped at a chance to fly down to Houston. The last time I was there was, metaphorically, a lifetime ago, and realistically over half of my lifetime ago. It had been a few brief days in January, around age ten.
I was supposed to leave Friday in the early evening, but that day turned out to be rather problematic for US air travel with 1400 flights canceled and over 6000 flights delayed per the Associated Press. Thankfully, I'm inseparable from my laptop, so I was able to use the time well, getting work done and booking future flights. I arrived about an hour and a half later than expected,  but hey, I made it and really can't complain. And, as usual,  United's service was quite nice.
There are a lot of things I've read about and dreamed of doing at some point, but somehow just never gotten around to. One of these, and rather high up on the list, was going to a Cars and Coffee event. In Houston, these are on the first Saturday of the month, with one this having a Japanese focus. And by golly, there were some amazing vehicles there.
Blue Carbon Exposed McLaren Sennas:

Ferrari F40, Mclaren Senna, and Lamborghini Huracan STO:

These vehicles come from famously expensive brands, but these specific ones are especially valuable. The McLaren is one of just 5 that were built in this configuration. And a similarly red F40 had sold for $2.4 million on Bring a Trailer the day before.
Up next? Tacos. Corn tortillas, Spanish text on the posters on the walls… Feels authentic? Don’t know. I do know that they tasted great. Had two breakfast ones: egg, mushroom, and black bean, while the other was an egg and veggie mix. Juicy and delicious, but probably not something that should be had all too often. In the evening, when the temperature dropped from very hot to just hot, we visited a nice outdoor shopping and eating area. Although I tend to not visit the boutiques and jewelry stores, I really like the relaxed atmosphere that comes with the shoppers lounging in the green, the children running around, and the live music playing. They also usually have some pretty tasty food.

Sunday Funday was relaxing. A slow start to the morning, a walk with the dog, video games… Having fun with family. And my first visit to Olive Garden. How did I make it all this time without going there? I really liked it, especially their flexibility to modify menu items. I think everyone made at least one change in their order. Even big changes, like my request to replace the pasta with broccoli, were accepted without hesitation.
Being in Houston without visiting NASA seems like heresy. I'd visited last time and proudly informed the guides that I would be an astronaut. Doubt that's happening, so sorry young me. It's a shame that I don't have any notes about my impressions of the facility from then. It would be interesting to compare the perspective from then with this visit, now that I'm [a little] more mature and know a lot more about space travel. Mercury and Gemini capsules probably seemed pretty roomy to my sub-four and a half foot stature. Independence Plaza was probably my favorite part. There, a modified Boeing 747 which was the main shuttle transport stood with a model shuttle used for testing perched atop. The doors to both were open, letting visitors walk up the stairs to go inside. The plane had been stripped for weight savings, so the frames and stringers are visible in a number of places. Furthermore, the extra strengthening bulkheads that were inserted to better support the shuttle’s weight were completely uncovered.

The other occupant of the plaza, a twice flown Falcon 9 first stage, couldn’t have been there during my last visit. So yeah, I definitely saw something new. Now if only I can time a visit to Kennedy during a launch…

I was impressed by the Museum of Natural Science on Tuesday. Although the third floor housing Egyptian history and oil digging history was closed for renovations, the permanent exhibits on the first and second floor were open. I visited the temporary Body Worlds, a fascinating and simultaneously disturbing exhibit.
The dinosaur one was really thorough, mapping the development of life from trilobites to humans. Huge selection of fossils and a wealth of information boards. Only minor quibble is the layout- there are passages between the eras (probably added for fire escapes)  which confused me, such as the Jurassic to Human connection.

Also, shout out to the Diplodocus whose neck was so long that the heart couldn't pump blood to their brains. It's one of the rare cases where a diminutive brain helps- imagine if we could function for up to ten minutes without fresh blood reaching the brain.
Overall, the museum district is attractive, with parks and statues breaking up the building and street monotony. And I even managed to find one of the few Dunkin locations.
Prior to this trip I hadn't heard of any Texas beers. Both the Lone Star and Houston-based Saint Arnold's that I tried were pretty enjoyable light IPAs. Not my poison of choice in most cases, but great for the local heat.
 

The Choice: Embrace the Possible

I don't write posts about every book I read, just the ones that leave a particularly strong impression. However, The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Dr. Edith Eger almost left too strong of an impression for me to write about it. At first glance it's a self-help book/memoir. One of a million. So, what makes it so poignant? 

Dr. Eger approaches the topic of suffering from a very personal level. As a Holocaust survivor, she knows better than most what it means to go to hell and back again. It's an inspiring tale of courage and perseverance, yet it isn't what makes the piece so much more effective than Night by Elie Wiesel (also a pretty powerful memoir about survival). No, it is her ability to feel for the pains of others that sets her apart. 

Churchkhela and Aioli. Or in other words, just a lot of rambling.

As I mentioned in my Israel Day 9 post, there is a traditional Georgian dessert called churchkhela. I told my mother that I bought it at the market in Tel Aviv. To my surprise, it turned out that she had been well acquainted with it- but thought it was an Armenian dish. Further digging showed that we were both right- it's a regional, not a national treat.

Churchkhela is a great example of the complexity of cuisine. Cultures don't truly end at the border of a nation- they flow and mingle, so many nations in a region can all lay claim to similar dishes. The morning that I wrote this, I listened to a rebroadcast of the ninth episode of one of my favorite podcasts- "A Hotdog is a Sandwich". In it, the hosts Josh and Nicole discuss whether or not mayonnaise and aioli are the same thing. Aioli is just mayo with a chip on its shoulder in my opinion, but that's beside the point at the moment. The part relevant to this chain of thought was their breakdown of the condiment's history. 

What most people consider aioli, an emulsion of olive oil and garlic, is the Catalonian version. But the spelling "aioli" is the spelling from Provance, who add egg yolks to their sauce. In Catalonia, it is spelled "allioli". So essentially, we currently use the French spelling and the Spanish recipe. Fair enough. But what about toum? The Middle Eastern sauce also is an emulsion of garlic and oil. So maybe they're in the right? But to complicate matters further, before any of the aforementioned sauces were pleasing anyone's palates, Pliny the Younger wrote about aliatum. "Alia" traveled west, influencing the name of the sauce in Catalonia and Provance, while "tum" went east, turning into "toum". All this is to say that culture and food are complicated and calling churchkhela Georgian or Armenian is, frankly, kind of arbitrary. Just don't tell anyone from either of those countries that I think so, or else they might be a little upset.

Anyway, back to the original topic- churchkhela. I decided to surprise my mom with a homemade version since I had some extra grapes and walnuts. Traditional versions use the grape pulp left over from winemaking, but grapes in a blender seem to have worked alright. 

Ingredients:

• ~ 1 liter pureed grapes or grape juice
• .5 lb walnuts
• .25 cup flour

Recipe:

1. Mix the grape juice with flour in a pot
2. Simmer and reduce by about half, whisking regularly (or until nice and thick)
3. While the grapes cook down, thread walnuts onto strings
4. Coat walnut strands in the thick grape juice, let it drip
5. Dry for a few days - I used my oven since it seals, and I wanted to avoid fruit flies 
6. Repeat the coating process? (Would make for a better casing, but I didn't do it since I didn't have any more grapes)
7. Eat and enjoy

New York, First Impressions, Old Friends

I dropped by New York City to visit some of my oldest friends from college. In terms of activities, it was pretty standard- wandering around Manhattan, the Met, etc. However, even though I've done most of the city sightseeing already, I still had a couple new experiences. Apparently, there is an air tram connecting Manhattan to Roosevelt Island, and it provides a very nice view:

Also, I went to NY's Chinatown, which was another first for me. The variety of goods that are sold in the shops and street stands is pretty astounding, but $2 for 3 lbs of strawberries? Hell yes. Oh, and the food is worth the trip. Some restaurants seem to serve fairly authentic food, as dishes like duck tongue probably have rather niche client bases in the US. But the bean curd and vegetable soup was outstanding. The near-by ice cream shop we visited, Soft Swerve, served some very unusual flavors (from a western perspective). Black sesame, sesame oil, and ube soft serve ice creams are all on offer. Although I can't write about the sesame flavors, I vouch for the amazing-ness of the ube. My friends and I couldn't agree what the flavor reminded us of- I said a hint of vanilla, they said peanuts. We did agree that it was delicious though.