jacket decision matrix

 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

Considerations:

• Leaning towards off-white
• Minimal hardware
• Front panels drape nicely when open
• Lighter fabric

? ?

development

She is such a good speaker and speaks for such a good cause:

reliable meals

Been meaning to make a roundup of stuff I cook when I'm short on time since a lot of friends seem shocked when I say I cook most meals. The definition of meals has loosened up a lot in second semester, but at least the cooking is still happening. 

In the first place of reliable meals is miso noodle soup. It's basically instant noodle but healthy. The procedure goes:

1. Boil water, this is the critical path. Add egg in at the start. Water's boiled once you hear the egg clinker on the pot's bottom).
2. Wash veggies (usually spinach).
3. Chop up add-ins, usually ginger, veggies, tofu, ham if feeling extra fancy.
4. By the time chopping is done, water's probably boiled. Spoon some out to mix with miso, add in everything. Thin noodles cook in < 5min, so its the optimal choice. If there's extra time, I'd sear the tofu and ham. 

An honorable mention goes to vinegar veggies (the non-winter equivalent of roasted veggies) for being the most versatile thing to have in the fridge. It's a mix of onion, egg, some sort of squash or eggplant, and some sort of leafy veggie. Stir fried and finished with a drizzle of vinegar. Fastest way to eat this is with toasted bread slices. Also good to top noodles, and used to make fried rice. 

peach

Kensington bites: pie from Wanda's and soup from Urban Herbivour. Still too cold for a lunchtime trip there though.

foodies

I think it's just the positive temperatures, but tonight somehow feels like a summer night where you sit by the camp fire until it's embers then lie down and watch the stars.

So much better than studying hydro.

meltwater

It's finally getting warmer, hurray!

To follow up to a previous post about feeling lost, I think that every year at around the dawn of spring I end up asking myself two question:

1. Am I suited to be a keener?
2. Do I want to be keen?

The answer to (1) seems to flip between yes and no depending on motivation level, though my inherent laziness tugs it towards no. The answer to (2) I haven't been able to figure out, though I've arrived at a satisfactory intermittent for now. Going to stop aiming for top 3 rank, since it's clearly making me miserable and I wasn't even that happy being first (it was more of a "oh, yay. okay moving on").
New standards are minimally above class average, practically try to keep a 4.0, and ideally a single digit rank. Efforts shall be diverted to extracurriculars (YNCN is going to be a sink of energy, but I think it's worthwhile) and exploring non-academic/professionally related things. We'll see how it goes.

a year

Whee anniversary dinner at Scaddabush. It's a newly opened restaurant (the downtown location) and I was lured by the promise of daily made mozzarella and divine meatballs.

Thumbs up for cool mismatched plates good ambiance:

 Bonus points for kraft paper and grease pencil that you can doodle with. They're channeling the Italian grandmother's kitchen, with generous portions to boot.

The food is much better than the chain western restaurants (eg. Pickle Barrel) which I attribute to the fresh ingredients they say they use. A breakdown of what we ordered:

• Charity bread is a cool concept, all profits from this item goes towards Sick Kids Hospital. Taste wise it's a strong garlic bread. 
• The osso bucco bites were absolutely delicious. The pork is tender on the inside while crunchy on the outside and pairs well with the pappardelle crips. The portion is big enough for a stand alone meal of my own.
• The mozzarella is indeed made to order and there's a big window into the kitchen where you can watch them stretch the cheese. 
• The meatball is also delicious, well seasoned and the texture is like a fluffier burger patty. Love the fresh basil and fried garlic in the spaghetti as well.
• The mango sorbet (opps typo on image) is the most intense mango tasting thing I've had that's not an actual mango. Also a huge portion, which makes it a better deal than most ice cream shops.
• The zeppole is like soft timbits with a creamier nutella dipping sauce. Our waiter (who was great, friendly, enthusiastic, and knowledge about the restaurant) for free for our anniversary (y)

Overall a good atmosphere, good food, and good value, the combination of which is hard to find amongst downtown western restaurants (usually it's pick 2 out of 3). Do check it out if you're in the area.