On Food in Wellington

(this post comes to because my lovely/beautiful/smart friend Kelsey was nice and suggested it. I'm kind of sort of in a writing rut and needed some blerg post ideas)

For a lot of my time in Wellington, I've been on the mostly not fun side of poor, and haven't been able to really go out and eat in Wellington. The food here is great and varied and ...also kind of expensive. Don't get me wrong, if you look hard enough you can find cheap places, but the food is never as good. But now that I have a worthy of a capitol J Job, I can actually afford to go out and try that one place that I've walked by every day for the last 6 months but have been too low on money to comfortably swing paying 15$ for lunch. Man, is it great. I can treat myself without looking back in regret at those 15$ I no longer have. Why is this post all about money? Stop it, Kate. Talk about food.

Food culture in New Zealand took a bit to get used to. Because 80% of what we eat is imported (be it culturally or actually imported) a lot of it is expensive. I think that's sort of what drives the importance of food in New Zealand.
IT TOOK A LOT TO GET THIS FOOD TO THESE TINY ISLANDS SO YOU WILL CHERISH IT AND APPRECIATE IT AND THAT WILL BE 8$ FOR THAT AVOCADO, PLEASE. (I'm not joking, buying fruit and veg at supermarkets is just STUPID in this country. Luckily there are farmers' markets on the weekends so you just have to stock up then)

Here are some of my favorite foods from the last few months:

Steak and Chips at The Fisherman's Table

 Ham, Avocado and Brie sandwich and a lemon bitters cake from Arobake

 Butter Chicken and Naan from Mughlai Indian Takeaways

 Mini-Carrot Cake and Mini-Red Velvet Cake from Arobake

Palmiers and Brioche from Le Moulin Bakery

 Peanut Piston Burger and Kumara (sweet potato) Chips from Burger Fuel

Scorch-O-Rama-Lama-Ding-Dong at Scorch-O-Rama

Man, am I gonna miss New Zealand food. 

On Being Raised With Musicals

I like to think that, amongst a few other things like love and understanding, I was brought up on Ego Waffles and Musicals. And incredibly lucky to have done so. Few people get to grow up with an awesome family like mine. And I'm not just saying that because I know my parents read my blog (hi guys), but the more I see of how my friends grew up the more I know how great I had it. Few people get to grow up in the States and with 2 parents who both had jobs and were open minded and encouraging and big into Family and the arts. Seriously, who could ask for more?

Growing up surrounded my musicals has shaped a lot of my adult life. I've learnt so many life lessons from musicals.

•  Anything can be turned into a song. (all musicals)
• Kissing strangers in the wood is a bad idea. (Into the Woods)
• Any time anyone accidentally says a line from a musical I start singing (much to Kaitlyn's frustration).
• it's better to be loved by a few than liked by many ([Title of Show])
• Just because people sing along with you at meetings doesn't mean they'll be there for you when shit is going down (Les Mis)
• If I can accept that some people are green and some people are little puppets, I can accept any other idiosyncrazies you throw at me. (Wicked and Avenue Q)
• Don't only be friends with couples because life isn't company. (Company)
• Don't let the haters get bring you down (Wicked and [Title of Show])
• Even thought it's easy to get caught up in the act, you don't have to share in everyone else's delusions (A Chorus Line)
• Understanding how important the arts are and accepting that everyone's a little bit different. (again, all musicals)

In college, I got very confused when hardly anyone understood the Musical Theater jokes I was making or why I was constantly breaking into song. Didn't everyone else grow up knowing all the words to songs written by men in the 70s and 80s? No? Cool.  The relationship I have with my family is not a typical one - not only do I love my family, I like them. They're pretty groovy people, and I'm lucky enough to have realized that and try to appreciate them as much as I can.

SAP WARNING AHEAD: A big part of my Growing Up has been the realization that not everyone's parents taught their kids acceptance like mine did. It might've been going to college in Oklahoma, but I was incredibly surprised by the amount of casual racism that seemed to be engrained into the kids in my classes. I grew up knowing that no matter what I did, I would always have 3 people that would love me and care about me. And that it was ok to be different and not to judge anyone else because they were. No amount of poor decision making or weird neurosis would change that. A lot of people I know don't have that and it makes me so incredibly sad that there aren't more parents out there like mine. That's not to say my parents are perfect: my dad makes some terrrrrrrible dad jokes and my mom really likes Lyle Lovett's music. Gross.
I know a lot of people that are afaid to turn into their parents, but I'm really glad that I'm so much like mine.

On Reading (#3)

Round 3 of book reviews:

The Truth by Terry Pratchett
Would Recommend If: you like books, stories about the news, or Terry Pratchett.
I'll admit it: I am addicted to reading discworld books. They're clever and hilarious and I love how the world has developed over the series and ... GAH IT'S JUST SO GREAT. The Truth is no exception - you get a glimpse of a side of Ankh-Morpork that we don't often see (pre-industrial revolution, at least), and a glimpse into what the rest of the city is like outside the University and the City Watch (which will always and forever be my favorite books, with Tiffany Aching and the Moist Von Lipwig coming in distant 2nd and 3rd). Realizing now that this won't make much sense if you haven't read any discworld books. You should read some.

Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
Would Recommend If: same as above, except replace news with witches and theater.
I really wasn't kidding, I'm trying to read all of the discworld books. After completely skipping the Witches books first time around, I'm diving in with Wyrd Sisters. Which is basically any Shakespeare play told from the perspective of the witches. Loved this, and loved learning more about Lancre.

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
Would Recommend If: you like time travel but don't like science fiction.
To be completely honest, I was disappointed by this book. It had so much promise - but did not deliver. I wish there had been much more time travel things and much less existential crisis things. The main character is a Time Travel Technician. HOW COOL IS THAT? But we barely see him do his job before he loses his mind and we're forced to go with him. I barely made it all the way though this book.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia
Would Recommend If: you liked the Mortal Instruments series? I don't know. Maybe if you kinda liked Twilight but didn't really?
I don't know why I keep on subjecting myself to poorly executed YA paranormal romance series, but I do. The idea for this book was AWESOME: magic that turns you good or evil on your 16th birthday and all of it set in the deep south. And this book stays nicely away from a lot of YA romance tropes: has a male narrator, no love triangle, everything isn't magically 100% OK at the end of the book. But ... I don't know what it was that made me so frustrated with this book. It might've been the pacing or the fact that it is verrrry obvious that whoever wrote the book has never lived in the south and doesn't know a whole lot about how people talk/act. I bought the 2nd in the series, so I'll probably try reading it, but I really don't have much hope for it.

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
Would Recommend If: I have no idea, really. This book is not something I'd normally read, so I don't have a whole lot to compare it with.
This book was really interesting and a bit out of my comfort zone. I don't normally read World War II mysteries, but my mom enjoyed it and suggested I read it, so I did. I liked the structure of the book and I liked where she took it - not where I thought it was going to go, but a more realistic idea of what happened to people who lived in London during the Blitz. War torn London has always been fascinating to me and this book has re-piqued my interest. I'll definitely be reading more of this sort of book, and I'd probably pick up another book by Morton.

On Rain

Ah, Wellington. Windy Welly, Wet Welly, Winter Welly.
If the last few weeks can tell me anything is that any and all nicknames that Wellington has are well-earned. We hardly saw the sun last week (17-23rd June) and had one of the worst storms the country has seen in 40 years. I don't know if the country's just showing off for Kaitlyn and I (since we've been here we've had: the hottest and driest summer in 60 years, the worst storm in 40 years, etc) but I don't really apprecaite it, to be honest. I don't want to get blown away when I'm walking home from work. And it's not so much that I mind the rain, but rain for 3 weeks straight is ... not fun. And it isn't even real rain. It's more like someone constantly blowing raspberries right into your face.
 But there's not a lot I can do other that bundle up and try to make the best out of the crappy weather: make lots of warm, hearty food and take lots of pictures of the trees outside our kitchen window.

On Learning To Cook

When I started this blog in April, I didn't think it would end up being 90% about me dragging myself into the adult world; but that's just what my life, upon examination, has turned out to be.
As a part of my Great Kiwi Adventure Into Adulthood, I am teaching myself how to cook. Well, Kaitlyn is forcing me to learn how to cook because getting fast food or take away every night is "bad for you" and "a waste of money" or that consuming my body weight in sodium is "not a good idea" PAH! GROWN UP NONSENSE, I SAY. MCDONALD'S FOR DINNER EVERY DAY, IT'S THE AMERICAN WAY.
Up until this year, I knew how to confidently make 3 things:

1. pasta
2. sandwiches
3. scrambled eggs

I balked at the idea of cooking anything with meat - mostly out of fear of under cooking said meet and dying a horrible undercooked meat death, and a little bit out of fear of burning my apartment down because I don't know how to cook with oil (that happened, luckily one of my roommates was home and knew what to do with a pan that was on fire).
Fun side note: that very same apartment burnt down less than a year after I moved out

And it's easy to get into the habit of going out to get most of your meals, skipping the grocery store and heading straight for that tasty Indian place that's just down the street from our flat... But no! Going to the grocery store and farmers market on the weekends has turned into a staple for us, and has really helped me realize how impractical my eating habits were.
That's not to say that Kaitlyn and I never eat out, we rarely do (because food in wellington is pricey and we generally have stuff to make at home) - but it's a treat, rather than a common occurrence.

Actually paying attention to what I'm consuming has made me 100% sure that I am lactose intolerant - a fact I have blatantly ignored for the last few years because, really, ice cream is so dang tasty. And curbing my dairy and sodium intake (along with having to walk everywhere) has helped me get to a healthier weight than I was at when I left the states in August.

I wouldn't say I'm at the point where I look forward to cooking - it still makes me anxious, sometimes. But I like knowing that I can look after myself and I know some recipes and how to poach chicken and defrost meat and make casseroles and thicken dairy based sauces and (some would say most importantly) not to leave oil on a hot pan unattended.
Learning, y'all!

On Reading (#2)

I'm going to start posting Book Reviews on the first monday of every month. There probably won't always be 5 books a month (I'm catching up on what I've read so far this year) but there'll at least be one a month.  YAY READING.

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
Would Recommend If: you read the first in the series, Geraldine Brooks' books, 'magic is real but shhh' type books
I'm a bit conflicted about this book, to be honest. I really enjoyed the first one, A Discovery of Witches, but this one ... just not quite as much. I still quite enjoyed it, and I liked the direction she took the series in, but it didn't move as well or feel anywhere near as exciting as the first one. It's nice that the main character only got kidnapped once (I think it was only once. It might've been twice) this time around, but it made for a slower read. I'll definitely read the next in the series ... whenever it comes out.

Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson
Would Recommend If: you like Maureen Johnson in any capacity, supernatural/mysterious/sad YA books
I'm a big Maureen Johnson fan, so it comes as no surprise that I loved this book. It's a great sequel so The Name Of The Star and it's creepy and sad and just great. And, Johnson doesn't spend a lot of time catching you up on what happened in the last book (a bit of a pet peeve of mine) and jumps right into the action. The end is a bit frustrating, but it's still a fast and fun read that makes you want another book in the series.

Dodger by Terry Pratchett
Would Recommend If: you've read any of Pratchett's other works, Oliver Twist with a twist HAHA I AM HILARIOUS
I am on a (not so secret, if you've looked at my goodreads) quest to read all of Terry Pratchett's books. And there are a lot of them. Somewhere north of 40 books, I think. And this one is no exception to the quality I've come to expect from Pratchett. The characters are great, as is the story and the world it's set in - you can really tell that Pratchett has a love for the era and for his characters. A great/fast/funny read. But, then again, all of the Pratchett I've read has been.

Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss
Would Recommend If: you're a fan of Gatiss' other work (BBC Sherlock, many episodes of Doctor Who), sassy assassin/spy men in victorian england type books
I have mixed feelings about this one. I think because I didn't get sucked into the story or characters immediately, it took me a bit longer to read. And, because of that, Gatiss' writing style took me a bit to get into every time I picked the book up. Other than my problems with the prose, I quite enjoyed the book. It was very clever and relatively kept my interest over the month it took me to read it.

Infernal Devices Series (Clockwork Prince, Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Princess) by Cassandra Clare
Would Recommend If: you've read the Mortal Instruments series (same universe), sad/supernatural/romance/mystery/victorian london YA books
Oh, The Infernal Devices. I have a love/hate relationship with this series. I loved the idea of it, but not so much the execution. I think I might be a bit old for this series (aimed at "teens", which oftentimes in YA books means 13 year olds can read it) and that is where most of my problems with it came from - the one trope that YA can't seem to leave be is the Love Triangle and this series was no exception. Dragged the love triangle out for 3 books. Drove me a bit mad. The characters had a lot of other stuff to deal with and liking more than one boy for the majority of the series seems like taking the easy way out (and getting them both in the end - blegh. My eyes nearly rolled out of my head while I was reading the Clockwork Princess). I did enjoy the series, other than the lovey triangley bits though.