Adulting

ERGGGGH! WHY do I still have this struggle with planning and time management! Well.. I'm pretty stubborn because I have been told on countless occasions that I NEED to put things in my calendar because if I don't, I'll forget. And I say that I won't, and most of the time I don't. But, when I do forget there's a big fire lit under me and I keep a calendar for about two weeks. And then I go back to not keeping track again.There have also been many times when there is no crisis and I vow to plan, still doesn't work.
However, we have spent all day cooking and right now I feel inspired to just learn planning and time management though the things I love. I wrote about this once before and was not sure whether to go back and fix that post or do a new post. Anyway, you know when you cook, when professionals cook, especially a complicated recipe, you need to have everything in place? You should have all the ingredients out, measured and ready-to-go. This step, like all planning in life, (at least to me), almost always feels like a waste of time. BUT ITS NOT.

I was just making a very complicated cake. Even though I think everything turned out fine, it was stressful to always have to leave the food to go look at the recipe for measurements and to make sure I didn't forget anything.I also had to have a pen to cross off ingredients. So, read the recipe beforehand, measure out all ingredients in order and have fun cooking
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The reason this might be to rationalizing that gets these habits to stick? ITS SHORT-TERM. I, and my fellow ADDers, have problems with long-term goals. So try this. Hopefully it'll spill over to other facets of life. Habitually reading recipes before doing anything might help get you into the habit of  reading directions in a manual before you do anything, reading through anything before you sign, give an opinion or ask questions. Don't look foolish when you go into a job interview and ask a question that's answered on the About page of their company. And putting out and measuring ingredients beforehand can lead to both laying your clothes out the night before or writing down your resources for a problem you're having. Crossing off ingredients gets you to cross off items on your list that you've already done. Cooking has been a great help in many parts of my daily life. Hope it inspires you too.

A trend

Yes, at the end of this gastrovist I would like to write a book or two. I have always wanted to write books- for the past few years it's been non-fiction, but I did take a writing workshop in 10th grade. My story was more of a soap opera than a novel- which should give you a sense of why I haven't written anything. I don't like having to fill in all the details,  edit, proofread, make sure it makes sense.  It's the reluctance of sticking with the long-term goal.
I think I touch on ADD in a post. And most stories.

Skip here: I've been noticing many trends in turn-of-the-cenutry cookbooks, one of which is the inclusion of recipes for the sick. I have not taken any folklore classes, but I have taken anthropology ones and anyway friend who did told me what it was. Thus, a folkloric part of my brain wonders what happened.  Am I missing current versions of this or, as I suspect,  are we just too used to popping pills we don't notice or care?

There has been a backlash though,  you can get a fair amount of literature on our dependency on pills. Some of my friends have tried to decrease their drug intake. Then there's Eastern/ Alternative medicine.

On Saturday, Matt made a home remedy for headaches. I was shocked and awed, I thought it was really cool. I can't remember the last time I used a home remedy.  I have, however,  been using a lot of alternative techniques. But, we're talking about American folk home remedies through, and the only one I can think of is honey and lemon for a sore throat..

My mom has several home remedy books that I keep meaning to read. The problem is that pills can be much quicker and, lets face it, never rely on a disgusting concoction. 

Actually,  using chemicals might be more effective,  but at what cost? Yes, I do hear my environmentalist voice talking, but it applies to drugs in our bodies too. It takes time to mix up remedies of your house or your body,  but its always time vs money..or health. Some home remedies cost more, some cost less.  I also think that it says something about our society,like so many other things pushing us to go more and more a long the path of a individualistic society. 

Italy

One of the best times of my life was in the summer of 2009 when took part in a excavation in the Sangro Valley, Italy. The small town we stayed in for the duration of the month-long excavation, Tornareccio, is about 70 miles east of Rome. There are countless reasons why this excavation was magical and why I felt like it was a dream, but for this blog, I shall save that for the archaeologists and concentrate on the food!

Italian food is one of the world's best cuisines and there are Italian restaurant everywhere in the United States today. So, it can be said the Americans at least somewhat no what to expect. Tornareccio did have some recognizable foods like gelato, which could be found at four different bars in this two-commercial street town, but there were also great local favorites like Rostichini. Rostichni is a local specialty pork kabob. We would have this on special occasions, but could also buy it on Friday nights at the bar. Dance party, beer and rosticini. This small town is also famous in Italy for it's varieties of honey.

 On one field trip, we went to a local honey factory and it was to die for. We got to see how the honey was made and don silly hats. We then we got to buy a honey and by pasta that had been made from grains that have been growling for thousands of years.

When we got to Rome the food was no less excellent. We were only there for a week, and thus my exposure to the food there was limited. However, the gelato was amazing and I remember a wide variety of pizza: what seemed like hot dog pizza and what was shrimp salad pizza. One I loved about Italy was that blood orange juice takes the place of navel orange juice in America.

I have always loved Thai and Vietnamese food. However, if I think about it, as much as I love Asian cuisines, Italy "takes the cake," not only do they have amazing entrées but they have amazing desserts.