2020: Week 5

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January 27, 2020 – February 2, 2020

Bucket List Items Accomplished

  • Made fresh pasta without a machine. I just used my rolling pin. It was pretty easy and the results were delicious. See the recipe below.
  • Made pumpkin bread. See the recipe below. I only have to make a pie now to finish my pumpkin recipe list. Not that I’m opposed to adding more. Pumpkin is one of my favourite flavours.

Things I Enjoyed this Week

  • From my Vancouver Island Goals list, I climbed up Christmas Hill. It has been raining so much here lately, so the stone stairs and paths became little waterfalls and creeks. There was finally some sun this day, so everything was so vibrant, lush, and green. I love the gnarled silhouettes of Gary Oaks. This place was serene and felt almost magical, plus it provides great views of Victoria.
  • I hiked Mill Hill before a delicious breakfast at House of Boateng. I can see why this restaurant and its head chef have been getting so many accolades. The African bowl had delicious and flavourful jollof rice, chicken sausage, chilli and smoked shrimp aioli, scrambled eggs, and pickled vegetables. The rice crisped up against the cast iron bowl, which was served hot. There was mango and habanero hot sauce to drizzle over as well. It was one of the best meals I have had in Victoria lately. Mill Hill had great views of Langford, Esquimalt Harbour, Victoria and the surrounding hills.
  • After that perfect breakfast, I continues to take advantage of having access to a car and drove all over the highlands. I enjoyed the winding, forested roads and visited the Country Bee Honey Farm, Prospect Lake, Mosi Bakery, and also hit Outerbridge Park and King George Terrace on my way home.
  • I am saddened by the news of Robert Krulwich’s retirement from the podcast, Radiolab. Radiolab been a consistent companion for me since my earliest forays into podcast listening. It has opened my mind to subject matter of all kinds. Radiolab is an accessible and ceaselessly entertaining science podcast that approaches philosophical issues with levity and charm. The chemistry and contrast between Robert and Jad has always helped to carry the show. Their genuine curiosity makes the show a joy to listen to, regardless of the topic of the day. Robert’s presence will be deeply missed, but I’m sure all of us listeners wish him well in his next endeavours. Some great Radiolab episodes to check out are
    1. Colors
    2. Any of the interviews with Oliver Sacks, such as Remembering Oliver Sacks
    3. Words
    4. Patient Zero
    5. 23 Weeks 6 Days
    6. The Buried Bodies Case
    7. Poison Control
    8. The Gonads Series, starting with Gonads: The Primordial Journey

Meal Prep and New Recipes Tried

Here’s what I made over the weekend for the upcoming week.

  • I used some of the discard from my Sourdough Starter (YouTube) to make King Arthur Flour’s Sourdough Crackers. I did one plain batch and one with chopped fresh rosemary. They were well matched with some red pepper hummus and ajvar.
  • I used other sourdough discard to make Sourdough Pumpkin Spice Bread. I forgot to add the raisins, and it suffered a little for the reduced sweetness, but the spiced flavour is really nice. I used pecans as a crumble on top instead of walnuts. It rose so much!

Updates

  • I crossed seven things off of my bucket list in January. It’s a great start to the year.
    1. Participate in a polar bear swim
    2. Learn the American Sign Language alphabet
    3. Do embroidery
    4. Bake a good loaf of bread
    5. Make focaccia
    6. Eat haggis
    7. Make a sourdough starter
  • In the month of January I read and listened to 13 books. I listened to audiobooks for ten of them and read physical copies of three. This sets me up for a great pace to finish 50 books by the end of the year. I’d like to read more physical books going forward, and also get through some longer tomes. I’m really proud of how much I’ve been able to increase my time spent reading. Compared to about the last decade, where I have barely managed to read a few real books a year, this pace is incredible.
    1. Peter Pan
    2. Kitchen Confidential
    3. The Book of Hygge
    4. GuRU
    5. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
    6. Shrill
    7. The Happiness Project
    8. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
    9. Atomic Habits
    10. The Four Tendencies
    11. The Little Book of Ikigai
    12. Mary Poppins
    13. Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics
  • During all of January I participated in an Uber Frugal Month with the Frugalwoods. I did reasonably well with my discretional spending this week. Other than plane tickets and some extra money for gas for exploring, I generally did pretty well with my spending overall this month. I want to keep up the good habits for the rest of the year. My observations and thoughts from this exercise include
    1. I am generally doing what I need to be doing financially right now. I have a well structured budget and track all of my spending with Mint and a Google spreadsheet system that works well for me.
    2. I’m prioritizing saving for a future move, but also spending some on myself to appreciate where I am at right now.
    3. I have been using my local library so much more. The free access to many audio books has been wonderful.
    4. I don’t buy a lot of permanent physical objects. I have really pared down my posessions and want to keep it that way. That being said…
    5. Food is my weakness. I love the atmosphere and flavours from coffee shops and restaurants. I get a lot of joy out of my visits to these places, so I don’t want to give them up completely. However, I am saving for some things that are really important to me now and have really cut down on the frequency I dine out.
    6. Compared to my old self, I meal prep like a champion now and rarely feel the need to grab food out because of poor planning. I bring my lunch to work everyday. I used to be so insecure in the kitchen, but trying new recipes and practicing has made me more confident. It feels good making healthy, delicious food and taking care of myself.
    7. I am great at shopping grocery sales and choosing recipes that take advantage of what’s on sale each week. I am also focusing on branching out my recipe repertoire so that I can get pleasure out of making things for myself, rather than dining out. Baking bread has been a lot of fun and produced some delicious results.
  • I finished 30 Days of Yoga with Adrienne. This is a great set of free practices. She has a relaxing style and usually offers enough variance for people at different stages of their yoga practice. I’m inspired to try and get some arm balances and a headstand into my practice now. New goals for the rest of the year!

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