Snowed In

Today I made stir fry, finally. I bought all of these vegetables a long time ago, but all we have here for cooking is some old pots with the non-stick coating flaking off. My friend Alex assures me that teflon is inert and that it’s safe to eat, but still… who wants nonstick in their food?

So, Kensy and I went and tried finding woks at “Ranch 99″, a.k.a. “99 Ranch Market”, a.k.a. “Asian WAL*MART” and all they had was nonstick woks. I’ve done my research, and I want my wok hee (wok flavor) and to get that I’m pretty sure I need my wok to be cast iron or carbon steel. “Very rare,” the sales lady at Ranch 99 assured me, “non-non-stick is very rare.”

Whatever. So, after a very fruitful visit to REI with Matthew (I got climbing shoes, a harness and carabiners… as soon as Matthew gets his rope on Monday we’ll be good to go) we went and picked up Kensy and drove downtown to check out some restaurant supply places. To try and find these elusive old skool woks. It was Saturday, so there were only two places that were open down there. We got to the first one, and got to browse a rather tittilating collection of serious restaurant-grade appliances. 6 burner heavy duty ranges, industrial fryolators, etc. But no woks. We get to the second place, and are greeted by a big “NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC” sign. Damnit.

Tail between my legs, I arrive home, and pull out my laptop. I decide to hit up a Marshalls to at least get a decent frying pan, and it turns out there’s one pretty close by, and it’s open until 9:30. Sweet. I get there, and what do I find?

Two sweet deeply discounted bamboo chopping blocks. Big, thick, meaty chopping blocks. $14.99. Done. I also pick up a cheap but good Wolfgang Puck stainless non-non-stick frying pan, and a big ol’ Cuisinart brand stock pot. Don’t forget the mortar and pestel for grinding up those sweet sweet indian spices, a pair of $35 New Balances, and two pairs of pants. My what a fruitful trip.

By the time I got home I was too lazy to cook, so I put some tofu into vegetable stock with a little MSG replacement (which is basically asparagus and carrot extract or something like that) and let it sit in the fridge overnight to marinade. There was cobbler at Kensy’s, so I went and found Alex, Kaya, and David there, waiting for it to emerge from the oven. I came bearing ice cream.

Out the cobbler came: raspberries, blackberries, and a single solitary PEACH! Instead of crumb topping or a nice batter or something, they had sprinkled these wacky old fashioned oats on top. Not rolled oats, but entire oat berries. Think fine gravel. But they were slightly toasted in the oven, and though still a rather rough consistency in the mouth, the overall effect was pleasing and it was delicious.

Back home, watched “Love and Basketball” very very very quietly so as not to upset the downstairs neighbors. Missed half of the dialog. Still: what a love story.

And today: beside the stir fry, a lot of lounging. Some YouTube watching. I wonder if the laundromat is still open? Probably, eh?