Belgium, but no chocolate

B is for Belgium. Chocolate, waffles, moules frites. I made none of those this week, though I was tempted to take a shortcut and get takeout from Chambar. 

The Meal

For appetizers I made Belgian endive wrapped in ham au gratin - Lot Met Ham en Kaas. There's a typo in the recipe I used, as my tiny endives certainly didn't need 20-30 minutes to cook. Unfortunately I realized it should be 2-3 minutes around minute 7, so they were definitely boiled. And I should have used Gruyere, but I had some cheddar that needed to be used up. I also had very thin slices of black forest ham, so I doubled them up. 

The other challenge I had is that I only really have two decent pots, so my timing got a bit off as I was boiling various vegetables for my other two dishes:

Chicken Waterzooi and Stoemp

As a result both the endives and stoemp had got a bit cold by the time the soup was ready. It didn't do the melted cheese on the endives any favour, but I can enjoy potatoes at any temperature.

You can apparently include all kinds of different vegetables in stoemp, so I divided up the massive carrot and leek between the two dishes and then added in some cabbage left over from last week. It was a lot of cabbage (and I still have a half a head, so I'm thinking I'll revisit Dimlama later this week), though it eventually mixed into the potatoes somewhat unobtrusively.

Despite the temperature challenges, it was enjoyable and I had leftover stoemp to keep me happy for several days. Next time I'll moderate the amount of cabbage to really let the potatoes shine...

Cooking Around the World A-Z: Andorra

Physical distancing has meant coming together socially in different ways - from chatting to rarely seen neighbours during the 7pm cheer for frontline workers to getting to see friends in different cities more than once or twice a year through Zoom happy hours. 

I've become a COVID cliche, raising a sassy sourdough starter, going back to my early '90s dream of learning Welsh, exercising to Youtube videos in my bedroom (funk it out, Jane Fonda!).

But the real upside of spending more time at home and not eating out all the time (as I try not to think about the devastation to the restaurant industry) is learning to cook healthier and more interesting meals. I joined a Facebook group that cooks their way around the world, each week posting pictures of the recipes they've tried from different countries, A-Z.

We've made it through the alphabet now and are starting back at A. This time we're sharing information about the country we've chosen, as well as the recipes we cooked. And since I'm constitutionally incapable of researching anything briefly, I thought I may as well finally use this blog for something other than biannual reading challenges. 

So starting from A:

I picked Andorra, mostly because when I looked at Global Table Adventures for inspiration, a wonderful blog that helped guide me through the first time through the alphabet, I saw one of my favourite tapas, pan y tomate - or rather Pa amb tomàquet in Catalan. And when I read that Trinxat was a kind of pancake made from bacon, potato and cabbage, I was sold. If I could live on potatoes and bacon... well, I likely wouldn't live very long, but it would be a happy shortened life. So I rounded the meal off with a Warm Spinach and Mushroom Salad to try and balance my nutritional intake.

Reverse Readathon - Day 2

 There are just over four and a half hours left in the reverse readathon. So far I've read three books, started a fourth and listened to about 3.5 hours of an audiobook while I "rested my eyes". Although I'm quite certain I heard at least 3/4 of it...

I've also done three sprints and set up a reading challenge on Goodreads, though I'll catch up on the books I've already read in 2020 when I have a bit more brain power.

I've got two official Bingos and have five spaces to fill before the end to get a full blank out. Also did the Word Search (and found an extra word that I think was missed from the list).

Back to reading now!

Closing Survey:

1) How would you assess your reading overall. I finished four books and made inroads into another three, as well as listened to an audiobook when my eyes got too tired to read. My comprehension wasn't at the same level all the time, and towards the end I was rushing to finish bingo squares rather than really appreciating the reading.

2) Did you have a strategy, and if so, did you stick to it? My main strategy was to fill all the squares and to read as much as possible over the 24 hours. I did stick to that, but I think if I'd picked a couple of shorter books, I would have completed more books rather than having three unfinished books that I read to cover squares.

3) What was your favorite snack? Picking away at a rotisserie chicken. I was really looking forward to chips and dip, but I bought the wrong type of chips and an unsatisfying dip. Not that it stopped me from eating them...

4) Wanna volunteer for our next event? It would depend on my work situation in October. At the moment, I likely wouldn't be able to commit to anything else, but who knows where things will be in two months.

Final bingo:

I covered every square, but I had to leave books unfinished to do so. I don't feel badly about Winter, as I read one full essay, but I wish I'd had another 45 minutes or so to finish off The Catcher in the Rye. And even though I was looking forward to it the most, I'm glad I left The Mirror & the Light until the end, as it would likely have eaten up most of the readathon if I'd started with it. Looking forward to October! 

Reverse Readathon

I'm very excited to be doing the reverse readathon for the first time. Hitting 3am at hour 10 will hopefully be less painful than hitting it at hour 22!

I started a few minutes late, as I didn't want to miss too much of the weekly Zoom Happy Hour - my friends were mystified that I was getting ready to spend the next 24 hours reading as much as possible. Mostly because they know I would happy do that any time, with or without the excuse of a readathon.

Here's the TBR pile that I pulled together to hopefully cover the majority of the bingo squares. For the make your own challenge, Barb suggested I read while doing a handstand, but I pointed out that it would be too much of a challenge to do a handstand, with or without reading, especially if I attempted it while sleep deprived, so we compromised on reading while doing a ski-sit.

Opening Survey:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Vancouver, BC
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? The Mirror and the Light, though I wish I'd re-read the first two books first.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Chips and dip. I've been pretty good about not buying/eating potato chips during the pandemic, but I'm looking forward to splurging.
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I'm a readaholic, who loves to play golf, trumpet, and field hockey. Sadly only the first of those are happening these days. But I am reading!
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to? I'm going to try and stay awake the entire time. I remembered to buy an energy drink this time and if I get really tired, I'm going to try taking a shower. Which likely just means I'll wake up sometime tomorrow evening with my hair sticking up.

Hour 7:

I've finished two books - Lips Together, Teeth Apart by Terrence McNally and Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. I remember seeing Lips Together at the Playhouse back in 1993. It was about a year before I started working there - I was working at the Renaissance and we must have gotten comps. It was a fantastic production - the original Broadway production had an amazing cast, but I saw the Playhouse cast the entire time I was reading.

Also finished the crossword. My printer is out of ink, so I edited the pdf vaguely...

Dewey's 24-hour Readathon Wrap Up

I fell short at the finish line, struggling to stay awake until 3am, then finally turned the light off and accepted the inevitable :). Should have taken a wake-up shower! I'll read for a couple of hours today to make up for lost time and finish my last book.

Final count:

6 books
~1800 pages

Thank you to Andi and Heather for all your hard work keeping the readathon going, and cheers to Kate and Gabby for stepping up to take it over! Looking forward to my next day of indulgence.

Mid-Point Readathon

It's just past the mid-point of the read-a-thon, and I'm at the mid-point of my third book.

I'm probably not on track for the most number of pages read (I managed over 2100 in my first readathon), but I'm hoping I can make it through the entire 24 hours this time.

I took a break to feed my sourdough starter, and while it doesn't seem to be doing massive amounts of expanding, it had moved through bubbly to frothy. More importantly, it passed the float test, so I might be able to attempt bread tomorrow! After a long nap in the morning...

Now back to the regularly scheduled reading!

10:57pm
Just about at the three-quarter mark and five books read. I'm hoping to finish two more, but that's likely ambitious at this point. I'm going to take an eye break now and get some things done while listening to Stuart McLean stories on a Spotify playlist.

Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon - April 2020 - Opening Thoughts

It's a confusing and terrifying world right now, but it's also perfectly made for a day of just reading.

Normally when I tackle the semi-annual 24-hour readathon, I have a field hockey game to play in the middle or a Whitecaps game to watch. Last October, I took a break to watch the Canadian men's field hockey team play Ireland in the first of a two-game test series - with the winner getting a spot in the Olympics. Now the Olympics have been postponed for a year, the MLS season is on indefinite hold, I haven't played field hockey since March (a 1-0 loss in the playoff finals that still hurts), and that all seems inconsequential against the daily death tolls and economic collapse.

But I feel blessed. I still have my job, my family and friends have their health, and I have a whole day to do nothing but read.

I hope everybody has a fantastic day, whatever you're doing!

Here's my answers to the opening survey:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Vancouver, BC

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
I started with a Stuart McLean collection and am looking forward to finishing by listening to some favourite stories on Spotify.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Girl Guide cookies and pizza

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I love to read and write, play the trumpet, play field hockey and golf.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?
I'm doing the whole 24 hours this time (naps, notwithstanding). No soccer games to go to or hockey games to play this year!