so much love to give exclusively to cats.

i'll use the example of the book i was reading that prompted this post in the first place, The Maiden and Her Monster by Maddie Martinez (which i am really enjoying). the line that bothered enough to post was "Later that night, Malka sat on the floor of the bedroom she shared with her sisters as they made paper cuttings to decorate their house for Bayit Ohr, the upcoming winter festival of lights."

i absolutely understand the impulse to explain what Bayit Ohr is; this is right at the beginning, before we've settled into this world and its equivalent of Judaism, and this is one of the first foreign words we see. but the festival of lights hasn't come up again as far as i've read (i'm about halfway), it's a throwaway line to tell us what season it is. but Malka absolutely knows what Bayit Ohr means! there's no reason for her narration to clarify it so much! if i were writing this, i might just leave the name there unexplained, because decorating your house already implies some kind of holiday or celebration.

but if i really felt it needed to be clear, i might add another sentence where Malka thinks about loving this tradition, or thinks fondly about Bayit Ohrs past celebrating and lighting candles or whatever is usually done, or thinks sadly about how times have changed and this year the festival of lights won't bring the joy it usually does. the context of her struggling village, her grief over recent losses, or her deep connection to her religion all provide easy ways to give information that is related to what she's experiencing in this moment, and all of that feels more fruitful and more in character to me than a tacked-on clause to translate for me.

there are other places in the book where Martinez does this really well imo, so i pulled one of those examples too! "Malka stepped through the doorway and paused as she noticed the decorative prayer box at eye level. Malka had touched her own mezuzah every time she entered her home in Eskravé for as long as she could remember, until she left for Mavetéh. She pressed her fingers to the box and then to her lips."

here Malka is in an unfamiliar place when something familiar catches her eye. it's described first, because she's taking in the sight, noticing it; then, because she knows exactly what it is, she calls it by its name—a mezuzah—and connects it to the home that she left behind and has been worrying about. the context of her homesickness and her spirituality both tell us what this object is, name it, and explain how to interact with it, without it feeling didactic.

This is a form of backdoor bigotry from both normative facts (there are more straight than gay relationships) and well represented bigoted beliefs (men are superior to women).

2c rice (2c is dry, prepare as you usually do. Whatever kind of rice you have is good, brown rice works well)

2 cans of pinto or black beans, drained (or one can of each. Whatever.)

12oz frozen broccoli

1c chunky salsa

Optional: .5c sour cream, .5c shredded cheese.

Also optional: salt, garlic powder, and cumin to taste (to season the rice)

Cook the rice in one pot (with the seasoning if you want to). Put the frozen broccoli, drained beans, and salsa in another pot and bring to a boil. When the rice is done and the bean broccoli salsa stuff is hot, mix the rice into the beans (if adding cheese or sour cream, stir into the beans before adding the rice).

Now you have a food. It's got protein and carbs and fiber and a vegetable (and fat if you add the cheese and sour cream).

The amount described above is a lot. You can portion half of it into single servings to freeze and still have like four meals.

@stealingyourbones has made some delightful food abominations, which taught me I can replace the water in bread with almost any liquid.

So I tried Miso.

The yeast loved it and frothed up super fast. Mixing miso broth with the egg and oil smelled funky. The dough didn’t rise any fluffier than usual but the texture feels good. Then I decided to roll in some black garlic and green onion. I’d add nori crumbled up but I ran out.

This is amazing. It tastes like if miso soup was solid. The flavor is immaculate. It’s just missing the nori flavor. I can add that next time because I am 100% making this again.

Yes! I love sharing recipes! @lady-jeleania

Here’s my Gma Vesta’s hamburger bun recipe:

1 Tbsp yeast

1/2 cup warm water (miso broth)

- mix together and let it froth up

1 1/2 cup warm water (miso broth)

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1/4 cup olive oil

- mix all together, then add frothy yeast

5 1/2 - 6ish cups flour

- mix in slowly with a fork until it’s hard to stir with the fork, then stir together with hands until it stops sticking to your skin when you rub your hands together.

- knead the dough about 10min until it starts pushing back (it gets springy)

Let the dough rest for 30min.

(I make a redneck proof box by microwaving a cup of water and quickly replacing the water with the dough bowl and shutting the door to give it a warm place to nap. Do not microwave the dough itself by reflex.)

Roll out the dough and add any flavors you like. For the miso soup bread I chopped up a couple black garlics, and a handful of green onion. Roll it up like cinnamon rolls, cut into 12, and roll each into a ball shape.

Stick in a greased 9x13 casserole dish and let the dough rise to double size. (About 40min-1hr depending on how warm your kitchen is.) (the redneck proof box won’t fit my casserole dish so I stick the rolls on top of the oven while it preheats with a dish towel over it.)

Preheat the oven to 350 and when the dough looks nice and squishy bake it for 20min.

You can brush butter on top if you want. That would look pretty and help a sprinkling of furikake stick after you pull it out of the oven. If you wanna up the miso taste you can also spread a very thin layer of miso paste in before you roll it up with the other fillings. I’m gonna try that next time.