I wanted to show you the friendsgiving food sign up sheet from the collective, because I was so charmed by this strange and affectionate poetry
Like any good leftist group, we have many dietary restrictions. An interesting math problem I would have liked to solve: given the quorum of dietary restrictions, could I have cooked one keystone food that allows everyone in the room to eat at least 3 of the foods gathered, without simply pandering simultaneously to every restriction? For there is also an interesting parallel humanitarian question here: Does there exist a food that is diary-free, gluten-free, meat-free, soy-free food and tastes like food? Perhaps God conceals such an invention from us because he likes to watch us wrestle in the mud.
Afterwards, the dinner snowballed into a small but inevitable rager. I think there is a maximum number of DJs you can put in one room before a party spontaneously forms like a gray cloud over an atmospheric pressure differential. I think that DJ threshold is a number derived of the natural universe, not the human one. Like pi.
At the end of the night, we packed the leftover food to take it to the community fridge, but left it outside to cool so that it would not spoil in the office heat. By the time I came back for it, it was already gone, and I really hope whoever took it needed it. I wonder how they liked the strawberries I cut. We also made it up to the roof. Roof access is sometimes allowed when you have the correctly permissive subset of 8-ballers around. Many of them can be made soft with light appeals such as pleading and teasing. What sweet fruit is temporarily stolen in warm rooms full of friendly smoke on cold days such as these?
Recipe Notes
- D, regarding the japchae: “I basically followed the recipe i linked on the sheet, just without the steak and i forgot the toasted sesame seeds, and i used gluten-free soy sauce”
- E gave away their roast veggies on the train ride there so we did not get to taste it.
- G’s 8 Ball Space Rice Cooker Rice Recipe: 1:2 white rice:water. “Put it all in the rice cooker until someone comes in to the kitchenette and asks you if you washed the rice and you say no. They respond, “some people would say that step is of vital importance.” In lieu of a fine strainer you take the first batch of water and kind of swish the rice around and strain it out by hand to the best of your ability. At this point you add salt and the necessary amount of water back in. Turn on the rice cooker until it’s done.”
- My stew was adapted from a Viet steamed ginger chicken recipe. Ginger is the key ingredient, but I also added mushrooms, tofu, miso, soy sauce, peppers sliced thin, vegetable bullion, and a splash of black vinegar on Ishita’s insistence.