simple green tea noodle soup

for cold or sunny days
this soup is very easy to make
and very healthy too



after trying some wild vegetable soup
with some green noodles
at a little Tokyo Izakaya in Los Angeles
named Haru Ulala, a couple of months later
i saw the same kind at a 99 Ranch store
and realized that the green color of the noodles
was 'cause they were Green tea flavored noodles

i didn't know how to replicate the recipe
of the original soup but i remembered
some of the ingredients, shiitake mushrooms
and green beans, and other veggies



so gave it a try since the ingredients are cheap
i thought, oh well! if i doesn't come OK i can just toss it...
i made a very small batch and
since i didn't have green beans i made my soup with only
dried shiitake mushrooms
and some small broccoli florets
at the 1st try came out OK, very similar to the soup i had
and very edible indeed, by now it has become a favorite
quick fix when craving soup

here the quick instructions:

-soak the dry mushrooms for at least 15 minutes
in lukewarm water

- cut the broccoli or any other veggies in very small sizes
(i don't cook the veggies, they just cook with the boiling water
of the soup right after serving, so they are still crunchy and crisp
but make sure to use veggies that don't require a lot of cooking time
such as potatoes, i think small carrots or green beans are good options)

-in boiling water, add the amount of noodles you will eat
and cook for 4 to 5 minutes

-in the same water you cooked the noodles, add the mushrooms
and the broccoli (or other veggies)

- serve & eat it right away! while steaming

it has a very earthy fresh healthy taste
and afterwards your belly & spirit shall be warm

emergency: breakfast

a late cold Sunday morning
a breakfast idea request!

[my head's recalling that cold pint of New Castle
at the Ould Sod yesterday]

any ideas?
what do you usually eat on Sunday mornings?
or days off?

looking forward your appreciated information

disclaimer: all data collected will benefit
'the hungry stomach in need, assoc.'
a non-profit run by me

winter time friends

today was a cold day
54ºF or 12ºC
winter has finally arrived!

and cold winds brought
4 cool dear friends
cold wind outside
warmed by the shared smiles
nothing like having a good friend
stopping by in a lazy gray day

and as every winter
my consumption of Good Earth tea
has increased
[i rarely drink this tea in the summer days]
thus the quota
of tea-advices
here for you to 'suffer' thru them



and why i drink so much Good Earth tea
on winter days? 'cause as the label says
it is sweet & spicy, you would think
it has sweeteners but not! just a
very zesty rich bold taste

Ingredients of the Good Earth blend: Red Rooibos, Chicory Root, Artificial Flavor, Rosehips, Cinnamon, Peppermint, Lemongrass, Papaya, Chamomile, Panax Ginseng Leaves, Anise Seed, Ginger Root, Dandelion Root, Orange Peel and Orange Oil.

December little poem

the office upstairs smells
like old coffee and paperwork

before long, then smells like
a-moment-ago opened-door
and like a new oomph,
as a life-force,
crossing the threshold,
the breezing coil folded up
blowing out papers stacked up for months
in an endless up-the-wind hunt

i smiled
the moment broke



(just the smell took place
the rest, just metaphors rapt in this old skull)

ah! Christmas again

[a lovely traditional red Cardinal, a mini-ornament
one of those old-fashioned now-infamous chinese led toys]

so Christmas has arrived, officially, to meinem kleinen Haus
¡si si si!
Feliz Navidad und Merry Christmas & all that!


[this crown was a gift from my friend Stephanie
she moved, driving all the way, from San Diego to Michigan
no room for x-mas stuff]

a weekend of dusting off the old little tree
& recovering cheap ornaments that i stored mixed with memoirs
of past Christmas, past homes, past friends
this will be my 3rd Christmas
in this little so cold/so warm home
my rented shaky little house



[the little trees was a gift from my friend Iliana
back in 2001! for the 1st Christmas i spent in San Diego]



and as you see ornaments and lights
you might think i am a Christmas aficionado
and not always have i been a Christmas fan
i have had my years of holiday-dissidence
mostly discouraged by the senseless profiteering
of the season

but then these later years of my life
some romantic sentiment warms me up
when holidays and traditions come around
and i forget about the economics of holidays
and just enjoy the warm good side of them
i guess i got tired of fighting
i guess i am OK with things i wasn't OK when i was younger
i guess is the coldish weather
i guess is the age



but also...
i am starting to suspect
that Christmas like other cheerful dates
is for romantic fools, for innocent children,
for candid believers, and softies on advanced age
and since i do have a bit of all of the above

sure then too!
my little inexpensive non-matching ornamented
little merry Christmas i enjoy!

& i hope you enjoy yours too!
and don't forget to hang a little ornament
or two, on your table, on your door
but mostly, put a little Christmas light
between your soul


[even for my little outside table
i had a tree, a very cheap one i got a while ago
in a thrift store, this is the one with the miniature
love red cardinals]

the good and the bad in San Diego today

a hectic Monday for San Diego

very sad news
[jet crash]

very good news
[new Mexico-California border crossing]

a Monday dissertation on mortality, tea, and bees

on my drive home from work
on a foggy evening
this poor bee got stuck to my windshield
i tried to leave it behind in some bushes in a stop attempt
before jumping on the freeway

she refused!
and more on a stubbornly fashion than a proud act
she decided to face what i think was his/her
detachment from life



ah! the imminent mortality!
she flew away, but i will never be sure
of her late fortune

once at home, i looked for some warm comfort
the nightly, almost automatic arrival routine
rinsed the tea pot, roar-boiled water
ripped the fragrant little bag of tea
instantly, a cozy feeling invaded me
an ease lifted my spirit
and my soul with the satisfaction
of arriving to one's home
and then i carefully read
my homely tea advice

and what is my surprise!
to my rhetoric on mortality thoughts
on a Monday evening
while driving a bee on the freeway,
i got answered by this anonymous tea-advice



do you believe in coincidences?

or...

do you believe in tea, bees, and home-made magic
in a foggy California town?

book Sunday reading

so few times lately i feel proud of myself
i do work every day
and i do what a 'regular' sort of responsible
citizen is expected to do
but since i don't exercise anymore,
those little feelings of accomplishments
and self-fulfillment that come with running an extra-block
or swimming an extra lap, haven't been around
i don't really go out of my way to do much these days

but today
but i was able to finish Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential
'right on time!'

as i posted before
i was being lazy even with books!
so i pushed a little and today
last day of November i was able to finish on time the book

it took some effort to concentrate to confess
and with this tendency i have to sabotage myself
i had to be extra careful, i left the house so i didn't have
many distractions, i buried myself in a Starbucks
and ordered a black coffee, sat & read & read & read



of course, i got distracted many many many times
by the colorful walls and the squarish semi-art



my mind tricked me into counting the birds on top of
this coffee drinker seated outside



later it made me focus on the lady-in-black
crossing the street



even the backs of chairs were
appealing... and every time, i'd be too distracted
i'd take a photo and go back to read... it worked!
lots of bad rushed photos, lots of pages read
a cheap way of entertaining yourself



and even thought, by the time i left Starbucks
i wasn't done with the book, i made a huge advance there

i came home, made an extra mug of cherry green tea
and devoured the Afterword
i have the 'updated edition'
so like in a trance, i read all the extra materials
'A Conversation with Anthony Bourdain',
an article by Bourdain on New York dinning recommendations
and others

i read the whole thing!!
and just to make sure, i wasn't being a flake, as i usually am
i read the colophon, the printing credits
the back cover and even the back of the book a couple of times

it was so cool update it at Goodreads.com
from the currently-reading to read shelf...

ah!! nothing like the sense of accomplishment
after doing something just for the pleasure of doing it
and for yourself, no work to complete, no social engagement
just following your own rules
nice when it works!

now to keep in one-per- month book state
until i am back on good-reading-shape
and comes to me automatically, spontaneously
as it once did

even with the fun things in life
sometimes one has to shake laziness
and discipline yourself to have fun out there

yeah yeah yeah
read a little book you too, today
or listen to a whole album, start to finish
or a cool article...
ah anyway another week comes ahead...

movie Saturday night

Ken Cinema in Kensington - San Diego, California

the film indeed met its expectations
[an a little more!]
Fear(s) of the Dark / Peur(s) du noir
it was not only scary and interesting
but even a tad disturbing at times


Now-playing poster spot at 'the Ken'

a rather interesting black & white
animation on human primordial fears
i wouldn't recommend it for kids
or young teenagers, even though
the violence is not so graphic
(although it is some times)
the whole tone of the film
is dark not just on the supra-natural taste
of things, but dark when it comes to human nature
too

experimental, noir, and literally black & white
highly recommended if you want to be a little
horrified and don't mind being disturbed too

and yes! there are moments in the film
when you'll have too
fear(s) of the dark

it kept me awake
and was a good thing on a Saturday night
but then i came back home and slept fine

strange unremembered dreams
weren't the film to blame about
just this inconsistent feeling of
having dreamed a forgot on the waking times

another Sunday, warmer, drier
life, with its seconds and minutes
all together, passing by

we can close our eyes -but
we can't close our ears -and
we can't stop the time

Fear(s) of the Dark / Peur(s) du noir

perusing around the Ken cinema schedule
[Ken cinema is an originally kept movie theater from the mid 40's walking distance from my house, rather charming place]
discover they are showing today

Fear(s) of the Dark / Peur(s) du noir

so checked the trailer and website
& wow! a rather interesting animation film!
sounds perfect for an after rain chilly Saturday film
please check this link
with samples of the different artists who worked
on the animation on the film
all different styles, but all black & white
and all rather creepy!

here some stills from different artists styles
and their names, taken from images sections
of the official site


Charles Burns


Richard McGuire


Lorenzo Mattotti


Marie Caillou


Pierre Di Sciullo


Richard McGuire

can't wait to watch it!

the trailer