半晝秋分 Equinox, Reflection, and Old Friends

After a whirlwind homecoming to Taipei, followed by an onslaught of work crises, the home front matched its theatricality with a porn watching glum(still, after all that screen time?) teenage son trying to study for the SAT.  Life’s twist, huh?

忽冷忽熱的極端氣候, 整天瞎忙如轉陀螺, 頓想起年少時讀的黑色美學漫畫’惡魔人’與’深邃美麗的亞細亞’, 主軸皆是弱肉強食, 求存活不外乎結盟並吞同化.

本月LK回歸職場十年整, 弔詭的哩程碑, 現在的我寵辱不驚, 到底是昇華進階的LK2.0?  還是已被系統化, 如’惡魔人’故事中讓龜獸吞噬徒留形體的假面? 

家廚冷落好一陣子, 曬舊照過乾癮... 華麗的紫薯米泡芙.

The intentional twirling of CHOUX.

巧緻水晶餃, 有紅樓夢雅食情調.

Making these crystal dumplings was like setting gems on a piece of jewelry.

For the moment, I abandoned the culinary chemistry honed earlier this year and relished the second hand memory.  Then there it was, the yoke of A+ student staring back at me.  Whatever I do, I aim to master the subject and circumstance.  Isn’t such obsession a psychiatric disorder?

花壽司佐和菓子

Pairing sushi with wagashi.  The silver lining of the pandemic is that the circumstance motivates us to be creative.

桂花鬆糕

The steamed osmanthus rice cake could be finicky but light and lovely with a cup of oolong tea.

至得意是紅龜粿, 揉麵團揉得我雙臂成大力士, 詩興起, 塑成圓滾滾的金橘, 清蒸當包子, 或水煮調桂花釀, 各有風味.

One afternoon after I kneaded the garnet yam and tapioca flour until my arms felt like Thor, I decided to sculpt all the way… an orchard of tangerines or a pumpkin patch? 

Life cannot be mastered.

伊比利豬皮兩吃!

BUT, I could master some homemade snacks :) 

A belated gratitude to my old friends the month of September… because we were all overwhelmed with life so we could not celebrate one another’s birthday in August but caught up with thought provoking calls after work and a lovely dinner at the trendy restaurant Gozu after a day’s meeting marathon.