A real piece of actual news

So I've been putting off posting about this because it wasn't 100% sure, but now it is, so it's going up. As you probably knew, the family was going to go to Botswana in August for my mom's - wait, I won't say the age, 'cause she's reading this blog, and in any case we all know she looks no more than 45. (This is totally where I should be asking her for more money or something.)

But anyway, she's turning an important age and has wanted to go on safari forever. Only now, my dad needs to get surgery in August and we had to cancel the trip. (In anticipation of people being concerned - it's not an insignificant surgery, but all probabilities say, and I have utmost faith, that it'll go smoothly and all will turn out OK. So, obviously everyone's a little anxious, but you don't need to be worried on my account.)

So this puts me in an interesting spot.

a) It sucks for several reasons, the obvious one being that my dad needs surgery, and second of which is that my mom has been wanting to go to Africa since I was little. She's been doing all this research and everything, and it's a big disappointment all around.

b) It is an enormous relief for me, because I'm leaving for China on August 31 (I think), and that's a whole lot of traveling to do in a very short period of time. The flight from NY to Johannesburg may actually (though I'm not totally sure) be longer than the one from LA to Beijing.

c) This also means I'm going to have a lot of free time on the east coast, to visit people and relax and get ready for a really intense fall term. And I'm very grateful for that.

So, sorry this isn't a very entertaining post, but I thought you all might like to know what's up, so you can start planning fun things to do while I'm in NY!

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To end on a more amusing (and potentially edifying) note, I have been experimenting a lot with spice combinations on stir-fried or sauteed vegetables. Here are my latest seasoning creations - all of which are very tasty and easy, for those of you cooking for yourselves this summer:

- Thai green curry paste : comes in a jar, and use it sparingly, because it's hot! i.e., don't choose this one when you're using up the hot pepper. Also, serve the stir-fry with coconut rice. It's incredible. Well really, serve anything with coconut rice and it's incredible.
- cilantro, olive oil, & vinegar : I know, a little more traditional, but easy and tasty on couscous.
- fresh ginger & ground mustard & a bit of chopped hot pepper: I recently stumbled upon the ground mustard in stir fry idea, and it may be the next best thing since sliced bread.

Other tips that I have discovered:
- use less oil! I was definitely drowning my veggies too much. If they start sticking, turn down the heat instead of adding more oil - when they cook a little more, they'll release liquid, and they won't stick any more.
- also, add the tofu on the earlier side. I used to add it at the very end of the stir-fry, but now I realize that if you add it with all the rest of the vegetables, by the time the veggies cook, the tofu has a lovely faint golden color and a little firmer consistency.
- Can you use mint in a stir fry? I don't see why not, and I have all this mint to use up... I'll let you know how it turns out.

As you can see, my summer has been very productively spent perfecting the art of vegetable preparation. I may not be pro yet, but, I'm telling you, ground mustard.