Ramen and dumplings and stamps, oh my (7 Quick Takes)

~1~

Our children love ramen, but I don’t think I’ve ever made homemade ramen before. The food meal prep service we signed up for featured a chicken ramen dish, and I was excited to make it. One of my favorite things about trying these services is learning some new cooking techniques.

The chicken for this dish was delicious. You lightly salt boneless chicken breasts and saute them for 3-4 minutes on each side over medium-high heat. When they’re cooked through, you put a little sesame oil in the pan and flip the chicken so it’s coated on all sides. That chicken was so good. I will definitely be trying that again.

What I need to figure out is where to get the pork stock for the broth. We might need to go to one of the Asian grocery stores to find it, but it will be worth it. There are very few meals that everyone in my family gobbles down, and this was one. I can’t wait to try to duplicate it.

~2~

The E key on my keyboard is sluggish. I keep hoping it will bounce back, but it seems to need a little extra push to work. I feel for it. I do. But I do use the E quite a bit. I thought about trying to write a blog without an E, because I do love a challenge. I couldn’t accomplish it for my quick takes.

~3~

I had lunch with a friend this week, and she brought me a pin she had found while going through items to prepare her house for sale.

I immediately took off the brooch I was wearing and put hers on.

People are always surprised when I do that, but it’s so simple. It’s especially easy when it’s a pin for my blazer.

~4~

Chinese New Year lasts two weeks, but it’s never long enough. I was happy to fit in making some homemade Chinese dumplings as part of the festivities.

I know you can buy your own dumpling wrappers, but I find it’s easier to assemble the dumplings with homemade dough. It’s more work to knead the flour and water together, but then once the dough is ready, it’s stickier than the store-bought wrappers—at least in my experience. And it’s just so rewarding to pull your very own hot dumplings out of the boiling water.

We use this dumpling recipe.

I proudly pointed out to our 13-year-old, who was helping me, that not everyone makes their own dumplings. Then he came home from school the next day and told me the parents of one of his best friends own a Chinese restaurant that is renowned for its dumplings.

I’m always growing in humility.

~5~

I ordered two video game controllers for our older son’s birthday in November. When they arrived, his brother told me they weren’t compatible with the system we have.

There is a real need in the market for video game concierges who can guide your family through their video game journey. Or maybe that’s what YouTube is for.

Anyway, I figured I would return them, but then I put them on a shelf and forgot about them—until today. When I looked up the return policy, it turned out I could return them—but only for three more days. Isn’t it amazing when life works out and you just made it in under the wire?

~6~

The other day my friend and neighbor Kathy surprised me with some Year of the Rabbit stamps.

They’re obviously too beautiful to use, so we will admire them for a while. Then one day we will run out of stamps, and we will realize we have them.

I don’t collect stamps, but if I did, I would definitely save the stamps from the years of the Chinese zodiac.

~7~

Last weekend the Washington Post published an article about ChatGPT that referenced my blog comparing God to a flyswatter.

It is a very incognito reference, as one of my friends pointed out, but that made me enjoy it that much more.

I’m so curious about ChatGPT. I’m more curious about flyswatters and even more curious about God, but I am wondering how we will integrate ChatGPT into our lives.

What a world! What a time to be alive!

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