rice cooker breakfast for one (or, sweet almond rice)

Have I ever complained to you about my incompetence when it comes to making rice? Seriously. I burn it. I turn it into mush. Sometimes crunchy mush - yes, that is possible. If you lined up all the people in the world who suck at making rice, I'd be at the bottom of the pile. The least skilled person in the entire world. When do I receive my medal?

Up until recently, I got Adam to make the rice, unless he wasn't home. He is less incompetent at rice-making than I am, but he's also pretty bad.

But guess what I got for Christmas everybody... a rice cooker!! The kitchen appliance of my dreams! If you think I'm dreaming small, you don't understand how much of our very own brand of horrid rice we eat. We're big rice consumers here. We eat lots of curries and stir-fries. Practice does not make perfect. Lots and lots of crunchy, soupy, mushy, sloppy rice that we attempt to hide with delectable fragrant curries.

mom's carrot cake

 

Man. This week has been full of cooking failures. Some days I made things that sucked, and some days I failed to make anything at all. One day, I made something good - but I took a bad picture of it (in fact, several bad pictures!). I tend to do a lot of cooking on the weekend so that during the week, if necessary, I can subsist on Fairmount bagel veggie sandwiches like an urban boho hipster. I do love cooking, I just love it more on the weekend when I am not exhausted after a long day of work. 

Somehow, I tend to have more energy for baking cakes and other delectable items than I do for preparing a proper meal for myself. Case in point: earlier this week, a carrot cake happened in my kitchen. Don't ask me how it happened. Don't ask me how much icing I ate either, because I'll never tell you!

baked oatmeal

 

The first thing people say when you move from Vancouver to Montreal is "enjoy the weather!" (often followed by a snicker). My response was always, "I will!" Nothing makes me cranky and lazy quicker than a dreary, drizzly morning. Enduring a Vancouver winter entails months upon months of solid, unrelenting rain and a sky so dark and grey that you just want to crawl back into bed. Not so here. The winters may be long and very cold, but at least they are bright and sunny.

Today, however, we are having Vancouver winter weather. Behold the healing powers of oatmeal!