when i arrived, my mother told me my father had another accident: he left the stove on overnight, and it ran for 12 hours before my mother discovered it this morning. fortunately nothing was on the burner (unlike the previous time it happened).
my father and i went to the needham restaurant depot (RD) to get supplies. my mother opted not to come. we were in search of beef shank, which only this store seems to carry. they had about half a dozen cases. we ended up getting two cases (a total of 90 lbs.) because there was a discount if you bought more than 70 lbs. worth.
we also needed eggs but when we went to where they ought to be, all the shelves were empty. there must be a mistake. one of the guys driving a loader asked us what we were looking for. "eggs!" i yelled back. he said because of all the bird flu news on television, panicked people came in and bought them all up. that's crazy, i'd never seen RD not carry eggs. i had a momentary pandemic era supply chain flashback. if they're out, what does that mean for regular supermarkets? it could also be a new year's eve thing, when restaurants are at their busiest. hopefully eggs will be back in stock in the new year (though most likely more expensive). the only thing they had were liquid eggs with a quantity limit (2 cases per customer).
we got a bag of discounted (25%) cherrystone clams for my mother. we bought a few cases of linguine noodles and some takeout boxes. there were only two cashiers so the checkout line snaked all the way to the back of the store. we were probably 12th in line. to their credit though, the line went fast and we finally left RD by 12:20pm.
instead of going back to the cafe to drop off the supplies, we stopped by baza gourmet food & spirits in newton, which sells eastern european foods. "ethnic" supermarkets are one of the best things to visit, like traveling to a foreign country. we found the market because it was located next to a very tall radio tower. the place was busy, the parking lot full. i never knew greater boston had such a large eastern european population. inside there was food from russia, ukraine, moldova, romania, armenia, latvia, belarus, georgia. a lot of products in just cyrillic alphabet that i had no idea what they were. they sold some interesting varieties of mushrooms, including yellow chanterelles, plus many more pickled mushrooms. frozen chicken dumplings seem to be a very popular item as they had multiple freezers with nothing but dumplings. one thing i really wanted to try was "russian kimchi" but when i came across moldovan korean carrots it was $12 for a small carton which was too expensive for my taste. baza also has a deli which was popular with customers getting fresh slices of cured meats and cheeses, plus prepared meals. did i mention the pastry department? also popular. baza sells alcohol too, we saw armenian pomegranate wine and fancy vodkas.
we ended up buying a container of sour cabbage ($4.57), latvian smoked sprats in oil ($5.49, after we saw a customer buy two jars), a bottle of kvas ($3.99), and birch juice ($3.99). my father saw a lot of customers buying dumplings and everyone seemed to be buying a loaf of dark bread.
we headed back to the cafe via newton-watertown. watertown finally repaving mt.auburn street so we took that back to cambridge. after unloading the supplies, we returned to belmont around 2pm. our little supply run took nearly 3 hours.
for lunch, i made a white fish bagel sandwich for my father and me. my mother cooked up some clams and made a simple soup with sliced ginger and salt. the clams were tasty and opened up immediately but so sandy we couldn't drink the broth. afterwards i soaked the remaining clams in salt water to flush out the sand. we tried the sour cabbage, which is just sauerkraut (i thought it might be russian kimchi). the smoked sprats were surprisingly good, with a deep smoked flavor and none of the fishiness. it was so good my mother scolded us for not buying another jar.
my sister showed up with esmei. esmei seemed back to normal now after her first heartworm injection, but unfortunately she's getting her second and third injection on wednesday, so will be go through the side effects of the arsenic poison all over again. hopefully after that - after about 1-2 months of rest - she'll be heartworm free.
jimmy carter died today, age 100. he underwent hospice care back in february 2023, so it wasn't unexpected. carter was still in office when my family first immigrated to the US in 1980, so he'll always be my first US president. as i kid i knew nothing about the man or his administration, i just remember the caricatures of him with the big toothy grin. a part of me is glad that he died while biden is still the president, who will give him a worthy sendoff (compared to trump). i read someone online saying thank goodness for small mercies.
carter's death overshadowed the other big news of the day, which was the crash of jeju air flight in south korea that killed all 181 onboard except for 2 crew members. from footage i saw, it looked like at least one of the landing gears didn't deploy the plane skidded on the runway until it hit a wall before exploding. south korea is going through some dark times, with their former president impeached for declaring martial law, then the interim president impeached as well for not moving on the first president's impeachment quick enough.
for dinner my parents cooked up the leftover black soy noodles from the cafe. we also tried the birch juice. it poured clear - my father was expecting to see some color. for me it tasted like sugarcane juice with a slightly sour note. i didn't really like it but my parents seemed to love it.
i returned home by 6:30pm. it was foggy again, but not as bad as last night. though the temperature was now in the 40's, it would increase into the 50's overnight while brining some morning downpours. there was a familiar smell that i couldn't quite place. because there was so much cool moisture in the air combined with some wooden chimney smoke, it felt like being in a cool jungle with campfire.
i watched the pacers-celtics game, boston lost 123-114. it's their 4th lost in 6 games, several games against losing teams they were supposed to beat soundly. i'm not sweating it too much, they're just going through a slump, it happens to all teams. celtics are too talented to not make a deep run in the playoffs. losing games might hurt them in the standings, but i don't think any team thinks they'll have an easy time facing boston if they should fall to a lower seed.
it's been a hard season for patriots fan. can't wait for the regular season to be over. a silver lining is new england currently sits dead last in the rankings so will have first pick in the draft. that could all change next week though, as a few other teams (titans, browns, giants) vie for the worst record in the NFL, all (including new england) with 13-3 records. patriots play the bills next week, in a meaningless game for buffalo since it doesn't affect their playoff spot (AFC no.2), so there's a good chance they'll sit out josh allen. the question is can the patriots still lose to a bills team without their star QB? will the patriots play for pride or play for the no.1 pick?
i also watched the sunday night game between the falcons and commanders. i was rooting for washington, since an atlanta loss means the buccaneers are one step closer to getting a playoff berth. both teams were playing for a playoff spot. it was an exciting game, with atlanta taking the lead in the first half, only for washington to get the lead in the second half, before atlanta came back to tie it. falcons had a chance to win the game with a field goal kick that didn't quite make it, sending the game into overtime. washington scored a touchdown in OT, sending them back to the playoffs for the first time since 2020. now the bucs needs to beat the saints next weekend for them to get into the playoffs.
this year's playoff looks very exciting. chiefs clinched the no.1 spot in the AFC with a 15-1 record. the only other team that could've challenged them was the bills, but that's no longer possible with their current 13-3 record. ravens are heading into the playoffs as well with 11-5, and the steelers 10-6 (perennially in the hunt). in the NFC there are some juggernauts: vikings 14-2, eagles 13-3, lions 13-2 (they play tonight's MNF game). i'm personally rooting for buffalo. with their storied yet tragic history, having never won a superbowl even though being in it 4 consecutive seasons, what's not to love about them? this could be their year. what team am i rooting against? do i even have to say it? it's the chiefs. anything to knock kansas city down a peg, i'm for it. in the NFC, i love detroit. a win would bring back prestige for a city that's been down on its luck for what seems like forever.
i went online searching for moldovan korean carrots recipes - apparently it's called "koreiskaya morkovka" or "korean carrot salad". i watched a bunch of russian language youtube videos - with russian subtitles that i auto-translated to english or used google translate to decipher some text. it's basically julienned carrots, salt reduced, then spiced with minced garlic, ground pepper, ground coriander, and vinegar. many recipes also called for hot onion-infused oil that's then dumped into the carrots and mixed. honestly, i looked at the recipes and this morkovka doesn't seem all that delicious. i think i'd still like to try some store-bought morkovka first before attempting to make my own, just so i'll know what authentic carrot salad tastes like.