1.Treating Food And Exercise Like A Zero-Sum Game Is Peak Eating Disorder Culture (posted December 12) "Putting the number of minutes required to ‘work off’ a food is peak eating disorder culture because food and movement are two different aspects of life that should not be presented as prerequisites for one another. You deserve to eat whether or not you exercise. You deserve to enjoy exercise without verging on the brink of collapse."
YES. 100% agree with this blogger. This whole "putting the amount of exercise to work off the food" on food labels is a TERRIBLE idea. Because what's the objective? Do you want people to literally go out and exercise for that exact amount of time after they eat the food? That's called having an eating disorder. Or do you expect people will go ahead and eat stuff just like they normally do, but feel a little more shame about it, like there's this mountain of exercise debt they're never going to work off?
Hi everyone! I made this cake, obviously depicting the scene in Star Wars episode V: The Empire Strikes Back where Vader says to Luke, "I am your father."
People are amazing. People are just absolutely amazing.
Is there anything better than seeing someone smile? Seeing someone genuinely enjoying life? Pleasure is wonderful. Pleasure is so important. Everyone deserves to experience pleasure.
We can think, we can feel, we can experience emotions. We can love. We can love and be loved. Isn't that amazing?
Every time I'm in the US, I fill up my suitcase with pop-tarts and bring them back to China. Then in the evenings after dinner, I say, "I deserve a pop-tart" and I go eat one and it's fantastic. And I do deserve that. I deserve pleasure and good things simply because I am a human being.
It's not about anything we've done. It's about who we are. Created in God's image, with the ability to feel and love and experience happiness. And because we can experience those things, and because they are so good, we deserve them.
I'm using the word "deserve" in sort of a strange way here. I'm not talking about something that's earned. I'm not talking about something that one person owes to another.
What I mean is, it's such a wonderful thing for human beings to experience happiness. So incredibly wonderful that, somehow, I feel this is what we are meant for. Simply because we can experience pleasure, it is right and fitting that we do.
Of course, for practical reasons, there are limitations on this. For example, if I decide I'm going to go get Starbucks because I deserve to have nice things, I still have to pay for it. I deserve nice things, but that doesn't mean anyone should just give them to me for free. No, that would be ridiculous. I have to work and earn money, and the Starbucks employees deserve to be paid for their work.
For practical reasons, we can't always have pleasure. For practical reasons, we suffer and experience pain. For practical reasons, we have to work hard. But in the midst of this reality, human happiness is the greatest good. Human happiness is the goal. We aim to create a world where everyone can have good things and be happy, because that's what we deserve.
All right, wait one second. It's great to see someone happy- unless that someone has hurt you and you believe they deserve to be punished for it. So, there's a conversation to be had about what justice looks like. In my view, there are 3 aspects: punishing the perpetrator, giving the victim whatever help they need, and preventing it from happening again in the future. Preventing someone from experiencing happiness only falls into the first of those aspects. Yes, people should pay for their sins- but that's not the totality of what justice is, and that payment is finite. It doesn't mean they deserve to never be happy again. (A sentiment which seems to me to be more motivated by revenge than justice.) If, for example, a murderer goes to jail for the rest of their life, I think that's good enough. I hope they can at least have some sort of simple pleasures in jail. I don't know, maybe I shouldn't say that because I've never been a victim/ been close to a victim of some sort of awful crime like that. But personally, I don't believe there's anything you can do to erase the fact that, as a human being created in God's image, you deserve happiness. (Again, if you happen to be a violent criminal, your freedom needs to be severely limited for practical reasons. Like the fact that victims also deserve to live happy lives free from fear. But yeah, you still deserve some happiness.)
But that's a very unique case. For most people, there's nothing they've done that raises legitimate questions over whether it's right for them to ever experience happiness again.
So the point is, people deserve to experience pleasure. That's why sometimes I stop by a convenience store on my way home and buy a yogurt for my boyfriend. He loves yogurt, and I want him to be happy. His happiness matters. His happiness is a beautiful and wonderful thing in and of itself.
My happiness matters too. And I'm saying all this because I come from a Christian culture which taught me my happiness doesn't matter. I was taught to view pleasure with suspicion. I was taught that sacrificing and suffering for the sake of God was way better and more godly than experiencing happiness. And pleasurable things like pop-tarts and yogurt may even be seen as temptations, and we are selfish if we indulge in them.
Furthermore, I believed that "justice" meant we should never be happy again. Because humans are sinners, the most fitting and right thing is that we suffer in hell forever. We don't deserve happiness, not even one second of happiness. Not even one smile, not even one pop-tart. Anytime something good happens to you, thank God for giving you what you don't deserve.
In this ideology, the complex and wonderful depths of our emotions and desires and capacity for love were never meant to be explored and enjoyed. No, because God made us sinners, we deserve nothing but trauma and agony. Because of God's grace- which, obviously, we don't deserve- people are able to experience happiness during our earthly lives. But when you die, the game is up. When you die, you finally get what you deserve. Unless you've managed to cover yourself with Christ and hide how obviously worthless and unworthy you are.
No. That's a lie from (ironically) the pit of hell. Because people are amazing. How could anyone look at a child laughing and think "this is wrong, she should suffer instead"? How could anyone look at a person resting on the couch after a day of hard work and think "no, it's not right for him to rest, he should feel pain instead"? How could anyone look at the sum of all the world's celebrations and festivals and parties and think "God's justice says this none of this is supposed to exist"?
But that's what it means every time a pastor says "God doesn't owe us anything."
No. People are amazing, and we deserve happiness. And yes, we are created in the image of God and we deserve God's love. I deserve God's love. You deserve God's love.
We deserve pleasure. We deserve to have good things. Go ahead and buy something nice for yourself, because you are wonderful and you should have nice things. Like I said, for practical reasons we can't always buy nice things. But every now and then, when there's space in the budget for it, go ahead. You deserve it.
People are so astoundingly amazing. Fearfully and wonderfully made and all that. So we deserve to be happy. We deserve to be loved. And we deserve God's love.
Guys guys guys! At the time of posting, it is 3/14/15 9:26 (according to Beijing time). That's 7 decimal places of precision for pi, one of the most freakin' awesome numbers out there.
For those of us who are huge math nerds, this is a very exciting day! March 14 is cool enough, but for 2015, Pi Day is extra special. Not just 3/14, it's 3/14/15.
After months of searching, I have found syrup in China. In the imported section at Carrefour. Down on the bottom shelf, next to the Hershey's chocolate syrup.
You have no idea how happy this makes me.
Last Christmas when I was in the US, I had a chance to get syrup and bring it back to China with me. But that bottle ran out, and I've been eating pancakes plain or with honey or chocolate chips (which are actually a cut-up Dove bar) for months now. (And, in case you were wondering, the pancake mix also comes from the imported section.)
It is so hard to explain to Chinese people what syrup is. The best you can do is say it's sweet and thick, like honey. But there's nothing like syrup in the land of Chinese food. They would see it as indescribably, mind-blowingly sweet.
Chinese people don't eat real dessert- or, rather, this is the best way to communicate the situation when talking to an American audience. Seriously, the stuff that should be delicious and full of sugary chocolately goodness, like cake, is pretty tasteless in China.
You can find quality ice cream, but other desserts, not so much. Western brands like Dairy Queen, Cold Stone, and Haagan Dazs have tons of stores in China, and it's authentic ice cream, with the correct amount of yummy sweetness. (Expensive, though.) Other types of desserts seriously lag behind though.
And the idea of pouring a ton of thick, sugary liquid on your breakfast- yeah, right.
Today, September 19, 2013, is the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节 zhōng qiū jié), a big holiday in China. Hooray!
On this day, we spend time with our friends and family, and eat moon cakes! (月饼 yuè bǐng)
"Wow sweet, is that chocolate?!" No. Haha, how American of you. No Perfect Number, it is not chocolate. It's red beans. Image source.
The date of the Mid-Autumn Festival is based on the lunar calender; it is the day with the biggest full moon of the year, and takes place in September or October.
So to all my readers and their friends and families, I'm wishing you a happy Mid-Autumn Festival! Or as we say in China, 中秋节快乐 (zhōng qiū jié kuài lè)!
1.War Photographer: Tara Livesay (posted April 4) "For whatever reason there is a movement among evangelical churches and faith-based organizations that markets mission trips in such a way that it casts the missionary as a hero and those on the other side are in dire need of their help."
3.Grief and Resolutions (posted April 8) [trigger warning: abuse] "But then all of the stadium lights come on and there are no more shadows in the arena and you can see the children being torn apart by lions."
6.What Would Jesus... Blog? (posted April 9) "And then she explained that she had enjoyed this blog over the years, but sharing my internet home with a gay Jew was just too much. ...'Would Jesus invite an unrepentant sinner to post on His blog? no.'"
7.Story time for the church. (posted April 10) "You believe strongly that God has restricted sex and marriage to one man and one woman, and that’s what you want for yourself—except that you have no opposite-sex attraction whatsoever, and you hate yourself for that. You feel trapped."
8.when i believe in jesus, then the bible (posted April 9) "...yet more sermons preached on Sundays are geared toward series-based thematic approaches that use Scripture as a trump card or proof-text to validate a point as opposed to regarding Scripture as the generative field from which all Truth grows unto harvest." I love this post.
12."You Are." New favorite song. "If I had no voice / if I had no tongue / I would dance for you like the rising sun. / And when that day comes / and I see your face / I will shout your endless glorious praise."
13.Complaining as an Act of Faith (posted April 11) "Because what if this is wrong? What if shit happens and it isn’t what God wants? What if slavery, bitter water, and starvation actually aren’t God’s design?"
14.Thoughts from a Privileged Person Writing About Privilege (posted April 12) "I fear that there has developed a kind of impossible standard -- the 'perfect activist' -- whose language is inclusive of everyone and offends no one."
This isn't a food blog, but it would be immoral for me not to share this recipe with the world. These brownies are the greatest.
Caramel Brownies
(The following set of directions are explained in great detail, for n00bs like me. Scroll to the bottom for the short version.)
Ingredients:
1 lb caramels- the soft kind that you can melt- not chocolate-covered or anything 1 can evaporated milk (need 5/6 cup, aka 6.7 fl oz) 1 chocolate cake mix- German chocolate is good, Devil's Food is good, whatever, just something with a lot of chocolate 1 cup chocolate chips 3/4 cup melted butter or margarine
Only 5 ingredients. Plus oil to grease the pan.
1. Unwrap all the caramels. (Haha, this is perhaps the most important step.) Melt the caramels and 1/2 cup evaporated milk over low heat. KEEP AN EYE ON THIS! You don't want the caramels to burn. Basically these are going to be melting while you work on the other parts of the recipe. Make sure you stir it a lot. And it needs to be on LOW heat.
(If you realize that mixing the other ingredients/ finding a clean brownie pan/ trying to figure out how the oven works is taking way longer than you expected, take the caramels off the heat for a bit. DON'T BURN THEM!)
If it boils, you're doing it wrong.
2. Mix cake mix, melted butter, and 1/3 cup evaporated milk.
3. Press 1/2 of the cake mixture into a 13x9 greased pan. It may look like there's not enough to cover the entire bottom of the pan. You can use a little more than half if you want, but not too much. Spread it out so it covers the whole bottom of the pan. Also, it's a good idea to put the bowl with the other half of the cake mixture in the fridge, while this is baking.
4. Bake at 350 F for 8 minutes.
5. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
6. Pour caramel mixture over the chocolate chips. Use a spoon to spread the caramel all around so it covers basically the whole thing.
Protip: If you want the pan to be easy to clean, don't spread the caramel all the way to the edges. The downside of this method is the edge brownies get less caramel. You need to carefully consider your priorities.
7. Crumble the rest of the cake mixture on top of the caramel.
8. Bake at 350 for 18 minutes. The brownies will be really gooey- let them cool all the way before you eat them. Just kidding, no one actually does that. These things are so awesome- no one wants to wait til they're cool.
And if you screw it up, well, how bad can it be? It's full of chocolate and caramel- it will probably still taste awesome. (There have been times I burned the caramels, and it still tasted fine.)
And here is the short version of the recipe, without all my commentary and photos:
Ingredients:
1 lb caramels
1 can evaporated milk (need 5/6 cup, aka 6.7 fl oz)
1 chocolate cake mix
1 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup melted butter or margarine
1. Melt the caramels and 1/2 cup evaporated milk over low heat.
2. Mix cake mix, melted butter, and 1/3 cup evaporated milk.
3. Press 1/2 of the cake mixture into a 13x9 greased pan.
4. Bake at 350 F for 8 minutes.
5. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
6. Pour caramel mixture over the chocolate chips.
7. Crumble the rest of the cake mixture on top of the caramel.
8. Bake at 350 for 18 minutes.
