Someone asked me what I thought re: the Doctor's tea preferences:

"Hm--I haven't given it a ton of thought. Which is weird given that I wrote that whole Eight fic set in a tea house...

I think Three bitches about UNIT canteen tea but actually doesn't mind, and drinks asian teas and finer, rich, possibly malty old-fashioned blacks for pleasure, potentially no objection to sugar and milk when he thinks the tea would benefit from it (I'd say similar things about One). Three could go for a chai.

Four drinks WEIRD SHIT like Tibetan yak butter tea (Two might be this sort of man as well, but also like a nice English or Irish breakfast, sweet and milky).

Five is a STAUNCH TRADITIONALIST who takes his Earl Grey without milk, it's not SUPPOSED to have milk, you know *glare*, and allows himself a respectable amount in say, Indian teas.

Six likes bubble tea and IS NOT ASHAMED. Sugar. SUUUUUGAR. His one snobbery is against 'Herbal *tea*--HERBAL TEA?!?! *spit* PERI! I know you're American, but how COULD you?!'

Seven goes for the bitter, milkless, smokey lapsangy ones that bespeak the mystery of the Cartmel Master Plan with every enigmatic sip *eyeroll*.

Eight WILL TRY ANYTHING O_O but is mostly a sugary milky blacks man.

Nine will go for plain PG Tips or Twinings Everyday, or a good builders, and Ten likewise.

Eleven's tea-leaves haven't been grown yet, and will be harvested by River, wearing a bee-keeper suit for no reason. 'Spoooooilers' she will whisper to the leaves. These do not care, because they are leaves, but the sound will carry across the paddies to a monk walking along the Indonesian road, and this monk will breed a plant which people will use in salads in the 27th century, and one day Rory will eat a salad with that in it and discover he is Mildly Allergic. "I won't be having that again," he'll say, once the swelling has finally subsided. It will be v. moving."

BYO TEA RELATED THEORIES AND THOUGHTS! Show related or just random.

Foodz

* (Last night) I made this, and it was weird, but worked: http://www.cheese-burger.net/recipes/cheeseburger-pizza-recipe.html
* (tonight) Also Allegra's new book's Japanese aubergines are a bit salty, go easy next time, and/or eat with pasta, as we ended up doing.
* Leon 3's potato rosemary double cream and mascarpone pizza: surprisingly delish! If weird and totally not pizza-tasting.
* I also did, last night, these figs (sans suggested sauce): http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/roasted-figs-with-red-wine-fig-sauce with this sauce (with dried figs in): http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Red-Wine-Poached-Figs-with-Vanilla-Ice-Cream-10721 . Worked quite well, but the oven-roasted figs seemed to burn/over caramelize. Perhaps do it at lower heat than suggested, or for less time.
* tomorrow: chili, veg and non, using up veggies before they go off, and old dried beans I found in cupboard
* also Persian dates (rehydrated, they needed rescuing/used/out of my cabinet) with mascarpone, orange blossom and rose water (cheap as anything at Olis)--dates can probably come a WHILE after dinner, as they're too light to immediately follow chili
* FAIR WARNING: I REFUSE to make rice for you barbaric English fucks. Chili doesn't go with rice. IT'S LIKE A STEW, NOT A CURRY. Make that abomination yourselves. I Pontius Pilate what you do with the chili I lovingly made you all, swear to christ.
* Friday: spanish torta, meaty, using up old sausage and bacon before they go off

Beans and dates soaking, they'll be fine over-night (I hope?).

Had a phone interview with a potential supervisor today, responded to Shalka auditions, and comments. Tired and out of it after late night family drama and making ALL THE SHALKA POSTS EVER/meeting w/ Bess, so didn't get MUCH more than cleaning, shopping for three days, talking to my little bro, cooking, mailing out Katy's package, sending off other people's misdirected mail, errands, and reading new emails re: school stuff done. Behind on laundry...

MUST contact potential supervisors tomorrow--and do other things. Must sleep now, reset sleep schedule, wake up with Katy, make coffee, put chili on for the day, clean, and start work before ten. Much to do--a day behind! :( Still okay for the schedule for the week, though, if I can just make tomorrow count.

'Healthy' in the US and UK

I think this article: http://www.cracked.com/article_19433_the-6-most-horrifying-lies-food-industry-feeding-you.html , hysterical and been-there-heard-that as it is, can be used to demonstrate a fundamental difference in cultural attitudes towards food that I keep running into in the UK. I get a bit horrified when UK people say things like 'the macaroni and cheese you made out of unprocessed cheese and raw ingredients is Very Unhealthy'. I mean there's cheese, but--it's not Kraft? Not whatever radioactive shit Easy Mac is?

To ME, probably because this is the American way of thinking about it, Unhealthy is the weird shit in heavily processed and pre-prepared food. Butter, cheese and such should form a limited part of your diet, but are a kind of necessary component, with some value. Occasional dishes that are heavy on them are not in and of themselves problematic. 'Problematic' is the additives and weirdness above, which I think Euro regulations may stream out to a degree--I don't know, still not buying any ready meals. I like the control over every step of the process, and think that's in many ways probably LESS fattening or whatever--sure there's a fair amount of butter in a cake I make, but I know that, I put it there. I have no idea how much is in a hostess snack, or what other, weirder shit is in there as well. People in the UK worry about too much cream, people in the US worry about zombie orange juice reanimated with perfumed flavor packets and transfats from Mars that will worm into your heart and NEVER LEAVE. I frequently find myself wrong-footed and annoyed here on this point, but I don't feel my alternate discourse is on 'the healthy' wrong. Cream over that shit any fucking day.

Also, have the saddest fb message in the world, from Littlest Cousin to Little Cousin:


"Andrew posted to Zack
I don't know if you've gotten my texts or calls, but, hey, I'm performing poetry on Friday. It'd mean a lot if you could come but if you can't, I understand. Text me back sometime."

D: I mean I hate a poetry slam too, but DAMN. Cold.