airbnb

Fortuitously, my parents are leaving on vacation from Saturday to Thursday. So we got the house to ourselves. It’s the best. I love my parents, we get along great, but it’s a big relief not to deal with a host of small houseguest and/or child issues, such as: being called for family meals at fixed times; not wanting to shower or chat late at night so as not to wake them up; fielding awkward family conversations (“What do you think of critical race theory?”).

The only downside is that I have to water the garden. Eh, it's still a good deal. I'll take it.

A lot of things are a little more finicky at my parents’ house than at home. For example, trash. Dad instructed me to separate things into trash and recycling. I get the feeling this is simplified for my convenience. Normally there are four categories: trash, recycling, compost, and what looks like a trash bin exclusively for tissue paper (I’m not clear what’s the deal with that).

For another example, cutting boards. At home I have one cutting board that I use for everything (except meat, which I don’t cut on a cutting board, I use kitchen scissors). Here, Mom has like seven cutting boards and each one has specific things it can or can’t be used for. There’s one just for bread. There’s one that can be used for tomatoes but not onions. It’s very complex.

I’m weirdly enjoying the novelty of cooking in a kitchen that’s not my own. Everything is just a little different from how it is at home. I made pork chops Saturday night. (I used panko breadcrumbs instead of regular ones because that’s all I found in the pantry. It turned out a bit suboptimal because I think they burn more easily, so half the pork chops were a lil singed and the other half were a lil undercooked. Still tasty though.) Today I made fresh salsa from a giant garden tomato, and for dinner I made hoisin chicken using a marinade that Mom left in the fridge. (Had to use a chicken breast because there don’t seem to be any thighs in the freezer. I was concerned about it being too dry, but it turned out quite good.)