Friday, April 19, 2019

Batch of links

- First, not a link, but a quick announcement: I’m taking down the Amazon store linked to this blog. Amazon has changed a bunch of things, making running the store a very frustrating experience (and very user-unfriendly as compared to when I first opened), so it’s not worth my time. It’s been down for a while anyway, this is just more official. This means that there will be broken links in previous posts, but as far as I can remember, products were mentioned by name in addition to being linked, so you can still find them on your own.

- I listened to Spilled Milk Podcast’s episode about MSG, all the while marveling at the nocebo effect, and it led me to this episode of This American Life for more detail. And from there down the rabbit hole to learn more about the Stork Derby (I’d heard about it, but not in this much detail).

- I had been reminiscing about a series I used to watch over and over as a kid (it had been taped off TV, I think). It was animated and taught science concepts, but some were considered pretty advanced – I haven’t met many other 5-year-olds who understood that things get hotter as their molecules move faster, you know? Anyway, it took a lot of Googling, but I finally tracked it down: Eureka! This is a link to the English version on YouTube; I couldn’t find the French version that I used to watch (the series was made in Ontario and it exists in both languages, or at least it did). It holds up really well, and we’re currently watching it with the Little Prince.

- A photographer documents what she finds in her preschooler’s pockets and those treasures are really sweet.

- For your inner child (or your actual child): Disney songs in their native languages.

- There’s a dating app that pairs people based on the contents of their fridge, and if I were single I’d be all over that.

- Don’t get fooled when you buy San Marzano tomatoes.

- And another link to a Spilled Milk episode, this one about meal planning. I left a long comment on their page, but the gist of it is that I plan meals for the week to come, and even though that takes work, for me it’s an anxiety-reducing tool because I can’t stand not to know what I’ll be serving the next day. It also helps to have meal templates, especially if you have small children. Other families might decide that Wednesday is always chicken day, for example, but they’ll vary what type of chicken they make. My long-term plan would be to narrow down my recipes to my family’s favorites, use an online service to make them into a book, and come up with a few monthly menu templates taking into account what’s in season. What’s your take on meal planning?

No comments: