Staving off "what the hell am I doing in Japan" depression

In an effort to feel like I have my feet somewhat-firmly planted here on this earthquake-prone landscape, I have taken on several projects, all of which, I imagine, will be written about at some point on this blog.

These projects include gastronomic experimenting, photography (I just built a twin-reflex camera and am anxious to develop the prints!), some writing, mastering the New York Times website, and attempting to get through my mountainous list of books. All pretty nerdy---------

Tonight it's cooking to my custom-made mix of Nina Simone. My current favorites are Love Me or Leave Me, No Me Quitte Pas, Wild is the Wind, and Mississippi Goddamn.

Dinner tonight:

**Kabocha squash, leek soup (I threw in a sweet potato that I needed to use)

**Stove-top corn bread with grilled onion and pepper
(we have no oven in our Japanese-style apartment so I spent a good 30 minutes researching how to successfully make corn bread on the stove-top without a cast iron skillet)

**Steamed greens

Matthew and I are preparing for our anti-candida diet which will probably last multiple months. That means an end to meals like this which, although healthy, give a lot of fuel to candida.

Bye to my morning cup of coffee........walnut and raisin snacks.......
.........chocolate indulgences.........whiskey.........an apple with my lunch.......luckily for me I am already gluten free, for that has to be cut too. I am afraid of shriveling into nothing in Japan!

I've been doing a ton of experimenting with pretty simple recipes and would be happy to share!

Meanwhile, I am burning my veggie sauté while trying to blog.

There's a lot more to come. This is a slow start to what I anticipate doing with this blog, so if you're reading, keep checking back....and please, leave me comments!

There's something to be said about a culture that appreciates spicy food. Food that derives it spice from chili, the kind of spice that you can smell before tasting, the kind of spice that heaves with intensity as the oils release and absorb into your taste buds. Spice that does not shy away with water or disappear as soon as a swallow lowers your food through the stages of digestion. This is the spice of Mexico, India, Thailand, Israel. This is the spice of the jalapeno, serrano, habanero, ghost, and rocoto. It is the spice, as I've recently discovered, of the Korean peninsula.