A Supplement-ary Warning

I’m a pretty big tea drinker. Or, if you want to get pedantic about it, I more so enjoy a tisane, or herbal tea. I can handle a little bit of caffeine (a nutty oolong is my favourite on a lazy Sunday afternoon), but my cabinets are mostly filled with blends of rooibos, mint, and floral and fruity little things. As a child, I drank Celestial Seasonings or this Polish brand called LOYD. Well, over time, I’ve been interested in new options, which has led me to brands like Yogi Tea, Traditional Medicinals, and TWG Tea. These always felt either hippyish, clinical, or luxury, respectively, but through these, I found a lot that I really, really like. For instance, Yogi Tea’s Egyptian licorice is spicy and sweet. Chamomile & Lavender from Traditional Medicinals (which famously makes “Throat Coat”) is lovely before bed. And TWG Tea Eternal Summer is a fruity rooibos that somehow manages to be rich yet light at the same time.



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The Benefits of a Functional Kitchen and a Hungry Boyfriend

Back in November, my lovely partner Alex moved to be with me here in Virginia as I work on my PhD. We managed to find a cute, spacious place at a price significantly cheaper than what a small apartment in Blacksburg (where the university is located) would cost. With more room and now more affordable, shared expenses, I’ve been making a real effort to cook and try new recipes. This has been great for a few reasons: 1) the place I was living before didn’t have a kitchen, so I primarily ate ramen, hummus and pita, or grocery store sushi most nights and I actually found myself in the ER with nutrient deficiencies once (whoops!), 2) grad school can take a toll on my mental health and creativity, so having a new thing to work on really helps the ole brain, and 3) I now have a hungry man living with me who not only appreciates the effort, but helps finish the food so I’m not eating leftovers seven days in a row!

Since all this cooking means finding our yes/no/maybe’s of recipes, I figured it would be fun to share the best. I thought about making separate posts for each recipe we liked, but since what I’ve made lately is all just a click away, I decided on just rating them and adding the link in case someone else wants to give them a try. If I have family recipes or something I came up with myself, I may just make a blog post for it, like I did a while back for my kolaczki cookies.

To make it easy for myself to update, I added a new page to my site, linked [HERE]. You can also use the tab that says “food -> recipes” at the top. If you’re into trying new recipes, hopefully you’ll find it fun to keep up with the wins of my recent home cooking (and maybe give them a go yourself!).

Happy reading,
-Beppa

Alex’s Defense! (EDIT: Now Dr. Alex)

One of the worst things a grad student can hear is “so, when are you graduating?” Even the best of grad students (whatever that means), with a set and followed timeline, will know it’s not just finishing some classes and leaving. The final thing you must do when completing a research-based degree is defend your thesis/dissertation. That oh-so-simple question calls to mind the journey one is about to embark on in order to finally be set free. Years of work, cumulated in a huge written document, then presented publicly, and then scrutinized by your committee. Despite not having my PhD defense for a few more years still, I got a good taste of it when defending my Master’s thesis back in November. Let me tell you, that was a LOT. Now, after years of grueling lab work and months of being cooped up furiously writing, my lovely partner Alex has defended his PhD dissertation. Obviously, I need to celebrate him.



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Polish Kołaczki Cookie Recipe

When it comes to the foods we consider comforting, often times they are those we grew up eating and have sentimental memories of, regardless of where they come from. Despite not having much Polish cultural heritage, I grew up on the south side of Chicago in an area with a high Polish population. It was common for me to walk to Polish delis in my neighborhood for a quick lunch or have a Polish neighbor’s mom make snacks when I was over. Not to mention, some parts of Polish culture are similar to Lithuanian, so whether you wanna call your dumplings pierogi or koldūnai, it made no difference. But in the case of today, I want to share a very simple recipe for a Polish cookie I loved as a child and to this day– kołaczki.



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A Little Taste of Catracho Cuisine

If I asked you to tell me about Honduran food, assuming you, reader, are not Honduran, would you be able to? Would you say tacos? And if you did, would you expect the thing you get at an American restaurant? What else? Probably something spicy and doused in hot sauce and intense seasonings, no? Well, I am here today to tell you that nope, the Catrachos (Hondurans) do things a little differently here.



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