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Category — Consumption

Consumption 13

by Mel

This is a monthly series, published near the end of the month summarizing what I found, ate, watched, googled, and felt this month. New categories added from time to time.

Books Added to My TBR (e.g., books I just learned about that I’m excited to read… maybe)

Notable Meals (new recipes, old favorites, and restaurant items we ate this month)

  • Phở chay: Made my own (though bought fried tofu from H-mart)
  • Vegetarian ramen: Made my own. I think I like it better than our ramen place.
  • Creamy walnut and basil pesto pasta.
  • Pesto pizza with sliced tomatoes.

Television, Movies, and Music (watching and listening)

  • I am excited to start Would I Lie to You (thank you, Mali). We’re waiting for the kids to come home.
  • We finished the US Traitors season 4. We never enjoy it as much as the UK Traitors, but we liked more contestants in this one (e.g., Tara Lapinsky and Johnny Weir). And speaking of which, we are in the middle of UK Traitors season 4. Love it.
  • Travel Man. This is our new favourite show. Richard Ayoade is so funny, and you get to see a new city every half hour. He’s on the first 9 seasons, so we still have plenty to go.
  • We just started How To Get to Heaven From Belfast. We’re only a few episodes in, but it’s quite good.

Added To My Ongoing Mix Tape

Tabs I Left Open (things I Googled and left up on the screen)

  • An announcement for the new BBC1 show with Claudia Winkleman
  • Unreal Deli’s website
  • A google search for the life span of a kinkajou
  • The menu for Doghaus
  • The website for Hicks & Healey, England’s oldest whiskey company, which is only 22 years old
  • Rocket Dog shoes. I saw a woman wearing the rainbow sneakers, and I loved them.

Micro-Joys

  • In Series 1, Episode 2 of Travel Man, Richard Ayoade and Adam Hills try a tripe soup, which was sheep’s stomach in milk, and they declare the experience “too Turkish.” We’ve been using the phrase to mark a step beyond our comfort zone.
  • Suddenly remembering a mnemonic from elementary school for spelling Halloween, and then finding it on YouTube!
  • We saw the BSO perform the most incredible “Bolero” by Ravel. That percussionist keeping a steady beat for 15 straight minutes without a break, and then being part of 1,800+ people walking out elated.

Mood

  • Riding the wave of endings and beginnings.

What about you? Let me know what you’re eating, seeing, listening to, googling, feeling this month.

March 31, 2026   1 Comment

Consumption 12

by Mel

This is a monthly series, published near the end of the month summarizing what I found, ate, watched, googled, and felt this month. New categories added from time to time.

Books Added to My TBR (e.g., books I just learned about that I’m excited to read… maybe)

Notable Meals (new recipes, old favorites, and restaurant items we ate this month)

Television, Movies, and Music (watching and listening)

  • We finished Taskmaster, Season 20. Every season is fantastic, but we particularly liked this group.
  • We finished The Diplomat. I still like it, and I’ll watch the next season, but I’m okay waiting for it.
  • Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. Wow. Just wow. I saw the first movie (and read the book) many many many years ago. And then I recently saw something about the fourth movie and decided to jump straight to it without seeing the 2nd or 3rd (which I’m now going backwards in time and watching). I loved it so much. I thought it was sweet and moving and fun and heartwarming, extending the definition of family and what it means to love someone and always have them with you, even after they’re gone.
  • We started the new Traitors US (season 4). We skipped season 3, though we may go back to it. But we like season 4 a lot.
  • Travel Man. We love Richard Ayoade so much. We just started with Season 1. You get to laugh and see beautiful places. What’s not to love?

Added To My Ongoing Mix Tape

Tabs I Left Open (things I Googled and left up on the screen)

  • A set of metal chopsticks at H-mart that are currently sold out
  • A recipe for allium-free salsa fresca
  • Hodges Figgis – Irish bookstore
  • How to watch luge training at Lake Placid
  • Pea flakes — a guinea pig treat I want to get Quentin from Chewy
  • MOMA’s Refik Anadol’s “Unsupervised” page

Micro-Joys

  • Telling the kids about a Harvard Lampoon spoof circa 1998 featuring Simon Armitage competing in biathlon while we watched actual athletes compete in biathlon. (P.S. I wish I could find said article because I refer to it often.)
  • The Wolvog casually dropping the term “Monobob” into the conversation.
  • Going on a snowy hike with the ChickieNob.

Mood

  • Trying to keep my focus and not get distracted by the noise.

What about you? Let me know what you’re eating, seeing, listening to, googling, feeling this month.

February 25, 2026   1 Comment

Consumption 11

by Mel

This is a monthly series, published near the end of the month summarizing what I found, ate, watched, googled, and felt this month. New categories added from time to time.

Books Added to My TBR (e.g., books I just learned about that I’m excited to read… maybe)

Notable Meals (new recipes, old favorites, and restaurant items we ate this month)

  • Appetizers for dinner. We always do this on New Years. It’s a very brown meal, but so delicious and zero work.
  • Vegetarian Canadian split pea soup with pumpernickel bread.
  • Vegetarian BLTs with half sour pickles on the side.
  • Thai noodle salad with peanut-lime dressing.

Television, Movies, and Music (watching and listening)

  • Amazing finale to The Traitors UK, Season 4. Having people play for charity vs. their own personal gain made the whole game more enjoyable. The only bummer was that the US streaming removed the charities they were playing for. That was the whole point! I believe they aired the charities in the UK because you can see lists and discussion about it online. Zero clue why they edited that out of the US stream.
  • We finished Pluribus. Wonderfully weird. I can’t wait to see where it goes in Season 2.
  • I rewatched All of You with the ChickieNob. The writing and acting were even better on the second viewing.
  • We started the US Traitors (season 3) but could not get into it. We switched to the NZ Traitors and liked it a lot more — especially how it ended. Though the group never felt as cohesive as the ones in the UK Traitors, which was odd because many of them knew each other outside of the show.
  • We watched the new season of Man on the Inside. It was sweet.
  • We LOVED Last One Laughing UK. They lock 10 comedians in a room for 6 hours, and they have to make each other laugh without smiling or laughing themselves. It was super amusing to watch. We have not found another version that we’ve enjoyed as much.

Added To My Ongoing Mix Tape

  • Nothing added this month

Tabs I Left Open (things I Googled and left up on the screen)

  • The words to the childhood chant “See See My Playmate.”
  • Loop Quiet earplugs (considering purchasing)

Micro-Joys

  • Teaching the twins how to make salmon in the oven using my freezer to plate recipe.
  • Adding dried blueberries to my Special K. Little chewy bursts of joy.

Mood

  • Really sad that winter break is over. And worried about the future.

What about you? Let me know what you’re eating, seeing, listening to, googling, feeling this month.

January 28, 2026   Comments Off on Consumption 11

Consumption 10

by Mel

This is a monthly series, published near the end of the month summarizing what I found, ate, watched, googled, and felt this month. New categories added from time to time.

Books Added to My TBR (e.g., books I just learned about that I’m excited to read… maybe)

Notable Meals (new recipes, old favorites, and restaurant items we ate this month)

  • Salad (lettuce, red and yellow pepper, cucumber, shredded carrots, macadamia nuts, and won ton wrappers) with sesame balsamic vinaigrette.
  • Peanut udon noodles with steamed broccoli.

Television, Movies, and Music (watching and listening)

  • We finished Down Cemetery Road. I am thrilled this has been renewed for a second season. All of the actors are phenomenal. Ending was a little meh, but I didn’t care because everything that came before it was so good and endings are hard.
  • The Traitors UK, Season 4. It’s marked as Traitors Celebrity on Peacock. I worried I wouldn’t like it as much as the regular UK Traitors, and it would feel more like the US version, but everyone is polite and kind and very very British. So we loved it.
  • My Oxford Year. As long as you go into it knowing there are 1,000 plot issues (make that 10,000 plot issues), you can enjoy this tearjerker for the Oxford views and scenes from Hatfield House. Don’t bother screaming things like, “You cannot take one class and get a masters degree!” at the television. The actors cannot hear you. Instead, put small details like character development out of your head and enjoy Harry Trevaldwyn’s bar monologue.
  • The Holdovers. It was sadder than I thought it would be. I loved seeing western MA, especially Buckland, Shelburne Falls, and Deerfield. And the performances were all fantastic.

Added To My Ongoing Mix Tape

Tabs I Left Open (things I Googled and left up on the screen)

  • The landing page for the game Blue Prince.
  • The Richard and Judy book club list.
  • A low-poly weasel I’m trying to convince the Wolvog to 3D print for me.
  • The route of a 102-mile walk in the UK we’re considering doing.

Micro-Joys

  • Josh left his charger behind in a hotel room, but the hotel staff found it, and my in-laws were able to pick it up for him. Three cheers for not having to repurchase existing chargers. Except… the charger they brought him was not his charger. Boo. Except the Wolvog directed him to a piece at IKEA that saved the day for $4. So all is well that ends well.
  • Finished the final book in His Dark Materials. I’ve now read all 10 books/novellas in the series.

Mood

  • Happy that the kids are home and antsy because I always get antsy this time of year.

What about you? Let me know what you’re eating, seeing, listening to, googling, feeling this month.

December 30, 2025   1 Comment

Consumption 9

by Mel

This is a monthly series, published near the end of the month summarizing what I found, ate, watched, googled, and felt this month. New categories added from time to time.

Books Added to My TBR (e.g., books I just learned about that I’m excited to read… maybe)

Notable Meals (new recipes, old favorites, and restaurant items we ate this month)

  • Vegetarian bacon butty: Real eggs, fake bacon, French butter.
  • New York Times ribollita recipe, though I used baby spinach instead of kale, and I made the toast separately and floated it on top of the bowl of soup.
  • New York Times chickpea stew. Once again used baby spinach instead of mustard greens, increased the broth to 6 cups, and increased the orzo to 3/4 cup. So so so good. We made it again the next week.

Television, Movies, and Music (watching and listening)

  • We finished The Paper on Peacock. Loved, loved, loved this show. It grew on me by the second episode, and now I’m bummed that we have to wait for the next season.
  • I saw Freud’s Last Session last spring/summer, but I watched it a second time because it moved from Netflix to Hulu, and we could slip it in before Hulu went away.
  • I loved loved loved everything about All of You. The writing and acting are both fantastic.
  • It took an episode or two until we were hooked, but we enjoyed The Gold. At first, I couldn’t understand how it was going to have a second season. The story wraps up but clearly more happened after the case.
  • I haven’t watched Slow Horses, but we are super into his new show, Down Cemetery Road. I like all of the characters, even the bad guys.
  • We’ve watched one episode of The Studio. I avoided it at first because I’m not really into Hollywood and moving making, but it’s pretty funny.
  • I love Pluribis as much as I loved Severance. Apple is producing fantastic shows at the moment.

Added To My Ongoing Mix Tape

Tabs I Left Open (things I Googled and left up on the screen)

  • A story about CS Lewis and the biscuit tin toy garden his brother made him.
  • Tig Notaro tour dates.
  • Multiple websites with information about myriorama cards.
  • The Wikipedia page for Allantide.
  • BBC’s Saturday Kitchen landing page.
  • How to make your own Starbucks Iced Via packets.

Micro-Joys

  • Seeing a few purple-y states go firmly blue on election day.
  • Josh and I were bicycling at the beach, and there were hundreds of egrets standing in the marsh we were riding by. Suddenly, they all took off into the air and flew right at us. For a moment, the only thing we could hear was hundreds of wings flapping over our heads. And zero birds pooped on us in the process. 
  • I finally won the final board of one of the card sets in Balatro. I had come close many times before, but had never finished.

Mood

  • Feeling end-of-year antsiness.

What about you? Let me know what you’re eating, seeing, listening to, googling, feeling this month.

November 30, 2025   1 Comment

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