it's somewhat of a family ritual to watch
Jeopardy!, the trivia game show, before dinner.
(insinuating epistemological hesitation since 1984)
questions and Trebek cook our brains--and our egos--as curry simmers in the background.
(always so pleasantly hesitant)
the other night i wanted to have a Jeopardy! marathon with myself. i hunted online for free episodes, but to no avail.
perhaps illegality brought about failure. but my unrelenting google-search refreshing for a trivia-influenced ego boost led me to a question: why am i doing this? why am i humming as a drone in the dark, punching a keyboard, yearning for confirmation of my own intellectual worth?
this is not to say that watching Jeopardy! is nothing but a self-assuring lark; it can be a way to challenge yourself, stimulate the folds of your memory, and get a group of people involved.
but at 2am, searching for boastfulness, i registered the illusion of the show; although it's entertaining to recall scattered minutiae, feel erudite on the daily double--these are the only feelings Jeopardy! can really confirm. to base one's worth on mercurial trivia is to found a fickle perception of the self. identity is then as liable to sudden change as anything else. i'd rather not base an opinion of myself on dings and buzzes.
Jeopardy! is fun~~not too serious. remembering the middle name of a little-known Spanish explorer does not render you superior to your competitor. nor does feeling clueless make the Jeopardy! all-star better (he or she may become considerably richer...but half the earned winnings go to taxes anyway oops).
REGARDLESS, i'd love to keep watching this show with other people, and keep watching other people watch this show. when i happen to answer a question correctly, i find myself imbued with a warm yet fleeting complacency; it's temporary, unimportant, trivial~~but the moment delivers enough. i like to see that smug yet simpering beam from my fellow viewers' teeth. let everyone have their little moment of indulgence, once in a while.
NOW, i think a discussion of the ego warrants a transition to curry.
CURRY~CURRY~CURRY~CURRY~CURRY~CURRY~CURRY~CURRY~CURRY
the following recipe is adapted from the Table for Two blog. a link can be found here:
http://www.tablefortwoblog.com/slow-cooker-pumpkin-coconut-curry/
i love this recipe because it eases the cook into a sometimes intimidating exploit; crockpot cookin' was foreign to me, until all the recipe required was some can-dumpin' and vegetable-cuttin'-and-dumpin'. give it six hours, and voila.
VEGAN SWEET POTATO-PUMPKIN COCONUT [slow-cooker] CURRY
(OCTOBER NEVER ENDS~~sorry billy)
INGREDIENTS
1 15-ounce can of unsweetened coconut milk (with whatever fat content you desire)
1 15-ounce can of pumpkin PUREE (not pumpkin pie filling--although that might be interesting in a curry--who says curry can't taste like nutmeg)
1 cup vegetable stock
CURRY POWDER (to your taste)
BLACK PEPPER (to your taste)
SALT (to your taste)
WHATEVER SPICES YOU WANT (you go glen coco[nut curry])
1/2 large onion, diced (what if i said minced?)
1 garlic clove, minced (what if i said diced?)
3 large carrots, but into 1-inch pieces (precisely--anything other than 1 inch is unacceptable)
3 small sweet potatoes, cut into cubes (don't make em too think, of they won't cook all the way through)
1 lime for its juice
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. pull out your crockpot/slow cooker, and dump all the coconut milk, all the pumpkin puree, and the vegetable stock, and all the spices in it. mix.
2. add the veggies and lime juice to mixture. stir to distribute evenly
3. cook on low (i originally typed "on love") for 6 hours.
4. enjoy with yourself//friends//family//Alex Trebek
evidence:
(la dee da im diagonal)
(curry curry curry curry)
(pensive garlic)
(what sweet potatoes looked like in the 1930s)
(before 6 hours)
(6 hours later)
