I forgot to photograph my dumplings
Later in the year the village is holding a What did you do during lockdown ? show.
My entry was going to be a sweaty balloon NURSE covered in PPE but after some thought , I think I will prepare a plate of Japanese Vegetable Dumplings or Gyoza Dumplings.
Gyoza dumplings are half fried , half steamed dumplings that can be filled with a mixture of any vegetables you have to hand. I tend to use carrot, cooked onion, and cabbage, ingredients that make the filling taste sweet, but shiitake mushroom, spring onion and tofu can be added ( I don’t like tofu) add lots of garlic and ginger a bit of soy and some shredded chicken or crushed prawn if you need meat and bingo low calorie stuffing.
The dumpling skins can be bought frozen on line, I get he happy Belly ones on line .they cost around 12 £ for three packets
Stuffing the skins is a bit fiddly at first but I learnt by watching this video
As for cooking , it’s easy! you pan fry them with some sesame oil
, but you add water to the pan and cover. The water evaporates, steaming the dumpling on its sides but the bottom of the dumpling will go crispy and brown.
Today I prepared a healthier lunch by just steaming my dumplings but you run the risk of them going soggy.
They taste just as good though.
I’m having a thoughtful time today. It’s hot and I have nothing planned but choir later and I’m in two minds to go to that, seeing that choir practice is now outside.
I find singing outside, away from the safety of being shoulder to shoulder with my fellow bases very embarrassing. I know I shouldn’t , but I do, and embarrassment is an emotion I just do not cope with very well.
I’m weighing it up anyhow…..over coffee.
I’m listening to a podcast of an interview with Kenneth Williams
The interviewer has just asked him if he has ever been in love.
It was a question Williams side stepped
Then I thought…how many times have I been in love.
I’ve had a long thought about that one
In my life ……three times……you?
I've had dumplings like that from a restaurant but never even considered making them myself! The love question is thought-provoking. Every time I've been in love, it's been different from the previous times. Is it all even the same emotion?
ReplyDeleteSo how many times
Delete4... Two with relationships, two without.
ReplyDeleteTo clarify mine two with relationships one without
DeleteOnce.
ReplyDeleteI want to learn more
DeleteTwice...maybe once, really.
ReplyDeleteThe dumplings sound gorgeous, like healthy spring rolls. I shall definitely try making them. They will be much more welcome at the 'What did you do?' day than a self deprecating(!) sweaty nurse.
People can eat them too, experiential learning
DeleteIf everyone brought a new recipe they have tried over lockdown, you could have an ace party!
DeleteThree, I think; at 15/16 is it really love? Luckily, the third time, I married him and we're still in love 46 years later. xx
ReplyDeleteYes I think first love has to be counted
DeleteOnly two. And I married the second love of my life.
ReplyDeleteLucky x
DeleteDifficult to say, two, maybe three or maybe never. I was infatuated with someone once which made me oblivious to how he was treating me which was quite badly. It went on for five years and we lived together. Then one day I saw the light that he didn't love me at all and how stupid I was and I left him When you fall out of love it then becomes difficult to see it as ever being love in the first place so putting a figure on how many times I have been in love is nigh on impossible.
ReplyDeleteInfatuation and love are similar beasts ….I think it’s the INTENSITY of the feelings that are important to remember here…first love is often infatuation but I think it’s just as valid
DeleteIt’s an interesting topic and one we hardly give any thought to
DeleteHe wasn't my first love, he was second. The first love I truly did love and he sort of broke my heart.
DeleteYes, it is an interesting subject. I agree with what Steve said.
DeleteI do on reflection , each “ love” had its differences
DeleteThink
DeleteInfatuation blinded me to what the relationship really was, I think.
DeleteYes I had one relationship like that , I regret staying as long as I did
DeleteI was in love just once---what a disaster.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great to start going to choir again. You'll have fun, hope you do go.
I buy the dumplings premade here at Trader Joe's. The cooking---steam to fry, etc I find fiddly and hard. I am an impatient cook. Yours look and sound so delicious!
I love the idea of the blow up doll in PPE and mask! You worked so hard during the lockdown, no respite for you.
lizzy
A blow up doll may be too much of a shock for the locals
DeleteBut the dumplings will go to waste.
DeleteNever….I’ll make a massive batch and people can taste
DeleteI've started to comment 4 times.
ReplyDeleteI just don't know for sure. Maybe I don't know how.
Take a guess
DeleteDumplings - yum!
ReplyDeleteIn love? once. In like? three times. In fact, yesterday was the 70th birthday of my first crush. I was 13. Sigh!
Hie thee to choir and make a joyful noise!
Hugs!
I should go
DeleteYou will be glad you are there once you are!
DeleteI didn’t go, I ended up walking the dogs with my sister . I will go next week xx
DeleteI should have said that my beloved and I have been married for 49 years. :)
DeleteHugs!
Twice. The second time he properly broke my heart and crushed my soul. I'm almost recovered and not sure now if I'd like to be in love again.
ReplyDeleteI understand this feeling , very well
DeleteI now believe never-it's only when I've been dumped and I've suspected their focus is on another that I was soo heartbroken-but my breath almost leaves concerning my dogs-I've had 9 dogs and several non suitors-perhaps it's not too late for you to prepare and tastefully arrange your delightful dumplings in a tantalising manner as an addition x
ReplyDeleteMave will, I’m sure comment on this one
DeleteDogs are much more loyal in their devotions, and when you're dead they will eat you x
DeleteGobble gobble x
DeleteFlis - Perhaps I'm wrong but I think I remember you saying you had a husband or partner, don't you or didn't you love them? Or was it a matter of convenience?
DeleteAs you are interested it seems-I will happily share this with you-I cannot say x
DeleteWhat a strange reply - You haven't shared anything as you haven't said!
DeleteYou are most insistant-and odd that my business concerns you so-Good day
DeleteI was only having a conversation through commenting, as many readers do. However if this concerns you so much I'll refrain from replying to you again and reserve my replies to someone who appreciates a conversation.
DeleteGood day to you.
auf wiedersehen goodbye
DeleteAccording to my teenage diaries I was "in love" with someone different every other week!
ReplyDeleteYou tart xxx
DeleteOnly truly in love once; I'm still in love with him, although no longer together. We remain close friends. Don't think I'll ever love anyone else.
ReplyDeleteUnderstood x
DeleteLove once, married twice, lust - I never kept score.
ReplyDeleteLust confuses alot if people ….I’ve never mistaken the two
Deleteme? about a million times. but then in therapy i found out that wasn't true love so the answer is probably never.
ReplyDeleteThank you that was brave to say
DeleteFirst define partner love (as opposed to love of children). Or no, don't try to as it is indefinable. Lot's of people think they are in love but are not really, I'd say. But I do often talk rubbish. Looking around at all the relationships I have observed, it is so sad and strange that so many people who once thought they loved each other end up being dreadful enemies. Love is a fickle concept.
ReplyDeleteLove And hate ..very similar emotions .
DeleteI think it’s very hard to fall in love, I’ve done it three times in my life. One was unrequited . One was infatuation and immature
One was the proper article
The sensation and emotion of love, of course is totally subjective
The whole thing has more holes in it than Swiss cheese …I guess it’s all about intensity
Both my first two boyfiends, about two years each, I'd call that puppy-love, I still care about them, but no regrets at all. My ex-husband, on paper, was a good match, but after being married to him for a while I realised that I actually didn't like him that much, or the way that he treated me. We stuck it for 13 years, then I bought myself a tiny house for myself and the cat.
ReplyDeleteFive years later I re-married, still in love 21 years on.
A nice story of bouncing back x
DeleteOnce. I fell for him at 18 and and we are still together at 57. I struck lucky.
ReplyDeleteYou did indeed x
DeleteTwice and both times I married him and had blissful marriages - first 39 years, second 23 years. Being in love is a state I miss most and it will not happen again so I rest on my laurels and miss them both every day.
ReplyDeleteI know you do pat…how lucky you have been in reciprocated love twice in a lifetime x
DeleteJust the once.
ReplyDeleteI know,.. how lucky you both are jimbo
DeleteJust once.
ReplyDeleteI can’t believe you didn’t take pictures of your dumplings. You ALWAYS share them.
I honestly thought I’d photographed them …….I know I’m a bugger for showing off me dumplings x
DeleteMy Rare One and I LOVE gyoza! We just had some the other night at a Japanese restaurant. First time back at that restaurant since before the pandemic!
ReplyDeleteI adore the crispy gyoza but they are a bit more calorific
DeleteTwice, husband number one and husband number 2. I presume the question really is love of a human, if we widen this to dogs, then there would be so many.
ReplyDeleteYes just humans Lisa and romantic love is the question
DeleteOnce, childhood sweethearts and still are.
ReplyDeleteJust once.
ReplyDeleteIt’s lasted fifty years.
I think he’s a keeper!
I love hearing this but it breaks my heart just a tiny bit xx
DeleteHmm, how do you define love? I love both my current husband and my ex (even though the marriage ended how could I not love him when I'd chosen to make a commitment with him). Then there's my first boyfriend, loved him at the time and another man I met between marriages that I had a short but intense relationship with. So, I guess you can say four for sure.
ReplyDeleteYou count them all ….how wonderful
DeleteAnd how wonderfully you describe them all…I liked this answer xx thank you
Honestly, thinking about it, truly in love just once with my late husband who died far too soon at 57 with cancer, he was my sole mate. Hesther
ReplyDeleteSo sorry heather ….
DeleteOnce and it lasted 60 years til he died.
ReplyDeleteEnvy and praise x
DeleteTerrific chicken/veg dumplings at a small Thai place about a mile from me. I discovered them during lockdown and allow myself takeout now and again.
ReplyDeleteLove? Probably twice of any significance. It was fun while it lasted...
Bonnie in Minneapolis
My total is 6. Each love very different from the other. Featuring: Whirlwind, spontaneous and swept off my feet. Gentle and caring. Long distance and fleeting. Mutual fascination, intense. Caring and nurturing, yet with different emotional needs.
ReplyDeleteMadly, crazily, unquestioningly, once. More sedate love, probably twice.
ReplyDeleteI had a fairly intense sexual relationship with an early boyfriend but it wasn't really love at all... I loved the idea of being in love though. Then I became increasingly close to a wonderful, gentle, thoughtful man which deepened into love - to my surprise I woke up one morning and realised I loved him!! We married, and still love each other. The first thing I do every morning is put on my wedding ring, because that's so important... to daily commit to that. I realise I'm very privileged to have had 45 years together.
ReplyDeleteNot even the once. Still waiting.
ReplyDeleteJust the twice, the first just didn't work out, although I'm proud to say that I tried for 24 years. (Predictive text gave me 'hours' for years ... 🤣🤣)
ReplyDeleteThe dumplings sound delicious!
ReplyDeleteIn love - the love that grows and stays once. Intense crazy infatuation when younger twice.
Yum. As for love, too many times to count. I fall in love easily, and out with difficulty. Actually, if I put a line through this all and only counted people I really loved, as in, could see a future with them, then three. My first was as a teen with a fun character in my youth group, my second was with my best friend and the third and last was my husband. I'm not counting three live with relationships in this either. Age and hindsight puts things into perspective.
ReplyDeleteNever reciprocally.
ReplyDeleteLove? I gave it a go a few times, never really worked out for various reasons. Sometimes it was one sided, ok for a while but not fair on the one who has to put on a show, and not fair for the one who is happy to drift along oblivious to the differences. Not a good recipe for longevity. Two similarly independent personalities are too volatile for me, constant conflicts. Maybe I give up too easily. Best stay single then.
ReplyDeleteI found the "I gave it a go a few times" funny. Perhaps you tried to love but it didn't really happen. Some people are just meant to be single.
DeleteRomantic love, just the once, my husband. I don't love him the way I did when we met though, I love him much, much more! I think for those of us who are incredibly lucky, every day together brings deeper and more intense love!
ReplyDeleteThere are however, three great loves in my life, Husband, Son, Grandson, they are quite simply, my life! X
Romantic love at University, was engaged and still wish we'd married, though it would probably never have worked longer-term.I still care for him. Rebound love - married for 25 years but wish I hadn't as a lot of it was miserable and damaging. Enduring love? Not sure...am seeing someone I've known for 50 years.
ReplyDeleteOnce still together almost 54 years married. Met on a date to keep a friend company who was going out with his friend. They lasted two months.
ReplyDeleteTwice. My first love I hadn't known long and lost contact with him due to circumstances at home and looking after a relative. We didn't have telephones in the house in those days (mid 1960's) and sadly there was no way to get in touch.
ReplyDeleteI married my second love and after nearly 50 happy
years together he's now in a care home with dementia. I miss him very much. I miss the being close to someone, being able to kiss and have a hug and the little things like a touch on the shoulder as he passed by, the many words of endearment.
Lately my thoughts have gone to my first love, I wonder how he has fared in life, I hope he found love again. I wonder if he ever tried to find me. I have no way to find out about him, I have only his first name and the town he lived in then. I can no longer remember his last name.
I miss the feeling of being loved.
Understood x
DeleteI would say I have been in love three times. Though, I think the first was a bad choice. I think the second and third were better matches. None lasted.
ReplyDelete