working under the assumption that this could be the weekend where i give up my motorcycle for the season, i took the opportunity to run some long distance errands. after a bowl of cereal for lunch i went to the memorial drive trader joe's to buy some cheap wine (for cooking purposes). when i came back i took the bicycle to the post office to mail off frances' latest package. there wasn't as much stuff this time so i managed to fit the smaller box into a single basket (no need for bungee cords). i also filled out the customs form beforehand, saving me from having to do it at the post office.

in the afternoon i remixed my kimchee by dumping everything out into a single container and stuffing them back into jars. hopefully this will mix the still-unfermented topmost layer. the house smelled like fermented kimchee afterwards and even after washing my hands twice i could still smell it in my fingernails.

i made risotto again for dinner. the arborio rice came out a little bit hard. next time i should lower the heat (i was in a hurry to finish cooking so i heated on high). i added the frozen broccoli with 10 minutes left; better than last time but still not as vibrant. maybe i should steam the broccoli separately.

a storm arrives in the middle of the night and throughout most of thursday. in western massachusetts it's actually going to be snowing while it's mostly rain in greater boston. so it's not like it hasn't snowed this winter; it just hasn't snowed around here. sunday night looks to be obscenely cold with temperature inching towards single digits (that's without the wind chill factor). i'm hoping the winter gloves i ordered will get here sometime this week.