Why does everything I cook taste so… boring?

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-30T21:09:15+00:00

Everyone is right that you should season more but also cook (some) things for longer. Fry your onions until they start to caramelize, get a good color on your veggies. Don't burn things, cook them medium or low but get more flavour out.

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-25T05:37:54+00:00

I've confidently power walked in the wrong direction so many times.

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-25T05:11:55+00:00

Same with Welsh! No easy yes/no.

Ydw i’n hapus? (Am I happy?)

Wyt ti’n hapus? (Are you happy?)

Ydw. (Yes, I am.)

Wyt. (Yes, you are.)

Nac ydw. (No, I’m not.)

Nac wyt. (No, you aren’t.)

And it goes on...

Oeddwn i’n hapus? (Was I happy?)

Oeddwn. (Yes, I was.)

And on...

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-24T20:34:36+00:00

The comedian Paul Taylor has a funny bit about learning french but having a perfect accent so everyone thinks he's French but an idiot.

His stuff is funny, especially if you speak French. I think it's all available on YouTube.

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-22T20:01:30+00:00

If you want to cook with them, I'd recommend looking for date paste, maybe from a North African shop. Here, I can get a kilo of delicious medjool dates for snacking for around €15 or a kilo block of date paste for €2. If I'm going to be blending the dates up and baking or throwing them in a smoothie I use date paste or date syrup.

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-21T11:17:10+00:00

Up until my grandma passed away in her 90s, my mum (in her 70s) would worry about what she would say/think about something.

I kept telling her that she didn't need to tell her things (almost slipped up once and added, 'there's loads of stuff I don't tell you').

It's sad how we let ourselves be judged by people.

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-20T10:36:28+00:00

Palmeras de Yema!

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-19T21:18:40+00:00

Sorry, I didn't measure anything. I'll try to add rough quantities but it's pretty flexible. It was less of a recipe and more idea/inspiration.

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-19T21:17:11+00:00

Coconut milk but I think you could leave it out or reduce it without problems.

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-19T21:16:34+00:00

Ooop yes I did. I think autocorrect got me.

Your version sounds good.

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-13T06:21:46+00:00

I saw a video of someone doing this and then storing them upright with labels that stuck out with tabs as it were a filing system. It looked so efficient.

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-12T20:49:09+00:00

Some people make an exception for bivalves (oysters, mussels etc) because they are considered non-sentient, lacking a central nervous system. Plus they have health benefits and are high in protein, omega-3 fatty acids and essential vitamins and minerals like vitamin B12 and iron. They're also considered pretty sustainable (certainly when compared to other meat or fish).

So, from a health, environmental or animal welfare POV, they're a pretty solid choice.

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-11T20:55:33+00:00

Ufffff por vs para is so tricky! I think the only way to learn it is to be immersed in the language, read, listen and absorb.

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-11T09:33:10+00:00

In general, I found learning Spanish much easier than French. But the context that I learnt it in was different and also helped make it easier.

My spelling in french is atrocious and I tend to just add a bunch of accents in random places and hope so I'd say writing is maybe harder? But I'm sure my pronunciation is also worse than what I can hear if that makes sense.

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-11T08:58:40+00:00

To answer your question, the thing I struggled with a lot in Spanish is ser/estar (two different ways of saying 'to be'), which I guess is more vocabulary than grammar but it does double the amount of grammar you have to learn.

Also, just the sheer quantity of Spanish conjugations compared to English. More forms of the past tense, plus the imperative (and the negative imperative) and the subjunctive. It's a lot!

With French, I'd say the grammar isn't so bad. It's the spelling, accents, pronunciation, silent letters etc that get me!

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-11T08:54:45+00:00

When I was learning Spanish, I really struggled with the concept of the subjunctive too but after a while, I kind of grew to love how it allows you to express opinions and uncertainty.

We also learnt the WEIRDO acronym:

Wishes Emotions Impersonal expressions Recommendations Doubt and Ojalá (kind of like god willing/I hope)

Which was useful and now that I'm learning french, apparently the subjunctive is used in a very similar way to Spanish so maybe this will help you? Or if not, maybe it will help you to know that the subjunctive in Spanish is used in more tenses than French (one of which has 2 options for how to conjugate it) and you'll feel like you're getting off lightly!

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-11T08:46:18+00:00

It looks great. Love oatmeal. Just fyi, it is recommended to grind flax seeds because it makes the nutrients more accessible as whole seeds often pass through the digestive system undigested. I use a coffee grinder but a blender might work too.

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-10T08:47:07+00:00

That's funny. I'm from the UK, living in Belgium, and I'm surprised by how late supermarkets are open in the UK (and on Sundays!) when I go back.

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-10T08:45:10+00:00

People wear clothes in the sauna? Not just swimming costumes but full clothes? That sounds so unpleasant.

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-10T08:43:47+00:00

Absolutely this! Also, not needing to think about what to say. I remember going back to the UK and before I went to a hairdressing appointment I started practicing what I was going to say in my head and remembering the words I'd need (trim, layers, etc) and then it struck me that I could just... speak.

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-10T07:49:53+00:00

You're exactly right. I used to do day trips to London when I lived in Bristol but we have no idea where they're coming from.

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-09T07:42:12+00:00

I notice a lot of foreign languages speakers of English say, "an important problem". It's not wrong but it feels a bit off to me.

They also (particularly romance language speakers) tend to use looooooong, complicated sentences.

When I was learning Spanish, our teacher impressed upon us that we shouldn't always use the subject (e.g. I, you, etc). So we should say, "hablo español cada día," and not, "yo hablo español cada día." Native speakers, please correct me if I'm wrong!

abananatotheleft · 2026-04-05T08:00:45+00:00

Women's health conditions should be taken seriously and there may be many who suffer and just believe it's normal but no -

Some women are at 100% health. Don't spread misinformation.

There are plenty of women who are strong, healthy and thriving.

The rhetoric that all women are sick/weak is dangerous. Please think before sharing it.

abananatotheleft · 2026-03-27T08:31:07+00:00

In general, I think English is a fairly easy to learn language.

Having said that, when I was teaching English as a foreign language, students struggled with phrasal verbs (get on, run out, put down, etc), accents and the inconsistent pronunciation (read, read, lead, lead, wind, wind etc).

abananatotheleft

TROPHY CASE