It’s been a rough week in Minnesota. I’m pretty pissed off. Time for some nostalgic pho and Star Wars on VHS!
I was originally nervous about making pho because I thought it might be difficult to make but nope! It was simple enough!
The only thing not simple is making vegan beef-flavored broth. I started with a soup base of onion and ginger that I charred a bit on purpose. Added my Chinese 5 spice, mushrooms, julliened carrots, garlic, and scallion whites. Added water of course, then combined vegan “umami” seasoning, smoked paprika, balsamic vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, tamari, molasses, a little cumin, and a little oregano. Then we finally have a good vegan beef broth.
Then we add a whole lot more 5 spice and cayenne powder.
I cubed up some extra firm tofu and cooked on high in a pan with a couple tablespoons olive oil, salt, and pepper, until browned, a little crunchy, and chewy; kinda like beef.
Then we boil rice noodles in the soup before pouring the soup into a bowl. I added a pile of chewy tofu, a lime wedge, fresh green onions, cilantro, and mint, and then some bean sprouts. So the thing that mostly makes it pho for me is that ginger, Chinese 5 spice, and the fresh stuff.
When I was around thirteen my friend Nhu-y finally brought me home to eat pho. One thing Nhu-y and I had in common was being extremely angry children with an equally extreme sense of justice. 
Pho reminds me of cozy anger and nostalgia.
And I ordered a VHS adaptor to connect our old VHS to our smart tv because I started watching the Star Wars original trilogy last week only to realize I rarely ever watched the “special editions” and was much more comfortable with the originals the way they were to begin with. Trying to watch CGI in a 70s and 80s film is really irritating and honestly, I’m really angry that George Lucas would try to cover up all that gorgeous puppetry with awful graphics. And he won’t release the theatrical versions on dvd! So I bought my own 80s VHS copies. SO. THERE.
The thing I have always loved the most about Star Wars as a child (and adult, honestly) were the incredible old-school special affects. The ARTISTRY that went into those films!! They put so. Much. Effort. In. I’m sure most people on LC would agree that the craftsmanship of the paintings, models, puppetry, stop motion, etc, are the best parts of those movies! So much crafting was involved in the making of the original Star wars series. Amazing.
