July 2023 Claire

 
         Here is what I have been up to lately. Mostly work with adventures to new restaurants on the
         weekend. I've been wanting to go to the beach but the weather hasn't been 
         very accommodating lately! 

         We went to a Korean restaurant and had a seafood pancake - think tempura but in pancake
         form. We also had a soup that I remember having when we visited Korea several years ago. 
         The base of the broth is liquid from pickled radishes. They freeze some of the broth so it
         is icy cold and served with buckwheat noodles, beef, cucumber, and pear. It is sour, sweet,
         and savory and was perfect for the heatwave. We knew it was going to be a good meal when 
         the waitress said "good choice!"

         We have also been getting a lot of central Asian foods. We went to an Azerbaijani 
         restaurant and had a soup with tiny lamb dumplings in it. I didn't get a good picture 
         but the main course was onions, potatoes, chopped lamp liver, kidney, and heart, and 
         was very delicious. 

         We went to a Uyghur restaurant and had laghman, which is a noodle dish with lamb and
          egg, and lamb dumplings. I was taking pictures of the food and then I asked Buster to 
         take a picture of me. The women sitting at the next table saw and offered to take a 
         picture of us. They asked in Russian and were surprised we didn't understand so I guess 
         we looked Russian! 

         Often when we go to this part of Brooklyn to eat we stop by at our favorite Uzbek grocery
         store before we leave. They have an enormous prepared foods section and we always find
         something exciting. Recently we tried the "men's ideal" cake. I don't know what makes it
         ideal for men in particular but it was very good.

         At work I have been working with diamonds and also branching out into some new stones. I
         have been working with opals, which are tricky because they are very delicate. Today I made
         rings with iolite and garnet. The iolite was enormous compared to what I usually work with!