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15.036 Ggakdugi

katch4246

February 10

Cycle 15 - Item 36

10 (Sat) February 2024

Ggakdugi

3.5

by Aunt Teresa

at the cabin

-Changchon, Seowon, Hoengseong, Gangwon, Republic of Korea-

with the Family, maternal kin

As mentioned in the context of our Chuseok gathering last fall (see generally 14.267 Fire-Roasted Abalones), the spreads at family gatherings seem to be getting progressively simpler. For lunar new year last year, my mother prepared a fancy-ish Chinese-ish feast (see 14.072 Mushu Hanwoo (with handmade pancakes)). This year, just a fairly standard Korean meal.

This might be the first time ever that I didn't make a single contribution to the meal, not even to buy ingredients.

While JS and I are perfectly willing and able to take over, whether the meal be fancy or simple, Korean or otherwise, the problem is that my mother refuses to relinquish control. On previous occasions, she's told us to take the lead, but then insists on remaining in the kitchen to micromanage what we're doing ("No, use that pan."), and also to make her own dishes in the midst of our preparations ("Oh, I'm just trying to use up these ingredients before they go bad."). So the whole thing becomes a clusterfuck.

Patron Tequila Reposado (4.0): my favorite tequila of all time.

She's a control freak by nature, but getting worse with age. I believe that she's afraid of appearing frail and powerless, so she overcompensates. At the office, her meddling got to the point that I tendered my resignation (see generally 14.208 Tongdak), which I rescinded once she agreed to step back completely, at least as far as my work is concerned. Same thing with dinner, I'll step back until she's really ready to let it go, whenever that may be.