Someone I knew had started a company selling one-way plane tickets to the incredibly inexpensive city of London, Ontario. "Retire to London!" was the rallying cry, and slowly the tiny city filled up with teachers, patchwork artists, dancers, coders, librarians-cum-booksellers enjoying their new leisure time.

Two-bedroom apartments rented for $10 a month and after dinner people sat on the stoop playing the guitar, and passers-by on the street joined in in the choruses. Mailmen were replaced with trained monkeys. Bicyclists outnumbered cars three to one.

You were there too, dear reader.

That year we had a white Christmas on the beach. Someone built a bonfire and we had this plate of hot stir-fried carrots, which was really fecking good, especially when we ate it right after fire-blackened marshmallows:

1 tbsp cooking oil
2 julienned carrots
generous amts. slivered ginger
1 heaping tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce

Heat the oil in a wide heavy pan. It should be good and hot. Throw in the carrots and the ginger and flip them around with your spatula vigorously, you know, all stir-fry like, till they have gone brown at the edges like the leaves in autumn at the beginning of their withering-phase.

Add the brown sugar and continue to stir-fry actively for another few minutes. Be brutal and ruthless in your quest for the holy grail of caramelization!

Now pour in the tablespoon of soy sauce, and keep stirring till it has boiled off. Take the pan off the heat and finish with a few drops of dark sesame oil and/or roasted sesame seeds. (Did I neglect to list the dark sesame oil and/or roasted sesame seeds? Well, you should always have some in your pantry in any case, dear reader.)