Ah, to be domestic!
Today is our day off. Well, mostly his day off, since I’m “off” every day. After dishes, I decided to tackle laundry since AliBobba is out of shirts and his work week starts back up again tomorrow. I also put the kidney beans back on the stove for an hour or so... to make sure they were well and cooked. I’m sure they could be cooked even more, but 5 hours is quite enough. I hope I’ve learned my lesson.
I thought the washing wouldn’t take long, since I seemed to be in a good flow. I started a little before 12pm, and was done by 2pm. It turns out that the soaping didn’t take long, but the rinsing did. And since I’m anal, the rinsing took extra long. I don’t want to have residual detergent and sulfides on his or my clothing. I used too much detergent once before, which resulted in an itchy rash.
I’ve decided to reward myself with breakfast/lunch. I’m having kidney beans and sangak, heated up on the gas burner (yay, I really can’t get over the fact that that’s how it’s heated, much like I can’t get over seeing all the ‘ayatollahs’ running around this town.) It makes sense. I remember wondering how people mustered the energy to go buy bread 3 times a day. I’m glad I asked Fatemeh, because she’s the one who told me they get a bunch and refrigerate it and then just heat it up in the microwave or on the heater.
The only pity is that the sangak dries out SO quickly. It’s so delicious. And I’m slow. Not a good combination, but it does make a good case for adding preservatives to everything. Mmmm, preservatives.
Anyway, the kidney beans aren’t half bad, despite the vague taste of burn. I prefer to think of it as smoked or charred or roasted. Think euphemistically. Anyway, good thing kidney beans have a fantastic taste all their own, otherwise I’m not sure what I’d do with all this beanage. Tossing it seems so wasteful. They do, in fact, taste more caramelized and similar to baked beans or maybe even chili-esque.
Here’re the fruits of my labors, including the sangak heating, the laundry, and the kidney beans.
Learning from my bean mishap, I soaked the dried garbanzos last night in lots of water and salt, and now I’ve put them on to boil at a very low heat. Let’s see how that works out.
I think it worked out alright. It took about 3 hours. I’m not sure if that sounds right or not to more experienced people, but that what it seems to be. They could be cooked even longer, but I’m thinking since I want to use them in different dishes, they’ll be cooked then also, so this is enough for now. They’re edible.
Albert (Khanum Elahi called Robert 'Albert' by mistake and the name stuck so we call him Albert sometimes) did some groceries for us tonight and I will try and make a Pakistani dessert called shahi tukra. It’s made from sliced bread. I don’t have *every* single thing I need, but what I have will do. I’ve been craving this dessert. Also, Ms. Z, with whom I conversed yesterday, sent over a bowl of candied sour cherries for us. Now I have two bowls from people, and I can’t send them back empty! I think I’ll do candy for Ms. Z’s bowl, as we haven’t given her candy yet, and I’ll have to think of something good for the Khanum’s bowl. Oh, the reason I mentioned the bowls in the first place was because I was thinking if the dessert turns out well enough, I might just send that over in the bowl.
I thought the washing wouldn’t take long, since I seemed to be in a good flow. I started a little before 12pm, and was done by 2pm. It turns out that the soaping didn’t take long, but the rinsing did. And since I’m anal, the rinsing took extra long. I don’t want to have residual detergent and sulfides on his or my clothing. I used too much detergent once before, which resulted in an itchy rash.
I’ve decided to reward myself with breakfast/lunch. I’m having kidney beans and sangak, heated up on the gas burner (yay, I really can’t get over the fact that that’s how it’s heated, much like I can’t get over seeing all the ‘ayatollahs’ running around this town.) It makes sense. I remember wondering how people mustered the energy to go buy bread 3 times a day. I’m glad I asked Fatemeh, because she’s the one who told me they get a bunch and refrigerate it and then just heat it up in the microwave or on the heater.
The only pity is that the sangak dries out SO quickly. It’s so delicious. And I’m slow. Not a good combination, but it does make a good case for adding preservatives to everything. Mmmm, preservatives.
Anyway, the kidney beans aren’t half bad, despite the vague taste of burn. I prefer to think of it as smoked or charred or roasted. Think euphemistically. Anyway, good thing kidney beans have a fantastic taste all their own, otherwise I’m not sure what I’d do with all this beanage. Tossing it seems so wasteful. They do, in fact, taste more caramelized and similar to baked beans or maybe even chili-esque.
Here’re the fruits of my labors, including the sangak heating, the laundry, and the kidney beans.
Learning from my bean mishap, I soaked the dried garbanzos last night in lots of water and salt, and now I’ve put them on to boil at a very low heat. Let’s see how that works out.
I think it worked out alright. It took about 3 hours. I’m not sure if that sounds right or not to more experienced people, but that what it seems to be. They could be cooked even longer, but I’m thinking since I want to use them in different dishes, they’ll be cooked then also, so this is enough for now. They’re edible.
Albert (Khanum Elahi called Robert 'Albert' by mistake and the name stuck so we call him Albert sometimes) did some groceries for us tonight and I will try and make a Pakistani dessert called shahi tukra. It’s made from sliced bread. I don’t have *every* single thing I need, but what I have will do. I’ve been craving this dessert. Also, Ms. Z, with whom I conversed yesterday, sent over a bowl of candied sour cherries for us. Now I have two bowls from people, and I can’t send them back empty! I think I’ll do candy for Ms. Z’s bowl, as we haven’t given her candy yet, and I’ll have to think of something good for the Khanum’s bowl. Oh, the reason I mentioned the bowls in the first place was because I was thinking if the dessert turns out well enough, I might just send that over in the bowl.
posted by Irfan Ali at 8:06 PM
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