Things is lookin up

Sunday evening a neighbor gave Gary a few Indian snacks with instructions to share with me, and he came over and did so, while we whined about being old. 

He is trying not to get back surgery, is living on pain pills, and is impressed with how well I've done. He is very worried about surgery, but was listening to how much better I'm doing than for ages. So we'll see.

Then Monday morning Mike the Craftsman came over to admire the kitchen and plan how to do the slider cabinet for me. He can use the carcase and adapt. 

He could build from scratch, but wants to save me money. Also the cabinet is in good shape. It's the design that isn't. And we already know it fits the space in all directions. 

And joy, back in a working kitchen, I was able to get my postponed tofu katsu. 

With stir fried green beans, scallions and garlic. I found another variation for the dipping sauce. Still using ketchup and apple cider vinegar, I used Worcestershire sauce instead of soy sauce. Really good and stepping up the heat factor a bit.

 

I'm addressing the kitchen window now and this is where we are so far.  This involved ironing, please be impressed, pun intended.

When the coleus plants come in, in the fall, they'll hang from those brackets, filling in the top half of the window.

The Freecycle items were picked up swiftly, both recipients very pleased with their finds.

More up on Monday, spare cream pitchers 

Left to right Danish pewter, Irish Belleek porcelain, unmarked Lenox china.  Lenox is located near here and a lot of older local people worked there. Sometimes small items left by the back door so to speak, so didn't go through the marking phase, but clearly recognizable as Lenox.

Deciding now what to take to Tuesday's knitting group, between cordage materials and embroidery.  Maybe both. 

Happy day everyone, especially August birthday people, some great birthdays this week. I hope you greeted e,  of Life in Progress? If not, I bet she and kitty Mercy won't mind belated wishes.

It's my flag too, dammit.

Indian food, genuine and other, Black Women's History Month, and Socks ahoy

 Last evening Gary came over to give me these

Still hot, from his neighbors on the other side. They're Indian food, and i can't remember the name, like soft fried doughnuts in shape, but very spicy. 

He tried one, decided they were more my taste,  brought them over, and I asked if he'd like a swap. Whereupon I whipped out of the freezer the container of brownies I'd saved for him until the next opportunity to give them -- I was thinking Valentine's for his grandchildren -- and he was totally happy with the exchange.

We also found that since yesterday my front hall ceiling light has died. It's an LED, can't replace the built-in bulbs, just the whole fixture. We're thinking of reverting to an old fashioned one where you can change the bulbs.

He's off Friday for the Superbowl, not that his team is in it, then a couple of weeks' moseying around Arizona and, if I know him, looking up old girlfriends! 

I'm like an honorary mom to him, so I'm not supposed to know that.. and we had a discussion of football teams, basketball teams and baseball teams. 

All I know about these sports is what I've heard from Handsome Son, so it stood me in good stead. Nice catch-up about neighbors,  dogs and other pressing news items.

Anyway he'll install a new light if I have it before he goes, otherwise it'll be a couple of weeks. Not a vital area, though, it can wait till I figure out what to do.

Since I'm waiting for the arrival of the roving to spin to get on with the current gloves, those needles are occupied, so I started a pair of socks on the smaller needles

This is that self patterning yarn. I do like doing toe-up socks, and, depending on when the roving shows up, I may send off this pair of socks plus the two finished pairs of gloves.

It's a very good feeling working with sock yarn on smaller needles, centering.

And here's a shout-out to black women for Black History Month, far too short a period, but anyway

About Indian food and Misfits, the hot deep fried thingies, if anyone knows the name please remind me, anyway they put me in the mood for spicy.

So today was a nice chicken curry over jasmine rice cooked with chopped walnuts. 

I used my homemade mix, Bill Veach's curry powder, and plenty of onions and garlic, finished with whole milk 

Enough for another dinner tomorrow. And very good too, though I didn't bother with fancy side dishes and I don't have any chutney, but never mind. It was Good Enough.

And for all the puzzlers most of whom seem to have been right on it, the nine letter word with GPL right in the middle was

GANGPLANK

Happy evening everyone, and I hope your day's been Good Enough.

Happy day in action

Yesterday doctor visit, with the Man Ray reproduction keeping me company while I wait 

And all happy results, weight right back where it spozed to be, agreement that being last sibling is hard, you're doing fine, go home now.

And bounty from Gary's garden cleanup

Green tomatoes are beautiful 

A walk filled with color and leaves blowing about

And later a gift of Indian snacks. 

Left, sweet ones, don't know the name, right, pakoras, deepfried spicy veggie clusters in chickpea flour.

Happy day everyone, enjoy your day however you can, different for everyone's experience and situation.

Ukraine will retake Kherson from Russian invaders any time now.

Diwali, the Hindu Feast of Lights is here aka camera kaput, words must step in

It seems that suddenly my old camera is not on speaking terms with Windows since the upgrade the other day. Why it waited till yesterday to have the fight is not clear, but anyway, I think it's been left behind by the march of upgrades.  I was on borrowed time for a few months, having downloaded against all advice from the mfr who wanted me to buy a new camera, a sort of upgrade, which wasn't supposed to work higher than Windows 7, and I have 8, so I guess I can't complain.

But I plan to anyway, can't talk without me pix!

So here's the text, and if I can get the pix I took out of a different camera, I will catch you up with them.  This is the modular approach to blogwriting.


My neighborhood has a lot of Indian families -- great place to get old, because they're so caring and friendly to older women, wonderful friends -- so the feast of lights, Diwali, which also celebrates Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, brings on all kinds of partying and food and decorated houses and art.

I texted good wishes to a few Indian friends today -- they're not all Hindu, but they tell me that doesn't stop anyone from celebrating a fun time -- and one of them stopped by with a warm plate of Diwali homemade snacks! 

Her house has a lot of strings of red lights, husband loves red, I know, and I bet he picked them, since he has to hang them. I have no idea what I'm eating, except that it's very very good.  The little square ones are sweet, I think, probably nuts and milk base, and the triangle crackers are hot and spicy probably cumin, who knows.  

Down the street  two little girls were out today making their sand art stencils for the festival, and I admired their work, but didn't take pix, because I worry about pix of kids showing up.  So I snook down this evening and took pix of their artworks, and the lights around their house.

At the other end of the block is neighbor Lakshmi, whose festival it probably is, and who decorates her house extravagantly with flowers in season and now with lights.

Great fun, even if you're not Indian.  Looking down my little street, I can count ten houses all decked out in lights for the festival.  As one friend says, I put them up for Diwali, then leave them for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, why not!

Every Kitchen Needs a Secret Weapon

And this is mine:

It's very spicy and hot, and I shake it over otherwise mild food. I just had a bunch of it sprinkled at the last minute over a potato and tomato salad, farm veggies, very good in themselves but after a bit you need something more lively going on.  Pink salt, freshground black pepper, puffick.

I'm given items like this continually by Indian generous friends who love that I love spicy!  they don't need to mild up foods before offering them to me. 

A couple of days ago, my friend from across the street came running over with fresh cooked food for supper: Indian street food! except made by her at home.  This is the sort of food you'd buy from a food vendor in the Indian street, and she makes lunches for her husband's colleagues, in Manhattan, now and then, since they all have the same dietary restrictions, very strictly vegetarian.

These were two sandwiches, split buns stuffed with potato and chickpea and various other very hot and spicy stuff.  She said ketchup would go well, and she was right.  Glass of red wine, probably not on her diet, also went well.  I had eaten them rapidly before thinking hm, shoulda made a pic of this.  

She also keeps me supplied with fresh curry leaves, which I use in all sorts of things where a lovely deep savory flavor is good. Not hot, though, despite what you might think from the name.