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XP is too nice and tells me I should trash talk. I would, if I had something to point to as a point of pride.
As it stands, today's meal was decidedly nice again. It's fun to open up the freezer, see it stocked with things and have said owner of the freezer go 'I want it empty! Just keep cooking things!' Okay.... (hence finding shrimp, roe scallops and for tomorrow halibut!)
So, without further ado:
Roast pork, part II: I wasn't really sure what to do with a good pork shoulder but do what I did yesterday, only I added some cloves, crushed garlic, and vanilla extract. It came out really well again, since it had a great aroma that accented the salty/sweet interplay of the pork glaze.
Fried rice: Scrambled eggs, frozen peas, cooked/thawed before adding to the rice. Then throw in some slices of the roast pork (and what I stashed away from yesterday) and you end up with a Cantonese style fried rice. If you want to make it more authentic, add sliced shrimp (which I might just do tomorrow, as that also is in the fridge). Well, I could also find lap cheung (Chinese sausage that is a tiny sausage in the vein of jerky, dry-ish but rather fatty) and slice it up and add that too, but I prefer using char siew as it is.
Zames tries to make soup: Chicken broth, water, and the shrimp shells from my minced shrimp project yesterday to boil, then strain the shells out to get a slightly sea flavor. Then add a sliced soup carrot, dried longans and a green onion split into two, and boil those down as well to add sweetness and a bit of tang to the broth. Strain said things out (save the soup carrot, throw the onion), and throw in pork bones (there seems to be an excess of pork in the freezer) to boil. Add a bit of light soy sauce whilst it is cooking. Cut up some wintermelon and add to the mix, let simmer until the pork has cooked through and is tender. Remove the pork, then add the soup carrot (peeled and sliced into cubes), firm tofu, enoki mushrooms, and cook for a few minutes. Serve atop of a bed of fresh pea shoots and bean sprouts; top with some green onions. A consomme-ish dish, with a side of pork on the side... very homestyle Chinese and quite tasty. The broth had sweetness from the carrots, depth from the shrimp shells/pork/chicken broth, a bit of a fruity taste from the longans, saltiness from the soy sauce, soft texture from the tofu and carrots, and crisp fresh green flavors from the lightly cooked pea shoots and bean sprouts. If I felt like it, I could've added udon and made it into a full-out meal (with the boiled pork, seasoned with soy sauce and freshly sliced green onions to boot) but I had other things to come with it.
Serve with a side of cooked cauliflower and you have a balanced meal that takes about 30 minutes of actual cooking, a few hours of simmering! Tags: food
Current Mood:  content
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Okay, so, let's see. I need to describe what has happened in the past 3 months or so, but what are people most interested in reading about? Some things I can pick off the top of my head are (warning: if you say 'all', be prepared for a 50-100 page dissertation on Ghana) -Ghanaian music (like... http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=L85YF0pyPH0&feature=related - this is by a Ghanaian artist who incidentally was #1 in Kenya for 16 weeks. And yes, the lyrics make absolutely no sense; or such gems as http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=NIIDr0HlGeE which played *nonstop* once for *two hours* at a -funeral-, or how they have come up with hip-hop versions of Celine Dion covers or whatnot) -More description of Ghanaian blob-food, eating an animal which looks like a crossbreed between a mouse and wombat, ie http://www.tighana.com/images/Grasscutter-No11.jpg and -liking- it, or whatnot -My work, part I: a presidential dialogue on women's issues and all that development-related stuff I never really ever talk about -My work, part II: going to the rural villages to train people on human rights and having reactions ranging from 'You are the work of the devil' to 'Really? We're -not- supposed to beat up our wives and children?' -My work, part III: how I love -My work, part IV: my coworkers and how one of them has a story of the first time she went on an escalator: 'I didn't realize I was moving and then I fell over to one side; everyone in the mall stopped to look at me', plus some very entertaining stories about my other coworkers... -An election which was supposed to last one day, but stretched over 4 weeks, with my cynical and calm hostess and my employer freaking out and saying that it was going to lead to riots and whatnot -Christians who celebrate the Hajj and Muslims who celebrate Christmas -All the cool things I got in Ghana and the slow realization that my bargaining expertise from China had absolutely no value in Africa, where half of the point of bargaining is to insult the seller as much as is possible -Going around Ghana with my Canadian co-worker (Indian by nationality) and having various people hit on her, and her various crazy stories including three marriage proposals, policewomen pulling on her hair and eyelashes to make sure they're real, the many dreams about snakes she had whilst taking anti-malarials, being invited to some Miss Malaika (beauty queen) birthday and having more people fawn on her to the jealousy of the diva, being trapped in Togo with no money and going to a voodoo market and 'bargaining with spirits that overcharge', and having people offer her gold nuggets for $100 -Travelling to the Volta region and killing/cleaning a chicken with my own hands (maybe I beat xp for once in terms of cooking things), as well as how their mediations involve the mediator scolding people -Watching Korean dramas, Argentinian sitcoms and bad Spanish soap operas -Excessive Christianity and the 'stadium filled with people possessed with evil spirits' -Visiting the Ashanti Kingdom capital, Kumasi, and seeing many interesting things, including the Manhyia palace, Arts Centre, Kumasi Zoo (with its own... story), crater Lake Bosomtwi, and last but not least, the great divided highways in Kumasi and the unpaved dirt road with potholes that connects it to Accra -All the various cool art things I got to see in Ghana -Going to a Ghanaian wedding, and a Ghanaian funeral, and seeing how a funeral involves a dance party, a reception for 1000 people or so, and a church sermon where the pastor scolds the crowd attending for not donating enough -Being proposed to by mothers of girls and also being dragged dancing by a big fat African woman who proceeded to make me feel violated for the first time in my life -Being continually vexed by the Ghanaian interpretation of 'time' -Pictures of many various things and descriptors So, yeah, it could be a looooong set of descriptors if you don't tell me anything you want to restrict it to. And... FOR ALL OF YOU GOING TO VANCOUVER AND PL AN ON GOING TO THE MATTHEWS/SALDANHA BIR THDAY THING, or even those who aren't even going to Vancouver at all, -PLEASEEEEEE- help me narrow down that list! Me pachong (I beg you, in Twi)! Also - YOU GUYS, STOP BEING PANSIES AND TAKE KA TE'S GIFT MEME! YOU COULD STICK A STRAW I NTO AN ORANGE AND BAKE IT IN PLAYDOH AN D I WOULD BE HAPPY! Tags: ghana
Current Mood:  curious
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Hm. Now that I'm coming back to Canada I'm trying to figure out things. Important things, like where to have Jesse and Dion's birthday celebration on the Saturday evening *this* time. I guess I should just list my choices (from the top of my head) and have people consider them each and make comments. I *like* all of the restaurants listed, truth be known. C restaurant - www.crestaurant.com - expensive but the seafood is amazing. Hapa Izakaya - www.hapaizakaya.com - lots of fun and usually quite warm, intimate but active. Very interesting set of izakaya food. Been here four times so can vouch for consistent quality. Chambar - www.chambar.com - perhaps the best beer in Vancouver, a little pricy but the food is immaculate and well-presented. CinCin - www.cincin.net - an upper-class Italian restaurant but still hip and fun, and not at all like the "old person restaurant". Banana Leaf - www.bananaleaf-vancouver.com - well-priced Southeast Asian food - I've been here more times than I can count so I like it but do others? Lolita's - www.lolitasrestaurant.com - nice Mexican-esque food. Not as expensive as Baru and a little more kitschy but the seats are a *lot* more comfortable. Montri Thai - www.montri-thai.com - great Thai food and I love their deep-fried fish (I constantly fight with friends when I go there about who gets to eat the head!). Price is moderate and it's quieter and intimate. Been here many times as well and so I can vouch for consistent quality. Tomato - www.tomatofreshfoodcafe.com - mid-price and a neat place. Some Chinese Restaurant (Koon Bo, Sun Sui Wah, whatever-its-called at 41st and Arbutus) - an example is: www.sunsuiwah.com - well, if you want Chinese food I think Gab and I can provide a good intro to what it *really* is. Toshi - look it up on Google (the link doesn't like being posted here) - cheap to mid-price, great great sushi and Japanese food overall, the catch is that you *can't* reserve a table and have to line up. Plus, the restaurant is small. But it's a lovely spot. I intentionally excluded Indian because the Saldanhas make some of the best Indian food, period. I'd include Korean but I can't remember the names of any except the one that made me a soup with seafood and Spam in it (so no). Sure, we could go to En or Tojo's or Lumiere or something, too, but I think Gab is tired of En, Tojo's is far overrated and I don't even want to think about a Lumiere price tag. If people have a lot of Entertainment guide coupons, we could always go to Stonegrill or something likewise as well ( www.stonegrillvancouver.com). So, have at thee! Hopefully we can at least cut the list down some - this time I made the list so maybe Gab can pick. Tags: food
Current Location: Ghana!
Current Mood: curious
Current Music: Home - Daughtry
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Okay, so since I signed up for Kate's meme I have to try it as well.
To post directly from hers:
The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.
This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
- What I create will be just for you.
- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
- You will receive your item before the end of the year (or sooner).
- You will have no clue what the item is going to be. It could be a story or poetry. It could be a piece of handmade jewelry or an art doll. I may draw, paint, collage or knit something. I might bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
The catch? Oh, the catch is that you have to repost this meme and make and send out five surprises of your own.
Now, I can't knit things. What I can do is compose music (sort of), sing (really, really badly), which in itself could make for a very... interesting surprise. I *can* write, I can cook, I can paint, and I can make those cross-stitch Christmas ornaments that look like coasters (thank you fifth grade art class!).
So, if you are looking for a baked good, cooked food, a song, a really bad serenade, literature, semi-journalism, essay, painting, or something else I could come up with (of course, not of your choice!), just sign up. And don't forget to spread out the giving! Oh, if this only came out earlier I could've used my hostess's batik business and made one of my own... oh well *sigh*. But, we'll see... :D
Major thanks to Kate for the great idea!
Now, if I could only figure out how to make these entries private, but I screened the comments... sorry to those not on my friends list! But, well, maybe I'll be adventurous next year!
Tags: giftfrommeme
Current Location: Ghana!
Current Mood: creative
Current Music: Dunsin - Eye Adee Yie
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