Last night, I cooked tortillas for the first time. I must admit I used a packet mix, but it must be dead easy to do from scratch. They were great. Can't believe I waited 33 years to make them!
Tonight, I am making chickpea curry (a variation of this recipe, with kidney beans and potatoes added) and roti bread (continuing the instant bread theme). This video makes roti bread look ridiculously easy. We'll see!
Speaking of the soundtrack to my life, I distinctly remember the first time I heard Chris Knox's "Not Given Lightly". I was with my father, Terry. We were driving to the Crofton Downs supermarket to do our weekly shopping and this song came on. At the end, we looked at each other and said "That was a REALLY nice song". An absolutely clear-as-day memory from almost 20 years ago...
Chris always seems to be breaking guitar strings - I remember him re-stringing his guitar and making up little tunes as he did it.
I've been feeling like my life is a bit bland lately. Even though I live in Tokyo and go out a lot and am able to experience cool shopping and international type people, well...something is missing.
Then I realised in the car this morning what it was - no soundtrack. I haven't bought a CD or downloaded new music for years. The extent of my listening (dis)pleasure is usually YouTube videos and songs sung on American Idol. Lately, Rai and I have been listening to Lady Gaga, Pink and Adam Lambert while doing our weekly baking, and it is just not doing it for me. I need to get some new music and FAST, or these three years in Japan are going to afford no nostalgia value for me in the future whatsoever.
We attempted to make icecream in a bag today with this recipe. We didn't shake it for long enough, so it didn't quite freeze. We'll try again later.
What you'll need:
* 1 tablespoon sugar * 1/2 cup milk or half & half * 1/4 teaspoon vanilla * 6 tablespoons rock salt * 1 pint-size plastic food storage bag (e.g., Ziploc) * 1 gallon-size plastic food storage bag * Ice cubes
How to make it:
1. Fill the large bag half full of ice, and add the rock salt. Seal the bag. 2. Put milk, vanilla, and sugar into the small bag, and seal it. 3. Place the small bag inside the large one, and seal it again carefully. 4. Shake until the mixture is ice cream, which takes about 5 minutes. 5. Wipe off the top of the small bag, then open it carefully. Enjoy!
Tips:
A 1/2 cup milk will make about 1 scoop of ice cream, so double the recipe if you want more. But don't increase the proportions more that that -- a large amount might be too big for kids to pick-up because the ice itself is heavy.
There's a video here:
Rai and I recommend dancing to Lady Gaga while making this - adds something to the whole event, I think. A little class, perhaps?
It's lucky I missed these four gift fairs in Tokyo - I'm sure I would have been all over-inspired and not have been able to sleep for weeks with all the ideas going around my head :)
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