I am so glad I stayed home last night. I watched a bit of news and was in bed by 8:30 pm. Didn’t get up until 7 am today, so the sleep was welcomed and needed. I was on my mission to find a cooler pack because I am not going to buy a cooler until I can find one of those things. I didn’t find a pack but at least found someone who knew that I was talking about. We both had a laugh that Canadians use these things daily and here in the tropics they are foreign items that that would make life so much easier. Apparently they use ice (if anything at all) to keep food cool during transportation. Anyway, he called a few other people and they deduced that I can get one but have to go to Johor Baru for that one. Now, another item added to my list for things I cannot find here. I also combed through the whole city to find some kind of a baby outfit so that I can get my batik lady to make an outfit for my new granddaughter. There is nothing here under size 2. And when I think of it, I have never seen a baby here (in public) under about 1 year. Those that are seem to be swaddled in layers of cloth tightly wrapped around them. Guess babies in Malaysia don’t wear clothing.
Other great finds today were a spray bottle (but I forget what I bought it for. I remembered I needed one but don’t recall why. A spray bottle of some natural mosquito spray (we will see how this works for me) and some kind of salve to ease the pain and itch from the crop of bites I got yesterday. Oh yes, and an interesting new floor mop. All that is sold here is those big string mops which I have not been able to master. This creation is modelled similarly but made of some synthetic strips of fibre. You slosh it in the pail of water and then pull down some tube-like thing over the strips and they get wrung out but are damp enough to wash the floor. Pathetic thing to be talking about here on a blog, but that is the sort of thing that feels like an accomplishment around here.
The lovely Econsave had some meat called ‘lamb’ in the freezer section. I decided to make an Irish stew out of it, as it cuts that I have never seen before, It makes me wonder what the heck they do with the good cuts of meat here. Even chicken pieces such as thighs are gnarly bony chucks with joints in the middle. What kind of chicken thigh has a joint in the centre of its thigh???? But I picked up carrots, okra, garlic, and a small potato. Found some pepper corns, and of course no grinder. Sure wish I had brought my Ikea grinder with me. Instead, I now own a lovely stone mortar and pestle. I don’t believe I have ever ‘needed’ one of these – was always something kind of fun to own, but not a necessity. My stew is bubbling and smelling quite lovely. A wonderful scent that is not laced with fiery spices and actually contains vegetables. OMG I just tasted it. What a heavenly brew I concocted. No film of oil sitting on top, no hot peppers to burn my belly, just comfort of home in a pot on an induction cooker. Yay me! This recipe will become useful as my culinary skills adapt to the new food supply. One of our guests this weekend asked for my gazpacho recipe. That is funny, it is clearly a modified version of the real thing, but she loved it. Drat, I forgot to buy more chick peas and sesame seeds. My hummus was a huge success and was gobbled up in an instant. I am way too lazy to go back to the store for the chick peas, so will save that for another day.
I cleverly brought my computer to the Rosemerah café to have a chat with Jenn but discovered their internet is down. So I will write this post and go home and attempted to upload it there. This was probably a boring post to many, but some of you may have enjoyed reading how I make do in Malaysia
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