Official Hiatus

All right, after several unofficial hiatuses I will now declare an official 1-month hiatus. In addition to working again (seriously, how to people have the energy to work, enjoy life AND blog about food? Still working on proper scheduling) Seth and I are apartment-hunting and my mind is not on food. My dinner tonight was chips, salsa and sour cream; the thought necessary to even mix the salsa and sour cream together stressed my brain enough to convince me a break was needed.

Once we are settled in our new place (hopefully in a month!) Cooking the Globe will be back, good as new - or maybe even better!

And NaBloPoMo Is Finally Over!

Thank god, because I am exhausted. I love cooking but weeks of experimenting with new recipes - plus taking pictures of everything - takes its toll on body and mind. You can tell by looking at the posts from this last week: three didn't have recipes at all and now this one. I have a new burn (thanks birthday tart!) and new cupcake tins (thanks Ryan!), plus new confidence in adjusting some Indian recipes. I have several recipes that didn't make the cut for the blog (Rogan Josh (a lamb curry), I am particularly looking at you) and possibly not even for my stomach. I am a year older by a coincidence of timing, though this daily exercise might also hold some blame. I look forward to taking more time with my posts, my pictures, hell, my choice of recipes and browsing the blogs of other foodies. But most of all I look forward to a bit of break: I fly to the States this evening to see my sisters and their families for the first time in over a year and a half. Woo! See you soon.

On Eggplants

I have this large eggplant in my refrigerator and am not sure if I want to eat it. See, I have always hated eggplant - despised it, actually. It was one of those vegetable my father grew in the garden for god-only-knows what reason, considering no one in the house liked them much, and on occasion he would cut one up and deep-fry it like his mother used to and which only he would eat, trying to convince us (and maybe himself) how good it tasted. Images of greasy sticks o' nastiness are seared in my memory. Not surprisingly, eggplants were high on the list of garden giveaways and I believe Dad silently rejoiced when my sister began dating (and eventually married) a vegetarian; whether my brother-in-law rejoiced over twenty pounds of eggplant every summer is another matter. And it wasn't just that I couldn't stand to eat aubergines - I couldn't even watch people eat them. I was out to dinner with a vegetarian friend and he ordered some dish that came out stacked between two grotesquely large slabs of grilled eggplant, which he loves and subsequently attacked with his fork; I silently gagged. To be clear: eggplants = epitome of gross.

And a Happy Thanksgiving to you

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving; I certainly did, though I was ready to call it quits around 4:30pm. Cooking all day, plus the previous day, had me fading fast and desperately wishing for fortification via a glass of strong red wine. As that wasn't coming any time soon I opted for a quick lie down, which is where Seth found when he came home of couple of hours later. What? Cooking is exhausting. No worries, though, as most everything was already finished by that point: braised turkey seasoned with allspice, cloves, cinnamon, star anise and black peppercorns; a delicious syrupy reduction of the braising liquid; garlic mashed potatoes; butternut squash and chickpea salad; fresh cranberry sauce; and a simple, yet necessary, green salad. Oh, and the stuffed grape leaves, of course.

I was going to bake a loaf of challah bread but decided instead to make rolls out of the dough. They turned out so pretty that I actually pet one - and then ate it. Despite having largely given up bread and knowing that my gluten intolerance would kick in anyway, I had another at dinner and one for breakfast today. I am powerless to their siren call.

Thanksgivings Past

Also known as my Thanksgivings in Uganda.

A Digression

This is Argh Meow. Sorry for the fuzzy picture but she doesn't sit still much. She is a lovable stray living around our apartment complex whose names derives from a squinty eye, much like a pirate in the midst of muttering, "Arrrggghh." Our neighbors, Phil and April, and I take care of her because she is so incredibly sweet. For the past few months we had suspected she was pregnant (and had subsequently given birth) and yesterday we were proven correct when she brought her two kittens around to show off. They were adorable. Argh was drunk on pride and affection, practically falling over herself to rub against us. However, one of the toms around the apartment complex did not like the kittens. Last night, despite Phil and April's desperate effort, the tom got a hold of and destroyed one of the kittens. Tonight, despite effort on my and Seth's part, the second kitten went. Suffice it to say I am not in the mood to post a new recipe; rather, I am ready for that tom to meet his demise.

Happy Saturday and I'll have something for you tomorrow.

An Indian Feast

Aloo Chat

Radish Salad

Spinach Kofta in Yogurt Sauce

Snake Gourd with Yogurt

Sad Farewell and Some Sushi

As you might guess from my last few posts, I have slacked off a bit: I had to play catch-up, posting my recipes the same night I made them (instead of the morning after, which is much less time-sensitive) and I also lose my taste for food and cooking while my cycle is underway. But now, the cooking fiend in me has returned and what to cook all of my recipes for the week today, right now, instant deliciousness in my belly. Guess what? We're going out to dinner tonight. Our friends Rachel and Mana have decided to say good-bye to Kuwait and return to their beloved Hawaii (weird, right? Why would anyway choose Hawaii over Kuwait?) and we are having one last night together. It will be sad, doubly for me, because I have to wait one more day before I can make the pork noodle soup I've been eyeing. God, my life is hard. And non-alcoholic beer is so not worth it.

Tortilla Chips and Nachos

 

Damn, NaBloPoMo is demanding! Sometimes I don't cook anything amazing or at all and that leave me with nothing to share with you. Last night I made pizza and tonight is mac 'n' cheese, so here are some gratuitous pictures of homemade tortilla chips (if you don't do this, you must - they taste so much better!) and a pan of my chicken nachos, loosely based on The Pile from Hot's Cantina in Northridge, CA. Enjoy!

Camel

I will come out and say the obvious: one of the best aspects of living abroad is the myriad chances to taste new things. I love it. Sure, many of these "things" I will never try again (salt lassi, white ants, cooked goat's blood) but some surprise me and will happily pop into my mouth any time I come across them (grasshoppers and fried pig's ears, I'm lookin' at you!) Aside from insects and internal organs, however, there is a wide range of proteins that are simply difficult to find in the States - and probably Europe, for that matter. I'm thinking of the guinea pig Anthony Bordain ate in Peru; the dog (and dog penis) that my friend Solveigh saw (but didn't try; poop) on a menu in Cambodia; and my longed-for encounter with camel.

Oh, Hi There!

You surprised me.

Or perhaps I have surprised you, finally posting after a week's absence - and I haven't even been on vacation. What I have been doing is nesting. No! Not pregnant! Just when I ovulate I get the urge to cook and bake and bake and bake, while the actual thought of eating any of it nauseates me. I do have new recipes to post, which I will get to tomorrow, but I warn you: my lack of appetite apparently affects my budding photography skills, so the pictures may not due the food justice. Then again, while I obviously love Indian food, much of it does tend to be monochromatic. It's not completely my fault if I can't make subtle shades of brown look spectacular in florescent lighting!

Ok, sure, I was planning on posting a Kuwaiti recipe today; I even got as far as opening a new post on blogger. But I am currently reading The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Have you? It's a wonderful and fascinating book, able to keep me from doing almost anything today other than read. I love books like that. However, I promise to be back tomorrow with something to fill your belly instead of your mind.

Oh, and what is up with the new way to post pictures? Why is blogger flipping my vertical pictures?