In which my Saturday is lovely.

I took Raybo out last night. The woman raises three kids – and keeps a man – so she deserves the occasional late night out with the girls. Got home late. Really late. Like, three-thirty in the morning late.

Last night after (finally) folding all of my clean laundry, I took out my whites – the clothes I wear when seeing Amma every year – so that I’ll remember to wash and iron them soon.

And today, for fun, I wrapped one of my saris on over my jammies – sloppily – and took a picture for you. You, my babies!

Then I read Plainsong for awhile.

I wanted French food but I can’t afford to eat at Petit Paris so I went to the grocery store instead. I spent $18 on bread, brie, butter, milk, lettuce, tomatoes, and an avocado. And some POM tea.

Speaking of grocery stores, EconoFoods is going out of business, which leaves our little town of just-barely-ten-thousand with only two shopping choices: the giant chain, Hy-Vee, or the little chain, Everybody’s. (AmmZon started doing more shopping at Everybody’s recently and the household food bill was over six hundred bucks last month!) I work part-time; I went to Hy-Vee.

I know I’m supposed to, but honestly I don’t care about organic produce… not in my tax bracket. (I saw a blogger friend recently refer to Whole Foods as “Whole Paycheck.” Hah! Sing it, girl.) Now, I grok how food should be raised – I’m not stupid – and I admire the people who are doing it… But. Ultimately, as a consumer living well below the poverty line, I don’t give a shit if there’s a few chemicals in my lettuce. I absorb chemicals every time I bathe in city water or slather my skin with product. Not to mention that the majority of organic foods are overpriced and less attractive, and as any kid who has ever had a garden knows, forcing produce – by milk-feeding pumpkins, for instance – is not always a horrible thing.

When I returned home, I made a lovely creamy veggie chowder (potatoes, peas, corn, and carrots) and a brie sandwich. Yes, the bread is Italian, but what do you expect? You think I can just go out and buy French bread whenever I want? I live in BFE, people!

Which causes me to wonder, why Egypt? I realize the scansion requires a two-syllable place name – after all, “Bum Fuck Katmandu” wouldn’t roll off the tongue satisfactorily – but Egypt isn’t particularly obscure. Everyone’s heard of Egypt. Why not someplace truly off the map, like, oh, I don’t know… someplace I’ve never heard of? (I have high expectations of military slang ever since FUBAR and SNAFU, don’t you know.)

Later I went to the bar with my roommates to visit with two old friends from out of town. AmmZon had spent the afternoon working in the garden over at her aunt’s house, and suddenly came down with heat exhaustion. I boxed up the food she’d ordered and drove her home, where she immediately passed out on the couch under a blanket.

Truck came home an hour later. They nagged at each other; they do that. It drives me batshit, even though they’re always apologizing for it. Eventually they went upstairs to bed. When she came down later, I finished making the cup of tea she’d started. She wanted some Gatorade, which I said I’d run for, but now I think she’s asleep and the closest gas station is closed by now.

It’s Saturday night, it’s late, and I’m poor. And besides, no need to go out when I have 400 Mb (and counting – I’m still downloading!) of new music – Ben Folds Five, Sneaker Pimps, Amon Tobin, Les Claypool, Tower Of Power, Groove Armada – from my brother! I think I’ll head to bed myself and listen to my iPod. Yum.

In which there’s a little northern Indian food festival in the kitchen!

Last night, I cooked.

A lot.

Rajma masala, cumin rice, and curried spinach to be exact!

I’d never made rajma before, so I googled a few recipes, read them carefully, and then went ahead and cooked. The outcome was stunning, if I do say so myself! I think I’ve made my peace with eastern spicing; if I’ve eaten a dish once I can replicate it later.

For the cumin rice I followed a recipe, but was out of butter by then so I used oil instead. It worked fine. (I keep forgetting to buy ghee.)

The curried spinach was simple and I made it up on the spot: skillet, oil, diced onions, minced garlic. Some garam masala, some cumin, some tumeric, a bit of curry powder. Salt. Tossed in a bag of frozen spinach and sauteed until hot through.

I made a massive amount of food, wholly intending to take some to work with me today for lunch. But when I got up this morning, there was only a little rice left.

So there is a downside to being a great cook: no leftovers!

In other news, BGhead is in town and smitten with the On Relationships series. He threatens to post, even! If any of you are feeling at all drawn to the idea, please do join in. The two posts we’ve had so far were wonderful; I know you’re out there.