Fortunately, not all our recent culinary undertakings have been quite so fraught. Witness the totally amazing nachos Ariel managed to conjure one day when I was feeling particularly homesick:
It took visiting four stores and the market (and this before we had wheels) but boy were they good! Salsa fresca, beans, veg, and cheddar that turns just a little brown and crunchy at the edges...mmm.... (The ubiquitous orange squash and the South African merlot aren't necessarily reminiscent of Boston meals, but you know what they say: when in Rome....)
On a slightly more "down-to-earth" note, there's my recent innovation in yogurt making:
Who needs a yogurtalator when the air is 100 F and there's all sorts of thermal mass lying around just waiting to be used? (For the record, the end result is edible but a bit on the runny side. May be down to too high a temperature, weak starter cultures, or perhaps a mismeasurement with the powdered milk.)
Finally, we dined in style on Sunday at the "Goodbrai Finn" barbecue. Finn Magill, fiddler extraordinaire, is headed back stateside to work on final production and distribution plans for an album telling the stories of people living with HIV he's producing with Malawian pop star Peter Mwanga. This was both a celebratory gathering (he and several of the other attendees had completed the Lilongwe half marathon that morning) and a bit of a send-off. (For those who don't know, in Malawi brai = bbq). Can you spot the veggie burgers? Once again we were spoilt for choice when it came to faux-meat (I swear there were more options in the Shoprite cooler than they stock anywhere but at the biggest Whole Foods in Boston). Our verdict: tasty!
Up with veges. Would one even dare to eat the meat?
ReplyDelete