I met cousin Mara on Sunday for a huge catchup in Downtown! It was lovely to see her, because I usually only get to see her intermittently, and now, since I’m in the US for a quarter of the year, I have a good opportunity to talk with her more. Sunday therefore became a girl’s day out, whilst for Winston, it was his ‘me-time’ spent playing American football and playing Batman- Arkham Asylum.
Mara and I met in the afternoon, and Winston picked her up and dropped us off at the local mall. Our first destination within the mall was the food court, as I was a bit hungry, Mara hasn't eaten lunch yet, and it’s easier to have a good chat over food without the distractions of window shopping.
So, off to the food court we went! Mara bought an Indian meal, while I plumped for Chinese. One of the items she picked for her food box was chicken curry. I tried a bit of the curry sauce the chicken pieces were swimming in, and spicing here is lot different to that in the UK. There isn’t the same depth of flavour or hotness that you get with a UK Indian curry, but that might be because getting an Indian isn’t as popular as going for a Mexican or a Chinese. Mara really enjoyed her meal though, as you can see by the pic:
I also really enjoyed my meal, which consisted of Beijing Beef, Mushroom and Courgette stir-fried chicken, and half Chao mien and fried rice:
A weird thing happened just as we tucked into our food. This random guy just walked up to the table where we were sitting, and asked Mara what she was eating. Mara told him, but somehow, with a combination of questions and sentences on other topics, he managed to insinuate himself into our conversation which then became almost non-existent. He talked quite a lot, and to be polite, Mara and I answered his questions whilst exchanging quick glances of ‘Why can’t he go already?!’ at each other. Luckily, he didn’t catch those glances but it took a while for him to go away. Mara and I were halfway through eating our food by the time he left, because we spent more time masticating then talking. Once he did go, we both breathed sighs of relief, and were able to talk more and eat slower. I don’t mind when friends either Mara or I know interrupt a meal, but when it’s a random stranger, that person should be polite and aware enough of other people’s feelings to say and ask what they need to, get their answer, and then go if they can see the other people are busy catching up. If those other people give such a reply that the interrupter can tell they are receptive to him joining their conversation willingly, only then should the interrupter feel free to hang around.
Once Mara and I were done eating, we went window shopping. We popped into Victoria’s Secret to look at lingerie, and it was at that place I discovered the Disposable Hypoallergenic Panty! This panty is designed to allow the trying of underwear over it if you are unwilling to try the underwear over your own clothes, and really want to figure out how close a fit an item is! Luckily, I was wearing leggings that day, so I was able to try on some panties OVER MY OWN CLOTHES, but it makes you think and wonder…what other women have used only a disposable panty to try on the self-same panties you are trying on now?! Since the disposable panties have stretchy elastic sides, any person can use them to try on underwear, so logic dictates- if a person with an unusually large yoni wears them, won’t there be overhang (not contained within the disposable panty) rubbing against the underwear hence defeating the concept of hygiene? That’s why I think all underwear should be washed before wearing: http://www.thefrisky.com/2010-03-02/always-wash-new-underwear-before-wearing/
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| Front |
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| Back |
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| Note the elasticated sides- one size fits all! |
After window shopping, we wandered around Downtown, popping into a bar here and there for a nice large cocktail. We tried the Shipwreck in a bar called Rockin’ Baja (picture with the orange glasses) and the Ultimate Electric Lemonade in TGI Fridays’ (picture with the blue glass). Both had juices blended very well with their respective alcohols, thus creating a very palatable flavour.
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| Shipwreck Cocktails |
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| Ultimate Electric Lemonade |
Mara and I were sensible drinkers since there were only two of us, and we drank slowly and ate some food to offset any possible drunkenness caused by the strong cocktails. We ate inferno hot BUFFALO wings at TGI Fridays (four each), which were finger-lickin’ good, and when we got back to Winston's place, we each had a small bowl of brown rice arroz caldo to end our day.
Winston and I have been going through a big arroz caldo phase recently, with both of us eating loads due to me making two huge crockpots of it! It’s comforting to slurp during the rainy weather San Diego suffers in the winter months, and it’s so easy to make! If you use brown rice as we’ve been doing, the results are very nutritious. Here are a few pics of what I’ve made, along with various toppings:
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| TOPPING: Tiny Browned nuggets of Pork with finely chopped spring onion |
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| Freshly made Crockpot of Filipino Arroz Caldo with various toppings on the side- plain finely chopped spring onions; cooked mixed veg with garlic and oyster sauce; chopped hotdogs with chopped onion, ginger, and dill vinegar |
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| A bowl of Arroz Caldo with a mixture of all the toppings listed in the above picture- I like toppings even if meat is already in the arroz caldo! |
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| Congee with Cumin Chicken and Salsa Picante topping |
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| Congee with Minced mixed meat, mustard and carrot topping |
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| Congee with a simple topping of chopped spring onion |
I’ve made Filipino arroz caldo, and Chinese Congee. Both are rice porridges, but arroz caldo has chicken or other meat cooked with the rice and water, and congee only adds toppings like chicken once the rice and water has cooked down to a porridgy consistency. It takes 2-4 hours for rice to be overcooked enough to release its creamy starch into the water, so a crockpot (or slow cooker, as its known in the UK) is extremely handy, and I’m so glad Winston owns one! Such rice recipes are easy to find on the interwebs, but if you want to create it yourself with the recipe I prefer to use (I prefer choosing toppings to add to the cooked rice porridge), feel free to!
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup brown rice to 9 cups of water
Four cloves of chopped garlic
1 or two inches of thinly sliced ginger
2 stock cubes (chicken or vegetable)
1 to 2 tsp of patis (aka fish sauce) according to taste or ½ tsp salt
METHOD:
If you are using a slow cooker, just ensure the water is boiling before combining it with the rest of the ingredients in the slow cooker. Then leave it for 2-4 hours to cook until it becomes thick and creamy enough for your particular tastes.
If using a pot on the cooker, heat all the ingredients and water together until it is boiling, and then reduce and leave on a low heat for a couple of hours. Check how thick it is after that time. If the mixture isn’t thick enough for you, leave it on the cooker for a bit longer, but stir it quite regularly so the rice doesn’t get stuck to the bottom, and to allow you to check on its consistency. Once it reaches the consistency you like, take it off the heat, stick some in a bowl, add some toppings, and tuck in!
If you want to add chicken or some other meat to the rice and water concoction before you cook it into a porridge like state, cook the meat separately with a small to medium chopped onion (I love cooked onions so I use a large one) until the meat is browned and the onion translucent. If you are using chicken, I’d add about 8-10 wings, or a small whole chicken cut into pieces. The amount of meat you add depends on how much of a meat lover you are! Then add to the rice and water concoction and cook as usual.
SIMPLES!
Jen :)
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