Working With Strange Equipment

Or: How to MacGyver a Pizza

So, I'm here in Antigua (the city in Guatemala, not the island chicks disappear from). And I'm in a hostel with a kitchen--you have no idea how happy I am about that.

Heck, I've been to the grocery store every day since I got here.

But, because it's not my kitchen, and because hostels don't always have everything you need, and because even supermarkets in Guatemala are a bit lacking in options... I've had to get inventive.

I wanted a pizza, you see. Which means measuring out ingredients, mixing up dough, magicking up toppings, and eventually cooking the whole thing.

Problems--

• No yeast--couldn't find it at the store, and even if I could it'd probably be both too big and too expensive.
• No measuring cups, spoons, w/e
• No oven rack
• No fake cheese
• No baking sheet.

So what did I do? Well, I've been magicking up pancakes for days, and they've turned out (mostly) fine.

It starts easy--pizza dough without yeast is a quickbread. That means using baking powder. The basic recipe is:

• 1 liquid ("milk" or water) for every
• 3 flour plus
• 1/2tsp baking powder
• dash of salt
• T +/- oil

In my attempt I used 1C flour and 1/3C water.

But without measuring cups, how did I get that? Well, it's kinda old fashioned, but if you use a "cup" (in this case a small juice cup) or jelly jar, you'll be close to a cup. And if you use the same one for everything, keeping the ratios, you'll get something that works.

Anyway, dry stuff in a bowl, mix until the b. powder is everywhere, no clumps. Add wet, mix until you can't anymore, then kneed a couple minutes until it's smooth. Don't over kneed, though, or it'll get tough and stuff.

Set that aside for a couple minutes to relax, and use that time to chop up your toppings. I used (bagged) refried black beans, 1/4 an onion, fried, and a sliced roma tomato.

Once that's all ready, stretch out the dough--if you have something you can use to roll it, go for it, I just pushed mine flat-ish. You want it about the same size as the bottom of your frying pan. The pan goes on the stove, lowest heat you can manage (works really well over flame, might need a diffuser plate under the pan on an electric stove). Maybe a light spritz of oil or butter if you insist. Then the disk of dough goes in the hot-ish pan.

Cook it about 5 minutes, or until the "bottom" is lightly browned and cooked, then flip, pull off the heat, and add the toppings to what was the bottom. Once it's topped, cover the pan and put it back over the flame. You want to heat the toppings and cook the dough all the way through without burning it.

Southern-type cooks, and those who still make biscuits from scratch might recognize the recipe/method. With soured or buttermilk instead of water and some "butter" in the pan, you can make stove-top biscuits the same way.

Then you can nom away. Oh, and if you make the dough solid enough, or have something to balance it on for a while until it firms up, you can use the same dough/ method to make pizza on the BBQ, if you don't feel like waiting for a real rise.

Tourist Food In Guatemala (pics)

As promised, though a bit late, food from yesterday, with bonus "cheap" quesadilla. I got two of the quesadillas, which ended up costing the same as the sammich (only no tip), and being about as filling. If I ate meat, I could have stuffed myself on 6 tacos for less money. Stupid cheap meat. Probably actually dog, anyway.

Anyway, sammich--

It was pretty yummy, and the view of the lake wasn't bad, either.

'Dillas--

Yay, food! Also, they've been doing some cool cooking here. I'll try to find out what's *actually* in the tamales they were making last week. I know there's rice, mashed potato, and chicken or beef in sauce all wrapped up in a banana leaf. But I don't know what's in the sauce. Or what was in the 4th pot....

Pub Food

There's a place down by one of the docks called Alegre Pub. They have food, cheap booze (sometimes), movies, and wifi. When the wifi at the hostel went out (again) I headed down there for lunch. Had to go get more cash from the magic money machine, anyway.

For 24Q I got a (rather sad) panini-style grilled cheese (with tomato and onion) and a scoop of coleslaw.

But to make the whole thing worth it, not only did the internet work, they had mustard. No one here has mustard. Sure, it was that crappy yellow french's stuff (crazy expensive down here), but still, it was there. And I put it on my sammich.

Then, on the way out the door, I got to hear all about this evening's happy hour special. Rum and coke for 4Q. Which is somewhere between 50 and 60 cents. Guess where I'm spending a couple hours this evening? Yep, that's right--at that bar.

Before then (in the next 3 hours or so) I need to finish up at least $20 worth of work, shower, and find a shirt that doesn't smell like I've been wearing it for a week. Oh, and digest that lunch a bit. White bread, cheese, and cabbage takes some serious work to digest, I'm slowly learning.

Photo of sammich tomorrow, promise.

Food Pyramid? Food Plate Guide? Magic Food Bowl-Thing?

I know this is old news, but I only just managed to wander over to the USDA site and see what they wanted me to eat and how.

Back forever ago (like, last month, give or take a couple weeks) there was the food pyramid. You ate the stuff on it, or tried to, or pretended to, though most peoples ended up looking like some kinda deformed hourglass-piles of "grain" and "meat", no veggies or fruit, and a top seriously over-packed with sugar and oil and salt (and whatever else they tossed up there that tastes good and is totally bad for you). Me, too--snacks are better than fruit!

So now they've got this new "plate" plan. Which looks like, s'prize! A plate. With a cup.

Which, if you eat a normal omni-kinda diet, or in an American diet kinda way, probably works. I like that they've changed "meat" to "protein", but they still call the calcium part of the meal "dairy" which is silly--calcium comes from places other than animals (like tofu and collard greens, yum).

It works for the SAD because each "type" of food gets a spot on the plate. Like those sectioned plates I like eating off of, each type of food has an area with an amount of space in it to fill. Fruit and veg gets half, with veg taking up about 2/3's of the side. Protein and grain gets the other half, with grains taking up the bigger chunk there. And "dairy", of course, off to the side.

When dinner is steak, potato, broccoli, and sliced tomatoes with baked spiced apples for desert, that works great. (Let me know if you can't figure out how to bake spicy apples--it's freakishly easy, only the timing really matters...)

When dinner is pizza, it gets a bit tougher. And if dinner is a tasty bowl of yumminess? Who knows how you're supposed to judge then. Don't even try to figure it out if your meal contains both calcium-rich veggies and beans (both fit in at least 2 categories).

So I thought I'd draw my own food map. Or two. I know not everyone prefers to eat out of a bowl.

The protein is probably a bit small, I admit. But the bowl shows about how I eat. When I'm stuffing my face on healthy stuff, I pretty much follow this--anyone who's followed along as I scarfed down bowl after bowl of fried rice should recognise the approximate design there. I just pile it all in, mix it up, and eat. Works best with things that should be eaten together, by the way--like pasta with super-veggie sauce and some pan-seared tofu.

Not so good for stuff that wants to stay separate--steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, and salad would look gross served this way. Stirfry? Tastiness.

For those of you who eat more "normal" food. If you played with this, it's probably a bit more than half veggies. Then some grain and "extras" and protein tacked on there in the bottom. The only time I really eat anything that would be broken down like this is if I'm eating left-overs, at a restaurant, or hard-core craving food that doesn't "bowl" well. Like sammiches. Oh, or if I have to eat with other people who think it's odd to fill a serving bowl with a day's worth of food and just re-heat as needed.

Now, I admit, this is in no way scientific. And it looks really nothing like their plate. But it works for me.

Also, I played around with the "meal plan" generator. It's... interesting. I'm underweight (BMI-wise, kinda) and a slug, so it gave me a choice of "maintain weight" or "slowly gain weight"--1800 or 2200 kcals a day.

Um... I'm averaging about 1900 a day right now and (pretty totally sedentary) I'm losing about a pound a month at this point. I think... Could be more. They didn't have an option for me to lose weight though. Looking at the suggestions (6oz protein, 7oz grain, 3c veg, 1.5-ish fruit) I can *see* that it's not enough. Sure, I'd feel full. 3 cups of veggies will do that to a girl. And I think that was the 2200 calorie choice. It's really not a lot of food. Actually, I'm not sure where they're getting their numbers from--7oz grain is 700cals, 6oz protein is maybe another 700, veggies are mostly calorie free... Was it all coming from dairy and fruit? That's crazy.

Anyway, just like the BSC food pyramid, I think the new plate system is screwed up. But maybe it'll help people who think a burger and fries is a balanced meal.

Nah, those people are lost forever.

4th of July Means BBQ!

Now, some stuff people barbecue is less expensive (um, hot dogs, loss-leader ground beef burgers) but most of it is pretty spendy. I'm sure, if I'd thought of it in advance, I could have asked Mom for her top cheap meat grilling tips, but I didn't.

Luckily, I already know her top "meaty" tip, which is cheap chicken. Not healthy, not good for the chickens, but you can get chicken quarters pretty much anywhere (um, in the US, anyway) for less than a dollar a pound. If you watch carefully and live in a cheap area you can scoop them up for 25 cents a pound (sometimes less).

So that's great, you've got chicken. But what if you don't like chicken, or like me you're veggie? Things get a bit more interesting here. You see, a BBQ or snazzy grill is not just for char-broiled hunks of animal. You can make *all kinds* of stuff on a grill. And today I'm gonna share a couple of those things with you ('cause veggie burgers and dogs *really* don't grill well).

1st! Grilled veggies-

This is probably the best, most flexible option. And if you have a garden (that doesn't get slaughtered by hail just before harvest every year) it's even nearly free. If you use veggies that can be sliced into slabs or wide-ish strips you don't need anything fancy, they can just go right on the grill. Smaller stuff (like cherry tom's, bits of broccoli,green onions, or (yum) Brussels sprouts) works best with a veggie grill pan. I *really* like the flavor eggplant gets when you peel, slice, oil, and salt it before tossing it over coals. You can also poke holes in a whole eggplant, brush oil over it, and grill it that way for a smaller clean-up, smokier Baba Ganoush(sp). Most veggies are great with just a spray or drizzle or brushing of oil/ salt. You can get grilled veggies at Whole Foods for something like $8 a pound, so doing your own is totally cheaper. Then you can put them together in sammiches.

Indeed, grilled eggplant, onion, zucchini on lightly toasted bread with either vegan or cow cheese melted into the top is one of my most favoritest sammiches ever.

You can also use the grill to make amazing salsa. There's a whole vegetarian grilling cookbook or two out there, and they're totally worth a look. They have them at libraries in Wyoming and South Carolina, so you should be able to get your hands on one *somewhere* for free.

Salsa!

Anyway, for amazing salsa, cut a white or red onion into slabs (so width-wise into rings through the center, not top to bottom), grab a couple fresh (homegrown or heirloom if possible) tomatoes, a chili or two, some green onion if you feel like it, maybe an ear of corn. Brush everything with oil (or toss in oil if you don't have a brush/ sprayer) and toss on the grill. Jalapenos might fall through the cracks, so maybe put them on a piece of foil or in a veggie pan. Grill everything until it's done--soft with dark/ crispy/ browned "skin" on the outside. They won't cook at the same speed, so don't expect that. Pull them as they finish, and toss them in a blender, food processor, or stick blender cup. Blend just enough to make a nice tasty dip/ sauce. It won't be chunky (oh, yeah, add corn at the end, for texture and stuff), but it's great for dipping veggies and other stuff.

Finally, Pizza.

I know, I know. Anyway, for pizza you just use a normal dough, though maybe a bit stiffer than usual--you want it to sit on top of the grating, not slip through it. If your dough is too soft, add a sheet of foil to the grill-top before adding your pizzas. You need all your toppings ready to go when you put your dough on--it only takes a couple minutes on the first side--just enough to get it started cooking.

Then you flip the dough, cover the top with whatever you want (those roasted veggies go great here), close the lid if you've got one (to melt "cheese"), and cook long enough for the dough to be done, crispy and browned on the bottom, and the toppings to be melted/ hot/ bubbly/ whatever they're supposed to be. Even on gas grills this gets some flavor, but it's really win on charcoal BBQ's.

And don't forget--a bbq is really just a way of adding heat. If you want soup or pasta with your other grilled stuff and don't feel like heating up the kitchen, just fill a pot (one without plastic handle, trust me on this one) with water or whatever, and toss it on there. Timing and temps might take a bit of practice, but it totally beats a hot kitchen, right?

Missed My Veggie-versary

My 8 year veggie-versary was last week sometime. I seem to have missed it.

The veggie thing was easy back home. Heck, other than the cook-it-all-yourself thing, even vegan is pretty easy back home. Here, though?

Without a kitchen I take what I can get. Sometimes that means quesadillas three times a day. Sometimes it means over-paying for Italian food. Sometimes it's eating a bucket of fruit and a bag of chips and hoping there's something available in the next town.

Honestly, it's pretty boring to be a veggie without a kitchen in Mexico. I'll probably last, but I don't know for sure. You wouldn't think it, but eating veggie is much more expensive in Mexico than eating meat. A big bowl of chicken soup is 25 pesos, enough veggies to make a meal cost about the same. A can of beans is 12 pesos, for the same price I'm halfway to a quarter of a chicken plus sides, salsa, and who knows what else.

The real problem, though, is that it all smells *so good*. I think about it. I really really do. I don't know that I could actually get meat to my mouth. It hasn't worked the two or three times I've tried in the last 8 years. The food always stops just short of my mouth as the gagging takes over.

I don't know, though... How long until I just can't face another quesadilla? How long until another boring bowl of beans and rice makes me gag too?

Meanwhile, I'm working on finding a way to feed myself that doesn't involve restaurants every day, or sammiches either. Ate about a dozen in the last week, and while the avocado, cheese, tomato, onion and mustard is a good sammich, it too gets dull after a while. Ideas?

Magic Leftover Concoctions

I'm getting ready to leave the Mystery Island. Actually, I'm leaving in about two hours. So yesterday a shiny new friend and I worked our way through the leftovers. You know, those bits and pieces that you didn't quite manage to finish before the end of your vacation, or the stuff sitting in the back of the fridge when you don't want to shop.

Between the two of us we had a rather interesting collection of stuff. We talked about making tacos, but with only 5 (small) tortillas and a bunch of stuff to put in/ on them it just wasn't going to work. Luckily, though, we had (most of) a couple bags of tortilla chips, close to a pound of queso oaxaca, some veggies and the dregs of a jar of salsa. Nachos, right? And black beans, extra cheese, and warm tortillas on the side.

No microwave, though.

See, this is where travel makes things interesting. Cooking in Mexico is done on gas. Electric is just too expensive, so everyone uses gas ranges and whatnot. But they use bottled gas, which can run out, so no constant pilot light. Which means you have to light the stove every time you use it. And the oven as well, oddly enough....

So we put together our nachos, all ready to melt in the oven. Then we realized we didn't know how to *light* the oven. The little switch that would spark and light the gas (if the stove were plugged in...) didn't do anything. So we pulled out the long, empty lighter-gun-thing and tried to light the gas with that. Empty, because you don't need the flame, just the spark. It didn't work, though.

So I went down and asked. And got laughed at. And went back to the kitchen and tried again. Turns out I was trying to light the wrong part of the "flame making tube thing". Oops. So anyway, yeah.

Then there was dinner. About 4 weeks ago I picked up a bottle of wine. A bottle of *bad* wine. No, like really, really bad. It tasted worse the more you ate... So I put it in pasta. I had some sauce left. My cooking partner had pasta, and we both had some veggies left. We picked up a can of beans, some soda and a loaf of fresh bread.

The lady at the "grocery store" laughs at us, btw, 'cause we're in there at least twice a day each. It took two trips to get beans and soda. In twenty minutes.

Anyway, everything (except the lentils, which have been donated...) went in the pot while the pasta cooked. It was actually pretty good. If I can remember what exactly we really used, I'll put it up. It just looked like strange chili, actually, but it was tasty.

I guess the whole point here is that you can make *something* with what you've got, if you've got something to begin with. It might not always turn out perfect, it might not taste great. It'll feed you, though, and keep you from a third trip to the store.

New Site


I'm trying to keep the stuff here food related. I don't know how well cheap traveler food helps anyone, but I like having a place with mostly food. So I'm starting a new blog (slowly) elsewhere.

It's got a photo or three, and a post or two, and I'm trying working on making it pretty and useful. If you're interested in travel/ life stuff, I think the majority of my energy will be moving over there for now. So I'm not abandoning you, just changing my main focus... a lot.

You can find my shiny new blog at lazyjayn.com. Maybe I'll see you over there. Now, I have to go pack up my filthy, dirty clothes and catch a ferry.

Food Cost of "Luxury" and A Magic Kitchen Toy

I spent close to 200 pesos yesterday. About half was just trying to break a 500 peso note- not easy here. The rest was on (overpriced) water, a soda, and more than my share for communal dinner last night.

Which sounds bad. Actually, if "more than my share" of dinner was more than 15 pesos I might be more upset, but it was only about 25 pesos, and dinner fed 9 people for about 10 pesos each, so it's not that big a deal (spaghetti alfredo, if you're wondering- and yes, I think cream *is* cheaper here).

But that's not luxury, unless you're on some kind of low-fat diet. For me it was more of a hell (please let my abdomen like this, please oh please, etc), but it tasted good.

No, luxury was cheese and white bread, and a tiny tub of Nutella for us$3.75 or so. Oh, and an avocado, but who counts those anyway. Nutella is magic stuff, by the way. Chocolate-y and melty, and "healthy" and good for breakfast. Not my usual speed, but still pretty good. Worth $3.75 (m$45), I think- when you consider it had to come all the way from Cancun, and from somewhere else before then, it's a pretty good price. But, yeah, total luxury. I'd probably be better off eating potato tacos again.

Kitchen Toy of Magic Shiny-ness

In the hostel kitchen (actually, in many hostel kitchens) they have something called a toasted sandwich maker. They never really caught on in the States, but they're crazy popular pretty much everywhere else. In New Zealand ads for flat-shares would include the toasted sandwich maker on the list of basic mod-cons. Somehow I managed never to use one.

Until yesterday.

Yesterday when I came back with my Bimbo bread and cheese and tomato and onion, I decided to be brave. I decided to use the toasted sandwich maker. ZOMG, it's easy. It's fast. I has a new kitchen love. If/ when I ever have a really for reals home, I am totally putting one in the kitchen there. Maybe even before I add a wok.

It smooshed the bread, and half-sliced it, and melted the cheese, and softened the tomatoes, and toasted the outsides, and I'm sure if I'd thought to spread margarine on the outside it would have even made it better. And it's totally non-stick inside, so I just wiped it out with a kitchen rag after I unplugged it. I has love.

Then I used it again for breakfast. You know how Nutella gets all melty when it's hot? And kinda runny, and just somehow better? Yep, I spread that stuff on (more Bimbo brand) bread, slapped it in the hot sammich maker, and kept the lid shut just long enough to melt the insides and toast the outsides. I bet it'd be even better with the magical speculoos spread (for people who fly Delta, it's a spread made from the same type of cookie as the cinnamony Biscoff cookies they give out). Or, you know, both.

Um, so... yeah, not really a good day for budget eating, but sometimes a bit of "luxury" at home can keep you from wandering over to the pizza place or expensive restaurant, right? Maybe?

It's ALIVE!!!111one

Hostel BBQ Dinner

It's been a crazy week here- windy and cold (er, 70?), with some rain even. I've spent most of it bundled up under my (1) blanket here at the hostel on the mystery island. In bed, actually, where there is no wifi reception.

And I totally admit to having no food photos either.

Not because I don't like taking photos, though it's really not my *most favoritest* thing to do.

Mostly because I don't like having to remember to fetch my camera from the locker, keep it in my pocket, not crunch or drench it while cooking, and only *then* snap pics of what I'm eating.

Mango, the (8 month old) hostel dog

Also, I'm not so big on the going through the photos, picking out the ones that should ever see the light of day, and deleting the rest.

Iguanas, Hangin' Out

I've been eating lazy food, anyway. I've fallen into a rut. I have quesadillas with black beans and queso Oaxaca (when the entire island isn't out of it), potato-cabbage taco-things, black bean "chili" in tortillas, on rice, mixed with pasta. I nom pasta with veggies and tomato sauce.

Yeah, I think that's everything. There's other stuff to eat here, I just don't eat it. Heck, even if I ate animals I'm pretty sure I'd steer clear of lobster pizza. I just don't see how it could turn out good, ya know?

Part of a (hopefully) dead horse(?). Part of a scapula or pelvis, I think. There were other "horse parts" scattered around.
Old, weathered bone really only *kinda* looks like wood.

I actually realized earlier today (while making pasta for breakfast...) that I haven't made stir-fry. And one of the other people here (going home) even left me their tiny bottle of soy sauce.

Day 354- Roasted Veggies

Roasted veggies are just about my favorite thing to eat. Somehow just about all of them get better when tossed with oil and salt and tossed in the oven for a while. Yesterday I got to go to the Vegetable Bin, so picked up some (super nummy) veggies- Brussels sprouts, small red potatoes, a huge beet, a head of garlic.

All that, plus a carrot or two and some onion ended up in the oven last night.

Just about all veggies can be roasted. You could probably even do cabbage, but I don't know why anyone would want to.... It's just a question of how long they take to cook, and any weird stuff you need to keep in mind.

Normally I just stick with root veggies. They all take about the same amount of time to roast (an hour or so @ 400*, at sea level), they are tasty, and they're (mostly) cheap. For argument's sake root veggies are (to me) any veggies that grow underground. Just chunk them to about 1"square pieces (give or take), shove them in a bowl, drizzle oil and salt over them, and mix. Unless you want everything to turn pink, beets should get chopped, mixed, and roasted alone- either in a different pan or off to one side of the main one.

Yesterday I had brussels sprouts too, though. They don't need to cook as long, so I tossed them on after the rest of the veggies had cooked for about 40 minutes. I also stirred the beets into the main mix at the same time. I usually flake the onion and use it to line my baking dish- potatoes stick, but onions mostly don't.

The roasted veggies freeze really well- just dump them in a baggie or container and freeze until you need them. I like to have a bag of them in my freezer so I can mix up a "fast" chowder-type soup. Just make a white sauce, toss the veggies in, and simmer until they're heated through. You can microwave them if you want to eat even faster.

White sauce:

• 1T oil (butter, margerine)
• 1T corn starch (flour, arrowroot?)
• "milk" (soy, oat, cow, goat, w/e)
• salt or other spices to taste

Put the fat in a pot, mix in the corn starch or flour. You can brown it a bit if you really want to, but you shouldn't need to. Add "milk" slowly, stirring or whisking the whole time. You should be able to add a whole bunch without the sauce getting too runny if you add it slow enough. Try not to let it get totally solid, though- that's a mess to fix. You probably want to spice it *after* you add the roast veggies (since they should be salted already...)

You can also use the (kinda spendy, I admit) white sauce as a base for any chowder you can think up, or to melt cheese into for mac and cheese or broccoli cheese soup. Just make sure you cook the starch and don't burn the "milk". Either one would taste kinda gross. Oh, and for you fancy cooking-types, yes, it's just a roux.

Other Food And Dog Stuff

I gave in to the call of the wild ramen yesterday. Just happened past the nissen brand ramen, and had to pick up a couple packets. 17 cents each, and all the msg my junkfood loving heart could desire. Not as tasty as when I doctor it, but still kinda nice every once in a while.

The dog has been kinda tortured lately. Mom has a different kind of chest harness that's supposed to limit pulling. We put it on Bear and he stood perfectly still for about 3 minutes before walking (picking his feet *way* up) over to the door. After we took it back off he sniffed after it for a good ten minutes. Also, I think I've finally got him to accept that *everyone* with their head at his level doesn't want to be licked to death. I actually *sat on the floor* for about 40 minutes and he only licked me twice. Of course, he tried to climb into my lap, but, well... baby steps?

I've got some pictures of Bear at the beach, I just have to get them of a (slightly malfunctioning) camera. Next week?

Day 353- Plans, Food, and Bafftime

I've got a plan. No man or can, tho, so no strange processed food concoctions. When (if?) my renewed passport ever makes it back from the snowed in north, I'm off to work, nom, and travel in Mexico. There will be many tacos de papas, oodles of frijoles, and probably even some veggies. I'll still put food with recipes and (guestimated) prices for cooking them up here, but will probably move most of my blogging to a shiny new blog.

I like shiny new stuff, I can't help it.

Food yesterday was fun. I magic'd up some open face sandwiches. 5 of them. They were on french bread, though, so it's not as much as it sounds like. I also made "chicken" burritos. The same stuff went in both (mostly) and I could probably eat some variation on this stuff every day.

So the sandwiches were:

• sliced, toasted french bread
• sliced tomato
• sliced avocado
• sliced (vegan) feta
• lime juice
• salt and pepper

They're more filling with hummus, but I couldn't find it (at the healthy food store...) so no hummus. I *was* going to put some onion on it too, but kept forgetting. It happens.

For the burritos, I used all that stuff (well, swap tortillas for bread...) and some roasted gardein 7 grain (vegan) chicken tenders. They taste (to me, who hasn't had chicken in.. um... 8? 7? years) like chicken tenders, but meat-eaters around me say they smell funny. It happens. So I baked the tenders (half the package, like 5) and sliced them and piled them into the tortillas, then tossed all the other stuff on top. Not super filling, but I didn't get dinner until after the symphony (don't ask...) and couldn't be bothered to make something bigger. Super tasty, though. Of course, that might just have been the avocado....

Now, Bafftime...

Bear the dog likes to get baths. A couple days ago I was in and out of Mom's house, and had to put Bear back in "lock-up"(he stays behind a baby gate in the bedroom area of Mom's place), and when I told him to go he hopped in the tub. He does it randomly. He also does it for bathtime.

He is *the* bath-lovin'est dog. So today was bath day at Mom's house. Bear jumped into the tub and sat down. He'd really *really* like it if Mom would fill the tub, give him bubbles, and let him play with tub toys, but I guess dog-spoiling only goes so far, even here. Instead he stands (or sits) while he gets sprayed down by the hand held shower head. He drinks the (warm) water that dribbles out of the faucet. He wags his tail, tilts his head, lolls his tongue, and smiles at everyone. In the bathtub. While being washed.

Well, he likes it right up until the bit where you try to wash his behind, or his tail. Or his head. Other than that, though, yes, please. He licked some of the soap off (she uses baby soap), and just kinda gooffed off with only one or two half-hearted escape attempts (his ears got wet). When it's all done, he gets dried off, and shakes. And shakes. And shakes.

The shake starts at his head (gotta make sure the ears get dry, and they take extra flopping...), inches into his body, and eventually works its way down to his butt and tail. After the rest of him has stopped shaking.

It's kinda like watching an earthquake. Nose, shoulders, torso, then as the head stops flopping the butt gets going- twice as fast and twice as long- before finishing at the tail. He probably shook 8 or 10 times, same way every time. Ears, body, butt, tail.

Then he escaped, rolled on his dog bed, and now smells like clean/dirty wet dog. Can't smell really clean, ya know- the bird hunting would go even more worse-er. Which would be bad, since he can't get close enough to do more than bark at them anyway.

Day 327- Lunch In The City

Hummus Sandwich at Alluette's Cafe

Yesterday I met Dad for lunch at Alluette's Cafe. They are just about the only place in Charleston (that doesn't serve fast food) that'll welcome vegans, veggies, and omni's with options for each.

This is actually my lunch - hummus sammich with slaw and a side of huge hand-cut, kinda battered fries. There were maybe a few too many grated carrots on it for me, but still, it was super yummy. I don't think the slaw was made with mayo, though it's been a while since I've had "normal" mayo, so I may be wrong. The sammich was super yummy, though, on sprouted bread. I'm pretty sure it's all local and organic, though without chasing down their producers and following the food from seed to table, who knows.

Hand-cut Organic Local Fries

Anyway, the sammich was yummy, the fries were great, and if I ever find myself in the near-hood again around lunch time (with money) I'll probably drop by.

Of course, I'll make sure my brake lights both work, first, so that I don't get pulled over and almost hurl right after lunch. Which reminds me, my driver's side brake light is out. The nice officer told me so. No ticket, just a warning and a piece of paper saying there was "public contact". I guess so they can prove they weren't just off napping somewhere? I dunno.

Anyway, I was most of the way home before I stopped shaking. I swear, I could get pulled over and handed flowers and a million dollars and it'd still freak me out. There's something about being stopped by people with guns and tazers and the ability to stick you in little locked rooms that just really doesn't work for me.

Oh well, at least this time my mouth behaved. Mostly.

Photos courtesy my Dad and his magic Wonder Phone.