Friday, November 4, 2011

The spice of life

I am going down to the boat today but not leaving the dock.  Her decks are being refinished with non-skid and new Awlgrip will be sprayed on her cabin top over the next couple of weeks.  So far, all has been sanded, faired, filled, masked,  and a coat of primer shot on the surface.

This is probably one of the most costly jobs to do on a boat.  I received three cost proposals, two of which were about $20,000.  The third proposal was from a fellow who doesn't work with a boat yard.  He has been written about in various sailing magazines for his work with Awlgrip, the paint that most people use on boats.  I have seen his work on Le Pingouin which was the most recent winner of the round-the-world Velux race.  His bid was a third of the boat yards.  So with some sweat work from me, we are doing the boat together.

I do miss going out on the water and anchoring.  But it is good to see the progress being made on the boat.  It helps me to keep busy since the last week has been filled with a lot of issues with my wife's parents.  Both of us have felt a bit weighted down with concern over how the parents are doing.  I know that we take each day as it comes which is all that anyone can do.

A load of Ethiopian spices arrived yesterday in the mail.  We are going to be making some traditional Ethiopian dishes including injera, the traditional bread.
This is made with the help of teff flour. The injera is spread with the various dishes and then torn off and rolled.   Berbere is a characteristic ingredient in almost all Ethiopian recipes. This spice is a mixture of chili pepper powder, dried garlic and onions, salt and many other herbs. Ginger and garlic add amazing flavors to Ethiopian recipes.

My wife was in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia.  She spent two years there, teaching school in a small village.  She loves the people and the food.  But this will be our first experience at making injera and the various dishes.  We'll experiment on ourselves and then have some people over to have a taste.  The spices already make the kitchen smell wonderful.

I am meeting with my local sponsor today for lunch.  Tomorrow night, I hope to go see a friend pick up his 21 year chip.  And tonight, maybe it is time to go to the Coastal Carolina Fair!

11 comments:

  1. nice...ethiopian food is fun...we had injera wat not too long back with some friends that live there...they were visiting in country...

    sorry you had a stress ful week...hope the weekend is chill...

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  2. I spent some time in Eritrea and love the food of this region. I was newly sober when I traveled there for work and held daily AA meetings in Asmara. Whatever it took I was willing to go to any lengths for my sobriety.

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  3. OH, I love Ethiopian food. Washington DC has a lot of Ethiopian restaurants. Yumity yum yum. Enjoy your weekend. :)

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  4. Syd, that looks GOOD to me. I think my eating "problem" is coming from an aversion to processed foods...I don't know. I swear I can taste chemicals. I miss gardening, real foods.

    And that's one yummy looking meal to me! =)

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  5. Love the Ethiopian food! I still remember, our son at six years of age, on a trip to Washington D.C. We hiked all the way across town for Ethiopian food, something we can't get in our college town. We sat down, and my son said he did not like the smell of the restaurant! We were chagrined, I heard the inner alarm of a failed experiment. And then, we found a table a little farther from the kitchen and he began to look at how people were eating with their hands. Then we had our injera bread... with different sauces... and he had to try one bite.. and that was it. A favorite experience. A collective sigh as we all realized an important rite of passage had occurred. Our son had shown a willingness to try REAL ETHNIC food. Oh, I remember those times when he was five, and there were only five dinners he liked. Thank God, I have forgotten what they were!

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  6. How good of C to spend time helping teach people in Ethiopia. I used to wander around Addis Ababa looking for the house in which the poet Rimbaud lived and drinking that delicious coffee.

    Injera is eaten all over East Africa with the doro wat and that creamy cheese and yoghurt. Down here we have the same tiny fierce chillies, piri-piri, closely related to birds-eye chillies.

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  7. Spicy kitchen, spicy good life. Enjoy!

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  8. "I know that we will take each day as it comes, which is all anyone can do." Hear, hear :). Thank you, as always, for this blog! It keeps me going some days.

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  9. I worked for a doctor who was raised in Ethiopia by missionary parents. He brought some wat to work one day as there is an Ethiopian restaurant in Phoenix. Otherwise, your life sounds good and encourages me in my program. Thanks, as always.

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  10. We have an Ethiopian restaurant very close to our home. I love to wrap small samples of new flavors in the injera bread. Reminds me we need to go there soon. As always, thanks for your taste of South Carolina coastal living, cannot wait to get back there (in less than 2 weeks)!

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  11. Syd I love the way you and C create a beautiful life for yourselves. no sitting around watching tv for you two. Ethiopian spices coming in the mail sounds so exciting. It has never occurred to me to send away for special spices...you just opened up a whole new world to me! lol Bless you Syd. You care so much. I hope the parents are doing ok.

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