Start How You Mean to Go On

Yesterday we cleaned the first floor, at least, which isn’t quite a whole home clean for New Year’s, but it’s a win, and I’ll take it. And this morning, I fed my people something delicious — bombatoast and bacon, with plenty of fresh fruit. If you look carefully, you will spot the top of Anand’s head, as he waits (im)patiently for me to be done taking photos and call him to eat. 🙂

Day 5 of Turkey Leftovers

I needed a little inspiration for day 5 of turkey leftovers (I think this is the last day), so I made up a batch of seeni sambol (spicy, tangy, sweet caramelized onions) and spread that on a delicious sesame bagel from The Daly Bagel with a bit of butter. Yumyum.

(I’m trying to convince Amanda to offer a 3-month bagel delivery subscription. Fingers crossed she decides it’s a good and workable idea…)

I’ll Make an Exception

I might’ve had some melted dark high-end chocolate left over after dipping cookies, and I might’ve drizzled it over my waffle and bacon, and if this is wrong, I don’t want to be right. I don’t normally like sweet breakfasts, but for this, I’ll make an exception. 🙂

It Doesn’t Have to Be Pretty

Breakfast doesn’t need to be pretty, but it’s nice when it is. 🙂 I’m not sure it counts as cooking if all you’re doing is assembling components? If you get great fresh bagels from your local shop, they don’t even need toasting. But I suppose we usually count salads as cooking, so this can count too. 🙂

One of my favorite breakfasts, and pretty healthy too (although if you do it open-face like this, it can be a little messy to eat.) Summer tomatoes from the garden take it up a notch!

A Vast Sea of Hopper

Hey, so it turns out that if you are completely bewildered as to where your hopper pans might have gone (did I loan them out to someone?), but your friend gave you some hopper batter that you really want to use, you can totally make (giant) hoppers in a wok.

I mean, a single egg looks a little goofy in a vast sea of hopper, and the ratios are a little off, in terms of spongy versus crispy texture, but when you’ve got a desperate hopper craving, it will totally do.

(Enjoyed with eggplant pickle and coconut sambol.)

Hoping for a Quiet Night

Hope everyone reading had a quiet night. I was grieved to read of a death at the North Riverside mall yesterday; I hope we can swiftly move forward towards justice without further bloodshed.

It’s the last week of school here; I woke up before Anand for a change, and decided to exert myself a bit to make a nice breakfast — waffles and sausages. The kids have done okay with remote / unschooling during the pandemic, but they’ll be relieved when it’s over, and so will we. I thought they could use a little strengthening food as we contend with the final week.

I’ve recently discovered that waffles + seeni sambol + syrup = delicious. You don’t even need butter, as there’s enough oil / ghee in the seeni sambol. It’s so good, if I had a little cafe, I’d put it on the brunch menu. Serve with fresh mangoes if you can.

Plan for today — finish reading Sorcerer to the Crown, which continues a delightful, ridiculous romp. The next book in my queue is the graphic novel, Vanni, centered on the Sri Lankan conflict, which is rather more somber; it helps to have something light to interleave between the darker pages. A little sweetness.

Exercise soon and a walk through the garden, then by 9, I hope to be settled in my writing shed for the first day of summer writing. Minimal goal of 1000 words for the day (about an hour of writing), although I’m hoping to get quite a bit more done, as I have a story overdue to my local workshop; if I can knock that out today, or at least enough of it to be worth showing them, I will. It’s a story about riots and revolution; hoping I have the heart and mind to do it justice.

Wishing you strength and sweetness for your battles today, and rejuvenating rest when you need it.