09.10.08
off my stride
Due to the unfortunate conjunction of a rather expensive part having had to be ordered for repairing my oven, and that part’s not yet having arrived from wherever it was in Outer Kreplachistan that it had to be shipped from, I still haven’t got a working oven. One hopes this situation will be remedied soon, but one is not actually feeling any too sanguine about the chances.
This is, despite the fact that one can handily survive without using one’s oven — I have known people who use their ovens as bookshelves, believe it or not — still throwing me a little off my cookery stride.
I was even more off my game last week, when my kitchen sink decided it would no longer drain, and nothing I was able to do could convince it to drain again. For several days I ate small things that could be prepared in small dishes that could be washed in the bathroom sink, or else we went out for meals. Finally the plumber came and thrust yards upon yards upon yards of pipe snake down it and, after considerable mucking-about, got it more or less working again, though apparently there is still some vent gizmo that wants improving in that drain line. I can wash dishes again, at any rate, which is the important thing.
Further complicating matters, my schedule is insane with work. I’m terribly overbooked with freelance projects, plus the two books I’m theoretically working on at the same time, and so my cookery has contracted to fit the time I have.
In my house, this can mean several things, all of which have raised their heads in the past week or so.
- Sandwiches have been in evidence. I do not often eat sandwiches, but it must be admitted that they are a time-saver. I am particularly fond of egg salad (egg mayonnaise to you English speakers) when I make it at home, with plenty of mustard and chopped celery and some pickle, and pair it with a nice sturdy bread that has been well-toasted.
- Homemade pasta sauces and variegated ragouts, served over a starch of some kind. Taking advantage of a bumper crop of eggplants last week, and some nice sauce tomatoes donated by one of my Belovedary’s coworkers, I made a really fine eggplant ragout. This weekend, a fortuitous deal on some nice organic ground beef enabled me in the production of a ragu alla bolognese. These are nice when you’re busy because they take a long time to cook but don’t actually take a lot of time for the cook, since mostly they just sit and bubble and can be safely ignored.
- I have laid in a stock of tofu, soy hot dogs, soy yogurt, and apples. Quick proteinaceous lunches are easily grabbed. WIth a few more minutes I can yank some sort of vegetation out of the relevant fridge bin, wash it, and chop it into pieces convenient for eating.
- I have done ditto with regard to spicy Korean ramen noodles. These, with some additional vegetables and some chunks of tofu (or an egg poached in the broth while you cook the noodles) can be reasonably palatable, and are certainly zippy enough to answer at least partially to the feeling I get, when the cookery gets like this for a time, that I am not getting enough chiles, garlic, and ginger.
Just about the only Argh No Cooking Time standby I haven’t trotted out yet is the luncheon that consists of celery stalks filled with peanut butter.
And that is only because I haven’t any peanut butter in the house.
My sole culinary revelation of the past two weeks, pathetic as this is, is that light finally dawned on Marblehead over here and I realized that it was possible for me to make Thai iced tea with soy creamer. I’ll tell you what, my quality of life skyrocketed.
Sometimes it’s the little things.