h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

gran surtido = Grand assortment

Not really 'Grand' but lots of little oddments.

Firstly I was going to write about some vegan food I made yesterday. And how surprisingly easy it is to live here without missing meat. Particularly as I've had a brush up on my Indian cooking, and made friends with the lady who imports spices to the island. So my jars (new ones - thanks to my lovely neighbours who drove me to IKEA) are brimmed full of newly aromatic yumminess.

Anyway, the meal passed muster with guest, so I won't bother you will more details.

The other thing that happened yesterday was the 'Ocean Lava' event held here. It's a sort of endurance triathlon. similar to Ironman, but I am not clear on the distances for each stage. As usual the start/finish/transition areas were just below my house, on the beach road. So, it's been fun again. There's a party feel among the spectators, loudspeaker announcements encouraging the entrants and music non-stop, so a bit like an outdoor disco. Then of course there are the participants in the race, so the island is full of tip top sporty looking types. Life is always improved by the addition of top athletes, in quantity.


Lastly, it rained in the night. Again. But this time my little roof over the utility area sprung a leak. In itself this is not so bad, as this little space originally did not have a roof at all, and has a drain in the floor. It's just a bit annoying. I'll have to get someone up there to fix it. Roof climbing is not for me. The roofs here are all flat, and have drains which just pour onto the gardens below. The older houses up in the hills and villages would have been built with underground cisterns to store the invaluable rain water, but ours just pours off, onto the fan palms.

Now to see if the rain has stopped, and decide what to do today.

I bet you didn't see any of these yesterday:
http://www.someecards.com/2013/06/17/the-worlds-least-motivational-marathon-signs

reddit

Is it a sloping, tiled roof, or a flat one?

It's a flat roof, she said.

Oops... my bads... and I did* read the entire post... just failed to take it all in I guess... insufficient morning coffee is my excuss...

*hands Lanza a mop*

Deb

What was the vegan meal?

"I did* read the entire post... just failed to take it all in I guess... insufficient morning coffee is my excuss.."

[Emails 2Legs some extra , which is a self-evident right of all citizens of free countries, as well as moderately expensive ones]

I've drunk the second half of the pot now, so feel somewhat more cafinated after a litre of the stuff

Glad to hear it!

Vegan meal: (in reply to Beatrice)

Didn't do starters, but had some home marinaded olives and various unsalted nuts to nibble.

Chickpea Masala
Potato and cabbbage Bhaji
Tomato/cucumber/onion salad
Carrots in mustard seed/oil (There is a proper Indian name for this but I've been making it for so many years I've forgotten it)

Dessert

Oat, hazelnut, coconut and date slice.

Was quite pleased with the last one, as it qualified as raw food vegan.

Masala is one of two spice mixes, according to "Classic Indian Cooking." Did you use the one with cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and pepper? or the one with the above plus nutmeg?

I can't find potato and cabbage bhaji, bu8t I see a promising recipe that has the vegetables with ginger lemon sauce inside rolls.

There's a recipe for mustard and carrot relish, which is called Koosmali. Is that the name you were looking for?

sounds yummy even without the meat!

I've a general rule when mixing spices - as long as everything starts with "c" it'll turn out OK.

Cinnamon and chives, you mean?

Sounds like a good start

Add cardamom, chili and caraway, a pound of minced mutton, olive oil and s and you can't go wrong

Cinnamon and chives sounds good.

I like to add cumin, coriander seed, cinnamon and cardamom to vegetable dishes to give them a nice warm flavour with being the "hot" of cayenne/chilli. I can't stand cloves, on the other hand.