Today's my Mum's 70th, and I'm in the high street trying to pick her up a present before going round there. The problem is that I can't decide whether to ignore her wishlist and get her something that I would like, nay, enjoy giving; or be a good daughter and buy her the sodding set of scales she asked me to get her last week.
I mean, scales? Quite apart from my honest conviction that they're the devil's invention and that she at least really has no need of them (I've never understood her morning and evening ritual of weighing herself, seeing as that both she and my sister are reed thin)-- how prosaic a birthday present can you get? Even if I ask the sales assistant to tie a bow around them, they're still...scales!
I know I'll probably end up buying the damn things anyway -- she never wears the jewellery or the perfumes or the scarves I've given her in lieu of what she asked for in the past, but why do I have to have a mum who's so aaaarrgh practical all the time? Going shopping for household appliances? Not my idea of fun.
Beside which, it's raining. In fact, it's pouring down. And my trainers aren't water-tight. And my hair's a mess. And I'm going to have to spend the rest of the day cooped up with my aunts and cousins, some of whom I haven't seen in years. If I don't see people for years, I think it's fairly accurate to say that I'm not interested in seeing them, so all in all, I don't think I'm having an especially good day today.
It started off alright, though: sitting by the fire going over
bogwitch's opening chapter of her new WIP, entitled...well, she's not entirely happy with its working title yet, so perhaps I'd best not mention it. Which has nothing to do with the fact that I've forgotten it for the moment...;-)
As introductory chapters go, it has a nice, melancholy feel to it; and I can tell it's going to be angsty. No snarky Spike yet, but I'm sure he'll find his way into the story before too long.
I mean, scales? Quite apart from my honest conviction that they're the devil's invention and that she at least really has no need of them (I've never understood her morning and evening ritual of weighing herself, seeing as that both she and my sister are reed thin)-- how prosaic a birthday present can you get? Even if I ask the sales assistant to tie a bow around them, they're still...scales!
I know I'll probably end up buying the damn things anyway -- she never wears the jewellery or the perfumes or the scarves I've given her in lieu of what she asked for in the past, but why do I have to have a mum who's so aaaarrgh practical all the time? Going shopping for household appliances? Not my idea of fun.
Beside which, it's raining. In fact, it's pouring down. And my trainers aren't water-tight. And my hair's a mess. And I'm going to have to spend the rest of the day cooped up with my aunts and cousins, some of whom I haven't seen in years. If I don't see people for years, I think it's fairly accurate to say that I'm not interested in seeing them, so all in all, I don't think I'm having an especially good day today.
It started off alright, though: sitting by the fire going over
bogwitch's opening chapter of her new WIP, entitled...well, she's not entirely happy with its working title yet, so perhaps I'd best not mention it. Which has nothing to do with the fact that I've forgotten it for the moment...;-)As introductory chapters go, it has a nice, melancholy feel to it; and I can tell it's going to be angsty. No snarky Spike yet, but I'm sure he'll find his way into the story before too long.
- Current Mood:
grumpy - Current Music:'White Flag' - Dido
Comments
Relations, eh? My sympathies!
You're so lucky to have your mum--mine would have been 89 on 12/23. She was OK about getting gifts (roses were always a safe bet) but I had the worst time prying her out of the house for Mother's Day celebrations. It was as though she had agoraphobia, and yet she'd sky off to Europe every couple of years. Funny woman.
Ain't that the truth? Honestly, I wouldn't know what to do without her. About a year and a half ago now, I was called away from work with the message that my mum had been admitted to hospital. She'd had a funny spell and ended up having to spend a few days at the heart monitor ward. They never did find out what exactly'd been wrong with her, and she's been fine ever since; but I can remember that during the drive over, I kept thinking things like "Omigod, I haven't asked her for that recipe yet" or "Who's going to put me in touch with a reputable plumber if my waterpipes burst?" and "I don't know how I'll get through the evenings without her phonecall!" and pure, unadulterated panic hit.
I'm sorry to hear you've already lost your mum. Luckily though, it's clear that you've got a lot of wonderful memories of her -- sounds like she was quite a character!
LOL! I find that even if I have my Mum's recipes, somehow the end result is always slightly different than I remember it tasting when she's made it. It's never as good as Mum's cooking! Also, Mum's much better at finding substitute ingredients if the ones we should be using aren't available; which tends to happen every now and again. There's a lot of Malaysian foodstuffs around, but you do have to know where to look for them.
BTW, I love Asian food. I have a cookbook of Thai recipes I'm afraid to try. Is Asian cooking harder than European? (We have Asian grocery stores here in Minnesota -- lotta boat people settled here.)
Provided you can get the proper ingredients, it's not difficult at all! It can easily be quicker (think stir fries) which I always think is a big thing in its favour, but other than that, it just depends on your individual kitchen prowess as to how hard it is.
I'm going to take the plunge! Is your recipe like this?:
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp. tumeric
1/2 tsp. ginger
3 lemon grass leaves
1 lb top round or lean beef, sliced thinly
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cup coconut milk
1 Indian bay leaf
I will add those to the list and see what the Asian market has. Yum, yum! Thanks!
You could also add onions, cloves, a cinnamon stick and some assam (tamarind) to the recipe if you like. Some people even add trassi (shrimp paste) to the mix, but I wouldn't recommend it -- you'll never get rid of the smell again.
This conversation is making me very hungry!
I don't know any Vietnamese, so I'll explain what I mean by some of these words I've used: laos is a whitish root; in powdered form, we call it djinten. Kemiri is a nut, that looks a bit like a big walnut on the outside, dark brown with white. It also comes in paste form, in jars.
Tamarind paste is usually a deep, dark red in colour; but if you can't find it, you could use brown sugar instead.