This is our first week having our domestic staff with us. We have a cook, named Salomi, and a maid, named Shashi. On Monday, Salomi and I spent a good portion of the day shopping together. She helped me select local produce and identify strange objects with psychedelic labels that I couldn't read. She bought a lot of staple Indian ingredients because she makes an Indian lunch everyday for herself, Shashi and Cladius (and me too if I am so inclined). When we got to the meat section I picked out a small whole chicken for supper and she said to me, "Oh. Shashi and I don't like chicken. Only Mutton." To which I replied, "Well, that's fine. You can get that for yourself but our family likes chicken. Can you fix us chicken?" "Yes, Mad'am! Sure!" So I bought my bird and she bought some goat and lamb for she and Shashi.
When we got home much to my dismay we realized that our oven wasn't working (it's still not!) but the stove top works. So she decided she would make meatballs instead of the chicken and we had made a spaghetti dinner the night prior so there was plenty of leftover pasta in the fridge to make another meal out of it. Might as well eat it up, right?!
In fact, the spaghetti dinner was the first meal that we made in the house since moving out of the hotel. OH MAN! It was soooo good. Freshly baked rolls from just down the street, salad, Matt made the sauce and of course, lots of pasta! I don't know if that officially falls into the "comfort food" category but ooh-da-la-lee!!! It was scrumpdiliumcious! ;0)
Back to Salomi's Supper... she proceeded to made meatballs on the stove top. Not sure what spices she put in them but WOW did they ever make my nose happy! I was walking around like a hounddog hot on the trail as I sniffed, sniffed, sniffed the air. YUM!
This week as Salomi makes the supper time meal - She prepares everything and then puts it aside until our family is ready to eat it. By the time we are sitting down to eat together, Salomi and Shashi are long gone for the day.
When Matt got home from work, he too like a dog, came licking his chops and wagging his tail in excitement over the meal that had been laid out before him. The kids tried the typical, "I don't like meatballs" routine (actually, some of them love them and others aren't such big fans) to which I flatly replied, "Well, these aren't my meatballs. Salomi made them. I think you should try them." The meatball lovers were already 4-5 meatballs deep while the skeptics decided that they might as well give them at least a small sample. Matt was oohing and aahing and "Oh my word-ing" - "Jen, Seriously! They are so good!" I couldn't have agreed more - They were delicious and I asked Matt, "I wonder what she put in them to make them taste so good?!" Matt knows his way around the kitchen & I thought maybe he would be able to detect what the special ingredient was. To no avail. He couldn't put his finger on it but ate several more meatballs while I got up and cleared the table and told the kids it was time to start to get ready for bed. After multiple helpings & very full bellies the children started to climb the stairs at which point, I walked over to Matt, leaned down and whispered in his ear...."It's goat!!!" You should have seen the look on his face. "Jen. Jen. Seriously! That's so not cool!" I simply said, "Well. Were they good or were they not!?" No denying it. They were.
AND! For those of you that are horrified that I didn't tell them all....WELL!?!?!? Would your kids (or husband for that matter) knowingly eat goat?! I dare say, NOT!!! Neither would have mine. In fact, Rachel probably would have been in tears at the thought of it all. I must also say, that it was a little weird for me too. You're looking at the girl that grew up in the heartland living on my dairy products and pretty much was a "Hamburger" kind of gal until I met Matt. He has introduced me to so many new foods and so many things that I would have been afraid to try. Now, I have learned, it doesn't matter if you can't identify what you are eating or if you think, "Oh. But I don't like that." You never know. Try it. Maybe you don't like it cooked one way or in one dish but you love it in something else. So, now I try stuff! Just one bite. If I don't like it - That's okay. I tried it. Same goes for our kids. Thank GOD we had this philosophy before moving here or our kids would be starving to death by now. Everyday at school most of things they are being served are Indian dishes or it's not easily recognizable. They try it. If they like it - They get more. If they hate it - No harm done. Although it may seem cruel to not have told my family what they were eating, the truth is I didn't realize it until the meatballs were all cooked. I found myself in the kitchen scratching my head thinking, "Wait a second. We were going to have chicken. Then at the last minute we changed that to meaballs." That's when I figured it out - Salomi was making the meatballs out of "her" meat. I figured "Well, I'm not gonna say anything and we'll just see how this all plays out." It was a smashing success! The kids still don't know. Shhhhhh!! I don't think we'll tell them. At least not anytime soon. I don't think they could mentally handle it. Although it's not something I'm used to - I gotta say...."Goat!!! It's what's for Dinner!" Hahahahah!
So!? What are you having for dinner?! xoxoxo
When we got home much to my dismay we realized that our oven wasn't working (it's still not!) but the stove top works. So she decided she would make meatballs instead of the chicken and we had made a spaghetti dinner the night prior so there was plenty of leftover pasta in the fridge to make another meal out of it. Might as well eat it up, right?!
In fact, the spaghetti dinner was the first meal that we made in the house since moving out of the hotel. OH MAN! It was soooo good. Freshly baked rolls from just down the street, salad, Matt made the sauce and of course, lots of pasta! I don't know if that officially falls into the "comfort food" category but ooh-da-la-lee!!! It was scrumpdiliumcious! ;0)
Back to Salomi's Supper... she proceeded to made meatballs on the stove top. Not sure what spices she put in them but WOW did they ever make my nose happy! I was walking around like a hounddog hot on the trail as I sniffed, sniffed, sniffed the air. YUM!
This week as Salomi makes the supper time meal - She prepares everything and then puts it aside until our family is ready to eat it. By the time we are sitting down to eat together, Salomi and Shashi are long gone for the day.
When Matt got home from work, he too like a dog, came licking his chops and wagging his tail in excitement over the meal that had been laid out before him. The kids tried the typical, "I don't like meatballs" routine (actually, some of them love them and others aren't such big fans) to which I flatly replied, "Well, these aren't my meatballs. Salomi made them. I think you should try them." The meatball lovers were already 4-5 meatballs deep while the skeptics decided that they might as well give them at least a small sample. Matt was oohing and aahing and "Oh my word-ing" - "Jen, Seriously! They are so good!" I couldn't have agreed more - They were delicious and I asked Matt, "I wonder what she put in them to make them taste so good?!" Matt knows his way around the kitchen & I thought maybe he would be able to detect what the special ingredient was. To no avail. He couldn't put his finger on it but ate several more meatballs while I got up and cleared the table and told the kids it was time to start to get ready for bed. After multiple helpings & very full bellies the children started to climb the stairs at which point, I walked over to Matt, leaned down and whispered in his ear...."It's goat!!!" You should have seen the look on his face. "Jen. Jen. Seriously! That's so not cool!" I simply said, "Well. Were they good or were they not!?" No denying it. They were.
AND! For those of you that are horrified that I didn't tell them all....WELL!?!?!? Would your kids (or husband for that matter) knowingly eat goat?! I dare say, NOT!!! Neither would have mine. In fact, Rachel probably would have been in tears at the thought of it all. I must also say, that it was a little weird for me too. You're looking at the girl that grew up in the heartland living on my dairy products and pretty much was a "Hamburger" kind of gal until I met Matt. He has introduced me to so many new foods and so many things that I would have been afraid to try. Now, I have learned, it doesn't matter if you can't identify what you are eating or if you think, "Oh. But I don't like that." You never know. Try it. Maybe you don't like it cooked one way or in one dish but you love it in something else. So, now I try stuff! Just one bite. If I don't like it - That's okay. I tried it. Same goes for our kids. Thank GOD we had this philosophy before moving here or our kids would be starving to death by now. Everyday at school most of things they are being served are Indian dishes or it's not easily recognizable. They try it. If they like it - They get more. If they hate it - No harm done. Although it may seem cruel to not have told my family what they were eating, the truth is I didn't realize it until the meatballs were all cooked. I found myself in the kitchen scratching my head thinking, "Wait a second. We were going to have chicken. Then at the last minute we changed that to meaballs." That's when I figured it out - Salomi was making the meatballs out of "her" meat. I figured "Well, I'm not gonna say anything and we'll just see how this all plays out." It was a smashing success! The kids still don't know. Shhhhhh!! I don't think we'll tell them. At least not anytime soon. I don't think they could mentally handle it. Although it's not something I'm used to - I gotta say...."Goat!!! It's what's for Dinner!" Hahahahah!
So!? What are you having for dinner?! xoxoxo
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