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| Dinner and More! |
I was watching the evening news and knitting, when friend S called, around 6:45 p.m. I had called her a couple of days earlier, just to check on her, and left her a message on her answering machine. I had started off my message saying I didn't need anything, I have everything, and I was just calling to see how she was. Then, on Monday, friend R said she hadn't heard from S in several days and she called her, too; S had just come home from work when R called and had answered the phone.
Yesterday, when S called, she asked if I needed anything and I said no, I only called to see how she was doing, if she was keeping well, etc. Then, she said, she was on her way and she'll see me a little later! I asked her if she wanted any lemons or curry leaves, but she said she had plenty of both. But, she wouldn't mind a few more masks, because she had given away all but two of the masks I sewed for her!
I rushed to cut out a few more masks but, I was still sewing the first one when she, her husband, and their daughter drove up.
As I suspected when she said she was coming over, she brought me dinner! Half a rotisserie chicken, a packet of cream buns (two buns sandwiched with a sweetened cream), Sri Lankan "roast paan" which is like a large, extra thick slice of bread, three pieces of a crispy fried snack called "murukku" (the swirly things in front) and three pieces of "ulundu vadai (or wade)", which is like a savory doughnut made with urad (a type of lentil) flour, and the ground coconut sambol to go with them (in the small container). S said that some friends of hers had gone to one of the Sri Lankan stores and had bought a few extra things to share with her and she, being the generous person she is, brought me a portion of it and was taking a portion to friend R. I am just overwhelmed by her generosity and kindness!
Needless to say, I postponed my planned dinner and ate some of what S brought me, instead! A small piece of chicken, a piece of bread with the last of the onion sambol (seeni sambol) I had in the fridge, one of the ulundu wade with some of the coconut sambol, etc. Later, I snacked on the murukku and I deny all knowledge of what happened to the cream buns! LOL!
I portioned out the rest of the rotisseri chicken and froze it. I now have two halves of roast chicken in the freezer! This practically doubles my stock of chicken!
I am grateful for:
- My friend bringing me dinner
- I am able to make her more masks in return
- My half-sister calling to check on me
- Water for the garden
- Dancer seems to have recovered
I think today's brunch is going to be the rest of what friend S gave me! Hope you are having a blessed day, too.
I love that she brought you dinner.
ReplyDeleteLOVE that Dancer is doing better.
Thank you, Ivy. :)
Delete:-)
DeleteThat meal sounds so tasty, all courtesy of your lovely generous friend. I've looked at the seeni sambol recipes and have everything except tamarind, so can that be substituted or not really? I'm thinking it is probably essential to the correct flavour.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear Dancer seems to have recovered.
It was very generous of her, wasn't it? I had the ulundu wade for brunch, today. :)
DeleteYou can made the seeni sambol without tamarind. I'd add a little squirt or two of lemon or lime juice to add a similar note of acid. Not too much and, if you don't have any, then, just leave it out. :)
Oooh roast paan! It’s been a year since I had one. 😁
ReplyDeleteS is a very kind lady.
Ha, ha, Nil, I thought if anyone would appreciate the roast paan it would be you! :D I had some, tonight, with dhal and meat curry! S is indeed a very kind and generous lady. So is her husband. They've been good friends over the years.
DeleteSuch generous kind friends. You are blessed as they are in you. I have such a craving for something sweet & sticky. Thankfully I don't have any ingredients in the house to bake - my waistline thanks me.
ReplyDeleteThey are very kind and generous and have been such a blessing to me. I'm sure your waistline thanks you, but, I do wish you could have a little bit of something sweet and sticky! :)
DeleteWhat a wonderful generous friend :)
ReplyDeleteShe has been such a blessing to me! Hope all is well with you.
DeleteThe cream buns sound good.
ReplyDeleteThat would be my first selection with a cup of tea :)
How nice friend S and her husband are. How is her work going at the grocery store? The store workers are so busy keeping up with the increased demand and new requirements.
And it's nice that they are good to friend R too. I think you said friend R is staying isolated too.
Your inventory of chicken went up nicely. You aren't a big eater so that will last you a nice while.
The cream buns were delicious, but, I went for the savory stuff first, because that has been what I've been craving! Besides, I don't feel quite as guilty when I eat savory items as I do when I eat sweet things! Isn't that weird?
DeleteS is very busy at the store, working long hours. Tuesday was her day off! Yes, R is staying isolated, too.
Ha, ha, my chicken inventory almost doubled! :D There was one time, back when I was at the university, when all I had was one chicken leg quarter and I couldn't grocery shop for at least a week. I made chicken soup with that and some bits and pieces I had in the fridge, and made that last for meals for a whole week for myself and I fed lunch to two friends who came over to work on a paper with me for a project! I don't think I made any chicken soup for a long time after that! LOL! My roommates just thought that I really, really liked chicken soup! They never guessed that it was all I had to eat at the time. :)
That is a very moving story. I'm sure that time in your life affected the person you've become.
DeleteIt taught me to be resourceful. :)
Deleteoh goodness, such treats ... but this is just returning favors that I know you do too- I think that you and your family/friends truly personify the 'do unto others' directive, and I am so glad you are being cared for now-your grocery supply has certainly been bolstered, and you can avoid the need to go out for a bit longer-
ReplyDeleteThings here remain the same ... which is a good thing- there seem to be ample supplies in the stores, so when people must shop there is no need to look everywhere- this is a teeny tiny town, but there are two stores (both part of larger grocery chains) that get supplies often, and the population here is so small that there are no lines waiting- even getting to the bank and the post office can be quick- getting things from the pharmacy is a different matter ... none local, so we try to coordinate refills etc and ask if we can pick up for the neighbors when anyone does make that trek to a larger town with pharmacies, feed stores, etc-
I am still dallying about accomplishing much ... it's strange, but now with all this time and no places I have to go, I seem to hop from thing to thing ...it definitely has proved to me that it isn't lack of time that prevents me from getting things done-
Hooray for Dancer getting better- maybe he gobbled his dinner too quickly ... I know my cats have on occasion been ill after making pigs of themselves- it's worrying though, and they can't tell us what is wrong (well, they try, but few of us speak 'pet language' with much fluency)-
Take care- you and yours are in my thoughts and prayers, and I send, as always, fondest wishes-
Barb
We do try to take care of one another, Barb.
DeleteIs is possible to have the medications delivered? My pharmacy offers free delivery of prescriptions and I have taken them up on that offer. So far, I've had two medications delivered!
I think you are being too hard on yourself - settling down to do projects require a certain amount of concentration which is difficult when we are distracted and we are worrying about various things, including the health of our loved ones. Give yourself credit for what you are able to do, break things down to baby steps, do 10-15 minutes of one thing and then, take a 15 mins. break and either get back to that project or do something else for another 15 mins. Today, I am joining at least one other friend, online, to accomplish a couple of things! We will chat for a bit, discuss what we are going to work on, then, work on that project for 20 minutes and go back to chat and report on our progress! We plan to do this for 2 hours and see how things go. I have a stack of mail that I haven't touched and plan to work on that! Hopefully, I'll get it all sorted and filed. We shall see.
Take care of yourself and be safe. Give Jamie a hug from me. :)
I would love to try some of those unusual sounding foods that I've never before heard of! People can be very kind.
ReplyDeleteEloise, if you have an Indian restaurant, especially a south Indian restaurant, nearby, you might be able to find the murukku and the ulundu vadai on their menu, probably under appetizers. They can be a bit spicy, though. :)
DeleteI think you have just given us the perfect example of what goes around comes around.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Live and Learn. :)
DeleteWhat lovely treats! Since I am sure that Dancer didn't eat the cream buns, I must assume that someone else in the house did so! No doubt Dancer will keep his lips sealed for a bribe of tuna.
ReplyDeleteIt has been raining since yesterday afternoon so any inclination to go walking has disappeared. My grocery run yesterday morning went well as I didn't even have to wait to go into the store, but I forgot a couple of items and we may run out of apples and milk before two weeks are up. I'm tempted to shop once a week but waiting longer minimizes exposure to the rest of the world and trains me to be more creative in meal preparation.
Dancer has been bribed, although he thinks he should be bribed a little more! I am rationing his tuna and he is not very happy about it.
DeleteI'm glad you were able to get your shopping done without having to wait in line to get in. But, sorry you forgot a couple of items! Do you have any canned milk that you can use? Any other fruit that you can substitute for the apples?
I have canned milk and applesauce and we do have other fruit, we like fresh apples but really these are different times and we can't have everything we want. By the way, the flour shelves were empty again, but I still have some flour and we have plenty of bread now.
DeleteI'm glad you have canned milk and other fruit you can substitute. Glad you have some flour and plenty of bread - hope you can make it last until you can buy more flour. :)
DeleteYour life is filled with abundance! I love roasted chicken. You can do so many things with it. Enjoy your delicious meals!
ReplyDeleteThat it is, Stephenie. :) Roast chicken is one of my favorite things. :)
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