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| Painted Lady Butterfly on Osteospermum Flower |
The start of a new month is always exciting to me; it's a new beginning! To celebrate the start of a new month, I made kiribath or milkrice for brunch. It is rice cooked with coconut milk (although I've made it with regular, dairy, milk, too). I also picked some flowers from the garden for the altar and the living room mantel. The osteospermum flowers are growing well:
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| Osteospermum Plant |
This is a single self-seeded plant, growing in the middle of the front yard!
Today, I brought in my trash cans and took neighbor T's trash can in for her (good deed of the day!) I also picked up my empty jam jar, which T had left out on her steps for me (she had called and asked me if I wanted the jar back and I said yes, if she didn't have a use for it, as I can reuse it).
Today, I spoke with cousin P who left for Florida this afternoon, spoke with friend A (she is still in the hospital) and, later, I chatted with friend R and printed out a form for her as her printer was not working.
I checked on the plants in the back garden and decluttered one item - an old plant stand that had broken.
On the productive front, I did a load of laundry, including daughter's bed sheets, cleaned up after Dancer who had regurgitated his breakfast, cooked a chicken curry, and did the dishes.
For tea, I made a little treat called "imbul kiribath", which is milkrice with a sweetened coconut filling called "pani pol" (honey coconut), which is made by cooking grated coconut with palm treacle:
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| Imbul Kiribath |
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| Showing the Sweetened Coconut Filling |
They are sometimes made into rolls, using a banana leaf to shape them or sometimes made in small mounds using a cup. I used a tart tin.
Then, I called neighbor S to ask if she'd like to try some and she started laughing; she said she was about to call me because she made a type of grain and mixed bean and vegetable salad, which was similar to the mixture used to fill the vegetarian dolma she gave me on New Year's Eve, and wanted to know if I'd like to have some! So, I went across the street taking her this:
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| Imbul Kiribath |
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| Grain and Vegetable Salad |
My daughter and I shared the salad - it had several kinds of grains, lentils, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, pickled cucumber, cauliflower, cabbage, dill, and parsley, I believe. It was absolutely delicious! Of course, I didn't cook the Italian sausages I had written down in my meal plan! I will cook them later in the week or next week.
Both daughter and I watched the President's State of the Union address, this evening, and the Republican response. But, I turned off the TV after that.
Today, I am grateful for:
- The start of another new month
- Garden flowers
- Another sunny and warm day
- Exchanging food with neighbor S
- Another sunny and warm day
- Exchanging food with neighbor S
- Chats with family and friends
Today's joyful activity was making (and eating) the little milkrice treats.
How was your Tuesday? Did you make and eat pancakes today?
I must say the food treats you exchanged with your neighbour look delicious. How lovely to see and photograph the butterfly on your plant, both gorgeous. I was ever so lazy again and bought ready made pancakes and had mine with maple syrup, I did enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Eileen; the grain salad S gave me was delicious. I rarely have any luck photographing butterflies, but, this was stayed long enough on the flower for me to do so! There's nothing wrong with buying ready-made pancakes! Convenience foods have their place on my table, too! :)
DeleteHow wonderful that you swapped food with S. I hope that T is feeling better. You are a good neighbour
ReplyDeleteI was happy to exchange food with S; I think I got the better deal! :D T is feeling a bit better, I think. I will check on her this evening. But, I spoke with her daughter just the other evening and discussed getting her one of those medical alert things and she said she had spoken to her mother about it. Thank you, Lyssa; I try to be a good neighbor. :)
DeleteThe Imbul Kiribath look delicious as does the salad you traded them for. It's nice when you share food like you do. I would think that it gives a bigger variety of things than just cooking on your own.
ReplyDeleteThank you, June. Yes, it does lend more variety to our meals because I don't generally cook Armenian food (although I have been given a couple of recipes to try) and I know S and family don't cook Sri Lankan food! :D
DeleteBoth of the dishes look so tasty and lovely to share a meal like that.
ReplyDeleteIs cousin P the one who used to live opposite you? I hope she settles well in her new location. I'm sending positive healing vibes for A and hope she's out of hospital soon and back home amongst her family.
I didn't bother with pancakes this time. I like them with lemon and sugar but forgot to buy the lemon, so decided to leave it until next week. Do you observe lent?
I do enjoy sharing dishes with neighbor S. She seems to bring over more food than I take over to her, but, I realize it is not a competition. :)
DeleteYes, cousin P is the one who lived across the street from me. Thank you for the well wishes for both her and A.
I didn't have pancakes, either! No, I don't observe lent, although I've participated in activities such as setting aside 40 cans of food to donate to a food bank, etc. But, maybe I should observe lent and give up chocolates! Or desserts! :D
The milk rice treats look delicious, as does your neighbour's salad. Lots of good nutrition in there! I did make pancakes, the version with lemon juice and sugar, but I forgot to add some water to the mix that I had let stand before cooking, and they were rather stodgy. All the while I was thinking of the Breton crepes that I sampled in my 20s and how incredibly thin they were, and wondering how they did them.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bushlady; I took some of the milkrice treats to friend R, today. The salad was chockful of good, nutritious ingredients. I think the difference in pancake/crepes is, pancake batter is spread by swirling the batter around by tilting the pan and crepe batter is spread using a thin wooden rake like thing. Maybe the type of pan used also might make a difference. In Sri Lanka, they sometimes use the pani pol, the sweetened coconut mixture, as a filling for the pancakes. It's one of my favorite fillings! :)
DeleteHello, Bless. Your osteospermum are beautiful, and isn't mother nature wonderful, to think they just decided to grow right there. I'm not surprised they're attracting the butterflies.
ReplyDeleteAll this food talk is making me hungry. Just as well I have dinner in the oven, but I would gladly swap for some of your delicious offerings. I love how you share and exchange food with your family and neighbours. It is such a lovely way of demonstrating your thoughtfulness and generosity. X
Hi, Jules. The osteospermum is such a cheerful flower, isn't it? I gave some seeds to neighbor S, last year, and they are growing nicely for her, too. There was more food exchange, today, between friend R and us! My daughter says that food is our language of love! :D
DeleteYour food looks delicious as always. I love that you have a butterfly already! There isn't anything growing here yet. Soon perhaps. The ice and snow are melting so maybe, just maybe there will be the beginnings of green by March's end!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sharon. I'm sure the seedlings will start growing once the soil warms up and you'll soon have flowers and butterflies, too. :)
DeleteI have a dim recollection of having said this last year, but I'm surprised by your pancake reference. In Japan when I mentioned Shrove Tuesday and pancakes, I was met with puzzlement from the north Americans. Eventually one Canadian girl said she had heard of it, but claimed it was a Catholic custom and refused to believe it was a national thing here. Anyway, to answer your question yes I made pancakes and rolled them up with sugar and lemon.
ReplyDeleteYour milkrice things look great. Add them to the list!! Happy March!
I think pancakes and Shrove Tuesday might be a British custom. I grew up eating thin pancakes with sugar and lemon (or, sometimes, stuffed with the same pani pol/sweetened coconut mixture I used for the milkrice), but, they were eaten throughout the year, often as a teatime snack, at least in my house (but, then again, my mother's side of the family were Catholic, so there might be a Catholic connection?). I don't think it is a traditional Sri Lankan dish; rather, something that was introduced by the British. American pancakes are fluffy and usually eaten with maple/pancake syrup. I didn't know about American pancakes until I came here. I also don't think there is a tradition of eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, here, although Shrove Tuesday is celebrated in a big way as Mardi Gras in New Orleans! I have only passed through New Orleans, so I don't know if they eat pancakes as part of their celebrations or not.
DeleteYes, ma'am! They have been added to the list. Do you remember what else I am supposed to be making, besides chicken curry? :D
Yes, we (British) eat pancakes all year round with no religious connotation whatsoever. Eating them on Shrove Tuesday in particular was a custom that came about from getting rid of eggs, sugar etc. before Lent, so in that sense it has a religious (not specifically Catholic) root, but nobody, religious or not, considers pancake day a churchy thing - it's just something pretty much everyone does, if they like pancakes and remember on time. (Not that the supermarkets are inclined to let you forget, as stocks of lemons and ready-made pancake mix pile up! You'd be able to have a stall outside your house and do a roaring trade!) So I agree pancake day is a British custom which is why I was surprised you mentioned it, and I'm still wondering what made you think of it.
DeleteI am familiar with American pancakes; they are OK but TBH I always think the idea of them is better than the fact! (Don't tell anyone.)
I have completely lost track of what was on that list. I assumed you had it in hand! Maybe it's best if I come in time for afternoon tea, then we can have a slice of love cake and after that I probably won't want much dinner. A small portion of chicken curry with stringhoppers, the onion chutney thing and that leafy thing you make (beginning with M) will be fine, with just one of the coconut milkrice things as a dessert. Really - don't go to any trouble. I'm sure I will be able to get by on just that. And if there are any leftovers of course I won't mind taking some away, along with surplus garden produce (just so it doesn't go stale)!! You only have to ask (you'll see I'm very approachable).
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Delete"I'm still wondering what made you think of it."
DeleteIt was the pani pol - the sweetened coconut filling. We use it to fill pancakes, too, and I was considering making some pancakes and then, I remembered the next day was Shrove Tuesday and the mostly British tradition of having pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. So, maybe my question was directed more at my British readers.
In the end, I didn't make any pancakes, but, now, I am thinking of stuffing a stringhopper with the coconut filling in imitation of "lavariya" which is made with the same stringhopper dough, but, the filling is added on top of the raw dough which is then folded over to enclose the filling before being steamed. But, I'll have to make more pani pol (sweetened coconut) if I want to do that, because there isn't enough leftover for more than one stringhopper!
Ah, yes - love cake, seeni sambol (onion relish) and mallung! I have written them down along with stringhoppers and broccoli and I'v added pol roti (coconut flat bread to the mix). :D
😀🙃😀🙃😀🙃👏👏👏
DeletePol roti will be LOVELY! I'm sure I'll be able to find room for it, just to be polite. (It's always important to remember one's manners.) 😄
PS. I think you also promised to do a little piano recital. 🎹🎶
DeleteIf you can't find room for it, you could always ask if you can take some home for later! :D
DeleteAs for piano recitals - I don't think you'd want to hear me play! But, I would love it if you will play! :)
DeleteThat imbul kiribath looks very interesting. And delicious. My husband is a huge fan of anything coconut. Neighbor S's grain and vegetable salad looked tasty too. It was a win-win for both of you. I made an Ash Wednesday meal for us today. It was delicious. We watched the state of the union address too but turned it off when the IA governor came on with her Republican response. Click. We definitely didn't need her negativity. Have a nice Thursday. Denise
ReplyDeleteThank you, Denise. We are big fans of coconut in this house, too! :) S's salad was very good! Both tasty and nutritious. I'm glad you made an Ash Wednesday meal - were there any special dishes that you prepared? I agree with you; we don't need any more negativity.
DeleteHope you have a good rest of the week, Denise. Take care.
My that salad your neighbor gave you ooks so good as do those little coconut delicacies you made.
ReplyDeleteGood food abounds on this blog that's for sure.
I did a quick pickle of some red onions yesterday - with your mentioning the pickled cucumber, I will need to do that too! I like a forceful of a tart item now and then.
The salad was delicious and S said it was a version of the stuffing used to make the vegetarian stuffed cabbage she gave us during the New Year's visit (on Jan. 2).
DeleteCucumber pickles are good to have on hand, aren't they? I don't have any, but, I shall add a jar of it to my grocery shopping order, tonight! I found a recipe online for pickled zucchini, last year, but, it called for celery seeds, which the grocery store didn't have. Maybe another item to order now and keep on hand! :)