On Friday

 

Indiappam and Pol Sambol
(Stringhoppers and Coconut Sambol)

On Friday, I had a follow up appointment with the oral surgeon to see how my mouth was healing from the extraction of the molar tooth that had broken off below the gum line, which caused my partial denture to come off as the tooth had been anchoring it.  My appointment was at 1:00 p.m. and my daughter (who had taken time off from work to accompany me, again) and I left the house at 12:15 p.m. just in case there was traffic on the way. 

But, traffic was light and we were at the dental office early.  I didn't expect to be called in before my appointed time, but, they took me in right away.  The oral surgeon appologized about the delay in processing the mouthwash, checked everything, and said my gums were healing nicely.  I was to continue to use the mouthwash for another week, but, unless something else needed to be done or I changed my mind and decided to get implants, after all, he didn't need to see me again!  He shook my hand and wished me a good life!  LOL.  The dental assistant gave me a hug because I remembered her name and saw me out.  There was no charge for today's visit, which was a good thing because the initial office visit, x-rays, and the actual procedure came to a good amount, especially since I was using an out of network dentist.

Since the follow up visit took less time than expected, we still had about two hours left of the time daughter took off from work and since the Sri Lankan store was not too far from the dental office, we drove to the store to pick up a few things (treats, mostly, but, also another box of my favorite tea).

We also called in an order to the Sri Lankan restaurant located a few blocks away from the restaurant.  It is, actually, a tiny "hole in the wall" kind of place located in a mini-mall, run by a husband and wife and their two young daughters help out after school.  But they have the best watalappan (a coconut milk and jaggary pudding) and yes, we bought one to bring home.  We also picked up some prepared food, including the indiappa (stringhoppers in English) pictured above (in addition to the coconut sambol, it came with chicken curry and a hard boiled egg in coconut milk cooked with turmeric and other spices):

Stringhoppers, Cutrries, and Sambol

Daughter ordered pittu which is made of rice flour (they used red rice flour in this instance) and grated coconut, and steamed (traditionally inside a hollow section of bamboo):

Pittu

Unlike stringhoppers, pittu doesn't have an English name.  The pittu came with coconut milk, beef curry, and lunu miris (a spicy onion and dried red chilies mixture); daughter had already served herself and started eating before I took a picture of her plate, so I took a picture of only the remaining portion of pittu that was still in the container.

In addition to the stringhoppers and pittu meals, we ordered savory pastries we call patties (which look a little like empanadas) and some rolls.  

After we came home and ate, daughter went back to work and I watched some video excerpts of the funeral of Reverend Jesse Jackson.  

M arrived to tend to the garden in the early evening.  I had bought a few items for him at the Sri Lankan store as a small thank you gift for 33 years of tending to the garden and served him some of the patties and a drink of passion fruit nectar that I had bought.

Dinner was leftovers from our lunch and after dinner, I loaded the dishwasher and wiped down the kitchen counters. 

On Friday, I am grateful for:

- The appointment with the oral surgeon went well; my gums are healing well
- A lovely visit to the Sri Lankan store
- Delicious treats and meals from the restaurant
- M's help with the garden
- Safe drives to the dental office, the store and restaurant, and back

Friday's joyful activities included a visit to one of my favorite stores and restaurants and sampling some of the delicious food we bought.  

No special plans for this weekend.  We'll take it easy and maybe do a little housework, laundry, etc.

How was your Friday?  What are your plans for the weekend?