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| Rambutan |
Monday was Labor Day and a holiday. I woke up by 8:00 a.m. and fed the chickens.
Then, after a cup of tea, I drove the car to the nearby tire shop. I was hoping that they would be open and they were! They checked my tires and put air in them; such a blessing! I was told to come back if the light comes back on again. There was no charge for checking the tires and putting air in them, but, I gave the technician a tip and he was very happy. I was very happy, too, because the car was fine to drive and that meant I could still keep the appointment I had made to meet up with the lady who is helping us with trapping and neutering the garden cats.
After I came home, I made us a brunch of eggs, sausages, and fried potatoes. We are starting to see yellower yolks in the newer eggs being laid by the chickens!
Then, shortly after noon, we drove to the appointment with D, who runs the cat rescue group. We had arranged to meet in the parking lot of a diner type restaurant, about halfway between her place and ours, and she lent us three traps to trap the three kittens (who are now quite grown). One of them, Mochi, is well on its way to being tamed, but, the other two, Mimi and Tora, are still quite feral and will come only when it's time for food.
On our way home after collecting the traps, we stopped at an East Asian grocery store. Primarily so daughter could stock up on the various condiments and sauces she wanted in order to make the Japanese and Korean dishes she likes to make and she insisted on paying for this grocery trip so it wouldn't come out of my regular grocery budget. But, I also picked up a few other items such as a packet of rice sticks and Chinese style sausages:
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| Chinese Style Sausages |
Daughter also treated me to a bag of fresh rambutan, one of my favorite tropical fruits:
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| Rambutan |
The outer peel is removed and the fruit inside has one seed in the middle. The edible part is the flesh covering the seed. There was a rambutan tree in the garden in my childhood home and every year, during the rambutan season, there used to be bunches of rambutan hanging from the branches. The fresh rambutan always tastes better than the canned or frozen rambutan. At $3.99/lb., they were expensive and I told my daughter to put the bag down, but, she insisted on buying it for me. Along with a package of my favorite raisin buns:
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| Raisin Buns |
One of the other items she bought was canned congee (rice porridge):
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| Canned Congee |
This one was made with a variety of beans, coix seeds, and corn:
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| Canned Congee with Beans, Coix Seeds, and Corn |
Daughter shared some of it with me and it was sweet and delicious. Daughter also treated herself to a slice of taro cake and a taro latte!
About three quarters of the way through the grocery store, I began to feel tired, so, I left daughter to finish her shopping and went to the car to sit down and wait for her. Then, we drove home and sampled some of the treats daughter bought.
Then, both daughter and I took naps! She on the family room sofa and I in my bed!
After we woke up, we let the chickens out to run about in the garden and daughter cleaned the coop and enclosure. Afterwards, I made us a cup of tea, cleaned out the vegetable drawer in the fridge (a couple of lemons and the last bit of a lettuce had to be composted) and ordered some groceries. Daughter took the trash bins to the curb.
I texted with cousins V and N, exchanged emails with a friend, swept the kitchen, vacuumed the family room with the help of the robot, watched a few online videos and then, it was time to say my nightly prayers and go to bed. I'd like to say that I am going to bed at a decent time now that I am waking up at 8:00 a.m. to feed the chickens, but, that only happened a couple of times. I'm back to going to bed well after 3:00 a.m., probably closer to 4:00 a.m.
On Monday, I was grateful for:
- The tire place was open on Labor Day
- The tires only needed some air and it was an easy fix
- The lady from the cat rescue group lending us some traps for the kittens
- Ethnic grocery stores
- Daughter getting us some special treats
Monday's joyful activities included shopping at the ethnic grocery store and eating fresh rambutan!
How was your Monday? Are there special treats from your childhood that you still enjoy?
I've not heard of a rambutan. It's outer shell is interesting - quite pretty!
ReplyDeleteThey are an interesting looking fruit, aren't they? They look a little bit like a lychee, but, not quite the same.
DeleteJust thought that you could plant one of the rambutan seeds. Maybe it would grow there!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter was wondering the same thing, Celie, and we saved some of the seeds. But, I think our winters might still be a bit too cold,
DeleteAnd now I know what a rambutan is! I have never heard of that before. I am always learning new things from you! Glad you and your daughter had a nice, productive Labor Day!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mandy. One generally doesn't see the tropical fruits I grew up eating in regular grocery stores over here, but, I find them in a few Asian grocery stores and they are a treat. :)
DeleteThe rambutan looks very interesting!
ReplyDeleteI hope you managed to get the cats caught and taken care of.
Thank you, Sharon. Welcome back! We plan to trap the kittens towards the end of the month as that's when the appointment with the neutering clinic is scheduled. But, I do hope that we are able to trap them!
DeleteThis is new to me...rambutan. Your meals always look delicious 😋
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing.
Last week the Blogger comments were not working and they fixed this, which is good.
Now the Blogger news reader is dead, no new posts at all today are showing up.
I hope they fix this as well.
Thank you, Linda. As a child growing up in a tropical country, fruits like rambutan and mango were familiar while grapes and apples were a novelty. Now, it's the other way around! :D
DeleteBlogger is not letting me post pictures, now! But, at least comments are coming through! Always something, isn't it?
I will admit to saying to myself, "Bless, I'm not eating that hairy thing" when I saw the rambutan.
ReplyDeleteI was very much relieved to see it opened with that beautiful creamy outer shell and realizing that is the part you eat. What a nice treat from your daughter. You had a good shopping trip with those raisin buns as well.
It sounds like you were much restored after your naps and got on with your tasks.
How were those Chinese sausages? Had you had them before?
LOl, that hairy outer peel hides a truly delicious fruit inside! They taste a bit like lychees (same family) although M thought they tasted a bit like grapes. The raisin buns were wonderful, too, and they vanished in a matter of days! LOL.
DeleteThe Chinese sausages were very tasty. Yes, I've had them before (my step-father's family were of Chinese origins) and my daughter and I both enjoy them. I usually cook them along with the rice in the rice cooker, and afterwards, they are sliced and served with a little soy sauce. They are sweet and salty and delicious. :)