Am I Blue?

Yes, Billie, I have been.  However, that is not always too bad.  Now is it?

Well, when one gets this message on their desktop from their calendar, 

then realises only in his dreams because school started six weeks late (Thanks, Ebola!).  Yes, not having a scheduled one-week holiday has the power to make one blue.  

Sometimes one must fight the blues with blue…berries.

There are many unmentionable acts one might or might not have to perform in order to afford the desired blueberries at the going rate in this town, but as Karen Walker once put it, “Old habits die hard.”  And these berries were well worth it!!!  These berries in particular were scrummy.  Then things got even better.  How much better?  Blueberry pancakes better!!!

Easy, easy recipe:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon of sugar (I like to use brown cane sugar.  Have some cinnamon sugar prepared before hand, and add that.  You will be so happy you did.)

1 teaspoon baking powder (I am one of those people who can taste baking soda in food, even if it is added in a small quantity, and i really try to avoid using it.  A lot of pancake recipes call for it, but I promise these will be light and fluffy without it.)

1 pinch of salt.

Mix all dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

1 egg beaten

1 cup of plain yoghurt

¼ cup of milk

3 tablespoons of melted butter

1 teaspoon of vanilla

With a fork, beat together all the wet ingredients in a small mixing bowl.

Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir.  DO NOT STIR TOO MUCH OR THE BATTER BECOMES TOO GUMMY!!!  I usually do about 30 stirs then I leave it alone.  You also want your batter to be a bit runny.  If it is thick and pasty, add a little more milk and gently mix it in.  You should be able to pour the batter into the frying pan.  While a spoon might help to transfer the better, it should not be essential.  However, the batter should not bee too runny.  

Fold in the blueberries.

Now, I was feeling nostalgic over the weekend so I did two things.  I poured the better to fill the entire bottom of the cast-iron skillet, just like Grandma used to do.  Let one side cook until bubbles begin to form, then flip it!  Cook on the other side for a minute or two; until the bottom gets golden o.

I also invited Strawberry Shortcake’s BFF from circa 1982, Blueberry Muffin, to join me for breakfast.  She came with Cheesecake.  It was real swell.  

A Few Odds and Ends: Hearty Pepper Soup with Homemade Buttermilk (Ok, Plain Yoghurt) Biscuits

I could not decide what I wanted for breakfast yesterday.  Many ideas went through my mind.  All I knew was that I wanted something rich in carbohydrates.  Yes, I am trying to get rid of my belly, and eating foods rich in carbs is the best way to do it, right?  Hmmm... Would it not be a better world if that were true?

Carbs.  Yes, so I decided to make buttermilk biscuits.  Huh, no buttermilk.  No problem.  Add four tablespoons of white vinegar (which I had) to one cup of whole milk and let sit for about 10 minutes=quasi-buttermilk.  No milk.  Huh?   Still no problem.  I have one more trick up my sleeve. You'll see below.

I have something to confess.  Before this weekend, I had never made biscuits from scratch before.  (Oh, and what I refer to as biscuits are not what are referred to as biscuits in the UK.  Biscuits, where I come from, are a type of bread that accompanies a meal, often be not necessarily breakfast.  Hmmm... I guess you might be able to compare them to a savoury scone--arms up to block my face; don't hit me.)  I had to do a Google search to find ideas for a recipe.  I say ideas for a recipe and not a recipe because I just gotta make it my own: partly because I cannot always find recommended ingredients in my kitchen or neighbourhood.  After gleaning ideas from a few sources, I came up with the following.  Oh, and I was out of milk, so a substitute was made based on an idea I gleaned from an amazing pancake recipe a couple of years ago.

Ingredients and method:

In a large mixing bowl, add:

2 cups of all purpose flour

1 tablespoon of baking powder

¾ teaspoon of salt

Stir together together.

Cut in 4 tablespoons (about 50g) of butter.

Make a well in the centre of the mixture.

Pour in 1 cup of plain yoghurt (YAY!!! This is the big gun I pull out when I do not have buttermilk!!!)

Stir until just mixed!!!  It will still be be wet and sticky.

Pour the mixture onto a floured counter top.  Roll the lump to just cover with flour.

Knead the dough about six times, not too much or the dough will become too chewy when cooked.

Then spread out to the desire thickness and cut.

Bake at 200 Celsius or around 375 Fahrenheit for 15 to 20 minutes.

Simple.

Good.

I had these with egg on Saturday, then on Sunday, I uses the leftovers with some homemade pepper soup as the starch.  No rice or garri.  Oh, and with this pepper soup, I made what I call a hearty pepper soup and added more vegetable.  I am just getting over being a bit under the weather and really needed some extra vitamins.  Just take your average pepper soup recipe and add some chunks of carrots, leeks, bell peppers, slices of okra and other vegetables you like.

However, it was so good!

The Response to the Missing Showerhead Does Not Become Him

Around 4:00 o’clock yesterday afternoon I continued the Whatsapp conversation initiated by the handyman of my apartment building.  Yeah, I guess it has creepily evolved to that.  I followed up on the showerhead that was removed from the master bedroom bath on Monday when a few small repairs were made. 

So the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back is a showerhead.  In addition to the shower problems I had been experiencing, I had no lights in my kitchen for more than two months.  We pay the management company somewhere in the neighbourhood of $1000 per month (crazy, I know, but it is what it is) on top of the rent to service the apartment so, really, going two months without having my kitchen lights repaired is completely unacceptable.  Sure, I could have found someone else or even done the work myself, but let’s not forget the $1000 per month they are being paid to take care of issues like this. 

After receiving the Whatsapp message from the handyman about the thrown-away showerhead, I called up the management company and had a real go at them.  Now, the term ‘real go’ is very relative.  My ‘real go’ did not include any screaming or f-bombs.  I think I might have told them that I considered their performance as a management company exceptionally ‘unprofessional’, and I am sure I used my favourite term:  ridiculous (and thought of Sibyl and Kelly).

When I got home, I was so frustrated that I called a good friend and gave him a real ear full about the day I was having.   And like someone who is emotionally unstable at a particular moment, I related all the problems I have been having in my life for the past year to the showerhead that was removed from my apartment on Monday.   

Then I felt really bad, embarrassed even.  I mean, I would like to think that I am above pitching a hissy fit (love the term, linked to hysteria) just because things do not happen according to my preference and/or my timing.  But I am not. 

As a result of my hysterical behaviour, however, before the night was done, my kitchen lights were repaired.   This was a result of my unbecoming behaviour.  I have always spoken to the people from the management company with courtesy and respect, and the jobs I needed done were left undone.  It is a shame that the way I got them done was to show my ass a little.