On Saturday, May 28, Kari and I hopped in my car and drove to Kari's home in Seattle. On the drive, we decided to christen my little periwinkle Geo Prism "Beatrice." I'm hoping it sticks. What do you think, Lorry? Is Beatrice a fitting name? Our purpose in going to Seattle was to attend my junior year roommate's wedding in Eatonville, WA, about 70 minutes southeast of the city. As a bonus, Kari and I got to spend time with Kari's family over the weekend, too.
After an enjoyable Saturday evening and Sunday morning with Kari's parents, Steve and Myrna, we headed to the Olsons' favorite Indian restaurant: Taste of India. The Olsons used to have lunch here every Sunday after church when Kari was in high school. Our meal was delicious, especially the fresh chai tea. I asked Steve what "tandoori" meant on the menu, and he thought it was a kind of Indian oven. Sure enough, we poked our head in the kitchen door after lunch and were eagerly invited inside by the chef to witness the oven in action. Apparently, a tandoor oven is a special clay oven that is used in Indian cooking. Food that is cooked in a tandoor is called Tandoori, e.g. tandoori chicken.
The oven was shaped like a huge clay flower vase with a narrow opening at the top. The chef pulled out a lump of naan dough and with quick, deft movements, pulled the dough into an oblong shape, dusted it with butter, cilantro, and garlic, and slapped it on the inside of the oven where it stuck and cooked in two minutes' time. We were amazed and delighted. What a treat to see naan cooking! With typical Indian generosity, the chef gave us the fresh naan with a side of tamarind paste. Delicious! If only I could have eaten it then, but I was SO full. I could barely eat any dinner or cake at the wedding because I was so ridicuously full of Indian food. But I'm definitely not complaining. Good food is a gift. :o)
The wedding was fun, though it was strange to see the first of my friends get married this summer. This begins a series of five weddings for the summer, three of which I'm in. Perhaps the best part of the wedding was seeing friends from Whitworth who have scattered across the west coast for the summer and beyond. I also enjoyed the apple favors from the bride's family orchard. It brought back good memories of the boxes of apples fresh from the orchard that we enjoyed as roommates. The picture above is from the wedding.
Straddling May and June, the past week has been busy and tiring and full of God's blessings. On Tuesday, I worked feverishly between rainstorms to mow the Edwards' expansive lawn, pack my things, and clean the house. On Wednesday, my housemates and I moved into our new house on Woodway Avenue, which is a rather poetic name to my ears. In the midst of the chaos of packing, I was particularly thankful for three people:
1) Brad Beal, a friend from Colbert Presbyterian Church, offered to help me move my things in his spacious van. His generosity made the move 100 times easier and way more fun. Moving ranks as one of my least favorite things to do, but Brad made it a breeze.
2) Lydia Garth, a dear friend, made me a delicious lunch, and we enjoyed it together on the Edwards' deck. In the haste and chaos of moving, a prepared meal was a welcome break.
3) Kari Olson was my faithful helper in cleaning up the Edwards' house, cleaning bathrooms, making beds, washing sheets, etc. and helped me move several things, including food and clothes. I have so much food. It's rather ridiculous, so I need to try and use things up over the next several weeks. However, I always say that and it never seems to happen. Oh well.
Today, my housemates and I have been enjoying our new house and the sun. We organized our kitchen (praise God!) and took a leisurely bike ride through our neighborhood. My housemate Katie and I discovered at least six garage sales, of which the highlight was buying chocolate chip cookies and lemonade from two elementary-age girls. We also discovered how expansive our neighborhood is and that we're close to Fred Meyer! Now if they'd just put in a Coldstone Ice Cream shop nearby...
A blessed and hopefully sunny weekend to you!
After an enjoyable Saturday evening and Sunday morning with Kari's parents, Steve and Myrna, we headed to the Olsons' favorite Indian restaurant: Taste of India. The Olsons used to have lunch here every Sunday after church when Kari was in high school. Our meal was delicious, especially the fresh chai tea. I asked Steve what "tandoori" meant on the menu, and he thought it was a kind of Indian oven. Sure enough, we poked our head in the kitchen door after lunch and were eagerly invited inside by the chef to witness the oven in action. Apparently, a tandoor oven is a special clay oven that is used in Indian cooking. Food that is cooked in a tandoor is called Tandoori, e.g. tandoori chicken.
The oven was shaped like a huge clay flower vase with a narrow opening at the top. The chef pulled out a lump of naan dough and with quick, deft movements, pulled the dough into an oblong shape, dusted it with butter, cilantro, and garlic, and slapped it on the inside of the oven where it stuck and cooked in two minutes' time. We were amazed and delighted. What a treat to see naan cooking! With typical Indian generosity, the chef gave us the fresh naan with a side of tamarind paste. Delicious! If only I could have eaten it then, but I was SO full. I could barely eat any dinner or cake at the wedding because I was so ridicuously full of Indian food. But I'm definitely not complaining. Good food is a gift. :o)
The wedding was fun, though it was strange to see the first of my friends get married this summer. This begins a series of five weddings for the summer, three of which I'm in. Perhaps the best part of the wedding was seeing friends from Whitworth who have scattered across the west coast for the summer and beyond. I also enjoyed the apple favors from the bride's family orchard. It brought back good memories of the boxes of apples fresh from the orchard that we enjoyed as roommates. The picture above is from the wedding.
Straddling May and June, the past week has been busy and tiring and full of God's blessings. On Tuesday, I worked feverishly between rainstorms to mow the Edwards' expansive lawn, pack my things, and clean the house. On Wednesday, my housemates and I moved into our new house on Woodway Avenue, which is a rather poetic name to my ears. In the midst of the chaos of packing, I was particularly thankful for three people:
1) Brad Beal, a friend from Colbert Presbyterian Church, offered to help me move my things in his spacious van. His generosity made the move 100 times easier and way more fun. Moving ranks as one of my least favorite things to do, but Brad made it a breeze.
2) Lydia Garth, a dear friend, made me a delicious lunch, and we enjoyed it together on the Edwards' deck. In the haste and chaos of moving, a prepared meal was a welcome break.
3) Kari Olson was my faithful helper in cleaning up the Edwards' house, cleaning bathrooms, making beds, washing sheets, etc. and helped me move several things, including food and clothes. I have so much food. It's rather ridiculous, so I need to try and use things up over the next several weeks. However, I always say that and it never seems to happen. Oh well.
Today, my housemates and I have been enjoying our new house and the sun. We organized our kitchen (praise God!) and took a leisurely bike ride through our neighborhood. My housemate Katie and I discovered at least six garage sales, of which the highlight was buying chocolate chip cookies and lemonade from two elementary-age girls. We also discovered how expansive our neighborhood is and that we're close to Fred Meyer! Now if they'd just put in a Coldstone Ice Cream shop nearby...
A blessed and hopefully sunny weekend to you!
I was excited when I saw your description of the tandoori! I'm working on illustrating a book about ancient Jericho, and have been doing a lot of archaeological research. The excavation reports frequently show these barrel-shaped clay structures, which they identify as ovens, but for the longest time I couldn't figure out how in the world you could cook or bake on them. Finally one source mentioned their similarity to a modern tandoori, and it is starting to all make sense. I want to draw a woman cooking bread in one, but the idea of sticking the dough on the inside, partly upside-down, is just a little hard to visualize. You'd have to move pretty quickly to keep form baking your arm! Anyway, I think it is amazing how these ovens haven't changed significantly in over 5,000 years! If it works, why fix it?
ReplyDelete