Back online

I think our Internet problem is straightened out now, so hopefully the service won’t be quite so spotty from here on in. There hasn’t been much to blog about anyway. I’m trying to get the house organized and some projects and things cleared off my plate, as I’ve let a lot of stuff slide, and it’s starting to catch up to me and stress me out a little bit. I’m not a neat freak, but I don’t like for my garden and my house to feel out of control, either.

I think after work, I will devote most of my evening to housecleaning. I really need to get my home office and my living room in order. I had church tonight, and then I picked up groceries, and I hadn’t really eaten much all day (unless you count pretzel bits with aerosol cheese — obviously the breakfast of champions), so I made a batch of hummus and sliced up three enormous cucumbers and two cayenne peppers to soak in organic cider vinegar, and now I’m puttering around online, although I really ought to go to bed.

My friend Kathryn from Australia just got home from a Route 66 trip. Her blog — which includes lots of details from her trip — is a great place to putter around, particularly if you like to feel as if maybe the world isn’t so big after all. I am disappointed that I failed to score a packet or two of Vegemite from her while she was here. She and her husband, Darren, think it’s hilarious to hand out Vegemite samples to Americans and watch their reactions. A lot of people don’t like it, but I do. Darren just about laughed himself silly when I told him how I like to eat it, though: I put it on toast, the way you’re supposed to do, but after that, it all goes haywire — I like to add a layer of tahini, a few drops of lemon juice, and maybe a slice or two of tomato and cucumber. I suppose it’s a little odd to mix Australian and Lebanese ingredients on one sandwich, but I like the way it tastes.

Speaking of tahini, here’s my awesome hummus recipe, if you’re interested. Amounts aren’t exact, as I never measure anything, but this is pretty close to what I made tonight:

Three cloves of garlic
Can of chickpeas
1/2 c. tahini
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. lemon juice
1 tsp. ground cumin
a few dashes of paprika

Mince the garlic in a food processor. Add the remaining ingredients, one at a time, processing until smooth after each addition. Adjust the olive oil, lemon juice, and spices to suit your taste. I like my hummus to be very smooth and creamy, with a lot of lemon and tahini flavor. This latest batch was just about perfect. Too bad the pita bread (which I got on sale for $1 a package) was stale. Oh, well. It will make good pita chips, anyway.

Emily