Catching up … May and June happenings.
I have recently embarked on the “journey to zero waste,” which I’ve discovered is no small feat. I have many excellent mentors in my school community, who have come together in a group called “Global Ripple.” On May 18, a few of us met in a Nido science classroom for a workshop on making eco-friendly products for the home: laundry soap, cleaners, and beeswax covers for containers.
I actually went home and made two more beeswax covers, which we now use instead of foil. Yay me!
In addition to my quest to reduce our household waste, I remain committed to vegetarianism. Since Tony – who has been the boss of the kitchen for our whole married life – is most definitely NOT interested in giving up meat, I have been forced to learn some cooking skills. I’m not going to lie. I don’t love cooking. I suck at chopping. I can’t deviate from a recipe without panicking. I get so frustrated when I can’t find the ingredients I need in Chile, and I don’t know how to make substitutions. So, clearly, I have a long way to go.
After making eco-friendly household products in the morning, I headed to a friend’s house in the afternoon for an Indian cooking class. Renu guided a group of ladies in whipping up a legit collection of delicious dishes. I mostly sipped wine and watched, although I did grate a lemon at one point. Everything seemed a little too complicated for me to ever reproduce on my own. However, in the next couple weeks, I actually made paneer (first try bombed, second try was a winner), chickpea masala, cucumber raita, and kachumba (marinated onion salad). Pretty dang proud of myself.
On June 2, another friend, Samantha, offered a bread-making class. We learned how to make a basic dough, and she provided some sourdough starter with the steps for keeping it alive. I tried to make sourdough bread at home, but it was less like bread and more like a tree stump. However, I succeeded with some mouth-watering dinner rolls. Is there anything better than hot, fresh bread with butter and honey?
