Qatteri Cat Wants a Drink of Water
The Qatteri Cat loves FRESH water. (We know we spoil him.) This is how he tells us he wants it FRESH.
The List
“I need to put that on The List,” I think to myself when I discover I am on my last deodorant. Actually, I discover I have already finished the last deodorant, but I think maybe I have one in my travel stuff, and I am right. I also have deodorant in the Seattle stash and in the Pensacola stash, and I usually stop one of those places before going anywhere else, so I feel safe using the travel deodorant.
Once I find something I like, I usually stick to it, until they reformulate it or make it “new and improved” in some way that I hate. I remember that I bought the deodorant when we were going to Saudi Arabia – hmmm. . . . about 10 years ago! I had been there, and I knew they didn’t have this particular kind which goes on clear, isn’t sticky, and has no scent.
Guess I must have overbought (you think?) After reading EniGma’s blog on Expiration Dates I even checked to see if deodorant expires, but there is no expiration date.
It took us nearly 20 years to use up all the dental floss I bought before we went to Tunis. Somehow, I had estimated one roll of dental floss per month, times 24 months. We were still using that dental floss when the drug store that sold it to us went out of business!
I can get most things I need here in Kuwait, but deodorant goes on “The List,” which is things I need to buy when I go back to the US for a couple weeks. I checked yesterday, and could not find a scentless, clear non-gel. I have enough to get me through till my next drugstore expedition.
The List exists between trips, and drives a lot of our stateside behavior. It’s like our own personal scavenger hunt. It’s mostly make-up, underwear/socks, specific clothing (a caramel colored long sleeved T-shirt), cooking goods we can’t find here (Chinese ginger tea), etc.
Last trip, I found the last item on my list on the last day I was there – I had bought a cat groomer for our son several years ago, and his cat loves it. It is like a very long bottle brush made into a rainbow, and as the cat rubs on it, it brushed excess fur out. I never round the exact thing, but I found something like it.
The Qatteri Cat is utterly indifferent. He doesn’t care that I used my last inches of suitcase space for something special for him.
And, when I get back to Kuwait, as I am unpacking, sometimes I think to myself “I wonder why I thought I needed this?” I find that I have an entire drawer full of candles I don’t use, cocktail napkins I don’t use, and shelves of books I need to give away or donate to a local library.
The reverse is that while I am shopping here, I also have a list, mostly a mental list, trying to find unique gifts to take back to people in the US. I have found a few things here, but locally made gifts are getting harder and harder to find.
My list is getting shorter. Mostly now it is dental appointments, well woman, etc. Maybe a new caramel colored, long sleeved t-shirt, surely a stop at the Lancome counter, but the less the list, the more time to just relax and enjoy the trip.
Kuwaiti Shrimp Spaghetti
This looks so plain, and it tastes so good. It’s especially good with Kuwaiti shrimp in season – I’ve never seen such big shrimp, and Adventure Man says he thinks they are the best tasting shrimp in the world.
You need really good olive oil. You need as much garlic as you can handle (think building up your immunities for the cold season to come) and fresh washed cilantro. You need some fresh walnuts or pine nuts. If you are using walnuts, break them with your fingers, you don’t want them too small. Saute:
Clean the shrimp. (Or pay a little extra and have them cleaned at the fish market or Sultan Center) Make a thin slice down the back and pull out that unsightly intestine. (They say it causes no harm, but . . .better safe, and it looks a whole lot nicer) Check the pan, is everything lightly sizzling? Add the shrimp!
Saute that shrimp until just pink, just cooked through, but still soft and juicy.
Drain your cooked spaghetti (hint: break the spaghetti strands into halfs or even thirds for easier eating if you are eating with others) and quickly put it back in the cooking pot. Put it back on the burner, turned off but still warm, and add the olive oil, shrimp, etc. Use a wooden spoon and get at all out of the frying pan, and stir it well into the pasta.
Spoon into bowls. Most people don’t put cheese on a seafood pasta, but if you have a really good parmesan, freshly grated . . . we won’t tell! 😉 Salt to taste.
Did I tell you the Qatteri Cat won’t eat meat? He makes an exception for sardines, tuna water, and SHRIMP. As none of these seem to be very good for him, he only gets a little, now and then, as a special treat:
Bon appetite!
Lexiograms
My friend KitKat is on a roll. She knows how much I love words and puns and groaners (jokes so bad they make you groan because you don’t see ’em coming). Thank you, KitKat!
Lexiograms
1. A bicycle can’t stand alone because it is two-tired.
2. What’s the definition of a will? It’s a dead giveaway.
3. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
4. She had a boyfriend with a wooden leg, but broke it off.
5. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
6. If you don’t pay your exorcist, you get repossessed.
7. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
8. When a clock is hungry, it goes back four seconds.
9. The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.
10. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
11. He often broke into song because he couldn’t find the key.
12. A lot of money is tainted. ‘Taint yours and ‘taint mine.
13. A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.
14. He had a photographic memory that was never developed.
15. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
16. When you’ve seen one shopping center, you’ve seen a mall.
17. Those who jump off a Paris bridge are in Seine.
18. When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she’d dye.
19. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead-to-know basis.
20. Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat.
Moon over Kuwait Towers
Celebrating 100,000 hits:
(Truly, just a lucky shot, with AdventureMan’s help)
Thank you, friends and visitors, for your visitsm your comments and your insights. Thank you for being a part of my virtual family.
Ramadan Lantern
I can’t help it. I bought one. I think they are SO pretty. And I bought one for my daughter-in-law, and I bought one for her aunt, and . . . I could NOT resist.
“Red” Vinegar
There is a vinegar used often for salad dressings, for marinades, for braising, called wine vinegar. It doesn’t have any alcohol in it, it is just vinegar, but usually in the Middle East you will find it called red vinegar.
So when I found it at the co-op, I grabbed it. It was dimly lit in there, but I could see that it was indeed red.
Can you see how red it is? Hmmmmm. . . . it’s sort of an odd color of red for wine vinegar . . .
In fact, the color is so wrong that I check the labels – and it is indeed, just “red” vinegar:
I’m not even going to use it. It’s not the same. It’s not the real thing. I don’t need red food coloring.
Motherhood in 2:55
I saw this on Good Morning America, and then my oldest, dearest friend sent me the same in an e-mail. Motherhood condensed into 2 minutes and 55 seconds. Very original.
Every time I listened to it I understood it better! Adventure Man is rolling on the floor!
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