Blush Pink Dawn 24 Mar 09
It was one of those hushed, still mornings; once again the water is smooth as glass and the sky is just preparing to receive the sun, all glow-y and blushing, but without the presence of the awaited guest:
This morning’s temperature at 0630 was the expected high temperature back in January. It is still fresh, but it won’t be for long.
Have a great day, Kuwait!
Furminator and the Qatteri Cat
The poor Qatteri Cat with his luxurious thick furry coat starts getting a little uncomfortable around this time of the year, when the temperatures rise, and by May or June, he starts getting lumps in his fur – no matter how often I comb him. Sometimes he even gets nasty and takes a nip at me while I am trying to comb.
Friends with long haired cats have the same complaints. Some recommend the lion cut, which makes the cats look like furry poodles, all shaved on their main bodies, with furry heads and feet and tails. I was even thinking that might be the solution for QC. I’ve been chasing him around with little manicure scissors and carefully cutting off knobs of fur when they appear – and then I saw the Furminator.
Someone had mentioned it once, or mentioned finding a tool that somehow cut out part of the cats fur and the cats loved the feeling. Maybe Vixen? But she couldn’t remember the name.
The Furminator has metal teeth in two sizes, and the smaller ones, I think, are razor sharp. The longer teeth are not, so you brush, nothing gets snagged, but as you brush, rolls and rolls of excess fur come rolling out. It’s kind of a miracle and it’s kind of gross, but if you keep a garbage can nearby while you brush, you can just put it directly in the trash. I Find QC napping, I talk softly and brush softly. He doesn’t mind a bit. You wouldn’t believe how much hair you can brush out of a cat with this tool.
They have their own website The Furminator and they have different sizes, from cat to dog to horse.
You can order them, I discovered, through amazon.com.
Qatteri Cat is happy not to have the lion cut. 🙂
The REAL French Aioli Sauce
My beautiful French friend looked at me sadly, considering how to deliver the bad news in the most gracious way possible.
“Yes, Intlxpatr, it is a very delicious garlic mayonnaise, but . . . it is NOT aioli,” she said, regretfully honoring France and all of French tradition. “The real aioli uses potato, and has a totally different texture from this mayonnaise.”
Back a long time ago, I published instructions for making your own mayonnaise, aioli and rouille and it has been one of my all time high statistics grabbers. How embarrasing to be so wrong!
But I am not alone. This morning as I went looking for “real” French aioli, it wasn’t until page 3 I found this recipe, which sounds very close to what I remember eating down in Les Leques, as we stayed in a family hotel on the beach and ate breakfast and dinner with all the French families. Aioli is both the name of a dish – a white fish, usually cod, served with vegetables and a huge bowl of garlic sauce – and also the name of the sauce itself. We adore both.
Here is the recipe I found for REAL French aioli found in a recipe site called Big Oven:
INGREDIENTS
6 Cloves garlic; peeled
1/2 c Pine nuts
3 Potatoes-boiled; peeled
1 Juice of a lemon
1/4 c Olive oil
1 Egg; lightly beaten
INSTRUCTIONS
Combine the garlic and the nuts in a blender or food processor and puree.
Add the potatoes, and puree.
Pour potato mixture into a bowl and, using a wisk, beat in the lemon juice, a bit at a time.
Gradually add the olive oil in a thin stream while continuing to beat so oil combines with potato mixture. When oil has been absorbed, add the egg and beat well.
Giovanni de Bourbon
Most of the other recipes that sound the most authentic start with garlic crushed in a mortar and pestle, ground together with salt, then the oil added drop by drop until a thick mixture is obtained. Those are the basics – where to go from there seems to be evolving away from the original Provencal recipes.
Sunrise March 21, 2009
For all your Kuwaiti students back in the USA who check in daily to see what Kuwait looks like – I am sorry to tell you, you are missing one of the most beautiful days of the year. The sun rose over a sea so still it is like glass; it looks so solid you could walk on it:
You wonder how I know you are Kuwaiti students? I use this wonderful software called StatCounter which I love.
What is STATCOUNTER?
A free yet reliable invisible web tracker, highly configurable hit counter and real-time detailed web stats. Insert a simple piece of our code on your web page or blog and you will be able to analyse and monitor all the visitors to your website in real-time!
It allows me to see where people who check my blog are checking in from – like if you are at University of Arizona, for example, it might show me that. People who have commented are identified from previous comments. It is a great little utility, and a lot of fun when you have a little time to spare.
For those of you in Kuwait – look at this week to come:
It doesn’t get any more beautiful in Kuwait. Get outside today! It is gorgeous out there!
Smoke House BBQ
AdventureMan and I miss two kinds of cuisine living in Kuwait – American BBQ and Vietnamese. When I read on Mark’s blog 248 about the Smoke House, I couldn’t wait to grab Adventure Man and give it a try.
It’s the best American BBQ in Kuwait.
OK, the restaurant itself is small, and not that easy to find, but it is immaculately clean, and there is all the parking in the world. That matters to me.
The service was quick and professional. We already knew about the pie, because we saw it in the display case when we came in, and knew we needed to save room.
We like BBQ, but for us, it is also all about the sides. I adore baked beans, and the baked beans at the Smoke House are very very good. I love potato salad and I love cole slaw, and they had both, and they were both very good. I adore the genuine, very dill pickles that come with the meals.
AdventureMan had the cajun fish and I had the half chicken. They were delicious. We were already stuffed when they brought our order of sweet potato pie. Oh yummmm. The crust is like a sugar cookie, and the filling is perfect. We couldn’t eat it all. It was huge.
I am not critical. I enjoyed all the sauces too much – so many varieties, including the vinegar-y sauce I learned to love in Kansas City and the sweet and hot sauce I love from the Carolinas. I want to go back. I want to try the mashed potatoes and gravy, and the steamed vegetables and the Pecan Pie. I am not a French Fry girl, but these were crispy and very tasty, and I found myself eating even while telling myself “No! No! No!”
I adore ribs, and I hear their ribs are very good. I am just so thrilled that they exist, that someone thought American BBQ would work here in Kuwait. It sure works for me! 🙂
Here is a direct link to the Smoke House Menu.
Here is a map of how to get there, from their website:
It doesn’t have to be magnificent to get my vote – it just has to be good enough, authentic enough American BBQ to fill my need. The Smoke House is a great find.
So now that just leaves Vietnamese . . . anyone?
Taxing Times
No cheery posts today, I am busy gathering the paperwork for our US taxes.
Imagine a game where the rules change every year, a combination scavenger hunt (this year you have to have complete documentation for every charitable deduction, every moving expense, every repair for rental properties, insurance receipts, property tax receipts, etc) and oh! some new deductions if you have kept records of travel and expenses (go dig out those credit card receipts) and accuracy (filling in the correct information in the correct obscure box) and drawing the right conclusions (check this box? that box?) etc.
I am pretty good at keeping the right paperwork, but I am not always good at keeping it in order. Before I can even start, I have to get it in piles sorted by types, then sort the piles chronologically.
AdventureMan is no help. He means well. He doesn’t handle frustration well. He has people who do things for him. At home, I am it. I am the people who get it done.
Then the worksheet, which has colors and prints so small that I can’t even read it once the sun goes down, so I have to get it all done while the sun is high. AArrgh.
So pardon me if I am not a barrel of laughs today. Bah! Humbug! Taxes!
Discouraging Sunrise 19 March 2009
When I got up this morning, my heart sank. It is not a glorious sunrise, it isn’t even one of Kuwait’s silvery sunrises, but a very very grey sunrise.
The Germans have a word “smutzich” (I may not have spelled that right) that means dirty, filthy, covered with grime . . . and the sunrise reminds me of that, it is grimy . . . and discouraging. That thin layer of yellow, whatever it is, is closer.
Weather Underground says the entire week will be clear:
But it amends that forecast with what is happening right now:
It might be a cloud, but what a grimy cloud! I hate to think that we breathe that air!
US Embassy: Kuwait Low Threat fro Crimes
From today’s Al Watan
Kuwait 2009 Crime & Safety Report
U.S. Department of State rates Kuwait as low threat for crime
WASHINGTON: The Department of State rates Kuwait as low threat for crime. The incidence of crime in Kuwait City remains low. The government of Kuwait (GOK) maintains a high police profile with large numbers of uniformed and plainÙ€clothes officers on the streets. Each district and governorate has police stations operating under the direction of the Ministry of Interior (MOI) Directorate of Public Safety. Incidents of crime do occur, with few instances reported to the U.S. Embassy”s Regional Security Officer (RSO).
Violent crime is primarily confined within the thirdÙ€country national (TCN) community, which comprises the majority of the manual labor force in Kuwait Ù€ approximately twoÙ€thirds of Kuwait”s residents are TCNs.
It is probable that a high percentage of crimes in the TCN community go unreported because of lack of police responsiveness.
The threat of immediate deportation looms large for many of these guest workers who generally prefer maintaining a low profile so as to avoid unwanted attention from the GOK.
Although several districts within Kuwait City are known to have higher incidences of crime, only one area (Jahra) remains generally offÙ€limits to official embassy personnel. One factor contributing to the high rate of crime in Jahra is the inability of the police to enforce laws in areas where tribal customs take precedence.
Residential crime remains low. There have been no reported breakÙ€ins at any official embassy residences within the past year, nor have any vehicles been stolen. It is not uncommon for embassy staff and dependents to report suspicious persons in their neighborhoods to the RSO, but the majority of these instances have been resolved without any criminal or other hostile intent discovered.
There are no reports of petty thefts against the official American community in any of the popular outdoor markets or shopping malls frequented by tourists and westerners living in Kuwait. However, the opportunity for such crime does exist. It is understood that individuals should not assume that they can maintain a carefree attitude in these venues even though the crime threat in Kuwait is rated low.
Last updated on Wednesday 18/3/2009
Icons Challenge, The Locard Principle 2: The Middle East and Me
The best thing, the very best thing about blogging, for me, is what I learn from my commenters. The old Locard’s Exchange Principle is a constant in life – with every interaction, a part of you rubs off on me, and a part of me rubs off on you. It’s why we’re careful about the people, books, movies, blogs and ideas we spend time with. . . we either feel better for hanging around them, or slightly uncomfortable. Sometimes, hugely uncomfortable. The internet is a microcosm, good and evil all mixed in together and we make our choices.
Fragonard: The Reader
Above: that is me. That’s pretty much who I am. I am quiet, I am a reader. I still get input, from newspapers, books, e-mails, the internet, friends, groups, etc.
What I love about blogging is that I throw something out, and you throw something back. Many many times, what I get back is unexpected, and forces me to re-examine my assumptions. Many times, I have to force myself to stop. Not to respond. I have to force myself to let the new information, new point-of-view sink in, percolate, settle. Minds don’t change in an instant, but . . . they do change. New information brings new, often surprising, perspectives. When I find myself getting angry, I have to step back and ask myself “what is going on here? What are you reacting to?” It helps me to know myself better, and it helps me to understand whatever-little-corner-of-the-world-I-am-living-in better, too.
There are about six different blog entries radiating out like a spider’s web from the thoughts I am now thinking, fed by your input and comments, and behind the scenes e-mails back and forth with new thoughts.
So here is my challenge for today. I’ve shown you one of my life icons, this Fragonard paining, The Reader.
Your mission, your challenge – identify / find a piece of art that shows us who you are. Post it on your blog and link here with a comment, or send it to me, and I will publish it.
(No graphic violence or pornography; I won’t publish it and I will break the link if you publish it on your blog and link to me.)
MP Al-Muhaibi Condemns Male Teaching Female Students
From today’s <a href=”“>Al Watan
MP Jaber AlÙ€Muhailbi condemns school incident
Staff Writer
KUWAIT: MP Jaber AlÙ€Muhailbi has denounced the fact that grade 12 girls at AlÙ€Sabahiya High School are being taught by a foreign, male teacher. According to him, “the incident reveals a great amount of recklessness on the part of the Ministry of Education,” which he says disregards the traditions and values of Kuwaiti society.
AlÙ€Muhailbi expressed his apprehension that there might be forces planning to replace the conservative educational system in the country with a system that openly encouraged ”mixed” schools for boys and girls.
He held Minister of Education Nouriya AlÙ€Subaih solely responsible for the incident, said that it proved she was incompetent to shoulder her responsibilities as a minister.
He finally announced that he would put forward a number of questions concerning the aforementioned incident to the minister, and would inquire as to whether this was an occurrence seen in other schools, and asserted that there were plenty of female teachers capable of teaching female students in Kuwait.
He expressed his displeasure about the presence of a male teacher in a girls” school, calling it “unacceptable.”
Last updated on Tuesday 17/3/2009
12th grade? Isn’t that like the year girls graduate and go on to university classes (God willing/insh’allah) where they will be taught, as likely as not, by male professors?
Do these girls go to restaurants with male waiters?
Do they shop in stores with male cashiers? Male customer service agents? Male managers?
Learning self-control is like any other skill; it requires practice. You practice by confronting the realities of the situation. Society – in and out of Kuwait – is mixed. We sit next to each other on airplanes, we are seated next to one another in restaurants, our paths cross, daily. Kuwaiti girls are well brought up and can control themselves; they also have skills at turning aside the unwanted attention of the rare teacher who might overstep.
Mr. MP, we must be suspicious of those who see sexual issues lurking in every corner; what is in the heart of a man who sees sex everywhere? Give these girls a little credit. They are after an education, not some male teacher.
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