To recap: We have been moving about in temporary housing while we do our apartment search. We move to our new apartment around Feb.1.
The guesthouse (like a bed and breakfast in the US) in Chowpatty had a cook, so we had eggs and toast for breakfast, and various Indian foods (names currently unknown) for lunch and dinner. It was all amazing. Not too spicy, and, hours later, your belly didn't protest, which, of course, we both appreciated. We move back to the guesthouse this weekend, thank goodness, because for the last week and a half, we've been at the apartment in Churchgate.
The Churchgate apartment is simply an apartment, so we didn't bother to hire a cook yet. Thus, we have been subjected to my attempts at Indian food. My attempts at Indian food are hindered by a few things: (1) I have no idea how to cook any Indian food. (2) My cooking utensils are the absolute bare minimum. (3) The grocery store where we buy food is utterly disgusting.
To expand (2), I would like to point out the items we have for my fabulous cooking:
* 2 cups (had been left here)
* 2 yellow Tupperware containers (had been left here, but were in a random drawer and not utilized until recently)
*1 plastic plate (had been left here)
* 1 Pyrex measuring cup (my husband teased me like crazy for bringing it, but it has clearly been THE most useful item that either one of us packed)
* 2 plastic bowls (thank goodness I packed bowls)
* 2 knives, 2 forks, 2 spoons (also packed by me)
* 1 flimsy cheap pot (purchased at the nearby 'department' store)
* 1 microwave (incredibly useful for that oatmeal we've had for every meal)
* 2 gas stove top burners
So our typical breakfast is me microwaving 1 cup (thank you again, Pyrex) of water and mixing it with instant oatmeal. Maple and Brown Sugar flavored, if you are interested. Each packet has a fun 'fact' written on it for my amusement as the microwave does its job. For example, did you know that the Skipper would call Gilligan 'Little Buddy'? I do, it is on every other pack of oatmeal and we've gone through three boxes....
Our typical dinner is me, with our one pot, first making rice or dosai (from a box, it is kind of like a pancake/crepe looking thing) then cleaning out the pot and using it to make a filling (from a box, of course, usually something with potatoes in it). Then we top the meal off with a trip to another ice cream shop. the ratio of ice cream to other shops is incredibly high here. Maybe I'll do a study of it.
Or we just eat peanut butter and jelly. I balance the bread on a knife and toast it over the open stove flame... it usually burns. There doesn't seem to be a 'low' setting on the gas burners in this house.
Anyhow, the starting material for dinner isn't so great, either. The grocery store where we buy our food is dirty, crawling with ants (and lizards, but those don't bug me as much), and three-quarters of everything inside of it is expired. Plus, I get yelled at for doing something wrong each time I walk into the store, which doesn't make me particularly fond of it. For example, apparently, though they don't give you bags for the groceries, and you bring your own, you can't put your groceries IN the bag until after you purchase them. So I was walking along, putting things in my big cloth grocery bag, and an employee came up to me, forced a basket into my hands, and made me put each item into the basket as he watched and admonished me in Hindi.. Isn't that strange? I don't know if he thought I was trying to steal the stuff, or if he thought I was too dumb to figure out the purpose of a basket.
But it is okay- only a couple more days and we are back at the guest house with real food! And then into our real apartment, where we'll have a cook.
The guesthouse (like a bed and breakfast in the US) in Chowpatty had a cook, so we had eggs and toast for breakfast, and various Indian foods (names currently unknown) for lunch and dinner. It was all amazing. Not too spicy, and, hours later, your belly didn't protest, which, of course, we both appreciated. We move back to the guesthouse this weekend, thank goodness, because for the last week and a half, we've been at the apartment in Churchgate.
The Churchgate apartment is simply an apartment, so we didn't bother to hire a cook yet. Thus, we have been subjected to my attempts at Indian food. My attempts at Indian food are hindered by a few things: (1) I have no idea how to cook any Indian food. (2) My cooking utensils are the absolute bare minimum. (3) The grocery store where we buy food is utterly disgusting.
To expand (2), I would like to point out the items we have for my fabulous cooking:
* 2 cups (had been left here)
* 2 yellow Tupperware containers (had been left here, but were in a random drawer and not utilized until recently)
*1 plastic plate (had been left here)
* 1 Pyrex measuring cup (my husband teased me like crazy for bringing it, but it has clearly been THE most useful item that either one of us packed)
* 2 plastic bowls (thank goodness I packed bowls)
* 2 knives, 2 forks, 2 spoons (also packed by me)
* 1 flimsy cheap pot (purchased at the nearby 'department' store)
* 1 microwave (incredibly useful for that oatmeal we've had for every meal)
* 2 gas stove top burners
So our typical breakfast is me microwaving 1 cup (thank you again, Pyrex) of water and mixing it with instant oatmeal. Maple and Brown Sugar flavored, if you are interested. Each packet has a fun 'fact' written on it for my amusement as the microwave does its job. For example, did you know that the Skipper would call Gilligan 'Little Buddy'? I do, it is on every other pack of oatmeal and we've gone through three boxes....
Our typical dinner is me, with our one pot, first making rice or dosai (from a box, it is kind of like a pancake/crepe looking thing) then cleaning out the pot and using it to make a filling (from a box, of course, usually something with potatoes in it). Then we top the meal off with a trip to another ice cream shop. the ratio of ice cream to other shops is incredibly high here. Maybe I'll do a study of it.
Or we just eat peanut butter and jelly. I balance the bread on a knife and toast it over the open stove flame... it usually burns. There doesn't seem to be a 'low' setting on the gas burners in this house.
Anyhow, the starting material for dinner isn't so great, either. The grocery store where we buy our food is dirty, crawling with ants (and lizards, but those don't bug me as much), and three-quarters of everything inside of it is expired. Plus, I get yelled at for doing something wrong each time I walk into the store, which doesn't make me particularly fond of it. For example, apparently, though they don't give you bags for the groceries, and you bring your own, you can't put your groceries IN the bag until after you purchase them. So I was walking along, putting things in my big cloth grocery bag, and an employee came up to me, forced a basket into my hands, and made me put each item into the basket as he watched and admonished me in Hindi.. Isn't that strange? I don't know if he thought I was trying to steal the stuff, or if he thought I was too dumb to figure out the purpose of a basket.
But it is okay- only a couple more days and we are back at the guest house with real food! And then into our real apartment, where we'll have a cook.
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