Went to MIL for "Iftar" last night - the evening meal that breaks the day of fasting. I skipped the main course completely (fried chicken and rice cooked with a lot of oil) and had a very small bowl of lentil soup and a side plate with a spoonful each from a selection of salads and veggie starters. No dessert, either! So despite the bread, yesterday was a good day. They bring out this special bread just during the month of Ramadan, and at least a few times during the month it's irresistable. It's baked in the afternoons especially so it's hot when you buy it - a kind of semi-leavened flat bread brushed with egg and topped with sesame seeds. I could eat a whole one with a hunk of cheese and loads of butter melting on it (but I don't :))
We've been struggling with very high humidity the past few days, very sticky weather and hard to find any energy. It's quite cloudy this morning and we need a quick thunderstorm to clear the air, but I don't think that's forecast.
I need to finish cleaning my house this morning while it's still - relatively - cool (currently pushing 29 degrees at 8 am), then do some food shopping. My mum, one of my sisters and her partner will be arriving tomorrow afternoon, so I can prepare food in the morning. I'm planning my standby risotto mould as a side dish - I can make it tonight or in the morning and refrigerate it until needed. It's basically a risotto made with lots of grated veg, herbs and basmati rice, turned into a mould and set, served cold as a salad with a kind of french dressing. The recipe I make is a very simplified version of a recipe by Sophie Dahl that you can find on the Internet and it's become a real favourite for family dinners. It's also delicious served hot. Maybe a little high on the calories in its original version, but I cut the butter, oil and parmesan to a minimum and worked it out to just over 200 cals per serving. We'll have it with some simple grilled meat or chicken and a salad.
Of course, with visitors arriving tomorrow, my dishwasher has decided to stop working - it throws the fuse-box switch every time I turn it on, so there's an electrical problem there or maybe and unseen leak that needs solving, hopefully today if I can find somebody to come out!
I'm a little worried about mum's visit. She used to come here every year and loves it here, she loves the sun and heat, the food, and what she perceives as the slower, more respectful way of life (is it, I wonder?) However, the last time she came, 3 years ago I think, she had a bad fall down the stairs while in the hotel in Istanbul and during that visit I noticed she was becoming very forgetful and repetitive. Of course, she was showing classic symptoms of the onset of dementia, probably Alzheimer's disease. 3 years on, obviously her memory has worsened considerably and she's pretty much unable to look after herself. However, I know she really wants to come here again and the two sisters who usually do most of the work looking after her really need a break so I offered to have her here for the summer. Big plans have whittled down to just one week - it will be a long journey for her - I'm just hoping that she'll find something familiar here when she arrives and be able to relax a little. If she's able to recognise and accept where she is, she'll be happy and we'll be fine.
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447 kkal
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Lemak: 7,33g | Prot: 14,96g | Karb: 86,67g.
Makan Pagi: grapes, honey, coffee, sunfllower seeds, yoghurt, peach, granola. lagi...
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