Investing on a Relationship (2)

I decided to make some food and offer it to the blue-eyed lady at work, so I can have an excuse to ask her last week after a short encounter. I made some good Chicken, Wedges and Green Pees. When I first went to work I realize she was not there! She was working from home! I then told the story to Lazy Ass and while he liked to food, he didn't think that it was a good idea. 
His point is that I'm a stranger to her and the first things comes to mind for her is this guy is offering me food just to get into my pants! His point might be valid but this was his idea when I said I wanted to make cookies! He said that I should show signs of masculinity and making cookies certainly doesn't seem that way! 

I marinated the pieces of chicken in this mix for 2 hours. I will post the recipe later

I was a bit skeptical about this approach myself. What if she doesn't like this type of chicken? Or what if she simply says thank you?! That'd be the end! Today, though, an opportunity presented itself that showed me that maybe I should forget this woman altogether. I was sitting at the table in the break room, all by myself and one of the guys stepped in and was surprised by the big Salad bowl in front of me. I explained to him that I have been trying to have one Salad meal per day. We were talking and I offered him some. He politely refused and that was when the Blue-eyed (I'm going to call her from now!) walked in. He said maybe Carol (referring to the Blue-eyed) would like some. She said something in response while getting some water, that I didn't hear. I offered her some but she refused and I added that she had not even looked. She just looked at my way and left the room! 
This woman is moody like many others and even I am! Sometimes she's friendly and at times she doesn't even look at you. I think I should ask her despite the response. At least I will not, after that, regret why I had not asked her. I don't have much to lose and it will be okay if she say no. 
(Photo, top: Tandoori Chicken or East Indian style chicken, Oregano Wedges and Green Peas. The picture is a bit blur but it tasted good. I'm going to make more. Not to mention that I ate them all by myself the very same night!)

My Free Pets!

I noticed there were a few " round, small, brown pieces " on my lawn, or perhaps it must be said where my lawn used to be(!) in front of the door, a few weeks ago. Looking closer I realized they were deer dropping's! The poor animal was there for a few branches left from a small shrub! It was hungry in this brutal winter.

This is not a good picture but you can see the dropping at the right top corner of the photo

Then the other night I looked out of the window for a moment and saw three rabbits! That was not the first time I saw them but I always felt bad for the little bunnies! I thought a little and all of a sudden I remembered that I had carrot in the refrigerator! I jumped out with the bag and threw a few pieces at them but they even didn't go near the pieces! It actually made them ran away! I tried 2 other pieces and no response or same response were seen. Disappointed at the time I had spent outside in the cold and dark, I went back in but when I looked out again half and hour later all of the pieces had been disappeared and the rabbits were at the other side of the street!

I think they were afraid of me at the time but when I went back in I felt safe and came back and ate them all.

(Photo: I took this photo with my telephoto lens of one of the rabbits at the other side of the road before going to bed the other night)

Human Being is a Sociable Creature

Lazy Ass kept calling me and sending me message for a week, almost 10 days ago. I had not seen him since December and certainly didn't want to see him again as part of my 2021 resolution but then an issue emerged: I will have to request a new passport as I have gone through an official name change and there should be two references in the passport form! I was thinking of The Mumbling Guy and then as much as I hate that cheap bastard(!) I realized there're not many people around who know me for over two years! 
So I decided to respond to him and visited him with the hope that he would sign the damn paper for me in a month of so, basically after a few visits. He was in the same damn basement with this difference that he know, if he's not lying, will have to move out in a few weeks! I suggested him to go back to the old house, his dad's place that he was kicked out from last summer but he said he wouldn't. We then went to Denny's on 16th which by the way turned to a disaster for me. The food was okay but the portion, for me was way too small. I paid a little over $13 for a Sizzling Skillet and sat back hungry after 10 minutes while he was, as usual, playing(!) with his food which was Stake! 
Since I was hungry, I kept talking about food and he suggested to have Vietnamese Soup. I hate noodles. So I refused but then he, as usual, insisted and we ended up going to a run-down Vietnamese restaurant in northeastern quadrant part of the city, where is a poor neighbourhood and it's not poor in terms of finances but also in terms of understanding and culture! We step in this so-called restaurant, which by the way I would have ever stepped in, if I had been by myself or with my family and you see these old furniture and it's really cold. They have put an electric heater at one corner of the lobby which barely warms up the nearby tables. I guess two out of 8 or so tables were occupied. We sit at a table and a young, presumably Vietnamese approaches with two glasses of water and menus. He had dyed her hair light brown! Here's the thing with these losers: These cheap, lowlife refugees, many of them feel inferior to Caucasians(!) so they think by dying their hair to bright colours they blend in! We have this asshole at work, a guy, who has dyed his hair recently, almost blond! He look so stupid and ridiculous with that big yellow head on his medium size body! 

The sub is actually doesn't look too bad except for the meat! The vegetables are fresh but I'm certain that they didn't wash them and there was not much sanitary around when they were making it!

So we're sitting in the cold and filth(!) and a short Vietnamese guy approaches with a crumpled piece of paper and a pen! I order a sub and Lazy Ass orders a sort of soup. The food arrives without much delay. The sub looks okay and the soup is big but he can's handle it because he already has filled himself up with Potato, Stake and Apple Juice! I, in the contrary, finish the damn sub in less than 2 minutes! Almost $7 for the damn sandwich! I could have made at least 3 sandwiches, much tastier than that with $7! He has real difficulties with the soup! He takes a bites of the floating items, sits back, takes a deep breath and then leans forward and gets another bite! 
He eventually decides to stop eating the soup after 10 minutes! Half of the bowl is full but I guess it's just the juice! We leave after paying. I guess his soup was about $15 or a little more. Stepping outside, I, personally, don't feel too cold because inside was not much warmer(!) so maybe that's one benefit of keeping your establishment cold during the cold winter of Alberta! 
I drop him at his place but before that we go through DQ's drive-thru to get him his dessert! About  5 minutes before that had barely was able to breath as a result of eating too much crap and now he wanted Ice Cream or something! He insists to go in with him and watch a movie but I need to go home. So I make an excuse and got the hell away!

(Photo, top: The Vietnamese soup ordered by Lazy Ass look good)

The Very Delicious Broccoli Soup

Nothing tastes better than a bowl of delicious soup in these cold Alberta winter days (currently -23 ℃ or  -10 ℉) but when the soup is very tasty you'd eat it, or perhaps I should say drink it(!) even cold!

I made a big pot of Broccoli Soup and it was quite a treat! It's a simple soup to make and simple to have because there's no chowing! So if you have some chewing problem because of age(!) or a dental treatment, this also is the soup for you! 

What you need:

1) 1 big Russet Potato

2) 1 medium Onion

3) 3 cups Broccoli

4) Half cup Cream

5) 6 cups Chicken Broth

How to make it:

1) Fry onion and then add the potato in small cubic pieces and brown them.

2) Add the Chicken Broth. I never buy this item from supermarkets. I always buy a few pieces of Chicken, add Salt, Pepper and Onion and cook and use the Broth.

4) Add Broccoli in cut pieces and eventually add some Salt and Pepper. 

5) Bring to a simmer until the Potatoes and Broccolis are tender.

6) Transfer everything to a big bowl (like the one I have in the picture) or to your blender.

7) Use hand blender or your standing blender and blend the soup. It will be a smooth and green colour nice liquid!

8) Add the Cream and mix.

7) Add Salt, Pepper and Nutmeg to taste.

I enjoyed this soup very much. I hope you do as well.

(Photo: My big bowl of Broccoli Soup)

The Value of Traditional Food

Most of traditional Iranian meals, if you alter them a little bit, are amongst the beat foods available in the world, both in terms of taste and nutrition and I'm saying that because I've tried different cuisines from different parts of the world. This is what should be done with Iranian stews, which by the way are all delicious and nutritious:

1- Reduce the amount of Red Meat and possibly replace Lamb with Beef to have less fat in the stew

2- Have it without White Rice. Replace that with Whole Wheat Pita Bread or similar. Or A sort whole grain seed, which I am aware that would be impossible to do so for many Iranians! Despite the fact that everyone's body work differently but White Rice has no benefits rather than getting fat and diabetic! 

That's what I have done and I quite enjoy Iranian food. Last week I made a big pot of Zucchini Stew and had it with Whole Wheat Pita Bread and it was amazing. Zucchini, which is not very popular within the majority of people have many benefits. It is even recommended to diabetic people to add sliced Zucchini to their salad. It has zero sugar and reduces blood pressure.

Zucchini Stew is not to hard to make. Here's what you need:

1- Zucchi or as it's called at times Squash Zucchini. Make sure to select the small ones. Big ones have already matured more than enough and are not good. One thing to remember is that you wouldn't skin the Zucchini. Just cut off the top and tail. The amount would depend on you. How much you would like to have in your stew.

2- Cubic cut Beef. The smaller, the better because it'd cook easier and with less heat and time. Again it would depend on you how much to add but I personally wouldn't go as far as a cup for 3 to 4 times Zucchini.

3- Split Peas. I would add as much as a cup. This sort of seed, if I could call it, gives a kind of mild gelatin texture to the stew and is a must. What should be consider is it could simply be overcooked and become puree if it is cooked for longer that it should. 

4- Tomato. Any kind could be used. Diced. 4 or 5 medium ones.

5- Onion. Twice as much as your meat.

6- Tomato Paste. To give not only colour, but taste. Canadian Tomato Paste, as far as I've tried has less salt in comparison with Iranian one, which is good but sometimes I feel I have to add more salt to compensate for that!

7- Dried Lemon. Sour foods and drink is big part of Iranian cuisine. Many foods have something sour added to them. For this stew you need Dried Lemon. This basically is the same size of a Lime but dried and in dark brown colour. This might be be available outside Iran but Iranian grocery stores but is a must. The only think that I can think of replacing it is a Lime itself but not quite because Dried Lemon is eaten. I mean it not only gives a sour and bitter taste to the stew, by poking it at the time cooking, but also many people eat it.

8- Salt and Black Pepper

How to make it?

1) Add oil to a hot pan. I always use Olive Oil because if a real one is found, is much healthier than any other oil. Fry the Onions and then add the Beef. Brown them. Add Tomato, Tomato Paste, Salt, Pepper and water to a pot and cook the beef. Set aside.

2) Add oil to a pan and gently fry both sides of already sliced Zucchinis. The Zucchinis should be cut sliced through length. The aim here just to have some oil absorbed by the Zucchinis and have them browned.

3) Cook the Split Peas. The best way would be using the juice left from steps 1 or 2 and cook in a pressure cooker. Careful not to puree the Split Peas although the same good taste would stay in the stew but you would want to be able to chew them not simply drink them!

4) The last stage would simply be mixing all the above, not stirring(!), and have them simmer for as long as 5 minutes. That allow the stew to have all of the ingredients' flavour. Turn the heat off and let it cool off to your desired temperature. Have it with Whole Wheat Pita Bread, taking bites or add them to your favorite Rice. 

(Photo: My Zucchini Stew. It could have looked nicer but it certainly tasted so great)

Extreme Cold

It has become extremely cold for a number of days now and apparently it will remain as such until the end of the week. I, personally, cannot recall such cold lingering around for over a week. However it seems that the temperature is going up, reaching -10 ℃, which is good for our upcoming hike on Family Day, if it happens! 

I was driving home from work around 18:30 and it was so cold in the car that my finders were frozen in the gloves. What was the outside temperature? -34 ℃ and that's without considering wind-chill!

(Photo: My vehicles thermometer always shows 2 ℃ warmer!)