Wednesday, March 28, 2012

instant coffee monkey eggplant holiday

today greg came home at noon so i could go meet with william and henry's teachers before school begins next month.  it was a beautiful day to ride my bike over there, but i was running late.  i have this notion that may or may not be true (sort of like our notion that all danes drink instant coffee-- i'm starting to think that's not true), that the danes are very punctual, and so i fretted about being late, but as greg was running late from work, i could only pedal faster once he did take over my post for me.  

it was a good meeting.  my arrival time didn't seem to phase them-- i was probably mostly on time (i have sort of temporarily given up the notion of knowing what time it is when i'm out as i don't have a watch and i don't have a cell phone).  they seemed to know what they're talking about.  i'm really very excited for the guys to go to this school.  i've heard good things about it and the school seems happy to take these monkeys off my hands for a few hours a day.  henry is supposed to begin next monday, which he'll mostly do (they are big into gentle transitions here, and i suppose when it comes down to it, so am i).  but then they're closed that wednesday, thursday, friday, and the following monday-- all apparently for easter (there's maundy thursday (the last supper), good friday, easter sunday, and easter monday (a way to have a third day off for easter).  wednesday is just an extra day the school decided to take off i guess).  just one of the many extended danish holidays.  when we arrived here, many neighbors were gone for the late winter or maybe early spring holiday.  now they are going away for the easter holiday.  in may we have general prayer day (aka store bededag, aka all prayers day, aka great day of prayers, aka common prayer day: a collection of minor christian holy days rolled into one). on the 4th; ascension day on the 17th; and whit monday on the 28th (i.e. the day after whit sunday, or, the day after the pentacost).  

tomorrow greg goes to sweden for a conference.  he's back on friday late afternoon.  so in case i don't have a chance to post tomorrow night, here is what it will likely say: didn't shower, found out henry could swing from the kitchen lamp the one time i ventured to use the bathroom, ate cold leftover basmati rice for breakfast and lunch, bananas for dinner, yet somehow dishes piled high in the sink. both boys running wild at 10 p.m. can't wait for another fun day tomorrow.  

let me tell you what we had for dinner in case you also received an eggplant in your very unlocal box of veggies this week.  this cheesy mexican eggplant recipe from eggplantrecipes.net.  i, too, was unaware there was a website devoted strictly to eggplant recipes.  this recipe called for two eggplants, but we only had one, so i added some cooked kidney beans and cooked white beans to it to add some substance.  also, the "taco sauce" we purchased at the store (labeled as such) turned out to be salsa.  i used plain tomatoes (canned) instead of marinara sauce, topped the whole thing with chopped leeks, and probably added a hundred times more cheese than it called for and omitted the rice, because we are fairly maxed out on rice for the time being (and guess what we're having as leftovers tomorrow?!).  anyway, it was good!  we also added avocado after it was all said and done, as well as greek yogurt.  

here's the bottom line.. if you're ever going to make one of those (baked) layered taco salad dishes-- you could prepare the eggplant as suggested in this recipe and add it as one of the layers and it would work.  people would eat it.  you would be somewhat innovative in the area of layered taco salad dishes.  i think this is worth keeping in mind.  

alright.  time to rest up for my two day kid-a-thon.  here are the monkeys today, working on the radiator...


goodnight! 

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