Thursday, October 27, 2011

Birthday Pudding Pisang and Creole Udang

This weekend, honey pie and I are hosting a dinner party. It will be a party for twelve. At first I had planned to have it catered as it can be done very reasonably and really makes for easy entertaining and saves your sanity.

As I was telling my housekeeper my plans, I got the look. The one where she drops her chin, looks up at me and with hands akimbo I swear she is saying "What you talkin' about Willis?" That phrase may be a little out of date for some of you reading this. The show that quote came from, "The Facts of Life," was off the air before my son was born I am pretty sure. Anyway, the look is one that I don't get very often but it comes straight to the point in a New York minute. So between "the look" and my sweeties' encouragement, I am now cooking dinner for twelve.

My friends have been so sweet in loaning me wine glasses, ice buckets, and other party paraphernalia that I want to give a big shout out of thank you to them. However, the thing I want to thank them most for is the support and love that they share with me. My friends continue to be the thing that keeps me going many, many days here. Thanks guys!

Back to the party. Today, Thursday, I decided to make desserts. Both selections are things that improve when they sit and mingle a little bit. The first thing I made is a recipe my son gave to me for what he calls "surprise chocolate pie." The reason it has the word surprise in its title is because it contains silken tofu. Surprise! However, it gives it the most awesome texture and if you didn't know it had tofu, you would most likely not guess it. My version is called "surprise mousse" since I am unable to get the cookies necessary for the crust and must serve it in individual containers.

The other dessert I made is a variation on banana pudding. I guess I should really say a variation on a variation. When you are using a bule recipe, it is essential that you have the ability to improvise. Many times things are just not available here or it is an item you see for a while at the grocery then, poof, it disappears from the shelves to only reappear six months later or maybe never again. So, this afternoon I made a version of a Paula Deen banana pudding recipe that I found on the Internet. If you know Paula Deen, this is not the low calorie selection for the evening.

My housekeeper was totally on-board with the dessert fest. She helped me fill each small glass with my "surprise mousse" and then helped me with all the mixing and whipping of cream and combining of ingredients for the banana pudding. This recipe makes a lot more than I expected, so I had a goodly amount of custard left over. After filling 14 dessert dishes, I decided to get a larger dish out and fill it as well. We layered cookies, pisang (bananas), and the remaining custard. As she carefully covered each container with plastic wrap, I told her the big serving dish we had just filled was for her birthday which is tomorrow. She looked so surprised and started to giggle and repeat, "For me?". All I had to say was yes, and she quickly disappeared to the garage with the banana pudding. I am sure it went in the staff fridge out there. I hope no one touches it without her permission. It could get ugly otherwise.

What touched me was that she was so excited by a gift we had made together. As I had considered in a much earlier post, my staff is our family here. Not only do they help us get from here to there, take care of chores, keep our belongings safe while we are out of town, but I learn about what is going on in their lives, what is happening with their families both the suka and the duka. So with love and appreciation Manisem, Salamat ulang tahun!

The main course of the meal, shrimp creole, or as my housekeeper calls it creole udang, will be made tomorrow. I've made this dish many times before and the best part, besides eating it, is that most everything is readily available here. The only thing that gave me a scare today was not being able to find my can of Crisco shortening in the cupboard. One must have shortening to make the roux. As any self-respecting Louisianian would tell you, that is the absolute heart of the dish. I went to three different grocery stores and could only find one lonely little can of butter flavored Crisco. I somehow think that if I used it, I would be guilty of a crime against nature in Louisiana and would never be able to set foot there again. I certainly don't need any bad juju! Upon returning home and digging around in the pantry, I found my can of plain Crisco. At this point in the process if that had not happened, I would have had to resort to dinner for twelve from KFC delivered on a scooter.

At the moment, my fridge is jammed full of beer and wine, desserts and washed lettuce and salad stuff. After tomorrow, it will be full of savory shrimp getting to know its fellow creole mates while awaiting re-heating and being served.

I hope it will be good eats for all of our guests. Not that KFC is a bad choice, and I love when the delivery guy shows up on his scooter, but I think that might be better for another day.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Moto GP redefined or Can my goat have a ride?

This past weekend, huggems and I decided to break out of the neighborhood and take my Scoopy and his Ninja beyond the confines of our usual close to home route. We decided to venture out on to one of the main drags in Kemang (that is the area of South Jakarta that we live in)and live large.

Sunday morning is the most likely time to spot bules behind the wheel. This can be attributed to necessity, they are desperate to get a behind the wheel fix that they are denied 99.999% of the time, or they just want to go for a Sunday drive unassisted. Our outing would fall under the last two possibilities I think.

While in the US, our friends Rick and Nancy took us to a motorcycle shop where I purchased a girlie looking "do-rag" to wear under my helmet. I have begun to call it my "Scoopy-Do-Rag." I know, you are groaning as you read this. I just can't help it. Maaf. It is cute and it does keep the hair from being ripped off my head when I put my helmet on or take it off. So, thanks guys for your help in making me cool, stylish, and even more American looking than I already am.

About 7:30 we roll out of the gate and begin to make our way to Kemang Raya and then to the coffee shop where we usually eat Sunday morning breakfast. The route we chose was one that included almost exclusively left-hand turns. That way we did not have to cross traffic on the busier street and I am much better at left-hand turns. Sweetie put me in the lead position because not only is he a gentleman, but my scooter has got a lot less get up and go than his Kawasaki Ninja. He didn't need to be constantly looking for me as we were driving along Kemang Raya.

As we made our way through the neighborhood, we turned left at the bunga (flower)stands that are at the end of the street and begin our assent up the hill that leads to Kemang Raya. As I get to the end of the street I think to myself, "Do I turn around now or do I do this?" I decide, as I look up and down the street, that it looks pretty calm and I feel confident I can keep myself in one piece. I bravely turn on my left turn signal, and roll out on to my path of adventure no matter how brief the trip.

As I drive along, I stay pretty far to the left so other motorists can pass me if necessary. I think I am going pretty fast but in reality, everyone is passing me. But you know, I am OK with that. I was not in the way and it was mainly lots of other scooters and motorcycles going by so I know I was not impeding their progress. Thus, I Scoopied along and felt pretty happy with myself.

As is my normal experience, driving a route is different than riding as a passenger and I missed my turn because it came up quicker than I expected. So, I just kept driving until I got to the street that we fondly dubbed Lake Kemang.

It was so named because when it rained, it would get about ten to twelve inches deep all the way across the street and about ten to fifteen feet down the street forming a lake. If you got caught on foot instead of in your car during a rain storm, you had a problem. It has been repaved, and this is not much of a problem any longer. However, my friends, Gayna and Laura, got stuck there one time and had to have a guy on a motorcycle get them across because they didn't want to walk in the icky water. This was a very wise choice because you don't want to walk in flood waters here if you can at all help it. Sanitation is a massive issue. Goodness only knows what is mixed in with the water or if you might get the added bonus of having a squashed dead rat go drifting by. Nuff said.

Down the street we go and wind all around the neighborhood before we decide that we are really getting hungry and want a cup of coffee and some food. We head back toward the bunga stands and as we approach,I see a motorcycle in front of me with strange cargo.

Now I have seen a lot of things on motorcycles and scooters here. Motor bikes rigged up with baskets to haul orchids and other lovely flowers, a man riding with a car tire around his waist, 2 guys with a 6 foot ladder, 6 people on one bike, women riding side saddle decked out in high heel shoes and matching purses, live chickens hanging upside down, a guy riding on the back holding a car windshield, rolled up carpets being transported, adorable young school girls who could win a cuteness award, insulated boxes rigged on the back to get your KFC, McDonalds hamburger and fries, and Pizza Hut pizza order to you somewhat hot.

However, on Sunday I saw two men on a motorcycle with a full grown goat riding in-between them. Now the goat was not riding like a person would. That would have made me fall off my Scoopy. The goat was on his side being held by the guy on the back. His little goat head was tilted up so he was able to view his world from the correct angle. This was a very healthy brown goat. Most likely he was about 65 or 70 pounds. He, without a helmet, was just riding along as calmly as could be with his long goat ears flapping in the breeze. I just burst out laughing at this sight.

Now, this is Jakarta and one never knows what they will see. What made this make sense is that the holiday known as Idul Adha is quickly approaching. Idul Adha is known as the festival of sacrifice. It is a time when lots and lots of animals are slaughtered, usually on the steps of the mosques, and the meat is butchered on sight and given to the poor. I have been told that it is really quite the sight. It is not one I care to witness. I am not sure I would ever be able to eat meat again after that. Last year I did not even leave my house on that day. However, as gruesome as all of this is, it has a purpose and I cannot diminish what that is. For many of the poor in this country, this is the only meat they will have all year long. Animals are purchased and donated to the mosques and it feeds many very hungry mouths.

When I first saw this goat, and stopped laughing, I realized where he was heading and I wanted to shout out "Get off that bike and RUN!!!" However, I guess his destiny is to help the many and not the few. May you go in peace brother goat.

I titled this post "Moto GP redefined." We don't live in a world of Sunday afternoon football games on TV here. Instead, we have lots of coverage of MotoGP and Formula 1 races on Sunday. MotoGP is short for Motorcycle Grand Prix and Formula 1 race cars are the open wheel style and they go very, very fast while looking very stylish. Both of these types of races are international races. We have seen race coverage from Australia, Spain, Japan, France, UK and lots of other destinations as well as California and Indianapolis, Indiana. Yep, we tour the world from our lounge chairs most Sundays. After seeing my four legged friend riding along, I decided maybe he was in the Moto "Goat" Prix. How prestigious!

With all of that silliness behind, here is hoping that the hungry will be fed, that the world will find some balance and that no one ever asks me to give their goat a ride on my Scoopy.