Saturday, October 30, 2010

Sailors take warning

I remember hearing, for most of my life, the saying, "red sky at night, sailor's delight; red sky in morning, sailors take warning." This is what the sky looked like this morning when I left for my Saturday walk. Then the sun came out and it was cold but really sunny and beautiful. Now, however, at noon, the skies are beginning to cloud over and rain is forecast for this evening. And it's supposed to continue into tomorrow evening, right when all the kids are supposed to be out on the streets having their trick-or-treat fun.
One of the ladies brought her dog in costume this morning. It also helped to keep him warm (or even hot). He didn't seem to mind, anyway. Afterwards, I headed over to the Farmers' Market to have my favorite Ethiopian breakfast. It's made of lentils, cabbage, carrots and potatoes spiced with turmeric. I had to ask because I thought maybe it was saffron, which also turns veggies a yellow color. Some information about turmeric from Wikipedia:
Turmeric is widely used as a spice in South Asian and Middle Eastern cooking. In Nepal, turmeric is widely grown and is extensively used in almost every vegetable and meat dish in the country for its color, as well as for its medicinal value. In South Africa, turmeric is traditionally used to give boiled white rice a golden color.
This food is served on teff, a strange spongy kind of bread, and the whole meal has become my favorite food at the market. It turns out that teff is a kind of wheat widely cultivated in Ethiopia and Australia. We don't seem to grow it much here, but traditionally Ethiopian food is served with the bread, which is torn off and used as a kind of edible utensil. I use a regular fork, though. You can see the teff bread behind the closed container.
Under the covered section is a chicken dish that I don't eat, but these veggies and lentils can be made more piquant with the addition of the green stuff in the jar in the back. I'm not sure what it is; at first I was hesitant to use it, but now I add it onto everything. After buying a couple of delicata squash, I headed back home. Now I'm beginning to see the "red sky in morning" turn the beautiful sunny day into the harbinger of rain, rain, and more rain. I'm in the Pacific Northwest, after all.
:-)

21 comments:

  1. Wow! That is a gorgeous shot of the sky!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful photos but I'm not sure I'm brave enough to try that kind of food. My son and daughter-in-law would jump right in but I'm not that brave. Glad it was good. Love the dog.

    ReplyDelete
  3. nice...sounds good...is teff kinda like wat? i had that at an african meal...

    cute dog...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lentils, cabbage, carrots and potatoes spiced with tumeric...a breakfast? How about lunch? Wonderful shot of an ominous sky in the morning.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Fabulous morning sky! And lovely food, for those brave enough to try it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sky is magnificent. Yikes, up at sunrise on Saturday to walk? Food sounds great, but it looks more like lunch to me. Wondered about yellow rice; think I'll add some tumeric to my next batch. Dog is cute.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh man....that Farmer's Market has some wonderful looking food! Ethiopian food is something I've never tried. Think I'll look for some recipes on google after I leave here.
    The hot dog is adorable. It suits that type of dog perfectly. My Sophie has two dark black patches of fur around her eyes and would be perfect as a skeleton (sweater style)...but sadly I couldn't find that costume. Makes for some fun.
    I totally dug your mushrooms in the last post. I just got my new mushroom catalog from Fungi Perfecti.... expert Paul Stamets' company that has mushrooms you can grow at home...all organic....it's a real hoot! We did this quite a bit back when my son was homeshooled. http://www.fungi.com/ if you want to check them out. Fun winter project I'm going to get back into this winter.
    Hope you are enjoying your weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sounds yummy. I love trying new foods. That sky is just beautiful and your friend's dog.. well.. can't get much cuter than that.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yum, that sounds delicious. I haven't had Ethiopian food since we moved to this part of the state.

    We might have had red skies this morning if we could have seen the sky through the fog and clouds. The fog stayed all day and was joined by some rain. I love your sunrise photo DJan.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Too bad the warning in hat beautiful sky held true. Rain on trick-or-treaters, not fun.

    ReplyDelete
  11. May I be able to do what u do at any point in the next five years. You're an original, DJan, and an inspiration.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Don't know why it triggered this memory but remember the time we picked Markee up at the airport after visiting you and she had what she described at this "yucky seaweed bar" with her. I thought that was hoot.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Looks delicious - all of it. I would like it all especially the chicken. The green stuff in the jar could be some kind of lime pickle. Why don't you ask them? I'm intrigued now.
    Thank you for your kind comments re Peanut/Dylan. I have special feelings for you as I journey into grandmaship and you know why, don't you. I am very happy to share my joy with you.
    By the way, I am also suffering in other ways with one of my sons. It isn't all plain sailing at the moment but I can't bring myself to write about that just now.
    Suffice to say I'm really enjoying the baby.
    I love it when you go to the farmers' market and share it with us afterwards.
    Blessings, Star

    ReplyDelete
  14. I never heard of this but my wife said she has used it. lol So much for a faded memory.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I would love to try that Ethiopian food. Looks delicious!

    David and I dined at a Moroccan restaurant in Honolulu back in the 1980s. It was quite beautiful with cushions on the floor and a low table. The food was plentiful and excellent. Too bad the restaurant closed.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Not trying to be funny... but I would have never thought about eating an Ethiopian diet! When I think of Ethiopia, I think of little food, flour or rice paste, starvation... Very interesting. I learn so much from bloggers.

    ReplyDelete
  17. The start of a beautiful day. And a healthy meal to boot. Life is good. I might just go out and enjoy the Sunshine myself!

    ReplyDelete
  18. That sky of yours is splendid. I used to have trainees from Ethiopia and enjoyed their cooking a lot. I went to Ethiopia twice, once for work and once for pleasure. One of the trainees take me to a lady’s home who used her dining room as a restaurant – the food was out of this world!

    ReplyDelete
  19. That sunrise photo is sooo fantastically stunning! Love the texture of the clouds...too bad you didn't enter it in the texture contest...it is gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I have never tried Ethiopian food..I am not sure I would like it..I am not too adventerous when it comes to food..but I like reading about it! :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. What a gorgeous sky photo, love the 'Hot Dog!"

    ReplyDelete

I really appreciate your comments! If you see a word verification box here, just ignore it. I don't use the darn thing and Blogger is trying to get us to use it, I guess. Ignore it and your comment will still appear.