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Short, not-so-good night (not the critters' fault).
Tired, surrounded by crazy cats (crazy in a good way and entirely lovable. Happy, as far as I can judge it)
Will elaborate later.
Note to self: flat in Vienna
ETA, 8.30
Coffee is helping marginally.
I fell asleep on the couch around 10 p.m. -- on account of having slept only 5 hrs the night before -- woke up at 2 a.m., and unfortunately the nose started running. So sleep wouldn't come, and I got up and returned to the couch to watch a bit of TV (reading impossible), after which I returned to bed around 4, for little more than one hour of not-very-good sleep. Bummer. *yawns*
The plan for tonight was going out with Elena (tennis) and Pinar (Turkish colleague), but I think I'm going to cancel, not only because I'll be too tired but also because boss and I have to go to Bitola tomorrow, and we'll have to leave early.
Re. flat in Vienna: a colleague from the ministry is going to rent it, starting on 1 September. I'm very, very happy about this development, more so as I know him, and we don't need to make a formal contract (i.e. pay the notary public a shitload of money) but will sign something informal just between the two of us. More positive points: he's more than happy if the electricity and gas subscriptions continue under my name (unsubscribing and subscribing are ridiculously expensive), so I'll pay and inform him every three months how much he has to pay me; same goes for phone, internet and cable TV.
This means that I save around € 700 per month, which will go into the savings account -- for two years that's € 16.800. Nice. Since the flat will have to be, well not exactly renovated but brought up to scratch when I return, the money is more than welcome to fornicate with what's already in the account and produce numerous offspring.
Speaking of returning to Vienna: now that I'm the happy mother of three, moving has of course become vaguely threatening -- there's no way you can squeeze three cats into a carrier you're allowed to take on the plane with you. So the plan for 2013 is: unless I'm given a posting so near to Skopje that I can just hire a car and driver, stuff cats into car and go (that would be Pristina, Sofia -- don't like, Athens -- don't like, Tirana, Podgorica, Belgrade, Istanbul -- Consul General, which I'm going to apply for but won't get, Ljubljana and Zagreb), I'll go back to Vienna. I certainly won't have the critters stowed in the belly of an airplane. On second thought, this means Istanbul is out, because the return trip to Vienna by car is very long... Well, let's see. But given the possibility to make my already nice flat in Vienna even nicer, and also given that maybe I ought to return before I feel like a complete stranger in my hometown, maybe going back is the best choice.
And lastly, this is what I made yesterday for dinner:
Red bell peppers, quartered and cut into very thin stripes (think half a millimetre). Courgettes/zucchini, quartered and cut into very thin slices. Garlic, finely chopped, onion, halved and cut into very thin slices. Dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in hot water for about 30 minutes (don't throw away the water! Don't use too much, just enough to cover the mushrooms). One or two potatoes, quartered and cut into very thin slices, marinated in soy and chilli-garlic sauce for about 30 minutes.
Heat oil in a frying pan. Add first the peppers, 5 min later the zucchini, and another 5 min later the onions. Leave for about 2 minutes, then add the potatoes-cum-marinade, and when the stuff starts to thicken -- maybe a minute later -- add the mushrooms-cum-water. Reduce temperature and let simmer. Add garlic and coriander, cumin and cayenne pepper (if you want it hotter -- you already have the chilli sauce). Add a small can of sweet corn and a can of coconut milk. Now's the time for fine-tuning the seasoning -- you may need more soy sauce or cayenne pepper.
If after 10 or so minutes there's too much liquid, turn off the heat, take the liquid (but only that) out and transfer into a saucepan, reduce for about 10 minutes. Put back into frying pan. Cut grilled chicken breast into slices, add. Boil Asian noodles, add to the mix and enjoy.
Of course it's even more Asian with shiitake mushrooms, but porcini will do just fine. Also, feel free to use additional or other veg -- bean sprouts, carrots, cabbage... And of course you can just make it a vegetarian meal.
Tired, surrounded by crazy cats (crazy in a good way and entirely lovable. Happy, as far as I can judge it)
Will elaborate later.
Note to self: flat in Vienna
ETA, 8.30
Coffee is helping marginally.
I fell asleep on the couch around 10 p.m. -- on account of having slept only 5 hrs the night before -- woke up at 2 a.m., and unfortunately the nose started running. So sleep wouldn't come, and I got up and returned to the couch to watch a bit of TV (reading impossible), after which I returned to bed around 4, for little more than one hour of not-very-good sleep. Bummer. *yawns*
The plan for tonight was going out with Elena (tennis) and Pinar (Turkish colleague), but I think I'm going to cancel, not only because I'll be too tired but also because boss and I have to go to Bitola tomorrow, and we'll have to leave early.
Re. flat in Vienna: a colleague from the ministry is going to rent it, starting on 1 September. I'm very, very happy about this development, more so as I know him, and we don't need to make a formal contract (i.e. pay the notary public a shitload of money) but will sign something informal just between the two of us. More positive points: he's more than happy if the electricity and gas subscriptions continue under my name (unsubscribing and subscribing are ridiculously expensive), so I'll pay and inform him every three months how much he has to pay me; same goes for phone, internet and cable TV.
This means that I save around € 700 per month, which will go into the savings account -- for two years that's € 16.800. Nice. Since the flat will have to be, well not exactly renovated but brought up to scratch when I return, the money is more than welcome to fornicate with what's already in the account and produce numerous offspring.
Speaking of returning to Vienna: now that I'm the happy mother of three, moving has of course become vaguely threatening -- there's no way you can squeeze three cats into a carrier you're allowed to take on the plane with you. So the plan for 2013 is: unless I'm given a posting so near to Skopje that I can just hire a car and driver, stuff cats into car and go (that would be Pristina, Sofia -- don't like, Athens -- don't like, Tirana, Podgorica, Belgrade, Istanbul -- Consul General, which I'm going to apply for but won't get, Ljubljana and Zagreb), I'll go back to Vienna. I certainly won't have the critters stowed in the belly of an airplane. On second thought, this means Istanbul is out, because the return trip to Vienna by car is very long... Well, let's see. But given the possibility to make my already nice flat in Vienna even nicer, and also given that maybe I ought to return before I feel like a complete stranger in my hometown, maybe going back is the best choice.
And lastly, this is what I made yesterday for dinner:
Red bell peppers, quartered and cut into very thin stripes (think half a millimetre). Courgettes/zucchini, quartered and cut into very thin slices. Garlic, finely chopped, onion, halved and cut into very thin slices. Dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in hot water for about 30 minutes (don't throw away the water! Don't use too much, just enough to cover the mushrooms). One or two potatoes, quartered and cut into very thin slices, marinated in soy and chilli-garlic sauce for about 30 minutes.
Heat oil in a frying pan. Add first the peppers, 5 min later the zucchini, and another 5 min later the onions. Leave for about 2 minutes, then add the potatoes-cum-marinade, and when the stuff starts to thicken -- maybe a minute later -- add the mushrooms-cum-water. Reduce temperature and let simmer. Add garlic and coriander, cumin and cayenne pepper (if you want it hotter -- you already have the chilli sauce). Add a small can of sweet corn and a can of coconut milk. Now's the time for fine-tuning the seasoning -- you may need more soy sauce or cayenne pepper.
If after 10 or so minutes there's too much liquid, turn off the heat, take the liquid (but only that) out and transfer into a saucepan, reduce for about 10 minutes. Put back into frying pan. Cut grilled chicken breast into slices, add. Boil Asian noodles, add to the mix and enjoy.
Of course it's even more Asian with shiitake mushrooms, but porcini will do just fine. Also, feel free to use additional or other veg -- bean sprouts, carrots, cabbage... And of course you can just make it a vegetarian meal.
