That's right, you heard me.
It was an interesting experience. The dishes were all served on one big platter, with each dish given it's own little space around the edges: potatoes, green salad, collard greens, cabbage, lentils, spicy lentils, corn, lamb, beef, and fish, all surrounding a sea of chickpeas. See, when I just plop that down in front of you like that, it sounds all disjointed and separate, but it was really not. Yes, I would like a bite of potato with my beef, thank you. Oh, my, it would be delicious to have a little potato with my lamb, yes, indeed.
And you eat with your fingers. All five of us. From the same dish.
We used little pieces of a special Ethiopian bread, injera, to pick up little pockets of food, effectively creating little one-bite tortillas, more or less. As we neared the bottom, we discovered another layer of injera, which was full of the delicious flavors that had soaked into it. Despite everyone having big appetites, (we were all getting a little cranky as the food took kind of a while to come out, and we hadn't eaten much yet... and I told the polar bear joke wrong, and it turns out that I managed to offend everybody, instead of getting a little laugh to lighten the mood. Go me!)... um... where was I? Oh, right. DESPITE everyone having big appetites, we still didn't manage to clear the platter, and everyone wandered off to have a well-earned nap, full and happy.
It was a pretty busy weekend, but it was a lot of fun. The only even vaguely stressful part was when 2-ey managed to get herself lost at the farmer's market; when I finally spotted her, I yelled, "Your mother and I have been worried sick!", which she thought was pretty funny.
Tell you what, if you'd like to have an adventure of your own one day, you should try finding a tiny asian girl in the Sacramento Farmer's market one day. It's like trying to find a needle in a stack of needles. But find her we did.
It was a weekend full of happy adventures, and I am supremely glad not only to have shared in the many and diverse happenings, but also that I can share them with you, gentle reader.
Tomorrow, ADVENTURE!! :)
PS Emily, my rotator cuff got strained when I was rescuing drowning kittens from a burning building. It is very much on the mend; thanks for asking!
PPS I meant, "playing racquetball". Typo.