Cooking in my kitchen

Chopsticks time... or not?

I usually eat/cook the same sort of food, and it was what I ate through University as well. It involves rice or potatoes stir-fried with an assortment of whatever vegetables happen to occupy my fridge, and some sort of protein, usually egg, but occasionally fish or chicken. The chicken is usually pre-cooked and the tuna usually comes in tins.

The basic idea is that it should be healthy, filling and quick. Today I had rice, eggs, aubergine, tomatoes, green peppers and a new root vegetable that I've never had before (I think it was turnip??). Oh, I nearly forgot the most important ingredient - soy sauce! Once upon a time I might have fried a little garlic and added that to the magic, but I'm afraid I have been put off eating garlic for the foreseeable future.

Also I would like to make a confession. The picture above clearly shows two chopsticks resting on the plate of food, as if they are to be subsequently used in the act of eating the contents of the plate. I'm afraid I have duped you terribly. No self-respecting Egyptian can handle chopstick-related eating for long periods of time. Although I try to use them occasionally so that I can train myself in the art, I am and always will be a 'get-a-spoon-and-shovel-the-food-down-your-mouth' girl. We Egyptians pride ourselves on the speed with which we consume food as well as the complete lack of elegance we do it with.

This is what my cooking area looks like:

I'm blue da ba dee da ba da da ba dee da....

Lunch in 10 minutes

I have two hobs but most of the time I only need one. There's also a really scary knife that has been the cause of many-a-nightmare that I've had in China. I'm trying to train myself only to use it when my full attention is on the beastly blade, otherwise I am certain I can bid a few of my fingers adios.

The Monster Knife

Carrying on this mini-tour of excitement (have you found yourself on the edge of your seat yet?), I would like to show you the balcony/conservatory area, the part with the washing machine and where I hang my clothes to dry.

Wash, wash, wash your clothes...

I like it a night. I stand and look at the flickering lights coming from the other apartments across from me, and do some very important observations into Chinese family life. During the day it gets as hot as a furnace so it's no fun to be in. As for the washing machine itself, I would like to rename it 'rip clothes and splutter mud and other unidentifiable pieces of debris on them' machine. I put my washing in for an hour and when I take it out it feels very dry, smells kind of clean, and for some reason is covered with bits of dirt that were not there at the beginning!

Finally we move on to the bathroom. It took me a while to get used to operating the shower unit, and I still haven't got used to the song that it screams out at me:

The next winner of 'Britain's Got Talent' ladies and gentlemen.

You see what happens is I have to plug in an electrical cord into the wall opposite, which heats the water in the tank. I wait about 20-30 minutes then, when all is quiet, this shower unit lets out a loud, high-pitched scream, before moving onto some sort of Chinese melody. Everytime the song starts I have a mini-panic attack. Is there a better way to start the day? Nope, I didn't think so!