Finally

I'm sitting here eating a coconut Liberte yogurt for dessert after what now seems like a surreal day.  I got off to a productive start and was pleasantly surprised when the PGW guy arrived at the beginning of the 12-4 service window and found nothing wrong with our hot water heater.

I planned to make curried chicken but hadn't decided if I was going to do it Caribbean, Indian, or Thai style.  It turned out that it didn't matter because the water wasn't working and of course PWD had no idea when it would be restored.  Fortunately the water was back on by 5 (although they are still doing who knows what and water has been gushing out of the street since they started "correcting" the problem at 3pm).

While my son was at ice hockey I cut up the onions & garlic; skinned & seasoned the chicken; and had my daughter peel the potatoes.  That's when I thought about salona, which I haven't made in ages - I was going to have to adjust the method a bit by using the pressure cooker and substituting okra for peas.  When we returned from hockey I seared the thighs, sauteed the onions, added tomato paste, tomatoes, and a little liquid, bizaara, then cooked the chicken under pressure for a few minutes.  I added the potatoes and okra and brought to pressure again.

I was smiling as I thought of my Emirati friend who introduced me to salona when the phone rang.  It was her!  I haven't spoken with her in at least a year so it was such a pleasant surprise that I chatted while the kids helped themselves to seconds and possibly thirds.