Want Not

Book Review

I love being challlenged. I love it even more when the only consequence is getting to a dictionary, either the electronic or paper variety. 

This author gave me several challenges in the form of words I don't know. I'm pretty good at figuring out meanings from context, but it is still fun to go look them up.  

How many times have I told my kids to "go look it up"? Lots. Lots and lots. Way more than just lots and lots.

And that doesn't include how many times I have told them to "google it."

Actually, googling works on words too. 

Try it out:

vituperative

simulacra

pablum

Do you know them? Did you google them? 

Who needs context when we have Google?!

Well... you. You do. I do. We all do. We all need to be able to read meaning from context because we don't want to be running off to a dictionary or Google for every other word.

I am usually able to make a good guess at the intent and keep reading. And if I remember later, I look it up later. And I am generally right. Or I'm on the right track.

All these fancy, schmancy words in a novel about trash. Go figure.

Want Not

Saffron Road Crunchy Chickpeas

Non-Dairy Protein Snack

Chickpeas. This still sounds foreign to me, even after all these years. 

See, I grew up with garbanzo beans. They were used to top salads, only occasionally. I might have found them available at a restaurant salad bar. Maybe.

But their main purpose for existence seemed to be for making Three Bean Salad. Garbanzo beans, kidney beans, and canned green beans, with some vinegar and red onions.

That was just about the full extent of my knowledge of garbanzos.

That is, until I became friends with a colleague. A colleague from India. 

In India, they have chickpeas instead of garbanzo beans. And they are used widely and frequently. 

And somewhere about this time, I also discovered hummus. Hummus is made from chickpeas. Or garbanzos. Whichever.

I love hummus so much, I now make it frequently - more if it is summertime - regardless of whether anyone else is interested in eating it.  But it always, always gets eaten quickly. And not all by me!

Chickpeas, in spite of still sounding foreign to me, are a regular in my kitchen now. Ready to be made into hummus at any moment.

And then I found these. 

Safron Road Crunchy Chickpeas, Falafel and Bombay Spice

Eating Gluten-Free at Pasco Kitchen and Lounge

Farm Fresh Food in the Desert

I was off traveling again. Another trip to Tucson, Arizona.

What do you think of when you read 'Arizona'?

Desert? Yep.

Southwest? Yep.

Dry? Yep.

Hot? Usually.

Farms? Not so much.

Yet, there is farm-fresh produce to be had. So one would like to conclude that farms are in the area.

This is a good thing.

It is an especially good thing when that farm-fresh food lands squarely in front of you at a restaurant. In the city where you traveling. Where you don't have a kitchen in your hotel room. When you didn't happen to bring your favorite set of pots and utensils to use in the kitchen you don't have in your hotel room in the city in the desert.

Farm fresh food served to your table in the desert. Wonderful!

This is exactly what I got here.

Pasco Kitchen and Lounge