It’s okay; I don’t blame you. It wasn’t your fault. How could you know that some doofus in the area would call a plumber at mid-day, without Body Corporate approval, and that said plumber would turn off the water for the entire complex? How could you know that you’d be one of the 50-plus units suddenly stripped of the ability to make coffee, cook dinner, wash hands, shower, or use the toilet?
Sure, it would’ve been nice if you’d let us know, through psychic brainwaves, that our plans for risotto-making, water-drinking, and general, you know, living were off the table. If we’d known that the plumber would leave at 5:30pm without turning the water back on, that ActewAGL would refuse to do so for fear of being sued (but would ask my housemate, on the phone with them, to find the water main and do it herself… erm, we don’t really want to be sued either, thanks all the same), that I would get cornered in the stairwell by our across-the-landing neighbour, Mr.StinkyNeverWashes*, while he talked about the situation and all I could think was breathe through my mouth, breathe through my mouth… well, we might’ve made other plans for the night.
This has nothing to do with anything. It's just rice on my pretty Istanbul plate.
I do understand, though, Smurf Kitchen of mine, that you aren’t entirely sentient and probably don’t know how to telepathically warn me of such things. But maybe you could work on that? Still, thanks for returning water to us at around 8pm. And thanks for having allowed me to cook delicious mushroom pasta in the morning, as I was then able to eat it for a no-cook dinner.
Much love,
Hannah
*Seriously. He doesn’t even have a washing machine. The smell drifts into the stairwell area even if he’s only left the door open a few minutes. In truth, I prefer the cigarette smell.
Tamari and Sesame Mushroom Pasta for One
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 200g mushrooms, sliced (I used mushrooms from the farmers markets, and they were fantastic. Buckets better tasting than supermarket mushies.)
- couple of good shakes of smoked paprika
- 2 tsp tamari
- 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
- the amount of pasta you’d normally serve yourself. Cooked, that is. No one likes an entire bowl of crunchy pasta, although I used to eat strands of uncooked spaghetti as a kid. Oh, and by the by, I used wholegrain spiral pasta, because I adore wholegrain pasta.
- Heat the sesame oil in a frying pan over medium heat, then throw in the garlic and let it sizzle for a few seconds. Tip in the mushrooms with the smoked paprika and let the mushrooms cook down a bit, maybe 1-2 minutes, until they start releasing their liquid.
- Add the tamari and rice wine vinegar, sizzle away until it’s cooked to your liking, then add the cooked, drained pasta and stir around. Eat hot, if that’s your thing, or cold, if you’ve made it in advance and later find yourself in a building bereft of water.
- See, it’s hardly much of a recipe, is it? It is awesomeness though. If you want to be fancypants, though, I’d recommend throwing in some chopped spring onions, fresh coriander, ginger, sesame seeds (ooh, sesame seeds!), and/or tofu. Brilliant.
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LOL Could you please sneak a mobile phone pic of him? I’m picturing a dirty, stained singlet i.e. he London hotel owner from National Lampoon’s European Vacation
LOL Could you please sneak a mobile phone pic of him? I’m picturing a dirty, stained singlet i.e. he London hotel owner from National Lampoon’s European Vacation
I have mini plates like that! From Turkey!
oh what a delicious and elegant meal!
ugggh! i hate when things like that happen. we had the water turned off one night when i was in college – of course a night we were having aparty. some doofus went downstairs and turned the water main off and we had to call maintenance at 2 am. perfect.
I used to eat uncooked spaghetti noodles, too! And I am also enamored with whole wheat pasta! It’s like we’re twins!
Ugh. Annoying, right?
That pasta looks good. Next time make it for two, though…and invite me over.
Argh – how freakin’ annoying indeed
At least that pasts looks delish!!!
Ooh, tamari! THAT’s how to make mushrooms appeal to me! You’ve done it!
Really though, good call on that combo, it sounds great.
Lorraine: Haha! I guess I could try, but I’d really rather avoid all contact with him…
Fiona: Turkey-plate-owners unite!
Simply Life: Thank you!
Chelsey: It’s always the doofuses, isn’t it?
How awful that it happened during a party for you!
Camille: From now on, that’s what we are in my mind. Nothing else makes sense
But can we be awesome twins, i.e. *not* the Wakefield sister kind?
TheHungryScholar: You are always, always, always welcome at my place. Please come. NOW.
Lisa: It was simultaneously hilarious and “I-want-to-scream”! But yes, the pasta was a balm
Amber: Aw, thank you! I was almost embarrassed to post it, because it’s such a simple recipe. But if it sounds good to you, it was worth it
Hannah, Mr StinkyNeverWashes is not a nice nickname for me
Also, I thoroughly enjoy wholemeal pasta too. Actually, I thoroughly enjoy all pasta. But sometimes I just really crave wholemeal. I’m also a big fan of soyaroni. Because it tastes slightly like soy sauce. ahahaha
I think it all dates back to once upon a time when I was a health food freak (oh how times have changed…).. I just got so used to wholemeal that for a long time, anything else just tasted “wrong”.
But as I said, i definitely don’t discriminate, these days :p
How annoying. Going without water for most of a day, when it’s not expected at all, would definitely suck. But, I guess, good for water conservation, you eco-warrior
I am loving the look of that pasta.
(ps – going to another small town to explore op shops tomorrow. If I knew your size or anything about your taste in clothes, I would find you something!)
That sounds great Hannah … I’ll try to remember to try this with gluten free pasta. Also, the rice looks very pretty on the plate.
Considering neither of us has blond hair, blue-green eyes, or a Fiat Spyder, I don’t think that will be a problem.
L-Izzle: You still are a health food freak. It’s just you’re also a non-health freak. Kinda like me
P.S. What is this soyaroni you speak of? Where might I find it?
Theresa: Yep, that’s how I should have spun it. Not “our water got cut off”, but “we decided to not use any water and save the planet”.
And this is probably too late, but I’m average height, small, and I trust your judgment 
Whisperinggums: I’d give it a go with the quinoa pasta we found a while ago – that one was very good and non-mushy for a gluten-free pasta!
Camille: *sigh of relief* (Or a whiny boyfriend named Todd.)
http://www.sanremo.com.au/products/product-range?cat=18
scroll riiiiiiiiiiight to the bottom!!
oh and it’s in all supermarkets.. you definitely would’ve seen it before. i’m an absolute nut for it…it’s more like crackaroni
Ooooh a letter to Smurf Kitchen! That’s almost like a letter to Dear Diary!
“Dear Diary:
Today I wrote a letter to Smurf Kitchen because it didn’t warn me about the lack of water until I tried to shower/flush/drink/wash. Mean Smurf Kitchen.
Love Hannah”
(And I must tell you that I initially typed Smurk Kitchen….. Smurk Kitchen could be a keeper!)
L-Izzle: I’ve absolutely never seen that, but the pasta aisle is probably the one place in the supermarket I haven’t spent hours poring over. Y’know, mum’s allergies and all. I now must find it.
Agnes: “Dear Diary: You’d be surprised how many people have typed Smurk Kitchen in responses without noticing the mistake. Icouldn’t understand it, until I did it myself. I think it’s because Smurf Kitchen wants to be abbreviated to SmuK, which we all learnt is the Danish word for beautiful.
Love, Hannah.
P.S. My BFF just sent me an email, and I’m excited to read it.”
oh dear this post worries me as we have water works (and a long long hose the length of the street snaking along our footpath right now – Our water could go off any time
this pasta reminds me that I haven’t been eating enough mushrooms lately – this looks an excellent way to eat more
I just adore that Istanbul plate. I take it you bought it in Istanbul? There’s not some Australian company called Istanbul where I can buy fabulous plates?
Johanna: I’m sure you’ll be fine! Unless, of course, the hose is manned by a doofus.
Louise: Yes and no – it’s from Istanbul, but it was a gift from a friend of mine. I didn’t make it to Istanbul in my travels! I recommend you befriend a PhD student likely to go on conference-related travelling, as I did!
This is miracle pasta. Psychic miracle pasta. It could foresee the impending water crisis! If only it could sort out Mr StinkyPants. Could you maybe develop powers like Matilda and scare him from his apartment? Surely energised by your magic pasta this is possible?
Conor: Magic mushrooms, then? Maybe that’s what I got up to in chem lab… And eep, how bizarre, I was thinking about Matilda the other night for the first time in years! I was watching Masterchef and George eating the singapore crab dish, and I thought he looked just like the kid who has to eat the entire chocolate cake for the Trunchbull…
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