Postcards from Zeebra’s Flying Carpet #4

Tags

Hand-painted concrete floors, skillet pizza, what to cook when you have nothing in the kitchen

I get by with a little help from my friend!

Manabi Ecuador – Day 7 of Barbara’s visit

… I’m afraid we have a bit of a runaway train here…  I left Barbara with the finishing touches on the second application of black paint so that I could resume work on tonight’s pizza.    Living off the grid for a dozen years, I’ve ‘mastered’ the art of cooking in a skillet.  Every so often I burn the brownies or burn the bread, but usually the end result is a close facsimile to oven-baked food.    So instead of painting with Barbara, I am making sure that the pizza crust doesn’t burn in the skillet.

(I have a strong suspicion that Barbara might sneak over to my computer and type a side-story to all of you while I am cooking.  Hence the suggestion of a runaway train…)

An amateur usually stops too soon, and a seasoned artist knows the importance of patience.

Barb: “…Oh my  Lisa is in a cooking  frenzy!!!   She has decided to make a pizza tonight!!   Now why am I saying OH my?   Well it actually all started yesterday when we both had a craving for Pizza, and decided to call the local pizza guy to see if he delivered…To our utter amazement he said yes,,,,,stunned by that,  we actually ordered a pizza to be delivered shortly after they opened at 7:30 pm.   Now you might be wondering  why were we stunned?  Well the 3-mile road to Lisa’s  house from the pizza place  is full of pot holes, and at dark it is even worse than in the daylight to drive it, and the delivery guy would probably be on a motor cycle.)

Walking is sometimes easier than riding when the road looks like this!

Lisa:  Back to the pizza crust…  After hurriedly making a simple flour/water/sugar/yeast dough, I returned downstairs and resumed painting.  Half an hour later, I went upstairs and began cooking bacon ($5.25 for a modest package of bacon – yow!) and  sculpted the dough into the bottom of a wok-like stir-fry pan.   I chopped and sauteed onions, green pepper then tossed in thinly-sliced tomatoes and finely-minced basil.  My – there’s something comforting about the aroma of fresh basil when it hits those tomatoes!

Barb thinks she’s going to faint from hunger!

(Barb) “OK…now you kind of have that picture, so picture this….We spent all day yesterday thinking about that pizza!! YUM YUM…But about 2:30 pm we were running pretty low on energy and decided since we were so low on food in house (by the way that was the second reason for ordering pizza) and because we only had 2 cans of tuna fish some cabbage a few tomatoes, onion and a little flour, we made an executive decision  for  Lisa to do her best culinary imagination to fix us something delicious to eat. She used everything  except 2 eggs, one tomato, an onion and the flour.”

Barb seems pessimistic that this pizza will equal what we can get in town, but I am determined to prove that one doesn’t need an oven in order to have gourmet food!  (I should have stuffed that crust with shredded cheese!)

Knowing that she was wondering what I was preparing upstairs, I juiced one bright yellow maracuya fruit then mixed equal parts maracuya, mineral water and white wine and rewarded Barb for her painting diligence.

Yum, that pizza is going to be so nice tonight! Home delivery – who would have thought?

“The rest of the day we were looking  forward to that wonderful pizza to be delivered.   Then the bomb shell exploded…About 7 pm just when we were  licking our chops ( PIZZA PIZZA Lisa  kept chanting) (ME?  I’m exhausted can’t even say pizza after being chained to the cement floor painting,painting, painting, …..HEY, did anyone wonder where I was yesterday???) Just when I think I am going to be cut loose Lisa receives a email saying “sorry  we are not going to be open tonight so we won’t be delivering the pizza.”….I faint…”

What? No pizza?!

“Lisa is saying …‘It’s ok BB.” (and where did that name come from?..You will have to stay tuned for that story) and in my far off fogged over mind from hunger and exhaustion, I hear her say….’We have 2 eggs, flour, a sliver of onion and a tomato and I can make something with that.‘… So all was not lost, I was unchained from the concrete floor…fed and watered….went to sleep, woke up, and the day started all over again…No she did not chain me to the concrete today…(as you can see I am using the computer while she is up there cooking!) NOW back to my ‘OH MY’ at the beginning of this scenario….Because Lisa was determined for us to have pizza, she is in this frenzy, and I am a little concerned….as last night’s dinner was just a little iffy…”

Late-night dining light

Pizza in a skillet; first slowly brown the bread on both sides…

Surely Barb knows that I won’t let her down in paying her with good food and drink! I present to you (and to Barb) tonight’s skillet pizza!

Tah-dah!

Not bad, considering our food woes!

(Ahem; it seems that Barb has been tinkering with this post, but I refrain from editing her parts (in blue) although I claim the right for this addendum: Last night’s prison food was focaccia with tomatoes and a poached egg on top! She was so hungry that she ate every bite and washed it down with a dollop of fresh mint/limon/water with a shot of Patron! No wonder she cannot remember what she ate last night!)

Z