Letter to Erin 20160211

In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful.

Hi Precious!  Hello Cutie!  How are we today?  Is everything running smoothly for you, and fun?  Well, please take good care of your health and get lots of rest.  Please maintain your prayers.  Of course I want the best for you, and for you to be happy and happy with me.  Because I love you and I need you.

Oh, not much happening here today.  I mostly did a lot of taking care of my plants today.  I went to get a deterrent for those pesky little white moths, which by now have gained so much confidence in my yard that I can see their cocoons underneath the leaves of my eggplant.  I also sprayed some pesticide over my mother's jasmine. 

I wasn't too pleased with my fried flat noodles with cockles.  It's the boiled cockles I bought: all the flavor had been cooked out.  Which is a good thing, because it's sanitary for public consumption.  I don't want to be blunt about this, because fried flat noodles with cockles is such a local delicacy.  Let's just say that the cockles carry most of the flavor.  So the trick with pre-cooked cockles is to put the flavor back.  I marinaded it in a broth of anchovy bouillon, fermented anchovies and "belacan" (fermented shrimp cake), which tasted passable by itself, but not within the context of the dish.  I guess I'm getting fussy in my old age.  Fried flat noodles with cockles is the only dish I make with anything close to a formula.  I still have half of those cockles left in my cooler.  I'll try again in a week or so.