Only here would something like FLOSS warrant it’s own heading.
I ran out of one type of floss a few weeks ago and started using the backup floss. These were both floss thingies I brought with me from Canada where it is possible to get decent floss.
However, and Lo and Behold, and Look thou! The first floss thingie I had, which is now gone and done with, was decent. It was thick enough that it didn’t strangle my fingers or cut my gums or otherwise hurt, draw blood, or cause me to curse.
The second floss thingy was a backup for a reason. The floss was thin, and as such, did all those things that the previous floss didn’t.
I really don’t like the second floss at all.
But when stuck with the option of flossing or not flossing, I’ll suffer and floss anyway.
But when we went to the grocery store today, I was determined to get a new floss thingy so I could relegate this one back to backup status where it belongs.
I looked in the aisle where the personal care products were. One side of the aisle had things like laundry soap and detergent, clothes brighteners, bleach, toilet cleaners, furniture polish – you know, basic household cleaning supplies.
The other side of the aisle had things like shampoo, conditioner, shaving supplies, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste. . .
But no dental floss.
Huh?
Yep. That’s right, folks. No dental floss. None.
And it wasn’t just me being blind. It really wasn’t there.
Sri Lankans are not big on dental hygiene.
So, um, how on earth has Fahim survived this long with no cavities? Seriously. The man has no fillings at all. Not even one. Me?
Sigh.
I suppose I’ll have to get floss the next time I’m at Crescat or Odel or Majestic City.
Seriously, folks, don’t’cha know? Y’all only floss those teeth you want to keep.
And I made a serious booboo in the shopping.
We’re nearly out of tamarind paste.
Tamarind paste is made from tamarind beans which are soaked in hot water, then scraped. We buy the paste rather than the beans because, well, we’re lazy. And I don’t know if our grocery store even has the actual beans, but it does have the paste, so why argue?
The paste is so dark brown it’s nearly black. It’s sour and I tend to use it in hot and sour fish or the like. When cooking it like that, I use a bit of curry powder, some turmeric, cumin, salt, pepper, lime juice, chile powder, and red pepper flakes – that’s what gives it the hot and sour bit.
Anyway.
We’re nearly out. So I grabbed another jar of tamarind paste.
Or so I thought.
I didn’t actually look at the label on the jar. Not until we got home.
I saw the mustard paste beside that, and the garlic and onion paste beside that, and the chile paste that I also didn’t want. Those, I read the labels for. But then I spied the familiar label and the familiar color and tossed it in the grocery cart.
It turned out to be Goraka Paste.
Huh?
Yeah. I’m with you on that one.
It’s dark like tamarind paste, but that’s it. It’s chunky, not a smooth paste. There are air pockets in the jar where the chunks don’t reach.
When I showed this to Fahim, he said something along the lines of, "Oh, well. It’ll do the job."
Huh?
Yeah, evidently. Evidently I’ll figure it out when I finally run out of tamarind all together, open the jar, and figure it out.
Stay tuned for more details.
