Tahini is found next to the Nutella, ironically

By some miracle and a sequence of fragile but connected happenstances I got my broken washing machine to work again.  During the broken period, I was immobilized, like Lot’s wife. I didn’t want a new machine.  I was sure that the only thing standing between happiness and desolation was doing a “system restore” (a time travel maneuver where you take a faulty computer back to a date when it did what you wanted and trick it into being fine again. You say:  hey look it’s May 3rd, 2012 you’re a rock star) and get back to that Wednesday when the Maytag chugged through it’s frill/free cycles like a young pup.

When I got the machine to work, I said, Well, there’s a miracle.  You can get anything you want just by intense stubborn wanting.  But the minute you get what you want something else shows up that you have to have.  This is a big glitch in our makeup because even though I’m hardly the typical human I know I’m not alone in this.  My big mistake is thinking that this sequence is ever going to give way to a reliable untroubled sameness. It’s not.  This morning I solved about four problems that have been stalking me for two days.  I better enjoy my good fifteen minutes.

I wish this “glitch” example wasn’t about my Maytag because appliances today are not made to wash clothes or the dishes.  They are made to break your will to live and also to break on Friday night.  The technology needed to make a machine break on cue should be used to make a trouble free machine but nooooo.  I read in Steve Jobs biography that he could not find a washing machine that satisfied him either.  Or a sofa (another design unit usurped by inmates.)  Jobs spent a long time thinking about what a sofa is supposed to do and couldn’t come up with a good answer.  If by some horrible accident my long-standing sofa was gone I couldn’t buy another. Jobs finally bought a European washer/dryer and skipped the sofa.

Since the KITCHEN now hogs all of the important space and has all the drama and has been shoved down our throats as the most important room in the house and food is now the only topic of conversation (except for placenta cord banking) you could make do with two folding chairs in the living room as Jobs did. Nobody goes into the living room anyway.

I think a fitting end to this whine fest is a good recipe for Baba Ghanoush

Buy a firm smooth, blemish free eggplant.

Bake at 350 to until very soft when you stick a fork in it. (about 40 mins.)

Place on a plate, cut the top so the edge of the skin is visible and peel.  Skin should come off very easily.  If some of the inside comes off with the skin, scrape it off with a knife and keep it.

Take the eggplant innards and put in blender with juice of one lemon or lime and a little salt.

(Doesn't have to be pureed but it tastes better when blended rather than just mashed with a fork although I used to just mash it.)

Place in a medium sized bowl.   

Add Tahini (sesame seed paste) that comes in a jar and can now be found in the supermarket next to the Nutella ironically.  (make sure the ingredients are ONLY sesame seeds or else you will go down a bad road.)

Tahini tends to settle on the bottom and the oily part remains on top.  You have to stir and blend really well.

Add three or four heaping tablespoons of Tahini to the eggplant and mix together.  You might need a bit more lemon or lime if it’s too stiff.

You can add garlic if you like but it’s excellent with just lemon juice and salt.

You can dribble a bit of olive oil on top and some chopped parsley.

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Before I forget PUT A COUPLE OF FORK HOLES IN THE EGGPLANT OR IT WILL EXPLODE AND STICK TO YOUR OVEN WALLS.  AN EGGPLANT I'VE DISCOVERED CAN BE A LITTLE BOMB.   ALSO PLACE IT ON SOME FOIL BECAUSE IT WILL OOZE OUT LIKE SWEET POTATOES AND MESS UP YOUR OVEN.