Some Egyptian food and I saw real clouds today

I'm a little funny about having things delivered because I'm not comfortable with strangers at my door. Here in Cairo everything can be delivered--you can order ONE tablet of aspirin from a pharmacy and they will deliver it--so I need to get over that. I decided to order dinner from Cairo Kitchen because Tuesday's special is an eggplant/ground beef casserole dish that I LOVE. I called at 5:03 and it arrived at 5:22. While ordering the guy asked me if I wanted the family size of eggplant or the individual. I have always walked there and been given the individual so I said family size. Three of them please cause I like to stock up. When he told me that my order would be 403 LE ($57) I thought "oops." Probably going to have a lot of the eggplant. And I do! I have three very large bowls of my favorite eggplant/beef dish and I am very happy.

Dinner from Cairo Kitchen. Front left is a traditional Egyptian dish called Koshary (spelled a variety of ways) which has an interesting history. To the right is the delicious eggplant/ground beef dish in the family size container. Behind these dishes is a baked chicken, which are small here. Rice on the left for eggplant.

Bad photo of Koshary (and upside down also but don't know how to fix that). It's mostly rice and noodles with lentils, garbanzo beans, and fried onions on top. Some come with a tomato sauce mixed in and some come with the sauce on the side. I actually like the koshary from Tom and Basals better than Cairo Kitchen.

Here is a description of koshary: "Kushari originated in the mid-19th century, during a time when Egypt was a multi-cultural country and the economy was booming. The lower-class' usually limited pantry became full with a myriad of ingredients: lentils, rice, pasta, chickpeas, tomato sauce, onions, garlic, oil, etc. At the end of the month, families would usually have a little left of everything, so families would use it up by putting it all together into a tasty, moreish dish. The pioneer that first put this dish together is unknown, but the popularity of this "end of the month" dish spread like wildfire between workers and laborers. It may be prepared at home or served at roadside stalls and restaurants all over Egypt; some restaurants specialize in kushari to the exclusion of other dishes, while others feature it as an item among many. It is most usually a vegetarian dish"

Clouds
It is hot in Cairo, 90+ every day with relentless sunshine. Although the sun shines the sky commonly has a yellowish tint to it from the dust and pollution. Its late September and I'm tired of the heat. I was thrilled today when I walked out of my physio appointment and it was just a bit cooler, windy, and cloudy!! It felt like the edge had been taken off the summer. I took a photo of course because I was so happy. The clouds didn't last but it was a nice break from the routine. The locals say that it's unusually hot for now but I think it's like the southern US--it can be hot until November. Who knows.


Real clouds. Not murky smog and dust. I might be overreacting and will discover that this is normal for the fall. But it was so lovely.

 

Cars, taxis, minibuses, bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, donkey carts, expat SUVs, small delivery vans, and this. I don't know what this little vehicle is but I've been trying to get a photo of one since I arrived. It looks like it's from India and has three wheels. 



I've seen ones festooned with all kinds of trinkets and ribbons and stuff. So cute!