All on a Saturday

This morning Schäfer and I went to the open market to get tomatoes and onions for the Vision of a Pizza that was dancing around in my head.

It was light. Fresh. No tomato paste from a can. Some garlic. Some onions. Lots of basil.

It will be the perfect summer pizza.

After the market, we played on the playground where I goofed the following conversation:

Me: Are you Niu Niu’s Grandma on her mother’s side or father’s side?
She: I’m the Nanny.
Me: No!
She: Yes.
Me: No! Where are you from?
She: I’m from the countryside.
Me: Do you have a child?
She: Yes, she’s a freshman in high school.
me: How old are you?
She: I’m 38.
Me; How old were you when you gave birth?
She: I’m from the countryside. We marry early. I was 20 when I gave birth.
Me: Where is your husband?
She: He’s out west.
Me: I’m so embarrassed. I asked if you were her Grandma! We’re practically the same age!
She: I look old because I’m from the countryside.
Me: You do not look old. I just assumed that you were a relative because I’ve never seen her parents.
She: Her parents work a lot.
Me: Do you watch Niu Niu and cook? That’s amazing.
She: Yes, I also cook for them. I get 800 a month.  ($117 USD)
Me: I’m still embarrassed that I asked if you were her Grandma! See you tomorrow!

After the playground, we ended up at the Lotus Pond for another hour and a half with Zi Hai’s trucks and Le Le’s water gun.

Qian Zi stopped by the Lotus Pond on her way home from her summer Chinese calligraphy class (she’s 5). She’s studying under 2 retired professors M-Sat. 8:30-11am. The class is held in their home with about 3-4 students.

I’m making a mental note for Schäfer because the professors home is just walking distance from our house.  I imagine the conversation will go something like this, “Yes, you can take Kung Fu lessons, but you must also practice your characters.”

About 4pm, I got to work on a new pizza crust recipe. I don’t know why. There was nothing wrong with our normal pizza crust recipe. This one came highly recommended so I thought I’d give it a go.

It flopped.
It did not rise.
It was sticky. Sticky. Sticky.
More flour. More flour.
Oil. Oil. Oil.

For the sauce, I mixed the tomatoes, onions, basil and spices together. In the end, the mix didn’t seem “light & fresh.” It was bland.

At this point, I decided that 6 garlic cloves would add some flavor. Let me assure you – they flavored the entire house.

And poor Hubs. He got together with friends tonight and I am now fearful that he was smelling like a fierce amount of garlic.

In fact, I think the garlic is starting to burn my eyes.

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