It was one of those days - mid week - gloomy, cloudy and rainy. I woke up in the morning only to find myself looking like someone who was stung by a bee! My right eye was so swelled up that my eyelid felt it weighed a ton on my eye! The swelling was so bad that the entire right side of my face looked weird. I looked like a result of a domestic violence!!! I was so freaked out and not sure what caused it. I avoided putting my contact lenses in and got ready as usual to leave the house while I hoped for the best. Despite the fact that I looked very silly with my sunglasses on a day like this, I figured it's better to have them on with the way I looked. I do have seasonal allergies, so I thought this was probably related to that, but I had never experienced such a thing before. I got the kids ready and dropped my older one off at his school while wearing my sunglasses indoors. I had to confess to some moms - that I was closer to - why I had them on and once they saw my eye, they understood! Now, I had to take my younger one to her per-school. Of course, she decides to take a 7-hour tour of one block, stopping at every little step, leaf on the ground, any passing dog and so forth. Oh, did I mention we were expecting a guest for dinner that evening whom I had not met? This meant that I had a total of 2.5 hours to do grocery shopping, preparing, cleaning and organizing for that night. If you are a parent with two toddlers and many toys spread around the house, you get my point.
Earlier that morning, my husband suggested seeing a doctor to find out what was wrong with my eye. What was he thinking? No time for that... which doctor to call? A family doctor? An ophthalmologist? An allergist? It would probably take me half a day to figure this out and then good luck getting an appointment on that day! So, I decided to pretend that nothing was wrong and I went about my business while sporting my sunglasses every where I went. Yes, I got many weird looks in my neighborhood, but the alternative was just not an option. After I ran my morning errands and picked my daughter up from her 1/2 day program, I was home at last. I had never been happier to be home and without sunglasses. Why did it have to be rainy today out of all days? As soon as my daughter was down for her after school nap, I remembered one of my grandmother's home remedies... Cucumber is anti-inflammatory. PERFECT - I had some in my fridge and I immediately sliced some and laid flat for 15 minutes while I applied the cucumber slices on my eye. This was a miracle. It worked like a charm! I was so amazed by the results. I still looked puffy and weird, but the swelling had gone down quite a bit.
I was ready to roll and prepare our dinner for our guest. This was going to be a dinner to impress. Since my husband is a huge fan of lamb, we decided to make lamb shanks. I had prepared this dish a few times in the past. The first time, it turned out great as they usually do. Then after that, it just wasn't the same anymore. So, I was on a mission to get it right again - I just couldn't remember the amount of the ingredients I had initially used. It was time to pull out my pen and paper and record the measurements. I even tweaked the time and the temperature. The final result was very close to my first try and I believe we had a successful dish! Also - in case you were wondering - my eye looked so much better by dinner time and our guest hadn't even noticed...
Lamb Shank with Saffron and Lemon
4 lamb shanks - washed and dried
3 medium red onions peeled and thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
1-½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoon saffron water (1/2 teaspoon ground saffron dissolved in 2 tablespoon hot water)
½ cup lemon juice
½ cup of water
I know what you are thinking now, scrolling down for a picture! Well, I am ashamed to say that after a day like that, I forgot completely to take a picture and I only remembered it while we were cleaning the dishes! I was so angry with myself and I put off writing this blog in hopes of re-making that dish and to have a photo.
BUT I will promise a photo once I make it again. Meanwhile, try it at home and let me know what you think.
Have a wonderful and delicious weekend.
