I am not a cat person. Show me one and I will not ooh, aah over it. I don’t know why that happens- maybe its some past life thing. But, show me a dog, and you bet I will like it, unless he is jumping to bite me. Then, I am more likely to be peeing in my pants. Not to be taken literally though- I stopped that way back. Honest.
So when our front door neighbors got a pup, I was delighted.
It’s never nice to wake up to bad news. And when the news involves a terrorist attack, the sick feeling sticks to you for a long time. Mumbai, India, was yet again target of terrorist attacks.
Of course, time makes you move on- much quicker if you are not personally affected by it. You leave your prayers with the people who have been affected-injured, and with the families of those who have lost their loved ones. You are stuck with anger for the mindless and illogical people who think that by killing innocents some purpose is being served. You try to find reason for all this bloodshed- but somehow no logic seems befitting to explain why someone would like to harm somebody who has never inflicted any pain to you – to damage the lives of complete strangers.
I know a lot of people, who after the recent attacks are infuriated, and want the Government to attack Pakistan. I don’t know, if its the fact that I have two of the closest people I know in the defence and that my best friend is planning to get married to one, but I feel war just results in our own soldiers dying. Lives of our own getting lost for a purpose that really doesn’t serve anything. Lot of people are like we should show that India is not some country that can be messed with. But, well, tell me what good has that attitude done for America? They have lost so many of their soldiers and continue doing so. Do you think the problem will ever be solved by punishing many innocents for the actions of few messed up individuals. Call me naive, but there has to be some other solution than jumping at each others’ throats.
And to these people who blame a whole country for the attacks- do they not read about the serial blasts that have been killing innocent Pakistanis so frequently in the recent past.
Its not the entire country but a few (well, quite a few) elements in Pakistan that are to blame for such attacks. But what I would like to point out, initial reports suggest that for the recent terror attack in Mumbai, there is a possibility that the responsible people are an outfit that is operating from India itself. Now, for those who argue that Pakistan isn’t doing anything about the terrorists group in their country and that’s why they should be attacked- then shouldn’t the same logic be applied to our country? Like they say, people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones at others.
A war on another country will definitely not help. Instead our government should stop wasting the country’s money on themselves and wasting time on finding faults with each other and invest in a good intelligence system- so that such attacks can be stopped before they strike. Also a lot of these terrorists are a result of our tampered system. Unemployment, inequality, poverty, no guidance- that’s what the terrorists group take advantage of and are able to give “weak” individuals affected by these circumstances a purpose, a direction to go ahead with. The government of every country should look into the reasons that lead to such circumstances and fix them asap. Hopefully, this would lead to a part of the problem being solved.
Though honestly, I do not know what the best solution is and whether there would be a complete solution ever- heck, I am no expert. These are just my thoughts and I don’t think anybody else should be compelled to agree with me. I do know that keeping your calm and not getting misled by floating communal sentiments is the best for everyone. All we can do for now is to pray to God to give some sense to people who think such acts of terror are justified. And my wishes and prayers go out to the ones who are injured and hope they recover soon and hope the Indian government does all that they can to get the lives of the people who suffered back on track.
I have a superpower!
Or is it supposed to be superpowers and the term “superpower” is used only for a country?
But what if I have a single superpowers/superpower (?!), then also would it be called superpowers?
Well, for now, lets say I have a superpowers-nope doesn’t sound right, then let’s say I have a superpower- nope doesn’t sound right either, what if I just use extraordinary ability-yeah I guess that will sound better,so lets just say I have an extraordinary power. And with great power comes great responsibilities (Ok! I couldn’t help using this line- it just flows when one talks about superpowers!)
So, I think I might be exhibiting a mild form of precognition.
Ok! I might be jumping the gun here but what if I have- won’t it be so cool! Oh the possibilities! (For the uninitiated who do not know what precognition is do check this out to know how cool having such a superpower(s) is!)
Anywho, the reason why I “believe” that I have a mild form of precognition is as such:
Recently we went for a vacation to Yellowstone (and that is why I have been MIA from the blogging scene). On our flight back from Bozeman, Montana to Salt Lake City, Utah I asked V what happens if lightning strikes a plane. And, V was like it shouldn’t affect the plane too much and then the discussion went to me trying to show off my vast knowledge on lightning, talking about ground to cloud lightning and blah blah blah..snore. Anyway, this discussion would have been irrelevant had it not been for the spooky turn of events that happened once we reached Salt Lake City, our layover destination.
We were supposed to catch our connecting flight to Phoenix from Salt Lake City. But once we reached SLC, we found our flight to Phx was cancelled because, and here is the spooky part- it was struck by lightning. Yeah I know spooky, right?
Nope? Well, the only reason you did not find it spooky is because I did not tell it right- if I had the story telling power of Steven Speilberg this incident had all the making of a Sci-fi movie- yup, I do live in my own dream world- don’t we all?
Apart from the excitement of the revelation of my superpower(s) (!), the overall trip to Yellowstone was great. I would definitely recommend a visit there if you live in US or even if you don’t, try visit the place- its breathtakingly beautiful! (And if you do, take me along- now that I have precognition powers I’ll prove real handy!:))
For now I leave you with pictures of our trip.
I have been MIA yet again, missed Easter celebrations too (hope y’all had a great Easter day). These disappearing acts are all thanks to traveling but now my close-to-three-months long India vacation is over and hopefully, jet lag permitting I should be more regular with my posts!
After a very, very long plane journey from Kerala to Phoenix, and then a four hour drive to our town, I am finally at home, back to V- back to married life, back to keeping the home clean, doing the dishes, washing clothes (though the excuse of jetlag is keeping me from doing any of that)!
I must say, that V has kept the house pretty pretty clean. Much cleaner than what I would expect from a guy. Barring the kitchen, I think everything has been pretty much under control. I also got home to flowers (I know- awwww…) and wait for it…..a Macbook! V surprised me with a new laptop for me- an anniversary cum valentine cum his bonus gift 
! (Hmmm….I hope this was not his way of showing how happy he was to have me away for such a long time and the gift was a way to thank me for the peace he had while I was away =/)
Either ways I am a happy girl! And this post comes to you from my new Mac! It is so white that I actually washed my hands before using it. I am still getting used to the changes. A lot of the Windows OS functions do not work on Mac and I need to figure that out. But its a good thing – that would keep me busy for a while. I need something to keep me occupied. Even though it feels great to be back, I miss home. I miss the hustle bustle in India- the oh so many people- crowded streets, markets- it is just so empty in the US! I am eagerly waiting for my Friday coffee morning now- and catching up with my gang of girls after what seems likes ages.
I am still reeling under my India trip hangover. The last few days in Kerala with my parents were great. I have fallen in love with Kerala food. We had the most amazing prawn curry and king prawns at this resort in Kovalam called Uday Samudara. We had our table right at the beach, which was perfect. The beautiful sea breeze and the noise of the waves splashing made a delicious meal even more special.
I also got a chance to go on a Lion Safari. There is a small national park near Neyyar dam in Kerala where the lions are kept in their natural habitat. We saw two lioness’ and one lion up close from our bus. It was pretty exciting! After that we went to a crocodile farm, but it was sad to see the way the crocodiles were kept in cages. I did notice that crocodiles are pretty lazy reptiles. They just lie around half immersed in water and stay still the whole day. What a life!
But the best part of my Kerala trip, besides the ayurvedic massages, was the trip to the Duke Forest Lodge. Its a 130-acre Rubber plantation and is home to various spice trees and plants including cocoa, vanilla, coffee, cardamom, cloves, pepper, nutmeg. Unfortunately, the vanilla blooming season starts in June so I could not get my hand on any vanilla pods, but the manager told us that in June-July the whole estate smells of Vanilla when the green Vanilla flowers turn black. Its a lovely time to visit the estate.
The manager showed us around the estate, giving us small tidbits now and then.
At the lodge they also grow cacao trees- yes, the trees that give us cocoa, the key ingredient for chocolate, chocolate which is something that most of us can not do without. The Cacao fruit pulp is white and if you suck on them they taste like custard apple. The beans along with the pulp are fermented and then dried, where the pulp trickles off, leaving behind the cocoa beans. The cocoa beans are then shipped off where they are processed to make cocoa powder, cocoa butter, nibs and the likes.
The Lodge is perched in a Rubber plantation. They have about 3000 rubber trees and a good rubber tree gives about 2 bowls of latex sap daily. Each bowl sells for about Rs 80 (roughly $1.50), so it is quite a profitable business for the lodge. The Duke Forest Lodge also is a beautiful place to stay if you plan a trip to Kerala. They have 14-day packages where the stay includes yoga, ayurvedic massages and detoxification meals. They have villas with Jacuzzis and of course, you have the added benefit of being surrounded by spices of all kinds.
And if you are in Kerala, you have to visit the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple, which is an architectural wonder. There is a dress code there though- the men have to the Kerala Mundu (white Dhoti- piece of white cloth wrapped around the legs), and keep their chest bare. The women need to be dressed in a sari. Both the dresses are available for hire or to buy near the temple.
Also one should not miss a ride in the backwaters of Allepey-Kovalam, a trip to the tea plantations in Munnar (unfortunately, my Munnar trip did not happen this time) and the Jewish synagogue, the Kathakali performances, the Chinese net in Cochin. And while you are doing all this, do not forget to feast on the local Kerala cuisine- appam and stew, Kerala parantha, prawn curry, fish curry, coconut water- just thinking about it makes my mouth water. As souvenirs pick up spices from the local markets. In Thiruvananthapuram, you could also go to Sarwaa, in Sasthamangalam where handmade products, organic and ayurvedic ware cover a good part of the shop.
There are a lot of other places to cover in Kerala but these are the ones that I have visited and would recommend.
And since you all have been so patient reading while I have been blabbering non stop, I am posting a recipe too. Its been long since I made a 100% flour recipe and god I miss such breads. Of course whole wheat is healthy and it is tasty, no denying that but its nice to have a no wheat just plain ‘ol flour bread. And this one here hits all the right spots!
This is a bread machine recipe but of course it can be made without one. For making a bread without a machine check this post out.
makes 750 gms
Ingredients
Method
Put ingredients according to your bread maker’s instructions. Set loaf size to 750 gms and use appropriate cycle.
If you do not have a bread maker, you can see this post.
I have been real busy the past one week- packing, making kachoris and samosas for V, trying my hand at macarons (yeah, I know, me too!!), attending a friend’s graduation walk and flying to Denver. V has some training here in Denver and I tagged along. Now for the next few days I am as free as a bird! No cooking, no cleaning, no house to look after- so now, I have all the time to blog and post the backlog of the recipes I have- sundried tomato bread, zucchini pasta, chilli paneer, Indian chowmein, macarons and lavender truffles. Today, though I won’t be posting any, but will talk about the culinary experiments that happened while the above recipes were being tried in the background.
The other day, for dinner, I thought I’ll make Paneer Parantha. For afternoon lunch, I had made dal makhani (a signature Punjabi dish made from boiled lentils that are slow cooked with tomato puree and a good amount of butter/cream) and since, there was some leftover dal makhani, I decided to pair it with some paranthas for dinner. Had paneer in the fridge- and paneer paranthas sounded like a good choice!
Paneer paranthas (flat wholewheat bread stuffed with Indian fresh cheese)- or any stuffed parantha takes me back to my MBA days and the dhaba outside our college. They served one of the best paranthas in Delhi, and they were the culprit of my weight gain during college. Well, ok, just a part of it.
All the time I was in college and the countless times I had their paranthas I never once even thought of asking how they make it so good. I was always under the impression that I’ll have access to these paranthas- didn’t think I’ll end up miles away! Now, I miss the chicken paranthas, the chilli paneer and dal makhani that had become a staple to my diet during college days.
Anyways, I decided to try making paneer paranthas at home. I have tried making other stuffed paranthas- aloo (potatoes), mooli (daikon radish) , gobhi (cauliflower). But, this was my first attempt at paneer paranthas. I decided to grill the paneer in my Cuisinart GR-4N 5-in-1 Griddler. I love the 5-in-1 griddler – it has made making a quick snack/meal so much more easy! Well, the paranthas didn’t come out as good as the college ones, so I am not posting the recipe. They were good, but not as good and thus, the search is still on. I still crave for my college paranthas and when I’m in Delhi next (just a few weeks from now ), I am definitely going there to relive my gastronomical memories!
I also experimented with muffins. Now, the reason why I HAD to make muffins is because recently I made macarons. You ask, what does macaron have to do with muffins?! Well, macarons have filling in them and when you don’t plan too well and are experimenting with different possibilities, you are left with a lot of filling. Now, since I don’t have the option to keep the filling and using it on a different batch of macarons- I either had to throw the filling or concoct something to use it up. And, the latter is what I did. I added some cream cheese frosting with white chocolate ganache, added eggs yolks mixed with eggs (from the egg white separation for the macarons), mixed in cake flour, baking soda, baking, powder, salt– found the batter to be too thick, so added hazelnut creamer (in an attempt to finish that off!), and as a final touch some poppy seeds and popped them in the oven at 350 F for 18 minutes!
And well, they actually tasted good (they don’t look that good though, but everyone knows not to judge the book by its cover!). They were soft (thanks to the cake flour;) ) and pretty flavorful- worthy enough for Office Thursdays!:) . V’s office people loved them, so much so that everyone finished them and hardly any one ate the store bought donuts that were there too!
The reason for not posting the recipe for either paneer parantha or the muffins is because since they were so experimental in nature, I just did not pen down the ingredients. I could have for the paneer paranthas, (the muffins were a mix of a lot of leftovers so it was impossible for me to give exact amounts), but, like I mentioned before, I am still in search for the perfect paneer parantha recipe, so till then you and I both will have to wait!
Keep reading the blog for the recipes that did make the cut!
Last weekend was awesome fun. And so was this one – Sunday was Halloween! And with that the festive season in the US kick starts!
Have not been able to blog for a long time- V’s parents are here so been busy exploring places with them around our little small town. Last weekend, I went for my first American football game and realised that more activity happens off field than on field, with cheerleaders chanting and the band playing and the food flying all over- it is fun. That was Friday. Saturday, finally, after pestering V a lot to take me to the nearby places around our small mining town, and thanks to his parents being here, we went.
About a 1.5 hour drive from our town is a huge pumpkin patch. Close to it is also an apple orchard and a vineyard. En route we saw rows and rows of greenhouses. There is a whole establishment dealing in producing tomatoes. It was beautiful and made all of us day dream about opening something on a similar scale like this back in India. Hopefully, some day we will!
With our hand picked pumpkins dumped in the car, we drove to the Apple Annie’s Orchard. After having a light snack of bean burritos (which were similar to our Indian Rajma roti) and pasta salad at the pumpkin patch, it was time for dessert at the orchard. I had the best tasting cider donuts there. V’s mom, who a day before, had vowed to not eat a donut again, was tempted so much by the smell, that she ordered for all of us. A testimony to the taste would be that there was a 20 minute wait to get your own freshly made cider donut. It was crisp and perfectly sweet.
We also tried there homemade ice cream and their apple pie- which was really good. Though, normally I like making my own breads and cakes, but with everything tasting so good, I was tempted to try some of theirs and got the pumpkin and apple bread home. I was not disappointed at all.
Having had our dose of apples and pumpkins, it was time for some wine tasting . Who would have thought to find a vineyard in Arizona! After tasting 13 different wines, we finally bought two bottles of their gold medal winning sparkling wine. I’m not a big fan of wine- but champagne I like and this tasted more like champagne, so I’m glad we brought back some home.
The next day we drove to Alpine, a small hill station with a Swiss-like setting.
The drive to Alpine is very scenic and the fall colored trees en route made the drive all the more captivating.
With a really hectic last week, this weekend we chose to take it easy. Did some grocery shopping and bought candy for the trick-or-treaters. Friday, I carved my first pumpkin ever.
I was really excited about Halloween. I just think its a fun holiday- people dressed up in costumes, houses decorated, candies galore- it’s just so festive. V’s dad probably was even more excited than me. He had been going to the library and reading Halloween stories and then coming back home and reciting them to all of us. On Sunday, he made a Halloween poster that we put outside near the entrance. V and I gifted him a Halloween t-shirt which he sportingly wore! Even though we had a good stock of candy, thanks to my friends who had warned me that a lot of kids come to the lane where our house is, we still ran out and V had to rush to the store to get more. The second lot, too, vanished with as much speed as V got them. Finally, we decided to shut off our lights and move out, since the kids were still coming in large numbers (felt bad doing it but had no choice- no amount of candy was enough for the crowd we got!). Overall, a fun two weeks. Will be back soon with some recipes!
