Appreciation

If someone was to ask me what was one sin I am guilty of - I wouldn't have any of the seven to name. It would be seeking appreciation.
I put my heart and soul in most things I do - no doubt it gives me immense satisfaction & motivation when I see the fruits but the sweetness of this fruit depends on others appreciating me.
This weakness of mine has saddened me on occasions when I should be rejoicing my hard work.
I don't like it. I should overcome it, but I am a long way from it :(
Someday I will redeem myself, but until then it is handy to have a husband who would do it for me :) (Doesn't matter even if it takes a bit of prodding, it might get better with time!)

A book not worth having written

This year's reading started with a rather sad book. I had been having trouble sleeping without a book for almost a week and it was one hasty pick from the library.

Custody by Manju Kapur. I had read other books from this author & knew a bit of her background (she teaches/taught in my sister's college). So when I saw it lying in the returned book shelf I didn't think a lot before borrowing.

However, to my huge disappointment this book was not even worth writing, let alone reading.

It feels like reading a compilation of news clippings from Delhi Times.Young adults, well educated and quickly married. Young parents, foreign holidays, quarrels and divorces. Neither the plot is not original, nor do the characters have anything original about them. Split families - torn children, why would a reader spend time reading a book when this is all he/she gets on TOI.com?

Weakest point of the book - about mid-way one of the wives reveals her intention to keep only the son from the marriage and give away the daughter for the sake of divorce. Guess what - this is what happens in the end!!

It was not expected of an author who has written some good books before (Difficult Daughters). I somehow managed to keep reading, convinced in my mind that of course the evil wife wont have her way - but no, that's what happened. No point in reading the remaining 150 pages, isn't it?

This morning when I got up, I found that hardly 50 pages more were left. So I thought well lets finish it and then begin the day. It was a bad ending & a bad beginning.

Sorry Manju Kapur, but the book doesn't work for me - at all!

Happy New Year!

As predicted, I was not able to update the blog for more than a month! But this was good busy :) So many events, so many people :)
It is good to be surrounded by your folks! And it is a bonanza if you are a bride-to-be, bride, brand new daughter-in-law, & a brand new wifey :)

After a month of the wedding, I think the best part is that I forget at times that we are married, we are so good at being friends :) (touch wood)

Here is wishing everyone a fantastic year to come ahead!

More soon.

And here goes November!

Didn't realise, but already it is less than one week before Miss Garg fly to India for the last time :)
Sad to leave S behind for so many days, specially when padayi pressure is peaking.
Well, I guess, it will be growing  up time for some one ;)

Not sure when will I be writing (properly) again. I hope I can squeeze in a couple of wedding posts but looks unlikely as the bride in a big fat Indian wedding :)

Looking forward to capturing these moments of a life time with friends & family :)
Here's wishing everyone a Merry Christmas & a very Happy New Year :) :) :)

Before October speeds by!

A lot & I really mean a LOT has happened over these past 4 weeks. Each week indeed deserves a post of its own. But I am quite sceptical of such indulgence in writing, given what my schedule has been! So here is a post which is 'dedicated' to these 4 weeks which have gone by.
Some day, when I will be able to extract a quiet hour, I am going to expand on these:

Week 1 S arrived in London. (Yes, he has :))
Week 2 We rented our first house!
Week 3 We got engaged (in person :D) & Karwachauth & Birthday
Week 4 Diwali festivities


:) :) :) This is blog #84!

The Read-Greed

2 books over 2 weeks - that's incredible given that I am working Saturdays!

I remember having written this down somewhere before, but I repeat - I think writing is equivalent in pleasure as reading, only it is more effort and hence less attractive.

For me reading is receiving, while writing is giving - some one else, something to read. And it takes a lot to be able to give more readily than take.

For last couple of weeks, my Internet usage has been limited to emails - no videos, no iPlayer and mostly no voice/video chats. So I have been lured back into the familiar world of books :) I have devoured on 2 fast paced novels both of which I think have been hugely popular owing to their succinct yet well narrated plots.

When I had finished the first book, I was totally up for writing something about it - not a review, but just recording my thoughts about it but the Read-Greed kicked in & I moved on to the next. 

I couldn't even wait to get to the library next morning, so I just downloaded a pdf :) It is one of very few books I have not read on paper. But at least I was reading.

I just finished the 2nd one, but a couple of days ago I had already borrowed 2 more books & again I cant wait to start on them!! But hey ho, at least I've managed to write something first - not about the books as I had thought but about my Read-Greed!!

PS: Just in case I don't manage to write about the books - I want to share the names here - The Kite Runner By KH and Room by ED

Think Food!

This is my book mark for the book I am currently reading. Focus is on putting on some weight without doing the hours in the kitchen. Any ideas?
Insant food. Appear!!
By the way, the book mark does work in some ways - at least I have thought of 4 different egg-free cup cakes and cakes recipes since I started with the book ;) I guess my next book mark will be - 'Do Food!'

A Lazy Sunday & A Book

There have not been very many of them this year so far. And I doubt there will be many ahead. It is hard (busy) work getting married!

After having borrowed a book from the library for well over 9 weeks(!!) I finally managed to finish it today. It was waiting for such a day I guess. When I was not jibing away to the computer or out in the market or attending to the Sunday socials. As if I was left out of all this so that I could just sit back and get absorbed in the book without any distractions :)

Well what can I say about the book - The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, a lot has been written about it already. To be honest, I had to refer to Wikipedia to recognise the portions in it which inspired the 'fatwa' against the author. As a non-Muslim person I fail to see anything anti-religion in. In fact if at all, it does through various anecdotes establishes the presence of God and His power of 'directing' the worlds we assume we are in control of.

Being a resident in a country other than my own, makes me see some of the hatred spewed for immigrants in the book. I am glad though, if anything, situation has not worsened from what was written decades ago. (The economic crisis has sprouted some debates but then they are for entirely different reasons)
The characters in the book are named after those described in the Quran, and unless I read about them - Ayesha, Mishal, Suleman etc. I might not completely understand the links the author was trying to establish. For me, each of the character described are not separate people but facets of an average human being - jealously in Gibreel, revenge in Chamcha, insecurities in Allie, greed in Changez and so on. I must say I am yet to come across any other account of human nature/mind in such details. Impressed.

The book is definitely a heavy read and perhaps a re-read, but for sure it has the content to deserve it. It is my second Rushdie (Midnight's Children was first & liked better because of the non-cryptic text) and I have not been disappointed. (Even if for non-Quran reading folks like me will have to keep going back to Google to get the connections sorted!)

By the way, while I was reading, the clouds came & rained. Guess it is time for me to hit the high street :)

Cross

That's what I feel with all these tasks in 'Pending' list. I have always been a very 'To Do List' kind of person. Since school times I remember having a very well organised 'diary' listing all the subjects (in order of the timetable) and homework. There were even entries with 'no work' for subjects I didn't get homework for!

Then there were exam times with the whole printed syllabus as a huge 'to-do'. I must say it worked very well for me. I would try and allocate time to each portion (pessimistic estimates, so that I can be pleased with myself when I finish something earlier than scheduled ;)). It made me want to get another thing 'done'. Big motivation. And the pleasure of tearing off the 'completed' list. Ah!

It is not much different at work. I still try and make my things to do list every morning. But most days I get deflected into other stuff. My to-do list gets extended over a period of days. Though this is not how I would prefer it, but as long as things keep getting removed I don't really mind.

However, even after giving myself a list of things almost religiously for over a decade work-wise, I haven't been able to get this going in my personal life very efficiently. In last 3-4 months there are things which are just getting piled up, some things due to lack of attention from others and others due to my lack of attention/motivation. Irritating state of things to be least.
After almost a month of leaving the Internet connection to sort itself out, I had to jump in. Result - nothing has moved in 1 month. Status = Pending. Arrggghhh. Wish I could be more organised personally.

Then there are things which you can't do very much about other than wait. Again status = Pending. And I am crossed.

Immediate solution - switch off your brain; watch some TV.
(but there is no Internet - cross cross very cross!!)

If it was a holiday!

Perhaps I woudn't have slept all night with excitement. It's not a holiday though, and I still have not slept, but now I have a guilt. For not finishing what I was meant to and not sleeping which means I will be sleepy at work :(

Perhaps I would have got ready & dressed pretty.
Perhaps I would have even cooked a treat!

But it is not a holiday and I am awake since 4 with office docs open on the laptop, to be ignored in favour of random videos and a blog!

Happy Independence Day :)

Let's Pretend!

That's a game my 4 year old nephew loves to play & so do so many grown ups!
It is difficult to move around people who are constantly worrying about their 'image' in the social circle. I agree that one cannot live in the society without following its norms but then where is the limit?
I fail to understand such strong desires to 'create' the 'high social value' tags in adults. Don't they miss having some genuine fun? Would I not hang out with some people I used to have fun with because they couldn't keep up with my progress in life? What sort of relations are these which are based on 'should I be seen with him/her'?

Apparently, I lack these very basic social skills! I shouldn't really bother about asking how one is doing as it is more important to drop names & holiday spots than asking after people ;) Recently I got reminded of this lack of conversational skill and I couldn't help but think that what a pain it must be to keep wearing a mask all the time.

I think the adults take their game of Lets Pretend much more seriously than kids do. We all at various points in life pretend to like people to be politically correct. But to do it as second nature is I think quite harmful. I guess mostly neither the doer nor the receiver takes these things on face value but I most certainly do. I would much rather have it all out in the open. And if I genuinely cant get along with you, I just cant! Why pretend?

There is another aspect to this pretend game - pretending to be casual & not malicious when you clearly know that you are saying/doing things to an end. People around you are not foolish but just choose to be quiet. However, they do understand your intentions. So for heaven's sake stop saying stupid things which think go as wise wine - it simply stinks :D

Glad that I am as far away from this as possible. And relieved that there is a reason for me in future to stay away from it ;) :) :)

Let there be PEACE

We hadn't really enjoyed that much so as to attract the devil, then why this now?
God, can we please be through this & be at peace for a while? Pretty please!!

I know, I was not signing up for a cake walk when I decided to go ahead but this is plain scary. Challenges yes, dead ends No.

Give me oil in my lamp & Let there be Peace!

The way I should be feeling

...and I dont. Only in fleeting instances I feel the reality of it all - of the huge change that is going to alter the way I do things - big and small. The way I dress, talk, eat, sleep..everything. I am super duper happy.
This is the biggest event yet in my life yet, and still I dont feel the butterflies in my tummy, the blush in my cheeks, the bounce in my walk or the music in voice.

I hope to combine my rock solid happiness with some jittery expressions :))

75th & Special

More than just a counter, it is special :) Still pinching myself!
5/6/11

:) :) :)

Vacuum

That's where I want to be right now. That's what I want to feel right now and that's what I want my brain to be right now. 

It is such a mess - this whole thing. They say faith should be blind. But faith works right?

This too shall pass, for better things to come. 

Amen

Aloo Tikki

Cooking after ages it seems. On a lazy Saturday afternoon I was going through my fattest veg cooking book yet & it was impossible for me to resist the lure. Nothing specifically from the book but inspired by my love of potatoes (and their ease of access) I made a cross of Indian aloo tikki and English roasties.

I boiled and grated 2 big potatoes, diced some onion and put in some chilli flakes and salt and mixed it all together. This was my mix to make the tikkies (cakes). For the batter -
plain flour, vinegar, mint sauce, ketchup(!), salt, chat masala, chilli flakes and ajwain seeds. It was a lovely pale pink in colour.

Heated oil in a frying pan and dipped the cakes into the batter and shallow fried 2 at a time. In the end I had some batter left so I dipped pieces of bread in the same and shallow fried. Made for brilliant tea time savoury snack :) Here are the pictures (Please excuse poor image quality) -

Gods!

I guess it was man's insecurity that he created Gods for each of his basic needs. Someone who could look after his necessities endlessly and ensure that man always had everything. Rain God, Air God, Water God, Sun God, Food Goddess, Power Goddess and the list goes on.

Internet has rightfully become one of the basic needs for most people today. Isn't it time to have an Internet God to keep away interruptions in connectivity?

An Italian Meal

The night of India's world cup win, I cooked an Italian meal to celebrate :) The food turned out to be quite good & I shall now on records - be able to produce a 3 course Italian dinner with confidence in future :)
Here is a quick recap of my recipes and pictures of the food. I took pictures of food during various stages of preparation as well, but I guess that would make the post too long!

Starters - Garlic Butter Bruschetta with Salsa and Mint


Ingredients -
1 stick of bread
50gm butter
1 tea spoon garlic paste
Sprinkle of dried herbs
Optional - cheese
For Salsa:
1 Fresh tomato
1/2 Red Onion
2 table spoons Sweet Corn
1 table spoon vinegar
1 table spoon chopped mint (fresh or dried)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Recipe -

1.Slice the bread diagonally into 1 inch thick slices
2. Soften the butter in microwave, mix the garlic paste and dried herbs into the butter until well combined
3. Spread a layer of the garlic butter on the slices, keep aside
4. Chop Onion and Tomato, add sweet corn, vinegar, chopped mint, salt and pepper
5. 15 min before due to serve, put the sliced bread in oven at 180 for approx 15 min (until golden and edges are crispy)
6. Cover slices with the salsa (top with some cheese for variation)

Mains - Roasted Veggie Lasagna


Ingredients -
For the pasta:
6-9 Lasagna sheets
5 Closed Cup Mushrooms
1-2 Courgettes
1 Pepper
1/2 White Onion
2-3 table spoons Sweet Corn
For the White Sauce:
75gm Butter
75gm Plain Flour
500ml Milk
Salt & Pepper
For the Tomato Sauce (It is readily available in super markets, you might want to save yourself the trouble)
1 can of Chopped Tomatoes
2 White onions - diced
2-3 cloves of Garlic - crushed
1 table spoon dried mix herbs (Thyme/Oregano/Basil)
2-3 tea spoons Vegetable Oil (go for Olive if you have!)

Recipe -
(Note: The sauces can be made well in advance and stored in the fridge)

White Sauce -
1. Melt the butter in a sauce pan, as the butter starts bubbling, add the flour
2. Stir continuously till the flour and butter comes together and leaves the sides of the pan
3. Add the milk, a little at a time and keep whisking, gradually the milk and flour will come together to make a paste, add more milk if needed
4. Keep whisking till the mixture is smooth and the consistency of ketch up and the milk has boiled, add salt and pepper
5. Keep aside to cool

Tomato sauce -
1. In a heated pan, add oil, garlic and onion, cook until golden and soft
2. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook until the mixture starts to bubble (15-20 minutes on low heat)
3. Add salt and pepper (you could also add some vinegar & sugar at this point to make it slightly sweet and sour)
4. Let the mixture cool, then whiz it in a blender (not needed if you have an ill equipped kitchen like mine or to put a posh label - would prefer rustic chunky sauce ;))
5. Mix in the dried herbs, taste, add more salt/pepper if needed.
6. Keep aside

Roasted Veggies -
1. Thinly slice the courgette, mushrooms and onion
2. Cut the peppers into cubes
3. Put all the veggies (including sweet corn) in a baking tin with 2 table spoons of vegetable oil, salt, pepper and sprinkle of paprika powder
4. Give everything a good mix (with your hand - it feels great! Sorry for the diversion, but when I see all the TV chefs going gaga over getting your hands into the food I used to wonder what kind of pleasure are they hinting at ;) but really, it is soothing)
5. Put in the oven for 25 min at 180-200

Pasta and the assembly -
1. In a broad pan heat water with a pinch of salt
2. Place one sheet of lasagna at a time and cook until the pasta is soft and semi cooked - usually 4-5 min a sheet (You can place more than 1 sheet at a time but they shouldn't overlap - otherwise they just stick to each other and difficult to get them apart without tearing)
3. Oil the lasagna dish (any oven proof square dish)
4. Spoon in the roasted veggies, top up with a generous layer of tomato sauce
5. Cover completely with a layer of pasta sheets (can overlap now)
6. Spread a layer of white sauce (don't be stingy, I was!)
7. Repeat the layers of veggies, sauces and pasta until you finish (remember the pasta has to be topped with white sauce in the end)
8. Cover the top layer of pasta with white sauce
9. Sprinkle with your choice of cheese (opportunity to be creative)
10. Bake at 200 for 45 min until the cheese is bubbly and coloured

Dessert - Mixed Fruit Flan


This was a last minute change from a more Italian coffee based dessert, as I felt I had enough to do already! Some day I will post the recipe for my original choice too.
(I cheated here - didn't bake my own flan base, but if you have the time at hand and appropriate baking equipment, and don't mind using raw eggs, please do :P)


Ingredients -
2 bananas
1 Melon
100gm grapes
100gm cherries
1 Mango
1 Flan case
300ml Whipping cream
1 tea spoon Vanilla essence
5 tea spoons Sugar

Recipe -
1. Prepare all your fruits by cutting them into equal size cubes (or get a bag of frozen fruits ;))
2. Add vanilla essence and sugar to cream and whisk until fluffy and doesn't drop from an upside down spoon (took me half an hour by hand!)
3. Spread a thin layer of cream on the flan case, sprinkle the fruits over
4. Spread over another layer of cream in the centre and top it up with some decorative fruits
5. Cool until to be served!

1 satisfied cook, 2 satisfied guests, 3 satisfying courses :) :) :)

India United!

Team India lifted the Cricket World Cup after almost 3 decades. The entire nation has not stopped celebrating since the last shot of MS Dhoni. 1.2 bn people are united in a joy that in only coloured by team spirit. Strangers on the street are dancing and exchanging sweets. Neighbours in cosmos who had never spoken beyond a Hello are hugging each other. These scenes of an ecstatic crowd brings tears to my eyes.
The sounds of Vande Matram playing in the stadium, the common man idol worship of Sachin Tendulkar by his team mates, the flow of emotions on the ground - makes me believe that sports can still do it. Thanks to the Greeks who thought of community gaming events :)

Nothing can be 'overdone' while celebrating this dream come true for India. But one thing which struck me was an announcement by BCCI of giving away 1cr each to the 15 player squad and 50L each to a 12 member support staff, and this is just a beginning. Monetary rewards by the government would continue to come in I am sure. By the way of commercialisation Cricket is one game in India where players are financially strong and stable. Perhaps we could have used this money in a better way, for a better cause.

I wish Indian soldiers and their families didn't have to spend years doing the paper work to get their meagre sums of rewards. But I wont let this thought dampen my high spirits!!

So well done team India - We are super proud of you!

PS: Special mention to Gautam Gambhir for dedicating the win to Indian forces. He was very correct in pointing out - a cricketing win makes an ordinary man as well as a soldier very happy :)

I have been a busy cook this month

Ended last month with -



A week in advance of the pan cakes days - pancakes served with shredded dark chocolate and clementine syrup!

March started with profiteroles -

Choux pastry buns baked & filled with whipped cream and dipped in chocolate sauce - yummy!!
(without eggs)

Then came St. Patrick's Day - the patron saint of Ireland.

So I baked some Irish Soda Bread, and I am happy that it was pretty popular at work :)

It is Holi time now :) Though I wanted to make some gujiyas but settled for something less elaborate - namkeen mathri & shakkar pare.

The best complement I have got for my cooking in recent times - "I have come to cook like my badimum" :) :) :)

It is spring time, cheers to everyone!