Fun with Cake Decorating!

Every time, I would see a beautifully decorated cake or eat on of those cupcakes with roses on top, I would be like I wish I could do that. Last month, I went to a cake decorating class. I have been planning to go to one for a while and finally did. My classes were taught by instructors at  "Make It Sweet" located in Austin. I My class was based onWilton's cake decorating course 1. You learn how to make the butter cream, ice the cake and various basic designs for decoration. I learnt how to make drop flowers, shells, leaves, rosettes, roses, stars, zig-zag curvy lines, and write on the cake. At the end of my course, I also got a certificate too which was very cute. The course was fun and a learning experience. I highly recommend going to one of these class. You can have fun learning how to decorate cakes and then later you can eat the yummy and  beautiful cake you made :D. Its a win-win!

Here are few pics from my class on what  I made and decorated.

Class 1 - Cupcake Design

Class 2 - Cupcake Decoration

Class 3 - Create your own cake and design

Jus another day(s)!

Its been ages since I wrote a blog post. I am still overdue with my promise of posting spice recipes but it just feels like my days are going like a super fast train. I have one recipe due but it need a lil bit of editing and I am having no enthu to get that done. I keep thinking what the hell I have been doing the past couple of months. Well, I am not sure but time has definitely flown really fast for me. Right from my trip to Cal (Yeah), I have jus been doing one thing after the other. Joining work again full time has been a challenge in some ways. I love that I am working again and I definitely like what I am doing now, but it jus seems I dont hav  much time for anything else. The first couple of weeks were me jus going to work, coming back home to watch some mindless tv and sleep. For a person who had a lot of free time last year, had the freedom to get up late (and I loved that), watched a LOT of  tv shows, did some experiment in cooking - I suddenly find myself doing absolutely nothing. I still have a lot of shows in my DVR which needs to be watched. My list of new tv shows which needs to be checked keeps growing longer. Then there is summer movie releases which I am an ardent fan of and yet haven't had a chance to make a list of which ones to watch. I have not really been doing any cooking (well, thanks to my dearest mom). May be the only good thing I have been doing is a LOT of reading.  It feels good! And finally there is shopping. I am hoping I get some of that done. I dont feel like going out to the stores and my patience seems to be running low. I am surprised myself at this. I used to LOVE shopping. I am hoping that bug bites me again soon! Now that I have done recapping my last couple of months, here is a list of things to do/see/read etc:

1. The Hunger Games series (have finished reading 2 of them, going to start the 3rd one tomorrow) - Even though, the series was aimed for teenagers, I think any age group can read it and find it interesting.
2. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother - Remember the controversial book on parenting difference between chinese parents and american parents which made the news couple of years ago - this is the same one. I had read a lot about it but never got around to reading the book until recently. And it was a very interesting read. I dont agree with most of the book but I do agree with the fact that as parents, we need to set high expectations for our children and push them higher. When you read the book, it definitely makes an interesting discussion with others. It is one of those reads which get you thinking. So yeah, a definite read.
3. Sherlock (TV show) If you loved reading the books, you would love this show even more. The show is set in today's world but the powers of deduction of Sherlock remains the same.
4. The Avengers (Movie) - I am not a big comic books fan. May be coz I never read these while growing up. But I loved the movie and found that I wanted to learn more about each character. So yeah, if you have not yet seen it, definitely do it.
5. San Francisco, CA - I am in love with that city. It is my second favorite after NYC. I love the narrow streets, the architecture, the busy neighborhoods, the trams and the overall feeling. I know that is one place I would never get bored of visiting.  So yeah, visit that city if you loved NYC :D
6. Travel to work by public transportation - If you have access to public transportation and can travel to/from work in a reasonable amount time, I would recommend this. Trust me, you wont miss driving in the morning traffic and also would love some 'me' time which you would get.

Aah.. finally feels good to write. I think I should do this more often. Hope you had fun reading this. Until next time then!

What I am blogging about next ?

This question has been bugging me for a while... I have been looking for inspirations, blog marathons, blogging themes, general ideas and trying to figure what would keep me interested long enough to blog about it ... And finally I think I have found an idea ...

I was going through this huge book on veggie cooking (996 pages) which M had given in 2010 as a graduation present since I liked cooking very much and was enthusiastic about it.. Now when you are given such a huge book, you are given a lot of choices on recipes to cook and that makes ur decisions even difficult ... thus I never got around to look at it ... In addition, I had been religiously following online recipes and trusted google as my no.1 source of information for my recipes, it took me a while(1.5 yrs or so) to look through this book to find inspiration.... And finally I am here ...

I have decided to blog about something which is an essential part of any cooking, i.e. SPICE ... Now for indians,  these would be garam masala, sambhar powederl etc ... for chinese - five spice, for the mexicans - taco-chile powder and for others, there is the well known curry powder .. So I am going to attempt making these powders with recipes from the book, from my mom, from my mom-in-law and other people who are willing to share their secret ingredient for these recipes with me ....

Now that I have a project to do, I need to give myself a timeline ... Say a recipe posting every 2 weeks, give or take.... I will list the source of my recipe, pictures wherever necessary and any other information I should be adding .. I would love it if people would try it out themselves some time and let me know how it turned out ...

Looking forward to some good aroma in my kitchen!!  

If you would like to send me your recipe about any spice, do shoot me an email.

Food(ography) by me :D

Banana Bread

Tiramisu

Kozhukattai

Marble Cake

Carrot Halwa

Carrot Soup

Gobi Manchurian

Taco (Stuffing)

Baked Sabudana

Veggie Pizza

Blueberry Boybait

Baked Sabudana Vada

Inspiration: My dear husband M, a calories conscious person who still wants the taste of fried food. :D

Inspite of being told to write a food blog or atleast post the recipes for some of the things I make, I have always shied away from writing one (may be coz there are loads of them on the internet) ... But this one I guess, was an exception to the rule ... Sabudana is something a lot of people love but usually cant get the dish right or it is jus too much work or too many calories ...

So here is the recipe of my sabudana vada which I baked to avoid the many calories from deep frying .. It was crispy and yummy. I followed a recipe I found online (find that here) but modified it a lil bit for reasons explained below : 

Ingredients 

1. Sabudana - 2 cups 
2. Potato - 4 small ones or 2 medium sized 
3. Onion (red) - 1/2 cup chopped
4. Corriander - 3 tsp (and more if you like it)
5. Green chillies - 4 chopped finely
6. Lemon Juice - 2-3 tsp
7. Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
8. Ginger - 1 tsp chopped 
9. Peanuts - 1/2 cup 
10. Cumin - 1 1/2 tsp 
11. Salt - according to taste 

Steps to follow

• Soak sabudana for 3 hrs min - jus add enough water to cover the sabudana entirely. Once soaked, drain excessive water. 
• Boil potatoes and then mash it - Add to sabudana 
• Roast peanuts without oil. Remove skin and grind it into a rough mixture. Or you can rough chop it too. Add to above. 
• Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. 
• Preheat Oven to 400F
• On a baking sheet, put an aluminium foil. Spray oil on the entire foil 
• Take about 1 tbsp of mixture, flatten it out between your palms and then put it on the baking sheet. You can do upto 12-15 pieces at one time. Make sure you leave a little space between each piece. 
• Spray a little oil on each piece or use a brush to coat it with oil. 
• Bake it in the oven for about 20-22 mins.Could be a little longer if you want it more cooked.   
• Flip them in between. Spray oil again if desired.  

They should be golden brown - with crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. 

Note 1: Add curry leaves to the mixture. I didnt have any but I always love them in my vada

Note 2: I am not a fan of garam masala in vadas, so didn't add it. 

Fast Forward (to) 2012!

Title - Song by A Day To Remember


This is post is long over due but here it is anyways .... Every new year we come up with new list of resolutions for the year ... some of the things are carried over from previous year such as eat healthy, exercise regularly... And then there are others  which are year specific - graduate this year, drink less, etc .. One of the things on my list this year is to read as many books as I can from the BBC Top 100 Reads list.. you can find the list here ... I have known about this list for a while and felt really guilty for not having read most of the books in the list ... that doesnt mean I don't read .. In last few years, my reading habit has dropped drastically, at one point it didnt even exist .. Reading research papers and news kept me busy .. But now things have changed and I hav decided to rekindle (Bday gift hint :D ) it again .. I had tried it at the end of last year but pushed it to 2012 .... So here to a new beginning and a good start !!


P.S. - Doing good so far in the reading, more on that in a later post!




My 2nd resolution is to write more blogs (atleast beat the number of postings from last year)... I think I need to find a theme or project and start working on it. That way, I am more sincere and motivated! Suggestions are welcome :)


My 3rd resolution is to lose weight ... Finally, I have decided to admit it aloud. I would like to say tho I am happy the way I look and never feel pressured about it, but I do think that losing a few more pounds is not doing any harm to me. I have a goal on what I want to lose and a wonderful husband who is happy to help in this more than anything .. So that's that!


My 4th one is to learn something new by going to a class. Def not a career based one but more towards developing a hobby or some new fun idea ... something like cake decorating class or dance class or pottery class or glass making/blowing class ... I am open here and looking for some fun time !


My 5th one is to go California (or Florida) ... These r two states I have been trying to go but something or the other happens and my plans always get postponed ... And I want to go to Cal so I can argue that East coast is better than Cal ;).. So folks in Cal, get ready to host and party with me :D




My 6th one is to do more volunteer.. I am proud that I did that in 2011 and had so much fun .. I am looking forward to it again in 2012.


So here is to fastforwarding 2012 so I can say I have completed all my resolutions :D

On My Mind.....

On Books 
I plan to read a book a month, so about 12 in one year .. I am happy that I am already done with 2. I kinda came up this to revive me reading habit .... I used to love reading at some point, would pick up a book and wont stop until I am finished.. have even failed an exam due to this :D but nowadays, I hardly do any reading ... keep spending (or wasting) time on the comp doing nuthing important. So I decided that I should take some time everyday to read for atleast 1 hr without looking at the comp or TV .... So am trying to find new interesting book to read ..suggestions are welcome :)

On Food 
I recently realized this irony in our tam-brahm cooking ... Some of the dishes taste better the next day (e.g. mor kozhambu, vengayam sambhar) but I am not sure out paatis and thathas would eat day old food .. it has to be made fresh every day .. so y woulld we did they come up with such food recipes but cant really eat it wen its at its best

On a different note, I made this blueberry boy bait (I know, its a weird name) ... it is a basically a very buttery cake with blueberry, and since I made an eggless version of it, it was butter personified ! But I should say, it turned out to be amazing ..I guess sometimes, the weirder the food's name, the more awesome they taste!

On Halloween 
I carved my very first pumpkin, a upside-down bat design with my 7 yr old neighbor .. it was so much fun ... I let her teach me the basics and I could see how happy it made her to be put in charge ... She was really excited to show me the ropes of pumpkin carving and I was having fun listening to her chatter away !!!
I lit a candle inside and it looked beautifully haunting !

On TV 
I am always excited about Fall TV shows ..All my fav tv shows begin their fall premieres and the long summer break is over where there is not much on tv (for me) ... And there are all these news shows to look forward to and see if any of those would come to become my favs and tat I would look forward to their news seasons after that ... There are the regulars that I watch - House, HIMYM, Gossip Girl, NCIS, Big Bang Theory, Vampire Diaries, Nikita, etc Currently the new shows I am watching are Revenge, Pan Am, Once upon a time, Next Iron Chef,  Top Chef Texas, Secret Circle. For some reason, I find the much hyped Ringer not very interesting. There are some more I follow on hulu such as last man standing, whitney, new girl etc.  And there are these other shows I need to catch up with - Breaking Bad, Mad Men.. And how I could forget college football on saturdays and NFL on sundays .. so yeah, this fall, I am very busy, thanks to my TV !! I can't anymore imagine a life without my TV shows !!

On Clothes 
I have a lot of clothes and I know it but I always that there isnt enuf  and that I dnt have anything to wear ... But when I look carefully, I see this clothes which I hav not worn in a long time (a year or so) .. So I think may be I should get rid of them ... which is wen I am filled with the 'anticipation' feeling that may be I will wear them soon ! But alas, that soon never comes !! I have come to realize that this is a universal problem and I have realized that I am hoarder :D I have realized that I need a bigger closet space :D

The love for clothes has also made me realize one more thing. I want to a costume designer for tamil movies. I think the heros could wear better smarter clothes and not just  blues and more blues. I would like to scour the nation and bring out designs from small unknown designers and make it a retail phenomena through the movies. This may not happen today or tomorrow but I am hoping it happens some day :)

On Snow
I miss you!!

On Texas Summer
 I DON'T miss you at all!
             
On Long trips/vacations
Looking forward to them (always) !!

On tiny adventures
I love discovering cool new places to eat, hang out, things to do. While volunteering for Texas Book Festival, I met Alton Brown and tat was amazing. I got hooked in to the Cow Parade and taking pics of cows that are placed around the city. I found this lil grocery store which serves amazing cafe au lait and another one with even more amazing pastries. And the best part about these adventures is that I get to do it with M !!

On Life 
Life is great. Days seem to fly by at a speed which I am not able to keep up with. Routines are in place with some surprise elements here and there. I have definitely grown personally :) Some thing have changed and other remain the same. I am more clear about what I want to and where I want to be. But yes, I definitely miss my carefree days !!!

10 day challenge - Day 10

My last day in the 10-day challenge......This pic is long overdue and my apologies for that... I finished the challenge in FB and kinda forgot to update here ! I was looking for a perfect pic to represent me but keeping in mind tat this a public forum ... Finally I looked up this pic and found it !! This pic is important to me in 2 ways  ... One it represents my graduation (throwing of the graduation cap captured perfectly ! ) ... and that it won me 30 bucks (Money is always a plus) in a photo contest where we had to send a pic representing Indian's life in the US. More details can be found here ... I am the winner of Jul 2008. 

This challenge was amazing. I hope you had fun reading it as much I had writing it. Mobving on,  I am now trying find things to write about;  looking for inspirations!! Hopefully get my next post is there before the end of this year :D 

Cheers !! 

10 day challenge - Day 9

Day 9, my last writing post of this challenge before I have a finish with a grand pic of mine :D Can't believe I actually made (almost) through this challenge. I definitely have to thank the all the lovely known and unknown readers of this blogs... I am not the one who really follows my blog stats but I was curious in this case... I have to say I think I got more views through this challenge than since the beginning of my blog ... I always thought of this blog as a way to express 'my perceptions' of the world I live in... But it definitely feels great to have other people reading about it, giving me their inputs and overall their general supports .... So yeah, definitely a BIG thanks to all !!

Alright, now that I have given my 'unprepared' thank you speech, its time to move on the main reason of this blog and that is two too write about two songs I like. For this challenge, I actually went through my itunes to try sorting out the songs in my head and identifying the ones I like the most ... Now I do have to say that I am not the best judge of music at all ... I hardly can remember lyrics of any song unless I am actually doing a sing-along with tat song... I cannot tell you who sang it or who composed the music or who wrote it ... I can may be tell you who the actor/actoress is or which movie it is, condition being that song is a bollywood song.... I think, growing up, one of the major times I would listen to music is when I want to fall asleep ... it helped me sleep faster ... I am also one of those ppl who would put a song on repeat mode and listen to it till she finds a new song to do this .... But I def can say that I can appreciate good music (and not critique it) .... that I am complete and only bathroom singer ...But since I have to write about two songs, I am gonna go ahead and pick two songs which I remember playing the most...these songs kinda create an emotional stir in me every time I listen to them !

1. Lamha Yeh Jaayega Kahan - This song is from the movie Dil Dosti Etc (2007)..I don't know who wrote it or who sang it ... All I know is that I can listen to this song in a loop as long as needed ... There is some thing in this song that captures the essence of life in my eyes (and ears).... I remember even blogging about the lyrics of this song, saying I love it back in 2007. You can find the lyrics here .. I have to agree to the fact that are much better songs (say ARR's) than this, both in terms of music and lyrics... but this songs makes me smile everytime I listen to it. You can listen to it too by clicking on the title name of the song in this post.

2. Do Dil Mil Rahe Hain - A song from Pardes (1997) ..A very soft romantic song with the cutest picturization of SRK *drool* ... I remember bring my head as close as one can to the TV whenever this song was played on TV !!! Even today, I feel romantic (and giggly) when I hear this song ... There is some mischievous to this song (may b coz  I remember the context of the song too) .. But yeah, after listening to a good number of my fav songs and writing and re-writing about different songs, I would say that this song is definitely one of my favs :) You can listen to this song here ...

There are lot many more songs I do love than jus two but I did wat I had to do and pick 2! And for fun, I thought it would  be a great idea if you would tell me your two most favorite songs (and why) as a reply to this post !!

Like the index in any book, here is list of my others posts from this challenge: 10 secrets, 9 loves, 8 fears, 7 wants, 6 places, 5 foods, 4 books and 3 films

One more and I am done !!
  

10 day challenge - Day 8

If I thought that choosing 4 books was hard, this challenge of choosing 3 movies is even harder. Now if M was writing this post, then his answer (ready in a jiffy) would be Bourne Identity 1, 2 and 3 :D (I think).. Haha ! But since M is not writing it and I am, I am hoping to be able to justify my choices properly .. So that when I read this blog, say 2 years from now, I still agree with my choices (atleast 2 out of 3). I am known to love movies but I have to come realize I probably would have watched only half the no. of movies when compared to others like M ... Even then, my list of watched movies is still pretty long ... So this was definitely a mind boggling task ! Finally I think I have made up my mind to list 3 movies I love and can watch it any number of times... I have also tried to choose one from each language of English, Hindi and Tamil .. and one from each decade of my life... I hope you like them too !!

Disclaimer: These are my 3 picks for reasons which might not have been explained perfectly here but I do stand by them !!!

My 1980's decade and tamil movie pick is

1. Vikram (1986) - I knw I knw, you are surprised to see this movie on my list (M mainly)... This is a Kamal Hassan starrer with action, romance, stunts, and a bunch of hindi actors... I did have a tossup between this movie and Kaakha Kaakha (2003)(ohh, I love drooling over both Surya and Jo in that movie anytime and all the time) but Vikram won. And I think the reason is that this is one Tamil movie I remember very distinctively from when I was say 10 years old. I remember watching it for the first time on TV and then wanted to watch it again and again. I am not sure if we recorded it or had a VCR cassette, but yeah, I do know I loved it and also knew the songs well (atleast then). Eventhough I have not watched this movie in a while (say in the last couple of years or may b even more), I can still vividly remember a lot of scenes from this movies. This movie kinda had a modern Hollywood-ish side to it which was uncommon to Tamil cinema then .. And I should admit that I came to this conclusion in the present times and not when I was 10 years old. So for all Tamil movie watchers and others, I think it is time you watched it (yet again)

Now moving on to my Hindi movie -

2. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995) - My favorite star couple and for millions too, Shahrukh Khan and Kajol rock it in this movie which has the right mix of fun, romance, family drama and lil action. This movie makes you believe in love and finding the 'knight in shining armor' from your dreams. It teaches about family and respect and how love and patience can win over everything. There couldn't have been more perfecr couple. Every girl wishes for a guy like Raj who would fast along with you on Karva Chauth :) All the guys would want a girl like Simran who is fun and sexy yet wants to wear only the ring given by you on her ring finger.It has been a long time since the movie has released but still it feels like new everytime you watch it.
I know I would have lot of ppl disagreeing with me jus coz they dnt like SRK..And all I want to say to myself in reply to the cynics, "Senorita, Bade Bade Deshon Mein Aisee Chhoti Chhoti Baatein Hoti Rehti Hain." (My other two contenders for this spot were Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun(1994))

And my English pick is

3. The Blind Side (2009) - One of the true stories which was converted into a beautiful movie ... It is inspiring and yet heart wrenching at the same time ...The comic timing is impeccable (esp SJ; I loved him)... This is one movie I can watch any no. of times and still doesn't bore me. The movie shows how you could be change in someone's life when they least expect it .... How you could still be successful inspite of what the life throws at you... It teaches you how you can distinguish from right and wrong, how you can believe in urself and achieve the impossible ... it is a simple yet powerful movie! I still haven't read the book, and usually I would done that by now, but somehow I think the movie is good in itself for me... This movie makes me laugh, makes me think and makes me want to do something good to someone ! I know there are some amazing movies out there which might be better than this in a lot of ways, but somehow this movie is good for me in every sense. (My other choices were Transformers (2007) or 300 (2006))

As always, here is the guide to the others posts from my  10 day challenge - Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6 and Day 7

See ya tmr!! :)

10 day challenge - Day 7

Before I start today's post, I want to apologize for the delay in writing. And honestly the only reason I couldn't write was because I couldn't narrow it down to four books, and also find a way to keep the post interesting. Finally I decided, I have to just try and not make up any more excuses. When I took up this 10 day challenge, I think I was supposed to blog for 10 continuous days. Even though I didn't achieve that, I did achieve my ulterior motive of being more active on my blog than I have been ever before and I am proud of this. Hopefully I find interesting topics to write about in future too. :) Now that I have made my confession and expressed my guilt ;), lets get back to today's job.

Picking 4 books was really difficult for me. Coz I can never say that this book changed my life or I can quote lines from this book ... I think I sometimes like the theme or author more than a single book..Other times, I jus think it was a good read even tho it mite have written real badly ... I also love reading M&Bs even now .. So you can imagine I am not exactly the best person to critique a book in any way ... But since I have to do it, I am gonna choose 4 of the book I would want my kids to read..... I would also like to add that though these books have made it to today's list, I might have other books which I love more. You might agree with my list and even have some better suggestions for me and I welcome those. There is one thing I do hope to achieve through this post .. and that is that you do read the books I mention here...

1. Enid Blyton books - Growing up, I loved Enid Blyton books. I would read them every summer as I was able to borrow from the library of a school I visited in summer holidays. I was friends with the librarian and she would actually let me borrow as many books as I wanted (and my dad working there helped too). I think I would read and re-read them several times :) I loved reading Enid Blyton and I think it was the first glimpse I got of life outside of India. It is also in her book series of Malory Towers and St. Clare's series is where I got to know the fun life you would have at a boarding school. And I think this is what inspired me to go live in hostel during college even when I had a chance to be a day-ski (Anna Univ lingo for Day Scholar). I also became very fluent in english, thanks to all these readings !! So yeah, if you have never read an Enid Blyton, I think you should.

P.S. - If you feel like giving me a gift for no particular reason, Malory Towers or St. Clare's series would be perfect :D

2. Harry Potter series by J K Rowling - You know I have to include this here. A revolutionary series which came about in my lifetime :) What started as an unknown author and very normal reading affair for me, became a favorite series for me. The first time I laid my hands on HP 1, it was when I came to know that I was going to be waiting on my Aunt at hospital for the night, I decided to find a book to keep me occupied and found this book on the table at my cousin's house. I didn't know anything about it and I jus grabbed it as I was in a hurry. I remembering reading it all night in the dim bedside light. My eyes were being strained and the funny irony was that I was a in an eye hospital :D Anyways, I have read all the book multiple times and also watched all the movies. My favorite one is the first one. It is an amazing series, no matter what any one else says. I am definitely a HP fan :)

3. Ramayana and Mahabharatha by Rajaji - Growing up in India, I am sure you would have heard a lot of stories about Gods and Goddesses, the story behind Diwali or story of Krishna jus like I did. You would have also watched Ramanand Sagar's Ramayana or familiar with the Mahabharatha TV show's beginning music/dialogues ... I have also read some of the short stories through Amar Chithra Katha .. So when I wanted to read the complete Ramayana and Mahabharatha, I was suggested the version written by C. Rajagopalachari. And I must say, I am thankful to whoever made that suggestion (I cant remember who :D)... Both books are very succinct, and in a simple language but still captures the essence of the book. It also has all these short stories in between the main story line, some of which you have heard of and other you haven't. So if you want to read an abridged version of these two epics and in English, I would highly recommend this. I also own copies of these two as I sometimes like to read random chapters. I also recommend reading it so that you can understand the Hinduism a little bit more and also learn at the same time.

4. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow - If I have to suggest an inspiring book to someone, I would suggest this. This book for me is all about positivie thinking, hopes and dreams, about family and love and about life and death. It is a very realistic to me and also inspires me without actually focusing on inspiring me. I can relate it to some ways and learn from it in some other ways. It is one book I would want every body to own and read it once in a while to remember what is imporatant to them!

If you haven't read my other posts yet, you can find with here - Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5 and Day 6

10 day challenge - Day 6

Here is a guide to my other days from the 10-day challenge - 10 secrets, 9 loves, 8 fears, 7 wants & 6 places

Food is one of the 3 basic essentials in life, inluding clothes and home, according to the hindi saying "Roti, Kapada aur Makan". I love eating food. And I have a good appetite too (My college buddies can vouch for that :D)... Until some time ago, I wasn't into too much experimenting into food. But now I like to try new cuisines and restaurants ... I am still not as flexible as some other people I know, say M but I am do believe I have come a long way. Growing up, I always associate this one old Tamil song with food/eating.. I am sure many of you would have guessed it ...if not, check out this video below. (Contact a Tamilian friend for translation purposes :D) 

There is so much I want to write about this topic and since I have limit of 5, I decided to use this lil trick of 5 in 5 :D Read on to find more !!! 

5 Cuisines

1. South Indian - When I say south Indian, I am being very generic. I should probably say Tamilian food but that would not be entirely true.... I also ate lil bit of Telugu and Malayalam cuisine too. If you had asked me then, I would probably say it was all Tamil cuisine. But now that I cook food too myself, I can tell you that it was jus not tam-brahm food. I guess I would call this my comfort food. The best feeling is when you come back home after a trip and eat that rasam or thayir (curd) sadam. YUMM!

2. Chaat - I love eating chaat. They have this chatpatta taste which makes your mouth water even at the mere mention of it. My sis and I do a lot of our bonding over the road-side chaat waala(s) in the gully's (street) of Hyderabad/Secunderabad. The best experience is to have that garam chai (hot tea) and mirchi bhaji (stuffed green chilli) on a rainy day OR the cold and cruchy pani puri on a hot summer day !! So is your mouth watering already ? ( I did warn you :P) This is what I am  talking about :D (Pic of Ragada)

3. Kalyanam Saapadu (Wedding Meals) - There is something about the kalyana saapadu... May be it is that there is so much variety to eat or that the food is served at regular intervals or the never ending crowd  of people in the dining hall  .... There is something magical about this.... It is very hard to replicate that taste !!! You keep wanting to eat more....  but somehow you have too make sure your plate (or should I say banana leaf)  is clean at the end !! 

Disclaimer: Eventho, I am referring to mostly Tam-Brahm kalyanam saapadu above, I am sure this is the case with any wedding food. 

 4. Thai/Chinese - I am gonna mix them up together just for the reason that I like more than 5 cuisines. My comfort food away from home is this. It has got the spicy-ness I like in my food. I like that I have choices of both noodles and rice. And they are the next best thing to have on a rainy/snowy day !!

 5. Ethiopian - The reason I like this cuisine is the way they serve the food. The whole idea of serving food in one large plate for the entire family and making them eat together is very important to me. Considering the fact that I eat a lot of my meals either in front of the tv or with a book in hand or browsing the computer. This style of serving forces you to sit together with others and also teaches you to share. And that their food is good with a lot of veggie options, doesn't harm either. 

5 Foods

1. Pav Bhaji – Nothing call still beat the shop from which I have Pav Bhaji

2. Pad Kee Mao – I judge a Thai restaurant based on how good this dish is.

3. Biryani - Vegetarian, of course and not Hyderabadi Biryani

4. Dosa – Any time of the day

5. Tacos – looks like this is my new found love (with the right salsa(s))

5 Food Shows

1. Iron Chef America - Love the intensity, creativity, plating in this show. Love it even more when cook fish. 

2. Top Chef - Love their quick fire challenge mainly. The rest of the show is not bad either. and yeah, how could I forget the HOT Padma Lakshmi ;)

3. Giada at Home - Her soft demeanor and the way she makes Italian cooking look so simple and easy. 

4. Cup Cake Wars - Love the innovative recipes of cup cakes. And may be because cupcakes are my secret love. 

5. Khana Khazana - Growing up, I think this was only distinct food show I have watched 

5 Desserts

1. Gulab Jamun

2. Tiramisu

3. Crème brûlée

4. Sticky Rice with Mango 

5. Paal Payasam  (Rice Kheer)

  

5 Food Pix (food made by me) 

Bon Appetit!!!

10 day challenge - Day 5

Hello all :) Thanks for the patience while I didn't do any writing, courtesy of Labor weekend. This was one of those perfect weekends where all I did was (cook) eat, sleep and relax. It jus so happened that I relaxed a little too much and my 3-day weekend became a 5-day weekend (or should I jus say weekdays :D). Now I am back with a bang, at least for the next 6 days to complete this 10 day challenge. If you haven't yet read my previous posts from this challenge, here is an easy guide to them - 10 secrets, 9 loves, 8 fears, and 7 wants .

Getting to today's challenge, I have to write about 6 places. With this challenge, I was facing a BIG dilemma. Should I write about the 6 places that I have lived and my experiences in those places? Or should I write about places I have visited and what I loved about them? Or should I write about places I want to visit and what fascinates me about those places? Should I write about cities or countries? Should I include fictitious places, say from movies or fairy tales? Should I make up my own perfect place? This train of questioning could go on, and since you get the drift, I shall stop here. Finally I found my solution  that it needs to be a mixed bag and what kinda of mixed bag it is supposed to be! To find out more, read on.... 

1. Chennai 600025 -  That was my address for 4 awesome years at A.C.Tech College and Hostel....Here is where I made a lot of great friends, was living by myself for the very first time just like a lot of my friends, ate crappy hostel food, never hesitated any time to go when some one said FREE food, found excuses to get 'treat' for the FREE food, hung out for hours in a tiny coffee shop under the tree, gossiped about the whole college, celebrated birthdays with so much fun and then went out to eat some more of that free food, run back to the confines of the hostel by deadline time,  stand near the xerox shop for hours to get the notes xeroxed so that we have something to study for the exams, getting OD (On-Duty) to skip classes when we have the cultural fests,  bunked classes to go watch movies at Satyam, went to Madya Kailash on the morning of any festival all dressed up, ... and a lot more amazing things. I think I became the person I am for the most part in this very city. I knew the nooks and corners of the city (our definition of city was Adyar and Besant Nagar and T Nagar :D)........  Chennai is one amazing place. It has got a perfect/delicate balance between traditions and modernism. The same people who go to wedding or temple festivals or music kacheri dressed in their traditional best can be seen hanging out the local coffee shop or discos and beach wearing trendy clothes of the season. It was the BIG city for many folks coming from rural Tamil Nadu and was a perfect place for this transition without overwhelming them.  I love this city and it will always be one of my most favorite 'places' with great memories.  

2. N.Y.C. The New-York City -  People who know me already know how much I love this city. If there is one place I want a vacation home, it is gonna b an apt in NYC, a perfect escape for me. I love the energy. I love the popular tourist spots and hidden gems of the city. I love that its a melting pot of culture, food, entertainment, and people. I love the fact that I can find something to do anytime of the day, 24x7! To best describe my feelings for this wonderful city, I want to quote Jay-Z/Alicia Keys song 'Empire State of Mind' 

"In New York!!!

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,

There's nothing you can’t do,

Now you're in New York!!!

These streets will make you feel brand new,

the lights will inspire you,

Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York" 

3. Salaam Mumbai - One place I keep wanting to visit but hasn't happened yet is Mumbai (Bombay). I think I love this city and want to visit it for the same reasons (and some more) as NYC. I think there is a lot of energy in this city. It is the other  'land of dreams' for many Indians, next to US. I want to drive on the Marine drive, eat the roadside pav bhaji, do the walk (pad yatra) to the siddhi vinayak temple, offer garland of flowers at Haji Ali, spot some Bollywood stars, travel the local trains, shop at both malls and local bazaars, celebrate Ganesh Chathurthi, take pics in front of Gateway of India and get to know the city as a mumbaite. (Feel free to add more to this list). 

4. Enchanted in Egypt - I want to the visit and climb the Pyramids and explore the insides, ride a boat on river Nile, ask a trick question to Sphinx,  may be go an archaeological excavation trip, roam the Sahara Desert on a camel. I want to explore Egypt, shop and bargain with local merchants, eat their cuisine and drink coffee (for a change). I might end up doing a lot more things thanks this. 

5. Around the Europe in 80 Days - I want to do a backpacking trip in Europe just like they show in DDLJ :) I think this movie was one of the first to trigger the euro-trip fascination and also backpacking for many of us. I want to visit the major cities in Europe, take time to explore each city and may be also visit country side in some places. I want to absorb the culture in each place through their food. I want to do this trip through Eurail (Europe on Rail). I want the 'eat'' part of experience which Julia Roberts had in Eat Pray and Love. I want to see Europe :) 

6. Sharanya in Wonderland - My wonderland is the combination of the best of each city I have visited or lived in. Skyline from NYC, historic buildings from Philadelphia, Lakeshore drive jus like in Chicago, beaches from Chennai, transportation like that of Singapore (esp for its cleanliness), shopping places like that of General Market in Hyderabad or the strip in Las Vegas, trailer trucks featuring  foods from all over the world like in Austin, a great University like in Columbus (Go Bucks!!) , National park such as Grand Canyon, a mini Atlantic City/Las Vegas for entertainment among various other things. 

P.S. - If you have already guessed the movie references in the title, here you go Chennai 600028 (a tamil movie) E.T. - The Extra-Terrestial, Salaam Bombay (a hindi movie), Sleepless in Seattle, Around the world in 80 days and Alice in wonderland.