Today's thought

"Success consists of a series of little daily victories." -Laddie F. Hutar

On my cooking radar

I think Iam chef at heart (haha , thats a thought).Sometimes ,just sometimes I get tired of cooking the usual drab fare so I need to shuffle the recipes and get some new ones to play around with .Heres a few I am going to try in the near future ...You are invited :-)


Brown bean salad 

Made with dried brown beans ,hard boiled eggs ,cumin,scallion,lemon juice ,olive oil and cucumber ,parsley ,sprinkled with salt and pepper and garnished with fresh thyme sprigs this salad is pleasing to the eyes,light and very healthy.


spicy baked potato 

Simple baked potatoes take on an exciting new character with the addition of a few herbs and spices(ginger root,cumin,cilantro,turmeric,garlic salt).


Ratatouille 

A classic vegetable stew ,this is packed full of fresh vegetables and herbs and absolutely bursting with wonderful flavor.


mediterranean chicken 

A visual treat made with boneless chicken to which sundried tomatoes , oregano leaves ,butter ,olives, artichoke hearts,potatoes are added. can be baked or broiled. YUM-O


Vegetable Moussaka 

A flavorful maincourse dish this is abundant with veggies (egg plant , mushrooms, chickpeas,onions,lentils ) and spices , makes for a hearty satisfying meal and can be served with warm fresh bread.


Pasta Primavera 

No better way of showcasing the best of the season's young vegetables (asparagus spears, baby corn ,baby carrots, red bell peppers , scallions )in this delightful pasta (torchietti or other pasta cuts)dish .


Cholcolate Cake  

What can be said about this decadent yet delicious dessert ? there are umpteen varities of the same .I plan to make the chocolate layer cake with chocolate frosting topped with whipped cream and a sprig of mint .

Enjoy !!

Some thoughts for today

Faith is what makes life bearable, with all its tragedies and ambiguities and sudden, startling joys." — Madeleine L'Engle

"The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference." — Elie Wiesel

"That is faith for you. It's belief even when the gods don't deliver." — Louise Erdrich

Born a fan is

 

Star wars III-Revenge of the sith came out May 19th and has been busy breaking box office records and whetting the appetite of crazed fans ..By now I have read a gazillion reviews and gone through many blogs discussing star wars to death in some shape or form .I wouldnt do that ,for Iam already part of that cult .But I will put in my 2 cents and this is how I think Master Yoda (my absolute favorite) would have said it ,

"Won the dark side has;revenge the Sith has taken .....but return a new hope and the jedi shall and strike back the empire will "

and stop here I should before crazy I seem ..

Yoda, you kick ass :)Star wars rocked !!!

Yeh dosti

 u


Whats the sign of a good freind ?? They say with good friends time and distance dont matter because freinds can pick up right where they left.... I did that after 6 yrs with my close freind Smita.

We met this past saturday after SIX years.We were together in college and after that Smita was westward bound to do her masters and I stuck around in India .We kept in touch but not much as life took interesting twists and turns and then as fate would have it I moved to the US post marriage ..

So even after 3 years in the US of A ,we couldnt meet up ,only emails and phone.Two weeks ago Smita emailed me that she would be coming to Seattle to help her sister settle down who had landed a job as an intern with an architecture firm..SURPIIIISE!!!I was excited to be finally meeting her after all this time.

We met up on 21st .Pankaj and I decided to take the job of hosts seriously(wink!!).We had a wonderful lunch at Cutters(downtown seattle)reminisced about college ,our cafetaria ,our favorite spots, other freinds and what they are doing right now ,and then lounged around at Downtown waterfront .Pike place market was our next stop where we just had to have seattle's best coffee, admire all the fresh flowers , buy tonnes of stuff from the 3 girls bakery (decadent ,I tell you but yummiest ever) , After tonnes of browsing we decided to go to Alki beach even though it was pouring rain .the beach looked deserted(unheard of )but beautiful.


It was then time to go to the Indian market (Bellevue) where we tucked in samosas and chai and then to the the mall where Suchita picked up a digital camera .and before we knew it was time to leave ..gosh ,how time flies in the company of freinds we treasure .looking forward to the next time already :)

Heres a toast to all my good freinds ,people I cherish and wouldnt exchange for anything in the world .
"Silence makes the real conversations between freinds, not the saying but the never needing to say is what counts "

todays thought

 


 


" a beautiful young person is an accident of nature , but a beautiful old person is a work of art "

case in point ..Julia Rroberts ..both the young and old pictures belong to her ...when she was a newcomer to the industry she just had her incredible talent and a beautiful face (though many dispute that)...a dream ..

As years have gone by she has strengthed her position as a prima donna in hollywood, the queen bee if u will..she has also added wife and mother to her ever expanding portfolio not to mention the plethora of fans , wellwishers, contacts and freinds and did I mention tonnes and tonnes of experience ?

If she remains the prolific actress that she is she will become a legend one day ..

she was a beautiful young woman , an accident of nature but she has made sure that becomes a beautiful old woman (thats far away but will happen some day), A WORK OF ART !!!

I hope I become a work of art and not just another old ,sad woman :)

Today's thought

past 

"the past should be a springboard not a hammock"


Most people keep revisiting their pasts either to feel sorry for themselves and mourn losses .Some others, they just become stronger ,stand up,dust themselves up and just move on,thus benefitting from their past experiences ..

for "between yesterdays regret and tomorrow's dream lies today's opppurtunity" .

chefs of the world ..here I come

cooking from the heart 

Wow that an intimidating title ..Iam not sure i mean anything by it ....so readers ,ignore it just like I did:P

"Food was celebration, conversation, and nourishment. The table is where the big decisions of the family are made and all the arguing takes place."
(Adriana Trigiani)

True, but in my case cooking is also an expression of my creativity ..I almost feel like a magician concocting edible visions when I play with those ingredients .

My first introduction to the art of cooking was learning something as basic as a cup of tea at age 8 .As I grew older I learned to impress ma with my "chai" and then graduated to learning how to knead flour and roll chappatis .My chapatis often resembled the maps of far away countries but mom was patient as moms are ..she comforted me saying that it would get better .That didnt happen but atleast I became more helpful around the house.

As years went by I learnt more;gradually but reluctantly.Often wondered why mom couldnt let me be and not teach me anything like a ,lot of other moms .I already knew far too much than my classmates and freinds and was strangely embarrassed about adimtting to my culinary expertise (pun intended ).I ranted and raved like a bull in a china shop but ma ddnt give up .She wanted her girls to be self sufficent and know everything that she did'nt know or did'nt learn in time ...Little did I know that I was learning something so invaluable, the art of cooking :)

By 10 I even knew how to make cakes and cookies ,puddings (again on ma'd prodding) and we were all making fun stuff during our summer holidays at home (stuff like parathas, various kinds of subzis, gol gappe,chat,gulab jamun ,kheer ,other snacks etc).

When I was 11 yrs old ma started a new thing around the house .On saturdays after we got back from school ,everyone would contribute one item towards lunch or dinner and i remember being ready with all my recipes from magazines and newspapers ,all set to make my impression..and I did ...Ma was my inspiration , her cooking is awesome and she always was ready with tips and suggestions to make things better ,I used to watch her fascinated as a kid .My big sister ,my partner in crime and fun was my other inspiration ..she was always "messing "with food and churning out great stuff...and keeping up with her wasnt easy :)my granny and grand ma are great cooks too so the influence kept rubbing off ..I loved watching cooking shows ,cookery books and kept adding recipes here and there to my scrap book:)

time went by and I learnt to cook most stuff thats part of the indian cusine(including bengali and punjabi cusine and many others) ..other things became more important though like my education and a career and cooking took a backseat.for a while I only cooked if I had to or If I had any time.

then I met my future husband and I pretended that I was dumb and knew squat about cooking ..he was most understanding and said he ddnt care and that we could eat out or work somethign out (I cackled when he said that) ..After marriage ,he was shocked out of his wits to learn that I dont only cook but actually cook well and most stuff at that .

I have rediscovered cooking after marriage and coming to the US of A ..here Iam the queen of my kitchen and make all the rules .There are so many cusines to chose from and learn about ;cooking never seems mundane ..what with all the ingredients , spices , ovens ,pots ,pans ,paraphernelia, techniques and instructions available ..its always fun..iam curently dabbling in thai ,chinese food and american food and its great:) .theres so much to learn and I am nowhere near tiring.

In my heart ,everyday I nurture to dream to open my own restaurant some day and showcase my creativity and share some love

because as the saying goes "Food should be prepared with butter and love" .Me,I spare the butter and just add more love