Beat the Heat: With Spicy Hot Kaanji

Maturing in the sun- Kaanji

This past Friday, while I rambled on about my backyard and flowers, I also showed you a picture and asked you to guess what was in that bottle. My friend Ila was the only one who took a guess, and she is right on. The bright red thing is indeed Kaanji: a common spring time drink in Northern India, especially Delhi. Right around Holi season in mid to late March, the vegetable vendors back in Delhi brought out some exotic looking vegetables. I especially remember Gaanth Gobi (Kohlrabi) and Kaali Gaajar; both of which my dad took quite a fancy to. Apart from using Kaali Gaajar (Purple carrots) in salads, my mom invariably made a large  bottle of  Kaanji that my dad loved. 

@ Random

We've seen the brightest, sunniest days of the season this week.  And that's left me with a lot of feel-good feelings that I have to vent.  I came home from work yesterday to a quiet house: A had taken the girls swimming. That one hour of solitude gave me a chance to sit out on the deck and soak up the beauty that lay there. My lawn actually looks lush now, no brown anywhere and more grass than weeds. A big change from just a week ago when I thought it'd be brown all the summer. And I absolutely love the smell of fresh cut grass- sort of reminds me of the earthy smell of the first monsoon rain back home. The outdoors is so inviting and cheery ....bright sun, a riot of colors everywhere.

Temptations: WaterGate Salad

Last weekend I hosted an all-women get together for friends from my Sunday school group.  This was the first time I was involved in any volunteer activities with this group, and understandably, felt totally like a fish out of water. The highlight of this event for me was a promise of girls' time out, without kids or husbands, and live cooking demonstrations for 2 secret dishes. The guest list, menu and activities were all planned by willing volunteers who devoted a load of time working out the details. My responsibility was barely to make sure that I provide the space,  disposables and co-ordinate parking space....

Wait...did someone say parking?

Khau na...Jhaal Murri

It all began one fine day in September of 2002. I called A and informed him of my decision. He raised all the due concerns a new dad-to-be should, and I rah-rahed him down with my new-found confidence of a soon-to-be first-time mom. I had found the perfect solution to our fast-approaching childcare needs. This woman I'd found was a grandma missing her grand-kids back home in Bangladesh, she did not want to care for more than one infant and she knew how to change diapers. My child would have her undivided attention and love during the day, unlike in a daycare. And she could show me how to change diapers. Perfect.

"But she hardly speaks Hindi, and not a word of English", A said.

Reposting for Herbs and Flowers-Fenugreek

I had all intentions of entering a new dish for Herbs and Flowers event this month. I actually had two recipes in mind that I was so excited about. But lazy me. Never got the time to get to an Indian store to buy Methi leaves.

Then, on Friday- Friday the 13th, in case you guys missed the significance- I drove towards the parking lot of my bank to get cash; for my Indian store guy doesn't take credit. And drove right into  the ledge of a flower bed. Major damage to my almost brand new Lexus. My first accident since I started driving full time. And all thoughts of getting the  money or cooking that night evaporated. We actually ate out on Friday - A's attempt to ease me out of my crying spell!!. Am still feeling low. So please, please be my friends and just accept these reposts. I'll post the new recipes as soon as I recover from the shock of a 1200$ repair estimate!

Effortless, Eggless Cake Bake

1. We've been going through a bag of Entermann's mini donuts every two days, at least since after my birthday in the first week of March.
2. Baby P peeks into the oven every other day and asks me what's cooking in there.
3. Anya has actually started supplementing snacks with fruits.
4. A was caught red handed snacking on the girls' gummy vitamins, and made quite a case for himself when questioned.

I've ignored all these tell-tale signs of sugar deprivation in my family for quite some time now.

With a heavy heart.....

I really don't know where to begin writing this...for this piece of writing, the end is the beginning .

Sometime on Tuesday night before the Mother's Day last year....Wednesday, May 5th in the Middle East,  my brother was desperately trying to reach me. I missed all those calls from him because both A and I'd left our phones downstairs in the kitchen that night. As soon as I went downstairs at 6am, Wednesday morning for us in USA, I saw the call log. And I knew....I knew, because my brother and I had a pact. He was not to call me on my cell phone unless.......