Home made Quesidillas!!

Of late, I have been completely in love in food- both the cooking as well as eating aspects... and I have been preparing many of the hitherto untried dishes... And guess what I made yesterday evening- Quesidillas!!! Since Mexican dishes are so much closer to home in terms of the ingredients and cooking style, this one was easy and in spite of being a debutante effort, I was personnly quite happy with the outcome...

I replaced the Tortillas with home made Indian bread (Roti) and the black beans with Rajma and the Worcestershire sauce with tomato sauce... And since i do not have a microwave oven (yet) I let my skillet do the job... I used onions, green bell peppers, grated carrot, tomatoes, pre-cooked red rajma- all stir fried and then stirred with sauce... the cheese always does wonders to the dish and so I was quite liberal with it...

Although my dad and hubby baby were gracious enough to polish the quesidillas off their plates, I did not really get any concrete feedback- although my dad was as usual very enthusiastic of my culinary attempts (he even said- "very nice, what is this??"). But then, i really liked the stuff..

I want to make this again for my nephew soon and then for my daughter and nephew together.. I hope I perfect the dish before that!!!!

I was too excited and gobbled up my share before it struck me that i had not taken a picture of the dish, which I could have posted here!!!

Its Peanut Butter Jelly Time

I was introduced to peanut butter by Uncle Sam during my short stint there, and I grew to love it... so much so that, once back in India, I would ask my friends visiting India to get me a jar of Peanut Butter from USA and substitute the jelly with good ol' Kissan Mixed Fruit jam...

Imagine how delighted I was to know that Sundrop (the folks who make refined Sunflower Oil from God knows when) has introduced Peanut butter in India.. But indigeniously made peanut butter is a definite plus, since I can buy a jar off the rack whenever I like, and not have to wait for some friend returning from across the seas!!!

So, I bought this jar of "Crunchy" peanut butter (ok, my hubby shopped for me) and am lovin' it!!!! I sneak at least a spoonful into my mouth everyday, and secretly send a hundred good wishes to Sundrop each and every day!!!

Spammers in Gmail are on the Rise

Of late, I have noticed that spam mails that find their way into the Gmail Inbox are on the increase. Earlier, somehow I feel Gmail spam filters were a lot more effective. Have spammers found new ways of circumventing the Gmail spam filters or have Gmail spam filters become too inefficient to handle new spam mails???

Still a Bane to be the "Girl's side"?

We boast of a modern society where the man and woman are considered to be on an equal footing, thanks to women's education and economic independence.. But is it really so?? Consider an Indian wedding for instance...The groom's side can still throw tantrums for silly non-issues and humiliate the bride's folks in public and get away with it, just because they are from the "Groom's party".. Post marriage, the boy's family can speak in such a manner, which if it had been spoken by the girl's family, would amount to gross "Disrespect" and still the girl's folks have to shut up because it is the boy's family and reacting adversely can affect the girl's life...When the boy's family visits, the girls should be most respectful and, immaterial of her difficulties (say at work/ home etc.) she should smile and be pleasant.. However, when the girl's family visits, it is OK for the boy to not even acknowledge their presence, of worse wear a morose face as if telling the girl's folks "You are not welcome to my house" and the girl should still keep dumb so as to not create a rift in the family, as also the girl's family folks..Will any husband brook it if the girl does the same thing in return to his family??? Just because they are parents to a girl, how long and why at all should a girl's folks endure such silent insults?? Does having a son equal to having two golden horns on ones head, or is every man "God's gift to the earth" while every woman is a curse? When will these things change???

Those Fever Day Feasts

Every event in my life is fraught with a nostalgic counterpart from the past, and memories come flooding to my mind without any prompting..

As I write this post, I am suffering from the annual quota of fever and common cold along with a sore throat. I just completed my dinner of "Karaicha Rasam Sadam"- regular south Indian Rasam with a lot more pepper than normal, mixed into a small amount of completely mashed cooked rice, and is actually meant for "drinking" rather than eating. This is the only food that the system can digest, considering that your digestion may be thrown out of gear, and that the pepper in the Rasam is meant both as a prophylactic as well as an appetizer to re-awaken your dead taste buds.

I immediately remembered the days when I was a child. I have been by no means, a very healthy child and used to fall ill quite often.. It was always the same pattern- a total of 5 days I would be sick- Day 1- I would be burning with fever, with appa applying a hanky dipped in Eu-de cologne water, my sister ( a year older than me) sitting beside me the moment she is back from school, asking me in her childish way whether I was feeling better and fussing over me, and my amma helping me to the rest room and back and giving me only bread and milk under appa's watchful eyes.. I would invariably throw up on the first 2 days.. On the third day, I would get better and would be able to stomach the bread and milk.. By now, the tongue would crave for something better than the insipid bread and milk..

By day 4, I could sit up, and appa would permit amma to give me "Karaicha Rasam Sadam". But because I was a child, amma would make a less spicier Rasam, and I was not a great fan of Rasam alone. Now, invariably and providentially, amma wouldmake either VEngaya Vethakozhambu or a wonderful tasting brinjal curry, both of which I loved to no end. I would implore to amma to give me the tasty dishes rather than the Rasam... Amma is always a sweetheart.. She would add some of the vethakozhambu or brinjal curry on top of my Karaicha Rasam Sadam after making me promise not to ask for more.. And I would only be too glad to eat the delicious things after almost four days of near starving..

Today, I am married.. I do not have the luxury of having people fuss around me when I am sick.. (of course, my hubby is always there for me, and my parents always call frequently when I am sick to make sure I am ok.. once amma was with me when I fell sick a couple of years back,, and I enjoyed the same fussy love) I have to run to the office anyway, and cannot play truant like I would do when I was a child..I have to make my own Rasam and eat my own bread and milk..

My aunt always used to utter a Tamil proverb which roughly translates to Ït is only when you stand under the sweltering sun do you realise the greatness of shade". How true!!! We take it for granted that all the love and attention that our parents shower on us is their "Duty". It is only when we have to fend for ourselves in daily life, that we realise that it is the love of our near and dear ones that is the greatest gift life could ever give us in this world!!!

Those evenings of mellifluous melody

When I was a young girl, I had the good fortune of listening to some live rendition of melody spurting out of real devotion. My chitapa (paternal uncle) had a friend by name Hari, who was then a small time singer, but with the voice that could bring the Gods down from heaven to earth. Chitapa had once brought him home after our dinner was all over. Back then, ours was a joint family consisting of my mother, father, sister, myself, two of my paternal uncles and my aunt and her husband who were visiting. Chitapa and family lived further away but came home quite often, so my cousins and the duo comprising of my sister and myself had ample scope for interaction.

This particular evening after all the household chores were over, we all sat down to listen to Hari uncle’s rendition. Imagine this scene- a warm cozy old time South Indian home, dhurries spread along the length and breadth of the living room floor, some 10 elders and 4 kids listening enraptured to some of the best devotional songs ever- to the accompaniment of just the Harmonium…. Jaise Sooraj Ki Garmi Se from the film Parinay, Mere Man mein Ram- a song by Anoop Jalota and a host of other songs- Hari uncle’s own compositions… Even today I remember the incessant encores, making the session prolong late into midnight and we kids scurrying to write down the lyrics before the singer moved to the next line… What wonderful times they were!!! I doubt if many children have had such good fortune as we did in terms of such an early induction into Bhakti Marga… If you are the kind that likes devotional songs, I strongly urge you to listen to the “Jaise Sooraj Ki Garmi Se” song from the film Parinay. There are many websites from where you can listen to the song… You will definitely have a tear in your eye after you listen to the overwhelmingly beautiful rendition by Sharma Bandhu and team.

Later when Hari uncle released his very own cassette of devotional songs, everyone in my family got a complimentary copy- a cassette we have played and replayed at least a hundred thousand times to learn the songs to perfection, and retained it like a heirloom till all that was worthy that remained of the casette was the plastic.. This cassette was my first introduction to Shirdi Sai and Sathya Sai..

My chitapa had a rocking chair at his place. At night after dinner, he used to sit on this chair ith his 2 year old son, dim down the lights and hum a slow Bhajan from that Casette- the song goes like this…

Rakhle mere man- Sai nath pe Lagan

Japle Sai Nam Raat din

Karle yeh nayan Sai Roop se Milan

Karle Charan Kamal ki naman

Karle thu Dua Sai Nath Ki Kripa

Mil gaya tho Dhanya tho hua

Ban ke thu chako

Bandh Pyar ke yedo- Sai nath Chandra ma kiyor…

Sai nath Chandra ma kiyor…

Dear Hari uncle, If you ever read this blog… I want to let you know that your songs made a very very huge impact on our then young minds, and we owe our love for Bhajans to you, to a very large extent….

Yet another New Year round the corner

As yet another year draws to a close, I want to look back and recount the most memorable experiences I hav haad during this past year- the good, the bad and the ugly...

This year, I managed my organisation's surveillance audit almost independently- a big experience for my professional life- it was a glimpse into what real work pressure feels like, and an experience that gave me the confidence that I can survive in my profession, should I decide to change my work place (a confidence earlier not known to me). This year I also got my biggestr raise, and it has hslped me streamline my finances.

This is the year that I have spend almost a third without my hubby at home- not a pleassant experience at all... he fills the house with his presence as does the soft glow of a lamp in a dark room....

This year I have gained the greatest amount of weight...and this is the year I reolved to lose it (still working on it...)

This is the year I decided to continue my education and successfully gained entry to a quality Distant Education programme to earn my MBA..

This is also the year I sucesfully completed a certificate course on Intellectual Property from WIPO. (visit www.wipo.int)

This is also the year when my nephew started kinder garten and became interested in words and numbers and pictures and colors... This is the year when he refused to brush his teeth unless blackmailed with denial of chocolates..

This is the year when I hosted two dinners at home successfully... Every dish came out perfectly and I felt happy for the people who ate my food...

This is the year when I spent very less time with my parents, thanks to my other pre occupations... this is also the year I have hardly spoken to my sister, what with her busy schedule and my laziness..

This is also the year that I have travelled alone for business reasons, and sometimes felt I was made for such business woman life... this is also the year I have felt I was created by God to be a homemaker and take care only of home and hearth...

This is the year when I have been able to show my appreciation- nay,... gratitude to the uncles and aunts (in addition to my parents) for all the wonderful things they have given me in life (love above all else) by shopping for them during Diwali..

This is also the year that my dad re-established his friendship with his pal of 40 years back (Mr.Bruce Clarke- dad of the Australian cricketer Clarke...Wow!!!! were we surprised and happy when dad wrote him a letter with his eyes moist...)

This is the year when dear ones have fallen sick... this is the year when some very close kith has found true love...

This is the year when I have felt rejected by friends... this is the year I have shared innumerable phone calls with my best friend- finding solace in her words during some stormy patches, and have myself lent a shoulder to cry to her....

2007 was a very mixed bag... Hope 2008 dawns with a promise of a lot of good things.. above all--- the courage to bear life's blows in stoic silence and fight back...

Good bye 2007!!! Welcome 2008!!!!