The Sun Shines Again!

Ah! A welcome respite from the endless gloom of grey skies and gusty winds.The sun is out and the skies are blue and all is good in my world. The trees look all washed and shiny green. The gardener's been on his bi-monthly visit to clean up the garden and do some heavy-duty trimming and pruning. So everything looks neat and just the way I like it.Had a long call with DH and felt good as I miss him a lot even if I don't want to acknowledge it to myself.
Today was all about me - I didn't go out for running errands at all. Just soaked in the sun and baked - a cake. Just a plain tea cake with caramel flavouring - it came out well and we all enjoyed it.
Have been reading: Careless Red by Elizabeth George, Five go Demon's Rocks by Enid Blyton(;-), Plays adapted from popular Mysteries
Am listening to: The Latino version of 'Genie in a Bottle' by Christina Aguilera (one awesome talent there!) and Bollywood soundtracks from Don and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom.

My Birthday and Assorted Impressions

It was my birthday last Saturday and I had a great time ushering in the big four-oh. My Mom and DH gave me presents - clothes and jewellery, loads of friends mailed or called, my daughter wished me and helped me cut a cake in spite of her busy schedule. It was a bright, sunny day - typical of the onset of winter. A slight nip in the breeze, yellowing leaves and bright, blue sky - perfect! The chocolate cake was just right and Mom cooked me a few of my favorites.

So, what's it actually like? Being 40? Not much changes, really:-) A few more aches than I would like but I'm essentially the same. It's been a good year - I managed to make up my mind about certain things that I want to do and I have my family's support. Excised a few toxic relationships that were wearing me out with their shallowness and lack of true warmth. My health is miles better and I did manage to keep my New Year resolutions of eating well and exercising regularly. My pigeons now eat out of my hand when I feed them. The turtle doves come waddling by to ask for their grain. My daughter is settled into a groove and seems better at handling stuff now. DH is going through a paradigm shift in terms of responsibility - life's good!

Have been reading: Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln, Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie (for the nth time!), Where are you now? by Mary Higgins Clark (pulse-pounding suspense)

Post Diwali Blues

Wow! It's been a long time since I last posted. What can I say? Diwali is the all-consuming festival and I have been so busy the last week preparing for the Festival of Lights. Rooms to be cleaned and dusted, cobwebs all swept away, buying sweets and new clothes - it's been a hectic time and I loved every minute. Probably because this festival is all about family bonding time. I decorated the door and gate with marigold garlands, had a kumkum and haldi rangoli adorn the front of the gate and lighted diyas with sesame oil and cotton wicks (like in the picture). We performed the Lakshmi Pooja in the evening to usher in prosperity and lit a few fireworks. The rest of the evening was spent in watching a movie.
Now that all the excitement is gone, I feel like one of those flowerpots on the roads - all spent and empty:-) To get over the post Diwali blues, I'm going to post the recipes for my festival foods.

Medhu Vada (or Vadais) are fried lentil snacks shaped like doughnuts. A must for every auspicious occasion, this festival food is simple to make.

MEDHU VADA RECIPE

2 cups of urad dal/ split black gram lentils/ minapa pappu soaked overnight
1 cup finely chopped onion
2-3 chillies sliced finely (skip if you don't like your vada too spicy)
1 tsp cumin/jeera/jillakarra
Salt to taste (about 2 tsps)
Sunflower Oil and wok for deep frying
A square of plastic sheet or a banana leaf
A small bowl of water

Grind the lentils along with the salt in a mixer-grinder or wet-grinder, adding as little water as possible as you don't want the batter to get too runny. The resultant batter should be a smooth sticky paste. Mix in the chopped onion, chillies and cumin. Place the square of plastic sheet or banana leaf on a chopping board and keep a bowl of water handy.
Place the wok on the stove and pour oil in it. Light the stove and keep it at medium-hot. The oil should get really hot but should not smoke.
Wet the sheet/leaf so that batter does not stick to it.
The batter will be really sticky, so dip your hand in the bowl and form it into a little ball the size of an orange, by tossing it a little. Place it on the sheet / leaf and spread till it is flattened. Dip your finger in water and make a hole in the center of this flattened vada. Use the sheet to slip the vada into the hot oil. Be careful! The oil may splutter. If the oil is hot enough, the vada should rise, bubbling, to the surface.
Wait for a little and turn the flame down to low, so that the vada cooks through. The perfect vada is crunchy, deep golden-brown on the outside and deliciously soft on the inside. Like so,


[Picture courtesy:http://www.vahrehvah.com/ Go check out the recipes there!]

Vadas are served with coconut/peanut/tomato chutney or sambar. Enjoy!

Have been reading: Harry Potter series again, Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson: The Battle of the Labyrinth, P G Wodehouse's Piccadilly Jim

It's a FRIDAY!

It's been a week since I last posted and I did promise myself that I would be more diligent. Ah, well! Promises were meant to be broken:-) It's a FRIDAY! What more can I say? I feel like a bird let out of the cage. But Saturday means a lot of pending chores (grrrr!) to catch up on. And Sunday means lots of cooking (sigh!). I wish a weekend was three days - so that I could spend one day just recovering from Saturday and Sunday:-) I keep wanting to look like this:


But end up looking like this:


LOL!

My DH is home and that means we'll probably watch a movie or two. My daughter will be too busy preparing for her Monday test. Poor kid - it's like she's been locked up in a prison and someone's thrown the key away.

I am currently reading the last three Harry Potter books again along with a P G Wodehouse. Which reminds me - I need to go buy some more books. My daughter has a Rick Riordan that I'll read after she finishes. Both of us couldn't progress beyond the second Stephanie Meyer book - too little plot and too much embellishment. I'll post again next week. See you later, folks!