A is for...

A huge craving for some chocolate and that ABC song stuck in your head can make you do some pretty silly things. 

Like wanting to come up with an alphabetic list of yumminess…

So 2 KitKat bars, 10 eclairs and 1 pack of Gems later, here is my compilation. I wanted to stick to the ones I have eaten and I  had to deviate from the initial plan of listing only chocolates, so you'll find candy and gum too.  Of course the list is not complete... I mean have you eaten something that starts with the letter Z?? 

A is for Alpenliebe, Almond Joy

B is for Bounty, BarOne

C is for Cotton Candy

D is for Dairy Milk

E is for Eclairs

F is for Five Star, Flake

G is for Gems, Godiva, Galaxy

H is for Hershey’s Kisses

I is for Ice Breaker Gum

J is for JellyBeans

K is for KitKat, Krackel

L is for LionBar, Lindt

M is for Mars, Milky Way, Milk duds, Merci, M &Ms

N is for Nestle White

O is for Orange starburst

P is for Polo, Perk

Q is for

R is for Reese’s Peanut Butter cup

S is for Snickers

T is for Twix

U is for

V is for

W is for Wonka Bar

X is for

Y is for

Z is for

Feel free to complete the list.

And yes eat chocolate, smile and be silly!

An apple a day keeps the doctor away and ..... a mommy very busy…

My son’s playschool has an interesting theme every month. September was fruit and vegetable month.

He came home with the following diary message:

“Please include a fruit or vegetable, sprout or nut in your child’s snack-box every day as part of the fruit/vegetable month”

“Please dress your child as a fruit a vegetable or a vendor on September 27th and bring a fruit/vegetable for show and tell”

I know this image I picked now looks so vibrant, so healthy (and reflects my current state of mind)... but my reaction then was to cringe. I usually fill his snack box with whatever I can find. (Edible stuff, I promise!). I don’t feel too bad because he eats a healthy breakfast before he goes and I feed him well when he gets back home for lunch. To me, this snack box was just a formality and meant for those kids that woke up late and did not have time for breakfast. Besides, I was not very convinced with my son eating by himself. He is usually playing with his food and needs some heavy duty distraction to open his mouth and accept a morsel.

But now, this meant I had to really plan my grocery list to ensure that his snack box met the “theme”. And add to that- get creative and come up with an outfit for his dress-up day! Oh no!!

I should confess that, when it comes to fruits I play safe with the apple, the orange and the banana. My husband on the other hand always comes back with more exotic stuff like mangosteen, lychee and the rambutan. This got me fretting and fuming. I mean how much apple, banana and orange can you eat. And sprouts?? YUCK! I wondered if I needed a green thumb to sprout a moong dal.

I was very nervous. I remembered at his first parent teacher’s meeting, his teacher gently advising (chiding?) me to pack his snack box with what he likes to eat. Maybe she had enough of the bland boiled potatoes, carrots and plantain that I was sending him. I felt bad that I was packing his snack box for the sake of it and not really putting my heart and his little but developing taste buds into it.

Anyway, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work on a grocery list. This was not easy as I found myself ignoring the ones I did not like much. I forced myself to keep an open mind. After half an hour I was done.

The colourful fruit list had- Apples, Bananas, Oranges, Pineapple, Guava, Pomegranate, Mangoes, Watermelon, Grapes, Papaya and Tomato. Exhaustive right? Of course I could only dream about red strawberries, crimson cherries, dark blue berries, bumpy black berries and fresh kiwis- all the exotic fruits we savored so frequently when we were in Chicago. But they are not easily available here and are way more expensive.

The veggies included- carrots, peas, corn, potato, beans. I stopped at that, it was getting a bit overwhelming now.

The sprouts list- I left blank. YUCK.

The Nuts list – Almonds, Cashews and Peanuts.

It's October now and I should say the fruit/vegetable month went by pretty eventfully. It was not as hard as I expected it to be. In fact I enjoyed it. All the planning, the grocery shopping, the prepping and the packing left me feeling restless in a happy way. I found myself waking up earlier just so that I had enough time to pack that snack box. I tried to stick to what was in season and I made sure not to repeat items so he would not get bored quickly. Of course I threw in some of his favourite Chocos and Cheerios once in a while. In the process, I noticed I was paying more attention to what my family was eating.

I was thrilled when he came home shouting “Papaya” in his little huggable voice. He is turning 2 in a few days.

The highlights were discovering that:

-My son loves ruby red pomegranate, yellow sweet corn and French fries.
-He is not very fond of the green peas.
-He will not eat almonds- dry, roasted or soaked in water.
-He can actually say no to Chocos and choose papaya instead. Yay!
-You don't need a green thumb to sprout a moong dal. Just some water and an air tight box. It will sprout and it’s delicious- steamed or crunchy.
-He can say “appella”, “nana”, “owanga”, “papaya”, “nuttt” and “chocos”.

Of course, my creative side did not fail to impress. I came up with a nice apple outfit using a fabindia shopping bag and some red felt fabric that he could wear over his head.
                                             

                                            

My Stanley Ka Dabba Chapattis

Until recently I always dreaded making chapattis. I am not a master chef, but I can cook. But my chapattis- they have always ended up so not good that they mostly went from the frying pan into the fire…*grins* They were either too dry, too crisp or undercooked.

Everytime any one told me they were having chapattis for dinner- I would have the same list of questions-

“What atta do you use? “

“What proportions do you use? “

“Do you add oil while making the dough? “

“Do they come out soft? “

“They DO? “

“Really?” *Sigh*

I would enthusiastically attempt over and over again taking precise measurements; trying different brands of Atta; talking to chapatti veterans in the family who could magically puff one up; watching YouTube videos of Auntyji making her Indian flat bread in her American kitchen and be so motivated. But my chapattis; they refused to come to life. At the end of the process, I would not be a fun person to be with. The whole world could make chapattis; WHY NOT ME?

It became more dreadful when I moved back to India and lived with my in-laws for 6 months. Living with them was good. They have a beautiful house and my mother in law makes great food. Her chapattis were nice and soft and tasty. I tried to do as she does, but my chapattis, they stubbornly refused.

“Did you knead it enough?”

“Try adding a pinch of sugar and some milk while making the dough”

“Did you roll it thin enough”?

Fast forward to last month and I’m watching the movie- Stanley Ka Dabba. Absolutely loved the movie. You should see it if you can, you will feel good and you will for a long time.

The crux of the story is about Stanley, a lovable little boy in the 4th grade who unlike everyone else does not bring a dabba for lunch. No problem though, ‘cos he has equally lovable friends who want to share their lunch with him. But they have to hide from their gluttonous Hindi professor who also never brings his own dabba but greedily eats from his co-workers and his students. He taunts Stanley and warns him to stay at home if he cannot bring his dabba. (You seriously want to kick this guy- that is how well he (Amol Gupte) has acted). Stanley stops coming to school. The professor feels bad. Slowly we learn why Stanley never brought a dabba. And when he finally does, Stanley brings it for his professor who can no longer deal with his own shame for harassing this little boy and quits the school.

The acting is great, the story is heartwarming and the songs are catchy.

Anyways, my moment of truth was during the “dabba” song, when they show the dabbas being lovingly cooked and packed. And in one shot a nice chapatti is puffing up proudly on the stove. What I realized then was that the chapatti was first slightly cooked on the both sides on the hot thava before placing it directly on the flame. I am sure this detail is nothing new or a big deal to those who already make good chapattis. And they must be reading this and going “Duh!!???” But for me it was like the heavens opened and the angels were singing “Hallelujah”. 

So I finished the movie and ran to the kitchen. I had to try it and I had to do it immediately. I mixed my dry and wet ingredients and kneaded my dough. I knew it was going to come out well. I patiently waited for the dough to rest. I patiently waited for my thava to get nice and hot. I patiently rolled them into nice circles. I gently cooked each side and then held it on the flame. I waited a few seconds and it did its thing. It puffed up into a nice big ball. I turned it over with my kitchen tongs to cook the other side. I was so thrilled. I could feel all my ‘poor-chapatti-making’ induced low self-esteem melting away. I was at peace. It was like nirvana for me. It sounds silly, but I felt so so good. I could not stop. We had chapattis every night that week.. until my husband begged me for some rice. *grinning*

Many times we try to do something and we may fail. We get disheartened and give up. But we should never give up on hope. Sometimes we may need to change how we do it. Sometimes we need to change our attitude towards how it should be addressed. Sometimes we just need a miraculous moment of truth - a small sign, a spark, a push. That will set us free, let us see clearly and overcome.


PS: For those who want to thrash Amol Gupte for taunting Stanley in reel life, let it be known that in real life Stanley is his son.

PPS: Honestly, I wanted to upload a picture of my magic chapatti for the world to see, but I am out of Atta right now! But I promise to update this page later.

(I can't think of any)

He woke up even before the alarm clock went off. Softly but quickly. With a sense of purpose. I sleepily rub my eyes, feeling envious. He slept later than me. He had a longer day yesterday, than I did. Then why do I feel so tired? Maybe he just does not like to sleep in as much as I do! I don’t rush out of bed to make him coffee. But I ask him, if I should. He says he is in a hurry, he will drink it later. (He has to rush to his father’s clinic to cover the floor with a linoleum sheet before the throng of patients arrive. The floor is being worked on. ) I know for sure he would love that cup of coffee. He loves his morning mug. He even has specific instructions on how it should be made.

Take ¾ cup of milk and let it boil. Take ¼ cup water and heat it in the microwave. To this add I teaspoon coffee powder (Bru instant) and 1 and ½ tsp sugar and make a coffee syrup. Add the boiling milk to this. Stir well. Pour the coffee back and forth from cup1 to cup 2 to froth. Rinse the cup so that it is cool to the touch. Pour into the cool cup. Sip over the day’s newspaper or at the computer.
He can even sense the change in proportions. Too milky or too watery. Too much coffee or too less. Milma milk or Nestle Dairy whitener. Bru or Nescafe. And then he’ll ask, “Did you make it how I have taught you?” I roll my eyes each time.

I have a baby lying in bed next to me. A two and half feet long excuse. How can I leave and go downstairs to make coffee? Who will watch the baby? I start feeling bad for not waking up earlier. I hate it when I wake up feeling bad about myself. I start speculating as to what my mother in law will think of me. I start wondering why I don’t respond to alarm clocks. Guilt trip! I realize I am still lying in bed and my husband is opening the front door to leave. I hear his mother call him and give him his coffee. Damn! I feel like the inadequate ‘bahu’. I reassure myself that since his father was joining him on the errand, his mother was making coffee anyway. But if she could wake up so early, why couldn’t I?

Aaarrgh!!…

Well she has no baby excuse. And too many cooks spoil the broth anyway.

I cuddle next to my baby and sleep some more. All is well again. Sleep is such a wonderful thing.

I want to ask him how he came upon his ‘perfect’ coffee. His elixir for the day. His drive and his passion and his eternal optimism. His raison d’etre. That definite “sense of purpose”. Is it inherent or is it acquired? And how about that ‘confidence’? That feeling of self-assurance, that freedom from doubt, he no need of constant approval. If only I could get all that in a bottle, just one teaspoon of it would make my perfect coffee. The one I would set my alarm for. The one I would want to rise to.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Its been ages since I posted. I start and then run out of juice. Or out of ideas. Or out of time. I get bored. Or too critical. But I feel I should give it another chance. Every great blog piece I read keeps calling me to write. Maybe someone will read it. Maybe not. But that is fine. Right now this is for me.

Kick me!

Somebody please kick me! Kick me 'coz- I am way past my one month cut-off. I had made it a personal goal to post at least once a month. 3 months have gone by. 3 whole months! Sigh. All successful bloggers advise that you should be faithful to your readers and blog even when you don't feel like it. But when you're readership is limited to your other half, you don't feel so bad.

Kick me again and this time in the butt,'coz I managed to miss almost every single episode of Aarti Party on Food Network. :( For my imaginary readers who don't know- she's the charming girl who won this year's The Next Food Network Star.

The moment I found out there was a 'desi' looking girl contesting, I was 'googling' away. What would we do without search engines? Anyway, within a few minutes, I found her blog -aartipaarti.com and her cooking show on YouTube. My entire weekend was spent ignoring my husband and my then 9 month old and watching her videos back to back- my heart warming, my mouth watering and my home smelling of her 'Dal'. I jumped with joy even when I saw the promos for the weekly episodes and my husband volunteered to babysit every time we were able to watch the show. How sweet is he! But then August came and we were traveling. I survived only on the video clips on the FN website. And I was in Vegas when I missed the finale. :(

Until her show started I would remind my husband to remind me about the show. And then came each Sunday, and I would be somewhere without a TV at that exact time. I think when the fifth episode was showing I was at home all ready to turn on the TV at 12PM only to find out that it was 12PM EST. Danged time zones!!

All is not lost. The last episode of the season airs on September 26th. I am going to post-it my entire apartment so I will remember to stay home and turn on the TV as soon as I wake up. Hah! And she's signed up for another season too. Yay!

This is one of my favorite posts on her blog. Its about an 'accountability group'. Sounds vague? Read the post. Its inspiring and she is a testimony that it works.

All because of baby

Its been almost a month since I posted anything. Hmm...So I'm not the 'give me a topic and I'll write you a page' kind of girl. But don't we all have those 'bloggable' moments? Its just that getting down to collecting my thoughts and posting it never happens. Of course I have the baby to blame. Aren't new parents allowed to blame everything on the baby. From dark circles to dying house plants. Its all the little one's fault, isn't it? :-)

Last year this time, I remember religiously reading my 'What to expect when you're expecting'. I remember always being on eHow.com watching how to videos and memorizing steps. How to swaddle the baby. How to bathe a new born. How to burp the baby. How to this and how to that. While the step by step instructions did help, here are some things I learnt, the not so easy way:

- Next time there's a screaming baby on your flight, don't curse. On another flight, that could be your baby.

- You will do anything to see that gummy smile. Yes, you will not hesitate to make a complete fool of yourself.

- Don't wear that beautiful dress just yet. Until they learn to burp on their own, many babies spit up a lot. And most likely it will land outside of the burp-cloth coverage area. If you do decide to wear that dress, its dad's turn to carry him.

- You want to put her to sleep, so that you can catch up on chores. But when she finally falls asleep you just want to sit there and watch her.

- Real men don't cry? Real men who have not had to watch their 2 month old get his shots that is.

- Nothing can gross you out anymore. You are going to deal with pee-pee and poo-poo first hand.

- Your longest minute is when your baby cries non-stop. Your shortest hour is when she wakes up from her nap and you have only checked number three on your twenty item to-do list.

- Your home will slowly but surely be taken over by the baby's things. He may be small but its amusing how many things he could use. Baby crib, changing table, dresser, swing, rocker, play pen, car seat, stroller, high chair, toys, toys and more toys.

- A whole nights sleep, a nice long shower and a good book might seem like a far away dream. There are days when you may even forget to brush your teeth.

- Theres always extra batteries for your camera.

- You lose hair. Some she'll pull. Some you'll pull. And some fall anyway.

- Your baby is always the cutest baby in town.

Many women transform into multitasking super moms. I am still waiting my turn. And meanwhile maybe I will persevere and be patient. *sigh* I wanted to find some good image that would go with this post but don't have the time. So this should do for now.

PS: BTW, swaddling is easy and babies sleep will longer when they are warm and cosy. Bathing them is tricky coz they are so fragile. And eventually the baby burps. The gas will come out one way or the other.

Soup of the day

I just opened up a can of Campbell chicken soup (no MSG, mind you) that I accidentally discovered in the pantry. I don't remember when we bought it. We don't usually buy canned soup. I think it was in preparation for some blizzard or tornado warning, last year. Yeah, its been here that long. But that's the nice thing about canned food, right? Shelf life. Yes I am sure; *trying not to roll eyes* I checked the expiry date-it said August 2010.

I was feeling blue. It's just been one of those days when something small goes wrong and then things accumulate (or you let them) and you feel overburdened and overwhelmed. Some past mistakes, some unburied grudges, some unhealed wounds, some missed opportunities. Add to that an 'out-of-town-on-work' husband that you are missing terribly and a cranky baby that you cannot soothe enough.

So finding that can of soup made my face light up. There is nothing more therapeutic than some steaming hot soup to warm you up and lift your spirit. It's been used for centuries to ease a runny nose and as a home remedy to make the sick feel better. I won't be surprised if every country has a version; a recipe defined by its culture and its people.

Mine had chicken, carrots, celery, onion, stock, garlic, egg noodles. Wholesome, right? But we Indians, there's never enough spice in our food. Everyone in my husband's family adds ground black pepper, tomato sauce and whatever other condiment is available on the table to turn up the heat in a sweet corn chicken soup. (Personally, I prefer to add just the green chilly marinated in vinegar. Lots of it. :-)) So I put it on the stove and added 1/4 teaspoon of soy sauce, a dash of vinegar and sliced up a whole green chilly and let it simmer for a few minutes.

The aroma made me feel better. I put the little one to sleep. I received a kiss emoticon from the husband. I turned off the TV. I waited for my soup. Pouring it from the saucepan to the bowl; Watching the steam rise; The bright orange of the carrot and the faded green of the celery; And the first sip to the last bite. Everything made me feel better. Even the heat from the green chillies, burning my tongue made me feel better.

I found the strength to count my blessings. The first being canned soup, of course! :) No, seriously, I know the things that worried me or saddened me today are minuscule compared to bigger troubles many others face. In fact, as I write this post, I cannot seem to remember what set me off into feeling blue. :-) I may not have everything I want, but I have everything I need, right now. I have a roof above my head, a place to lay my head, food on my table and clean drinking water, good health and a loving family. There may always be some mistakes that I will make, some grudges I cannot bury, some wounds that might take longer to heal, some opportunities that I may miss. But I guess all this comes with the package that is Life.

I guess your soup need not be soup, literally. On another day it could be something else- an unexpected call from mom, a joke in the Reader's Digest, a clear blue sky or maybe even a random blog post. Or whatever it is that gives you a pocket of comfort and strength in your bones when you are feeling down. Anything that makes you want to chin up and keep going. That could be your soup of the day.

A new beginning

I was trying to register a new blog and discovered that I had in fact done so in October 2006 and published (can you call it 'published' if no one has read it?)a post 'Sweet Dreams' and drafted another. I had completely, totally and entirely forgotten about it. I vaguely remember toying with the idea and a few topics, but nothing more.

What I do remember is we were busy, making an inter-state move that Christmas.My husband landed a job in the Windy city with Sara Lee. It was an exciting time. New job for him, new opportunities for me, more family to see more often, the four seasons and lots of yummy and free pounds cakes. We've been here since and things have gone well. He traveled to some great places - Rome, Paris, Barcelona, South Africa and Hungary, I landed a cushy job and worked for a year and half, we had great times with family, we love the spring, the summer and the fall and we learned that the snow looks its best on a Christmas card. We do not get any 'free' pound cakes, just some employee discount. But that's fine, they still taste great.

Snowy Chicago

So coming back to point of this post. I decided to stick to the old blog account and so technically my "First piece' post, is not really the first piece. But I am not changing the title. I guess its more like the 'new' first piece. Right now I am not very clear about what this blog is going to be about. If its going to be an online diary or about things that interest me or just some thinking aloud. I am just going to let it be and write when I feel like writing and we will see where it goes. Let's see if I get it past a couple of months. :-) My husband is daring me.

Everything about the blogosphere is new to me. I have not even completed the registration part fully. I still have to edit my profile, put up a decent picture and so much more. Any free advice for this newbie will be appreciated!!

Wish me luck!

Sound of silence

Aah! The sound of silence. Beautiful. I just found a quiet moment which, by the way, is quite rare now; considering I have an ‘almost’ 7 month old that has just recently discovered his crawling and other attention seeking abilities. Ya, he just fell asleep and now here I am wondering how to fully enjoy this peace and quiet.

Couple of ideas are running through my head:

- I could catch up on that half read ‘Parent’ magazine. That article about training your little one to sleep through the night seems quite enticing. Besides it could work wonders for those black circles I seem to have developed.

- I could catch up on that huge pile of laundry. There’s nothing like clean and fresh clothes- nice and warm from the dryer.

- I could watch a movie. A whole movie.‘Meet Joe Black’ has been on a cable for a few days now and I keep seeing parts of it, but never the whole thing. When I announced I was pregnant, my very good friend told me that I should watch all the movies I can and get all the sleep I can, coz that would be something I would miss doing. *Sigh* She was so right.

- Speaking of which, I could take a cat nap. *Yawn*

- Then there’s the mountain of mail on my dining table. Have you ever noticed that 3 out of every 5 items in your mail is usually junk and goes straight to the trash?

- I could vacuum my carpets… hmm… but that would ruin the peace and quiet, so what’s the point?

- I could send some long pending replies to those emails from friends. I always wondered why my ‘new mom’ friends took 2 months to reply to my email and I grumbled. But now I know, exactly how they felt. Trust me I check email every free moment I get and I absolutely love to see that “you’ve got mail’ sign and love to read from friends, but to actually hit reply and type up an elaborate response seems like a big job right now.

- I could play Farmville on FB. But considering how rare my free time is, I would not be able to water or harvest on time and my crops would die. The most I do on FB now is ‘like’ things. So easy to just click ‘Like’. It’s like you want to post a comment, but then either don’t have the time or the right words or both. I love the ‘Like’.

It’s so quiet that I can hear the clock tick. It’s been around half hour now – he is still sleeping like a baby and it feels great. I feel relaxed and though I did not do anything that I thought I could or should, I feel refreshed. I did manage to write a piece that might find its way into a blog, that I’d like to start work on.  That is…when I find my next rare ‘peace and quiet’ moment.

Sweet Dreams!

Sleep.

It’s a gift to be able to sleep. To rest. I googled on what happens to our bodies when we sleep… (No, I’m not just bored. I am also curious about these things we take for granted…) Wikipedia has it as a” natural and periodic state of rest at which the consciousness of the world is suspended”. You can find a hundred other definitions… but I particularly liked this one.

It’s natural… well at least for most people. Insomnia must be a curse. I can’t imagine not falling asleep all night long… unless I was having a major exam the next day or better, maybe a picnic! I remember that happening every year in school… I would never ever get any sleep, the night before the class picnic… I wonder how I got the energy to have fun. God! We were like those toy rabbits running on Duracell batteries.

It’s periodic. Imagine having to sleep forever… and miss out on this beautiful world and all its glory (Yeah right! And the wars, starvation, global warming and poverty and Darfur..). But thankfully it’s controllable, you can switch it on and off… except when a really boring teacher starts of a lecture… Then I think sleep becomes a form of self defense protecting us from getting bored to death. ‘Cos I remember, I could never hold up and after red pinch marks and a lot of, sore skin, my heavy eyes would just flop close.

It’s a state of rest. You bet! There is nothing like going to sleep and getting up all refreshed. Unless ofcourse the REM cycle dominates and you feel exhausted with the all the dreaming.

And this part I love: “at which the consciousness of the world is suspended”. Wow. Being shut off from every damn thing that irks you, that scares you, that tickles or pisses you off…I guess nature or God or science or whatever you want to call it, figured we are too weak, ever, to shut everything off for a while, that it might as well create us with a sleep mode.

I love sleeping and I am so so so totally grateful for a good night's sleep. So to all the Sleep lovers out there: “Sweet dreams” and to all the Insomniacs… “More Rozerem”.