Breakfast:
1 small coffee, with milk and sugar, cold.
2 slices of rye toast w/ butter.

Mid morning:
2 slices of rye toast w/ butter.

Lunch:
1 big serving of veggie rice w/ picked onions
Chrysanthemum tea w/ sugar

Driving back home
Chrysanthemum tea w/ sugar

Dinner:
2 savory pancakes (rice and farina) with vegetables.

Late night snack:
A handful of chips

I definitely eat better when I write it down! Also stopped by ye ol' grocery store and picked up healthy snacks (air popped corn- yum) and some salad.

Tuesday

Breakfast:
1 small coffee, with milk and sugar, cold.
2 slices of rye toast w/ butter.

Mid morning:
2 slices of rye toast w/ butter.

Lunch:
1 big serving of veggie rice w/ picked onions

Dinner:
Individual spinach pizza, on wheat, with garlic & balsamic, no cheese.
3 tiny chick pea fritters, baked
4 oz. cheddar

Late night snack:
A handful of chips

I find I always eat better the days I keep a food diary, and that is why I am trying to stick to it. Dinner worked really well, because I realize that I don't eat much, but really crave a smorgasbord type meal- makes me more full somehow, and less apt to snack later. I may be on to something here....

Good times

Have tons of work from now through Christmas, and therefore now, more than ever, I'd like to be healthy. The past week has been bad, as I realized this was going to happen, and wanted to just let loose until today. Therefore from today, we are back to some measure of healthy eating.

Breakfast:
1 small coffee, with milk and sugar, cold.
1 tomato sandwich- 1/2 of a small tomato slice in between toasted rye d, with salt, pepper and butter.

Mid morning:
Another tomato sandwich

Lunch:
1 big serving of veggie rice
3 small picked onions

Mid afternoon:

Dinner:
6 pieces of salmon and tuna sushi. 3 pieces of veg and shrimp tempura.

Late night snack:
2 pickled onions and a handful of chips.

I've become remarkably good at making savory rice/rice pilaf/pulao these days- ever since the husband has been abroad, I make a huge batch of come variation of pilaf every Sunday, which furnishes me with lunches for office for the entire coming week. This past weekend, I soaked a cup of white rice, and stir fried 1/2 a red onion, a cup of peas, 2 cups of spinach, and 1 tomato with a tsp each of dried fennel and cumin in a tsp of olive oil. Then added the soaked rice, covered and left on low heat for 15 minutes- made perfect pilaf with the grains of rice separating beautifully. Delicious, and fairly healthy.

Also made a quick onion pickle- I found tiny baby onions at the grocery store, and had to make this childhood favorite. To a dozen peeled baby onions (each no more than 1" wide), added 1/2 a cup of balsamic vinegar and the juice of 1 lemon. Its good to keep this in a jam jar, since we want the liquid to just cover the onions. Once done, cover the jar and keep on the counter for 1/2 a day, after which the onion pickles slightly and should be moved to the fridge. The pickle is ready between 1/2 - 1 day, and should be eaten within 2 weeks, since after that it will turn way too sour. Lime may be substituted for lemon, and results in a less sour version than when using lemon.

Met with an old friend for Sushi- which should be my last Sushi outing for a while: 1- its expensive, 2- the hub unit is back soon, and he pales at the idea of raw anything :)

All in all, a healthy day, except for the butter and the inevitable chips- ah well.

Because of an unexpected bounty of tomatoes from the garden, I am eating more of those than ever- the perfect ones make it into the freezer, whereas even a small blemish means I eat it as salad. Since the hubby is away, how much of one vegetable can a girl eat by herself? Luckily, I love tomato sandwiches.

Breakfast:
1 small coffee, with milk
1 tomato sandwich, on sourdough toast, dusted with black pepper and spread thinly with real butter (so simple, so good!)

Snack:
Another tomato sandwich.

Lunch:
Stir fried rice, with spinach, carrots, green onions, shitakes and red onion.
1 Yeo's chryanthemum tea, with sugar

Snack:
5 tiny apricots- these are small, so pretty much inhaled them.

Dinner:
2 Uttepam (savory rice pancakes), with tomatoes, green onions, spinach and carrots, with 1 tsp of ghee (clarified butter)

Late night snack:
Ramen
1 Pepsi, NOT diet

Even more late night snack:
1 square of chocolate
6 chips

Obviously, there was a lot of butter going on today. Need to scale back on that and the sugary drinks, the latter being my worst enemy. But on the plus side, I'm definitely eating more fruits and vegetables. The ramen was thankfully low sodium, so no guilt re: that. Tomorrow I eat meat! its been a week since I've had any red meat, and without any restriction, I may not have even noticed this fact. However, with the realization that I have made a resolution not to eat red meat more than once a weak, the cravings have been definitely kicking in :)

Suffarage Cook book

Found this cookbook on Project Gutenberg, which has to be read to be believed and truly enjoyed. Go to: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26323/26323-h/26323-h.htm

There are some insane recipes (one for "shrimp wiggle"- !!!!), but buried in there is an letter that is bound to motivate you to go read the whole thing, and see the photo of the woman who wrote this:

"I have sent but one recipe to a cook book, and that was a direction for driving a nail, as it has always been declared that women do not know how to drive nails. But that was when nails were a peculiar shape and had to be driven in particular way, but now that nails are made round there is no special way in which they need to be driven. So my favorite recipe cannot be given you.

As for my effort in the culinary line—I have not made an effort in the culinary line for more than at least thirty years, except once to make a clam pie, which was pronounced by my friends as very good. But I cannot remember how I made it. I have a favorite recipe, however, something of which I am very fond and which I might give to you. I got it out of the newspapers and it is as follows:

Spread one or two rashers of lean bacon on a baking tin, cover it thickly with slices of cheese, and sprinkle a little mustard and paprika over it. Bake it in a slow oven for half an hour and serve with slices of dry toast.

Now that is a particularly tasty dish if it is well done. I never did it, but somebody must be able to do it who could do it well.

Faithfully yours, Anna H. Shaw."

Priceless.

Yay!

So looks like the food diary idea is working!

Checked my weight this morning, and I am down 2 lbs- for a girl who cant exercise for another few months, this is wonderful news. Now if only I can continue to make this happen, we are golden!

So this is what I ate today:
Breakfast: Small coffee, with milk

Lunch: McDonalds' kidsmeal- chicken nuggets, fries, diet soda.

Midafternoon: Handful of thick cut potato chips.

Dinner: 2 chapatis, whole wheat, with stir fried okra and onions. Mango pickle.

Late night craving: tomato sandwich, with butter on sourdough bread

I could have packed my lunch today, but the rice I had in the fridge just wasn't fresh any more, and I didn't want to cook on a Sunday evening- that's my time to relax. And somehow didn't have the interest to throw together a salad for lunch- I need more substantial food for lunch!

I'm wearing more dresses than I ever did, and I am in the market for a reasonably priced body shaper- hah- they are priced almost as much as my dresses cost! Will keep searching. Which brings me to the dress I was wearing today- I love it! Here it is- Banana Republic, silk, and fits like a dream. There is one more in the store that I particularly like, but am waiting for a sale (tomorrow!)- in fact, there are 3 more sale days this month, but I will try not to go crazier than I have already.

I should have had a mid-morning snack, but didn't carry one- my bad. And after the kidsmeal (which really should be called an adult meal- the adult version should be called garangutan), I just didn't need a mid-afternoon snack, but its hard for me to eschew potato chips- they are a disease! Dinner was very Indian, and my mother would have been proud, but I am happiest with my late-night snack- I adore tomato sandwiches. I have 2 tomato plants going crazy in the backyard, so am freezing most of this year's crop, but it still allows for delicious salads and sandwiches.

Good day!

Exercise:

• Yoga- simple meditating for 10 minutes in the back yard. Cold, but relaxing. I think I'm breathing better.
  

Breakfast:

• A small coffee, with milk
• 2.5 ounces of cheese, cheddar
• 1 slice of bread, whole wheat

Snack:

• 2.5 ounces of cheese, cheddar
• 1 slice of bread, whole wheat

Lunch

• 1.5 servings of rice, white
• 2 servings of lentils
• 1 diet soda

Snack:

• Almonds, 10
  

Dinner:

• Tomato, basil salad
• 3 pieces of dhokla
  

Late night craving:

• 
  

Self-critique:

• Splitting the bread and cheese into breakfast and snack was a good idea. I do get crazy hungry abuit 10:30-11am, and thats when I really want something.
• Went shopping and got some veggies and fruits that are lower in calories (and fat calories) and therefore easier on the liver.
  
• Researched a bit and found out that the following foods are liver friendly:

* beets, asparagus, broccoli,
* green and red cabbage, brussels sprouts
* carrots, squash, okra
* collard greens, mustard greens, kale, romaine lettuce, arugula
* cauliflower
* green beans
* peas
* tomatoes
* spinach
* potatoes, yams, avocado
* onions, garlic, ginger, bell peppers, olives, radishes
* eggs - two a day
* flax seed oil - two tablespoons a day
* olive oil
* apples, grapefruits, oranges, plums, cherries, peach, berries
* cranberry juice
* sesame seeds, cashews, almonds
* pumpkin, papaya, mangoes
* all lettuces except iceberg
* brown rice
* chicken, fish
* all legumes, sprouts of all types
* organic soy milk, almond milk, oat milk, rice milk, distilled water
* honey, maple syrup
* basil, bay leaves, caraway,
* rosemary, dill, parsley, thyme
* oregano, tarragon, chives, cardamom

• Of the above, am certainly not doing the 2 eggs a day bit- just too much.
• Sprouts are a good idea that I am definitely interested in.
  

All in all, a day a better day than yesterday!

Waking up

Its been more than a year since I've posted anything here.
But so much has happened in the past year, that there really has been no time.
I'm barely keeping up the movie blog; this one has been completely neglected.

After the major surgery earlier this year, I lost weight initially, and then suddenly put on almost all of it back. While I have always been curvy and the weight has always distributed itself all over, this time, the weight increase is somehow limited to the upper abdominal area. I ended up doing a boolean search, and found that this is related to the kind of surgery I went through. My body's capacity to break down fats is now down to less than half of its earlier ability, and that translates into weight gain if I continue the pre-surgery lifestyle.

This doesn't make me happy.

Regardless, I don't want to get sicker either. I cant exercise yet, but I've started 15 minutes of light yoga a day, along with a daily walk for 20 minutes, until a few months pass and I can do real exercises.

I am also going to try doing a food diary here, and hopefully I shall stick to it as well.

Today I ate:

Breakfast:

• 5 ounces of cheese, cheddar
• 1.5 slices of bread, whole wheat
• 1 small coffee, skimmed milk

Lunch:

• An In n Out cheeseburger
• 1/2 a serving of fries
• Diet soda

Dinner:

• 2 slices of bread, whole wheat
• eggplant, potato and squash stir fry with nigella seeds
  
• 1 piece of pickle
• A handful of potato chips

Late night cravings:

• Another handful of potato chips

Self critique:

• I don't think I eat a lot, but my diet is obviously lacking in fresh veggies.
• I also intend to limit dairy to 15 ounces a week- I don't drink milk, but the yogurt and cheese need to be limited.
• Plus limit animal protein to once a week- that will be a bit hard, but I can only try.
• Also need to limit potato chips- a lifelong crutch.
• I need to go to fresh and easy tomorrow & get some fresh produce!
• I obviously don't have much of a sweet tooth which is one blessing.
• I need to increase the number of meals I have a day to six- add healthy snacks like almonds and such. Weight gain on the limited amount of food I consume also probably indicates slow metabolism.
  

Tomorrow will be a better day.

Lost in LA!

Who would've thought that I could get lost in what is practically my back yard?
And yet, it was entirely possible, and done on purpose: my objective was to drive through the canyons and Los Angeles Forest area between Santa Clarita and Palmdale, which is what we did, successfully. We even went off-road a bit, which I am sure privately horrified my Corolla, though she was very quiet and cooperative throughout. The best part: I forgot my GPS at home.

Kashmiri Food

I love food, and I love the Kashmiri part of my heritage. I had always thought I had never cooked Kashmiri food- until recently when I finally read an actual recipe book on global curries, and was surprised to learn that my style of cooking has strong Kashmiri roots, with many of the dishes I make bonafide Kashmiri.

I wish I could put in words how much this shocked me. And yet, after the shock came acceptance- genetics has a part in the choices we make, and therefore since my mom never actually learned cooking from my grandma (who was Kashmiri), she probably unconsciously replicated the flavors of her mom's cooking in her own food, and I simply must be repeating her actions. Apparently Kashmiris dote on mutton- and guess who always orders it (or goat or lamb as substitute) when it is on a menu? yup that's me. Guess who thinks a bit of beaten yogurt improves any curry? me and my Kashmiri ancestors both. These discoveries are proving very comforting, they are.

I have therefore made up my mind to cook my way through Kashmiri culture, teaching myself the aromas and flavors my great grandma must have stirred over a pot near the Jhelum. I will write about my successes and failure as I progress, and hopefully my granny in heaven will chuckle along as she watches my progress.

There are some basic ingredients essential to Kashmiri food:

• Red dried chili pepper- appears to be the primary condiment, it can be used whole or crushed, depending upon the dish.
  
• White peppercorn- prized heavily, it is a subtle version of the black peppercorn
  
• Ghee
  
• Mutton
• Onions
• Yogurt
• Mustard oil- perhaps the most unusual of ingredients in the list, it has a strong, nutty taste and an even stronger smell. The key in using this is to heat the oil till smoking, and then to right away reduce the heat, thereby using it to season and cook the food without burning the oil (thus preventing carcinogens). The US is yet to recognize it as consumable, and therefore this is available in Indian supermarkets in North America, marked "For External Use Only." Ignore the warning, and get cooking- it is as heart healthy as extra virgin olive oil.
  

Stuff happens

Been really stressed and depressed lately, so much so that writing on the other blog about cinema has been next to impossible. Nothing seems to matter any more. I really need to snap out of it, and I do realize that, but am not able to do it quite yet.

Nope, not quite yet.

Garden pix

My spring garden- I am a proud parent!

Yummy, inedible Spam

I love spam emails. The subject lines are so friendly:

"Aloha! Here is what you were looking for"- wow really? someone knows exactly what I was looking for! how nice! its unfortunate of course that they are selling me phone tracking devices to investigate "untrustworthy loved ones" (actual quote).- it isn't what I am looking for quite yet.

"Wet and waiting for you all night"- I'm so sorry, but I do not want wet/dry unimaginables any time of the day/night. Sorry to hurt your feelings.

"I found a key is it yours"- Proper punctuation aside, its hardly likely.

"Housewives wanted"- by who? I'm not one and don't want one.

"At last found you" - now lose me. fast.

"This Spanish wants to talk to you"- me habla minimal espanol- sorry.

"Colon Cleanse" - They care about my health! aww how nice.

I can also "lose 30 lbs in 30 days"- lovely.

"Girls wont dump you anymore"- thank goodness for that!

Then there are the emails themselves- and I seem to keep winning lotteries! yay! Notice how the promotion manager is a Dr.
Brilliant.

VERMONT LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL <info@vermontlotto.com>reply-toclaimprize.gibson316@googlemail.com
toundisclosed-recipients
dateTue, Mar 17, 2009 at 7:13 AM

subjectCONTACT MR. RAY GIBSON FOR CLEARANCE

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Regards

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Apparently I am internationally famous, even among professors in the bylanes of Dublin:

The Irish Lottery11 G Lower Dorset street,Dublin Ireland.

Reference Number:RFIR/5043/3223/66Batch number:B5/R565-33

Dear Selected winner,

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And this of course has to be every one's all time favorite:

from dr_mohamed aziz <dr_mohamed_aziz11@msn.com>reply-tomohamed_aziz208@yahoo.fr
to dateWed, Mar 25, 2009 at 10:25 AM

subjectYOUR URGENT REPLY NEEDED IMMEDIATELY

mailed-bymsn.com

YOUR URGENT REPLY NEEDED IMMEDIATELY FROM THE DESK OF DR. MOHAMED AZIZ.MANAGER AUDINTING AND ACCOUNTING UNIT.BANK OF AFRICA(BOA)OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA-FASO.WEST AFRICA.

Dear Friend

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Making Peda sweets, and getting ready for Holi

I haven't celebrated Holi in 10 years. Not only me, turns out the entire family here in California hasn't done so for a decade or even more. So this year, my husband and I have decided to throw a Holi party- we've sourced colors, wet and dry, and plan to have the festivities in our front yard, the Saturday morning following Holi (which falls on March 11 this year).

And what would Holi be, without some homemade sweets to share? Here is a recipe simple recipe for Pedas/Peras (sing.: Peda/Pera), that tastes just like it did back home.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb Khoya
3/4 loosely packed cup brown sugar
1/4 cup raw pistachios
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 pinch nutmeg
1 tsp cardamom pods
2 tsp ghee

Notes:
1- The sunflower seeds mimic the dried rock melon seeds my grandma used to add.
2- In the United States, you are probably only going to find Khoya in the frozen section of your Indian grocery store, and a popular and decent brand is "Nanak." This is fine- I have found no difference between this and the kind my mom one day made from scratch.

Method:
1- Defreeze the Khoya- leave it on the counter the night before, or put in under running hot water for about 10 minutes.
2- Grate the Khoya using a cheese grater- this will help the ingredients mix well. Spread over a large platter (see 1st photo)
3- Sprinkle in the nutmeg and brown sugar into the grated khoya, mix.
4- Break out all the seeds from the cardamoms (discard the outside), and pound the seeds into
a coarse powder.
5- Mix the cardamom powder into the khoya mixture.
6- Pound the pistachios roughly- you just don't want huge pieces, since the size of the actual peda is pretty small.
7- Heat a large saucepan over a low flame, and add the pistachio pieces and sunflower seeds- dry roast gently for about 2 minutes, until the sunflower seeds turns slightly golden. Remove from heat.
8- Add the seeds to the the khoya mixture and mix well.
9- Put the ENTIRE khoya mixture back into the pan, on medium heat, and keep stirring for about 5 minutes. The mixture will turn cookie-dough brown, and coagulate into a single mass. Take it off the heat.
10- Take 1 tsp of ghee and grease a large, flat platter.
11- Take the 2nd single tsp of ghee and smear your palms with it- steps 10 and 11 may seem

simple, but are crucial to the pedas forming properly.

12- Begin pulling teaspoon size pieces from your still-warm peda mixture, and roll into little balls. Sightly flatten each ball with your palm, and then make an indentation in the center with your thumb (see 2nd photo). This is the classic shape of a peda.
13- Let the pedas sit in room temperature for about 20 minutes before serving. They will harden a little, and keep their shape, even if you want to store them in a different container.

Serving, notes:
1- Because we added brown sugar, the pedas aren't too sweet- you can of course add more brown or even white sugar if prefer- just make sure you taste the mixture after adding the extra sugar in.
2- The pedas should be stored covered in the refrigerator- keep in mind that Khoya, the primary ingredient, is a milk product. They should last in the fridge easily for a week or more.

Total time: 45 minutes.

Low sugar, yummy and healthy (if not eaten by the bucketful)- pedas make a heck of a easy dessert- :D

3 funerals and a wedding

I haven't posted here in so long- but the past 2 months have been really crazy.

After grandma passed away, one of my cousins decided to get married. Then, another cousin passed away about a week after that. And THEN my grandpa-in-law passed away 2 days ago! I was only really close to grandma, so the other familial events matter little- but they still had to be dealt with, which takes away time from worthy pursuits like blogging (though my husband heartily disagrees).

And I didnt make my CPA exams- again.

All this tempered with the fact that the fiscal year ended and all my clients are going crazy and we have all these audits to do- AND one of my managers left the firm, which didn't help matters at all. :S

Meanwhile, I've found that my comparatively new home has a secret blessing- we always wondered at the huge hedges in the garden- no green thumb, so had no clue wth they were. Come winter, all the buds spouted flowers, and it turns out they are camellias: in white, pink and every shade in between! Currently the garden looks positively magical, making me wish the summer stays away as long as possible.

The new home also has a secret curse- one of the bathrooms' wall has moisture in it- plumbing and reconstruction costs are magically (so much of the "m" word! Mr. Dursely would be unhappy :)) multiplying in my mind, and I will try to ignore incurring them until at least next fall.

Work calls- off I go............

Cheese Fondue, my way

This has to be the mot nontraditional cheese fondue ever- super basic. But it was a cold night, and I wanted something easy and comforting that would cook itself- and it was delicious! The dish itself is simple, but the key is to use quality ingredients that you like the taste of.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 varieties of soft cheese- I used Gruyere and a soft Cheddar, but honestly, go with any soft, easily melting cheese you like to eat- if you like the taste of the cheese, of course you will like it in the fondue! I used about a cup of each, shredded- you MUST shred- makes it easies to melt and mix with the other ingredients.
• 1-2 varieties of white wine or light, pale cider- you can use any that you like to drink- please DO NOT use a wine with high color (pink/brown fondue??? I think not!) and DO NOT use a wine sold "for cooking"- buy a bottle of what you want to drink with your meal, use some with the fondue, and drink the rest with your meal- no waste! I used a quarter cup of a California white I had lying around, and a quarter cup of Korbel champagne- the latter was a really good idea- it tasted great in the fondue.
• black pepper and garam masala (!!) to taste. I didn't want to add nutmeg, which would have been the usual thing to do, but you could. You could also add garlic powder, oregano or rosemary- just make sure you don't use more than 2-3 spices (the more the spices, the greater the risk of muddy flavors), and do not replace black pepper with another spice- please :)
• Dippers- different TOASTED breads- sourdough, rye, a robust white. Also crisp apples- whatever you like!
• Fondue pot- I just used a regular small, heavy bottomed pan, but if you are serving to your guests, you may want to get something pretty, since we are cooking and serving in the same pot.

Method:

• Take a small, but heavy pan, and boil the 1/2 cup of wines you are using.
• As soon as the wine mix comes to a boil, reduce to a medium heat.
• Add your cheeses, crushed black pepper and garam masala- go easy on the latter- you want to taste the cheese at the end of this.
• Let the cheese melt itself- it should take about 5 minutes, during which time, you should not fuss with the fondue.
• After five minutes, give the pot a stir, to see if more melting is required- if you see that the cheese has gone grainy on you, do not worry- just leave it on the heat for another 5 minutes or so, on low heat. As soon you have the consistency you desired, its time to eat- get dipping!

Notes:

• Sorry no photo again- was too busy eating to remember :)
• You shouldn't need to add any salt- the cheese would have enough.
• You could also add fresh herbs and fresh garlic- just make sure you crush them really well, and add them after the wine has boiled, but before adding the cheese- it will mix better.
• The fondue should remain warm and edible for about 15 minutes- if you are using a fondue pot with a warming attachment, that's great, but if not, you may want to reheat every 15 minutes.
• Leftover fondue heats up perfectly- just make sure you put the pot on gentle heat first, and slowly move to medium heat once it melts a bit. The morning after, I used it for a open-face grilled cheese sandwiches, with sun-dried tomatoes- yum!

Jacket potatoes

Been really depressed lately, and don't feel like cooking. But I cant keep the husband on frozen pizza forever, so i try to do something simple that can work itself out in the oven.

Which brings us to potatoes- I usually have a stock of boiled potatoes in the fridge, as taught by an older aunt in my infancy. Thrown with spices and coupled with other vegetables/meat can get a full meal on your table in a few minutes.

But baking a potato is a different deal. There are myriad opinions on what are the best potatoes for this, but most recipes call for large, thick skinned potatoes, and all take about 2 hours to do- that's way too much time for me. Plus, I dont like their hard casings- they just dont crisp up as well.

Quite by accident, I started using the long white potato, also known as White Rose/California Long White/ American Giant and Wisconsin Pride. It is an oval shaped potato with a thin outer skin that is light tan in color and smooth overall with few, very small eyes. The inner meat of the White Rose has a medium starch level, and I find that it stands up well to most cooking processes, resulting in a firm and creamy cooked product.

photo source: www.recipetips.com

Choose potatoes that are firm and plump, avoiding those that have shriveled skins, sprouting eyes, soft spots, blemishes, and green spots. Store in a cool dry place- NEVER the refrigerator. They will keep at room temperature for up to two weeks or longer.

I figured that because of the thin skin, chances were this would cook faster as well, and it did- total cooking time- 1 hour (including prep), half of the usual time.

Ingredients:

- long white potatoes, as many as you want to do

- light olive oil, butter, salt and pepper to taste.

Optional:

- Thin cut chives, sour cream, bacon bits, salsa, tapenade, garlic salt.

Method:

• Turn the oven on to about 425 degrees, and let it warm up.
• Important: Wash the potatoes, and gently remove any dirt, then dry REALLY WELL on paper/cloth towels.
• Important: Wrap up potatoes individually , and really tightly in aluminium foil pieces.
• Throw in the potatoes in the oven, and walk away for 45 minutes.
• After 45 minutes, take out one of your tin-foiled potatoes, gently open (so as to not tear the foil- you may need to put it back)- and insert a thin knife/chopstick through the thickest part- if it cuts through without much resistance, the potato is done.
• In this state, the potatoes can be stored in the fridge for easily a week, without a problem, but the jacket potato is best eaten straight from the oven.

2 Ways to serve this:

1- Serve one potato per person, and let them open the foil jackets, which will keep the potato warm. I like this with lots of butter, salt and pepper, but you can of course go the traditional way, and serve with all the optional accompaniments.

2- If you want to fancy this up:

-take the potatoes out of the foil when cooked, and prick all over with a fork.

- Baste the potatoes with olive oil and butter, and sprinkle with garlic salt/seasoned salt/reg salt and pepper.

- Replace into the oven (without any foil) at 450 degrees, for 5 minutes, turning the potatoes once.

- 5 minutes later, the potatoes' would crisp up all over and go slightly red/brown. Take out , split in half, and serve with more butter and the optional accompaniments if desired.

The baked potatoes in the fridge

• Cooking and storing these is not a good idea, but if you are doing this, unwrap from foil and reheat in a microwave for about 3 minutes on high. THEN throw into a 425-450 degree oven to crisp up for about 5 minutes (serving method 2 above).
• Extra potatoes make great mashed potatoes/hash browns/croquettes, so there is no waste :)
  

PS: No photos- only remembered after they were eaten!

Khursheed Hughes, RIP

Naani (maternal grandma) finally passed away yesterday after suffering from intestinal cancer for 2 years. Its hard for me to come to terms with, since she was the binding factor for the entire family.

My best memories of her are from Christmas- every Christmas was to be spent at her two-bedroom house in Allahabad, with all of us grand kids, her 6 daughters and 1 son and their spouses cramped joyfully in our sleeping bags. Breakfast would begin with lamb kebabs and parathas, a huge biryani for lunch and at least for us kids, cakes and cookies for dinner, through the festive season. Music would blare in the street 24-7 and huge bonfires burned in the backyard at night. hristmas was fun with midnight mass and early service, when we'd visit the ancestral graves at 5am, to dress them with flowers for Christmas.

And she would mastermind the whole thing. She would begin calling her daughters about a month before Christmas, and begin preparations, from extra bedding, to the tree, to the all important cake drenched in rum. And every one would pitch in, with the madness stopping after new-year, when she would be busy arranging taxis for all of us to the train station, with memories of her lingering till the next time we met.

That wont happen this Christmas.

That will never happen again.

The family wont be the same again- this is the moment we have begun to drift apart, each in our nucleus of pain. Oh we will try for sure- we will all try to be in touch- but with her gone, so is the glue that called us all back to the same fold.

She will never whisper conspiratorially to me that I am fatter than ever and need to lose weight, while insisting that I finish the last piece of deep fried rohu.

She wont pick up the phone when I call, and ask me exactly how much money I make now, and insist that I send her our latest photos.

I don't think she was able to see the last set of photos I sent her. She would have liked those.

She wont advise my husband to tolerate my short temper (oh grandma!) and subtly inquire when we plan to have kids.

She wont be visiting here again, and demand to be taken to Vegas yet again- she loved that city, loved the lights and the din.

She wont talk gardening again with me- we wont visit Huntington Gardens, she wont attempt to cadge seedlings from the neighbors.

"Dil ko samjhane ke liye khayal accha hai" (It is easy to use this thought to placate ourselves) that she is now free from pain and close to God. We are just going to miss hearing her voice, and being babied- I hate growing up like this.

Election night happy night

The exit polls look beautiful!


Weehee!

Right now I see Obama at 324, he even swept Virginia- :D

:D

:D

:D

Grumbling: Louisiana and Tenessee, which both states I have done business with for a few years went Republican- ugh- why my friends why?

Update at 8:22pm PT: Just finished watching McCain g'bye speech- finally some graceful behavior from a man who used to be a fabulous person to listen to (oh what happened to you John? why did you turn weird on us?). I am almost reassured that Palin wont be seen or heard any more- thank God.

Update at 8:25pm PT: 338!- he got Nevada too. I cant wait to see what the map looks like at the end of this :)

8:59pm PT: Obama began his speech in Chicago!!! Shhh.. lets pay attention now...
Yes OB yes- I was afraid too- I was scared it wouldn't happen. Lets hear for change now! What ever you say OB, we are GLAD Palin is out of the picture. whew. Clappings!!!!!! OK enough w/ the thank yous now- its getting Oscar-y :B "Yes we can"- oh you are so lyrical sir- clappings!!! Oprah in the crows- clappings!!! Hug Biden- go on- thunderous clappings :)

This is beyond race, beyond parties- Obama and the results of this election are the right thing to have happened. Woohoo!

Random thoughts

I haven't been posting much in the past month- almost nothing here, and very little on my other blog.

Its just been a busy month. At work, I am working on issuing a set of financials tomorrow: One for a product distribution company, which is in San Diego, but idiotically has its accounting base in the UK :S That last fact is a huge problem in terms of communications- its a first year engagement, the accounting liaison isn't too bright, and I have had to define stuff like shareholder's equity in terms of US GAAP and liquidity computations till I want to scream. The other FS due out, which is worse, involves financials for a non-profit organization who has a CFO I want to brain with my laptop- a 60 year old male drama queen if you will :S

Outside of work, the home situation is kinda mad as well- one of the cars got into an accident (all by itself- I promise) and so we've been carpooling together, which leaves us both a bit cranky. Not to mention the idiotic paperwork to be done with the insurance company (GAH). Before the accident happened, I went and blew crazy money on drapes for the house (there were super ugly and old blinds earlier), which has left me short of cash in these crazy times. Oh wait- the BUYing of those drapes was the worst bit- who knew it took almost 10 hours (I counted) of running around and conducting major discussions in 5-6 stores??? Like how does someone spend that much time on drapes??? I am consoling myself with the fact that they look as calm and subtle as I wanted them to- I need a restful home to come back to after watching CFOs have shouting matches :)

So yeah, no innovative cooking happening- no time to, though we will see how the coming month goes. I have an exam right after Thanksgiving, and a brand new client to deal with starting today, so I am crossing my fingers.

Reading back on this post, things do sound as stressful as I feel they are- but as long as I can sleep well on the weekends (which I do, except for that weekend with the drapes- shudder), its all good :D