Tan colored capri pants

I must take this oppurtunity to say that I have had it with people. People in general and nosy invasive people in particular. Folks who want to know what career choices I am making, when my husband and I plan to visit India, when we plan to have children or better yet telling me when to have children, where to look for houses, the easiest way to host 15 ppl (when I am going to host people is beyond me).I mean I have had it with people in general. Attended a desi birthday party last week and came home with a dull headach and a bunch of laughes. Loud music, parents trying to show off their kids apparent talents, pre-teen girls acting wiser than their age with make up, tons of jarring sweets. Its a 10 year olds birthday. Dont play bingo at it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buy some pizza, cake and juice, have a bunch of kids over and let them play with the Wii.. D and I decided that our kids are not going to have any birthday parties with adults in them (till they become adults themselves). I used to go for dozens of these things as a kid myself and have had oh about 15 of them before I stopped but there were no adults at most of them. Atleast besides the kid's parents.

When one gets on the plane I think some sense of warped desi-ness props up. A holier- than-thou attitude. I was at the gym a few weeks ago when a nice young lady told me and I quote "I used to be like you. But now I have improved. My MIL has taught me how to be a good wife." I take freaking umbrage lady. I am a great wife. Excuse me if I don't get up at 5 am like an idiot to cook lunch for my husband when I can do it the night before. I also don't like the kind who proclaim that all things desi are soo archaic and try really hard to adapt with the life here and fail miserably. I know someone who is learning "Lawn Tennis"!!!!!
And what is with the dressing like "items". They are soooo awkward in clothes they evidently havent worn before. I mean there isn't a soul here who hasn't heard of India, why not wear clothes you are comfortable with instead of looking weird and extremely out of place.

On a tangential note, I spoke to a couple of my friends last week.. I must be honest it was soooo nice to hear familiar voices and familiar terms.. Took a while to get to common ground which saddened me a little bit.These are folks that I spent everyday of 4 years of my bachelors with. Spent hours talking with.. But I have to say I am super happy to be back on track.

And first prize to guess what the whole thing has to do with tan colored capri pants..

Random Musings

I just discovered that I am not a big fan of Greek Yogurt. Now that could also be bcoz I ate non - fat plain. It was a tad too thick for my taste. I topped it up with some granola and a dash of honey. Maybe I should buy some flavored.

D and I have been trying to eat healthier of late. Which means that there are more trips to Whole Foods. But both of us are discovering interesting flavors. From the awesomely sweet Maple Syrups to the different types of cheeses including the soy - cheeses( which isnt as bad as it sounds!!!). I am going through a phase of experimenting with different types of granolas. D is attempting buckwheat. You need to boil it till the water evaporates and then add milk. I must warn you that it needs to be flavored quite a bit coz its pretty bland (well that is an understatement) I put in maple syrup/honey, bananas (or watever fruit you have at hand). I pretty much follow the recipe but I dont have patience waiting for the water to evaporate so I cook it in the pressure cooker.

We also switched oils. From Canola to Vegetable Oil. I usually have EVOO lying around the house as well. But sometimes you cant cook Indian with EVOO and of course we cant fry with it. I am really proud of myself coz I can actually differentiate between the canola and the vegetable. Something I couldn't do till atleast 6 months ago.

Oh! Oh! I also tried brown rice. Now tell me.. Has anyone eaten anything more buttery.. more nuttier than brown rice. And no.. Its no fancy pants brown rice from any organic store - Its the stuff one gets at the regular super market. I think that I am officially a convert. A while ago I had also bought Quinoa. I am not sure if I cooked it right but I wasnt a big fan. So the box is sitting on my kitchen shelf hidden behind boxes of my spices. I also gave whole wheat couscous a shot.. Yummo!! But again I load it up with veggies. Anything on hand.

Last weekend I made hummus. It was nice.. Maybe something was lacking.. It dint taste exactly like the store bought one so maybe I did something wrong!!

I donno if its possible. But I think I am getting a lil sick of cereal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyone who knows me even remotely knows that I can survive on cereal. I can eat three courses of it. But for the last few days it aint appealing to me much. a ten year run is coming to a slow down. I dont want it to stop.

I can strongly say that N is an inspiration for urs truly spending more time in the kitchen.

On a tangential note (its not even tangential its probably in a totally other quadrant). As folks get older I think they get a lil cranky and nutty. I just discovered first hand from an aunt of mine. I mean I have learnt manners from this aunt but I jus discovered that maybe as they grow older they kinda jus un learn all the stuff.. Reminds me of the stuff I read in the poem from All The World Is a Stage.
Well that is jus me cribbing but where better to do it tell me???

All's well that ends well

The last few weeks have been of mixed emotions. But predominantly with an under current of uncertainty. Then finally the heavens shined forth and I decided what is that I wanted to do and heaved a sigh of relief and learning never to put things off until the last minute. Another thing I discovered in the last few weeks was that my husband and I have learned to enjoy our silences as much as we do when we are doing other things.

We went to Cape Cod last weekend and had a glorious day catching the wee end of the summer. We went on the water scooter and I sat frozen behind D miles into the sea without a tether and knew that if we fell off the bike I was doomed.. Then we went to Provincetown literally to the "place where there was nowhere left to go". We swam a little in the Atlantic and loved the sun. We enjoyed the sun tons that day. We packed a lunch dominated with Garbanzo in a variety of forms. Hummus and Channa!!! (I dint realize that until I got there). To go with that I threw in some bread. We also packed apples and some Tropicana Fruit Punch. We ended the day by picking up food at Subway as either of us were exhausted to cook.

The Labor Day weekend we decided to make good use of the sunny days before Fall sets in and get ready for the Wonderful (and I am not being sarcastic) New England winter. We watched Tropic Thunder Friday night. We played tennis on Saturday morning while a softball match was going on behind us. We decided to be all artsy in the evening and went to Boston's South End. We had a superb time acting all appalled at prices of shirts in Neiman Marcus and taking pictures near the Fountain at the Church of the Scientist building also in South End. Ended the day with dinner at PF Changs and a Great Wall of Chocolate cake. On Sunday D cooked his world famous sambhar. Afternoon we set out to see the Mansions in Rhode Island and the Tennis Hall of Fame. For a few minutes I was transported back to the Jane Austen books of balls and courtyards and balconies. The Rosecliff reminded me of the old Peters Road House. Here I saw a maid dressed in the good old maid's outfit - full sleeved black dress with a white apron and white lil hat thingy. I felt a tad sad for her as it was a good 90 degrees outside. I also saw a family trying desparately hard not to be Desi which kinda got to me!!!!!! The high temp caused D and me hunting for a soda shop but we finally ended up in a Whole Foods type store sharing a bag of chips and some fig bar (Heavenly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).
Monday we went to the temple and met some family for lunch and packed in a good desi lunch discussing their baby( now two months old) and the sambhar. Monday winded down with D and me jus sitting down each with our books and some music.



All's well that ends well.