TRUMILK

Recently Kristen wrote about homemade ice cream and the loveliness that is eCreamery.  The post and photos made my mouth water, so we decided to try out some ice cream.

We dug out the ice cream maker, Kushal found some rock salt and then I proceeded to burn the darn thing out.  I may NEVER adapt to which sockets various appliances can be plugged into.  The Husb surely thinks me a moron for having this horrible learning curve when it comes to voltage!

Soon after the recipe for Buttered Caramel, came a post from Kirsten about Cocoa Bean Chocolate and we had this comment dialogue ::

The point of this post though is not about the ice cream (although we DID eventually and successfully make Cinnamon Ice Cream by using the freezer vs the ice cream maker).  We made the ice cream, but no one really wanted to eat it because it tastes like boxed milk.

The point of this post is more about milk and the fact that after two years here in India, we are finally all drinking it again!

So let's chat about milk.

In Delhi, the options for milk in the past have been Mother Dairy, Amul or Nestle.

Mother Dairy is a machine, and according to their website, markets approximately 2.8 million liters of milk daily in the markets of Delhi, Mumbai, Saurashtra and Hyderabad. They sell via 14,000 retail outlets and 845 exclusive outlets of Mother Dairy.

Nestle has seven manufacturing facilities and four branch offices across the country.  They have over 6,000 products on the Indian market (crazy!), but I was unable to find information about how many liters of milk they sell per day.  To learn more about their system and community service, read HERE.

Amul is a smaller company, with about 50 products on the Indian market, but they still churn out 11.2 million liters of milk per day.

As an aside :: India produces the largest number of liters of milk (and also at the lowest cost) followed by the United States, Germany and then Pakistan.  (Source : Wikipedia)

"Urban India consumes over half of domestic milk production. Rising awareness about hygiene standards and preference against loose milk has prompted the urban consumer to switch to pasteurised packaged milk. This has created a demand of 140 million litres per day, which is expected to double in the next five years." (Source : India Today)

First came the fresh milk option :: (Super cheap.  Literally fresh (like still warm!) and scooped into your own container for about Rs. 15/liter.  This milk must be boiled before consumption) Then the bagged milk option :: (About the same cost.  This is your homogenized option and used just like the bags that are common in Canada.  This milk does not need to be boiled, but most folks still do) Then the boxed milk option (currently about Rs 52/box) :: Down near the bottom, the box says UHT Treated.  Toned Milk. Ultra-high temperature processing (UHT) provides a shelf life of 6-9 months (until opened) and causes a "browning" of sorts and a change of taste, due to the high heat.

(Now, just for perspective, all of the websites for UHT milk state that the shelf life is good "at room temperature" which in our kitchen (without air conditioning or a fan) holds between 30˚ and 35˚ depending on the day.  Yuck)

UHT typically contains no preservatives. After being heated to approximately 275˚ for 1-2 seconds, the milk is then germ free.  The milk is then typically packaged in a six-layer package (Nestle, Mother Dairy and Amul all claim this type of container) and there is no need to boil before consuming.

After two years with an option that I've never really been fond of since what I really wanted for my morning cereal was these,

I was beyond tickled pink to learn about TruMilk (currently about Rs 72 per jug, which is double the content of the Nestle box) ::

What sold me on trying TruMilk was (1) the jug with the screw top lid and (2) this piece of their marketing material :

We understand that you too are concerned about the quality of milk consumed by you and your family.

Like us, you probably worry about:                                                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                                        
Unregulated hormone use
Unhygienic conditions in which cows are milked
Nasty diseases in cows or those people who milk them
Unrefrigerated milk lying in open buckets overnight awaiting collection (cows are milked twice daily, but milk only collected once daily...)
Flies and other things in the milk that just should not be anywhere near milk
Whether your milk came from cows that browse garbage dumps for food

Why yes, I do!

I'm starting to get long-winded here and am sounding like a member of the TruMilk marketing team!!  (I'm not.  They don't even know I'm writing this.  I just want to spread the good word!)

To learn about their farms, click here.  To learn about the safety of their production, click here.  To learn about the cleanliness of their milk, click here.  To learn about the freshness, click here. 

Don't get me wrong. I'm not against the UHT milk because of the process, and I'm not a freak about preservatives, shelf life, etc.  To me, it's all about the taste.

When I don't care for cold cereal and milk in the morning, and my ice cream doesn't taste good because the milk has previously been heat blasted, it makes me VERY excited about TruMilk!

We have since made a batch of TruMilk cinnamon ice cream and it is DA BOMB!!!  

Want to try it out for yourself?  STORE LOCATIONS HERE

NOTE :: this isn't your boxed milk that you're used to!  It has a 4-5 day fridge shelf life and you will need to look carefully at the expiration date before purchasing, lest you end up back at home with milk that is only good for another day.  FYI - Modern Bazaar gets their delivery from TruMilk on M, W and F.

LIFE AND LEMONADE

(ok - we are testing this out ... can you comment?  I'm holding my breath to see if it got figured out/adjusted.  Humor me and comment JUST because ... to prove that it's working again?)




We went to Singapore about a month ago and one of the ABSOLUTE things on my list of things to do was a visit to Ikea.  I know.  It's lame to include Ikea on the list of things to do when you are in Singapore - the land of SO MANY THINGS TO DO!

The last time we were there (2010), I wanted to get some glass bottles for lemonade, but decided against it (I'd already exceeded our return baggage allowance) and they have been on my wish list for an entire year.

(Little did I know that I could have bought the SAME bottles here ... already full of lemonade ... to then reuse.  I wonder about myself sometimes)

I love lemonade.  I love it mixed half and half with iced tea ... I love it just barely frozen as a slushie ... I love it with beer (yep ... thanks Lynden and Tats!) ... I just love it.

What I don't love is the absence of decently priced Countrytime Lemonade drink mixes here in New Delhi.  You can find lemonade drink mixes, but it doesn't taste quite right and it comes at a price of about $8.00 USD.

It had been YEARS since I'd made lemonade by hand ... and the other day it dawned on me that it was the cheapest, easiest way ... and tasted FAR better than any old tub of powdered mix.

(yep, we took all of those seeds out)

The lemons here in Delhi are teensy ...

So teensy that little Mia can cup one in her hand and you'd never know she was holding a lemon.

Instead of halving 4-5 lemons and calling it a day, you can count on about 45 minutes of cutting, squeezing ... cutting, squeezing ... cutting, squeezing.  Oy.

Until I realized that 1/4 of these teensy lemons was about the size of my handy dandy garlic press.

Brilliant.

There is nothing better than fresh squeezed lemonade.

Well, there is the feeling when you accomplish something.  It doesn't have to be something huge.  It doesn't have to ring bell tones into the rafters.  It doesn't have to make the front page of the newspaper ---

When you set out to accomplish something, and you reach your goal, it feels good.  It tastes good.  It warms you up a bit and revitalizes you.

There is something to be said about starting a day with an end goal -- whether it be to lace up the shoes and run a mile, or put away all of the laundry, or figure out how to make an additional $1,000 for your favorite charity.

We all have a different size of box that we lay out for ourselves every morning.  I'd like to think that I can continue to expand the size of my box --- expand the size of the goal that I hold out for myself.

Accomplishment ... sweet success ... it's like fresh squeezed lemonade.

DIVA DINNERS

Whether you live as an expat with someone cooking your meals for you, or do all of the work yourself, you can't deny that having someone ELSE source the weekly list of recipes would be a huge help, right?

I have dabbled in my fair share of weekly menu planning ideas, processes, sources, but may have found the perfect combination of what our family will be using from here on out.

Enter Dining Diva Dinners.

The website is a bit difficult to navigate, but since I first found this blog, she has added archives, and the page on which the archives are located are the only thing you need to get started.

Archived weekly menus are listed to the right on THIS page.

What I like about what Susan has done ::

First, the recipes have been tried by her family.  They aren't just collated from the many recipe websites.

Secondly, she does pretty much ALL of the work for you.  With each week of recipes, she also creates a shopping list AND a prep calendar, showing what things need to be done the night before, etc.

Third, the majority of the recipes feature things that we can find here in Delhi, and the recipes are simple enough for Shanti to follow without much input from me.

Lastly, she includes some true comfort food recipes, as well as an "impress them" recipe each week ... perfect for when you're entertaining AND just need to feed those kids' bellies.  

Here are some of our favorites so far ::

Blue Cheese Butter (topping for steak)

1/4 C butter

2 T chopped green onions (or chives)

2 T crumbled blue cheese

Combine all items, blending well.   Just before serving, spread blue cheese topping on steak.

 

Grilled Salmon

Marinade:

1⁄2 c soy sauce 

1T minced garlic 

2T honey 

1tsp ground ginger 

Small onion diced or 1tsp onion powder 

Salt and pepper to taste
16-20oz salmon

(Serves 4)

Mix together all ingredients for marinade. Put in a plastic bag and add salmon. Marinate for 30 minutes, 45 max. If you do much longer, it gets too strong.

Pesto Cream Sauce

4 oz cream cheese, cubed 

1⁄4 c milk 

2T pesto

Cook cream cheese and milk in saucepan on medium (2-3 min) or until cream cheese is completely melted and sauce is well blended, stirring constantly. Stir in pesto.

 

 

 

 

Take a look around ... and then start your printer to work!  Her easy excel OR PDF downloads are easy as can be ... 

What do you think?  Do-able for your family, your kitchen, your time?

SPAR HYPERMARKET

I recently got this email  from a list serv and it got me all sorts of excited :

Dear All

For those who don't know, the supermarket chain SPAR have just opened their first "hypermarket" in Delhi last week.

I went to check it out today, and it does what it says on the tin: easy to negotiate, and you can buy anything from linen to groceries as you would in a large western supermarket, including fresh meats and fruits, a loose grains and nuts selection, kitchenware and a fair range of imported products selling at a bit cheaper than Le Marche/Modern Bazaar/Gourmet Food Bazaar.

Take your own bags unless you want to buy cloth bags at the check-out, and expect some of the staff to still be a bit new on credit-card payments and where things are stocked on the shelves. 

It is pretty comprehensive: they even sell fresh milk, and the only items they did not have and I was looking for was dessicated coconut, mushrooms, and whole-grain bread.

SPAR is located in the basement of the Pacific Mall in Tagore Garden, which is in West Delhi just off the ringroad. They are planning to open a second hypermarket in Gurgaon in April.

Cheerio

So ... I did what any responsible friend would do ... and forwarded it to a couple of girls and asked if they'd heard anything about it.  Soon we had planned a field trip of sorts and set out to explore SPAR.

One of the frustrating things about living here is sometimes locations and addresses are impossible to find.  After we all spent WAY too much time looking on google for an answer to WHERE exactly this Pacific Mall was (not to mention Tagore Garden), we decided to wing it.

My driver called Linda's driver and they discussed and pondered ... and off we went.

We headed in the general direction of Tagore Gardens (easy enough) but when we got to that specific area, we quickly realized that the mall itself was SO new (just opened in January, 2011 we later found out) that NO ONE on the street new of it.  We went down one road, made a u-turn and tried another. We all debated amongst ourselves on which way we should try next, and poor Ramesh spent most of his time with us that morning probably muttering under our breaths at the crazy women in his car!

We FINALLY spotted signs that said "PACIFIC MALL!  PILLAR 464"

Ok ... Pillar 464?  What the heck?

Then we spotted these :

So we get it now!  The pillars are literally numbered.  (Note : not all pillars are marked visibly as these "You." signs cover up most of the numbers ... but once you find one or two, you'll realize you're headed in the right direction as the sequence of numbers grows larger.

The excitement in the car when we spotted THIS was ridiculous :

But getting there was still no easy task.  We pulled up to Gate 2 and found the guard there very unresponsive and unhelpful.  He kept telling us that the gate didn't allow admission until 11:00, even though we knew the store opened earlier.  After sitting there for what felt like forever, we decided to "go around the block" to find another gate. (Note : Gate 1!!!!)

Around the block in Delhi is not an easy feat.  Winding roads, potholes, dodging bicycle rickshaws and this :

Finally we pulled up to a gate, where the guard smiled and giggled at us nervously, let us pass and we saw this :

and SHOPPING CARTS!

Seriously readers ... if you live in the United States (or a place where there are proper grocery stores) you will think that I am absolutely moronic in this post ... 

If you live in Delhi ... get thee to SPAR! (there is nothing else quite like this in Delhi ... so forgive my excitement!)

I will let the photos do the talking, but know that you can *almost* find anything you need here ... automotive, kids toys (sparse, but ...), clothing, food, dried goods, household goods, beauty supplies, office supplies, etc.  

They have a loyalty program that you can sign up for (we're not sure yet WHAT it offers, but ....) and they take debit/credit as well as cash.

NOTE : Be prepared if you visit that you may want to take along earplugs.  The decibels at which they were pumping in the music was ... let's just say reminiscent of a night club.  Thanks to the shopping carts that had 360 degree turn radius, we had ourselves some fun dancing in the aisles!  It would make a GREAT flash mob setting!

On to the photos ::

Notice the fact that you could get TWO shopping carts wide in these aisles!!

This next photo made me smile.  It truly IS problematic to try and move a gas cylinder (used for cooking) from one place to another ... so for  Rs. 99 (about $2.50 USD) you can buy a strolley. Stroller + Trolley = Strolley!!

Cheddar Cheese for Rs 100 per kg!  Eat that, Modern Bazaar!!

And these next couple of photos?  This is purely ... well ... exciting.  I have another word for it, but it's not appropriate to write on a blog post!

Now - checkout is not seamless.  The cashiers (like the original email stated) are quite new on the system of processing credit or debit cards, but it was still relatively painless!

(Do you see that we were one of the few shoppers in the store that morning?)

And ... it is advisable to carry your own shopping bags ::

In that photo above, Pam looks as if she is strenuously pushing the cart up the moving walkway, when in fact, the grocery cart wheels have these funky grooves in them ::

Which means that the shopping carts magically "STICK" to the moving walkway and provide an effortless ride up to the main floor where the parking garage is!

Thanks girls, for a really, really fun field trip to SPAR!

NOW ... to recap ::

You need to head to Tagore Gardens (which is near Rajouri Garden).

View Larger Map

Then ... you need to follow the Pillar Numbers located on Shivaji Marg. Look for Pillar No. 464 and turn right.

Aim for Gate No. 1 !!

• It appears that SPAR opens at 10am ... although that information is debatable.
• Take your own shopping bags.  
• Bring some earplugs if you're prone to dancing in the aisles and don't want to be embarrassed
• Take some friends - I have a feeling it's more fun!
• Clean out your car before you go ... you'll need the space!
• Plan for at least an hour.  Plan for two hours, in fact!

ENJOY!!!

~ ~ ~ Btw - please spread the word about SPAR to your friends if you're a Delhi-ite or a transplant here.  They are in serious need of some marketing help ... and if all it takes to keep this store open and alive is YOU AND ME spreading the word, please help! 

I'd be so so so very sad if SPAR only makes it a couple of months because they have no marketing geniuses to appropriately talk up the amazingness that this store has to offer!

RESTAURANT WEEK :: DELHI !

Hungry??

Restaurant Week : Delhi starts on Monday, January 31st and runs through Sunday, February 6th.  

From their website ::

All restaurants will provide a three course set meal with veg and non-veg options at Rs. 1000 (excluding tax and service) per person. Any extras you consume, including bottled water or other beverages, will be charged additionally. 

For February 2011, the restaurants will offer the same menu paired with wine at INR 2,000 (excluding tax and service charge) with only imported wines offered. 

This is still a fraction of what it would cost you normally and we do not charge any reservation fee or levy hidden charges. Our aim is for you to dine out at a new restaurant you might have hesitated from previously visiting or visiting as often.

Participating restaurants ::  Indian Accent, Olive, Sakura, Smoke House Grill, Taipan, Tapas, Varq.  

Make reservations online (http://www.restaurantweekindia.com/event/Delhi) for up to 4 individuals.

Restaurant Week is a celebration of the finest culinary experiences in India. For one week a year, we offer consumers the opportunity to dine at the city's most aspirational restaurants at more affordable prices. This allows participating restaurants to showcase their skills with some of the best selections from their menu while consumers can experience places they may not be familiar with. More importantly, however, it is a week-long celebration of the culinary scene in each city - a time for us to be proud of our finest restaurants.

Have any of you been to these restaurants?  We frequent Olive quite a bit, but I'd love to try these others!!

INTERNATIONAL SNACKING

It has been great fun to listen to the kids' requests for their daily snack at school.  Now that we're entrenched deeply in loads of different cultures and varied ethnic cuisines, their repertoire of choices has greatly expanded.

Gone are the days of cheesesticks and PB&J, now they also ask for some of the following.  I wanted to share them with you, along with the recipes, if applicable, so you could try some of them with YOUR littles!

AUSSIE APPLE

Not necessarily a snack with an actual recipe, but Kiersten shares an ingenious way to keep those apples from browning (assuming your kids eat the peel, that is!).  Our kids actually have fallen in love with these great containers from Tupperware.  Keeps the brown off AND I get to peel them for snack.

NORWAY SAUCE

Tony came home one day and said "I want Norway Sauce for snack tomorrow, you know, like Christoph eats."  I responded with a very puzzled look on my face, and asked him what Norway Sauce was.  Since he didn't quite know, but was insistent that he get it, I embarked on an email Q&A with Christoph's mama.  

Her response to my question was : "The sauce he means could be anything from Norwegian mackerell in salsa (red, tomato based!) or leverpostei which is a liver paste (pale brown n creamy!) . Or it could also be Marmite - which you may know already (black) ! Not sure of you can get the Norwegian stuff here, unfortunately ...Marmite is available everywhere, being British! Christoph loves it - as do many other Norwegians ! You may find something similar here - try to look for tinned fish in tomato sauce?"

So we went on a hunt to our local neighborhood market and found something similar to this :

Sardines, anchovies or tuna in a tomato based sauce works as a magical snack when served on a piece of bread!  Who would have known!

SUSHI TRIANGLES

Just as it sounds, only instead of perfect little rolls, the shapes are more in a triangle shape.  We haven't quite mastered this (do you remember me posting about trying to make it at home?  I'd post the link, but now I can't find it) but thankfully we can purchase them from the snack kiosk at school.

CHAPATI AND PEANUT BUTTER

Similar to a tortilla, this is the easiest snack ever!  Cut it into quarters, roll 'em up .. and eat them.  If you're interested in making them yourself, this is a simple recipe.

BEE BIM BOP

Tony had the pleasure of meeting an author, Linda Sue Park at school last year and immediately fell in love with not only her books, but her recipe for Bee Bim Bop.  We've made it several times and it will likely become a staple at our house, whether it be for snacks or for a full dinner.  You'll have to buy the book or get it from your library to try out the recipe!

and then back to our go-to snack choice that we love from our time living in the States ::

SALAMI WRAPS

Cheese Slices
Sliced Salami or other lunchmeat
4 oz of soft cream cheese
yellow, red or green peppers
olives 

(you can also put in any combination of items, cucumbers, carrots, celery, etc!)

Using the cheese slice as a base, layer all of the other items on top ... roll it up and slice.  Easy peasy.

What are your favorite snacks .... international or otherwise?

The Golden Temple

One of the places that is on my list to visit - while we're in India - is the Golden Temple in Amritsar.  Until we visit though, I wanted to share this with you - from the New York Times.  

You really should watch the video and read the full article to get the best idea of what it's all about, but in short :: The Golden Temple is the holiest shrine of the Sikh religion.  Sikhism began in the 15th century and is a religion taking pieces of both Hinduism and Islamic faiths and practices.  There are no castes in the Sikh religion and everyone is considered equal.

Every day, the temple's kitchen is opened up for free meal service - which isn't all that impressive, until you consider the fact that on a weekday, approximately 80,000 people are fed.  EIGHTY THOUSAND PEOPLE!  On the weekends, it's counted to be twice that number.

Pretty cool!

For more information, read the entire article by Lydia Polgreen

ON COOKING and SHOPPING

Soon following the question of "where will we live in Delhi" often comes "what will we eat?"

Rest assured, although you may experience frustration, it is manageable and possible to feed your family well and not too far from what they're used to!

Some of the first things you may be wondering ::

If your family eats beef, please note that beef (as you may be used to) is not sold in India, and instead you can often find buffalo meat, if you are resourceful.  While the taste/texture is different, it can often suffice as a substitute when those cravings hit.



There are several meat contacts to share with you, if you're interested, email me.

Often meat deliveries will be required to be made in bulk, and delivered to your front door.  Do exercise care when ordering bulk orders as you’ll need to freeze some for later use.  Be mindful of the possibility of needing to teach your cook how to properly freeze meat and invest in good quality freezer bags.

Chicken and mutton are readily available and you will soon find your favorite supplier!  You can easily specify which pieces you wish to purchase and request bone in or boneless!

Exercise caution when purchasing fish or seafood products during the hot months in Delhi, as contamination is likely.  Consider trying A.N.A., a service that ice packs caught-that-day seafood from Kerala and delivers to your doorstep.  ANA, 9899408911 or 4560-8738

Often, markets such as INA will have a wide variety of fish, but know ahead of time that the shopping experience can be daunting as often your selection is still swimming before you purchase, and the cleaning process may not be up to your standards.  Take care to rid the fish of all bones and make sure that you see that the seafood is cleaned thoroughly after you arrive home.

If you have children who may be sensitive, consider not taking them along for the purchase of meat and seafood. It likely will not be an experience they are used to, and can render that nights’ dinner pointless.

Nearly every market has a wide variety of vegetables, and you can also have organic produce delivered to your home, as well as arranging for home delivery from your local market.  The same concept of thoroughly washing applies to all vegetables/fruits where the skin is eaten. Bananas, mangos, papayas, etc. do not need to be as carefully washed as the inside fruit is what is consumed. 

Again, I have several contacts for the delivery of organic greens, vegetables and fruits, email me.  One that I can publish freely is The Altitude Store.

Another component of food and shopping is the luxury of having your grocery items delivered straight to your home.  Most local groceries have a minimum order (which is a minimal amount) and you can simply have a standing order for once-a-week sundries such as bread, peanut butter, milk, juices, etc. or call with specific requests. 



The most popular shops are ::


Le Marche
Modern Bazaar
Nature's Basket
Spencers


Whether you decide to employ a cook or do the food preparation yourself, you will soon fall into a routine on how to best provide sustenance for your family.  


In our household, we find it works the smoothest when I create a weekly menu for Shanti.  This saves undue stress at the last minute when one of us needs to come up with a plan for dinner.  It also helps to make sure that we are eating a good balance of various items (instead of spaghetti every night).


Questions?

EXPAT CHAT

School recently started back in session and I thought the mamas needed some time to reconnect and have a bit of nosh.

What was fun was watching (and listening to) women of different cultures and backgrounds ...

(although the NEXT get together really should have a wider representation of the student demographics that are at the kids' school) 

... converge in one place ... and chat away as if they'd known each other for years.

The "din" (is that a word?) of noise was incredible ... our apologies to the other patrons in the restaurant!

Yep ... all of that chatter is JUST our group!  And yes, that is my apple martini that gets featured at the very end.

By the way? Kudos to Olive Beach (Chanakyapuri location) for putting up with all *almost* 30 of us, separating our bills into individual receipts and providing us with a nice discount. They currently are holding a French Festival and the food was quite delic!

Ladies - if you read this and were there ... it was fun!  Who wants to plan the next one?  If you missed it ... next time!

Rainbow Pudding Pops

I've really no idea who the FIRST mommy blogger was to come up with these delicious puddin' pops, or post delightful photos of them, but we had to have them!



Now --- I also had to take a photo of our box of Jello Vanilla Pudding.  

At a cost of rs. 160, which equates to almost $3.50 USD PER BOX, I hope the kids thought they were worth the $7.00 (because I wasn't sure of total quantity needed and made TWO boxes worth of pudding (one of these days I'll veer away from my bomb-shelter mentality and start following directions!).

Anywhoo ... they were super easy to make ... and although they didn't quite take on the 100% frozen form that I'd expect from a popsicle, they were enjoyed regardless!

We just made four colors of pudding for the layering process ... and you could experiment with all flavors of Jello pudding, I'm sure!  

Note :: the longer they're in the freezer, the better they hold up ... we initially left ours chill for about an hour ... and they promptly fell apart (i.e. melted) as soon as the kids started eating them.

Give the girl a choice ...

I've been slammed recently for my whine post (back a couple of months ago) whereby I lamented about having to choose the menu for every day of the week, lest we get stuck with chicken.

I must add a post-script note that the beef (no pun intended) I have against chicken, is that often what you get here is barely chewable ... and not the quality of poultry that I would choose to feed my children.

Enter Jenny.  She does all of the work at planning a week's worth of menus and we're going to follow her menu plan faithfully this summer (based on items we can get readily available here, that is).

Not only is Jenny a brilliant photographer and web designer (stay tuned ... she'll be soon redesigning Delhi Bound!), but she's the kind of mother I would like to spend time with.  She's a cool cat AND from Nebraska ... can't beat that!

Recently, we took a cue from her recent menu plan and had Shanti make all of the fixins' for loaded baked potatoes.  The beauty of something like this for dinner (yep - it was all we had for dinner!) was that everyone got to CHOOSE.

Mia was happy with her potatoes, cheese and cream of asparagus soup on top.  Tony was beyond tickled with his salsa and bacon bits galore.  Terran kept his simple as well, and I went hog wild and put EVERYTHING on mine!!

My point is ... I think our family will be better off with menu options that gives us the right to choose.  Through the summer we're going to work on that ...

I see Muffin Tin Lunches in our future!!

Crabby!

That's mom in my kitchen ... intent on finding out how to make california rolls.  Recently Pam and I visited the japanese store (in Safdarjung Enclave) and got an inklin' for sushi!  We got the seaweed, rice and wasabi.  Pam scored the crab sticks and avocados later in the week and we set to making our very own!

It really took me forever and a day to visualize what mom was reading and actually duplicate it on my kitchen counter.

Tony was ready and EXCITED to help.  This kid loves his sushi!

So the Great Internet said to just tuck, roll, press, and roll some more.

Sounds easy, right?

Man ... I need more practice!

Looks pretty, right?  It was super pretty UNTIL we dunked it into soy sauce and they promptly fell apart!

We learned the following about novice california rolls ::

• use sticky rice
• use crabmeat that is moist!
• use ripe avocado
• make sure your vegetables are completely cooked through and soft

Another thing we learned?  Don't buy crab - - no matter how "fresh" they appear to be - - from INA Market!  I know ... I should know better.  But when I took mom ... they just looked SO good and I miss crab SO much that I had to buy it ...

By the time Shanti had boiled it and consulted the Great Internet (again) on how to open the things, we only ended up with a small smidgeon of edible crab for each of us.  The rest of it was black.  

Guess what the number one thing we learned as we googled "how to cook crabs" ??  "DONT EAT CRAB MEAT IF IT TURNS BLACK AFTER COOKING"

Lesson learned!

Tony-isms

The other day, we stopped to get ice cream at the ice cream cart near school .....

Me :: "Maybe it'd be fun to always do an ice cream stop on Wednesdays"

Tony :: "Why not on mondays?"

Me :: "Well, we need to keep it at only ONE day a week ... so that we're not eating too much sugar."

Tony :: "I have a good idea .... let's stop every day that its hot."

Said ... with all of the seriousness in the world.


It has been a record breaking April in Delhi for heat.  It's hard to believe that it can feel any different than it did last April when Todd first arrived.  Can it really FEEL hotter?  As a friend said on her Facebook status today ... can it feel different at 115 than it does at 103?


The wind is hot and so dry.  It's as if you've opened the pizza oven and are breathing hot, hot air.  My lips are chapped and my chapstick is melted.


There are cracks in the dirt behind our flat and I can guarantee I'm not the only Delhi blogger who has written this week about the heat.


Our car has a handy temperature display, but I'm not sure it's helping my mental state.  To get in the car in the mornings for school at 8:00 am and have it already register 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) bodes REALLY bad for the rest of the day!


We are getting into the habit - QUICKLY - of putting water bottles in the freezer, carrying baby wipes and we definitely aren't doing much time in the markets these days.


The good thing about adjusting to this crazy heat?  When we go on 'summer vacation' this year, it just might feel COOLER than had we stayed in Delhi!!  

In the kitchen

I have a budding chef on my hands.

It started when he first watched the movie Ratatouille.  He quietly sat through the first viewing ... and said "that was good."

Then the next night, he asked to watch it again.  He asked me to stop it several times throughout the movie, but with no explanation as to why.  Once we reached the final credits, he started asking if he could make up a recipe.

He asked for a blindfold, asked for strawberries, cheese and nuts.

(have you ever seen the movie?)

He had learned - from a cute little animated movie - that recipes are the culmination of tastes and flavors coming together to meld into something delightful to your taste buds.

He spends nearly every day in the kitchen at some point.  Mixing drinks, constructing desserts.

I get impatient - too often - and tell him that I am not in the mood for creations in the kitchen.  I explain that I'm tired of recipes that haven't been planned out.  I say that maybe tomorrow, we can make food together.

I try to explain to him that recipes are best to eat when they've been planned out.  When you FOLLOW a recipe that someone else has written.  When you read the instructions FIRST before proceeding to dump random ingredients into the pot.

The cool thing is though ... is that he doesn't give up.  He doesn't let my annoyance with his obsession get in the way of obstinance.

He loves to create ... loves to experiment .. and so he presses on.

He loves being in the kitchen.

Just the other day, he asked permission to use the blender.  He added lemons, melons, sugar, ice, milk and a couple of other ingredients that I cannot remember now.  I squinched up my nose and politely suggested that it was NOT going to taste good.  I asked him to wait until tomorrow so we could get strawberries, because THAT would taste so much better.  I asked him to wait until we had better bananas, because THAT would make a proper milkshake.

He did it anyway.  I sighed a deep sigh and said "whatever."  I put my hand up and walked out of the kitchen because I was tired of arguing with the little guy.

You know what?  He made it anyway.  He pressed on and ignored my great wisdom that his combination was going to be rotten.  It tasted delightful.  His combination of melons and lemons and other ingredients ... was really, really good!

What a great reminder to quit squelching the imagination, dreams and creativity of others.  Just because it doesn't seem to make sense to YOU at the time, doesn't mean it isn't valid (or delicious!).