A Peek into my Life

The next weekend after our Washington DC trip , we went to Myrtle Beach. This trip was much more planned. The weather was beautiful that weekend. It was perfect weather for a beach trip. We started on Saturday morning, a little after 7. It is about a 3 hour trip. We had packed some breakfast to eat on the way. I made vegetable patties or puff (whatever you call them) and zucchini pineapple muffins. For the puffs, I used frozen puff pastry and filled them with a samosa type filling of potatoes and peas before baking them. I used this recipe for zucchini bread but made it in a muffin form. Muffins are easier to travel with and eat on the go. We also had some good ol' chai in a thermos. Our friends got potato masala sandwiches. After our tea and fuel break, we reached the hotel around 12 in the afternoon. We went straight to the beach which was about 2 blocks from the hotel. When the daughter first stepped in the sand, she was uncomfortable with the sand sticking to her feet. Af...

The last two weekends were spent travelling and the weeks spent being busy cleaning up after the trip while preparing for the next one :) The first trip to Washington DC was pretty much an impromptu one. We had been thinking about Washington for a while, mainly for the cherry blossoms and to show the daughter the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space Museum. On the first Friday of April, we decide in the afternoon to leave in about 3 hours. I scramble to pack up, have lunch and we book the hotel right before heading out the door. First, we need to get the rental car from the airport. We load our car and head to the airport. There is a long queue and then the car that we get isn't great so we change it. All our stuff is transferred to the rental car. Our car is parked at the airport parking and we leave the airport at 6 in the evening; 2 hours later than we thought we would. It is a 7 hour drive. With a quick stop to pick up Subway sandwiches for dinner ...

Gudi Padva was on Monday. Last year I did not get around to making Shrikhand so this year I was determined to make it. Although this year I did not make puris. After an unusual busy weekend of socialising and food, our tummies were in no position to eat anything fried. So, I stuck to rotis. Shrikhand is one of my favorite dessert and I was very glad that my homemade version tasted just like the real thing (Amul Shrikhand is the gold standard, atleast for me, being from the land of Amul). I had not realized before I tried my hand at it that Shrikhand would be so easy to make. It also has to do with the fact that I made a small quantity. Larger quantities will take a bit more effort. I used my favorite and most traditional flavoring for the Shrikhand : kesar (saffron) and elaichi (cardamom) Kesar Elaichi Shrikhand Serves 4 Ingredients: 1 1/2 cup plain yogurt 1/2 cup sugar 1 tsp coarsely powdered pistachios and almonds a pinch crushed saffron threads 3 cardamo...