Ganpati Inspiration

This year, I felt like I wanted to celebrate Ganpati by drawing an image of one. So here is what I came up with. Its not complete, but I wanted it to look festive, but at the same time, I love the austerity of stone idols. I tried to achieve a balance by keeping the idol gray, and the background, I colored in the very Indian tones of saffron and fuchsia. The two colors remind me of zendu (Marigold)flowers and gulal. I would never dare to wear those colors together, but they make me feel happy.

Art work

It seems to me this blog has a mind of its own. I started of thinking that it would be more or less about travel and food. But then politics took it over for a bit and now art will. Is this spontaneous morphing or is it just fickle old me?

Cooking for Mr. Latte

I just finished reading and rereading 'Cooking for Mr. Latte' by Amanda Hesser. A long time back, my friend A who also shares a similar appreciation for books about food, (not cookbooks really) had recommended this to me. But with the more pressing challenges of graduating on time, this sort of remained on the back burner. A few months back I came across it on the shelves of the public library and got it home. It was such a good read that it went straight to my birthday wish list and R bought it for me. I have always liked books where the narrative is interwoven with stories about food, houses - 'Under the Tuscan Sun' being a good example. This book follows a brief window in the author's life - her courtship with Mr. Latte and the role that food played in it from their first date to their marriage. I like the ease with which the author, (well she writes/ wrote about food for the New York times, so that would explain the ease) writes about her life, invites the reader to follow her experiences with her family and his, and the progress of their relationship, in all of which, food plays a part. In all it was a light, feel good read, for those times when you just need a break!

Corn Chilli Soup

A long time back, R and I had gone to Austin Java Cafe for dinner. We always order their soup and sandwich special. I love soups and they always have a good soup on their daily specials. Our perennial favorite is the African Spicy Peanut Soup, but they had a jalapeno corn chowder that particular day which sounded intriguing. So I went ahead and ordered that. (I am the culinary adventurer of the couple, as you might be able to tell). It was fantastic. A smooth , slightly sweet corn soup with an underlying spicy smoky taste of jalapenos. I don't know how they make it, but I have been dying to recreate it or at least attempt it ever since. I finally got to try it out a few days back. I think theirs was a smooth corn texture, but I let about 1/4th of the corn stay whole and I ended up using Thai Birds Eye chillies instead of jalapenos.

I used about 20 ounces of sweet corn kernels and 8-10 Thai Birds Eye chillies. I covered the corn with about double the amount of water in my soup pot and set it to boil. While the corn was boiling, I stir fried the chilies in a little oil in a pan. When the corn boiled over once, I turned of the heat and let it cool a bit. Then I put about 3/4 of it along with the water from the soup pot in the blender along with the chillies. After pureeing it to a smooth consistency, I put the mixture back in the soup pot along with the remaining 1/4 of the whole corn kernels. I added about 2 tsps of salt and about 2 ounces of Velveeta cheese and let it boil for 10-15 minutes.

Obama vs. McCain

Some quick thoughts about the second Obama McCain Debate -

"that one"? huh, I found that patronising, condescending and very disdainful.

I liked Senator Obama's answer regarding the priorities he had while fixing the economy and also the fact that he thinks health care in such a country should be a right.

Overall, the debate was pretty much 'more of the same' but I guess after listening to this for atleast one year, one can't really expect anything new, at the end of the night for the last question regarding what they did not know and how they would learn it, I felt like they regurgitated their trademark lines over again just to say that closing statement.

One more to go - and then November 4th!

Biden vs. Palin

some quick thoughts on the vice presidential Biden Palin debate -

Senator Biden did not make any 'gaffes' as he was expected to, hurrah for Team Obama!

Governor Palin performed above expectations too.

But the main event of the debate for me was how well prepared Joe Biden is to be the vice president of this country. His answers were well informed, sincere, and he knew what he was taking about. I did not know that he has been advocating for intervention in Darfur, that's not an issue many people are talking about in this election, but he clearly felt strongly about it. I haven't been the biggest fan of Joe Biden, I supported Hillary Clinton through out the primaries and was rooting for her to get the VP nomination. Can you imagine that debate - Clinton vs. Palin... that would have been THE debate to watch. But then Senator McCain would probably have never chosen Governor Palin as his running mate if Hillary Clinton had been the vice-presidential nominee. If people still feel that the Republicans are going to get the womens vote, they really need to take a look at Joe Biden's record on womens issues. It was an interesting departure from the first debate that the media were tracking men and women on the debate and not Democrats, Republicans and Independants. Time and again, and especially after Bidens answer regarding him being a single parent to his children after the tragic death of his wife and daughter, I felt his answers showed humility, decency and grace under pressure. After watching Joe Biden today, I say 'good choice- Barack!'

Hillary vs. Palin

As I have mentioned before, I was an avid supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton during the Democratic Primaries. That she isn't the nominee is disappointing, but well Barack looks like he is on the right path. But McCain choosing Palin as his running mate sure riled me up! I love this Newsweek article in which the author Patti Davis lays out why Governor Palin is not really the right choice to entice the votes of Hillary backers. Governor Palin might prove to be a good Vice President, but she sure is no Hillary Clinton!