Pages

November 29, 2014

Cookworm and the week that was!

I made up something. The word, 'Cookworm' And Peanut butter. And Dinner rolls.

It went straight down to our stomach.  :)

On a serious note, peanut butter consistency was not 'spread worthy' even after grinding in my processor, but the Jaggery  water and the roasted peanut flavor was super yummy.



Dinner rolls I made need a 'Thank You' note to my office. It made me so so so frustrated last night that I decided to meditate in the kitchen being a 'Cookworm'!


For the other part of the title,

Life has been difficult but every one goes through the professionally challenged phase. So I have decided not to blog about it and crib like I am doing since ages here.

I have been cutting away strands hanging with loose ends, I have deleted myself from unwanted groups on whatsapp. Only two groups - Singapore flatmates and close buddy group I am into. It is always nice to be in touch with some one, only if you feel.Too many people to be in touch, increases pressure on me. I need 'me time' badly, so friends who wants to keep in touch with me would always call me/message me/mail me. Rest, see you next time. *How rude I sound!*

I have been reading a lot. This weekend I am travelling through the Silk Route, virtually. I bought this, after reading this I am excited to gulp the book and enjoy the trip.

A cup of good hope, and a change in the blog layout,

Hope you are enjoying an awesome weekend! :-)

November 26, 2014

A cup of Good Hope!

Which is filled with my favorite Adarakh wali chai. Mostly like this or this.

The weather of Pune is the only positive aspect in the way I see the city. I love it. I love it even more when I get that my type of tea in the morning.

The cup lets me go in the flow. Exactly the way this book says. The self consciousness disappears, the time stops flying for me. The chilly taste thanks to ginger and the sweet brew makes me travel a bit in my own world. I do not have tea in the evening but hey, mornings I love you because I get a cup of Good Hope.

I am not into the milk less super aromatic gazillion types of tea available in the artsy world. I am in for traditional India Tapari wali tea. The only tea which gives me that required kick,ah the feel.

The cup of such tea gives me hopes to live the super frustrated life at office. When I am home and working, worried about my next career moves, a cup of good hope is highly recommended. It calms down my mind when required.

 Green tea, after reading some hundred articles about its benefit, fail to appeal. I do not think, it is healthier than cardamom , cinnamon , clove and ginger induced tea.

So for lovers of traditionally Indian, Super spiced tea lovers.

For the cup of GOOD HOPE,



Cheers,

Bubblegum.




November 22, 2014

In search of..

Something which can complete my inner sense. Something which gives me satisfaction. Something is incomplete. The sense of real joy is not there. I am missing the ingredient which can make me forget atmosphere around me, the time would fly but not for me.

The Sunday morning. A blur awakening. The will to make a cup of tea after two slices of bread straight into my stomach to avoid acidity. There are times I want to change some of my habits. Working out, drinking lemon water like dad always wants me to do. These things never happen regularly. Well, may be that secret ingredient is my own self. I am missing being in actual control.

I crave for the comfort food can give, some hours of  sleep can give. I dont want to move my lazy self any where, even when I know the most needed part is my life is healthy diet - no skipping meals and 30 minutes workout. Only 30 minutes.

I want to bake that long awaited bread, sweet bread.The cinnamon smell in my kitchen.

I refuse to do it. I am out of control.

No book is making me feel glued to it. I want to fall in love with a book. No song is making my soul happy. I want to be in love with rhythms. I really miss the high I used to get after jogging. I miss those  sprays of  endorphin.

I know I am in search of Some Thing.

Not sure what. Really.

November 18, 2014

Bullets through my blog!

I know many of my favourite bloggers hate the idea of bulleting short stories-rants. I am not going to be the people pleasure any more, so I have decided to use those bullets (Good, I dont have a gun!) for the wordly-vomit I need to have. How gross I can be!! *Thunking my head on a virtual wall*


  • My schedules have gone haywire. My two bosses (Ex and current) are exactly two poles. North and South. The Ex one does not want to leave me and the portfolio , the new one has already declared my ownership over it. He will pitch in when it is necessary. Good for me. But hey, if there is a formal process called 'Transition of roles', then I am the victim of it. The new boss does not believe in it and the old boss wants to have everything formal. Even a coffee break during the meet. Hello uncertainty and ping pong decision game!
  • I need to bake some breads or even a cake. Period.
  • The urge to create some thing new in my professional life has made me read trillions of articles and some good numbers of books online. With days passing by, I am slowly uncovering my wishes in terms of my work. 
  • The horrible and terrible ( they are understatements!) news of a friend (who used to be a very very good friend of mine, now out of touch!) who lost his wife a week ago in a road accident made me numb. Numb that I wanted to cry and I could not. I want to live every second of my life. No regrets. 
  • I have discovered my love for Mornings. I am a morning person thanks to my house maid and super hectic schedules. I sleep super sound and yeah, I get up (After one snooze, already considered while putting on the alarm!) early. If nothing works, my house maid does the get-up-its-morning task. No, I have not started working out as a daily habit. Some day.
  • I have the weirdest husband. He takes sadistic pleasure in scaring me out by appearing from no where at 1am when I sometimes get up to drink water and he is still on his beloved laptop or watching Tv! I get tiny heart attacks almost bi-weekly. What exactly do you express when you are in your deep sleep and you feel somebody is dunking you in a mountain of sand which is actually a dreamy feeling of a real scene. The scene when your husband is sprinkling powder on your calm, composed sleepy face. 
  • I want to maintain a diary for grocery in Mummy style. Weekly plans, vegetable shopping and grocery with hand written notes and stains! I have been procrastinating to implement this. Not Good.
  • I have discovered a new habit. Not sure if it is good or bad, but a step towards striking a work life balance if it exists. I do not open my work- laptop after office hours. Office hours do not mean 9-5 time frame here.
  • After ages on avoiding facial clean up (Hold you breathes people, I am going girlie!) I made a visit to the expensive saloon near by. I am feeling good and bad. Good for the refreshing feel, bad for the hole in the pocket. 
  • I have discovered new interest in brands like 'Kitchen Aid' for my kitchen. I own a knife now, made by the marvelous brand ( I am an engineer and I notice craftsmanship and material first!) gifted by Mr.ISB's our Kaki. Kaki, if you are reading, thanks for the gift I managed to get for myself from Mummy! :-)
  • I got re-connected with my two Singapore friends on Whatsapp after much expected light abuses from one of them. If you are reading this, Ms.Roomie, I am waiting for the next best phone. Blame it on my iphone! 
  • I have been banging on my next Mumbai Visit. Filter coffee, Dosa, Irani Cafe, Bandra and HOME. Hope it comes soon.

November 11, 2014

Need to talk!

Okay, we need to talk. I need to type. Days I have been blogging and so there are many random things we need to discuss about. Hope you get yourself a cup of (really awesome) Masala tea while I talk share titbits on the blog.

It was an awesome weekend which started on Friday night. My sister (in law who can out law!) came from Mumbai to stay with me have a blast in Pune for some days while Mr.ISB had to be out of town. I was already bored at home as it was more than a week I was all alone, struggling and juggling between my professionally complicated and personally too lonely a life.

So there she came and the cold as well decided to set off, talk about winter. Mix vegetable and paneer pulao with roasted tomato soup. Tick. Tomato crusty cake- first experiment- Tick. Adarakhwali chai- Tick. Alu methi sabji- Tick. Handavo - Tick. Chocolate Banana Peanut butter smoothie - Tick. Awesomeness in kitchen is more awesome when foodies meet.

A friend cum office-mat came to spend some time us with a leaking nose (hope she never finds this blog post). And then there were talks about their (girls sans me) match making with 23435 types of  prospective grooms they have encountered till date. Yours truly found herself immensely lucky as she had by passed the stage where you meet those thousands of guys officially for 'arranged marriage' and get confused when you have to hypothetically assume good things about him in two or three meetings! Poor girls. Well both of them are quite smart, of course finding the right guy would be difficult! The whole how-the-hell-I-say-yes-to-a-guy discussion, we had a brilliant dinner at my favourite restaurant.

The night followed by the dinner was interesting. Chatting, chatting and chatting. When suddenly somebody opened the  main door of my house with a key followed by a series of mini heart attacks in my body. No crime took place. Mr.ISB had peeked into our talk session as always, trying to give a surprise by coming home from his trip. It was a shock for a few second I swear, not the surprise. My lord, please note.

Of course, the (read: silent) icing on the cake had arrived and so the 'masti' was doubled in the cheerful pink cold of Pune. Kolhapuri chappals gifted by Mr.ISB only increased the fun. The awesome dinner followed by a pie and a cake- coming back and checking out wedding photos. No weekend can be better than this.

Then the moment came when I realized the Sunday comes only to be followed by Monday. Throat pain also occurs to be followed by cold. Office also starts to be followed by frustration.

Well, the worst at office is not yet over. Keeping my all limbs crossed.

November 3, 2014

The weekend,Cooking and Bubblegum!

It was a super relaxing weekend. Mr.ISB managed to spend with me by taking a detour from his business trip. It was like that splash of cold water, which makes you relaxed-refreshed but it stays for a moment. Two days were joyful but stayed there only for 2 days. You know what I mean!!

Movies, books, dinner outside with constant cooking incidents and accidents!

Laccha Paratha , Pudina Chutney , Garlic toast and Spaghetti Aglio e Olio - I crafted them all in my kitchen thanks to some brilliant chefs (almost, for me!) in the blog world and both of us relished all of these dishes followed by a super tasty dinner pending since long at a nearby favorite restaurant.  Creating magic in the kitchen is more relaxing then staring at the mail box in the office to let things move! Ah..By the way, not mentioning a loaf of bread which failed to rise came in between my otherwise good (read: awesome) mood.

A little bit of shopping, a dinner date and a movie or two were enough for me to forget the failure and start afresh. Another reason which made me stand up and bake again, was my frustration. Baking always leads to a much needed distraction, followed by some time in introspection.

The introspection which used to push me in a black hole aka depression before, now makes a calm play. Day by day, I am getting convinced where my real interest lies, accepting reality, gathering courage to do what I want. Slowly but steadily. Just like my first bread which I baked. Yes, finally I baked my first tasty loaf of bread!

I am in love with the beautiful rise thanks to the wet yeast procured from a near by bakery, whose owner failed to  know why I need to know Everything about the wet yeast and bake my own bread! His recipe was simple. "Thoda atta, thoda salt, thoda yeat, milao thikse, fulane do and bake karo." followed by "Aap banayegi?"



When I followed her blog post step by step (Though I replaced dry yeast with wet fresh yeast) and finally after hours , while cutting the bread loaf, I was almost drooling due to aroma! Enough self praising! ;-)



The satisfaction of crafting something for the 'Paapi pet'! ;-)

I have  also realized coming days are going to be even more frustrating in office. Worst is yet to come. Professional world might turn upside down or even worst, crush me,mince me. I am ready to seize the situation. Once and for all. With my cooking adventures on. Every single freaked out day will be a bake out day!

I promise.