...Life in the US Of A

Banana Nut Bread

2011-05-16T19:05:00.001-04:00

Hi,
It's been a very long time and i know i have been a very bad blogger :(. But with a little one who is entering the Terrible Two phase , i hardly have time to sit in front of a laptop !!!! My daughter loves saying "close" and shutting down the laptop :P. By the time she goes to bed , i am totally drained out to sit and do anything *sigh* !!!!

But now I am back and this time with a recipe for Banana Bread. I do have one in my blog already but this time i had a whole load of ripe bananas sitting at home and so wanted something different. So went on a hunt for a good recipe and found this one by the Neelys ( Pat & Gina Neely of Food Network fame) !!!!! It was a super duper hit with my little one and from then whenever i have overripe Bananas this is what i make at home :).

Recipe Source :

Adapted from The Neelys

Ingredients :

1.5 cups All purpose flour

1 stick butter ( at room temp)

2 eggs ( at room temp )

1/2 cup Sour cream ( at room temp )

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Salt

1 cup Sugar

3 ripe bananas ( the riper the better )

2 tsps Vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped Walnuts

How to go about it :

Butter a loaf pan , preheat the oven to 350F.

Sieve all the dry ingredients in a bowl ( flour , baking powder , baking soda and salt ). Mash the bananas in another bowl.

In the meantime beat together the butter and sugar till it is fluffy !!! To this add eggs one at a time.

Now add the vanilla extract . To this add bananas and sour cream.

Once its all mixed together add the flour mixture.

Now add in the walnuts and gently mix it in with a spatula.

Pour the mixture into a loaf pan and bake it for 1hr 30 mins ( my oven got it done in 70 mins ). Check the center with a tooth pick. If it comes out clean the bread is done !!!!!

Hmmm the smell of the baking bread was enough to wake up my little one from her sleep. Hardly was it out of the oven that she wanted a piece !!!!!

Enjoi it in the morning or in the evening as a snack !!!!

Have fun Baking !!!!!

Easy Sponge cake !!!

2011-02-02T17:39:00.002-05:00

Hi All,

It's been a real long break for me. We were moving again , then had friends visiting and staying with us. Then the bigger surprise was my Dad who had not seen his granddaughter from her birth decided to make a trip to see her (not to see his daughter but his granddaughter.. poor me). So 2010 came to an end with Dad leaving back to India :(. Hmmm i really do miss my parents ..... the downfall of living in the USofA i guess !!!!!

So let me begin this post wishing everyone a very Happy New Year (though a month late)!!!! The New Year brought a never before seen snowstorm in Atlanta and it was a nightmare having to sit at home for 5 days as the roads were not cleared ..... !!!! After having lived in New Jersey this was a new experience for us ... to stay cooped at home !!!

Here i was ..sitting at home , with nothing to do ...as in could not go out. And my daughter hated being cooped up continuously . My daughter loves it when the oven light goes on and stays close to it for the entire duration that something is being baked in the oven. So i decided to bake something that would go with the evening coffee.

The sponge cake recipe was given to me by a good friend Ramya of http://ramyaacooks.blogspot.com/ even before my daughter was born and its always turned out excellent. Every time my Hubby feels like having cake this is his first choice. It is also a hit with my DD :). But this time for a change instead of using a normal square or round baking pan i decided to put to use my brand new Bundt pan. And boy did it turn out good !!!! Or rather should i say great ;).

The above photo if you notice has been cracked on one end :(. This is because i did not allow the cake to cool once i removed it from the oven and in a mad rush turned it over. As they say i think i have to practice patience when it comes to a cake cooling down..... :).

The photo above is after cutting off the part where it was cracked ;).. and such a big piece went into the tummies of me and my DD !!!!!

Coming to the recipe ...

Ingredients :

1 stick unsalted butter( room temperature)

1 3/4 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs( room temperature )
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup buttermilk( room temperature )

To make the cake :

Grease a square or round or in my case a bundt pan with butter and flour and keep it aside.
Also preheat the oven to 350F.

Now sieve the flour , baking powder and salt and keep it aside.

In a bowl beat together butter and sugar till its all fluffy. To this add eggs one at a time and beat each egg till its all well mixed. Now add the vanilla extract and mix it together with the butter and eggs.

Now add the flour (3 parts) and buttermilk ( bm , 2 parts) in parts to the wet ingredients starting with flour and ending up with flour ( flour + bm + flour + bm + flour ).

Remember to scrape the sides of the bowl as you beat the mixture.

Pour the mixture into the cake pan and bake for 40 mins .

Normally it takes me 40 mins but when i baked it in a bundt pan it was all done in 30 mins.
To check if the cake is done insert a toothpick into the cake and if it comes out clean you are all set !!!!

Cool the cake for 10 to 15 mins , invert , slice and enjoy !!!!!!

It goes well as a coffee time cake and my family loves to eat it with ice-cream and strawberries as a after dinner dessert !!!!

Let me know if you like it too :)

Simple and Easy Potato Fry !!!!

2010-08-24T17:21:00.000-04:00

Been a busy month for me , what with my daughter turning "1" :) , the birthday party and with my hubby travelling on weekdays which makes it impossible for me to sit in front of my laptop for more than a few minutes as my daughter loves the laptop and refuses to allow me to sit in front of it. Plus she misses her Dad a lot and hence her sleeping time is also cut down :(..... this is just a small idea of my time at home right now :).

I finally put her to sleep and thought let me post something simple and easy :)
Everyone has a comfort dish and mine is Potatoes in any form :). Any time of the day - be it for breakfast , lunch or dinner i would not mind eating them. As a filling for sandwiches , as a side dish for lunch or dinner !!!! Hmmmm even writing about it tempts me to make some :).
To date my hubby pulls my leg everytime i make this dish. The reason being that when i got married i did not know the ABC of cooking. Even a simple Rasam was something i learnt from my hubby. But the very first dish i made on my own was this and it turned out perfect :). So to date he keeps asking me , "how come you kept saying you did not know to cook and this dish alone turns out so perfectly :)"

Ingredients :

1/2 of a medium size onion - chopped

2 medium sized potatoes - diced into small cubes

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp chilli powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

a pinch of asafoetida powder

Salt as required

Curry leaves and coriander as required

2 tbsps Olive oil ( or any oil)

To go about :

Heat the oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot add the mustard and cumin seeds. Once the mustard starts spluttering add the curry leaves. Then add the chopped onions. Sauté the onion till it turns translucent.Then add the diced potatoes. Stir it up once then add all the powdered ingredients and salt. Stir it up completely and allow it to cook on a medium flame. Keep stirring it once in a while so that the potatoes do not burn up. The medium flame allows the potatoes to cook up nicely. You can if you want leave it on medium flame to deep roast it or remove it once the potatoes are done. The choice is ultimately yours on how you want it done :). I used to deep roast it earlier but these days i don't as sometimes my little one eats what i eat and if deep roasted then she finds it difficult :)... hmmmm the choices we Mom's make for our little ones !!!!!

Garnish the potatoes with coriander and remove. Serve it hot with rice or even chappathis.

Variation : A slight variation to the above is to skip the onions and fry the potatoes :). This is also yummy !!!

This is a quick dish as it requires no separate boiling of the potatoes and gets done quickly.

I am sure nearly everyone out here has almost the same recipe for this dish.... but for those reading this, let me know how you make it in your kitchen :)

Chocolate Custard - and it is Eggless !!!!!!!!

2010-07-09T11:18:00.001-04:00

Custard has always been an all time favourite dessert for me. If i have short notice of friends dropping by for lunch or dinner , then this is the one i prepare. I normally use Brown & polson Custard Powder and i always have an extra packet in stock in my pantry :).
Custard served with a good helping of any combination of fruits is a way to make kids eat fruits too :). And rather than plain custard , custard served with fruits is a better way to go about it.
The other day i was browsing through various blogs and i happened to chance upon Chocolate Custard - made from scratch. I was so tempted with the photos on the blog and with the recipe that i had to definitely try it :). Best of all , for all those veggie lovers out there , this recipe is eggless .
I made a couple of changes since post my daughter i prefer less chocolate in my desserts , and this from a person who has a big sweet tooth :P.
The source for the recipe is from DivineTaste.Since i wanted the custard more creamier i increased the quantity of cream.

Ingredients :

1.5 cups milk
1.5 cups cream
1/2 cup sugar
less than 1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup cornflour or cornstarch ( i had cornstarch and so i used it)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Extra cocoa powder for sprinkling ( i skipped this)

To go about making the custard :

Take a saucepan and mix 1 cup milk with the cream and set it in medium flame. In the meantime in a bowl mix the remaining milk with sugar , cornstarch and cocoa powder and set it aside. Make sure there are no lumps.
Once the milk + cream mixture comes to a boil , bring the flame to low and add the chocolate mixture to it. Keep it in low and keep stirring the mixture ensuring that no lumps are formed. Once the mixture starts thickening add the vanilla extract , stir it and remove from the flame.
Allow the mixture in the pan to cool , transfer it to custard bowls and refrigerate.
I allowed the mixture to chill for almost 6 hrs ( made it in the morning , in time to serve it as dessert over lunch) before serving.
As the original recipe suggests you can sprinkle with cocoa powder before you serve. I skipped this as like i already did say , i am not much a fan of too much chocolate in my desserts and hence the reduced cocoa powder in my recipe too :).

Your yummy chocolate custard is now ready to be served !!!!!!

try it out and let me know if it was a hit at your home too !!!!!

Brinjal Raita !!!

2010-07-06T23:47:00.001-04:00

I am back and this time have a valid reason for such a late post... moving from state to state on short notice left me with loads of packing and then the unpacking !!!!!! And imagine with a 10 month old around :).
Now i am almost settled and found time to sit online and do some work on the blog. In fact i have loads of posts sitting in my drafts but i hardly have the time these days :(.

This post is a different one - Brinjal raita. This was something i learnt from my Mom when she was here for my delivery last year. No day used to go by when i went without having Cucumber raita for lunch. But moving to NJ from CA , i never was happy with the quality of Cucumbers that i found in NJ. Was telling my Mom about it when she said she would make Brinjal raita. Not only was it a hit with me , but with my hubby too who is very finicky about his food!!!!!

This is also a hit with friends ,family and children too!!!!!. This goes well with Pulao varieties as well as with rice :).

Try it out and let me know :).

Ingredients :

Eggplant - 3 medium sized , finely chopped and place it in a bowl of water
Onion - 1/2 of a large sized Onion , finely chopped
Sour cream - as desired
Curd - as desired
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tsps
Salt - as required
Coriander leaves - chopped , to garnish

How to go about it :

Take a pan , add oil. Once it is hot , add mustard seeds. As they start popping add onions.
Once the onions turn transluscent add the cut eggplant.To this add the required salt , mix well and leave it on medium flame till the eggplant is finely cooked. If needed you can add a small amount of water to cook the eggplants.
Once cooked , remove the pan and allow the mix to cool down.

Once it is cool enough , transfer to a bowl , add sour cream and curd in the ratio of 3:1 and mix it well.

Since we have already added salt while cooking , taste and if required add more salt. To this add the cumin powder and give the mixture a stir.

Add coriander leaves and the raita is ready to serve !!!!!!!

PS: You can make any changes you want to this as in :

i. I normally prefer more sour cream , but if one likes more curd , the ratio can be reversed or it can be just plain curd too :).

ii. You can also add fresh coconut gratings to this :).

The list is endless , but i always the prefer simple version ;P

Ven Pongal !!!!!

2010-06-11T10:13:00.001-04:00

This has been sitting in my draft for almost a month , and then i decided that it has been long so here i am :).
Pongal is an authentic South Indian Dish and is made of rice. It's my all time favorite to day and nothing beats a plate of Pongal served with Sambhar , Chutney and Medhu Vada.
I was pregnant and this was my all time craving. Those days i hardly used to cook and left it all to my hubby. When i told him he made it one fine day but somehow something was not right and i refused to eat it. Poor hubby of mine did not have the heart to ask me to eat as i kept telling him i was preggy and this did not suit my taste buds :P.
So there i was calling up my Mom for her recipe. A week later i made my hubby make the Pongal once more and this time stood next to him and kept cross checking if everything was as per the recipe my Mom gave us. I guess he must have been cursing me in his heart for being such a Big pain :). The Pongal was a hit with my Hubby too and to this day he insists that i make it as per my Mom's recipe. It's a hit with my friends and relative too.

Ingredients :
Rice - 1 cup ( i use Sona Masoori)
Moong Dal - 1/4 cup
1/4"inch ginger
4 cups water
1/2 cup milk
Salt to taste

To temper :

1 tsp cumin seeds
20-25 peppercorns freshly ground (coarsely , not a fine powder).
20 cashews .
2 to 3 coriander leaves
1/2 cup ghee ( or more if your taste buds call for it).

To go about it :

Wash rice and dal (some may fry the dal but i don't prefer it). Add rice , dal , water , milk , ginger , 1 tsp of ghee , salt to a pressure pan ( or cooker). Close the pan and allow it to cook for 4 whistles.
Once the rice is cooked , stir it up. Add ghee now and stir it again. The more the ghee , the tastier the Pongal in my opinion :). So if you are going to be calorie conscious , you can still reduce the ghee to suit your needs.
In the meantime in a pan add ghee ( don't give me a look :) ) , add coriander leaves , cumin , cashew and the coarsely ground pepper. Fry this till you get a nice smell and please don't allow the cashew to deep roast as it will spoil the taste.
Add this to the cooked rice and stir it up well.
Pongal is now ready for serving with Chutney and /or Sambhar. Wish i had made Vada to go along with it ....*sigh* !!!!!

Electric cooker Version :

For those people who would like to make Pongal in the Electric rice cooker - the process would remain the same , but the water + milk should be 7 cups. This comes out as good as the rice cooker version :).

Idli !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-05-14T15:15:00.000-04:00

Idli - there used to be a time when i used to hate idli's. When i was doing my UG i had a bad experience with Idli's. The cook used to steam cook our idli's and when they come out they used to be all squishy. Man did i have an aversion to eating those idli's :(. Even home for vacations i used to refuse to eat idli's though of course Mom used to make them soft. Initially i used to avoid going to have either breakfast or dinner when the Menu indicated Idli. Then the hunger pangs used to force me to go have the squishy Idli's and the only compensation was the Homemade Idli Podi that i used to bring :).
Post Marriage when i came to the US we could not bring the Grinder with us as we were already overloaded and everyone told me that the Mixer Grinder never gave out good idli's. So there i was 2 years into marriage and had never made Idli's :). My hubby in fact loves Idli's and there never has been a day when he has not told me that i never made Idli's and my daughter at 9 months takes after her Dad - she loves Idli's :).
We finally got our own Grinder when i moved to NJ last September and since Mom was here it was a treat for us. And even after she left i continue the tradition of making Idli's for my family and luckily they turn out just right for me . The best part is that our friend's son who never used to eat anything makes it a point to always ask me " Aunty Idli?????" What would make me more happy????????????

I use my Mom's measurements for making recipe and to date it has never failed me. So here we go :)

Ingredients :

Idli Rice - 4 cups
Urad Dal - 1 1/4 cups
Fenugreek (vendayam) - 1tsp
Salt to taste
Water as required

To make the batter :

Soak the rice in a bowl big enough to hold 3 times the measurement provided and the Urad dal and fenugreek in another bowl and remeber the bowl should have the capacity to hold 3 times the provided measurement.
Soak it for atleast a minimum of 6 hours or you can soak it overnight.

In the grinder first grind the dal. Once it has reached a good consistency remove the batter to a vessel.
Next add the rice and grind it till required consistency is achieved.
Mix it with the dal batter . Add salt to taste and water asd required.

Allow the batter to ferment.Being in the US sometimes the batter does not ferment. So what i do is place the batter in the oven and leave the light on. The heat that the light generates helps in the fermentation process. I leave it overnight and by morning my batter is all fermented and ready :)

To make Idli's :

I don't have an idli cooker so i use my pressure pan. First oil the ildi plates or you can use a soft and clean white cloth over the plates. Pour the batter into the plate , place it in the pressure pan. Remember not to add the weight to the Pressure pan. If in high then 10 minutes would suffice for the idli to be cooked.
To check if the idli is ready , wet a finger in cold water , and make a hole in one idli. If there is no batter sticking on to your finger , your Idli is ready :).

Serve it with Idli podi , Sambhar or any variety of chutney.

In the pic , i served it with Homemade podi and Sambhar. Coconut or Onion chutney is also a very good combination for the idli.

My 9 month old has her idli with Ghee :P

Soft idli's make my mouth water :)........

Will be back soon with a recipe for my homemade podi too !!!!!!!!

Milk Peda

2010-04-26T15:23:00.000-04:00

Sweets and me , we have an ongoing love affair :). I love sweets so much that during my pregnancy they were the root cause of my needing to go on a controlled diet :(
Recently i happened to be uploading some photos of Sweets and Dishes that i had made on Facebook and a lot of my friends wanted the recipe for Pedas.
This recipe is a microwave version that i first tried out in 2009 when i had too much milk powder sitting idle at home and when i first started having my cravings for anything sweet :P .
Very frankly i don't remember from where i got this recipe as back in 2009 i never blogged about Food and hence though i made a note of the recipe , i did not make a note of from where i got the recipe.

So the credit and my heartfelt thanks goes to whosoever gave me the recipe !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The ingredients needed and the procedure on how to make it are very simple and it should hardly take more than 15 mins of your time to make these .

Ingredients :

Milk Powder - 2cups
Condensed Milk - 14oz can
Butter - 4oz (at room temperature)
Saffron strands - a few
Nuts - Any that you may have at home . I used Almonds.
Ghee - 2 to 3 tsps

How to go about making the Pedas :

Take a Microwave(MW) safe Glass bowl and make sure it is deep and big enough to mix all of the above.
Add butter to the bowl and MW for a minute. If the butter has not melted MW for another 30secs.
To the butter add milk powder and stir it in slowly and make sure there are no lumps.
To the above add the can of condensed milk and stir it completely.
Place the bowl in the MW and leave it on for a minute.
Remove the bowl from the MW , stir the mixture and make sure there are no lumps. Leave it again for another minute. When you remove the bowl from the MW you can see that the mixture has started to thicken. Stir the mixture and place it for 1 more minute.
If at the end of 3 minutes the mixture is not thick you can heat it again in the MW in 30sec intervals
Allow the mixture to cool for 15 to 20 mins.
Now apply ghee on your palms , take a small quantity of the mixture ( enough to make a ball ) and roll it in your hands.
Flatten it , make a small hole in the center and place the Almond ( or any nut of your choice) in the center.
Repeat the process for the entire mixture.

Your yummy pedas are now ready to be served !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

These are so easy to make that if you have milk powder and condensed milk you can make these in batches and serve for any get-together or even for parties , potlucks :).

Tiramisu

2010-04-26T00:13:00.001-04:00

Hmmmm Tiramisu...even telling it out makes my mouth water. Yummmmm!!!!! From the time i came to the US post marriage my favorite restaurant has always been "Olive Garden". The unlimited breadsticks and the minestrone soup are more than enough to fill up your stomach that i hardly have the space to eat the entrée ordered.By default the dessert that i order is always Tiramisu. I love the dessert so much that i decided to try making it at home. So on a fine weekend i left my daughter with her dad (telling my hubby it was dad-daughter bonding time) and decided to try it out.

There are people who would do the whole Tiramisu from scratch but with a 8 month old i do not have too much time on my hands , so i normally buy the necessary ingredients.

I have two recipes i follow - one with eggs and one without. Today i will give out the one without eggs. This is easy to make and if you are gonna have friends over for dinner , then you can make it in the morning and push it into the refrigerator to chill. Its ready to serve in time for dinner :).

So what exactly is a Tiramisu??? The below is a source from my best friend the Wiki :)

Tiramisu (Italian: Tiramisù; Venetian: Tiramesù " [tirameˈsu]) is one of the most popular Italian cakes. It is made of savoiardi (otherwise known as lady finger biscuits) dipped in espresso or strong coffee or rum, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks, mascarpone cheese, and sugar, and topped with cocoa.

The original recipe called for the following ingredients: savoiardi biscuits, eggs, sugar, mascarpone, cocoa powder, honey, and carbonated water.In the original recipe, there was no liquor as the cake was originally aimed at children and the elderly, and the original shape was round. The phrase tirami su literally means "pick me up" or "pull me up" in reference to the effects of the sugar and espresso.

Please bear with the photo for now as i am still practicing on the aspects of these photos. Will put up a better one soon :)

The source for my recipe is from the Betty Crocker Website which you can see here.

Prep Time : 30 mins

Total time : 4h 30 mins ( 4hrs to refrigerate)

Servings : Depends on how big or small a piece one cuts :)

Ingredients :

8oz softened Mascarpone cheese or cream cheese if one does not have Mascarapone ( leave the cheese out at room temp , if not microwave it for a min)

4oz powdered sugar

2tbsp light rum

8oz heavy whipping cream

1 package ladyfingers (some would say 12 would do , but i use all 24 from the package. I buy it from Trader's Joe as these are of better quality)

4oz prepared espresso or strong coffee ( should be chilled)

4tsps baking cocoa

Chocolate shavings for serving

Preparation :

1. In a large vessel (comfortable for you to beat in) beat the mascarpone ( or cream cheese) and sugar on medium speed.

2. Add in the rum and beat all together.

3. In a separate bowl beat the whipping cream till you see stiff peaks being formed.

4.Now mix both the mixtures together and beat them together (only on medium speed).

5.Slightly dip the ladyfinger's in the espresso ( dip it very lightly as otherwise they will turn soggy) and in any pan of your wish ( i used a 8*8*2 square pan) arrange the ladyfingers horizontally ( i used 12 on each layer).

6.Spread half of the cheese mixture evenly over the ladyfingers and sprinkle cocoa powder on top.

7.Now once again on top of the cocoa arrange another layer of espresso dipped ladyfingers , spread the remaining cheese mixture , sprinkle cocoa powder.

8.Wrap up the pan in foil or plastic wrap and allow it to refrigerate for 4 hrs.

9. When you want to serve remove the pan , cut slices , drizzle chocolate shavings and your Tiramisu is ready to eat.

Note: Please remember to leave it covered in the refrigerator.

Samosas

2010-04-02T17:24:00.003-04:00

It was a rainy Saturday evening and it bugged me that we had to stay indoors and that too on a weekend. Especially having an 8 month old and not taking her out was something i definitely hated. After enjoying the awesome weather in California , NJ was definitely a no-no to me. But my hubby's job demanded the move and here i am.

I have always loved samosas from my childhood and there has never been a day when i have asked for it and my dad said "NO" :). I wanted to make it but i kept thinking that its a tedious process and did not want to get involved in it. But this rainy evening increased my craving for samosas with hot Chai and so i decided let me try my hands on it. So there i was blog hunting. I searched a couple of blogs and came up with a combination for the filling that would satisfy my taste buds :).

So what exactly is a Samosa ???? This is in case anyone who is not Indian chances upon my blog :).

Samosa generally consists of a fried or baked triangular shell with a savory filling which may include spiced potatoes, onion, peas, coriander, andlentils. The size and shape of a samosa as well as the consistency of the patty used can vary considerably, although it is mostly triangular. Samosas are often served with imli chutney or curd.

Ingredients :

For the shell :

1cup all purpose flour

salt to taste

little oil

water ( enough to knead the dough)

ajwain is generally added to the dough but i don't prefer it .

oil for frying

For the filling :

2 medium sized potatoes - boiled and crumbled

1/2 cup boiled green peas

1 small sized onion

1tsp ginger garlic paste

2 green chillis

1/2 tsp red chilli powder ( you may skip the chillis and increase this to 1 tsp)

a pinch of turmeric

1/4 tsp garam masala

salt to taste

chopped corainder leaves

1/4 tsp cumin seeds.

ghee for frying ( i always add ghee , but this can be substituted with oil)

So how do we go about it?????

Mix the all purpose flour with salt and oil. To this add water slowly to make a dough. Do not add to much water as then the dough would not be firm and that makes it difficult to knead.

Sprinkle some water slighlty on the mixed dough and leave it covered for 30 mins.

In the meantime , add ghee in a pan. Add cumin seeds and when this splutters add onion and green chillies. Fry onion till it turns translucent. To this add g&g paste and fry till the raw odor is gone.

Now add the cooked peas and fry for a min or two. To this add the crumbled potatoes and mix all together. Fry for a min.

Now add the dry powders and salt and fry for a few mins. Add the chopped coriander leaves and remove.

Make small sized balls of the dough. Roll it flat as you would roll a chappati. Cut the rolled out dough into 2 halves.

Take one half and form a cone out of it.Seal the point where the two ends meet. Hold the cone between your fingers and add the filling. Wet your finger and run it along the end and seal the cone.

Add enough oil in a kadai or pan and fry the samsosas. Remove once they turn golden.

Hot samosas are now ready to serve with tomato ketchup , green chutney or any other combination you may like.

I had my garma garam samosas with tomato ketchup and cup of hot chai :)

Banana Almond Cake

2010-03-30T21:38:00.003-04:00

Hey to all my friends out there !!!!!

So this is going to be my first post on a recipe i just tried out. I wanted to post another recipe but then this turned out awesome that i wanted to post this :)

There were 2 reasons that i wanted to bake a cake. One was that my daughter is completing 8 months tomorrow and the other reason was that i had too many ripe bananas sitting at home. I knew that if i did not put it into proper use it would end in the trash can. I do not have a multitude of recipes in hand as i am still an amateur cook and so i went blog hunting. I wanted something simple so that i could also surprise my hubby. The reason behind it is that every time i bake i make sure my hubby is nearby so that he can help me out for every small thing :) and he keeps telling me " if i do all the things , i think i can bake the cake myself" :)

The original recipe was from the blog Mahanandi and the link is here . I made a whole lot of changes and the end result was the Banana Almond Cake :).

To all the other fellow bloggers - i am still an amateur and please excuse any errors on my side. The photo that i took is not that excellent , but i guess for a first attempt it is not too bad :). So do bear with me.

Ingredients :

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup chopped almonds ( or any nuts that u have at home)

1/2 cup milk

1 ripe banana - mashed

1 tsp Vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsps ghee or oil

1/2 tsp salt

How to go about it :

Preheat the oven at 350F

In a bowl mix all the dry ingredients together ( flour , sugar , nuts , baking powder)

In another bowl add the bananas , vanilla extract , ghee / oil . Whisk them all together ( i used an electric mixer on medium speed). To this add half of the dry ingredient mixture along with the milk. Beat again on medium speed. Add the balance of the dry ingredients and beat the whole mixture on medium speed.

Remember not to beat the mixture too much as then it would start to crack when you bake.

Grease a baking pan and pour the batter into the pan. Bake at 350F for anywhere between 30 to 40 mins.

To know if you the cake is baked and ready , insert a toothpick in the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean , your cake is ready.

I had it with a dollop of ice -cream and chocolate sauce and loved it :). Iam sure this will also go well with kids .

Enjoy the cake and do let me know how well it turned out :)

Also let me know your opinion on my blog.

Back to blogging after a real long long time

2010-03-25T13:34:00.001-04:00

Hello Everyone,

I know its been a very long duration since i blogged. My daughter , moving to a new state , getting adapted to the weather and to top it all a game addiction.... oh man , all these kept me away from my blog. I would not regret anything , but of course i do regret getting addicted to games on Facebook :P. So i finally decided today that i would slow down and slowly quit the games too.

My daughter turns 8 months with this month end . Now i do have some time to come back to my blog and so here i am.

I am going to begin it with cooking this time as having a baby made me realize i would soon need to start on ways to make my daughter eat and that too with totally innovative ways. My hubby keeps telling me these days that i keep trying something new or the other now when i have a baby and am busy rather than when i had all the time in the world before my daughter:). Does he not sound a tiny weeny bit jealous and don't i love it !!!!!!!!!!

OK i am going to end this post now and will be back later :)

Have a good day everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome to Baby Ananya!!!!

2009-09-24T08:17:00.001-04:00

I have had a number of friends telling me to drop by and leave a few words in the blog when time permits. But then with the arrival of my daughter , we also had to move from coast to coast and so my schedule was hectic.

Anyways this post is to inform all my friends in the blogging community that the latest addition to my family is my baby daughter Ananya. She was born on July 31st , 2009. Both me and my daughter narrowly missed sharing the same birthdate [:(].

Ananya means "unique" and deciding the name was the biggest decision that me and my husband had :).

My daughter has completed 2 months now and i have decided to find the time and come back blogging :). Iam also going to add my mom's recipes to my blogs. Since shes been here with me , i have learnt her recipes and intend to share those too . The reason behind this being that post marriage my hubby thought me whatever cooking i do these days. So my moms cooking has tempted me to add her recipes to my blog.

So iam gonna be back regularly (hopefully , have my fingers crossed)!!!!!!!

Ciao for now!!!!!

Happy News to share in 2009!!!!!

2009-04-17T00:07:00.001-04:00

Its been a long time since I blogged and I know its not fair to give excuses…….but this time I have a very good reason and I want to share it with all my fellow bloggers :)

I found out I was expecting in December and there began the start of a round of Morning sickness , nausea , fatigue and the list goes on. By End of day I used to be so drained out that I hardly had the time to cook. At the same time my Hubby had a change in project and had to leave at home at 7 in the morning . I guess everything turned up at the same time…. And I just used to have time to pack up D to office and then crash. Most of the initial months were spent sleeping , eating , sleeping :(.

There were also days when my Hubby after a whole day of work would come and cook dinner …. guess I troubled him enough those days. Obviously I still do trouble him these days but comparatively its less these days :)

Once my little one arrives , I am sure the time I spend on blogging is going to be very little , so I thought I would utilize to the maximum these months before he/she comes home. So here iam. I promise to regularly update my blogs in the coming couple of months ;).

Let me begin this post by first wishing all fellow bloggers “ A very Happy New year”….. I know its 4 months into the New Year , but as they say , "Better Late Than Never ". I hope this year can make all our wishes come true and give us all loads of happiness. Let us also hope that with a change in the Presidency here in the USofA , the economy does stabilize and all of us can take a deep breath and relax.

So let me begin with my normal posts next :)

Trip to Grand Canyon

2009-04-16T20:50:00.001-04:00

My last post in 2008 was about my trip to Las Vegas. Combined with this trip was a visit to Grand Canyon. So this post is gonna be about my trip down to Grand Canyon.

We set out at around 8am in the morning from Las Vegas. A trip down to Grand Canyon must encompass either a view of the Sunrise or the Sunset. We were planning to watch the Sunset. On that particular day the Sun was to set at 5.32pm. So we were planning to be there at around 2pm..... visit the Rims , watch the sunset and then start back to Vegas.

Enroute we were planning to visit Hoover Dam too. Starting out from Las Vegas , we got stuck in traffic and it was then that i decided that i was not planning any more holidays during the long weekends. The traffic during the long weekends is horrid.... and sitting in the car for hours together makes it even more impossible to bear.

To reach Hoover Dam we had to cross Lake Mead........ and is the largest reservoir in the US.Formed by water impounded by Hoover Dam , it extends 110 mi (180 km) behind the dam, holding approximately 28.5 million acre feet (35 km³) of water. The water held in Lake Mead is released to communities in Southern California and Nevada, via aqueducts. To know more about lake Mead , check out the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Mead .

Of the less than 1 hour duration it should have taken us to reach Hoover Dam , it took us almost 2 hours and we reached there at 10am. We spent around an hour there admiring the structure of the Dam... man is it awesome :). As we were planning to start we happened to meet a friend of my husband's who was also enroute to Hoover Dam with his wife. We decided to stop together for lunch and then meet later on at Grand Canyon.

Starting from Hoover Dam we were expecting to travel atleast 3 hours to reach Grand Canyon. At the Nevada / Arizona border is a scenic view point. We had stopped there and the view of the Colorado River running so small was something i did not expect to see. So small but in fact a big river :)...... amazing view...... as the photo on the right indicates.

On the dusty road , i was too tired and fell asleep for almost an hour. We stopped for lunch at McD's..... there was nothing else enroute..... and i happen to love McD's...while my hubby dear hates eating burgers :).... guess opposites attract is an example here.

The traffic was light so we were able to make it to Grand canyon as per plan at 2:30pm. That day the temperature was supposed to be in the negatives and we were all prepared for it. But still when i got down from the car , it was freezing cold. I was decked up in a woollen knit top , a sweater on top , a knee length coat , a scarf and gloves ....and i still felt cold :(.

We met our friends there , parked our cars and decided to use the local tourist bus to visit the various Rims at Grand Canyon. To read more about Grand Canyon check the link...... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon .

There were 4 major spots in the Park but due to time constarints we were able to make it to only 3 points. Since the sunset was at 5.32 , my Hubby who has already paid 2 visits to Grand Canyon was like lets make it to Hopi Point , as supposedly the view there is awesome. So all of us started walking..... as we reached Hopi point by 5.10pm and were among the early birds we could grab good seats for a birds eye view of the sunset.

As the time was nearing , the crowds started and i could see people from various walks of life coming up. Among the crowds i could also identify a couple of Indian languages :). D , my hubby , kept telling me that within 5 mins the sun would set down completely , but i hardly did believe and i did believe when i finally saw it :).

At exactly 5.32pm the sun started setting down , and in less than 5 mins the sun was completely down. Within 10 mins the sky started turning dark. Awesome and i am sure ho many ever sunsets i may see in the future , this one will always stay in mind and iam going to make

comparisons always to the Sunset that i had a chance to view here.

The first pic on the right is that of the setting sun at Hopi Point , and the second one below it is within 10 mins of the sun setting down :)

As we were returning back to the base....the cafeteria for us :).... i kept thinking how even a small attraction was turned out to be a big tourist spot here , whereas back home ...even if the place had the best view /attraction , it still would not have been utilized properly either by the people or by the Government. Guess the art of turning everything into a Business proposition is something that we have to learn from people here :)

We were back at the cafeteria by 6.30pm , had a cup of hot chocolate , said good bye to our friends and started back on our journey to Vegas. Luckily gtraffic was once again light so we could make it up fast. But inspite of everything , we reached the hotel at past 11pm that night...... and i just remember crashing onto the bed and falling asleep. The last thought on my mind was that after returning home i should learn driving as then my hubby would also have been able to take a break during the drive :). I did take the Driving test ...but that was almost a year later :).

Next day....post lunch saw us heading back to CA from Vegas and getting stuck in traffic. The journey of around 5 hours ended up being a journey of 8+ hours :(....

So anyways friends this is it for now...... will be back soon with more updates :)

Sign Of Seven Trilogy

2008-12-25T01:12:00.001-05:00

Sign Of Seven Trilogy - Nora Roberts

This series has 3 books :

Blood Brothers
The Hollow and
The Pagan Stone

Synopsis of the Books:

Blood Brothers :

In the small village of Hawkins Hollow, three best friends who share the same birthday sneak off into the woods for a sleepover the evening before turning 10. But a night of pre-pubescent celebration turns into a night of horror as their blood brother oath unleashes a three-hundred year curse.

Twenty-one years later, Cal Hawkins and his friends have seen their town plagued by a week of unexplainable evil events two more times - every seven years. With the clock winding down on the third set of seven years, someone else has taken an interest in the town's folklore. Quinn is a well known scholar of local legends, and despite Cal's protests, insists on delving in the mystery. But when the first signs of evil appear months early, it's not only the town Cal tries to protect, but also his heart.

The Hollow :

In the small village of Hawkins Hollow, three best friends who share the same birthday sneak off into the woods for a sleepover the evening before turning 10. But a night of pre-pubescent celebration turns into a night of horror as their blood brother oath unleashes a three-hundred year curse. Twenty-one years later, Fox O'Dell and his friends have seen their town plagued by a week of unexplainable evil events two more times - every seven years. With the clock winding down on the third set of seven years, someone else has taken an interest in the town's folklore. A boutique manager from New York, Layla Darnell was drawn to Hawkins Hollow for reasons she can't explain - but the recent attacks on her life make it clear that it is personal. And though Fox tries to keep his professional distance, his interests in Layla have become personal too.

The Pagan Stone :

The Pagan Stone had stood for hundreds of years, long before three boys gathered around it to spill their blood in a bond of brotherhood, unwittingly releasing a force bent on destruction ...Gage Turner has been running from his past for a long time. The son of an abusive drunk, his childhood in the small town of Hawkins Hollow was tough - his only solace his friendship with Fox O'Dell and Caleb Hawkins. But, aged ten, the boys unleashed evil on their town: every seven years murder and mayhem reign, and each cycle is more extreme than the last. Now Gage has returned home to help his friends save Hawkins Hollow, but a lifetime as a loner has made him wary of emotional ties. And who can make plans for the future when their present is so uncertain? For unless they find a way to use the Pagan Stone against the demonic force, everything they know and love will be destroyed ...

My Views :

Iam a big fan of NR so the day the book is released i buy the book... and to top it i pester my hubby dear to take me out to buy the book :)..... he keeps saying that he is the one to spoil me by buying books for me to read :)

The First book Blood Brothers was released in Nov 2007... a month after i landed in US soil and it was the first book that my hubby got for me here. The Hollow released in May 2008 and finally The Pagan Stone , the last of the trilogy was released Nov 2008 , a complete circle ..... 3 books in a year :)

The moment i started reading Blood Brothers i had a strong feeling that it was very similar to her 3 Sisters Island Trilogy as it involved paranormal forces and magic being put into effect by the 3 Blood Brothers and the 3 women who come into town and form a relationship with each other , a bonding as close as the 3 men. As we read the first book it becomes clear that the 3 men and women are going to be paired of together as couples :). The 3 couples make interesting reading and make us guess as to what they would be doing next. Blood Brothers as the title indicates is the relationship between 3 boys who grow up together and who are not related to each other except for the reason that they are all born on the same day , same year and to most knowledge at the same time. Though i would not rate it as her other books i still was hooked enough to read the next 2 books as soon as they were released.

Book 1 brings out the relationship between Cal & Quinn , Book 2 Fox and Layla & finally Book 3 Gage and Cybil. The 3 couples have their own powers and they develop their skills. The case of the dreams occuring at the same time for all of them , makes us understand that they are all connected to each other.They hone up their skills as it is required of them so that they can fight the Demon Lazarus...... and though the first 2 books have each of the couples fighting with the Demon it becomes clear as we finish reading Book 2 that Book 3 is going to be crucial and Gage plays a major part. true enough Book 3 was what i loved best. Gage's character is refined well and his relationship as it develops with Cybil is well described as both their characters do not like to settle , carry a lot of baggage and are in this war against the Demon mainly because of their friends. Cybil realises that her friends are pregnant as she sees visions of the future but does not realise that she is also pregnant.... which when Quinn asks her to check makes her realise that there is an importance in it as Ann(the original flashback story) was also pregnant with Triplets at the time of her Husbands war against the Demon. The genealogy that all 6 are related in turns to the magician and the Demon makes us realise that this is the reason they are elected to fight against the demon.........

On the whole i would not rate these books as the Best but i would say that they make a good read. For people who like good reads this is a good choice , but dont expect too much out of them :)... the developing romance and the relationships between the 6 as friends is well related to.... so guess that does count .....

So if you are upto reading this....enjoi reading it :)

Merry Xmas Everyone.... and i will be back with more reviews of the books that i have read :)

Thanksgiving at LasVegas :)

2008-12-10T11:18:00.002-05:00

Hi All,

Its been a long time since i came blogging....... first been sick :( next my dear hubby was working from home and no access to the laptop :(...... thought enufs enuf and here iam coz i did not want anyone to forget me or my blogs ...... :)

Iam going to tell about my trip to LasVegas.... man the pleasure one faces as you walk thru the strip is amazing...... But it took me some time to get used to the drop in temperature in Vegas when compared to Cal :)

We started around 11 in the am when the actual plan was to start by 8 :) and the traffic on the freeway was awful.... bumper to bumper and this was my first experience with such heavy traffic. After around 1.5hrs the traffic improved and we reached Vegas as per plan at around 7pm. Entering into Vegas , the lights was amazing. But what i luved more was the ride thru the desert. Dry land is in a way a beauty to admire as we admire the greenery.

Had booked into a hotel near the strip so checked in there first and after having a short rest we were back to the "Strip".... parked at MGM and we went strolling thru the strip. The activity at so late in the nite is not something we normally see in our day to day life in our places .... such crowd and man the money spent here is just unimaginable i guess :)

I just wanted a walk thru in all the major casinos and my dear hubby was ready to please me :).... the grandeur of Caesars Palace is something that still keeps striking me at odd moments and so does the Lion at the MGM :).... btw did u know nearly half of the major casinos in the Strip are owned by the MGM group..... includes MGM Grand , The Mirage , Bellagio , Circus-Circus and Excalibur to name a few :)... wish i had that kind of money to invest... then i guess if i did have i could retire happily for the rest of my life........

As we were walking i did note down the time for the fountains at the Bellagio and we were back in time for the Fountains to light up in sync with the music. That was an awesome sight and something iam going to remember. For the 3 nights that we stayed in Vegas i made it a point to go to the Bellagio all nites to see just the fountains playing :)... we returned bck to the hotel at around 1.30am :) and i was freezing ......

The next day was Black Friday and so we thought we would scrounge around for some good deals in electronics....... we had friends also visiting Vegas and we met up with them. Evening went in for the rides at Stratosphere and the view from the top floor of Vegas was great. The ride in the elevator amde me giddy for a second but then got used to it.... and coincidentally met a friend of mine ... guess being in CA we could not meet bu then we did meet at Vegas :)... that did strike me funny.

Saturday made a trip to Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon ( will talk about that in the next blog) and Sunday after a late breakfast went for a walk in the strip , had lunch at an Indian Restaurant and then back to the hotel to pack up and start back to CA. The return journey was as bad as possible... the trip of 5 hrs took us in total 8.5 hrs and we had news channels standing with their crews to record the traffic :)

And b4 i forget my husband did play at the Casinos and lucky for him...... he did win 500$ after spending 200$ :)... guess i need to thank my stars that my hubby dear does not gamble :)

Will be bck in a couple of days with my trip to Grand Canyon :).. till then wishing everyone a Merry Xmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vaaranam Aayiram

2008-11-24T22:48:00.000-05:00

Vaaranam Aayiram(VA)..... guess its been a much awaited movie. It had Gautham Menon , Harris Jeyaraj and of course Suriya :). This combo reminded everyone of "Kaakha Kaakha" and everyone was awaiting the release of VA eagerly. When it was made known that Simran was making a come back , I remember many of my friends telling me that they wanted to see the movie coz of her :)

Music:

The release kept getting delayed and it was finally released on Nov 14. The music already had rave reviews and the songs catching everyones attention made me also sit up as i did really like the music. But like everytime Harris Jeyaraj composes music there is atleast one song which when heard made me think i have already heard it somewhere. I prefer melodious music any day and so i liked

"Nenjukul Peindhidum" and "Annal Melae". "Oh Shanthi" also made an impression on me and SPB Charan's voice made me remember SPB himself :). Surprisingly "Annal Melae" has been sung by Sudha Raghunath and not by Bombay Jayshree and it took me some time to identify the singer :). Shud say her voice is totally different in this song. Though the other songs are good these are my all time favs :)

Movie:

Let me tell you , my hubby kept telling me...."the more u expect from a movie , its definitely bound to fail" and I would say the movie definitely did not meet my expectations.

I guess the relationship between a father and Son has not been dealt with that very often and hence it did make a change.But the fact remains that the father forgot all about his daughter :( The change in between the flashbacks and the current day reminded me of Mani Ratnam's "Alaipayuthey" , the only difference being that the black and white to colour scenes were missing :)

Simran , Samira and Divya..... man i love Simran the most .... she did suit the role of a Mom well i guess. But then i did not understand the need for the dialogues in English... fine as long as someone knows the language. But wat abt ppl who do not know English? Any tamil movie is dependent on the Masses and so i guess this would not meet the expectations of the common people in TamilNadu. Samira & Divya were also ok i guess.

Surya , Simran...... Simran has a hair style that reminds one of the yesteryear heroines. But then the other college mates of Simran have a normal hairstyle :)... guess they forgot all abt the other ladies :) Dad Surya following Simran , leaving a msg with the librarian and later with others was quite cute :) and i did enjoi them. Guess the romantic streak did continue with the son , with the scene at the US Consulate making one laugh.

And how did a dad who was so close to his son not notice that his son was doing drugs until it reached a boiling point? Guess i can still keep asking questions.......... and it will never end :)

My friend told me..."I had a feeling that i was watching 2 different movies" and once i saw the movie i have to say i felt the same.

Share your ideas on the movie folks ............. waiting to hear from you.

Cold Pursuit

2008-11-24T21:28:00.002-05:00

Hey , i guess its been more than a month since i updated my blog so here iam today with one more book :)

Carla Neggers is an author i happened to pick up recently by accident :) And Oh my...i enjoi her books. The chararcters in her books are linked and the more i started reading her books the more i wanted to read all the books linking the characters. Especially the ones linking the characters from the US Marshals. And her latest involves agents from Secret Service.

Synopsis:

A prominent ambassador is killed in a suspicious hit-and-run in Washington, D.C. Hours later, his stepdaughter vanishes in the mountains of northern New England.

   Back in her hometown of Black Falls, Vermont, to do damage control on her career, Secret Service agent Jo Harper is drawn into the search. But her efforts face an unexpected challenge: Elijah Cameron.
   With his military training and mountain rescue experience, Elijah knows the unforgiving terrain better than anyone. But he and Jo have been at odds forever - and Elijah believes the missing teenager isn't just lost.she's on the run.
   Forced to work together, Jo and Elijah battle time and the elements in a race into the unforgiving mountains. The twists and turns awaiting them will take them closer to the explosive truth and into the sights of a killer.

Review:

My first impression with this book was it was ok. I would not rate it as high as all the other books of hers that i have read. I would say that the ending was dull and not that interesting. All her other books have an ending that leaves us expecting more and wants us to lay our hands on the next book. This left me wishing there was more of a proper ending to the book.

The best part of this book was the character of Charles Preston Neal , the 16 yr old son of the Vice President of the USA and the character who the Secret Service Agent Jo Harper was protecting. His pranks were the reason Jo is on vacation and comes in contact with Elijah , her childhood sweetheart. His nature indicates that he delves into the whole mystery with full vigour and keeps calling Elijah/Jo giving them more information. He is also the one who links all assasinations together. I love his character :) and the pranks he plays even after Jo is on leave as in exchanging places with his cousin to fool the Secret Service Agents is good. And to top it all he has a very high IQ.

Jo and Elijah though tough characters are still vulnerable when it comes to the other and their feelings. Its a good cat and mouse tale but leaves us wanting.

People reading it .... let me know your opinions , share your thoughts.

Desis at Universal Studios

2008-10-18T03:15:00.001-04:00

Hi All,
Been more than a week so i thought i would come back with another trip of mine , but this time i would also like to add an experience that i had with our Desi guys :).

To people who have not been here or have not heard about it a brief intro on Universal Studios.
Universal Studios Hollywood is a movie studio in the Universal City
community of unincorporate Los Angeles County, California, United States, and is the original Universal Studios theme park. Woody Woodpecker is the mascot for Universal Studios Hollywood and the rest of the Universal Studios Theme Parks. It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood movie studios still in use. Its official marketing headline is "The Entertainment Capital of LA," though during the summer it is often advertised as "The Coolest Place in LA."
It was initially created to offer tours of the real Universal Studios soundstages and sets. It is the first of many fully-fledged Universal Studios Theme Parks, along with Universal Studios Florida, Universal Studios Japan, and the upcoming Universal Studios Singapore, Universal Studios Dubai, and Universal Studios South Korea theme parks.

My day at the Studios:
It had been more than 2 weeks since i landed in US ans so we(me & my hubby) decided that it was high time i started visiting places nearby. We decided that we would begin with Universal Studios , Hollywood. Going into Universal Studios reminded me of our country's theme parks , the major difference being that this was more properly panned out and well maintained than what we had back home.Of course the cleanliness made a lot of difference :)
After the tickets , and security check we made our entry into the studios. As we were walking around we decided we would take it slow as we had the whole day ahead of us. The fact that we had gone there on a normal weekend meant that we did not have the heavy crowds that usually are there during the long weekends.

As we went around we came to Shrek-Fiona standing in a corner and joining the crowds for photos. We decided to join in the queue for a snap. Right behind us were a group of Desis(both boys & girls), 8 in number. All around 25 and it seemed as if they had come as a group for a project from their discussions going on. All of a sudden they reverted from English to Hindi(Guess on the assumption that neither me nor my Hubby would know the language :) but guess they did not know i could speak the language well and my hubby could follow the conversation).
The general flow of the conversation was that - "We(maane me and my hubby) were Indians ,we were before them in line for the photos and hence we would finish ahead of them.So we could easily take photos of them using their cameras and that it should not be difficult for us to do so :) and so on". The same discussion went on amidst them for around 5 mins and none of them came forward to ask me or my hubby if we would take a snap of them together with Shrek and Fiona. After 5 mins i really felt sorry for them so i turned around , spoke to them in Hindi and told them that we would not mind taking their pictures. The whole group was shocked and then gave an embarassed smile :). After we took our pics we were handed all of their cameras(all 8)for us to take their snaps. It would not have been a probs , but i guess the basic courtesy would be that they could have decided that 2 of them could use their cameras and share the photos later on rather than giving all the cameras.They would have done this if it had been someone apart from Desis taking their snaps , so y not extend the same courtesy to us Desis? What also struck me was that - y assume blindly that the person standing in front would not know the language they were speaking and discuss about them?
The whole day the group kept crossing us at various points and everytime they saw us they gave an embarrased smile and walked away. Guess nothing more could have been done.
Apart from this incident i should say that i had a gala time around the studios and i especially enjoied the ride in the Jurassic park:).Coming back home i was so tired and to tell the truth it had been a long time since i had had such masti(fun) after my college days.
In fact the past couple of weeks i have been telling my husband that we need to go out to the Studios once more and have lots of fun.

In the meantime do leave me ur comments on my blog.
Also check out my other blog .........
http://booksaremysecondlove.blogspot.com/

Its getting late for me so iam gonna bid u adieu for now.
Will catch up soon with u people.

Autobiography Of A Yogi - Paramahansa Yogananda

2008-10-09T21:59:00.001-04:00

Paramahansa Yogananda:
Paramahansa Yogananda born Mukunda Lal Ghosh,was an Indian yogi and guru who introduced many westerners to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his book, Autobiography of a Yogi.
Yogananda's seeking after various saints mostly ended when he met his guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, in 1910, at the age of 17. He describes his first meeting with Yukteswar as a rekindling of a relationship that had lasted for many lifetimes:
“We entered a oneness of silence; words seemed the rankest superfluities. Eloquence flowed in soundless chant from heart of master to disciple. With an antenna of irrefragable insight I sensed that my guru knew God, and would lead me to Him. The obscuration of this life disappeared in a fragile dawn of prenatal memories. Dramatic time! Past, present, and future are its cycling scenes. This was not the first sun to find me at these holy feet!”
In 1920, he went to the United States and that same year he founded the Self-Realization Fellowship to disseminate worldwide his teachings on India's ancient practices and philosophy of Yoga and its tradition of meditation. For the next several years, he lectured and taught on the East coast and in 1924 embarked on a cross-continental speaking tour. Thousands came to his lectures. The following year, he established in Los Angeles, California, an international headquarters for Self-Realization Fellowship, which became the spiritual and administrative heart of his growing work. Yogananda was the first Hindu teacher of yoga to make his permanent home in America, living there from 1920-1952
In 1935, he returned to India to visit Yukteswar and to help establish his Yogoda Satsanga work in India and in 1936, while Yogananda was visiting Kolkata, Yukteswar died in the town of Puri.
On March 7, 1952, he attended a dinner for the visiting Indian Ambassador to the U.S., Binay Ranjan Sen and his wife at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. At the conclusion of the banquet Yogananda spoke of India and America, their contributions to world peace and human progress, and their future cooperation, expressing his hope for a "United World" that would combine the best qualities of "efficient America" and "spiritual India." According to two eyewitnesses — long-time disciples Swami Kriyananda and Daya Mata — as Yogananda ended his speech, he read from his poem My India, concluding with the words "Where Ganges, woods, Himalayan caves, and men dream God—I am hallowed; my body touched that sod". At the very last words, he slid to the floor,dead from a heart attack.Kriyananda wrote that Yogananda had once stated in a lecture, "A heart attack is the easiest way to die. That is how I choose to die."

The book – Autobiography Of A Yogi:
In 1946, Yogananda published his life story, Autobiography of a Yogi. It has since been translated into twenty-five languages. In 1999, it was designated one of the "100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century" by a panel of spiritual authors convened by HarperCollins publishers.
Autobiography of a Yogi describes Yogananda's spiritual search for enlightenment, in addition to encounters with notable spiritual figures such as Therese Neumann, Anandamoyi Ma, Mohandas Gandhi, Nobel laureate in literature Rabindranath Tagore, noted plant scientist Luther Burbank (the book is 'Dedicated to the Memory of Luther Burbank, An American Saint'), famous Indian scientist Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose and Nobel Prize winning physicist Sir C. V. Raman.
Amelita Galli-Curci, one of the most famous opera singers of the early twentieth century, said about the book:
"Amazing, true stories of saints and masters of India, blended with priceless superphysical information–much needed to balance the Western material efficiency with Eastern spiritual efficiency–come from the vigorous pen of Paramhansa Yogananda, whose teachings my husband and myself have had the pleasure of studying for twenty years."

Kriya Yoga:
Kriya Yoga is described by its practitioners as the ancient Yoga system revived in modern times by Mahavatar Babaji through his disciple Lahiri Mahasaya, c 1861, and brought into widespread public awareness through Paramhansa Yogananda's book Autobiography of a Yogi. The system consists of a number of levels of Pranayama based techniques that are intended to rapidly accelerate spiritual development and engender a profound state of tranquility and God-communion.Kriya Yoga is traditionally learned via the Guru - disciple relationship.
Yogananda gave a general description of Kriya Yoga in his Autobiography:
“The Kriya Yogi mentally directs his life energy to revolve, upward and downward, around the six spinal centers (medullary, cervical, dorsal, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal plexuses) which correspond to the twelve astral signs of the zodiac, the symbolic Cosmic Man. One-half minute of revolution of energy around the sensitive spinal cord of man effects subtle progress in his evolution; that half-minute of Kriya equals one year of natural spiritual unfoldment.”
Kriya Yoga is referred to by Krishna, India’s greatest prophet, in a stanza of the Bhagavad Gita:
“Offering inhaling breath into the outgoing breath, and offering the outgoing breath into the inhaling breath, the yogi neutralizes both these breaths; he thus releases the life force from the heart and brings it under his control.” The interpretation is: “The yogi arrests decay in the body by an addition of life force, and arrests the mutations of growth in the body by apan (eliminating current). Thus neutralizing decay and growth, by quieting the heart, the yogi learns life control.”

My Introduction to the Book:
My introduction to the book came when I was going through a crucial period of my life in 2000. I had just lost my uncle who had been a guiding factor throughout the major part of my life and my mother gave me the book to read. She was infact given the book by someone else and she recommended it to me. The book gave me a relief and a sense of comfort at a time when I needed it. To this day whenever iam upset or worried , I just need to pick up the book and read a few pages of my favourite chapters and I have a feeling that come what may be ,I can solve anything. Thx Mom Dear.
The narration in the book is matter of fact , truthful , simple and beautiful – to describe it in a few words. I have a number of my Western colleagues who have told me this book is a good read, especially for people who would like to know more about India and its cultures. The search of a young man for God is beautifully told. The language that the author has used to write the book is something which none can outdo in the current days.
I would highly recommend it to any one interested in spirituality, India, history, Yoga and just life. The more you read about Kriya Yoga , the more one wants to start putting it into use. The effects of practicing is good for mind and body.
I recommend this book to all my friends , and for friends who are avid readers I gift this book. To date I have a copy of the book wherever I travel. In fact Post marriage I was leaving for US and i did not bring along my copy of the book.So i went rushing around in Chennai to get a copy of the book and finally got it in the third shop(it was in great demand).My husband was so surprised he said he had to read it. Now he is also an avid reader and we have good discussions at home.

For people who would like to read the book , Wiki has an online edition. The link is as below :
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Autobiography_of_a_Yogi

People who have already read the book / reading / planning to read please do leave your comments on the book.

Hope you enjoy reading the book as much as I do.

Malibu

2008-10-07T02:21:00.001-04:00

My first trip was the week after i came here.....it was to Malibu. We made a visit to the Temple there , which is listed as "Hindu Temple"............ guess that came as a surprise for me :) for obviously none of us would expect that there would be temples in every nook and corner as we are used to in India, but then one would naturally expect that at least the temples name be the Chief residing deity's name , that of Lord Venkateshwara!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To those who do not know about the Hindu Deity , let me explain. Lord Venkateshwara , also known as Venkatachalapathy /Srinivasa /Balaji and is a form of the Hindu God , Vishnu. In Tamil , he is known as Perumal. Venkateshwara means the Lord who destroys the sins of the people. According the Hindu scriptures, Vishnu, out of love towards his devotees, incarnated as Venkateshwara and appeared for the salvation and upliftment of humanity in this Kali Yuga and is considered the supreme form of Vishnu in this age.

The name Venkateshwara can be split into multiple parts in Sanskrit: Ven (sins), kata (destroyer), and ishwara (Supreme Lord). Using this etymology, Venkateshwara refers to the Supreme Lord who destroys sins.

We made the trip to the temple first for it was our elders insistence that it was the first time in a new country and we shud begin it by visiting a temple. And i guess explaining that its a 90 minute drive one way does not convince the elderly and they are very insistent that theres no option but paying a visit to the temple :).

And to top it then begins the explanation - The month that we came here was the first week in October and as per the Tamil Calendar its the belief that the month of "Purattaasi"(mid September to mid October) is the month of Lord Venkateshwara and going on a Saturday to his temple is very auspicious.

Purattaasi is auspicious to the effect that, most of the non-vegetarian Tamil people do not eat meat during the month. This faith can be considered much similar to the fasting by Muslims during the month of Ramadan. Each Saturday of this month is set apart to venerate the planet Saturn.

Considering all the explanations and to add to the fact that my hubby dear is an ardent devotee of the Lord , we decided that it would be better not to give any reason or excuse , so we made the trip :). Guess its not possible for us to make a trip every week or every fortnight for something or the other does crop up, but we do visit the temple once in a month. Of course we made a visit this year also for the month of Purattaasi :).

I think i shud add that i also enjoi the drive along the PCH( Pacific Coast Highway) everytime i make a trip to Malibu.

To conclude ..... as per Hindu mythology its the belief that Lord Venkateswara borrowed a heavy sum from Lord Kubera(Lord of Riches) to get married to his consort and is still repaying his loan to Lord Kubera.Based on the pact that Venkateswara agreed upon with Lord Kubera, monetary donations know no limit at temples where a statue of Venkateswara can be found.

Before i wind up let me add that the Lord Venkateshwara Temple in Malibu is one among the famous Venkateshwara temples that have been built abroad.

Adieu for now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tribute - Nora Roberts

2008-10-05T04:08:00.001-04:00

About the Author :

Nora Roberts (b. Eleanor Marie Robertson, October 10, 1950 in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA), is a bestselling American author of more than 150 romance novels, and she writes as J.D. Robb the "In Death" series. She also has written under the pseudonym Jill March, and by error some of her works was published in the UK as Sarah Hardesty.
Nora Roberts was the first author to be inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. As of 2006, her novels had spent a combined 660 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List, including 100 weeks in the number-one spot. Over 280 million copies of her books are in print, including 12 million copies sold in 2005 alone. Her novels have been published in 35 countries.

My luv for her books:
My passion for her books when i was doing my Masters degree in India. I accidentally happened to pick up 2 books of hers - Without A Trace and Skin Deep. These 2 were light reading but i enjoyed her style of writing and there began my love affair with her books.
I have read nearly all her books and i have a copy of all the books that i have read. Even if i have read a book online i still make it a point to own a paperback. Pre-marriage my Dad used to keep telling me that i spend my salary only on books and post marriage i have a husband who does not mind me spending his money on my books :) .I still remember when he asked me what i would like as a wedding gift , i told him that one of my favourite authors books was releasing in November and would he get that for me. Guess he found out then for the first time that he had a wife who was crazy on books :)

With my love affair on her books , i have made a couple of my friends go crazy and i have introduced lots of my friends to her books. I remember that i used to be a walking library before my marriage at my office :)

The latest book that i read of hers was "Tribute" and iam waiting for the last book in her "Sign of Seven" trilogy.

Editorial Review of TRIBUTE :

Cilla McGowan, former child star and granddaughter of the legendary actress Janet Hardy, moves to her late grandmother's Virginia farm to make a new start and to bring the once famous house back to life. Little does she know that someone in her grandmother's past doesn't want her there to solve old mysteries, and that person will go to any length to drive her out. Jennifer Van Dyck brings all the Southern characters to life: Cilla's handsome love interest, Ford Sawyer, her petulant mother, her latest stepfather, and her hippie ex-husband. The dialogue is witty, the characters interesting, and the story a thriller filled with the unexpected. Most worthwhile.

I hope you enjoi reading the book as much as i did.

Will come back to you with more of her books as and when as i can.

My first trip to USA

2008-10-05T01:59:00.001-04:00

I dont think it as unwise to make comparisons , but like most women from India i also came here to the US post marriage.I have completed a year of marriage and i thought let me start blogging :) so here iam.

I met my hubby-to-be just a week before marriage for the first time but in between i guess our mobile bills just shot up. My dad was telling me just the other day that he happened to find a bill of mine and that Thank God , i was still working when i got engaged :) as he would not have been able to pay my bills :)

I got married on Sep 16 , 2007 and coincidentally we share
the same wedding day as my parents. Coincidence also that
my parents also got married on a Sunday in 1979 :) and i hope
that i share similiar long years of married life as my parents do.

I left India on Oct5 , 2007 and shud have reached here at noon on Oct 6 ( US time) but Mother Nature played a different role and we were stuck out in Malaysia for 24 hours so my very first trip to the US began with a 1 day delay and i finally did arrive late night on Oct 7 ( Thk God !!!!!!!!!!!!)

Its been a year to date for me since i left home and i have been here in California for the past 1 year.

This is my first post and let me continue with my trips in the US in my later posts.

Till then cya all :)