Week 17: Growing my Greens

For those who are not aware, I am on a 52 weeks adventure this year where in I decide my own adventures! For more details, check out here!

I always wanted to grow my greens in small pots in my balcony. Since we stay in a place where there is no snow at all, I thought I could achieve a small garden in the balcony with home grown cilantro, green chillies, curry leaves, fenugreek and mint. All these plants can survive in small pots and you do not need an elaborate backyard garden for it. Some how, I never got to doing it.

Last week, the cilantro that I got from the Indian store had entire roots still intact and then I thought, 'Let me atleast start with cilantro'. I delicately cut the cilantro shoots, keeping a little of the leaves on each plant for photosynthesis. Washed the roots gently but thoroughly and transferred all of it into a small plastic jar filled with water.

The jar was kept on my window pane to get enough sunlight and not burn out. The weather in Florida is getting hotter by the day! Phew!

See, how many shoots have started having their own bloom of greens!

The window pane, the sunlight and the growing shoots

The next step was a slightly tricky one, as I had to transfer the well grown shoots in soil. The tricky part was, I did not want to buy a huge bag of soil from the market as we are going to shift in June and I don't want to buy any huge unnecessary stuff currently. So the question was from where to get the soil? You won't believe what I did. I scavenged the soil from the lake behind our apartment in our community. I think it is illegal or at least against the rules. But I did not have a choice and I had to get the soil someway.

I sneaked out on one of the afternoons, thinking afternoon is the best time as it is hot and no one will be a witness to my first crime. I did not have any gardening tools either. So I had a big plastic bowl to store the dug up soil and a big spoon to dig it. As I found a secluded spot near the lake to complete my criminal mission, my heart beats started doubling with palms getting sweatier. I thought to myself, "This isn't such a big deal. Scoop up a little soil fast and you should be fine."

I started digging soil and just then one old lady walked beside me walking her dog. In my head I mumbled, "Why on earth would some one get their dog out on such a sunny day in mid afternoon." The lady was trying to discern what am I upto with a big spoon and a bowl on the ground. I did not want her imaginations to go wild and I said confidently, "I am a zoology student and I just saw an earthworm here and wanted to take it to school tomorrow". She looked at me pointedly, scanned me and said,"Be careful, you might find some lizards too." Till date, I have been cursing all the time that I look like a teenager when I am so very old already. Today I was thankful for it, otherwise the old lady would have never believed that I went to school!

Ok, the first hurdle was crossed. I sat again and started digging. Just then one of the errand boys came that way and he kept on looking at me till I was out of his sight. I was pulsating heavily now. I never have done anything illegal or beyond rules till date. The boy walked towards our Community office and the way he was looking at me all while, I knew he is going to complain. I panicked and I chickened out. Ran like crazy to my apartment with whatever minimal soil I had collected. Phew! I wonder how criminals keep their calm during such moments!

I had very little soil and 4 plants. I had to choose. I planted 2 plants in one small plastic jar with the soil. The plants died in 2 days. I was very sad. I still had 2 more shoots. This time I put just one shoot in the soil. The plant dried too.

Look at those leaves, all frowning :(

The heat has been so unbearable the entire week and none of my plants made it :(

I may not have my cilantro plants currently, but soon very soon, I will have my little garden in my balcony :)

Week 16: Food for the Soul

For those who are not aware, I am on a 52 weeks adventure this year where in I decide my own adventures! For more details, check out here! 

This week it was food, food and food. My husband is a Bengali and I am a Konkani. In short it is a marriage of a river fish lover to a sea fish hogger. You can imagine, what a feast we must be having at the dinner table post marriage! 

Last week we celebrated Bengali New Year with an array of dishes cooked for just the two of us! I have cooked elaborate meals but only when guests were invited to dine with us. This was the first time, I cooked so much for just the two of us. 

I started cooking since 8.00 am, in between managed calls back home to my mom and MIL. At 12.30 pm, the lunch was cooked and I was all tired! Phew, it seemed a long day in the kitchen!

So, here is my love for my husband and the Indian traditions which I showcased in the form of these dishes -

Dal / Lentil Curry: Bengalis cannot do without fish and dal. My husband is a huge fan of my dal. This is the only dish according to him which I cook better than his Mom! Trust me, this is the BIGGEST compliment I can ever get!

This is a moong dal curry with a tempering of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves, green chillies, turmeric, ginger, garlic and tomatoes. 

This is a comfort food too. Hot rice, ghee (clarified butter) and dal - heaven!

Ivy Gourd Vegetable: This vegetable was prepared the Maharashtrian way with roasted groundnut powder and the spice called 'kala masala' indigenous to Maharashtrian cooking. I have been born and brought up in Maharashtra and hence Maharashtra cuisine influences my cooking style.

Chicken Gravy: This hot spicy gravy was prepared in freshly ground spices - coriander seeds, cardamom, cinnamon, fennel seeds, dry red chillies and black pepper. The flavour was excellent, even though the chicken in US is very bland. 

The best chicken we have had so far was during our short stint at Chennai post marriage. There was a shop called 'Suguna Chicken' and the chicken from there is the most succinct and tasty chicken we have had so far! It used to melt in the mouth after cooking, the flesh was so soft. Certain foods do take you down the memory lane!

Prawns in Coconut Curry: This is one of the characteristic dishes of the Konkani cuisine. Konkani cuisine is a typical coastal cuisine consisting mainly of sea fish and coconut. This prawns curry was cooked in the goodness of coconut along with tanginess of the tomatoes and a hint of ginger garlic. 

Prawns always take me back to my native place, my grand parents and the innumerable summer holidays we spent at the beach! Me and my sister used to have a terrific time at my grandparents place eating mangoes, pineapples, jack fruits and all exotic sea fish like oysters, lobsters, crabs and of course prawns. Prawns has been one of my favouritest fish since as long as I remember. After marriage, when I visited my mom from Chennai she always used to give her share of prawns to me :) And the child that I am still, I used to eat it without giving a second thought. This time though I have decided to decline my mom's offer and let her enjoy the prawns too :)

Payesh / Rice Pudding: This is the quintessential Bengali dessert prepared on all happy occasions in a Bengali family. It is a characteristic food item which my MIL cooks during each family member's birthday. This is a little different from the normal rice puddings as it is cooked in date palm jaggery and not normal sugar. 

During my first birthday post marriage, my MIL had prepared payesh and took it to my place in Pune. My mom and my MIL had it together celebrating my birthday while I was away in Chennai. A small gesture but it meant so so much for me and my parents! So blessed I am to have two set of parents :)

So the Bengali New Year ended for us with bloated stomachs and stories to narrate associated with each of the dishes above :)

Week 15: Fun, Food, Yoga and Dance

For those who are not aware, I am on a 52 weeks adventure this year where in I decide my own adventures! For more details, check out here! 

This Sunday was the perfect weather to be out in the parks, grill and barbecue and of course spend time with a bunch of enthusiastic folks! And guess what? I did exactly the same with my Toastmasters Club Picnic.

There was breeze, there was food, there were chats, there was dance, there was yoga and yes there was a LOT of fun at the Welleby Park in Sunrise Florida! 

We had 'Concours Plantation de la Cuisine Contest' with all the participants getting food in the side dish/salad and dessert categories. I had prepared rava dhokla or savory semolina bites with sweet mint chutney or dip. Dhokla is usually prepared with gram flour but this was my first attempt to replace gram flour with semolina. The dhoklas had come out really fluffy and yummy. Many of the folks could not guess that it was made of semolina :) Since it was prepared for the American palate, the spice levels were minimal. 

Look at the gorgeous fluffiness :)

We had good spread for the side dish/salad - cole slaw, greek salad, bacon brocolli salad, dhokla and for the dessert - chocolate cake, brownies, lemon poppy cakes, cupcakes, dry fruit ladoos and cookies. 

The side dish/salad spread

The side dish/salad spread

The dessert spread

The dessert spread

The dessert spread

We also had a Grill Master who made hot well prepared chicken hamburgers, hot dogs, turkey burgers and beef hot dogs. 

Our Grill Master - Eric(a) Jacobson

Hot dogs, anyone?

Along with the food, we had the quintessential chats and catching up where everyone was raving about the delicious food and learning what is going in everyone's life!

Yummy food!

Linda, why don't you visit us anymore?

The catching up

Post the food, the real fun began. I played a game called 'bocce' for the first time. It is a game where you try to throw a ball nearest to the smallest ball on ground. The team with the most proximity to the smallest ball wins. You need to play it to understand it better.

Bocce Champions ;)

Bocce was followed with a 30 minute yoga session. I cannot thank Terry enough for the lovely guided meditation, kapalbharati and surya namaskar (sun salutation). When I told my dad about the yoga session he commented, "So you had to go thousands of miles away from India to learn Surya Namaskar and Yoga which originated in India and that too from an American!! Wow that is epic!" 

It is indeed epic ;)

Then we had the fun part. Dumb Charades and some crazy music and dance. I still can't go up the stage and dance. I feel I am a lousy dancer. I am best dancer on the chair ;) meaning I will do all my dance moves sitting on a chair! Ask me to go to the stage and I am all shy. I need to work on that BIGTIME!

Me trying to enact the movie 'The Postman always rings twice'

We ended the day on a high note and thoroughly enjoyed our day out in the park. Here is a video capturing all the crazy moments of the picnic - 

Week 14: Silence is Golden

For those who are not aware, I am on a 52 weeks adventure this year where in I decide my own adventures! For more details, check out here! 

This week I was not sure if I will be able to continue with this journey. But I did something new which accidentally qualifies as an 'adventure'. This week was the one where I dragged myself every morning out of the bed and did things because they had to be done. There are days in your life when you wake up in the morning and don't feel like getting out of the bed at all. This week each day was the same to me. I was just enduring each day and looking forward to go to bed at night. Nothing interested me, it was impossible to keep my usual high spirits. Boredom was invading my mind and body. 

I am usually very excited about Tuesdays as Tuesday evening is my Toastmaster evening and I look forward to it. However, this Tuesday was another story and I dragged myself to the club only because I had signed up for a role (Table Topics Master) and did not want to cause last minute inconvenience to the club members. Yes, I was that messed up!

The phase continued till Wednesday and then Wednesday night I decided to follow a 'mauna vrata' or 'vow of silence' on Thursday to reflect back on my thoughts and see why is this happening with me? I did not chat on FB or Whtasapp and it was a day of no talking at all. This I did not as an adventure but my husband pointed out today that this qualifies as 'my' definition of adventure and then it dawned on me. So yes, this week's adventure is I realized - 'Silence is Golden'.

Just when I decided about my vow of silence for Thursday, I came across this post by one of my favorite bloggers Lily on 'gratitude'. The blog helped me concentrate on my blessings in life currently for which I am deeply thankful to the Almighty. And yes, a separate post will be arriving soon on gratitude as a guest writer on Lily's blog.

During my entire day of silence and being with my thoughts I realized, I waste so much of my energy everyday in talking. My mauna vrata helped me conserve my energy. Though I did not speak with my mouth, there was a lot of talking going on in my head. That was too exhausting. It took me several hours to quieten my mind and be in a state of 'Zen' like peace. Peace with yourself. 

I realized you have the power to be happy or sad. If you do not let any external force influence your happiness, you have conquered your feelings and are in charge for whatever happens to you. Isn't it good to know that you, and only you determine your mental state? 

It was a day of enlightenment for me! I had my solitude and now I am back to my chirpy self :)

On a lighter note, my husband had a good laugh at his office at my expense. His client asked him casually about my well being and he replied, "She is silent today. No nagging for me since morning. She is in her solitude. I am going to go home in the evening and keep my clothes on the sofa. I bet she will try to request me to keep the clothes inside with her actions. But I will act as if I don't understand what she is trying to communicate." (Devil smile on the face)

On that note, everyone around had a hearty laugh at his office! Ok, so my vow of silence brought a smile on a few faces. That makes me happier! :)

In case you want to have some lone time with yourself - go ahead, take that vow of silence!

Week 13: Experimental Speech and Food

For those who are not aware, I am on a 52 weeks adventure this year where in I decide my own adventures! For more details, check out here! 

I recently read an article which says new experiences and learning new skills gives us long lasting happiness than the newest version of a smart phone or a BIG house! I completely agree with this and then I just reflected on my journey so far on this crazy adventure per week. It has really given me immense bliss with each new experience and each new experiment!

After that melodramatic paragraph, let us come to the point - this week's adventure. This week I gave my 3rd speech at Plantation Toastmasters. Now some of you will frown and ask me, 'How come this is an adventure? It is not even your first speech.'

Point noted my dear friend. So here is why it was an adventure - I tried 3 new things in my speech this time - 

• For the very first time, I spoke without any notes
• I used voice modulations
• I did hell lot of gestures

So yes, it was an adventure.

I spoke on my para sailing adventure at Key West. This experience will always be one of my most memorable one. It was one of the very few occasions when I came out of my fear bubble and tried the never imagined. 

Since I had decided at the onset itself that I will not be using notes, I knew this time I had to prepare very well. I was doing a mediocre job at my rehearsals until my husband intervened. It just happened that the day when I was supposed to speak, he was working from home and he got a chance to listen to my rehearsals.

He looked at me and said, "You might find me harsh, but your speech sounds as if you have mugged it up and you are in a hurry to finish it off as soon as possible". I am very bad at taking criticism. But this time I was more open and I asked him to recite my speech. I gave him my paper. The way he spoke, I was pleasantly surprised. I could definitely see the difference in my speech and his version. I asked him to repeat again. 

It was 2 pm then. My speech was at 6.30 pm that day. I just went into the bathroom and practiced like crazy for 2 continuous hours in front of the mirror. I wanted to outdo my last performance when I had won the 'Best Speaker' award though I was not very happy about my that day's performance. With ample practice, I felt much more confident this time.

I went to the meeting, delivered my speech and won the 'Best Speaker' again!

On another note, we also tried a new cuisine this week. Being Indians, we are very particular about our spices and masalas in our food. Not to hurt anyone's sentiments, but we find American burgers and sandwiches to be very bland. Blame it on our spice loving tongues. So whenever we have to eat out, 'Pizza' is always the winner and sometimes 'Chipotle'. 

But we were bored of the same old stuff and wanted to try something else. So we experimented with Greek cuisine. I think every cuisine in the US is accompanied by french fries and our Greek dishes this week were no different. I tried the Pita Chicken Roll which came with fries and my husband tried Chicken Ziti which came with Greek Salad and Pasta. My husband liked his Ziti and I was fine with my Roll. But of course it was a  good change.

The Pita Chicken Roll with the quintessential French Fries

So yes, I had two wonderful new experiences this week to add to my bundle of happiness :)