The First English Grad Gals Baby Shower!

It's a little hard to believe, but one of my grad school girlfriends is now the first one of us to have a baby! I feel like my grad school friends and I live in this alternate universe where we are all waiting a really long time to have babies (as opposed to, for example, the girl from my high school reunion who already has four kids). But happily, my friend M. is pregnant and due in April! I was so thrilled about it that I jumped at the chance to host her baby shower at my house.

We didn't have a particular theme, but we all gave favorite baby books to M. (of course, since we were all English literature majors!). We had a really nice time sitting and chatting while sipping champagne (or sparkling grape juice) and eating some delicious snacks, like B's chicken casserole, S's artichoke dip, and MF's spinach pie. I decided to make little tea sandwiches (proper British-style cucumber sandwiches and good Southern pimiento cheese) and cupcakes. I tried the Jamie Oliver recipe for Sticky Toffee Cupcakes with Chocolate Topping and they were a real hit--especially with my husband, who helped polish them off after it was safe for men to come back in the house, heh.

Sticky Toffee Cupcakes with Chocolate Topping
Jamie Oliver, from "Happy Days with the Naked Chef"

2 tbs sultanas or golden raisins
1 oz dried apricots
1 oz dates
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup self-rising flour
2 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs corn syrup
1 large egg
2 tbs melted butter
1/2 cup plus 2 tbs hot water

for the chocolate topping:
3 tbs butter
3 tbs sugar
1 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate
5 tbs heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 400. In a food processor, chop the sultanas,
apricots, dates, baking powder, and a little of the flour (just enough
to keep the fruit from sticking o the blades). Put this mixture into
a bowl with the brown sugar, the syrup, the egg and the melted butter
and stir together. Then add the very hot water and the remaining
flour and mix well with a whisk. Divide the mixture between 12 foil
cupcake cups (doubled up) and place on a baking tray. Bake in
preheated oven for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt all the chocolate topping ingredients in the saucepan
and bubble for a while until slightly darkened in color. Remove from
the heat and let the sauce cool until it thickens. Then put a blob on
top of each cupcake.

Indian Wedding Anniversary

Monday January 7 was our Indian wedding anniversary. One year since we were in India and had our Jain wedding at Pawan chacha's farmhouse. It has been a great year, during which my hubby and I became even closer. I love him very much!

I have been musing about this anniversary for several days, and along with my happiness with V., one thing has been foremost in my mind, and that is Mummy. One year ago January 7, I not only became V's wife, but I became part of his family and his family became mine. This makes me feel very lucky, especially because of my mother-in-law.

Mummy is a very special lady. She's a beautiful, kind, dear woman. I couldn't imagine until I met her that she could love me so much and make me feel like I was her own daughter. I can't believe my good fortune at having such a wonderful and loving mother-in-law. It makes me want to take care of her and protect her and make her happy for the rest of her days. I am looking forward to her coming to stay with us here in the US!

The picture I'm including is from our wedding. It's not an especially flattering picture of me, but the moment at which it was taken was very special. The photographer was having all the family members come and have pictures taken with us, and in this picture Mausiji, her son, and Mummy were in the picture with us. Mummy sat down next to me and put her arm around me, and I felt such a wave of love and happiness that I began to cry. Everyone around us thought I was crying because I missed my family, but that was not the case. In that moment I felt like I had everything in the world I could ever need because of the love from my husband and his family.

Sappy, but there you go! Our Indian wedding anniversary.

Baked Eggs in Tomato Cups

My husband loves to have eggs for breakfast in the morning. I am happy to make him whatever he likes for breakfast, but it's been a challenge to make basically the same thing every day in different ways so that he doesn't get bored, and so that I can see him not just eating a good breakfast, but loving it!

For a while now I've been slightly obsessed with baked, or "shirred," eggs. After reading several different recipes, I perfected my technique for making shirred eggs in ramekins and it became part of our morning repertoire. However, I'm working on slimming down so I decided to try a new version of baked eggs that would be a bit lighter. Recently we got some lovely locally-grown tomatoes that are not too large--probably 2 1/2 inches across--and I was inspired to make them into "cups" for our baked eggs.

With a paring knife, I cut a circle down through the top of the tomatoes and then scooped out the tomatoes' innards with a spoon. I placed each tomato into a ramekin. Then I took one of those wedges of Laughing Cow lowfat creamy cheese in French Onion flavor and cut it in half, and put one half in each tomato. I carefully cracked an egg into each tomato, sprinkled with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, and baked them in the oven for about 15 minutes at 375 degrees, until they were softly set with the yolks still runny. Served with toast, they were such a delicious and special breakfast--and not as fattening as our usual baked eggs!

And best of all, hubby was delighted with his unusual and tasty breakfast. Success!

We Make Better Aloo Gobi than Gurinder Chadha

The other night we re-watched Bend it Like Beckham. I’m pretty sure it was the first time I had watched it since meeting my husband, and I enjoyed it a lot more now that I can speak a little Hindi and I’ve spent enough time around Indians to appreciate the story more.

It was also the first time that I watched the special feature in which the movie’s director, Gurinder Chadha, makes Aloo Gobi with her Mum and Mausi looking on and offering advice. It was hilarious! I loved the advice from the two old aunties: “Cut it smaller…it doesn’t matter.” “No, you have to peel it. Just do it.” Ji haan!

The way Gurinder Chadha makes aloo gobi is similar to our recipe, but I think ours is better. She cut her onions too big, and her gobi too big. She also used way too little garam masala. However, she did have some tips that we’d never tried, such as including minced cilantro stems, and putting the cilantro garnish on and then letting the aloo gobi sit for several minutes before serving. By the time we finished watching, we HAD to have aloo gobi last night.

Here’s how we make it (new tips from Gurinder Chadha included):

One large onion, diced
Three medium potatoes, peeled and diced into ½ inch cubes
One medium head of cauliflower, cut into florets
1 ½ cups tomato puree or crushed tomatoes
1 tbs cumin seeds
2 serrano peppers, minced
2 tbs ginger-garlic paste
1 tbs minced fresh ginger, or 1 tsp dried ginger powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbs salt, or to taste
2 tsp red chile powder, or to taste
2 tsp ground coriander
3-4 tbs garam masala
1 small bunch cilantro, stems minced; leaves chopped and reserved

Saute the onion in about 2 tbs of oil until it starts to become translucent. Toss in the cumin seeds and the minced cilantro stems and stir for a couple minutes. Add the cumin seeds and stir. The onions should be golden brown. Add the tomato and stir. It should bubble and become sort of thick like a gravy. Add a little water if it’s splattering too much. Stir in the ginger-garlic paste. Add the dry spices and ginger (except for the garam masala), and stir. Add the potatoes and stir to coat, then simmer for a few minutes. Add the cauliflower. Pour in at least two cups of water, then cover the pan and simmer, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are done, about 20 minutes or so. Add the garam masala near the end, then taste and adjust seasoning. You may need to add a little more water if it becomes too dry. You want the vegetables to be tender with the flavors penetrating through. Add a small handful of chopped cilantro and cover the pan and let it sit for several minutes before serving so the flavors can penetrate even more. Serve with rotis. And don’t forget, it tastes even better the next day!

At the end of the feature, Gurinder Chadha mentioned one of our favorite ways to eat aloo gobi. You take cold aloo gobi and put it between two slices of bread, then cook the sandwich in one of those sandwich maker toasters that presses the sandwich into two triangles. Eat that with some spicy (I like Maggi brand Chatpat ketchup) or plain ketchup for an amazing lunch! This idea is also great with pau bhaji.

Why I Love Blacksburg

Today I didn't have much time for exercising before work, so I decided that going walking/jogging for 30 minutes would be better than nothing. It was a crisp morning, even in August, and it was so nice to get out and run through one of my favorite neighborhoods nearby. As I was running, I passed people who greeted me with a cheerful "good morning." I gazed out over Ellett Valley below as I went along, and thought about how lucky I am to have such a view.

As I reached the halfway point of the excursion, I was jogging down a hill and came within 20 feet of a beautiful young buck with small fuzzy antlers; he bounded into the woods at my approach. As I rounded the curve, I had to stop and bend over because I was too out of breath. As I stood back up, a little old lady came out of her house and asked me if I wanted some water. I accepted and she gave me an ice-cold bottle of water and I went on my way with thanks.

For years I've thought only of leaving this town, but now my husband and I are considering staying. Only in a town like this do I encounter such natural beauty and such friendly people. I love Blacksburg!

The photo I've included is actually a young fawn that we found near my dad and stepmom's place, but I thought it was nice with this blog entry...

Fuck Cancer

I think four-letter words are entirely appropriate here. My dad has cancer. Prostate cancer. Scans are this week, and then we'll find out how serious it is. There is no justice in this world, when the good people get sick, and the complete assholes seem to live long and healthy lives.

Pray for my dad.

High School Reunion, or "What's That Building Behind You Guys?"

Last weekend was my 10-year high school reunion. I can now say that I have faced the overhyped and cliche-ridden thing that is the high school reunion. All I wanted was to go and see old friends (loved getting back in touch!) and also look hot with my hot hubby. Done! What else happened?

• Saw guy classmate who is now bald? Check.

• Saw bitchy female classmate who is now fat? Check.

• Popular kids still all hanging out together? Check.

• Massive number of people from my county married each other and stayed right.there. and did nothing.else. in their lives? Check.

• Some people had insane numbers of kids already at only age 28? Check--one girl has FOUR.

• Ate awful food and drink? Check--words can't describe how bad the food was, and the one keg of Bud Lite ran out in an hour.

• Saw popular guy who now seems insanely stupid? Check--one guy asked my husband and me of our picture in the slideshow, "So, what is that building behind you guys?" Ummm...