One the traditions I follow for thanksgiving is hang the wreath ring on the front door.
Once I draw out the ring from its box, dust off and hang it, I am filled with excitement - as it marks the start of holiday season and all the warmth(despite cold weather) the holidays bring.
However, I, for the first time this year, wondered, 'why wreaths, wreath rings for holidays' ? Ever since I am in the US, I started seeing that people do a lot of things to mark holidays, most evident outside the house as you walk past or drive by watching decorations are wreath rings on the door and/or lights. Wreath was easy, less work and suitable even when we lived in an apt...and so I simply picked up that tradition to mark holidays.
Other question was on Christmas Tree. It is so common to see a Christmas Tree during this time..but why do people put up the tree? I just couldn't seem to find or remember the reason from recalling all the fables I read or heard as a child.
To satisfy my curiostiy - I googled. Thanks for Wiki, there is an extensive explanation on Christmas Tree it give elaborated information on even star or angel decor on top of the tree:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_tree
Wreath was a tough one...took some time to find. I found a link which give a decent history(though am not completely satisfied):
http://www.e-wreath.com/wreathhistory.html
What I gather essentially is, in the Western half of the world, since Europe was the only effluent, flourished establishment of population many many years ago they followed and documented their traditions. As the Europeans invaded and acquired other parts of the world, they carried their traditions with them wherever they went..and few common ones became popular over time.
The joy of holidays is defined, but not limited to traditions.Origins apart, it is simply fun to follow them.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
How much time do we really have?
Time is a relative term, it has a relative definition.
'I do not get enough time' - is a common phrase that we hear and most of us use - most of the time!
I take pride in thinking that I am different from the common lore in that I manage time, chores and energy effectively and pay enough attention to life at all fronts. My pride was shattered with my recent visit back home.
Two weeks straight, I watched my mother, a 57 year old lady, work her way through each day with utmost discipline. She is a primary grade teacher by profession; and a dedicated mother and daughter-in-law by passion.
I was comparing my daily routine to hers. I wake up in the morning and talk on the phone for a while even before stepping out of bed. Get ready, pray, have breakfast and step out of home to work. I take about one and half to two hours to do all this. I applaud myself everyday that I sit steadily and eat my breakfast and then step out. After I watched my mom - I was ashamed. Give these 2 hours to her in the morning - she wakes up at 5.30 in the morning and leaves homes by 7.30 to catch the school bus. In these two hours, she cooks for the day, cleans, fills up water( we do not have 24hrs water supply, so need to fill up and store water for later use), gets ready, prays, has breakfast and then leaves. I was totally amazed and ashamed looking at her. Because I was around, she was talking about health, welfare, finances - any topic at random that came up at the spur of the moment. If I were to talk about the same, I needed to sit down, have a calm mind, and need a settled time to 'discuss' these topics.
Forget about just a morning; in one day, there are so many things that she does or can do. You can call that every day is complete for her because apart from simply doing the daily chores as in-charge of the household, she catches up on news, reads books, caters to her in-laws and helps neighbors if needed too. So much in a day?! It is the same 24 hours she has that I have too. I can never do so many things in a day.
All in all what I came to realize is that time and schedule is how we handle. It all depends on how lazy you let yourself be versus how much you to push and stretch yourself to adapt. Given a good physical health, the ability to do something comes from the mind. This still did not satisfy me and answer my question as to how my mother can do everything that she does.
I thought hard and finally gave up. I talked to her and she said - 'time is money'. As the old proverb goes, if we imbibe this in us and treat every moment like its the most valuable moment of life, discipline and time management automatically follow the course of action. You dont need to sit down and plan on what to do or how to manage time, it is a mental process. Amma says, 'its a problem with your generation'. Instead of just getting up and doing what needs to be done, she says, we spend more time thinking and talking about what to do rather than just doing something. I got furious when I heard that first. I thought she was poking at me. But when I think about it, yea, she is right. We set our bars too low and get satisfied with simple achievements of everyday life; when time, energy and wisdom can be spent much more efficiently. She says spend each day for a purpose. Now, I do not know how exactly I can or will do this, but I am going to try for sure.
Its all about 'making' time - not 'having' it :)
'I do not get enough time' - is a common phrase that we hear and most of us use - most of the time!
I take pride in thinking that I am different from the common lore in that I manage time, chores and energy effectively and pay enough attention to life at all fronts. My pride was shattered with my recent visit back home.
Two weeks straight, I watched my mother, a 57 year old lady, work her way through each day with utmost discipline. She is a primary grade teacher by profession; and a dedicated mother and daughter-in-law by passion.
I was comparing my daily routine to hers. I wake up in the morning and talk on the phone for a while even before stepping out of bed. Get ready, pray, have breakfast and step out of home to work. I take about one and half to two hours to do all this. I applaud myself everyday that I sit steadily and eat my breakfast and then step out. After I watched my mom - I was ashamed. Give these 2 hours to her in the morning - she wakes up at 5.30 in the morning and leaves homes by 7.30 to catch the school bus. In these two hours, she cooks for the day, cleans, fills up water( we do not have 24hrs water supply, so need to fill up and store water for later use), gets ready, prays, has breakfast and then leaves. I was totally amazed and ashamed looking at her. Because I was around, she was talking about health, welfare, finances - any topic at random that came up at the spur of the moment. If I were to talk about the same, I needed to sit down, have a calm mind, and need a settled time to 'discuss' these topics.
Forget about just a morning; in one day, there are so many things that she does or can do. You can call that every day is complete for her because apart from simply doing the daily chores as in-charge of the household, she catches up on news, reads books, caters to her in-laws and helps neighbors if needed too. So much in a day?! It is the same 24 hours she has that I have too. I can never do so many things in a day.
All in all what I came to realize is that time and schedule is how we handle. It all depends on how lazy you let yourself be versus how much you to push and stretch yourself to adapt. Given a good physical health, the ability to do something comes from the mind. This still did not satisfy me and answer my question as to how my mother can do everything that she does.
I thought hard and finally gave up. I talked to her and she said - 'time is money'. As the old proverb goes, if we imbibe this in us and treat every moment like its the most valuable moment of life, discipline and time management automatically follow the course of action. You dont need to sit down and plan on what to do or how to manage time, it is a mental process. Amma says, 'its a problem with your generation'. Instead of just getting up and doing what needs to be done, she says, we spend more time thinking and talking about what to do rather than just doing something. I got furious when I heard that first. I thought she was poking at me. But when I think about it, yea, she is right. We set our bars too low and get satisfied with simple achievements of everyday life; when time, energy and wisdom can be spent much more efficiently. She says spend each day for a purpose. Now, I do not know how exactly I can or will do this, but I am going to try for sure.
Its all about 'making' time - not 'having' it :)
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Capsicum(bell pepper) and Potato Curry
Last night when I walked into the kitchen, and found nothing to eat, I was tempted to order a delivery or simply get out and grab something to eat. Then I changed my mind - and am glad I did. I made dinner for two - in just 15 mins, it was sumptuous and totally yummy! Here is how:
Ingredients:
1. One potato, medium - peeled and diced.
2. Two capsicum(bell peppers) - diced.
3. half spoon ginger-garlic paste
4. Some Corriander(cilantro) - chopped
5. One spoon dhana-jeera powder
6. 3 whole Red Chilli
7. Half spoon Red Chilli powder.
8. pinch of turmeric powder
Procedure:
Heat a shallow pan on medium flame. Add oil.
After oil heats up, add turmeric powder, red chillies and potato to the pan, stir and cover with lid.
Let cook for few minutes, stirring occasionally with lid covered.
When you see that the potato has softened a little, add ginger garlic paste and stir. then add capsicum to the pan. Stir and cover with lid.
Let cook and stir ocassionally.
Capsicum gets cooked very quickly. Once you notice the mixture is about half cooked, add salt.
Stir, remove lid.
Leave the mixture on flame for about 5 mins, occasionally stirring.
When done, turn the flame off, add red chilli powder, dhana-jeera powder and cilantro, stir and cover with lid.
Serve warm.
Friday, October 22, 2010
chitti boorelu
Ingredients:
1. wheat flour(godhum pindi) - 1 cup
2. rice flour (biyyappindi) - 1 cup
3. salt
4. red chilli powder
5. buttermilk( better if sour)
6. ginger
7. green chilli
8. jeera
9. asofotedia
Process:
Mix the dry ingredients - flours, salt, chilli powder, jeera, asofotedia in a bowl - stir with a spatula. Grind green chilli and ginger and add paste to the mix. Add buttermilk little by little and stir the mixture into a soft tight batter(enough tight like vada batter or even pakodi batter).
Set batter aside for 1 hour.
Heat oil in a pan - enough for deep fry. Make small balls of the batter and deep fry until golden brown in hot oil. Let cool. Serve warm.
1. wheat flour(godhum pindi) - 1 cup
2. rice flour (biyyappindi) - 1 cup
3. salt
4. red chilli powder
5. buttermilk( better if sour)
6. ginger
7. green chilli
8. jeera
9. asofotedia
Process:
Mix the dry ingredients - flours, salt, chilli powder, jeera, asofotedia in a bowl - stir with a spatula. Grind green chilli and ginger and add paste to the mix. Add buttermilk little by little and stir the mixture into a soft tight batter(enough tight like vada batter or even pakodi batter).
Set batter aside for 1 hour.
Heat oil in a pan - enough for deep fry. Make small balls of the batter and deep fry until golden brown in hot oil. Let cool. Serve warm.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Utappam: Aandhra Style
Ingredients:
1. Buttermilk, preferably sour(Pulla Majjiga) - 3 cups
2. Poha(Atukulu) - 1 cup
3. Raw Rice(Biyyam) - 2 n 1/2 cups
4. Menthulu - 1 tea spoon
5. Salt
6. Ginger
7. Green Chillies
8. Onions
9. Cilantro(corriander)
Preparation:
1. Wash poha, methi seeds and rice
2. Soak the washed ingredients in buttermilk for 4-5 hours(longer if needed).
3. Grind the soaked ingredients along with the buttermilk - get a tight batter without adding any extra water or butter milk. Add green chilli and ginger and grind them all together again. The result should be a smooth, tight batter.
4. Let the batter sit overnight.
5. Chop onions, cilantro(corriander) and green chillies.
6. Heat a flat pan, wait until the pan gets heated a bit.
7. Add few drops of oil, pour about a big spoon of utappam batter into the pan into the shape of a flat round. Do not touch to flatten it with a spatula (like you do for dosa).
8. Add the onion mixture on the top. Cover pan with lid.
9. After a few mins, when one side turns brown, remove lid and flip it to the other side. Let it cook on the pan without lid for 2-3 mins.
1. Buttermilk, preferably sour(Pulla Majjiga) - 3 cups
2. Poha(Atukulu) - 1 cup
3. Raw Rice(Biyyam) - 2 n 1/2 cups
4. Menthulu - 1 tea spoon
5. Salt
6. Ginger
7. Green Chillies
8. Onions
9. Cilantro(corriander)
Preparation:
1. Wash poha, methi seeds and rice
2. Soak the washed ingredients in buttermilk for 4-5 hours(longer if needed).
3. Grind the soaked ingredients along with the buttermilk - get a tight batter without adding any extra water or butter milk. Add green chilli and ginger and grind them all together again. The result should be a smooth, tight batter.
4. Let the batter sit overnight.
5. Chop onions, cilantro(corriander) and green chillies.
6. Heat a flat pan, wait until the pan gets heated a bit.
7. Add few drops of oil, pour about a big spoon of utappam batter into the pan into the shape of a flat round. Do not touch to flatten it with a spatula (like you do for dosa).
8. Add the onion mixture on the top. Cover pan with lid.
9. After a few mins, when one side turns brown, remove lid and flip it to the other side. Let it cook on the pan without lid for 2-3 mins.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Menthi Podi
Ingredients:
1. Chana dal(senaga pappu) -1 cup
2. Urad dal(minapa pappu) -3/4 cup
3. Dhaniya - 1 cup
4. Menthulu(methi seeds) - 2 tbsp
5. inguva 1/2 spoon
6. dried red chilli - 24 mid-size
Procedure:
Roast(lightly) all ingredients in a few drops of oil. Let cool. Grind into a soft powder.(grind red chillies first).
1. Chana dal(senaga pappu) -1 cup
2. Urad dal(minapa pappu) -3/4 cup
3. Dhaniya - 1 cup
4. Menthulu(methi seeds) - 2 tbsp
5. inguva 1/2 spoon
6. dried red chilli - 24 mid-size
Procedure:
Roast(lightly) all ingredients in a few drops of oil. Let cool. Grind into a soft powder.(grind red chillies first).
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