Sangria!

Since my last post, I been feeling the need to post a few more of my recipes. So, here's one for Spanish Sangria - one of my favorite drinks!

But, before I start, let me tell you the story of how this came to be one of my favorite drinks: It was in June '08, and I was in Barcelona. I was at this neat hostel somewhere near the city center. I was sharing a room with a few others, and luckily for me, all of them turned out to be really nice! From what I can remember, there was Francisco from New York, and Tima from Amsterdam. I'd returned late that night, after doing a hop-on hop-off of the city. Frank thought that it might be a good idea for a few of us to head out and get some sangria. So, we did. It was one of the nicest nights I'd had. We were out until 2.30 in the morning, drinking pitchers of sangria at a local pub, and talking about travel and cultures. Since then, every time that I've made or ordered sangria, I've been reminded of that fabulous night. 

So, this recipe is dedicated to that night!

Here's what you'll need:

2 pc. oranges

1 pc. apple

1/2 pc. pineapple

1 pc. pomegranate

3 pc. lemons

4 cups sugar

1/2 l. of orange juice

2 cups rum/brandy

1 l. of any red wine 

1/4 l. of club soda

Here's how you make it:

1 Cut all the oranges and 2 pieces of lemon in rings, the pineapples in cubes, and the apples in little pieces. Pluck out all the pomegranate seeds. Put all of this in a big jug. 

2 Add the sugar and squeeze out one lemon on to the fruit. Then add the orange juice. 

3 Add the rum/brandy.

4 Leave this mixture in the fridge overnight.

5 Before serving, add all the chilled red wine to the mixture. Also add the soda, to wake the drink up and give it fizz.

It's now ready to serve! 

Some other tips:

~ you can actually add any fruit you like

~ if you want to make it stronger, just add more rum/brandy

~ to dilute, add more fruit juice

~ for some zing, add a few mint leaves

Pancakes... Yummm!

I went out on that walk, picked up stuff at Reliance Fresh, and then made pancakes* for dinner. 

Here's what I did:

Step 1: Put 4 cups of low-fat milk, with 3 small spoons of vanilla flavor and 6 full eggs in a big bowl. Beat it all up. 

Step 2: After beating it all together for 5 minutes, add 6 big spoons of molten butter. Continue to beat it up. It should be fluffy by now. 

Step 3: Add 5 small spoons of baking powder, along with 6 big spoons of sugar. Continue to beat it up. 

Step 4: Add 4.5 cups of maida to it and beat it up immediately. Don't let it get lumpy. The batter should thick now.

Step 5: Chop up and add fruit of your choice. 

Step 6: Let it sit for at least 10 minutes. 

Step 7: Heat the pan and apply a small amount of butter on it. Leave the stove on a small-medium flame. Put out small amounts of it, in the center and wait for it to bubble on top. You can add choco chips and sugar at this stage. 

Step 8: Flip over in under a minute and let it cook on the other side. 

Step 9: Wait for another 45-60 seconds and take it off the stove. 

Step 10: Add honey/maple/chocolate syrup and dig in!

*This makes about 12 huge pancakes, in just 30 minutes.

6.47pm on September 20, at Flat 2, 8-2-609/B/3.

me: We're so boring. We don't do anything different. We never used to be like this. Think 3 years ago. 

him: We don't always watch a movie and then eat at Rajdhani. We do different things.

me: Yeah, you are right. That is so exciting. 

him: Do what you want, Dash. 

me: Yeah, OK. I will. I think I will go running now. Will go change. 

him: OK. Can you turn on your system and let me watch some 'How I met your mother?'

me: Sure. In a minute?

* at this point, I come to write this post *

This is what we've come to. 

$%*&&*!@ (^$$.

A good day

Today's been a good day. I didn't go to work. (Already sounds like a lot of fun, right? That's what I thought!) Anyway, so I woke late, went upstairs and spent time with N. While most will chat up over a cup of coffee and the newspaper, we chatted up over common friend's Facebook profiles!

Did a lot of miscellaneous things over the day and then in the evening, I set out for a jog. It felt good to be out! I love running and I love working out. I wonder why I ever stopped. And then, as I was running, it started to rain really heavily. So, I waited under a tree. 

It was interesting to stand on the road and just wait. I can't remember the last time I'd waited and watched the rain. That's when, a kid ran by, skipping and thoroughly enjoying himself. That inspired me, and as soon as the rain started to subside, I ran most of the way back home. It felt great! 

Most importantly, it reminded me of how much I loved to run. Going forward, I'm not going to have it any other way. I love running, and I love my neighborhood. So, without any further excuses, I'm going to Just do it! 

<|<| and |>

Sunday - September 14, 2008

Once again, early day. But, not as early as the previous day. 

Made my way back to the big city, before the Ganesh Visarjans began. Made it in pretty good time. Got some sleep on the ride back. Spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening with Supriya and then the rest of the evening with Anumeha first, and later with Anuradha, Arlene and Andrew. 

It was a fun evening. But something inside of me was very disconnected. I didn't feel like I belonged. Something was nagging me. Still not able to figure what it was about. 

I'd spent my entire weekend with some of the women that I loved the most in the world - some of my best friends. Then, why was I feeling this way?

One of them is in a relationship for the first time, another is in a real relationship (yes, there are things such as non-real relationships) for the first time, and then another is on the brink of one. And there I was - 3 years steady and still sailing. 

Suddenly, I felt stuck. Stuck in a rut. I am 23, soon to be 24. Am I supposed to think of this as being tied down or as something steady that I can lean on. As much as I want to think the latter way, I feel tied down. S is a great guy. It isn't him. It's me. No, really, It's me. 

I've always needed constant change. This is my theory to it - all my life, something big has always changed every three years, roughly. And, I think I've gotten used to it now. It's in my DNA. Three years of constant has just wooshed by. Could it be that same feeling again? 

* panic * panic * panic *

Saturday - September 13, 2008

It started early. Very early! 

I took an early morning bus to Pune. Spent the entire day with Aakanksha. We made no plans, but it turned out to be one of the best days of my grown up life. 

So, what did we do?

We got startefd with some some food at Vaishali of the Vaishali-Rupali fame. 

Then booked an evening show and headed off to a parlor to get pampered. We dared each other to paint our toes in strange colors. Crazy! But, felt good! Best part - parlors in Pune are the cheapest I've ever been to. Ever! 

Then we went to watch Mamma Mia!! Was a fun movie.. It was an ABBA equivalent of Across-the-Universe. I'm not a huge Abba fan, but loved it anyway. I realize that I'm a sucker for musicals!

We were on our way out, when we saw that Jazz was having a night of live retro music. Instinctively, the both of us just took the right, and walked into the empty bar. Made total sense for us to do that, given the musical mood we were in. It's another story all together, that the band turned out to suck. They played bollywood masala music and tried to pull that off as classic rock. Haha... Really! 

We laughed at first, and then continued to chat on about our Coffee? and Movenpik days, while enjoying our pitcher of half-decent sangria. Felt comfortingly familiar.

Too much wine and too much song, wonder how we got along? 

;-) 

{hugs!} 

Friday - September 12, 2008

Good day. Long day!

Lots of chaos and uncertainty, but all's well that ends well, right? All did end well - the agency night went off well and everyone played their part to exceed expectations. So, I was happy :)

Day 30776896294

I've been terrible. I haven't posted as much as I'd have liked. More importantly, I've eaten all the wrong things and have been a terrible person. 

But, I have a post saved on my phone, and I will post it at my next best opportunity. 

*&%@W&@%(*#

Day 1 of Resolution

So, how did I do today?

- I gymmed. But, then ate rasam shadam and thaiyyir shadam. So, purpose has been defeated.

- Have to work late tonight. Did I just give one priority a bit too much importance? 

- Spend time with boyfriend. Hardly. A little. I should call him now, actually. 

- Campus research. Did some. Very little, actually. Shame on me. 

- Travel wise did well, I think. Have been researching Egypt. Looking forward to it. 

- Money wise, have none. 

5 things I loved about today:

- went to the gym.

- spent time with boy.

- managed to understand how to think at a slightly higher level. Proud of self. 

- wrapped a gift for Shenoy's baby. This is a first for me. So, doubly proud of self.

- spoke to my aunt. 

5 things I could have done better:

- prepped my trainers for the dry run with S & K better. They got attacked unnecessarily. 

- not eaten rice.

- saved some more money.

- did some college research.

- not eaten those banana chips.

Clearly, I suck at this.

I've been meaning to post more often, but I haven't. 2 posts/month over the last 2 months. Shameful. 

Starting today, this is going to change. I've also decided that it is now time for me to take 100% charge of my life and start prioritizing everything that is important. 

Here's a list of everything that I need to focus on: 

- work

- gym/walk/aerobics

- eating right

- loose weight (above two points feed into it)

- get back to studying

- read

- music

- write/blog

Starting today, I'm going to put everything else aside and focus on just this. I need to prove to myself that I can go back to being that very organized being that I was once. 

Here's to a fresh start! 

~d

It's 4.30 in the afternoon and I'm...

... sitting at a fabulous little roadside cafe, in Mumbai, writing this post. It's probably the only city in India, where I could do this. Maybe I could in B'lore, but I highly doubt I would. So then, maybe I should rephrase my sentence to say - It's probably the only city in India, where I know I'd want to do this. 

I thought of many things that I could put down - about my afternoon here, my memories of this place, or even about my fabulous chocolate-caramel-banana-crepe. But, then I realized that there was only point that I wanted to drive home, over and over again. 

I love this city. 

Realizations, Apologies & Confessions.

S,

Lately, I have been cold and though you can't seem to figure out why, I know only all too well. I wasn't thinking straight, and thanks to something that V said I've realized that I was wrong in thinking that way. Playgrounds look good from afar, but I'm sure that they will be as filthy if I go back. I don't want to go back to find out. Now that I'm grown up, I want to learn to appreciate what's with me now. So, as I publish this post, I promise to do just that. 

I am putting this down now, so whenever I doubt myself again, I come back to read this - to remind myself of this fabulous feeling of being in love. 

You should know that I fall in love with you over and over again, everytime that you:

- leave that small bit of breakfast for me, just because you know I like it. 

- offer to foot my shopping bills. All of them. 

- get that old-man look on your face, and you actually think you look just 22!  28 is old, you know!

- loose a carrom game to me deliberately, just because I am such a sore looser. 

- come to check on me in the kitchen, when I make Saturday breakfast & tea.

- wear my pink t-shirt, when you have no other option.

- demand that I make you maggi in the middle of the night. 

- email me between those thousand meetings just to say that you miss me. 

- hug me when I need it most.

- call to put me to sleep - even if we speak for just 1:43 minutes. It makes the day worthwhile. 

- say 'I love you,' even when I don't. 

- continue to love me, even when I think I don't. 

The only time I don't love you is when you tell me to stop buying shoes. That - I don't appreciate. I really don't. 

S - I love you tons and tons. Can't imagine a day go by without you. Thank you for being in my life. 

Forever & Always...