Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Pasitha Pasta

(Pasitha in colloquial Tamil means ‘if you are hungry’)

I have been in a major cooking spree, and I prepared some delicious Pasta for dinner.

Incase case you wonder how I did?
First take adequate quantity of Pasta, add a pinch of salt, three times water and boil till the pasta is really soft. Drain the remaining water and keep it aside.

Take some vegetables like Capsicum, Carrot and Broccolis (or anything you feel fit). Chop them finely and microwave for 2 to 3 minutes to make them soft. If you don’t use microwave, boil them on a vessel for a short while.

Heat a dry pan, add some vegetable oil (or any edible oil you can lay your hands on), add a cup of tomato puree and cook till fresh smell is off, add the half baked vegetables and fry for a short while. Add a cup of milk, let it boil. Add salt and spicing ingredients. Stir continuously. Add the drained pasta and stir/cook for a while. Add butter or fresh cream and take it out of the pan. Garnish with the greens and your pasta is ready.

Additional tip: Spread some grated cheese and microwave it for 2 minutes to have some melting cheese pasta.

Now a treat for all the waiting eyes..

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Extraordinary People

How does someone who doesn’t have fingers in her toe, well no toes in her legs, actually no legs joining her thigh, in fact with no lower extremity live?

How will it be when you only have the upper half of your body and you have to live with a father who suffers from Alzheimer's and dementia and a brother who is mentally challenged?

Rosemarie (Rose) Siggins was born with a disorder known as
Sacral Agenesis. Meet her here to know more about this Extra-ordinary lady and her fight for the right to live a normal life.

I saw a program on TLC channel about her when she said (something similar to) “I am not handicapped, one who cannot do something is handicapped, I can do them, may be differently”.

My hats are off to respect her.

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Try II

My dad's birthday was nearing, not that he really cares about it, but I did...
I was 10,000 miles away, but thanks to technology, we can do everything except touch, smell and taste.
I decided to make a cake, and cut it for him...

With overwhelming response for my first cake, and from the lessons I leant, I attempted a more mature cake this time.

I called it, Karthik's Choco-chocochip Apple cake... hm.. no prizes for guessing the ingredients here :)

And here it is,


It was much better in looks and taste and really hard to resist, but with 24 hrs still to go for my dad's bday, I kept my hands and mouth tightly shut.

Right on time, I got the cake, and cut it for my dad who was watching it live from the beautiful Far East.
Soon after, the cake didn’t last 15 minutes.
:)

Monday, November 14, 2005

My Cake

This is my first try on Caking and baking...

I tried my hands on making a cake and this is how I did it.

Ingredients:
Cake mix - 500 gms
Flavored whipped cream - as needed
water - 250ml
Butter or Vegetable oil 75gms



This is an egg-less cake, but eggs can be added (recommended qty: 3).

First mix the power, water and butter and beat them for up to 4 mins (add eggs if being used).


Just to prove I am preparing the cake :) (sadly I was my own camera man)


Take a vessel, preferably a nonstick one, and grease the sides with butter or oil.


And evenly pour the mix into the vassal.


Bake the mix for about 30 mins, in a preheated oven at 325 degree C.


The cake base is ready

Take the whipped Cream,

And apply over the cake, till its fully covered..


And Hurray!!! My CAKE is Ready..

Trust me, its tasty tasty.. yum..yummy yum…

Saturday, November 12, 2005

When our brain gets all worked up...

Often we do something and then think “How Stupid”… That may be because we are used to some un-interesting routine in our lives. Here are two such subtle incidents that woke me up.

I got a new (relatively) optical mouse for my laptop, I had the drivers installed and fit the mouse to its slot, but it wouldn’t work. I knew it work earlier but couldn’t quite get why it didn’t respond. After (re)searching the control panel and the physical socket in all dimensions, BANG, the gyan came in, my laptop and the mouse were rested on a glass table and the light from the mouse happily passed thru w/o reflecting and that means no net displacement. I was wondering for a long time why did man invent a mouse pad, today I acknowledge that invention.


I was in the Bangalore International Airport at 2 AM crossing the final check before boarding the flight.
A lady employees of the Airlines had her made up smiley face and was wishing “Bye”, and I said “Bye”, the other lady said “Thank you” and I said the same thing, and the security guy said “Have a nice flight”, and I spontaneously said “You too”…DING.. I found I was sleeping already.

You may share your funny incident if you wish to.

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

On Diwali nothing matters

Rain batters, roof tatters, life shatters but on Diwali, nothing matters…

Diwali is logically the beginning of a new year for most business people throughout India. Hindus and Jains alike pray to the goddess Lakshmi to bless them with progress and prosperity.


Despite heavy rainfalls flooding most parts of Chennai, causing huge loss to people and property, the sprit of Diwali as always was seen lit up.

Wondering if the below picture was taken in the Times Square, or a busy shopping arcade in Dubai or Singapore? Well you need to look again.



This is how Purasawalkam, the area I stay looks for weeks during the Diwali season. This 300 meter long shopping paradise in North Central Chennai attracts Lakhs of people from all walks of life every day during festival times. From road-side shops to retail outlets, there is something for everyone. The year 2005 saw an unprecedented level of security and traffic regulatory arrangements that helped maintain law and order throughout the season.