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We arrive at sunny Frankfurt in the morning. Our flight to Paris was in a different terminal, so after we got our baggage, we needed to check in again. The Germans came up with the best cars, let’s just say they over-engineered their airports. We took three separate elevators from levels 1-2, 2-3 and 3-4 to take the internal train to the next terminal! When we finally got there, it was time for lunch, so we looked around for something to eat. Our only choices were Mexican and McD’s. What happened to all the good food we were supposed to be eating in EU!? So after some self-consolation, we resigned ourselves to chicken sandwiches from McD’s as our first meal. We weren’t alone; loads of people were doing the same.

We reached Paris mid-afternoon, and drove past the Arc de Triomphe to our cute little hotel. After a shower and a quick nap, we headed to the Eiffel Tower which was walking distance from our hotel. We walked through this HUGE area of green called the Champs du Mars, flanked by Napolean’s tomb and the army school on one side and the Eiffel on the other. The park itself was just bustling with activity, we’d arrived in the middle of a 4-day weekend and everyone was celebrating with such a sense of urgency, it was contagious. People had brought out their picnics, musical instruments, portable music, blankets, chairs, candles, etc, and were partying away without a worry in the world. Ah! The laid back Parisian life!

After we took the obligatory million pics of the Eiffel with Manish’s new camera, while walking towards it, we reached the bottom of the tower. This is basically a huge square, with four entrances at the 4 corners to get to the top. What struck me almost immediately was the “Benetton feel” of the place, people of all sorts where there to marvel at this man-made wonder. There were lots of Indian hawkers selling cheap 1 Euro replicas of the ET, roses, water and wine (yes, its legal there!). After standing for over 80 minutes in our spiraling line, we reached the front, only to be told that this line was only for those that wished to climb the stairs, and that the elevator lines were at the other corners. Ugh! Manish had made up his mind to head back, and come another time but I wasn’t going to give in so easy. So I walked bravely to the other line, and gave the security person in front the whole story, adding that I was pregnant, so I couldn’t stand in line again. No problem she said; she wrote us a special note and we were in the ET elevator in no time. The views from top were amazing! I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking, suffice it to say it was an awesome first stop on our Paris trip!

We left on the afternoon of May10 (Friday). Until 4pm on Thursday, we were still iffy about the trip, since Dr. R wasn’t sure if I’d be a good candidate to travel. After some arm-twisting, she thought it might not be such a bad idea after all to get a break So after some rushed packing, we were set to leave…ye! So we get to SFO, and Sachin calls saying Sonia and him are expecting as well. What swell news to get before we leave! They’re due around Thanksgiving. So between us due end of September, Amit and Ginni due beginning of October, and Sachin and Sonia in November, the three school friends have a baby every month! What a co-incidence!

Dr. R had asked me to stay well hydrated on the flight. Manish made sure I was. He stuffed a bottle of water in my hand every hour, and then asked me to walk around for some circulation. Of course, well-hydrated = over-restroomed

So we decided to expose baby to some culture while still inside, and took off for Paris on May 10. We were there for five days before arriving at Dubai. What a change of pace it’s been! From having to consult the diary every morning in Paris on all the museums and palaces we were visiting, to picking out places to eat, Dubai’s been extremely laid-back and relaxing. I’ll run over our trip in Paris in the following blogs, and also what I haven’t been doing in Dubai over the past few days J Assuringly, baby’s taken well to both the places, and has been extremely co-operative.

Madhu wanted to make kali dal today. So here goes:

Ingredients

1 cup whole urad dal
1/3 cup rajma (red kidney beans)
2 large tomatoes chopped
2 medium onions chopped
2 small chillies
2″ piece ginger
2 tspn dhania powder
2 tspn jeera powder
2-3 tbspn butter
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup yogurt (well beaten)
salt to taste
2-3 tspn oil
Directions

Wash and soak dals together overnight (about 8 hours). Boil the dal with salt, chillies and ginger till cooked. Separately, in a deep saucepot heat oil and add chopped onions. Saute till the onions are a medium brown, about 15 minutes. Now add the dal to the saucepot, and let come to a soft boil. Add tomatoes , dhania and jeera, and let cook till the tomatoes have fully cooked and softened 10-15 minutes. Add hot water after this process if the dal looks too thick. When this is done, add butter, milk and yogurt and let cook another 10 minutes or so. The milk really replaces cream and gives the dal a nice creamy texture. The dal should still be cooking on low heat at this point. The yogurt needs to be blended well before adding, else it ends up looking curdled when you add it. Kali dal is really a back burner dish, the longer you boil it, the creamier it gets. Also, while doing this, if you think your dal has become too thick, alternate adding a little water and milk till it reaches desired consistency. Adjust salt to taste.

Funny observations:

Vegging in front of TV today watching Zee TV when trusted old Peer Sayed Sahib comes along. What’s he offering this time? “Worried about immigration problems? Call Peer Sayed Sahib and let him pray all your immigration worries away.” If only you could see me roll over with laughter! If Peer Sayed Sahib could “pray away” immigration woes, all of immigrationportal.com would be at his number. In which case he wouldn’t need the ad on TV anymore, just lots of assistants praying as his proxy!

In any case, appalled at the “quality” of programming on aforementioned channel, I decided to cancel subscription (for about the 3rd indecisive time, for some reason I keep reconnecting service since I miss previously stated baba). I called up Comcast, went through their “para espanol” cwap, and landed up on the downgrade service option to find that the “office is now closed”. Tactic 2- press option to *upgrade* service, sure as hell- a nice lady answers, asking how she can help me, and I tell her I need to downgrade. *wicked grin* Talk about tricking the system!

So I came across a new term earlier this week….”status anxiety”. Its a keeping-up-with-the-Joneses kind of syndrome. Isn’t it sad, that there’s actually a term for insecure, vain, self-serving individuals, who want to trade up their cars, their diamonds, their houses and their lives, to make them look better. Pathetic!

Last week, I spent Tuesday evening being the worst kind of couch potato….3 hours of back to back shows on Food Network. All about bad-for-you-but-its-the-holiday-season-lets-be-gluttonous recipes. There was a Rachel Ray holiday-meal-in-an-hour show, another with Giada showing off Italian cakes, cookies and other sweet treats around the US. Half-way through this show that probably cost me 500 calories just to watch, was an ad for a new diabetes medication. Talk about targeted marketing!

I’ve been MIA, partly because of very crazy work, partly because of getting ready for Diwali, and “big-partly” from laziness.

We had a Diwali open house at our place yesterday. Many asked “open house?! selling ur place?” Others said “When should we come?”, and some asked “There won’t be food, will there?”. The answers- 1. no, we’re not selling, we love our place! 2. Come anytime you please, its an open house….and 3. Yes! As behooves Diwali, there will be food, lots of it!

So, we got chugging with guest lists, food lists, preparation, shopping, etc. for a better part of two weeks. The “preparation” included changing out the counters on the bar and the half bath with granite. Note to self: house upgrades and party planning DO NOT gel. Graying around temples might occur. Manish was out at Lowes’ every night last week buying pipes and fixtures and what not, while I was simultaneously cooking and fretting over whether we’d have to do the tried and tested “lota-balti” in the absence of a sink and faucet in the bath. As if that wasn’t enough, we had huge gaping holes in the dry wall at the back of the bar, that the contractor guy said he’d fix Friday morning, but was AWOL until well past 4 on Friday evening. I wish I had pictures to show you that my concerns, and fretting, and b****ing were very valid, and all that hair-tearing was legit. But like a well-choreographed ballet, everything fell in place at the 11.5 hour (yes, that close!) The bath looks great now, and the bar counter is actually usable…yeah!

On to better things now….menus were planned, and I got to cooking starting Monday. There were sweets to be made and kababs, and tikka and what not, so I got chugging. Last check on eVite said 75 people..gulp! I love my friends, but I’ve never cooked for all of them at once. Heck, I don’t even know what food for 75 people looks like. OK, I *want* to cook at home- so let’s give this a shot. So here’s the breakdown:

4 lbs date nut rolls
4 cups suji milk cake
10 lbs chicken tikka
8 lbs mini kabab wraps
12+ pounds pav bhaji
140 rava idlis
lots of corn bhel

I know it sounds gluttonous, but the last thing I wanted to do was fall short…as can be guessed, I now have enough food in the fridge and freezer to feed the entire community of 81 houses, and them some Thanks to my over zealous efforts, friends in a 1 mile radius will be wolfing down pav bhaji for a few days to come..he he. The cooking was challenging, but a lot of fun.
It was AWESOME seeing all our friends and family. So many have expanded their families over the years, and some little girls and boys were in darling lehengas and dhotis….adorable! Other than that, the weather didn’t really behave, and our efforts to take our party outdoors failed. Maybe next time we’ll be better prepared with an overhead cover or sheath of some sort. All in all, a lot of fun was had. Oh, and we have so many great sweets at home now, some of them homemade, that if I wanted to eat all of it, I’d have to start running for 3 hours everyday, starting yesterday!

There’s a lot of buzz recently about social businesses, businesses that do well, by doing good. Here’s an article I stepped on about it, and will add to the list, as I see more that catch my eye. Also, I’ve heard about kiva.org twice in one week, so they must be something worth looking at. Will check them out.

Here’s my version of a quick meal with friends, that doesn’t keep you in the kitchen for more than 25 minutes, while still looking elegant. If served right, you might end up looking like you toiled for at least a couple hours to put the meal together

Appetizer 

Crackers with Chicken

Main course
Store bought garlic bread - Pop into oven just before dinner
Corn salad with balsamic vinegar
Spinach cheese ravioli with artichokes in marinara sauce
Baked tilapia with parsley and olives

Dessert

Store bought chocolate marble cheesecake