After a scrumptious Valentine’s Day dinner I convinced the whole family to watch Chocolat with me. I had seen it years ago when it first came out and fell in love with it! I
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Gray Mountain, by John Grisham
It’s chilly and dreary in Los Gatos, California. What? You say? In sunny California? Yes! It is winter after all. I see grey clouds today as we are expecting another bout of rain. A perfect day to read a book with a hot cup of tea.
Speaking of grey and book, here is a suggestion for a good read – Gray Mountain, by John Grisham. Hitesh recommended I read this book, but then he is a big fan of John Grisham. He has read every single book John Grisham has ever written. He said he likes Grisham’s style of writing because “he has a dry sense of humor and wit.” Continue reading Gray Mountain, by John Grisham
Visit to Washington, DC
It’s President’s Day and I thought this is a perfect time to write about my trip to Washington, DC. In October of last year, Hitesh and I went to DC for a little holiday. Anjali and Rani were going on their 8th grade DC trip through their school which means we had the whole week to ourselves, so we decided we would do the same – head to DC, not with the twins of course. The twins were mortified to know that we were going to DC! They were worried we would tag along with them on their school trip. No worries here! This was a chance for Hitesh and I to be together without the kids. Are you kidding? Why would we tag along? Coincidentally we did end up on the same flight as the twins on the way out to DC. Of course they thought we planned it that way, but we really didn’t 😉
Homemade Cardamom Saffron Chocolate Truffles
As sophisticated and decadent as truffles sound, they are the easiest to make.
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Vegetarian Menu Celebrating Love. Happy Valentine’s Day! 2016
Years ago in the early days of our marriage Hitesh would take me out every year for a Valentine’s Day dinner. I expected it. After a few years of following this tradition I noticed something – Valentine’s Day second only to Mother’s Day is the busiest day to go out for dinner. The restaurants are crazy packed. Not only are the restaurants swimming with customers, the wait staff is working extra hard, the kitchen staff seems overwhelmed, and there is a constant stream of new customers impatiently waiting to be seated. Restaurants want you to eat and leave so they can seat the next batch of customers, no leisurely romantic dinner on this evening. It can be pretty chaotic. So I decided a while ago that while yes, I still want my flowers, and yes, I still want my fancy restaurant dinner – but the restaurant dinner I can take a rain check on for another day. Instead, I will make a special dinner at home for all of us to enjoy and relax in the comforts of our own home. This way the whole family gets to be part of the Valentine’s Day dinner. Continue reading Vegetarian Menu Celebrating Love. Happy Valentine’s Day! 2016
Veggie Picking with the Family
2015 was the first year we had a veggie patch. And we planted tons of veggie plants. It was loads of fun for all of us to watch the plants grow and produce a boatload of vegetables. We even hosted a couple of veggie picking parties with our cousins. Here are a few pictures of our veggie picking party. Continue reading Veggie Picking with the Family
Uma Aunty’s Book Signing Tea
My Aunty Uma (my Mom’s younger sister) recently published a book on Indian herbs and their healing properties titled Herbal Transformations. Ancient Wisdom Revealed for Health and Longevity. Uma aunty’s book is a treasure for anyone wanting to learn about Indian herbs and their healing properties. Her book has taken years of research to compile, and the end result is an easy to read book on healing herbs that has plenty of anecdotes and personal experiences to make the stories and information on herbs come alive. Continue reading Uma Aunty’s Book Signing Tea
Celebrating the First Harvest from our Veggie Patch
After a month of planting seedlings and new veggie plants we finally saw the fruits of our labor. To celebrate our inaugural bounty of veggies, we had an evening of wine and cheese up in the veggie patch. Here are the pics. Continue reading Celebrating the First Harvest from our Veggie Patch
Easy Creamy Broccoli Soup
This soup is super easy to make. You don’t need many ingredients, and you can adjust the recipe according to your taste. Basically it’s hard to mess this up.
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Our New Veggie Patch
We finally got around to building a vegetable patch last year on our hill. This little hill of ours has amazing views of the surrounding hills and mountains, and tons of sunshine; perfect conditions for growing vegetables. I asked my gardener to build the veggie patch, told him exactly what I was looking for, and after 3 months of flattening parts of the hill, tilling the soil, trucking in loads of compost and soil, the veggie patch was finally done. Here are the pictures of our newly built veggie patch. Continue reading Our New Veggie Patch