The Adventures of the Little Indian Girl

Well, technically I got the ingredients together, put them in a pan and then let the machine do the kneading, rising, and baking! But hey, for one who has never done it before, it's the closest I have gotten to do baking!! 

I bought a bread machine! We have been thinking of getting that or a kitchenAid/Cuisinart mixer to help to bake all kinds of stuff! I had promised D that for her 3rd birthday I will bake her a cake! And now with her allergies and all, I really would have to! 

At Trader Joe's there was this blueberry pound cake that was absolutely delicious! It was also the only thing with no nuts in it at all and D devoured it! But by golly there was so much sugar! They also didn't use fine sugar (am sure they did it for a reason!). So, you could really taste the sugar in it! So, today I drastically cut the sugar level and had ourselves a great blueberry pound cake at home!!

It was a little on the dry side. Have to figure out why! N doesn't know I finally went and bought it. It was one of the He comes back tomorrow and so plan to surprise him with some fresh loaf of bread! Hope it comes out well! I was so confident, today I didn't buy any bread from the store! 

How exciting! 

Next purchase will be an Indian wet grinder so we can make up all kinds of batters to make dosas, idlis, etc.! Yum... Our mixer broke and the American blenders don't grind grain so well. Although my cousin was using a regular blender to make her batter! But it tends to overheat the machine and you have to let it cool, etc. Or you could just buy the batter from the Indian store, which is what we have been doing. But there are so many things you can do with a wet grinder! yummmm.... 

I always get inspired to get in the kitchen and do stuff after visiting Indian friends/family who have a mom figure visiting them! lol...

The first time I am having coffee at work, my boss bought it for me as a treat and didn't think about cream/milk and sugar. She takes her coffee black. Oh dear lord! I took three sips and am already going nuts. woooo hooo... I should switch to coffee instead of alcohol to get a buzz! more cost-effective, no?

• Yesterday we coordinated another seminar. This time the topic was on green building and designs, looking more towards commercial buildings. Interesting topic but the presentations were so dull. Most of them were mumbling through the presentations, either because they don't know how to present or didn't know the subject matter they were presenting. It was a bit disappointing for us as usually our seminars come out very well.

• Salt has been in the news a lot lately. It has become the bad guy after the hoopla over corn-syrup, trans-fat, etc. The use of salt in restaurants is ridiculously high! Trends also show therefore our tastebuds have now become so used to more salt that eating food the way it was done just 15 years ago would feel tasteless. N and I purposely reduce salt at home, when we used canned veggies or other products that has already salt in it. Personally, I can use more salt in my diet because on occasion my BP goes low. So, I add it onto my own plate. It's my choice to do so.

• N and I are going to go watch Star Trek this week. I am not actually sure why I am going. I never really enjoyed Star Trek. I watched mostly because it's dad's favourite movie/series. He always encouraged us to watch it. So, I think I am going for that sentimental thing. And this would be our first movie at the theaters in over a year or more! We got a nice deal of buy-one-get-one-free! yay for freebies! Why is it so expensive going to movies? It's funny cause I used to frequent going so many times in younger days!

• I have been enjoying watching the HBO Series, Botswana's No.1 Ladies Detective Agency! I should see if the library has the books and read it too! N says they did a pretty good job of replicating small towns in Botswana. And Jill Scott is just so cute in the series. I like her assistant detective! She is such a character!! Currently that's the only TV show I do not miss! 

• Today am planning to get out early and go watch an Indian historian talk. It looks interesting!