Hum Tum Ek Kamre Mein Bandh Ho.. Aur Chabi Kho Jaye..

Ok.. Nothing that drastic.. But, this is the first weekend since we've gotten married that we didn't have any social engagements.. OK.. We had one on Saturday that we forgot.. And then the one that we had on Sunday got postponed.. So, we spent the weekend just the two of us.. It was great.. And suprisingly enough, other than having ice-cream on saturday evening and onion rings at the beach, we had all other meals at home..

On Friday, we just hung out at home, had leftovers for dinner, watched Singh Is Kinng on On-Demand.



On Saturday, we went to Narragansett Beach . Had a blast in the water there.. It was getting to be high tide when we got to the beach. The weather was perfect.. About 85 degrees at the beach and the water temperature was close to 70 degrees. There were about 2-3ft waves which was just the icing on the cake.. The beach was quite crowded, but we managed to find space to plop down our beach towels and get some tan too.. We plan to go there couple more times while the weather is still good.. Then in the evening we had dinner at home and realized that over the past few weeks, we're gaining lots of weight. So, we went out for a nice relaxing walk in our neighborhood.. Since we had burnt lots of calories on this walk ;-) we decided to go out for ice cream. We met up with our friends Raju and Divya and went to Toscanini's in Cambridge. I had their "cake batter" ice cream. It was OK. I still prefer Cold Stone's Cake Batter though.

On sunday, we did our religious house hunting open housing activity. Saw houses in Lexington, Arlington, Brookline and Watertown. Haven't liked any just yet.. I've been told to be patient.. So, that is what we're being.. Then we got our weekly supply of fruits from Russo's. I'm begining to love this small farmstand.. They even have vegetables that used to be found only in indian stores, like dudhi, methi, chillies, okra.. As for fruits, we got grapes, oranges and lychees.. Looking forward to savoring them all.. And then we spent the rest of sunday lazying at home and watching the Red Sox beat the Orioles.. We had leftovers for dinner again..

And, now its monday and its back to the grind stone.. I am however looking forward to our spain trip now..

Kakdi Mag Ni Dal Nu Shaak (Cucumber and Moong Dal)

Couple weekends ago, we had gone to Costco to buy some grapes. We're trying to eat healthy food. While there, I also decided to buy some cucumbers and tomatoes. We're on a big sandwich kick these days so I figured we'd use them all.. Well, that didn't happen. So I needed to figure out what I was going to do with these cucumbers that I had. Growing up, my mom often made "Dudhi mag ni dal" (Bottle Gourd and Moong Dal). I figured that cucumbers and dudhi were in the sorta in the same family so, I could just substitute one with the other. I was mostly correct. What I learned though that cucumber isn't as tough as dudhi, so it cooks much faster. Something to remember for next time. Overall the dish tasted really nice. We ate it with the last of the theplas that we had gotten from India and some malaysian parathas.

Here is the Recipe

Ingredients:

1 Chopped Cucumber
1/2 Cup Moong Dal
1/4 Tsp Turmeric
1/2 Tsp Corriender Cummin Powder
1/2 Tsp Red Chilli Powder
1/4 Tsp Hing
2 Tbsp Oil
1/2 Tsp Ginger
2 Tsp Chopped Cilantro
Salt to Taste
Sugar to Taste

Method:

1. Soak moong dal in water for 1/2 hour or so
2. Cook the moong dal and cucumber in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles
3. Let the pressure in the cooker drop naturally so that you can open the cover easily.
4. Once you've opened the cooker, if the dal was cooked directly in it then add some water to it so that its at the desired consistency. If the dal is cooked in cooker containers then transfer it to a pot and add water.
5. Add turmeric, cilantro and cumin power, red chilli power, ginger, salt and sugar to dal and cucumber and stir well.
6. Let this cook for a few minutes till it is simmering
7. Heat the oil for tempering and add hing when the oil is sufficiently hot
8. Once Hing has cooked (about 10 s or so) add it to the dal and stir well
9. Add Cilantro leaves and stir well.
10. Serve hot with roti or rice

Two Dreams, Two Hearts, Joined Together in Friendship and Love.....

Here are the wedding photos...

May 26th, 2009 - Lagna Geet Na Hindola (Wedding Songs while pampering Tanvi)
This is a non-traditional event which was held at my aunt's home.. She decorated the swing that she has in her living room with flowers for me to sit on. And, then people sang songs for me and fed me sweets.

Hindola

June 1st, 2009 - Tanvi's Mehendi (Bridal Henna)
This was at our home. Took 24 man hours (6hours * 4 people) for my henna to be done. And took 4 man hours (2 people * 2 hours) each for my mom's and Sapan's mom's henna to be done. The photos are from half way through the process.

TanviMehendi

June 2nd, 2009 - Raas Garba (Dance Party)
This was in the evening couple days before the wedding. We all danced the night away.. Started with a few choreographed dances and then the dance floor was open to everyone. We had the traditional "Raas", stick dancing for a while and then switched to popular bollywood dancing.

Raas Garba

June 4th, 2009 Morning - Grah Shanti (Pre-Wedding Ceremony)
This started at 7:00am with a small ceremony of my leaving "home" to get married. The rest of the ceremonies to pacify the "planets" for the day were held at the wedding hall.

GrahShanti

June 4th, 2009 Afternoon - Wedding
The wedding went on for four hours or so. The ceremony was both based on what our family does and what his family does. Key events include, me garlanding Sapan at the entrance of the wedding hall, us holding our hands for the first time, us going around the fire, us making seven vows with rice, us garland each other again, sapan giving me the traditional necklace, sapan putting vermilion in my hair.

wedding

wedding2

June 4th, 2009 Early Evening - GharBharavni (Home Welcoming Ceremony)
This was done at Sapan's home after the wedding. They formally welcomed me into their home during this ceremony.

Wedding Ghar Bharavani

June 4th, 2009 Late Evening - Reception
This is basically a receiving line where we greet the guests and take pictures with them.

Reception

Reception2

June 6th, 2009 Afternoon + Evening - Ankleshwar Reception
This was in Ankleshwar, Gujarat at my Dad's factory. We had an afternoon lunch reception for the factory workers in our factory lawns. The evening reception was for the Ankleshwar friends at Hotel Shalimar.

Reception at Ankelshwar

I'm Back .....

I'm back after this long hiatus.. Hope you all haven't given up on me.. I promise to do better..

So, lets see.. Here is what has been going on in my life..

Wedding - Its only 69 days to our wedding now. There is so much still left to be done and most of it won't even start till I get to India.. Hope I can get everything done in month.. Can't beleive that in 69 days, ther'll be someone whom I'm refer to as "My Husband".. Also, everytime I sign my name, I'm reminded that its going to change now.. Sapan has said that he doesn't care if I change my name or not, but I'm a traditional kinda girl.. So, I'm going to change my name to Tanvi Akkad Devimane..

Move - I also have to move out of my apartment and into Sapan's condo.. I'm going to miss my place.. It was a nice home for me for the past couple years.. But I'm now looking forward to starting my new life with Sapan..

Work - I've been traveling back and forth to San Clemente Island (an island off the coast of San Diego). Now, when I first started working on this project, I was loving the idea of going to an island. Little did I know what I was getting into.. This place has NOTHING.. It has one dining facility which makes the dining halls at UMass
seem like good restaurants. It has one bar which serves mainly grease and beers. The work is challenging, but, being stuck here just makes it NOT fun.. Yesterday however we had lost an asset and had to go looking for it with an underwater camera.. So, that was fun.. I also learned kinda how to drive a boat..

Flu - I've been battling this cold / flu for the past couple weeks.. I hope I haven't gotten anyone here on the island sick..

Bachelorette Party - Rina is planning my bachlerotte party for April 4th.. My friends and family are coming into town for that. Shivani will be here.. Sujal and Gargi are coming from Chicago.. Rhythm is here all the way from India.. Saya is coming from Philly, Angela is coming from North Hampton. Sital and Deepa are coming.. Payal, Nisha and Yogita are probably coming as well.. I feel so humbled and loved when I see who all is coming.. Thanks Rina for organizing this..

In-Laws - Sapan's parents are here.. So, I've been hanging out with them a bit and getting to know them.. Its been fun..
His sister Shruti had her baby couple months ago and we went to her cradling ceremony couple weeks ago.. It was great being called "mami".. Sapan also loves being called "masa" .. We're both very excited to be a part of each other's families..

Food - Since I've been traveling a lot, I haven't been cooking much.. I did however cook this stuffed red pepper with risotto with tomato cream sauce.. It came out wonderfully the first time around, the second time that I cooked it, we used light cream instead of heavy cream and also went a little light on the cheese, and it didn't taste that good .. Oh well, I now know the secret to good tasting food.. Unhealty things!

Well... Thats about it from my side.. I'll try and do a better job of updating the blog now..

Where did july go?

I can't believe its already almost the middle of August. July just flew by. These days, it feels like there is always something or other going on over the weekends.. If its not meeting with my friends or family, then its meeting with Sapan's. OK! So, I'm not really complaining, but, just saying!!

Some of the things we did in July..

1. Get engaged
2. Sapan started playing soccer with his buddies, I just go cheer them on.. I think I need pompoms..
3. I've been cooking quite a bit on sundays. The latest craze for Sapan is Muthiya.
4. Couple weekends, Sapan and I walked some for exercise.. Once was a nice 2 mile walk around Harvard Sq and then the following weekend we walked to a local bakery in Davis Sq called When Pigs Fly. I had heard a lot about them on TV and always wanted to try it out. We bought some "Mango Pineapple and Ginger" bread and made french toast with it. Needless to say it was quite yummy :-)



Work has been busy too.. We're starting integration for the project that I am working on, so, the pressure is now on.. Don't know if I'll have much time to blog.. I'll try to..

Omlette - A satisfying brunch dish for Mein, Meri Patni Aur Woh!

Mein - Ofcourse Me..

Meri Patni - Sital - As most of you readers know, my friend Sital is staying with for a few months.. Her husband works in New Jersey, so for the time being I am her husband.. I tell her that she looks pretty and sometimes I tell her that she looks fat, but then I have to add that she does have that pregnancy glow that everyone talks about :-) ..

Woh - Sapan - Last weekend, I spent Saturday with Sital making Sapan feel that I betrayed him and that I am not even ashamed of cheating on him ;-).. Oh well, sometimes he is the "woh" in our relationship..

Anyway, back to food.. On sunday morning, I was craving some brunch food so, we decided to go to Cambridge Common . Though, after realizing that we had been eating out too much and spending too much money, I decided to cook brunch at home.. I planned on making some omlettes for the three of us. Sapan also suggested that I make some home fries with it. So, I made those too..



The picture in this post is from the previous time that I had made omlettes.. The result was so good that now Sital and Sapan are going to pray to God that I make brunch for them every week.. Here is the recipe for a single omlette..

Ingredients:

2 Eggs
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
1 Tsp finely chopped green chillies
1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped white onion
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp butter
splash of milk
salt to taste


Method:

1. Heat a non-stick skillet with butter on high heat
2. In a bowl, add the cilantro, chillies, onions and tomatoes.
3. Crack the 2 eggs on this mixture and beat it a little to combine everything
4. Add the milk, salt and pepper and beat it some more so that all the ingredients are properly mixed
5. Once the butter is heated, pour this mixture in a skillet. You might want to make sure that the mixutre is distributed evenly in the pan. Do this quickly though, as eggs start to cook very rapidly.
6. Cover this skillet and let it cook for about 3 - 4 minutes.
7. After this time, You should see them fluff up on the top side. Also, check to see if the eggs are cooked at the bottom. One way to check this is to try and shake the skillet to see if the omlette will shake loose. Another way to check is to use a spatula and go around the edges. If they lift up easily and the spatula comes up clean (ie, not liquidy), the eggs are cooked on the bottom
8. Very gently, lift up the bottom of the omlette with a spatula and flip the omlette over. If you use the first method of shaking the skillet, you might want to be adventurous and try flipping the omlette in air. I tried this and it worked beautifully.
9. Cover this again and let it cook for couple more minutes on the other side.
10. Plate and serve hot with buttered toast.

Question - Mujhse Shaadi Karogi? Answer - YES! [Outcome - We're Engaged!!]

Prologue:
On Friday June 27th Sapan said to me, lets go to Barmakian Jewellers in Natick to see what kind of rings they have. Its always good to shop around. We decided that we would go on Saturday.. For some reason (Oh, I think its because we went to see the Sex and the City movie) we ended up not going to the jewellers. And, then the rest of the week went by quite quickly as well. On Thursday July 3rd, we decided to try again, and then it rained and we never ended up getting to the store but decided that we would go on Monday. On Friday July 4th, Sapan insisted on having to talk to his parents before we left for Maine. I thought he was insisting because we were going to be away for the weekend and wouldn't have good cell phone reception. Little did I know this was all planning and fake plays for the big event..

Chapter 1:
When we were driving to Maine, I decided to give my mom a call.. Couldn't reach her, so, left her a message.. She called me back, we talked for a few minutes and then she abruptly hung up.

Chapter 2:
We were almost done getting ready to go watch the fireworks. Sapan was sitting in chair with his laptop in his lap and there was something in his pocket. We were also watching the bottom of the 9th inning of the RedSox - Yankees game with 1 man on 2nd and 2 outs. , where the Red Sox were up 6 - 3. Anyway, I asked Sapan what was in his pocket and he mumbled "oh nothing" and pretty much right then, Coco Crisp made that awesome diving catch which they ruled a base hit and a run scored with a man on second now. The tying run was now at the plate, so, I forgot about the fact that there was soemething in Sapan's pocket and I started watching the game. Anyway, the Red Sox won the game, so, I now wanted to go out and watch the fireworks.

Chapter 3:
As we were leaving Sapan asked me if I wanted to know what was in his pocket and I said "sure" and he pulled out the ring box and man oh man I was suprised.. I had not expected this at all.. He then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him and slipped the gorgeous ring on my finger and ofcourse I accepted. He then asked me if I wanted to celebrate, to which I again said "sure".. He then asked me to look in the drawers of the dresser that was in our room to see if they had something we could celebrate with.. I wasn't quite sure what was going on, so, to put me out of my misery, he opened the drawer and pulled out a box which had 2 beautiful Champagne flutes with our names and date and hearts engraved on it. He also pulled out a bottle of Champagne which had been chilling quite stealthily behind the chair..

Chapter 4:
After our mini celebration, we called our parents and asked for their blessings, which they very lovingly gave us.. Thanks!
And, then we spent the next 2 days hiking and driving and enjoying the rustic beauty of Maine.

The rest of the pictures from our trip are posted here

Epilogue:
Hmm.. Our story has just begun so, there is no epilogue.. As for our next milestone, we are looking forward to planning our wedding. Suggestions that would make our planning easier are always welcome! We are hoping that all our near and dear ones can make it to our wedding and share our joy!