Merry Christmas Everyone

Hope everyone has a great holiday season.

I am going to be posting several new recipes when I get back here. Until then Adios!

Gift Wrapping

I made this big mistake of starting my gift wrapping just yesterday. Never seems to end. Under estimated the rolls I would need and went to the shop twice to get more. Lesson learned. From here on just place the gifts in those gift bags with some tissues. That should take care of it.

Of course, wine bottles are easy all around.

Bean Usili - Recipe of the week

Check out this week's recipe, Beans Usili. Look out for an announcement on my next workshop date.

Healthy crepe recipes

The origin of crêpes is French but there are several variations of it all around the world. I came across some incredible recipes and will post them soon.

Dosa or dosai is the Indian variation of the crêpe. And, in my opinion that is the best tasting crepe out there.

Love my new Gym

I have come to realize that there's one or should I say one more thing I cannot do without, and that's a good gym. I'd never heard of a gymnasium open 365/24/7/ days a year until now. I have been to this new gym at all times of day and night, and this place is always busy.

A spectacular facility, absolutely clean with state-of-the-art machines. It is also the size of a little town. Not sure how they keep it profitable. Through sheer volume and excellent membership pricing I would suppose.

The fun part of my exercise routine is also people watching. The crowd that comes here is fit and hip as if from some high-fashion city like Paris. It is quite inspiring because it makes you want to work harder and stay fit. Oh, one more star and that is their restaurant. It is also top-notch.

Gifts for the holiday season

I just found this out. The web site Harry and David has excellent gifts for clients and friends, or family. I have looked at this site in the past but was turned off by the prices. I had a lot of plans for shopping, but didn't venture out at all. Just used these online stores (amazon and Borders are good as well) and so far have taken care of a few of my friends and family. The prices are extremely reasonable too. I think the volume of online shopping at these sites have really brought the prices down and affordable.

A.D.H.D.

Attention Deficient Hyperactivity Disorder - That's what it stands for. It's a mouthful! I had no clue what this was until some years ago when I started reading about it. There was a period when there was a lot of focus on A.D.H.D. in movies, talk shows, articles, you name it. Then, I began to think maybe I have ADHD and possibly almost everyone in my family has this neurological disorder.

After talking to parents and other friends, I felt every kid in a school had it and ADHD was being used as an excuse possibly by both parents, teachers and family members. So even if the kid did not actually have it he/she was getting away from being disciplined for the tantrums and bratishness.

With more reading and understanding of A.D.H.D., I’ve come to realize that we are using attention (or its lack) as a marker and a metaphor for something larger in society — for the multitasking, the electronic distractions, the sense that the nature of concentration may be changing, that people feel nibbled at, overscheduled, distracted, irritable. However, all these things are not A.D.H.D.

The actual disorder is very complex and has a lot of elements to it. There is a broad spectrum of this disorder and experts treat each patient or child differently. It is tough especially for parents who deal with children having extreme symptoms of this disorder.

I now understand how misled I was by several things I read or saw. A.D.H.D. is actually a serious issue but can be controlled by medication and other types of treatments.

Shopping for gifts

I have a few special people - neighbors, friends and a few family members for whom I buy gifts every year. As a rule I don't really buy anything for myself since I am against the herd mentality. Besides Christmas is not really my holiday.

Instead of wasting time walking the department stores, I've decided to buy a couple cases of really good wine and distribute. Of course, kids are excluded from this crowd. It is easy to shop for them. A few gift cards to clothing stores would be perfect. Now, the question is where do I find those wine shops like the 'Total Wines' store in Delaware? Any recommendations for which kind of wine?

Ridge Gourd - recipe of the week

Ridge Gourd - This week's 'recipe of the week'.

Children in day care

Looking out the window at the drifting snow I was for some reason reminded of the days when my children were little and still in grade school. Tomorrow being Monday and school day, it is quite likely that kids here will have a delayed opening or maybe even a day off. Maybe some will even stay home sick given the changing weather conditions, stomach flus and so on.

Neither of my children spent much time in day care. If they attended day care for a day or two a week, they would fall sick for another week or two. As a result, they never really got used to that environment and their system did not build the immunity other children had. So, when they were in elementary school if a child fell sick in their class it immediately affected them. So, I guess all those ear infections and stomach flus at the day care centers actually have a beneficial side to them. Children build a stronger immunity and fall less sick later on.

Elizabeth Edwards' death made me extremely sad

It also increased my admiration for such a courageous lady. She was successful in all ways except one, her marriage. She tried hard to fight her personal issues but it appears she couldn't reconcile. Her books are promoted as being extremely successful with a lot of lessons to be learned from every aspect of her life experiences. I should check these out.

Back on yesterday's dinner

Here's what I ended up doing last evening.

Went back to the basics. Just some Indian bread with a couple of sides. One was Okra and potato mixed vegetable, and the other was vegetables mixed in dhal with some mild spices. Finished it off with a cup of yogurt. Look for this vegetables in dhal recipe at the next recipe of the week at vidyaswamyskitchen.com.

What's for dinner?

That is the most useless question I have and get everyday. I make it a mandatory thing to cook during week days although it is time consuming especially on busy work days and when it cuts into my time with other things.

Regardless of how good or bad the question is, I need to cook. I think I'll have to travel far just to pick the right veges for this purpose. I may do it or change my mind on that. Will let you know tomorrow what was for today's dinner!

10 things for health and beauty

Hey, if you are anywhere around 50 years of age, check this out.

Two things I love

Sleeping and Eating. In that order. My favorite time of the 24-hours is the 8-hours of sleep time. I have also always liked lunch time. Since childhood I have considered it to be the next best time of day when I usually got to taste the different foods my friends had in their lunch packs.

My system doesn't allow me to overdo either. Thank God for all the restrictions my mom enforced on me. I can't take naps even if I'd like to in the afternoons. The theory my mom had when I was growing up was women can easily put on weight and become lazy. She would ask me to play with my friends if I felt sleepy, or just read or do something else other than sleeping. She had no explanation as to how sleeping might add weight.

The next was eating. I like to eat but my biological clock shuts even if I want to. I should again thank my mom for this. We usually had healthy foods in the house but in spite of that my mom never let me overeat or indulge.

Upto a certain stage I was able to repeat this with my children. Not anymore! But I am glad that they do have healthy eating habits and probably eat less junk food than I do.

Eating while travelling. What should vegetarians do?

For this one reason I wish I lived somewhere around India. Good food is available everywhere with plenty of choices.

This month during my travels I will be in a place, where I just read, are no vegetarian choices at all. As much as I love to travel and meet people from different cultures and experience the world, I am wondering if not having even one proper meal a day is worth all this adventure!!