Sunday, June 12, 2011

Busy bee-ing

This morning was Dvadasi, to break our fast we had kichuri in the morning. Purandar prabhu got up early in the morning to whip up a batch and offered before I was ready to even get out of bed! One of the perks of living with Bengali Vaishnavs is that they love to cook, especially on festival days, copious amounts of bhoga for the Lord, the downside being that a lot of the time, there is so much maha-prasadam left over that we can't finish it ourselves. I decided to go for something wholesome but not too heavy; I still had my yogurt and apple cider vinegar drink for a boost on my immune system. My throat has been a little sore and weak these past couple of days so I think I really needed it. Also, I experimented with the pickle spices and made a carrot and jalapeƱo pickle in mustard oil to go with that kichuri and alu bhaja. My latest idea was to leave the mixture out in the sun to cook (how they do in India) but I want my condiment now rather than in a week. I'm going to look around the Indian and Vietnamese market for good pickle ingredients like alma or kacha aam. I'm still not sure if I will ever find almaki, fresh, in USA but it is worth a good hunt. I remember finding green mangos at the Vietnamese market whenever my mom would take us up there but I haven't seen any in Dallas for a long time... maybe you know where I could get some alma or kacha aam in this town. Let me know, for sure.. cause I'm getting desperate.
Also, I'm working on a new project, a combination scarf of tunisian/afghan crochet and broomstick lace crochet. I really love these two stitches because they're beautiful and versatile, they're just so different from each other that I couldn't think of a way to combine the two. I love the density and texture of Afghan crochet but I also love the lacy, soft and pliable feel of Broomstick lace. Right now I'm experimenting with both stitches in this new lovely cotton scarf. I''ll take pictures and post them later, right now I have to get ready for the Sunday feast.. later!

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