Teej

Today is Teej.

It’s a Bihari thing. Married women fast all day long for the health and well being of their husbands. Now by fast I mean no food and no water. The entire day. So from the time you go to sleep until you break your fast at sunrise the day after – almost 36 hours. AND while you are fasting you are cooking and baking sweets that you will break your fast with.

You thought the women would be resting comfortably while they fasted all day? Pssshhhaaaah!

I bet a man thought this up. That was super snarky. But seriously, who’s fasting for the women?

I will be fasting today even though I’m not married. For my Mommy. (Love you Mommy!)

I filled up on tons of food and way too many brownies yesterday. And I will not be working out today. (Don’t tell my trainer).

I'm back - for real this time

I wish I had a fantastic story to share with you for why I have been absent for nearly two weeks. Visiting the Motherland, swimming with sharks, hiking up the Himalayas. Unfortunately I got nothin’. Life just caught up with me and I needed to step back from a few things, like this blog. And I missed it so! I drafted posts in my head as I sat in meetings, while I walked between the office and home, during my showers. Pretty much every single moment I had I was thinking of posts for this blog. I have some chicken scratch on a piece of paper – bits and pieces of ideas that need to be fleshed out.

I’ll give you a teaser:

Coffee – I haven’t had it in nearly three weeks. About the time that I’ve been in my new place. I haven’t increased my intake of tea either. If anything that has come down considerably too. And I have to tell you, I have never had so much energy ever. I am a little worried that coffee is to me what alcohol was to Fun Bobby on Friends. I feel I’m just no fun without it. Coffee that is. I’m definitely fun with alcohol. On the flip side, I have been getting a lot done to the extent that I’m a little weirded out…like I’ll be walking down the street and just fall over because my body quits on me. Thus far we’re good. No falling over. At least not while I’m sober. ;)

Apt – Feels like home. Finally. I’ve been cooking up a storm and slowly the apt is filling up with furniture, books, magazines, odds and ends and lots and lots of laughter and memories.

My city – Feels like home. It’s been long overdue but there you have it. I was the biggest hater. All of you know how big of a hater I was. I still don’t know whether I will stay here forever but I will most certainly come back. Always. And when people ask where I’m from, it’s this city that I will refer to. This place holds a very special place in my heart as it’s given me a great deal. I even have a theme song! Switchfoot – This is Home. (Thanks G & B!) I’m super corny. We know this…let’s move on.

The Universe – A dear friend of mine always talks about The Universe. Send messages out to The Universe and be open enough to pick up on the messages The Universe sends back. The Universe has been sending some pretty strong and clear messages regarding the Career/Work aspect of my life.

Philanthropy – I don’t want to wait until I have boatloads of cash to start. I want to do it now. And I have a few solid ideas that I’m excited to get started on. Anyone interested is more than welcome to jump on board.

Second chances – You get them.

Ode to Caponata

I was out of town Sunday (per my previous post) so was not able to make anything for you folks. As I was sitting in my office today I was thinking of all the things that make me happy because currently work is not doing it for me. And Eureka! I thought of Caponata.

Oh Caponata. How do I love thee…Let me count the ways. Caponata is, very much, a labor of love mainly because you can get it canned. Jarred up. Shipped to your local grocer from somewhere out there. I urge you to make it on your own though. Trust me. You will be SO happy you did!

There is much dicing, and sautéing, and simmering involved. When it is all said and done though, it is unbelievable. And it gets even more unbelievable with each passing day. You can serve it up as an appetizer or toss some pasta in and main course it. It’s versatile. It’s satisfying. It’s brilliant. And it is always a journey because you can throw anything and everything in there in addition to the main ingredient – eggplant. (Mmmmm….eggplant.) I had yellow squash sitting in my evil fridge* so I tossed some in and it came out really well.

Sidebar - I swung by Trader Joe’s after work to pick up a few things to make my Caponata. Can I tell you? It’s more happening than the local bar on a Friday night. There are some seriously beautiful people frequenting Trader Joe’s after 5. Trader Joe should consider diversifying from amazing grocer to amazing matchmaking service. Seriously. I’m not even kidding. Love at first sight over organic baby arugula? Believe it. I fell in love at least twice while I was there.

Not only will you be rewarded with amazing Caponata if you make it on your own, but if you venture to your local Trader Joe’s to pick up ingredients you may find the love of your life! Isn’t that motivation enough to try this???

I think so…and here’s my recipe for it. Cute boy (or girl) not included.

Makes approximately 4 cups

1 medium size eggplant – chopped
4 to 6 stalks celery - chopped
2 medium sized onions chopped – white or red – doesn’t matter
2 medium yellow squashes sliced
1 6oz can of tomato paste**
3 plum tomatoes – chopped**
1/3rd cup green olives drained and roughly chopped
4 tablespoons olive juice – I love olives. Purely optional. ***
1/3rd cup capers
¼ cup red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar
¼ cup balsamic vinegar (My secret ingredient. So good!)
½ cup golden raisins – I was a bit generous here because I love raisins. Your call.
Olive oil
1½ cups water
Salt – to taste. I find myself putting in 1 tablespoon.
Sugar – to taste. I find myself putting in at least 2 tablespoons.
Red pepper flakes – I like heat. Your call.

Before we begin, let me say that I would recommend you use a nonstick pan if you have one. Eggplant sticks and requires a lot of oil. A nonstick will make life easier when sautéing the eggplant and will keep you from using up all of your olive oil.

In the nonstick pan pour in oil to coat the bottom of pan. Heat up oil over high heat and add celery and onions. Lower heat to medium high and sauté until onions and celery start to brown. Remove from pan.
Add more oil if necessary and add eggplant. Saute until eggplant is browned nicely. Remove from pan.
Add more oil if necessary and add squash. Saute until nicely browned.
Add back into pan eggplant, celery and onion. Add olives, olive juice, capers, raisins, sugar and salt. Stir.
Add balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, tomatoes, tomato paste and water. Slowly stir and mix everything together. Once Caponata starts to boil, lower heat and cover. Let simmer for 30 to 45 minutes – or until the Caponata has reduced down to your desired consistency. Make sure to stir in between and taste along the way. Adjust salt and sugar as needed while it simmers away.

Once Caponata is prepared to your liking, remove from heat and let cool. I placed mine in a Pyrex dish right away and let sit uncovered for a bit so it could cool down. Make sure to put it in the fridge once it is cooled down. It will last you approximately one week. Caponata does get better with each passing day. I, of course, inhaled a good bit right away but did manage to save a bit for tomorrow. Can’t wait!!!



* My evil fridge. I didn’t check my fridge setting until it was too late. I bought the most beautiful head of romaine lettuce at the farmers market on Saturday. I opened my fridge after getting back from Virginia Sunday night and gasped in horror. My Romaine had been murdered. The fridge had killed it. Only then did I notice that my fridge was set to the coldest setting. I’ve been messing with it every since trying to get it to the right temp which is hard because the settings are 1 through 9. What the hell is that? How cold is 9? How cold is 1? Grr…Currently I have it at 7. This is why I had to use the yellow squash in my recipe. I had to save it before the evil fridge did away with it.

**Most recipes call for a big can of peeled tomatoes – 15oz I think. I did not have any on hand but did have plum tomatoes and tomato paste so made the best of it. Turned out wonderfully!

***As I was merrily chopping up my olives I realized I had a bottle of wine in the fridge. And I could drink it! Because I am a big girl. Funny how the olives got me to think about the alcohol. Oh my pretty little subconscious. Always coming up with clever associations. The wine I sipped on as I cooked away was a Rene Barbier Mediterranean White Catalunya. It’s clean, crisp and perfect to sip on as you slave away over the hot stove or bask in the summer sun. Thanks to my lovely O for the recommendation!

Zippity Doo Da Zippity Yay…

Sunday I drove down to Northern Virginia to see a dear friend who was visiting from Arizona. But this is the end of the story…let me start at the beginning.

As mentioned before, I am not a city girl. I am currently car-less and therefore getting anywhere outside of the city has proven to be quite the challenge. Luckily we have two carshare programs in my city. I chose Zip Car. We had a shaky start but I think we will be ok.

Signing up was a breeze. The customer service is fantastic. That alone, for me, is worth every penny. It’s hard to find good customer service these days! Verizon? Sometimes. Wells Fargo? Forget about it.

I signed up online, swung by my local Zip Office, picked up my Zip Card and reserved myself a Mini to zip me around town and down to VA on Sunday. Taking the car down to VA was a bit of an extravagance but I received a rebate so I did not feel all that bad. For in-town errands though, the Zip Car is quite nice.

Did you know that you can start the Mini with the push of a button? Like the way you start your computer? Or TV? Uh huh. There’s this round key fob thing that you push in and then as you press on the brakes you hit the Start button. And the Mini fires up.

I’m seriously showing my age here but I had a very hard time getting the car to start. I felt very old. And at 7 am on a Sunday, it’s not the best feeling. Luckily all I had to do was ring up the good folks at Zip Car and they talked me through it. I was on the road soon enough.

The Mini is a fun car. I had an automatic but it ran like a manual as the ride was a bit jerky. I’m not a fan of manual so that was lost on me but for all you guys who are into that, check out the Mini!

And if you need to zip around town to run errands, check out Zip Car!

I need my car

I am not a city girl.

This much I have come to realize in the 2 weeks that I have been living in my apartment in the heart of this lovely city. It’s not the city. It’s me. It’s definitely me. I like being able to walk everywhere. That part I rather enjoy. It’s when I have to get from point A to point B, and point B happens to be outside of the city, that I run into issues.

I’m fine with transportation. Transportation is good. It’s the public part of the transportation that I am having issues with.

I am from the second most populous country in the world. I’m really not sure how this particular neurosis happened for me but here we are folks. For instance, I love this city during the summer. Why? Because everyone is gone. They are on vaca, at the shore, whatevs. And the city is all mine! I prefer a cab over taking the subway because it’s all mine! No one to share it with. I love living alone because it’s all mine! Are we sensing a theme here?

I can’t explain it. But this issue is starting to pose some serious problems for me here in the city.

Getting to my parents house, which is a mere 30 miles away, has become a Getting-to-Grandma’s kind of situation. Over the river, through the woods…it’s ridiculous.

Oh Snap!

My horoscope today...

Don't let all those compliments go to your head! You know you look good, but don't act like it!

Confessions

I have a confession to make. A few actually.

I am secretly in love with Michael Buble. When I’m blue, his songs always bring a smile to my face, particularly Everything.

Optimus Prime was my first crush. Yes, I know he’s a truck. Yes, I know he’s an animated truck.

I want horses on a ranch in Montana.

I’ve been inhaling coffee the past few weeks. It’s one of my resolutions to decrease the amount of coffee I drink….um, it’s not working.

When purchasing books or magazines from the bookstore I always purchase the one three down in the stack, never the one right on top. Why? Dunno.

I am a slightly obsessive germaphobe. This might explain the previous confession.

I don’t like public transportation. Planes, Trains and Everything else. Don’t like.

I want to produce a movie.

I want to win an Oscar.

I don’t believe in being pigeonholed to be or do just one thing. The world is too big.

I like putting potato chips in my peanut butter sandwich. It’s so good!

Mr. India and DDLJ are still my all time favorite Indian movies.

When eating Trident gum, I eat only half of the stick.

There’s something about McDonald’s Hot Fudge Sundaes – yum!

In college I could eat an entire pizza pie. In one sitting.

The Hills is my favoritest show. Ever.

When I’ve had a bit too much to drink, I read out loud from the Dictionary.

I want to learn to play the piano.

I want to learn French.

I think Bhojpuri is a gorgeous language.

I miss my Dadi. All the time.