Sneaking back, shoes in hand...
That's kind of how I feel, really. You know, when all the lights go on and a grumpy sleepy parent stares you down for getting home late. Or at least thats how the movies pretend it is.
Apropos of my life right now, I have a parent unit on hand. My mother and I are close but not that close, so the thought of my spending four months in a smallish 1BR apartment with her sends my brother into paroxysms of glee. Dada is also convinced that I will treat Ma as if she were a timid Nirupa Roy type and I were the 'modern bahu', you know how that story goes.
Except Ma and I are quite enjoying ourselves, much to our own surprise I think. Yes, I snap at her and yes, she nags me but we have not had any of those all-out fights yet! [Pats self on the back]
As a result, I have had a very tame Christmas and New Year. One was spent family style with a new friend K and her family. Much gumbo was consumed as K's mom is from Louisiana originally and its traditional for them. I then drove to SFO in the pouring rain to meet Ma who was flying in that evening. Her flight had landed a full fifty minutes ahead of time and she had come out of customs five minutes before I arrived.
As for NYE, we watched the SF fireworks, only on TV instead of just walking out to the nearby marina to watch it, silly us. I had a lovely New Years Day walking around Clement St in SF, having a Dim Sum lunch and then driving around the Presidio and the Golden Gate park. It was raining but so beautiful.
My mum and I also drove to the San Francisco Ferry Building Marketplace last Saturday for a very concentrated dose of good food, a great farmer's market, amazing food stores including Scharffen Berger (although the factory is a 3 minute drive from where I live), Acme bread and Cowgirl Creamery. (That reminds me of "Ami jodi French hotam, cheese, ruti ar wine khetam, bangali korechhe bhogoban re." Heh-indeedy!!)
We had lovely (and huge) crab cake sandwiches for lunch along with some gelato and a chocolate tartlette (that is how they spelled it at the little organic Patisserie we bought it from). We managed to buy lots of veggies and fruits from the farmers' market. That was followed by a drive to Golden Gate Park (Er the previous drive on New Year's Day had been sans-maman, capisce?). The same afternoon we proceeded to go to Naz8 in fremont and watch Bluffmaster. I likey. No reviews except that Abhishek Bachchan has way too much fun making the movie and it shows. Oh then we bought fish (grass carp which is pretty Rohu-like) and nice big prawns from India (with blue legs - Ma approved).
We had fish and chips at a very Brit pub last night. Don't look at me - it was Ma who had those cravings, HUH! She also loved the Thai dinner couple of nights back. All in all I am realising that any sense of adventure I have in my eating habits owes as much to Ma as to Baba unlike what I've always believed! Next up - hopefully Moroccan food at Aziza, some Dim Sum at Legendary Palace (Chicken Feet anyone?) and Ethiopian at Cafe Colucci or Addis.
Not been upto much else otherwise. Which is to say that I have not been upto anything else that I'd want to blog about :) Expect a post on my food favorites - though how one is supposed to have an exhaustive list is beyond my comprehension :( Till then, cheers.
Apropos of my life right now, I have a parent unit on hand. My mother and I are close but not that close, so the thought of my spending four months in a smallish 1BR apartment with her sends my brother into paroxysms of glee. Dada is also convinced that I will treat Ma as if she were a timid Nirupa Roy type and I were the 'modern bahu', you know how that story goes.
Except Ma and I are quite enjoying ourselves, much to our own surprise I think. Yes, I snap at her and yes, she nags me but we have not had any of those all-out fights yet! [Pats self on the back]
As a result, I have had a very tame Christmas and New Year. One was spent family style with a new friend K and her family. Much gumbo was consumed as K's mom is from Louisiana originally and its traditional for them. I then drove to SFO in the pouring rain to meet Ma who was flying in that evening. Her flight had landed a full fifty minutes ahead of time and she had come out of customs five minutes before I arrived.
As for NYE, we watched the SF fireworks, only on TV instead of just walking out to the nearby marina to watch it, silly us. I had a lovely New Years Day walking around Clement St in SF, having a Dim Sum lunch and then driving around the Presidio and the Golden Gate park. It was raining but so beautiful.
My mum and I also drove to the San Francisco Ferry Building Marketplace last Saturday for a very concentrated dose of good food, a great farmer's market, amazing food stores including Scharffen Berger (although the factory is a 3 minute drive from where I live), Acme bread and Cowgirl Creamery. (That reminds me of "Ami jodi French hotam, cheese, ruti ar wine khetam, bangali korechhe bhogoban re." Heh-indeedy!!)
We had lovely (and huge) crab cake sandwiches for lunch along with some gelato and a chocolate tartlette (that is how they spelled it at the little organic Patisserie we bought it from). We managed to buy lots of veggies and fruits from the farmers' market. That was followed by a drive to Golden Gate Park (Er the previous drive on New Year's Day had been sans-maman, capisce?). The same afternoon we proceeded to go to Naz8 in fremont and watch Bluffmaster. I likey. No reviews except that Abhishek Bachchan has way too much fun making the movie and it shows. Oh then we bought fish (grass carp which is pretty Rohu-like) and nice big prawns from India (with blue legs - Ma approved).
We had fish and chips at a very Brit pub last night. Don't look at me - it was Ma who had those cravings, HUH! She also loved the Thai dinner couple of nights back. All in all I am realising that any sense of adventure I have in my eating habits owes as much to Ma as to Baba unlike what I've always believed! Next up - hopefully Moroccan food at Aziza, some Dim Sum at Legendary Palace (Chicken Feet anyone?) and Ethiopian at Cafe Colucci or Addis.
Not been upto much else otherwise. Which is to say that I have not been upto anything else that I'd want to blog about :) Expect a post on my food favorites - though how one is supposed to have an exhaustive list is beyond my comprehension :( Till then, cheers.
11 Comments:
I tried to comment yesterday, but something was terribly amiss with Blogger.
You know I have similar apprehensions about spending extended periods of time with my Ma in a small apartment. I guess it would have been difficult 5 years ago, now it doesn't seem so daunting. In the end, we all grow up to be a little bit of our moms (and dads).
You have been showing your Ma quite the foodie time! Although aamaake mero na bhai, am I the only one who thinks Scharffen Berger is seriously overrated. I haven't found one bar I liked.
Aar cheese aar ruti na thaak, Bangali-der aachhe posto, aar jhalmuri. Otei rajyo joi!!
Swati,
I know what you mean about becoming more like the parents, its scary!! I will nag someone about something and take a step back and realize I was channelling my mum. Uff.
About having a foodie time, well not too chowhound-y yet. I mean I don't think Ma will really like totally hole-in-the-wall places. Although probably I am projecting my beliefs about how Ma feels rather than any actual knowledge of fact.
What really shocked me about Ma's eating habits was that she does not eat pork or beef (on the most part) because she doesn't like it and not because of any squeamishness or religiosity on her part. She does eat ham / cold meats and pork/ beef which is integrated into a meal rather than pork chops or steak which is just 'meat'. Thats pretty much very similar to my own taste - I am not that fond of steak or any similar big chunks of red meat unless I get one of those time-of-the-month cravings. I had no idea and thought that she pretty much stuck to poultry and and seafood. Even then she surprised me by wanting to order the duck at the Thai place, which was rather good by the way.
As for Scharffen Berger, I usually buy the Guittard single origin bars among the west coast chocolate makers. I was never very keen on Scharffen Berger except for the factory tour which we're going on next month!! Also both Scharffen Berger and Joseph Schmidt got sold to Hershey's sometime in the last year or so, which makes me less likely to buy their products now :(
I do like the big bars of Callebaut semi-sweet (70% and more) that you can get for baking at Whole Foods, yum. Except that I have to take a hammer (well, back of a chef's knife) to break it into an edible size. Oh and Lindt thins (dark chocolate only of ocurse) and most of the 72% plus ones.
Sigh did I really just write a loooong comment about chocolates on my own post? How sad is this, I tell you!
Your Mom's the coolest! And I feel the same way about large chunks of meat, I've tried to imbibe some of S and Em's enthusiasm for steak, alas to no avail.
Thanks for the chocolate reco. Guittard you say, where do you buy it?
Anything Hershey touches is tainted. Seriously, if they could reduce my beloved Cadbury's to this inedible mess. But you can buy British Cadbury's in Cost Plus.
Lindt dark....oooooh. I don't care what the chocolate snobs say, Lindt is perfection. In Rome, they have a large Lindt shop at the main train and subway station (Roma Termini). Every kind of Lindt you can imagine. Every morning for 5 days I had Lindt for breakfast :).
(I'd be the first one to encourage you to wax on about chocolate)
As for Guittard, see the ones I like. Well actually I like two out of those three and I can never remember which one I don't, grrrr.
[begin snooty bay area vibes]
I buy 'em at Berkeley bowl ahem, but I realise that not everyone has one close at hand :)
[end said snooty bay area vibes]
Hehe.
The website does say that you can get them at grocery stores, try TJ's or Whole Foods?
As for Lindt for breakfast, you should ask my ex-roomies about my eating patterns when I have chocolate in the fridge, sigh... Do you like the Lindt dark chocolate truffles - the bar that comes in those dark blue packaging??? I used to buy them in half dozens or dozens, literally!!!
shorri to interrupt thish naish conbharsheshun, but aren't you mikshing phrench and eetaleean? mane maman and capisce?
Ooh the li'l orc is back [big grin] Where's your blog eh? Please to go start posting immediately.
As to your comment, well I mix my languages, what's your point? Oh and by the way its either 'barreled' or 'barrelled' and never 'barelled' ;-)
I don't believe I've been missing all this goooo-ey conversation on dark chocos...am just enjoying all the roasted almond, rum& raisins and yes, Lindt too...yummmm. One of the few reasons I adore my sis-in-law;)
Priya - aaye aaye. But sweetheart, last heard tor shamne 'chocolate' word ta spell korle uttore khali gali shona jeto! Didi changed all that eh? Long live the Lindt!
Yes the dark blue packaging dark chocolate truffle is my holy grail chocolate. I dread going near a Lindt aisle because I know I'd definitely pick up a bag or the bar. But I haven't had some for a while, which means off I go to find some!
Hi
Is that Urmi (Presi, IIMC)? Just chanced across this blog during a surf session. This is Borda (Utpal)..........How are you? Could not help reading your most entertaining posts :-)
Cheers.
Yes, yes - oh my god, Borda???? Kemon achho? Email me at jhinky@gmail.com
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