What the Blog?

Winter's here, after a very long, and stunning fall. We've already had one round of freezing rain, and a little bit of snow (followed immediately by said rain). Needless to say, I have upped my consumption of hot chocolates in direct relation to the dropping of the temps. In the 30s tonight? Just one will do. In the 20s, you say? I think I'll have a refill, please. In my endless pursuit of procrastinating studying - during which the house gets sparkling clean (miraculously!) and Christmas cards and baking also somehow get done (amazing how productive I am, isn't it?) - I tried out a new baked tofu recipe. We finally figured out how to fry tofu the right way a while back - dipped in flour and deep-fried - but I was pretty unimpressed with our marination efforts. This time, I modified a recipe found here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-tofu-bites/detail.aspx and baked instead of fried the tofu. Instead of maple syrup, I added honey, subbed mustard for ketchup, an

All these Fall-related posts, it probably seems like I'm just a teeny bit of a fan of the season. Guilty as charged. Maybe it's because we never had much of a fall in Houston, Austin, or SF, or maybe that the fall seasons I do remember involved jumping in huge piles of crunchy leaves and having nothing to do but stare at the clouds from my leaf pile... Whatever it is, there is something about a season where leaves fall lazily to the ground, the sun shines beautifully through the emptying branches, and the air is dry and fresh. I've been running a lot more to soak it in, which doubles as a great way to explore the city. Here's a route map from today's 6-miler through Woodley Park, Dupont Circle, and Georgetown. http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3304882 One of my favorite parts about this neighborhood is the hills - soft and rolling, they're never too difficult to maneuver but they definitely hurt (in a good way). Although I don't get down there often enoug

A couple of weeks ago, we invited (non-Indian) friends over for an Indian meal. It was the first time we've shared our homemade Indian food with someone else - and we were nervous! Especially with two new recipes. Well, the photos don't quite do it justice but it was a tasty meal! We're re ally proud... between asking moms for advice and relying on Google, we found some great & easy recipes. Chole : http://www.recipezaar.com/I-Cant-Wait-for-Chole-25632 plus extra jalapenos and cumin to taste. Baingan Bharta : My own concoction + Mom's help. Be sure to add a lot of spice to this one. I usually start with the base of tomatoes /onions / garlic / pepper and add lots of eggplant and potatoes before letting the pressure cooker do the work. Mint raita : mint from the garden, a splash of lemon juice, half-teaspoon of sugar, and mixed plain yogurt Palak Paneer : Stir fry the paneer first (try canola oil). We didn't do this and ended up with teeny tiny paneer

Yup... it's FALL! The smell of open windows, and crunchy leaves on the ground. It has a distinct smell of fresh air with a hint of smoky... mm.. So it's been a while. Let's recap the past, oh, 9 months. We got married, so that took up most of the year. Anika finished her first YEAR of law school. 1 down, 2 to go! We wrote all of our wedding thank-you cards, which also took a long time. And, we decided where to honeymoon - finally. We'll be going to (drumroll..) Argentina! In December, just when it's time to layer up in DC. I can't wait. And, we've harvested tons of peppers and tomatoes from our lovely little veggie garden in the front of our apartment. We've also had a lot of visitors, since we upgraded to a new apartment with a spare bedroom. It makes us feel like real adults. Amit visited, and we explored the beautiful VA wine country - we paired wine with $ 0.25 hot dogs, yum! Here's a photo of Anika and the brothers Coats

It was a day to end all days...or maybe just help them begin. I've been up for way too long today, so I'll keep it short. I think, for the first time, I was REALLY excited about living in this fair city. Although I believe a lot of things could have been handled better (did we really have to rely on Metro for EVERYthing?), being in the center of it all was pretty amazing. In short...last minute tickets...long waits in the cold... crazy, excited, pushy, thrilled, emotional crowds... breaking down barriers (including physical ones, so that we could get closer in), witnessing history... ushering in a new era... celebrating change... walking for hours in (you guess it) the cold... sleeping to awake to what will hopefully be a turning point for a new day.