Weekend Wrap Up

I'm linking up with Patty for her new blog venture - The Weekend Wrap Up! I already posted a sort of sneak peek of part of my Saturday....but a lot more happened after that. It turned out be a food centric weekend which is fairly unusual for me, who happens to eat basically to keep body and soul together! Not that I don't enjoy a good meal, but to have 3 major gastronomic experiences over one weekend with zero exercise is a bit heavy - no pun intended - for me!

I started out Saturday by heading to Q-mart, the "NRI" grocery store here....I say that cos it carries all the US products we "US to India returnees" are all used to.....lettuce, red and yellow peppers, broccoli, fancy cheeses, Italian products, imported cereals etc etc, all at exorbitant prices which supposedly we rupee to dollar converters can afford, along with bratty ex-pat kids whining for this and that!!!! And so naturally I came home armed with everything I needed to make pizza for dinner and some lovely pink oriental lilies to set the weekend mood!
Then I started cooking......lunch was egg curry, dal tadka, masala kulchas and kheer! Here are some pics but for a more detailed description, read this!

This was followed by the mandatory "nap following a heavy lunch" siesta with a bit of blogging and TV watching thrown in. My parents were visiting so I ditched my visit to the gym and languished on the couch instead chatting with them.

Later that evening I started prep work for my homemade pizza...granted home made tastes way better than restaurant ordered, but sometimes the effort is so much...I wonder!!! Anyway, I chopped, I diced, I cored and I sliced, I pitted and I peeled.....onions, mushrooms, yellow and red peppers, olives, garlic etc etc. Then I rolled and baked the dough, added all the toppings and then after every permutation and combination possible - with and without onions, with and without mushrooms, with and without olives....we ate!!! It was good, I'll admit...but next time we're going to Little Italy! I now present pizza pics...
After dinner I watched the music talent show, Sa Re Ga Ma, but it was more gabbing and less singing so I switched to CWG till sleep came a calling!

Sunday morning was a cleaning frenzy for me. Three of our friends were coming home and then we were all heading to Beyond Coffee for lunch. 2 of the 3 are avid readers of my blog...so I HAD to clean so the house looked like the pics they have seen on my blog. We design bloggers all know that our homes never look like quite as neat and tidy as the blog pics would have others believe....well maybe some do...but not mine, not with our 2 dogs and all the commotion that happens here!! But cleaning house is therapeutic for me...it relaxes me, so its a win win! So anyways they came by around noon, one of them Sunita, knowing my weakness for Italian/Spanish inspired ceramic ware and pottery brought me this stunning dish as a gift!
Then we all trooped off for lunch and spent a good couple of hours eating and talking. BC has an art exhibit by one Ridhima going on....but as talented as she is, her style held no appeal for me, so I opted out of taking any pics. I focussed on the food instead....started with a mocktail, a concoction of litchi juice, blue curacao, a dash of lemon and soda, then creamy yellow orange and carrot soup, half a plate of veg lasagna smothered in cheese and a cappucino. It was fun!

After lunch, again a quick nap, then I went off to my friend Usha's place for Golu in the evening. Came back home in time for dinner which I insisted be a light protein shake!! Then some more CWG, blogging, reading and then off to bed!

A quick disclaimer.....my weekends are never this exhausting..usually they are pretty laid back...this was unusual!

Soul food for my Saturday!

Yippee its Saturday! For some odd reason, even though I do not work and for all practical purposes every day is like a Saturday or Sunday, I am always more relaxed when the "official" weekend comes around! My routine pretty much stays the same, except that I don't have yoga on the weekends, I go to the gym instead!! Other than that, its the same. Also on the weekends, I eat "real food"...not ghaas phoos, salads and sandwiches and stuff, with protein shakes for dinner, but real honest-to-goodness Indian khana! So, even though its a bit early for Patty's Weekend Wrap-up, here is a sneak peek at what you will see once I link up with her on Monday!
I picked up some gorgeous deep pink oriental lilies at the market....see, its that pink thing I warned you about!

Cooked up some wholesome yellow dal tadka and egg curry

Along with masala kulchas which I served with Aam ka Choonda

Aren't they pretty?

Then my mom who came over brought some kheer.....!

Am planning to make some homemade pizza from scratch tonite...the dough is rising as I write....! Toppings include onions, green and yellow peppers, sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, jalapenos, a whole lotta garlic, fresh oregano and basil, feta and mozz. cheeses. Pics to come later....!

Am working on a DIY project....got inspired by something I saw on Viva Terra. If it turns out well, it will be up next week. Also have another DIY project for which I need some suggestions....will put that out there too!

In the meantime, have a great weekend you all!

Happy Weekend!

So how is everyone's weekend going? I hope its a fun weekend. I am doing a little bit of everything. My Sunday started off with a power breakfast, yogurt with walnuts, raisins, blueberries, cranberries, apricots and honey.

Since it looks like the incessant rain has finally let up, I'll get some seeds planted this morning....

then I have to arm myself with cupfuls of green tea....

and then figure out this new Macbook. I've been sort of fumbling my way through, but I cannot procrastinate any more.

Then in the evening, my good friend Param who is visiting from Virginia is coming over for dinner and I plan to make some Basboosa for dessert by following this recipe from Sayantani!

Hopefully by Monday morning I should be a lot more Macbook savvy!!! Have a great one!

The weekend song!

Have a great weekend everyone! I'll be entertaining some guests tomorrow and feeding them some good old fashioned South Indian soul food - Masala Dosas, Chutney and Sambar for lunch.....

followed by Kheer, (rice pudding with flecks of saffron and slivered almonds) for dessert!

That should put us all in a pretty soporific state, so to revive us, some South Indian filter coffee, or as we say "kaapi"!

Then if I have any energy left and the carb bombs haven't killed me yet, I may get on with my packing, printing, gift wrapping, note making, to-do list checking off...and then hit the treadmill, maybe.....

For those of you who need some inspiration to just take a break and let the housework be, here it is:

Tomorrow Can Wait/The Weekend Song by Anita Atina

Languid repose
Piled up chores
Everything’s waiting
For my cheery doze
The appointments, the laundry
The house is in a mess
Don’t want fresh clothes
Undressed is best
When the music curls up slowly
In a drowsy haze
Oh its so nice to lie down
Under the sun’s warm gaze
The rushing and the buzzing
For the week is done
And finally its the weekend
To soak up the sun!

Weekend getaway.....!

I am off to my parent's place for the weekend. They live 35 kms outside Hyderabad city in a gated senior citizen retirement community with all amenities provided...it is quiet, the air is pure and unbelievably clean, unpolluted, at least 3 degrees Celsius cooler than the city and you wake up in the morning to the sounds of birds chirping and cows mooing! So I will be away from the computer, and since my mom doesn't have to cook or clean, all I will be doing is playing scrabble, watching movies, reading, having her pamper me and take long walks. So for all of you - have a great weekend. I have an exciting post/artist profile for you on Tuesday. Here is a quick preview.....