Tuesday, September 16, 2008

lighting

what started as a huge girls night out last thuesday fizzled into me and jeffrey and tarah at 647. but it turned out to be just the lowkey evening i was looking for. i got the lobster mac and cheese and the truffle and fontina tater tots. good but not mindblowingly so. but i will be back. 

naturally we got dessert. the lighting was horrible, but smokely jones had his lighter on him, resulting in this picture. 


potato awesome

josh is out of town this week and i haven't gone grocery shopping and one cannot eat $20 worth of chinese take out every night (what?). we had some potatoes, some leeks, some sour cream, and the usual acroutromonts, so i made mashed potatoes the usual way (sour cream, some butter, skins on), sautéed some bacon and leeks, added thyme and parmesan and piled everything onto my plate. 

as i was eating my bacon/potato/leek/sour cream/parmesan cheese combo, i named it "potato awesome" and realized something about myself. my naming skills are brilliant. 

here are some other potential potato awesome combos: broccoli and cheddar and chives. salsa and that mexican soft cheese that i love so much. baked beans and sharp cheddar. 

i didn't take a picture, because honestly, it was not very photogenic, but potato awesome is my new way of getting rid of leftovers. any other combos do you think would work?

Monday, September 15, 2008

rabinini got married!

Now, Josh and I are huge snobs. Food, schools, house stuff, you name it. Although he won't admit it, Josh is even worse than me. just ask him what "falthu" means...
But we are our snootiest at weddings. I don't think there has been a wedding where we haven't leaned over to each other and whispered "Ours was better". Until now. Bess' wedding was amazing. The setting, the band, the food. The weekend in sunny Florida on the beach wasn't too shabby either:)
I love this picture. Not just for the light, but for the fact that Laura looks so wife-y! She carries a mean tray:)
Our hotel. Our window faced the water - it was perfect waking up to the sun coming up over the waves. 
A wonderful setting for a wedding. The ceremony concluded as the full moon came up.
The band played on. 


Me and Steph! She looks so regal!
i LOVED the center pieces. I am so doing this at my next dinner party.
Me Sandy and Grace. 
Lucky Tim! Even the bride was part of this little dance party.
So I took a picture of Laura and David. A candid one. But Laura wanted a posed one. The next thing I know, something hit me in the head. Apparently this is what happened:
David: Do you want me to get her attention?
Laura: Yes!
David: Where do you want me to hit her (showing her the rock)
Laura: The HEAD!
And he did.
Later, she CLAIMED that she thought he had a piece of lint from his pocket. But I ask you - how would a piece of lint fly across two tables and it me in the head? At least it is a cute picture:)

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

it's a brand new day

and you're gonna DIE!

go find dr. horrible's sing-a-long blog online and watch it. now. seriously. stop reading. go now. $5 on iTunes will do it too. it is ALL kinds of awesome. 

neil partick harris - check (squeee!)
nathan fillion - check
produced and written by freakin' joss whedon - CHECK
a MUSICal? - double check
funny, sad and smart - check check and check. 

i love that he wrote it during the strike and put on the internet for free (for a limited time, of course) to stick it to the man. sure he is making money now, but he proved that you don't need to have a contract with a big studio to get things made and posted online, oh, and have it be AWESOME.

gogogogogogogogogo. and then we can talk about our favorite parts. (the beginning is slow, but stick with it. it picks up.)







Tuesday, September 09, 2008

ding ding ding!

we have another weekday night staple! i made these salmon cakes on sunday night and they were a huge hit, with me at least. josh seemed to like them as well, as he cleaned his plate and even asked for more lemon/cumin yogurt. and he hates yogurt!





i paired these cakes with thinly sliced zucchini and summer squash with some pesto josh and i made and froze during the height of basil season.

and last night, i made this lentil/couscous salad. it was ok, but i didn't really pay attention to the recipe, and went too heavy on the couscous, which washed out the rest of the flavors. i will make it again, but will half the couscous and play up the vegetables.


and lastly, i would like to give a HUGE internet thank you to my wonderful husband, who built the shelves for our television set. it looks amazing (as does hugh, natch). thank you my darling! your carpentry skills are beyond compare!

Monday, September 08, 2008

illiterate?

the actors of "failure to launch" MUST have not read the script before they agreed to do this movie. maybe they can't read and don't want to admit it. or maybe they thought it would be hilarious to make a bad movie. well, the joke's on them. it must have been the worst movie i have ever seen. ever. and i watched a LOT of bollywood moveis... nothing made SENSE! she is this perky person! she is so sweet! she is lashing out at her best friend! oh no - she is the most unhappy person in the world! seriously, what?

who pays for these to be made? i mean, SOMEone has to greenlight this. not only to agents and talent have to approve this, someone at some studio is like - this is schlock, let's spend millions of dollars making it. i would just love it if they just took all the money they WASTED on this movie and gave it to the poor.

some others that were made for no reason? the hottie and the nottie (didnt need to see that to know it was bad), superbad (ugh - although that probably didn't cost much to make), Indy 4 (boooo - although it made like $300 million, so maybe it was justified from a business sense), that movie where sean connery was a dragon... any others?

Thursday, September 04, 2008

NH Ladies Weekend!

So most of you guys know that I grew up with a lot of family friends in Long Island. Well, you probably know that most of them were boys. The older ones, as boys do, got married. And they married well. Really well. I couldn't have chosen better for them if I had tried.

But when Shila wanted to put together a weekend in the great outdoors, I was skeptical at best. How will four girls in their 20's and five busy moms manage to find one weekend free. It is hard enough to get 2 people together, let alone 9.


But it happened! A few weeks ago, they drove, we drove and planted our flag at the Golden Eagle Lodge in Waterville Valley, NH.


We had a blast. So. Much. Food. Put some Indian moms together and you are garunteed to feast. And feast. And feast. We had dinner at my mom's on Friday, breakfast at my place on Saturday morning, a pot luck picnic lunch Saturday, a Mexican orgy of food on Saturday night, a breakfast of leftovers Sunday morning and we capped of the weekend with some Dunkin Donuts (obvs).


Here are some highlights. For all the pics - go here!


My wonderful breakfast! Pretty standard Deepa: fritatta, peach coffee cake, fruit, tomatoes and juice.
Shila and I are marveling at nature. Divya is laughing at us.


There are a lot of great shots of my mom and sister from that weekend, but this is my favorite.
You could buy a bag of stones and "mine" for precious stones here. I thought it was an interesting shot (and not done in sepia)

Yes, this is our luggage for ONE night. One.
My beautiful mother. I love her so much.
The gang at the waterfall. It was one of those perfect summer days.
The gang at the caves.
Divya floating past me in a kayak. She picked it up very quickly! (Apprentlly she was so quick to learn that we had to put a tranq dart in her neck. She was drowsy all weekend....)
Meepa!
My mom and Suma Auntie out on the water.
Happy feet in the creek!
Waterfall shots.
Sunlight reflecting on the water was too tempting not to shoot. I have about a half dozen of these.
Sun on the water. My mom in her element.



And last but DEF not least, the ass that won't quit.

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

short cut?

So I read this article in the NYTs today with mixed feelings.

Now I am not Orthodox anything. I am Hindu, but not crazy Hindu, and there are people out there that are and one has to respect that. I get that. This post is in no way meant to offend anyone. I hope it does not.

They way I see it, religion serves many purposes. Some people use it for guidance or support, others for structure and balance. Still others to feel that connection. And almost all religion uses some form of sacrifice. Be it pork and alcohol for Muslims, beef (or meat altogether) for Hindus, pork for Jews, fasting on certain days for almost all major ones, etc, I always felt that adherence to these sacrifices was done out of respect for the religion. I think "respect" is not the right word here - perhaps "reverence"? I am not sure. But my mom only eats nuts and fruits on certain days because it is important to her to adhere to that part of Hinduism. Some friends turn down crab cakes or take the bacon off their burger order, or fast during Ramadan or stick to Matzo on Passover. They don't "have" to do this. There are no immediate and direct consequences for breaking these rules. For me, I don't eat red meat (or pork) out of respect for the traditions I grew up with. It is what it is.

Because of this, I see these kosher inventions as cheating. I understand that it is harder and harder to adhere to ancient texts as everyday technology develops, but isn't that kind of the point? If you are not supposed to use technology on the sabbath, then finding ways to cheat the system seems like that sacrifice is not something you do for yourself, but something that is seen as an inconvenience to you. When I saw the Orthodox Jews in Sharon walking to temple, I saw the sacrifice they were making for their religion and respected them for their decisions. If I saw them going to temple in a voice activated wheelchair, I don't think I would feel that way.

There are definitely two sides to this argument. And there are always exceptions to every rule, especially as people are living longer and longer and need more technological support in their old age. I would hardly expect someone to suffer in pain because they cannot push their morphine button or walk to the hospital when they are in labor. At the same time, I would expect someone who was willing to make the choice to be Orthodox also make the choice to go to bed with the sun instead of turning a lamp shade to block a bulb that has been on for 24 hours.

Am I being way too judgemental of choices people make in a life I don't lead? Maybe.

Thoughts?

On a lighter note - I can't help but think of a story from the New Yorker. It is not online, but if you can, check out Shalom Auslander's "Playoffs," from the January 15, 2007 edition (p. 38).