January 31, 2007

Who's your daddy?

  • I didn't mean to misrepresent myself as some grand chef of South Indian cuisine. Nope, I'm just a pasty-faced white girl trying her hand at it. My stuff is pretty edible, but my dosas are not nearly thin enough (that swirly technique thingie with the back of the ladle is harder than it looks!) and my idlis are still a little soggy. Sure, it's edible, but I have a long ways to go when it comes to South Indian cooking.
  • The other day, X actually thanked me for not giving him a hard time about changing diapers. I told him that I appreciated the fact that HE appreciated me. Imagine that - a married couple appreciating each other. But I digress..... anyway, I figure he already deals with a mountainload of shit as it is at work, why would I ask him to deal with even more when he gets home?
  • It seems I have gotten a wild hair up my ass and think I can go to BlogHer. After all, my due date is 7/6 and BlogHer is not until later that month. If it wasn't in Chicago, I wouldn't even consider the possibility, but DAMN - it's only an hour, 15 minute flight from Kansas City. In a pinch, I could make a daytrip of it with NewKid and my mom in tow. Over the years, I've seen loads of co-workers and even X run there for a quick business meeting, so yes - it's possible. Marilyn is a bad influence - last year, she took her little Liam at a mere 3 weeks, so of course, she is totally egging me on in this insanity.
  • I am in final negotiations for a new purse - I've ponied up Valentine's Day and even threw in my birthday. I'm not ready to give in Mother's Day yet. (Note: This would be going on regardless if I worked outside the home or not. Except for surprise gifts purchased for each other, X and I don't make huge purchases without talking about them first. Period. Because we are a team like that.) Yes, I realized I just bought a new bag last August, but it has not worked out. The straps are too small for carrying around a toddler AND toting a tote. The bag does work well for knitting -actually, it's a PERFECT tote for knitting, so all was not lost with that purchase.
  • I was very sad to see that Sidney Sheldon died today. Sheldon has the distinction of being the only writer to have won an Oscar, a Tony, and an Edgar (he was nominated for an Emmy for I Dream of Jeannie). I started reading Sheldon at the tender age of 11 when I would sneak his books from my mom's bookshelf. Yes, I was definitely reading him at too young of an age, but I can credit Sheldon with awakening my imagination to traveling, exploring other cultures, mystery and adventure. My favorite of his books is still If Tomorrow Comes, but I still remember the shock of finishing The Other Side of Midnight. Master of the Game was fascinating and Bloodline was such a classic tale of Rags to Riches. Ahhhh, the memories. His later stuff went downhill for me, but I'll never forget his earlier stuff. Rest in Peace, Sidney.


Easy Reader

A picture like this is Pure.Gold for a book hound like me. It makes my heart SOAR that he loves books so much.

King of the Mountain

As you can see, we've progressed to climbing. I have VERY mixed feelings about this.On the one hand, you want your precious progeny to progress, climb new heights, explore their world. On the other hand, you'd rather they not.

15 Months

He ain't my baby no more. Sniff...

11 comments:

Mamma Sarah said...

Hi there. Was just surfing the blogs and ran across yours. Your little one is a cutie.

That's wonderful you and your hubby have such an appreciation for each other.

Leah said...

WOOOO! I want everyone to come to Blogher because it is in CHICAGO!!! I am so stoked. Do you need someone to pick you up from Midway? (Notice I don't say O'Hare. If it's O'Hare, I will not be as excited)

Cagey (Kelli Oliver George) said...

Mamma Sarah,
Thanks for stopping by!

Leah,
Yes, it would be Midway - I only fly Southwest when given a choice. Would I have to tip you? Could we swing by Devon St. on our way? ;-)

Dee said...

Just after I read your last blog post this morning, my boss asked me to go to Ruchi with him for lunch. I turned him down. I opted for a salad at Hen House instead.

Anonymous said...

I too was sad to hear about Sidney Sheldon and I am so with you on his earlier stuff. My favorite memory of reading his books is my college was hosting a large Methodist convention and I was asked to be a runner for the presenters so I had to sit at the front of the convention center and wait to be called on so I passed the time reading one of his racier novels and turning completely red when reading one part and then had a minister ask me why I was so red in the face!

I have not yet ventured into Indian cuisine - my lebanese co-worker is lobbying heavily to get me to try but right now I am loving falafel that she recently introduced me to.

Monkey McWearingChaps said...

I haven't tried my hand at dosas yet, but they're pretty much crepes, so what about getting that swirly thingie for crepes they use to swish the batter into a perfect cirlce in about 5 seconds after they pour it on the pan? I was at a Farmer's Market in SoPas once and bought a savoury crepe and he whipped it out as soon as the batter was on the steaming hot pan. It looks kind of like one of those things you'd use to clean record players in the old days.

On idlis: are you using a pressure cooker or one of those steaming baskets? When I started out I used one of the idlis in the topmost mold as an "experimental" idli, measuring what it looked like every 3 minutes or so, so I could get the timing down.

Btw, I would recommend bhel puri for those "sour" cravings you've been having. Yum yum.

Anonymous said...

Awww, that first photo with the book is adorable!

Monkey McWearingChaps said...

I hope this comment shows up, I was trying to reply to MDH to tell her some climates aren't conductive to fermentation (L.A. is notorious for this). Almost everyone "helps" things along with yoghurt and mixes these days.

But this is what I was talking about dude:

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/4845186/index.cfm?clg=35&cm%5Fsrc=sch&pkey=xsrd0m1%7C15%7C%7C%7C0%7C%7C%7C%7C%7C%7C%7Ccrepe

That thing that looks like a "T" in the middle of the picture. The one I saw at the farmer's market was actually less wide than that one...it seriously looked like a record cleaner.

I'm thinking a batter ladle and one of them crepe spreaders/turners will set you up nicely. It's the route I'm going to go when I try my hand at it.

always looking for the easy way out,

monkey (blogger is being a bitch)

Cagey (Kelli Oliver George) said...

Monkey,
You rock - just what I need, to walk into a kitchen implements store. Heaven (or Haven). Will look into that AND the handy little batter pitcher.

I actually have a crepe pan - I requested it for Christmas year before last specifically for making dosas. A few months later, my dad asked me how the crepes were coming and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what he was talking about. I had never planned on using it for actual crepes.

I agree that I need a better ladle - one that has a flatter bottom would help.

I suspect that we are going to be making dosas more and more. Now that I am cooking for 3, it's worth the effort, plus we've noticed the effect of dosas is virtually nil to X' s blood sugar level.

Also, I think spreading the Periyar mix is a little easier than the Swad or Gits mixes. Additionally, the Periyar seems to have a better "sourdough" taste.

Monkey McWearingChaps said...

Is your crepe pan round or square? I was mulling the problem over (I have seen my mom swishing that dosa batter and it looks way too complex for me). I figure when I'm ready to invest I'm going to get a proper crepe batter ladle, that swishy spreader and a *square* pan. That way I can ladle the batter on to one side of the pan and then just "pull" to the right to make a rectangular dosa.

Those perfect circles are exceedingly difficult to achieve, dosa or roti. I'm still making blob shaped chapatis. My mom told me to think about it this way-the reason we're not good at it is that our parents didn't use us as free child labour and that's a good thing!!!

Moderndayhermit said...

Haha, my ex-husband used to laugh when I first started making chapati and would say, "ha, you make bread shaped like India!". Sure enough, some of them did, especially paratha.

My ex-MIL makes the most perfect chapatis, I do miss her cooking...*sigh*