bon appetit Archives

It’s that time of the year where if you’re not carting home 3/4 of your usual shopping bag weight in melons, you’re definitely not me. I have brought home slices or wholes of every kind of melon, plums and bags of cucumbers (same family!) and I have been belching sighs of happiness ever since. It’s been a hustle to “make memories” before the cooler days set in, a phenomenon that occurs when you move out to a part of the Western Hemisphere where “seasons” are a real darn thing. I don’t like it but I let the weight of my decisions rest heavily on it nonetheless. I don’t know if it will strike me until we’re in the throes of the most disgusting season – FALL (I SAID IT) – but I love the days where I’m doing nothing but sitting outside hearing the birds shout as they rustle pine needles, the dogs bark at beeping sounds and I’m just sitting there pretending to read my book as the sun readies to force its beautiful energy on this goofy day.

Fall? Birch please.

…

Why aren’t there French fries – lots and lots of French fries at the Thanksgiving table?

I wondered this as I prepared the tenderloin for consumption on Thursday. I was unsure of what I was attempting, as I usually am with cooking whole parts of meat (there’s a fine line between rare and well-done, that I magically NEVER cross. I don’t know how, which is why I never blog about it. Also I love vegetables more). It involved cutting the tenderloin using fancy-ass butcher techniques I have never done myself. I imagined it in my head and cut what was a chunk of meat into a flat slab of meat. I was very impressed. If there’s one thing I can pretend to be thankful for, it’s for not screwing up very expensive food.

This weekend went by too fast. I spent most of it being indescribably homesick (almost crying, except not) and missing my friends, all 6 of them. One of my favourites, Saurabh, got married over the weekend too. He is – and I’ve always thought this even before I was too dumb to know what it meant – great marriage material. He’s adorable, chivalrous, accommodating to a fault and annoying, which doesn’t really matter if you think about the first three things I said. I love him and to miss his wedding (even if the auspicious hour was well past midnight) really made me sad. Aditi, you’re a lucky girl but since I know Saurabh more than I know you, I’d say he’s much, much luckier. Welcome to the jungle. There’s another thing I’m thankful for – friends that are as close as family. Just not in kilometers. Sigh.

As a person who thinks about injustices of the world more than she should, I am trying to channel it all into something productive. Life can get somewhat lonely without the people you’ve lived with your whole life and small sad thoughts can get more importance than they really should. While I am drawing more, more (always will), I am also working on becoming a pie expert. Just like running, pie is meditative, I’ve learnt. I just want to do both these things everyday and be happy. I tried a pie recipe from Joy‘s new book, Homemade Decadence on Wednesday and holy shit ImsurprisedIdidnteatitallatonce. I’m going to share it with you in the hope that you’ll consider adding her pie/cake/breakfast wisdom to your life. This is the first cookbook I’ve bought and I’m not regretting a second of it.

This salad, with some dressing mods that I made (for lack of pantry items), is seriously a dream (thanks Lindsey, for nudging me that way). When you eat it for all three meals and snackies, you know. I’d like to make it again. And again. And again*.

What I’m trying to hint at right here is that no, we didn’t win the food drop jackpot but that’s the way I like it – simple and normal. Next year, I’ll be happy with biryani and raita. Now there’s an idea for Sunday. I think I have to watch The Mindy Project now. I’ve already seen last week’s episode but it’s Mindy sooooo BYE.

*That means forever.

Melon-choly + 3 recipes!

Thanks a million, Internets.