My First Thanksgiving - 11/26/2009

I’m just out of a four day holiday weekend – thanks to the festival of THANKSGIVING!! We never had thanksgiving festivals in India, so I wasn’t sure what exactly this festival meant. So I looked at the place that I resort to so very often for information – The Internet !!! Just from the name anyone would guess it’s a day to give thanks and that’s what it is - Thanksgiving is traditionally a harvest festival, a day to thank God for His innumerable Blessings.

Thanksgiving is a family festival, where family members come together and spend time with each other, often enjoying a wonderful dinner of turkey and pies. It is said that no matter where they are, people travel to their parents / grandparents place specifically to spend the day with their family. I did not have all my family with me (I missed them all so very much and I wished they could have been with me), however, I was fortunate to have my significant other with me and so I wanted to make it special for us, especially so since it was our first thanksgiving. So I planned to prepare a grand thanksgiving lunch, but without the….. Turkey (Cooking a whole turkey would just be too much food for two people).

So I set down with great enthusiasm to prepare a meal fit for a king (wink wink ;)). This was the menu – Chicken Fried Rice, Stir Fried Beef with Broccoli, Spicy Lamb Chops, Fried Tilapia and for dessert it was Vanilla Cake..yum yum !!! I started cooking the evening before Thanksgiving, just to manage my time slightly better..and thankfully I managed to get them all done on time. I was so excited at the meal I had prepared and I was waiting to dig in, hoping that the food would taste as good as it looked….and you bet….it sure did :).

So that was my first Thanksgiving and I enjoyed planning and preparing for the Thanksgiving meal. And at this time of Thanksgiving, I want to thank everyone who has been a significant part of my life – My Husband (who puts up with me every single day), My Mom (A source of Unconditional Love and My pillar of strength), My Brother ( I miss you, although we fought so very much as kids), My In-laws ( Mom and Dad – I could not have asked for anyone better…thank you both for your love), My Sister-in-law and her family (A loving family, and I miss my naughty little nephew), my special friends (thanks for your prayers and for loving me for what I am), other caring family members (thank you all for your love), my teachers (thank you so much for all your prayers and encouragement).

I would not be doing justice, if I do not thank my loving God - Jesus Christ for all He is and all He has done for me. He is and will always continue to be the most important influence in my life…His unconditional Love, Grace and Mercies has led me all these days and I know His Faithfulness will continue to guide me. Thank you God!!!

My day out…CANOEING !!!

So it was one of those days, where you set out not knowing where you are going or what you are going to do, but somehow you do things that just makes your day !!! It was a beautiful Saturday morning, not too hot..not too cold…but just the right weather to be outdoors. My significant other promised to take me downtown to a place called Zilker Park. Honestly, I was wondering what was going to be at Zilker Park. I knew that they held music/other events there, including the ever popular – ACL (Austin City Limits Music Festival)…but other than that..i had no idea what else was there at Zilker Park !

So when I reached downtown Austin and entered Zilker Park, I was pleasantly surprised. For some reason, I seemed to love the place! Was it the tall, beautiful trees around..or was it the vast landscape of green sprawling lawns, or may be little chidren..some happily laughing and some crying aloud…or may be it was the beautiful Lake Austin - maybe it was a little bit of everything.

As we walked around, we saw a lot of kayaks and canoes. these canoes were actually rented out either by hours or for a day. I have never gone canoeing before. My only experiences with boating or sailing, was to be a silent spectator who merely enjoyed the experience, but never got to do the hard work of actually trying to tug at sails or use the oars!! So I had no idea of how one was supposed to canoe!!

Somehow, just looking at everyone around me canoeing, I suggested that we give canoeing a try. So there we were…at Lake Austin…not knowing the basics of canoeing…but confidently renting out a canoe!!! Whowww !!

So we got our canoe..picked our oars…put on our life jackets (this was of paramount importance…considering the fact that we could ….well…topple the canoe..LOL).. It was now SHOWDOWN time..yeahhh!! I was super excited as I stepped into the canoe..and as we tried to leave the river bank (with a little help from a friendly couple)..my excitement soon turned to terror!!

The place where we start is narrow, which meant, we were to steer the canoe such that it turns left and took the course upto the main part of Lake Austin. But unfortunately, not having any prior canoeing experience, my significant other and I had no idea how we were supposed to turn left or for that matter keep the canoe on a straight course. So we went straight ahead and hit the other bank :(. At that point, I was so flustered, coz I really didn’t want to make a fool of myself in front of other families standing there (there were kids too…and that made matters worse. Imagine kids giggling and laughing at how bad we were at keeping the canoe in the right course)…sheeesh….Amidst screaming and shouting, and getting hit by low lying trees, we finally managed to turn the canoe to the left!! Phewww…finally !!!

And then…like out of nowhere…and I still don’t know how…my significant other figured out how to steer the canoe (had he been on a canoe before…may be he was a pro at it and I was the..well…. ‘kiddo who didn’t know how to canoe’)…whatever it was..or however it happened….I was so relieved that we finally got it right…..yaaaaaayyy!!

So this is how canoeing works….if you want to steer right...you would need to use your oars on the left side of the canoe, as though pushing the water away from you. And if you want to steer the canoe to the left, row on the right side. And the secret to keeping the canoe in a straight course, is to balance the left and right movements, so that you stay on a straight course..

It was such a wonderful experience canoeing on Lake Austinl. The view of downtown Austin, with towering building and bridges was just beautiful!! Although it was tiring and your arms begin to ache after a while, trust me, its all worth it !!! While I can never forget the terrible start we had…in the end…alls well that ends well!!! :)

Chicken with Green Peppers

Alrighttt….its been a while since I updated my blog. If I said I was busy that would be a lie ;). So anyways…its’s time for another recipe!! Ive tried two new recipes this week, one with chicken and the other with beef. I would be posting them both on my blog, but first it would be the chicken…chicken with green peppers!!

To make this recipe you would need:

1 lb Chicken
2 Tbsp Oil
1 Tsp Cumin Seeds
2 Medium Sized Onions
2 Tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
2 Medium Tomatoes
1 Tsp Lime Juice
2 Tsp Coriander Powder
Half Tsp Chili Powder
1 Tsp Black Pepper Powder
2 Green Chilies
1 Medium Sized Green Pepper (Green Capsicum)
Corriander Leaves
Salt to taste

So once you’ve got all your ingredients in place, start off with washing and cutting the chicken into half inch cubes. I used boneless chicken for this recipe and I cut it into small cubes, coz a ‘Significant Other’ likes it this way :). But if you don’t really care to make it so small, just make it 1 inch cubes. After all, we all want to cook fast, who wants to spend time cutting chicken..right??? ;-)....

Take a pan (or kadai as we call it in India), add the oil. I used olive oil, but you can use vegetable oil as well. Once the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds. If the oil is real hot, the seeds would immediately start popping. Add the onions. I chopped the onions real fine, so that it adds to the taste. Fry the onions till they turn slightly brown and transparent. Add the green chilies (serrano peppers) and ginger garlic paste (If you do not have them in paste form, just chop them up real fine. You do not want to be biting into big chunks of ginger or garlic)

Finely chop the tomatoes. Mix the lime juice with the tomatoes and add it to the pan. Add the spice mixes – coriander and chili powder to the onion-tomatoes mixture and stir-fry till the tomatoes blend well with the onions. Add salt to taste.

Add the chicken to the pan, and cook on high heat for 3-5 minutes until the outer side of the chicken turns white. This will help the chicken to retain the moisture. Lower the flame and continue cooking the chicken till its three-fourth done. At this point, add the green peppers. I cut the green peppers into 1 inch cubes. Mix well and continue to cook till the chicken is well done. Just before removing it from the stove, add in the finely chopped coriander leaves and the pepper powder. You can avoid the pepper powder if you do not want it to be spicy. Since I liked it spicy I added the pepper. Mix for 2-3 minutes.

Chicken-Green Peppers Curry is ready to be served!! Serve hot with Naans, Chappathis or just plain Basmathi rice :). Enjooyyy !!

The Caverns of Sanora !

Ever since I moved to Texas, I have visited three caverns – Natural Bridge Caverns, Inner Space Cavern and the Caverns of Sonora. For someone, who had never visited caves before I was expecting them all to be the same! But surprisingly, each cavern was mesmerizingly unique and different from the other.

Sonora is a three hour drive from San Antonio. It could sound like a really long drive, considering the Texas heat. But when you reach Sonora and have had time to explore the cave, the drive would definitely be worth every penny.

So it was a hot Sunday afternoon when we reached Sonora. Thankfully, although it was holiday weekend, there were no long queues and we were able to get the tickets in a couple of minutes. Our tour guide was a short, middle aged lady. She seemed to be very passionate about her job and seemed to love the Caverns as her own, and that’s always a good sign, coz you know that when you have a passionate tour guide, the experience would be quite enriching! And enriching it was :)

I do not know if I can ever put in words the beauty of these caves. Although it was not so fascinating (or so I thought) as I entered the caves, I was in for a surprise!!! This cave was about 150 feet deep and for those who haven’t visited caverns before, don’t worry about the depth, coz there are hand rails and steps that aid in your descent. However, the tiring part is climbing your way up again (wideee grin :D)

As I journeyed to the depths of the cave, surrounded by beautiful limestone and calcite formations, I dreamt of walking through the Great Barrier Reef with its beautiful coral reefs. This cave looked almost like a coral reef, with its beautiful coral like limestone rock formations. Isn’t it ironical that millions of years ago, the ocean waters flowed in and out of these caves, carving and giving rise to awesome formations? These formations are called cave straws, cave bacon (yum yum), cave curtains, pillars, cave butterflies, cave pop corn and so on. You might be wondering what these different names are, they simply are some of the patterns the limestone formations take. What was most spectacular in these caves was the cave butterfly!!! The limestone rocks were so beautifully shaped, that they looked like cute butterflies fluttering their wings. The picture below is of the cave butterflies and as you can see..arent they just awesome ? :)

As in all other cave explorations, the tour guides are very strict when they say that visitors are not allowed to touch any of the formations! It might seem strange at first to get such a warning, but the reasoning is justifiable. These formations have taken millions of years to grow, and believe it or not, they still continue to grow! Hence, great measures are taken to protect this natural beauty to preserve it for posterity. Can you believe that the oils present in the human hand can at once stop the formations from growing? Well..it does and that’s the reason visitors are warned not to touch any of the living formations.

During the exploration, we also got to see the formation of ‘Quartz’. Don’t ask me the detailed process of how this gemstone is formed, but it is the resultant of a chemical reaction that takes place in the limestone rocks. I wished that I could have brought back one of these gemstones as a souvenir..but I was an obedient visitor and I refrained from touching any of the formations (a pat on the back for that…lol)

As I walked through the caves, sunk in the beauty that lay around, I was transported to a different world, a world so beautiful, from which I did not want to return, but, as all good things must come to an end, so did my explorations of the caverns of Sonora. But something that I will always cherish from my visits to the different caverns is this – ‘A Thing of Beauty Is a Joy Forever’ :)..and I eagerly look forward to many more such explorations!!!

Spicy Fried Tilapia

Time for another recipe and this time its a non-vegetarian recipe - Tilapia ! One weekend, we had a dinner party at home, so as usual I called my Personal Chef ;) - My MOM ...and believe it or not...it was a simple recipe to make and it turned out be awesome !!!

The best part in preparing this dish is that there is no hard and fast rules on the amount of ingredients you use. It is totally dependant on personal taste and choice. So let’s start off with the ingredients:

8 - 10 Large Slices of Tilapia
5 Tbsp Red Chilli Powder
3 Tbsp Corriander Powder
1 Tsp Turmeric Powder
2 Tbsp Lime Juice
Salt to taste
3 - 4 Tbsp of Water to make a fine paste (add more if needed)
Oil to Fry

Mix together the spices and salt. Add the lime juice and water and make a thick paste. Coat the fish slices in this paste and let it marinate for about two hours.
Make sure that the paste is not too watery, as this would not coat the fish slices well.

After about two hours, its time to fry ! Heat sufficient oil in a frying pan, and fry the fish slices till they are cooked completely. Turn the slices occasionally so that both sides of the fish are well cooked. Remove from pan and spicccyy tilapia is ready to eat...uhhhhh...yum yum !

Trust me when I say that this simple recipe was the star at the dinner party...easy to prepare..simple to make...and can be altered for everyone's taste..and yet tastes amazing.

So remember...don’t be too tough with the ingredients...for those who would not want it to be very spicy..feel free to reduce the amount of chili powder...for that extra tangy flavor..add more lime ! This dish is so versatile….that there can be innumerable combinations.

Happy Frying!!! :)

Labor Day Weekend Roadtrip

Make hay while the sun shines..Take road trips when you get a holiday!!!

It was Labor Day on the 7th of September and hence an extended weekend. Finally…a holiday..yaaay! Time for a road trip and the plan was to visit San Antonio (SA) and Sonora.

So we started at around 10:30 on Saturday morning. The weather was pleasant. It was overcast, but thankfully no rains. And finally, the 100+ days of hot Texas summer was soon gonna end. In fact Labor Day which is celebrated on the first Monday of September signified the official end of summer.

SA is only an hour and a half’s drive from Austin. En route to SA, we planned to visit a ‘drive through’ safari. I had been to one in New Jersey last summer and so I was expecting this one to be as fun filled as the one in Jersey.

The safari – Natural Bridge Wildlife Safari, is adjacent to the natural Bridge Caverns. On one of my earlier trips to SA, I had actually been to the cavern and it was great fun. However, the safari turned out to be an ‘OK’ show. There were not many wild animals…there were zebras, wilder beasts, ostriches, emus and deers of different kinds. I only hoped that there were some wild beasts, like tigers and lions roaming around (wink wink). But the highlight of the safari was I got to feed the Zebras…and yes..you bet I loved it :) and I must say the Zebras were a hungry lot! I had to try hard from keeping them from entering the car..lol…

Once we were done with the safari, we continued on our way to SA. On reaching SA, we checked into our hotel. The hotel was awesome. Our room was on the eleventh floor and the view of downtown SA was fantastic. We also got a view of SA’s popular attraction – The River Walk!

After a little nap (aren’t vacations supposed to give u rest!!!), it was time to explore SA. Our hotel was so ideally located, that we could travel on foot to see the places around. So we started, with visiting ‘The Alamo’. The Alamo is one of the historical places to see in SA. Originally, intended to serve as a home to missionaries, the Alamo today is also recognized for its role in the Texan Revolution of the 1800s.

The next stop was at ‘Ripleys Haunted Adventure’. Ok..so I am not the ghost hunters kind..so I was a little nervous going to this place. But I tried to put up a brave face as I entered the haunted house. To be on the safer side, I was right in the center..one family in front of me and another right behind me…hehe…that was a BIG comfort. There were two kids in the group as well. I was thinking I probably would be the only person screaming..but thankfully there were kids for company..lol. I had great fun here and though it was a little scary and was pitch dark at times, I managed to get out in one piece..glad that I was still alive after having seen dead bodies..blood and lunatics running all around !

Just beside Ripley’s Haunted Adventure was the Guinness World Record Museum…and whose picture did I see – A Guinness world record holder from India – Mr. Thyagi , and guess for what …the longest ear hair… ;)

Once we explored the places around the hotel, it was time to get back to the River Walk…the most beautiful and well…romanticccc place in SA ;)…This space would not suffice to describe the river walk, so I would rite another post on that.

Dinner that night was along the river-walk – burgers, potato crusted salmon, vegetable quesadilla (pronounced kesa-di-ya)..yum yum !After a good night’s sleep, we started on the drive to Sonora Caves, one of the most beautiful caves I have visited. Will keep you all posted on my adventures at Sonora in the following days…so keep reading :)

Beautiful Bryce !!!

The ‘Travel’ channel is one my favorite channels on TV. True to it’s name, most of their programs are geared towards travel explorations to different places. One of the programs ‘The Secrets of Zion and Bryce Canyon’ is the inspiration for this blog. Actually…it reminded me that a post on Bryce Canyon was long pending!! So here’s my attempt to capture the beauty of another natural wonder – BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK!!!

Bryce is located in the same state as Zion National Park, on which I had written a post last month, the state of the NBA Team ‘Jazz’..you guessed it right – “UTAH”!!!

The drive from Zion to Bryce was about two hours, but to me it seemed like just about a few minutes coz I felt I just didn’t have enough time to taken in the beauty that lay all around me. Towering mountains, large pine trees and stunning, peaceful meadows…well…I just ran out of words to describe how beautiful the scenery was. It was like staring at a beautiful painting!!

I was expecting Bryce to be similar to Zion, but I was in for a Big Big surprise…the two parks could not be more different. While water was the reason behind the formations of the Zion and Bryce Canyons, it took different forms in creating these two national parks. The Zion canyon was the eroding effect of the Virgin River, while Bryce canyon was formed by the eroding effect of water in the form of rain, ice and snow.

Bryce Canyon presented a magnificent picture of awesome rock formations. Huge peaks, beautifully carved by rain, snow and ice stood towering. As I looked around, I wondered how these towering narrow formations kept from falling apart. The formations were tall, they were narrow and yet were held together by some invisible force. The towering formations are called hoodoos, grottos, walls or arches, depending on the shape they took. As I stood at ‘Sunrise Point’ (one of the popular points to view sunrise) overlooking the canyon, it was hard to believe how something as simple as water could carve out such beautiful structures. Well…nature has its ways!

One of the popular trails at Bryce is the ‘Navajo’ trail. Starting at the Sunset Point, Navajo, pronounced ‘Nava-ho’, is a trail that takes you through the heart of bryce and through the towering hoodos. It’s about a 1.3 mile round trip that takes you down into the canyon and loops around as you make your way back up to Sunset point. While on the trail you get to see Two-Bridges, Thors Hammer and Wall Street. These names seem weird, but they are just names given to the different rock formations. As you get to the bottom of the trail, you enter a garden of pine and oak trees. At places, this trail gets steep, and one has to be careful so as to avoid a steep fall, especially so during the rains. But I visited this place in May and the timing was perfect. Like all other trails, going downhill on the Navajo trail was not difficult. As I kept going down and down, I realized how miniscule I felt near the towering hoodoos that stood guard all around. It was an amazing journey that showed the power of water! Once I got to the bottom of the trail, it was time to climb back up to where we started. This was a loop and hence we did not have to climb back up the same we came down. I have to confess, that climbing up was more strenuous, however I was complimented by a fellow traveler to be the only person he saw with a smile climbing up!!! But I guess that was at the beginning of the climb up…if only he had seen me half way up the trail…the comment would have been quite different ! lol…..

I do not know if I can ever put in words my experiences at bryce and zion, but I am glad that I was fortunate to visit these beautiful places in my lifetime and I sure wish I could go visit them again and a special thanks to the person who planned it all…thank you! :)