He used to do jigsaw puzzles before with my help. Recently I got him TMNT 100pcs puzzle. He totally surprised me by doing it all by him in short time. From then on, pretty much every evening he does it all over again. Interestingly, I love the way he approach the puzzle – make the 4 sides and work his way inside ; unlike me , I go from one end other left to right. He is asking for more. I think it is fair and I should get him. It is not expensive at all.

 Now, madam has to match brother’s steps. Every time brother is working on TMNT puzzle, she is on Dora the explorer 24pcs puzzle. She is doing pretty good; now looking for Boots feet piece and Benny’s head piece. And the nicest brother he is, he gives her lot of tips to forge ahead.

 I know what I am getting for the family this Christmas holidays. One big puzzle with lots of sky and sea pcs. We probably will do it right in our living room floor.

This one has no story; reminds me of no one. But if you make it probably it will remind you of me, the survivor cook( may be leave this part- you may not want to make this again for the fear of my face coming flashing in front of you).

  There is no real recipe for it- you need- frozen mixed vegetable with peas, carrots, corn, cut green beans etc  (1packet-), OG2( onion and  ginger garlic paste), 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, cut potatoes, broccoli, mushroom ,tomatoes (optional- I do it when I have time to cut these)

-          In a sauce pan Sauté chopped onion, green chillies (if you need). Add ginger garlic paste.

-          Add Frozen mixed vegetable – frozen vegetable section in the grocery store

-          Mix it well. Add water just enough to cover the vegetables. Add optional veggies. Cover with the lid on till vegetables are cooked. Add in soup to it and mix well. Turn off the heat

 It has the consistency of chilli. And if anyone want to add any meat to it go for it – add browned minced meat, cooked shredded chicken etc. But I like it just the veggies.

 Yup! I take it for lunch, just by itself

I was planning to make spaghetti with spaghetti squash for Saturday dinner. That got changed when I realized, by mistake I picked up butternut squash during the grocery shopping earlier in the day.

I had to do something with it. I could bake/grill it with brown sugar as usual- did not want to go out to the cold to throw it in the grill on the deck, didn’t want to spend so much electricity baking in the toaster oven.

This is what I came up with when I mixed it with a can of mixed bean salad set aside for my weekday lunches.

- peeled the skin ( got a hard skin), cleaned the inside( easy with a spoon) and cut the squash into medium sized cubes-wash them.

- in a kadai, with a teaspoon of oil sputtered mustard

- added the chopped half onion. 2 mts into it added ginger garlic paste

- 1 minute  later, added ½ tsp of turmeric powder, 1tsp chilli powder, added salt

- When that got ready, added the cut squash. Mix it well to coat the squash.

- Put the lid on and cook it on medium flame. No need to add water. It does not take long to cook 10-15mts. – With a potato masher, mashed roughly leaving some bite size pieces for the bite

- Added the drained can of mixed bean salad ( normally has red kidney beans, chick peas, soy beans etc- it comes already cooked)

 - Added 1 tablespoon of frozen grated coconut ( well I had it in the freezer)

 - Turn off the heat, keep the lid on. – Mix well and ready to eat.

I took it for lunch 2 days in this week just by itself. It had a look ,feel and texture of Kerala dish olan when I ate it.

Pulling off from the school driveway this morning, I was thinking that I want to be pleasant school bus driver in my old age. Or If I have to pass a driving test (yet again) for that, I want to be a traffic volunteer (who helps the kids to cross the roads in the school zone with a stop sign in their hand).

 Nothing specific triggered these thoughts this morning. Basically, always I knew I want to keep working, for long. I have a strong feeling that I will live long, healthy and active.

 Then came to work, read this news of Astrid celebrating 100^th birthday working,  like any other day. Coincidence! What an inspiration!

 At the age of 88, Hazel McCalion the 3^rd term mayor of my city (assumed office 1978) does a brillaint job. She is a treat to our eyes with all her wrinkles and joy to the soul .  She refused to be driven around till last year she had an accident.

McCallion credited her faith with giving her the energy her job demands. “Having a life filled with purpose and meaning and living my life in a Christian-like manner helps to motivate me and keep me energized,” she said.She also revealed that she does everything around the house herself. “I do my own cleaning, grocery shopping, gardening… The assumption is that people in my position have others doing all these things for them but I like to be self sufficient. Housework and gardening are great forms of exercise and keep one humble.”

Well, that’s how I want to live.

Growing up, our family had been often ridiculed by the extended family ( aunts,uncles and kids from dad side) for our eating habits. Unlike most Christian families, we did not eat meat or fish regularly ..mostly for special religious occasions like xmas, easter etc. So much so that when we attend weddings and functions, where meat is an essential dish, we often got stomach upsets (and we were ridiculed even more). Having regular non veg dishes were also considered kind of a richness symbol, I guess. It worked for us, we were not rich and most our veggies came from our own farm/land.

 But we ate veggies a lot. I can not say mommy is a great cook ( who do you think I blame, for me not being a good cook) but aviyal, sambar, cheera /muringa ila thoran, moru curry..any vegetable dish for that matter, did not go wasted at our home in spite of them being made in big pots ( now we joke big kuttakams).. we needed less quantity of rice and more ( and more) of veggies.

 So when my friend UL asked here, ‘ that’s all you have for lunch?’, I was  like ‘you have no idea of the quantity girl. I don’t eat them as a side dish to go with rice. It is my main dish( and mostly no side other dish or another veggie). Also told her, I blame it on mommy and ‘what is that tale’ she asked. This is the tale.

To brush my secret pride: even without eating much non veg, we kids did better than all of them; studied reasonably well (hey none of have Ph.Ds- mommy thought I will make it..I can hardly write mommy), ok settled.

 Eating habit is one among many things we blame her for. In all, whatever we are today, well, we blame it on mommy.

 Chakkara umma mommy. You have no idea what you did to your kids!

Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray and Love is being made into a movie. Just like what I was thinking when I was reading the book (if this book is ever made into a movie Julia Roberts should play Liz), they listened to my proposal. Julia Roberts is in India shooting for the ‘Pray’ part in Pataudi, Haryana.

 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Julia-Roberts-names-children-after-Hindu-gods/articleshow/5047870.cms

I love vegetables specially leafy vegetables (may be this has to do with mommy- she told us that people who eat vegetables become smart; and you should have seen my little sister washing down Muringa leafs ( drumstick plant) thoran with a glass of water- we are still wondering any one of us became smartJ).

 Anyways, I love yogurt too. Like all my cooking, I make quick stuff and here I combine both leafs and yogurt.

 -          Roughly chopped leafs (washed spinach 8oz packet or beet root leafs or the Red cheera ila-don’t know English name, we have it in the backyard every summer)

-          Sputter mustard seeds in oil, Sauté chopped ½ onion in it, add ginger garlic paste( add chopped green chilies if you want to have some fire). When done add bit of turmeric. Now add the chopped leafs and add salt. Mix it together and cover with lid and can turn of the heat. Leafs wilt in no time(2-3 mts).

-          I let this cool off and add 1 cup of plain fat free yogurt.

-          Good with rice or roti or just by itself as I do for my lunch.

 When I take it for lunch, it reminds me of Jayashree S. She was with me in school from grade 6-10. A petite Brahmin girl, big dark eyes and thick black knee length hair (always wet and open with kulipinnal with tulsi kathir on it). Contrary to what mommy told us, for a vegetable eating Brahmin she was not good in studies, struggled to get pass marks in most subjects. But that is beside the point, it is her lunch I am talking about. Her lunch box always always had rice brimming with leaf curry and yogurt- and I still can picture her dripping fingers.

I did not think of it as milestone birthday, but somebody is on high five!

In the park: “mama I know why I can do up to the 4th ring now, because I turned 5 yrs’

Swimming lesson: ‘ see  instructor took us to the deep end of the pool with out life jacket because I also turned 5′

“Mama, can you buy me a cell phone?. I am big now and I want to be like dada”

ummm………not so fast my son. take your time!

Harvest from our backyard! ummm..make aviyal?

When I tell my son ‘You are not listening to me’ my daughter always always tells me  at the same moment ‘mama, I am listening to you’.

 When I tell my son ‘You are cranky and screaming’ she tells me ‘mama I am NOT cranky and screaming’

 This irritates my son like no end. But she won’t give in. I don’t want her to do that; but I have not succeeded on it yet.

 When I tell him “I am very proud of you my son”, she tells with out fail “ Are you proud for me also mama”

 On a recent out of town stay in a hotel, my son was practicing his swimming skills in the pool and really impressed us by swimming few meters without us supporting.  Madam was watching the high fives and the cheering (believe me, all 4 of us were in the pool and was paying enough attention to her and playing with her). She sensed she had to do something special. She dipped her head in the water for few seconds. Yes, we cheered for her, including my son.

Now, whenever I refer to my son as ‘swimmer boy’(to acknowledge his feat) in a made bed time story or lullaby, I have to identify her as ‘the girl who dipped her head in the water’.

 Eager to please me? Seeking attention? Diplomatic ? Healthy sibling rivalry ?