TANTE MARIE : WEEK 3....

Week 3

This week started off with a bang ,
 Monday was fantastic...
Tuesday like you read Was an awesome fun day ...

Wednesday was a day where I did not really enjoy the menu ....
But we had a demonstration for Indian cuisine that afternoon , and I was really excited ...
It's wonderful to see my cuisine as part of what is  taught on a cordon Bleu course ...
Well it was a bit different ...
But I was really looking forward to getting into the kitchen the next day and making everything that was on the menu ...
Thursday beamed early and bright, I took all my recipes and was too happy to cook ..
I don't really cook a lot of traditional indian food at home , but was feeling very very patriotic and proud of us as Indians ...
That's something I'm super happy being ...
"I'm Indian , I live in Bombay " ...gosh does it not sound lovely, so my partner Joe and me started our day....
I was on a curry high ...ha ha ha ...
Made Masoor dal , aloo bhaji,peas pulau and good Indian chicken curry ....
It all turned out really well...
Felt fantastic and was really close to singing the national anthem ...
I think we Indians are a proud colourful people, have hospitality and vibrancy oozing out of our pores ...and I'm just really proud to be Indian ....
Every time I cook kind of Indian food,  all my friends say that's it's very very " Kischan"", but I swear on the "Garam masala".... This was fully Indian , tadka lagake ....Mini, Jaya and Sandy , if you guys were here you would have given me a tight hug ...
Short of jumping on the table and waving the national flag ....think it was a super after-noon, there was so much of food on the table, there was tandoori chicken, spicy mushroom curry, naans , papads...it was a full on feast ....
Really felt super ....
I have decided that when I go home am going to learn how to make good yummy Punjabi food...yup ...
Went home a happy bunny...

Friday made some awesome food again ...
But what I loved most is Canadian wild rice , it's just beautiful...
It's slimmer and thinner and longer than our basmati rice...
But it's brown and looks a bit like really thick , rosemary sticks...
And it's awesome, tastes wild like it's name and looks beautifully rustic...
Made honeyed wild rice , which is a combination of , wild , brown and White rice....
Need to buy some of this and take it back home ....

Friday night went out with Maya and Maja to a local disco , because it was Maya from Korea.'s birthday ...
It was fun and got to know, a little more about Maya and Maja ....

Saturday I spent shopping and drinking hot chocolate , with my friend Lorraine from college ....
Think I'm a little addicted to hot chocolate ....
It's so nice to hang with Lorraine and her family ....
And her little boy Isaac wanted me to stay and have a sleep over , and was willing to share his toothbrush with me , if I forgot mine at home ...
Just how cute is he ....
Retail therapy always makes the day a better day ha ha ha ...
So yes addded to my collection of sweaters ...
Did I tell you I'm moving to the north pole.....ha ha ha 
Came back tired and happy....

Sunday .....hmmmmm...
Well spent Sunday soul searching, and got my boots yeah! Yeah ! Yeah!
Realised that when I like something , I have to have it, I procrastinated and drove my friends mad asking for advice and sending them different angles of the same shoe...
And today just walked in looked at them and swiped my card and walked out looking like Pocahontas  , on her way into the forest to meet Captain John ....
Gosh ...

Spent the afternoon, having lunch at 45 Park Lane , a  brand new restaurant, with my ex-boss Rachana , who is now my friend ....
The food was lovely , fresh and the flavours subtle ...
And had beautiful fresh mint tea...

It's weird , but something's really make an impact on your life and stays in your system , till it's ready to surface again ...
I worked for Rachna,,  when I was really young  , "Croissants etc"..because  I love love love food ...
She is one of the first persons , who clicked a photo of me to use for publicity and told me that I should be doing modelling .....
And all these years later, we were sitting together , in a restaurant in London, discussing , food, life, entertainment and life  in general...
Rachna is an amazing person , when she set up Croissants , she was so involved with every tiny detail and so enthusiastic and ran her business like a mother runs her home ...
Full of love and passion ....
She has impeccable and real classic and refined  taste in  interiors and is just fabulous ....

Realised that in all the years that I worked...
It's the women who have been instrumental in shaping my life ....
Have had only women bosses...
And though they are tougher than guys , and expect only the best and are not willing to take anything less and excuses don't work...
I'm happy that I was pushed to realise what I am really made of ...
Yup I'm made of sugar and spice and all things nice ...
But I'm also made of fire and forest and the deep blue sea and stars of the sky ...

And I thank-you Rachna Narang, Natasha Malhotra(MTV), Sneha Rajani (Sony) and Monica Nirula (NDTV Good Times)...
For believing in me and tapping stuff that I probably did not know existed ...
To all the women in my life and the boys on the side ....Ha ha ha ...
This week to you ....

And in other news ....
Was wondering about life in general , since I'm sooooo far from home ....
Home is where the heart is .....
And my heart at the moment is in different parts of the world ...
And so technically , I have homes all over the world ....
Lucky me I say ...
So catch you all next week ...
It's gonna be fantabulous ....yup .....!!!!!