Whining about Wine

My wine is progressing nicely, the color looks good, the aroma is ok , the taste seems fine.

Wait a minute …………. There is something seriously wrong with the previous sentence !!

What is wrong is the sad fact that I have no means to judge whether my wine is turning out well or not :-((( I don’t know what it should taste or smell like, all i have is a rough idea of what it should look like. Unfortunately that knowledge is quite useless as the color is naturally acquired when you make wine with red grapes. Yeah, I do sip a bit of wine around Christmas, but once a year is not enough for you to remember the taste !!

Looks like I will have to unleash a bottle of it on my usual Guinea pig :-) [ a.k.a North Indian cooking consultant / Punjabi bride ] What is definitely on the positive side for me is that my Guinea pig has absolutely no clue what it is supposed to taste like either :-)) I am sure my US based consultant could have easily polished off a bottle or two and given me some expert tips as well. But alas, that is not an option for me right now :-((

It definitely looks as if Whining is more of my specialty, not Wining !!

Eyes of steel

As usual , I was driving around aimlessly through Bangalore streets in my trusty WagonR. Lots of thoughts swirling through my mind, when somehow this image drifted in from my memory.

It was from a world cup football match that I saw some years back. The close-up image of Francesco Totti’s eyes as he lined up to take a last minute penalty kick in a world cup match against Australia. See from 00:40 on in the video below

 
How do you describe this look ? Steely determination ? Ruthlessness ? Aggression ? I don’t know. The moment I saw the look ( I am sure a lot of others felt the same too ), I just knew that he was going to score.

The image has somehow lingered on in my mind ever since. Today was the day when I finally Googled and saw the images and videos once more :-))

Yawnnnn …..

Shiva Sena is threatening to disrupt yet another movie, Muthalik threatens to disrupt Valentine’s day again and one more weekend looms for me with nothing to do ….

What else is new ?

Nothing much. I have been on almost full time PV cabs duty, must have covered 300+ kms over the past week to all parts of Bangalore.  Malleshwaram, KR market, BIAL , Forum value mall : you name it.

Also finally managed to kick start my home wine experiment, will know the results in 21 days or so :-) Hopefully it will come out ok.

Been feeling a bit low also of late. Though some people may suggest that I might as well add that to the “what else is new ?” list.

Paulo Coelho on Friendship

Found this lovely little story on Paulo Coelho’s blog

Once upon a time there was a poor but very brave man called Ali. He worked for Ammar, a rich old merchant.

One winter’s night Ammar said: “nobody can spend a night like this on top of the mountain without a blanket or food. But you need money, and if you can manage to do that you will receive a great reward. If you don’t, you will work for thirty days without pay”.

Ali answered: “tomorrow I shall do this test”.

But when he left the shop, he saw that a really icy wind was blowing and became scared, so he decided to ask his best friend, Aydi, if it was crazy of him to accept that bet.

After reflecting a while, Aydi answered: “I shall help you. Tomorrow, when you are at the top of the mountain, look ahead. I will be on the top of the mountain next to yours, where I will spend the whole night with a bonfire lit for you. You look at the fire and think about our friendship – that will keep you warm. You will manage, and later on I shall ask you something in return.”

Ali won the test, got the money, and went to his friend’s house: “You told me you wanted some payment.”

Aydi answered: ”Yes, but it isn’t money. Promise that if at any time a cold wind passes through my life, you will light the fire of friendship for me.”

Finally mastered

Puttu-Cherupayar curry has long been in my list of items that I wanted to master. Casual readers of my blog might remember that I had not exactly covered myself in glory during my fist attempt

Every subsequent try, I was somewhere within the ball park. Either the flavor of the curry would go missing. Or the Puttu would either be in complete powder form or a sticky gluey mass.

After numerous trial and errors and consultations with domain experts, I can finally declare a Level-1 mastery on this topic !!

Puttu , I have realized is almost all about the water content in the flour. Too much and you have a lumpy solid mass, too less and it crumbles off to powder. Steaming time is also an important factor, but this is relatively easier to gauge. 
Cherupayar curry flavor comes almost exclusively from the ground coconut-cumin seed paste. Plus the seasoning with curry leaves, mustard and red chilies helps a lot !!

See the mouth watering samples below. This time I loved the taste myself :-)

Chinese new year and me

In case you felt bad after reading my previous post, I have to tell you that I get this feeling that 2010 is definitely going to be my year.

“Unpredictable, rebellious, colorful, powerful, passionate, daring, impulsive, vigorous, stimulating, sincere, affectionate, humanitarian, generous. Can be restless, reckless, impatient, quick-tempered, obstinate, selfish, aggressive, unpredictable.”

Did not get it ?

2010 is the year of the Tiger according to Chinese Zodiac. Most definitely my year :-)

A heart breaking good bye

My daughter is settled nicely in the back seat of the car with my wife. They have come to see me off at the bus station. My suitcase is in the backseat of the car.

I don’t want to leave, I desperately want to stay, however I cannot show too much emotion as it upsets everyone else. I walk over to the private bus operator’s office , collect my ticket and slowly walk back to my car. It is time for me to leave again.

I open the back door to take out my suitcase. Two tiny hands clamp on the suitcase in defiance. “I will not let you take this suitcase”, my little one says playfully. She knows I have to leave, but in her eyes I see the small ray of hope that maybe Daddy can stay back for one more day. Maybe just for this time ………

I have to disappoint her yet again

I pull out my suitcase, say my bye bye and walk back towards my bus. As the car recedes off into the distance, I see my daughter and wife waving me farewell.

My daughter is at an age where she understands. She does not throw tantrums, she knows that I am going to be back in couple of weeks time. Yet I see the sorrow in her eyes, I know she is going to miss me. I also know that she is probably crying in the car now.

What in the world could be worth all this , I wonder ..

A few more months and I shall live again !!