Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

AjwainChicken2

The year is almost at the end and I love that there is so much of holiday spirit and excitement which leaves little time to look back on the year that is past. I am not great at the whole "looking back" thing. You give me a moment to pause and ponder and I go hyper, over-analyzing things I should have done the other way. I like it better this way when everything happens so fast that I have little time to even think of the year 2011 until I have to write a check or something at which point I go, 2012, really, 2011 is over ? And so where did my money go and such crap.

But it is Christmas and so we will not talk about money because what is money but "some paper" to buy gifts.Instead we will talk about Santa, the jolly old fellow and the conversation he brings about in our home.

Me: "Little S, tomar ki chai Santa Claus er theke?" (What do you want from Santa Claus this year?)

LS: "Errrm..presents"

Me: "Ki present?" (What presents?)

LS: "Santa Claus er ki ache? (What does Santa Claus have?)"

Me: !!!###!!

Pertinent question. Why ask for something which the guy does not have.

BigSis who just turned eight does not believe in Santa any more. To test it out, this year she is not telling me what she wants. She is sending her request to Santa directly. No via media. I don't know why she is taking such risks but she is doing it.

AjwainChicken1

Big Sis turned eight this week.I had started this blog a few weeks before she turned three. Time does fly. She had her party at a pottery studio where she and her friends had great fun painting mugs. I cannot wait to see the final product all fired and glazed. Little S sat and painted one whole 10 oz mug. I was itching to intervene like the proverbial Desi Mother but stayed back most of the time. Hallelujah !!

AjwainChicken7


We are having a busy vacation this time with lots of family, so many that we will not even fit in our 7-seater when we go out. And so I need to cook a lot. I don't have a menu yet. But I am putting up some sample menus for the holidays which I actually might want to follow. Some days I am sure to chuck it all and make a one pot pasta for dinner. And then on others there is my favorite "Thai-Thai".

Have a Happy Holiday everyone with loads of good food and cheer.



Day # 2

 Onion-Cucumber-Tomato salad
 Bangali Pulao -- I will try Pree's Microwave version
 Mutton Korma
 Tomato Chutney
 Orange Fruit Cake from Edible Garden



Day # 4

 White Rice
 Begun Bharta with Scrambled Eggs
 Beet Posto
 Murgir Jhol
 Ilish Bhaape

31 comments:

  1. I LOVE how big sis turned Santa's existence into a testable hypothesis. Smart girl she is. Of course, pretending to believe might be more profitable ;) Happy 8th birthday to her and happy holidays to you and your clan!

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  2. Thank you for posting your menus. I feel like that is where I need help usually, in creating balanced combination of meals that go well together. Happy holidays!

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  3. Sandeepa,
    Onek bhalo bhasa roilo Big sis e'r jonno ..and aro ekto beshi roilo LS 'er jonno..dig baaji korche ki chobi tulaar samay, very cute..menu ta darun hoyeche..amar ekto ulto holidays hole ami phanki mari beshi ;-D..khob enjoy koro..hugs and smiles

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  4. belated happy birthday to bis sis. beautiful clicks...have a merry christmas.

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  5. happy anniversary blogwise, happy birthday to big sis, happy christmas, happy holidays, happy everything and many happy returns of happy! no, i'm not taking advantage of happy hours, just letting the happiness flow.

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  6. as i'm reading your blog, i keep reading bits aloud to my husband. as i read aloud the bit about santa, my 3-year old said "aami ekta rainbow chai". tough.
    i feel like i 'know' everything that you write about - the foods, the smells, memories of kolkata, of growing up there. it's such a lovely feeling.
    and a birthday party at a pottery barn - what a lovely idea. happy 8th to big sis!

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  7. Happy Blog Anniversary and Happy B'day to the Big Angel. How time flies...
    Have a great Holidays and loads of Great food.....

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  8. Happy blog anniversary and happy birthday to ur angel..Happy holidays Sandeepa,have loads of fun.

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  9. Cham & Priya

    No, it is not the blog anniversary or anything like that. That was almost 2 months back !!!
    Thanks for the wishes though :)

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  10. I love your sample menus! Have a wonderful holiday, Sandeepa!

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  11. Have a safe and Happy Holiday season Sandeepa. Love the handy holiday menu!Smiled at the part when you held back from intervening!!Typical of us right?!!!

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  12. I love your meal plan! And such a great story! Happy belated to BigSis. My son found out about Santa when he was 7. We were moving cities, and Santa had forgotten the gift wrap behind when he'd wrapped my son's gift. And it just happened that the gift wrap fell off the top shelf while I was trying to pack things, and my son paused for 2 seconds and turned accusing eyes at me and said: "So the Santa that visited our house all these years was a girl!" I'll never forget those words or the shame I felt on breaking his trust.

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  13. you are going to cook ALL THAT in a single day *Falls at feet*

    I loved reading about LS..she is one smart cookie :)

    Happy Holidays to you as well :)

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  14. I will be visiting you on day#3 and day#5!!
    Hope thats ok..
    ;-)

    Enjoy the vacation..
    cheers,
    dayeeta

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  15. Dear Sandeepa,

    Wishing a belated happy birthday with lots n lots of love to BS. Wishing Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2012 to all of u n ur family. In 2011, I owe u an info. We discussed about feta n other chesse - how to get them at Cal. Some of ur readers came out with lots of suggestions - thanks to all of them once again. Recently I found great stock of cheese at Kolkata, including feta - newly opened 'Deli' at Conclave (AJC Bose Road). Dont know how long they will maintain such stock, but I hope we can continue... Happy cooking! Happy blogging!! Happy Motherhood too !!!!! :)

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  16. The excitement doesn't go away when you stop believing in Santa! It's replaced by being excited about food and presents!

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  17. I heard my tummy growl at this interesting spread. Hope BS had a great budday. Hugs to her. And happy anniversary to your beautiful cookbook. Happy Holidays and have fun.

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  18. Happy Holidays! dear Sandeepa. Birthday Wishes to big sis.

    The holiday menu is one tasty treat for the family. Have fun.

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  19. Hi,

    Would be very interested to hear the recipe for beet posto. even a short one? :)

    Love your lovely daughters. happy holidays.

    Ini

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  20. SO, Im not the only one who makes menus! HA!!! People rolled their eyes when they saw it....
    Family landing tomorrow and I have a menu made up for the next 10 days - breakfast, lunch and dinner. Makes shopping so much easier not to mention the cooking!

    K had a "toy makup set" on her Santa list, managed to get a friend in Mumbai to buy and courier across - I was only getting real "children's" make up sets here - whatever that means!!!!

    Happy Birthday to Big sis and Happy BlogBirthday to you! :) And you didn't intervene with S's creative ways - Kudos, I dont have that much self control :(

    Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to you and your family :)

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  21. Would love to see your elder princess creative work in your coming posts. Enjoy your holidays....Merry Christmas :-)
    My sister's Danish colleagues asked for another round of Prawn curry :-). You made her famous !!

    Deepa
    Hamaree Rasoi

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  22. I particularly like that first photograph.

    Jolly Christmas to you too.

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  23. Merry Christmas also to you my friend. :)

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  24. Happy Blog Birthday S, and Happy 8th to Big Sis! Little sis sounds as if she's got it right -- what sense in asking for what Santa doesn't have? That made me laugh :)

    Happy New Year!

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  25. Ki korcho kothaye acho..Noton bochorer onek subecha and bhalo basa roilo..wish you and your lovely family a very happy and prosperous new year..hugs and smiles

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  26. Wishing you a very Happy New Year, Sandeepa. It is a pleasure to visit your blog and know you through these years.

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  27. warm wishes for a very happy new year. khub bhalo thako.

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  28. Happy 8th birthday to Big S and lots of love to lil S. Tomar menu diye kichu kichu try korbo esp beet posto... recipe ta post koro. Happy Happy new year to all of you!

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  29. I love LS's question..lol
    Hope you had a fun break, Sandeepa. and a very Happy New year to you and your family!

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  30. I love LS's question..lol
    Hope you had a fun break, Sandeepa. and a very Happy New year to you and your family!

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  31. wish you a very Happy New Year!

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