I shop , therefore I am

Most women believe in the universal faith that they are born to shop . Why do sane rational people allow themselves to be afflicted by this bug of wanting more and more despite the skyrocketing cost of living ? How can people worldwide be collectively swept away in glee by this massive tidal wave of consumerism ? Its strange but fun and true .

My shopping days began with my mom and sister . Every weekend mom would take us to the butcher , the vegetable vendor , the fish market and finally the snack shops for a bhel-puri (classic roadside snack ) or vada-pav (potato burger ) at Koldongri market at the junction of Vile Parle and Andheri where we grew up. It was the first step when we were being trained on how to choose the best, freshest cuts of meat and fish . I must say, till date , food shopping is definitely one of my most enjoyable shopping experiences more so at farmer's markets and pure vegetable shops compared to supermarket shopping which is more like a food museum for me . I cannot help examine various kinds of packaged , processed foods from all over the world and have often succumbed to trying some novel foodstuff .

The next transition in shopping habits happened in college when we girlfriends would often go to Vile Parle market to buy junk jewelry like ear rings that we could barely afford with our low middle-class pocket money . In those days which seem eons ago, there were no shopping malls , and clothes shopping was mostly buying textiles from the ' matching centre ' at Dinanath shopping center and getting it stitched at the tailor's. Everybody had a personalised shopping experience where the shopkeepers knew you,would order cold drinks or tea for us customers, offer bargains and have a pleasant chat . Shopper's stop department store opened after a few years which was supposed to be a big deal . A few years later, India's first mall 'Crossroads ' opened with a bang in town which caused a major furore as it caused tremendous traffic jams due to the uncontrollably high volume of curious visitors who would come to see what a ' mall ' was all about . Tourist buses had made it a major tourist attraction and they had to clamp limits on visitors as residents undertook protests against the traffic clogging nightmares thay had to live daily .

A few years ago , shopping malls have mushroomed like there is no tommorrow all over Indian cities . Fully air conditioned with cinema multiplexes , food courts , department stores , indian and foreign brands , kiddies play areas , late opening hours all under one roof , its the place to be for families,couples or individuals to escape from home / work or college . There is no doubt malls are here to stay as they cater to our consumerism needs . But it does 'nt fascinate me anymore than my favourite ' export reject ' shops at Cumballa Hill or the ' lucknowi chikan ' tiny shop at Vile Parle. The handicrafts shop tucked away behind the saree showroom houses a treasure of carefully selected handmade indian decor who personally delivers the goods to your home the same day . The massive silk saree emporiums in Chennai and unbelievably low priced high street clothes sold at Pondicherry had me delirious with joy .

After moving to Scotland,it was ' low - street ' buys that continue to remain my favourite like Primark ,Watt Brothers, TJ Hughes , Dunnes etc in Glasgow which is the second best shopping capital of the UK after London. I could'nt be bothered about designer stores and have felt like a fish out of water when I visited them just for a ' look ' . After moving to the vintage town of Chichester where most shops are designer stores or charity shops, I naturally gravitate towards the charity shops which have amazingly new items at ridiculous bargains .

The Royal Wedding 29th April 2011

I cannot help but feel excited about the Royal wedding and I cannot pinpoint exactly why ; perhaps because I have moved closer to London now , or maybe because I have visited the lovely worldfamous golf and University town of St.Andrews in Scotland so many times where the ' Royal love ' blossomed, or maybe because April ,particularly this year is the month of my five year engagement anniversary and four year 'Ceilidh anniversary ' (My wedding reception /scottish dance party).Or maybe because I am just an old-fashioned big romantic at heart that likes to rejoice at  happy endings and glamourous weddings for a loved-up couple.

    According to me, Kate and William really make a great pair and Kate has won the nation's hearts and bowled us all over with her powerhouse personality. Not only is she an immaculate dresser , she is also extremely intelligent , has  a great figure,  height and lovely smile . She knows what she's getting into via this marriage into the royal family and has made the decision to marry at a mature age of 29 years which is great as she's had time to do all she wanted in her twenties after seeking a degree at the prestigious St.Andrew's University . I hope she's being a good role model for other young girls who will be inspired to gain a University degree, take their time to work and find their true calling , get in shape and dress up in a sophisticated manner and finally settle down happily with a man of their own choice.

        The whole of the United Kingdom had erupted into a frenzy yesterday at the Royal wedding with feasts ,street parties and celebrations everywhere in public and private places .What was particularly great was the crisp dry weather and the fact that the wedding date was planned alongside the long Mayday weekend so that everyone could relax . Though I was working from home , I managed to watch most of the wedding and like so many others , I thought the entire wedding was great , and the bride was absolutely classy in her modest gown that did'nt reveal much and had a manageable trail that was'nt over the top .

  I 'd been missing my girlfriends from Glasgow and we were supposed to visit my uncle -in-law Malcolm MacDonald in the evening of the wedding ,but the visit had to be cancelled due to a last - minute medical problem, but that did'nt stop me from having a 'Royal tea-party' of my own with Martyn . I'd been shopping for ' Royal Britannia ' souveniers ,but nothing much caught my fancy and most of it was tacky anyways so finally a disposable wipe-clean plain red tablecloth and Union Jack print tea-towel from Tesco was the ideal base for my tea-table , topped with my two printed tea-pots and vintage cake plates that I ordered online and took ages to be delivered . I  took some tips from newspapers and magazines on how to organise your own 'Royal tea party' and baked some heart shaped cookies , special stuffed cupcakes (bake it, slice the top, stuff with whipped cream and strawberry, replace the conical top, ice with whipped cream and whole strawberry ) and decorated a Victoria Sponge cake in Union Jack pattern with strawberries,red grapes and blueberries . I also iced some cupcakes with cherry blossom petals and some with red and blue icing flowers .  I was glued to the tv screen all day and all evening , and since all preparation and baking had been done the previous day, all we did was relax , sip tea and eat cupcakes all day . It was a small but very original and creative celebration at home sans alcohol so there was no hangover to worry about .

   

Ode to my mother

Mother's day is a day honoring mothers, clebrated on various days in many places around the world. It is the day when you acknowledge your mother's contribution in your life and pay a tribute to her,often with flowers and gifts .

The history of Mother's day is centuries old and the earliest Mother's day celebrations can be traced back to the spring clebrations of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea,wife of Cronus and the mother of many deities of Greek mythology.

Ancient Romans too celebrated a spring festival called 'Hilaria' dedicated to Cybele, a mother Goddess.The more recent history of Mothers day dates back to the 1600's in England.Here a Mothering SUnday was celebrated annually on the fourth Sunday of Lent ( the 40 day period leading up to Easter ) to honor mothers.After a prayer service in church to honor Virgin Mary,children brought gifts and flowers to pay tribute to their own mothers.

On the occassion,servants,apprentices and other employees staying away from their homes were encouraged by their employers to visit their mothers and honor them.Mother's Day continues to be one of the most sentimental and personal occassions no matter when it is celebrated in any country.

No words can describe the total sacrifice , complete dedication and painstaking work a mother puts in to bring up her child , and no token of appreciation can bring as much joy to any mom as spending time with her children and seeing them truly happy. We may not remember stages of our baby days , or all events of our childhood days but my mom, like any other mom had just one mission in life - to raise a happy and healthy family with my dad , my elder brother and younger sister , though we lived in Bombay without any support system as none of our extended family lived there . ' Ammi ' as we fondly call her has not only given me this beautiful privileged life, but also saved my life on several occassions ,always striving to inculcate great values in each one of us by being a role-model .Both me and my sister have imbibed her passion for cooking ,housekeeping , traditions and gracious hosting .

On this occassion I'd also like to pay tribute to my 'Godmother ' - Mrs.Surekha Atre - my close friend Manasi's mom whom I adore since my college days as she always adopted me as her second daughter and to date continues to inspire me with her tremendous qualities of inner strength , intelligence , her awesome culinary skills and elegant sense of style. And another tribute to my adorable mum-in-law Margaret who is exactly the kind of mom in law I wanted - traditional,old-fashioned,broad-minded and intelligent professional . It amazes me how she managed to juggle her job as a banker as well as bring up Martyn and my sister in law Mhairi so well and she continues to be an understanding , loving , down to earth, non-judgemental friend to me.

Last but not the least - a toast to all my girlfriends who are mommies !You are all beautiful,intelligent,talented and hardworking ladies and hats off to each one of you for juggling home and career -I am as proud of you as your babies !

St.Patrick's day and Pancake tueday

March is a magical month that rings in new beginnings with the onset of the Spring season and clocks going forward for much needed longer days .Hence, there are also many cultural events to commemorate Spring like 'Pancake tuesday' in the United Kingdom, 'Mardigras' in France and in many other countries, just like we have 'Pongal' and 'Makar sankranti' celebrated in January in India with a similar significance.

Bluebells mushrooming in the woods, delightful daffodils blossoming all over the parks,white woolly apple blossoms and pink fluffy cherry blossoms in abundance in their peak bloom remind me of the magical moments I had over four years ago in the month of march discovering these delights of nature with the first time visitors of Scotland like my sister Nazia, my good friends Jim and Carmen and their lovely daughter-Morgan who came from abroad for my ' ceilidh '(traditional scottish folk dance with a live band using classical musical instruments) which was the wedding reception in Glasgow for my husband's clan and friends organised by my in-laws.

I prepare a typical ' Irish Stew ' occasionally which is really easy and a comforting casserole dish which is an all in one meal and a favourite Irish classic served with bread. We also savour 'Scotch Pancakes' which are like sweet wee 'appams', served with blueberries and maple syrup for 'Shrove tuesday'. Scotch pancakes are smaller and slightly thicker than 'Crepes' or 'English pancakes' and remind me of my childhood memories of starting the day with ' cheele ' ( dosas ) for breakfast as per the typical south-indian culinary tradition .

Oatalicious

Oats,commonly known as ' Daliyaa' in Hindi is becoming one of my favourite superfoods as its so delicious and can be used in so many ways. Classed as a foodgrain and consumed all around the world in various forms,its a healthy , filling and a vital source of energy known to aid cholestrol control and provide vital nourishment to children and adults alike due to its high fibre content .

Porridge is a classic staple breakfast in Scotland and in many other nations and is available in various versions and flavours.My favourite is ' golden syrup ' flavour where oats are flavoured with the wicked ' golden syrup ' which is a decadent overwhelmingly sweet and addictive thick syrup used in desserts just like ' Treacle syrup ' used in brown scones and maple syrup used in 'Appam ' like mini scotch pancakes .

Porridge can be simply made by adding milk to rolled oats and microwaving for 5 minutes, topped with honey ,its a delicious, warm breakfast and can be had with a topping of nuts and raisins or freshly sliced bananas too.You can also make your own 'granola' by simply dry toasting rolled oats with almond flakes with a little butter until its golden brown.This granola mixture is so handy when you need an instant no-cook breakfast - just mix a little honey to plain yogurt, thrown in a handful of freshly chopped fruit and top with toasted home made toasted granola and voila - you have a tasty,fibrous,filling breakfast at your fingertips .

You can use ' pinhead oats ' to prepare a classic apple crumble topping and for 'Cranachan' which is a retro dessert traditionally prepred for 'Burns' night'.I also add rolled oats in my favourite choco-chip cookie batter .Recently I tried making eggless oat cookies with dessicated coconut and it turned out quite good , so I'd like to share the recipe for my vegetarian friends :

Ingredients :

1/2 cup plain flour

1/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup dessicated coconut

3/4 cup rolled oats

50g butter

2 tablespoons golden / maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Method :

1.Preheat the oven to 160degrees celcius .Line two baking trays with parchment paper .

2.In a mixing bowl, mix together the flour,coconut and rolled oats.

3. Melt the butter and golden syrup.Dissolve baking soda in 2 tablespoons boiling water and add it to the butter and golden syrup . Stir this wet mixture to the dry ingredients.

4.Place heaped tablespoonfuls of this cookie batter and flatten with the back of a spoon .

5.Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Tip - Cookies will be slightly soft and brittle when you remove them from the oven,so do wait until they cool down completely before your store them in an airtight cookie container .

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year coincided last year with Valentine's day on a Sunday  and luckily my chinese friend  Mary had informed me about the festivities at the secretly hidden little China Town in Glasgow that had a parade and celebration every year to commemorate the event . So I took my Glasgow born and bred husband to this little Chinese gem of a restaurant for a festive meal as he had never been to ChinaTown in his own city ever .

 

Despite booking a table for two in time to watch the parade of the dancing lions, we had to wait in a long queue to be seated in the restaurant and ended up getting a seat in the centre table,beneath the centrepiece massive chandelier,my cheeky husband jokingly scared me by saying 'Let's hope the chandelier does not fall on your head ' !!

 

The restaurant was totally packed with Chinese people insterspersed with a few other nationalities, and very well decorated with the new year theme all over. The remarkable feature of this restaurant is that absolutely all their tables were huge round ones with a minimum eight seater capacity - ideally designed for big family outings and get togethers.

 

The menu was overwhelming and taxing to look through as there were scary dishes like shark fin soup and octopus .I tend to order my tried and tested favourites like chicken schezwan noodles so I did and in the midst of the meal,in the jam packed restaurant, a group of dancers entered with heavy drumming in the background with fabulous costumes and dragon masks made of paper mache . This chubby baby boy seated right next to our table started bawling with fear as they approached the centre of the venue and they just parked themselves next to our table after doing a round of all the tables .It was  a low -key version of the parade that happens in the far east , but enjoyable nevertheless .

 

After my trip to  the authentic chinese supermarket ,I was equipped to dish out hot ' Chindian ' cuisine at home , its awesome to see so many varieties of rice noodles available just like the variety of pasta shapes any supermarket stocks , not to mention so many kinds of tofu , oriental sauces etc at the Yin Yang supermarket .

 

I miss the 'Indo-chinese' cuisine served by restaurants in Bombay because in Scotland,the chinese takeaways hardly add any vegetables in the dishes - they know the scots are anti-veggies so they dish out recipes that keep the clients returning . Besides,its too bland for my tastes , so I'd rather prepare my own oriental delights as it hardly takes any time in my Ikea wok .

 

Recently , I came across two moving books by author Lisa See : Shanghai girls        and     Snowflower and the secret fan.  Both are  very well written books about the life of two chinese women who grew up together as sisters and as friends and gave an insight to their lives under the circumstances that one can never imagine . I'd recommend these books to any avid reader or for anyone who wants a peek-a-boo to ancient domestic life in China . Their strong family ethic is as touching as is their dedication to hard work and determination to rise above hardships they are born under - a total inspiration .  

 

Burn's Supper

Every year, on 25th January,a classic scottish traditional event called "Burns Supper'' is held privately to commemorate the birthday of famous poet Robert Burns from Alloway near Ayr in Scotland . It started as a small get together of some of his friends reciting his poems over a wee dram (Drambuie whisky ) and Haggis ( a meat -based dish- because Robert Burns wrote 'Address to a Haggis' )and has now been adopted as a popular traditional event by most Scots when they prepare a classic dinner comprising of fine Scottish cuisine -Oatcakes with cream cheese and smoked salmon for starters,  Haggis which is a  spicy  dish made with foodgrains cooked with meat  (a vegetarian version is also available nowadays ), neeps(mashed turnips ) and tatties (mashed  /roasted potatoes) for the main course, and 'Cranachan' for dessert which is a delicious dessert made with pinhead oats,raspberries,whipped cream and golden/maple  syrup laced with a hint of whisky  . Gatherings can be formal in the form of ceilidh dances or informal at home with family or friends where the dress code is tartan .

            The first Burns supper I was invited for was 3years ago at some friends where a cosmopolitan mix of europeans toasted the event,each one bringing one dinner item from home like a potluck, and others like me,helping in cooking . Usually Haggis is bought from the shops as its too complicated to obtain all the ingredients from the butcher,and is the centrepiece of the dinner table .This is placed on the table after the lead male - usually a scotsman dressed up in a kilt leads the ' Haggis Procession ' followed by the youngest one holding the tray of Haggis behind him followed by the rest of the guests.Guests then gather around the dinner table with their scotch glasses in hand and each one takes turns in reciting a verse from the poem 'Address to a Haggis ' or the lead Scotsman recites it entirely ,stabbing the lump of Haggis with a big knife when the appropriate verse is recited.Dinner follows with everyone else helping themselves to the delicious simple food ,and this can be followed with a dance or games on history of Scotland etc .

            Last year, me and some of my friends decided to organise a Burns Supper my dear friend Karine's house .It took a lot of planning as we had a huge crowd of 25 people and had to estimate when and where to buy the food ingredients from and also, since we were making Cranachan which is a retro dessert recipe as well as cock-a-leekie soup(Chicken soup with Leeks) we had to research and try out recipes from scratch as not many scottish people from Glasgow had even heard of Cranachan , forget tasting it or guiding us with its recipe and cooking tips .

We shopped at three different supermarkets for the food ingredients including Costco  and   attempted a trial Cranachan a day before the party which turned out delicious and prepared for the rest of the dinner .  On the day of the dinner party, we had a hard time peeling the giant turnips as they were so hard,chopping them was even worse , we can't remember how we managed juggling all the tasks together as we do not have any domestic help but finally the starter, neeps , mashed tatties and   cranachan dessert were ready and Rosemary prepared the cock-a-leekie soup for everyone and brought it from home . Martyn was the only Scotsman in the gathering of mixed nationals so he was the star of the party in his kilt who led the Haggis procession and recited the poem and stabbed the lump of  Haggis at the dinner table . Though the preparation was so hectic , everyone enjoyed the meal , the dram and eventually a coffee with tablet which is a wicked scottish version of fudge -its sweeter and more brittle and heavenly though not so good for the teeth because of his heavy sugary content .  

Knitting bees

' Knitting bees ' is a group of friends who get together at each other's houses once a fortnight or more often and knit together .Women have been doing this for centuries,making things for themselves and for their family.Knitting is clothing made in spare moments using just a pair of knitting needles and wool sometimes   around the fireplace , a centuries old tradition that is still being kept alive via knitting lessons passed on through the generations  and various 'Knit and Knatter ladies clubs' being offered at local libraries for free .

 

There is something strikingly simple, constructive and bonding about the ladies who knit as they are a close set of friends who have been doing this for years. Learning new patterns from each other, chatting away while working , reminiscing the old days of childhood and newly wed life , laughing at the good times they have had and comparing their finished products to gift away to their loved ones seems like a much needed change from the hedonistic 'Kitty parties' we are used to back in India with ladies who compete to prepare the best dishes and overfeed each other, gossip and occassionally play card games or gamble to pass the time .

 

It seems like nowadays , knitting is the new Yoga - the peaceful clacking of needles creating a heartbeat , a rythm of rest , a meditative oasis in the midst of a frantic lifestyle . This trend may have started off as a marketing ploy by the wool industry but its certainly taken off . When  I asked a lady why she knits , she replied ''Because it gives her a sense of calm and order as its easy to keep order in knitting.'' And sure enough it is - count one,two,three.Simple numbers,knit one, purl one, yarn over needle , slipstitch.Easy does it.Drop a stitch and catch it up again.It's easy to fix mistakes in knitting .

 

Knitting is straight , orderly , neat rows with even numbers .Though the mind is not like knitting as its always messy and tangled , perhaps knitting in a simple order gives a sense of calm and peace at the times of stress .