Something fishy at the airport
Trina, Jessica, Jen, Emily and Joel at the airport
Lalbagh Garden plant life
Emily using it
Meeting the director
The lake at Lalbagh
Let me tell you 'bout the I-D-C
Decisions
The Parms and I arrived in Bangalore at 1:30 AM on Saturday, and have since pretty much recovered from the jetlag. Our hotel is the Fortune Select Trinity in Whitefield, about 30 minutes from the city center on a good day and over an hour during rush-hour (which lasts most of the day). On the plus side, the drive to the Accenture campus is about 5 minutes.
Over the weekend we checked out the Bangalore Palace. Pictures to follow; they charged extra for a camera so Emily took all the pictures. The palace is beautiful if not a bit quirky. We saw elephant heads and stools made from elephant feet. We also saw a very old wooden refrigerator, cooled only by ice. There were also a bunch of paintings of naked ladies on the walls, Chinese furniture, and a Spanish mosaic bench.
On Sunday we took a walking tour of Lalbagh Garden through BanagaloreWALKS. Our tour guide Vijay took us on a 3 hour tour of the plant life in the garden. The tour included a lunch at MTR, an ‘institution’ in Bangalore that’s been around for over 70 years.
MTR blue grape drink
Dosa Masala!
We stood on a 3 billion year old rock in the gardens, one of the oldest exposed geological features on earth.
Stroll up a 3 billion year old rock
At the top
More pictures to follow.
For the past few weeks I’ve been preparing for a work trip to India for 4 weeks (followed by 3 weeks of vacation in south India and Thailand). Things were kind of under wraps, not knowing all the details or even if it would happen. Well, it’s happening and the cat’s out of the bag! After a bunch of shots and prescriptions (polio booster, h1n2, Japanese encephalitis (x3), malarone, and antibiotics), dealing with Indian visa shenanigans, and preparing materials for work, it’s on! As an added bonus, Jessica is also being sent with work on the same trip.
Per Dan and Karla’s recommendation, Jessica and I watched Outsourced, a movie all about me. I’ll post more about our upcoming adventure after the 24-hour flight that starts tomorrow at noon.
This evening, the Parms and I ate at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, CA. It went like this:
1. Warm green asparagus and greens with mustard sabayon
2. Black Cod and potato salad with new onions, leeks, and parsley
3. Grilled and braised Becker Lane pork loin and belly with fava beans, new onions, and fried artichokes
4. Caramelized apple tartlet with vanilla bean crème anglaise
We normally don’t eat mammals (in the U.S.), but made the exception for 3 reasons:
1. It’s Chez Panisse, and the pork was both sustainable and delicious.
2. We’re leaving for India/Thailand tomorrow for 7 weeks of work/vacation. More on this to follow in a later post.
3. Jessica was just promoted. Mazel tov!
It was very good. My favorite was probably the cod, with the pork taking a close second.
Today at Dr. Cloninger’s I was tested for almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pine nuts, pecans and a couple others that I can’t recall. I wasn’t expecting any big news; until now I thought I had grown out of all nut allergies except for cashews, pistachios, and pecans. It turns out I’m no longer allergic to pecans!
Who wants to make my first pecan pie?
Allergy test passed!
Jessica and I are in north Lake Tahoe for a 3-day weekend in the snow. We’ve been staying at the River Ranch Lodge (our second weekend here), which is insanely convenient to get to Squaw, Truckee, or Tahoe City. Tahoe has just received 7 feet of snow and it doesn’t seem to be stopping any time soon. Some of these photos are from our trip two weeks ago. No joke – this storm makes it look like a completely different place from our last trip up.
At the Palisades.
Skiboarding!
Geared up.
Hanging out in the snow.
Mid-storm.
Peppermint Pattie.
Ninja Parms.
My mom found this bourekas recipe and made it for us over the holiday weekend. So good! Bourekas are Turkish, apparently.
Mom's bourekas.
Jessica made latkes last night (the first night of Chanukah) using this Martha Stewart recipe. They were awesome! We still have leftovers, which are delicious right out of the fridge. (Note: These are not to be confused with the meal worm cakes we accidentally bought in Vietnam. Oops.)
Jessica frying.
Resting latkes.
Plated latkes with asparagus and apple sauce.
Shawn with plate of latkes.
Last week Jessica made turkey tacos with cranberry ginger chutney.
Ingredients:
leftover turkey from T-giving (or cutlets)
tortillas
Swiss cheese
olive oil
Chutney:
1 bag cranberries
1 cup water
1/2 to 1 cup sugar (depending on desired sweetness)
1 ginger root
5 splashes red wine vinegar
1/2 cup chopped scallions
pepper
Add water, cranberries and sugar to pot and bring to boil. Add ginger, red wine vinegar and stir occasionally at a simmer. Add scallions, season with pepper and continue stirring until chutney thickens. For tacos, spread chutney onto whole tortilla. Put turkey onto half of tortilla and cover with Swiss cheese. Fold in half. Drizzle and rub olive oil on both sides of taco. Broil on high on lower rack until golden and crispy. Flip and continue broiling until golden on second side and cheese is oozing. Devour.
Thanksgiving Turkey Tacos with Cranberry Chutney
Yummy
Mom, Maer and I hiked the Hollyridge trail to the Hollywood sign this afternoon. The hike is probably only about 2 miles round trip… worth it. The drive there (braving LA traffic) from my mom’s is the hardest part; I was feeling a little car-sick by the time we finally got to the trailhead. Note the lack of smog today!
Sign from Afar.
Smogless sky.
Mom and Me.
Mom and Maer.
Sign's backside.