Cheesy

I know you won't believe me but it's true! I have had a moong dal recipe lined up all month but the post never happened. Life has been hectic and weekends more so, with skiing and/or snowshoeing every weekend of January right through Valentine's Day.

Happy skier

Lots of fun is had out in the mountains but ski clothes a huge mound of laundry do make. Another huge pile, I should say, because I am never caught up with the week's laundry. Every day, I promise myself that today I shall run the washer and dryer until there is no piece of clothing or towel or rag left unwashed, but those darned Fabindia kurtis drive me nuts. They bleed and cannot be washed with other clothes. I hate wet bathroom floors so handwashing and line-drying is out of question, especially in winter. It's out of question in summer, too, because the powerful Colorado sun bleaches those vegetable dyes. That's my excuse anyway. If you have better excuses I could use, submit them as a comment and I'll try to design a suitable virtual badge as a prize for the best one.

In between never-ending laundry, I did manage to have some foodie and crafty fun with friends. Kitt did the honors with the food shots and I had fun with our tripods.

Are you my Mommy?




Now, why couldn't the Click theme have been wine? Or bottle? Or glass? Or something Australian? Or what Bee does best? Bitch would have been so perfect for any or all of these.

But, no! It had to be cheese. Le sigh.

So I made French Onion Soup instead. I had some aged Gruyere cheese that was begging to be used and the recipe from The Joy of Cooking didn't scare me too much with 2 tbsp of butter and 2 tbsp of olive oil. The soup was just fine but the pictures? Poo!


The only thing they lent themselves well to was a diptych. But poo there, too! (The smart ones will know what I am talking about.)

With the Gruyere gone, the aged handcrafted habanero cheddar cheese beginning to look slightly moldy and the deadline fast approaching, I decided I would 'phone it in' by sloshing some delectable HFCS-free store-bought Raspberry Chipotle sauce over a triangle of cream cheese and shoot it to death, while my child lay in bed shivering with high fever. Such is my addiction to this thing called Click.

To whomsoever it may concern, the picture directly above this paragraph and immediately below the preceding paragraph is my entry for this month's Click: Cheese.

Back to the sick child then. Yes, the poor child is sick but she had a really great week. Her school had its first play ever and it was the delightful You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Medha does not believe in being seen when she acts or dances or sings. She prefers to make a difference behind the scenes and so she, along with 3 other talented kids, did the music during scene changes. The cast was made up of about sixty 4th and 5th graders who practiced on Wednesday and Thursday mornings before school from September onwards. They had two main casts with three performances and boy, what a show they put on! It was hard to believe that these kids were between the ages of 9 and 11. Here's a short clip of Medha playing the Charlie Brown melody.



The moong dal recipe? It's coming. As soon as I finish making dinner for my famished and sick family, doing the dishes and the laundry, and my article for The Daily Tiffin that was due yesterday.

Jai Ho!

11 comments:

bee said...

how's medha now? why wash kurtas when you can use dryel and dry clean them at home? i just use the bag that comes with dryel and throw in a damp rage with a couple of drops of perfume on it. the steam dry cleans the clothes. that's what i do with all my sweaters. and less ironing too.

bee said...

i meant 'rag', not 'rage'.

Shilpa said...

I hope Medha feels better soon Manisha.
Checked your indian street food party...wow..you cooked a storm. Love those chaats.

notyet100 said...

lovely clicks,.:-)

Anita said...

Tell me about it..I've had a number of recipes lined up for a long time...
That chipotle is looking quite fetching! :) and you have too much fun with everything - food, and wine, and cheese! It all goes to the heeeps remember...
There are smart people around?

A_and_N said...

Lovely pic, Manisha. I could die for some French onion soup right now :D

I hope your daughter is doing better now.

Pelicano said...

I hope Medha is feeling better- sorry to hear about her illness, but looks like she and her mates did a great job on the play!

I noticed you forgot to mix in some onions into those potato thingies: what's up with that? :-D

Miri said...

Hope she's much better now - and the behind-the-scenes work is spiffy! Fab India kurtas are the devils work really! the brighter they are the more they bleed - sigh!

Indian Food Rocks said...

Bee, damp rage *is* right! I like water and detergent to meet my clothes intimately because I suffer from an affliction called perspiration. I haven't ironed my clothes for years - I fold them or hang them up when the dryer is on its last cooling phase.

We saw 104F+ fever over the weekend with an ear ache, cough and a cold. This morning a stomach ache was added to the mix. It's a nasty virus that is doing the rounds in their school and unfortunately it's her turn just when the CSAPs (state level tests) are on. Her doctor says the virus takes about a week to run its course. She's very upset, of course.


Shilpa, hardly a storm! Just ragda patties with chutneys and dhokla. Eveything else was store-bought!

notyet100, thanks!

Anita, for something out of a bottle, the sauce is really good. I like the sweet notes that complement the heat of the chipotles. I lost some weight this weekend playing the worry wart so if I play my cards right and work out, maybe I can keep it off?

A&N, the FOS was delicious! I just wish I had had the enthu to make it look good. Unfortunately, I wanted to dig into it as soon as I could!

Pelicano, how nice to see you here. *glares*

Miri, she did good! Once a kurti sneaked into the washer when I wasn't looking and unfortunately, the load had mostly Medha's clothes. They came out looking like I had failed in a tie-and-dye class. And I had to buy her new clothes. Damn!

Nirmala said...

Hey waht happened to the little angel ? Hope she's doing fine now. Its the same with my girl too having fever and throwing up one full night. Thank God she's fine now and u know we have same reasons for skipping the CLICK Cheese but u're commitment had won :( That video is wonderful! U need to shoo away those evil eyes from her ! Take care.

Cynthia said...

I have a shed over one part of the house so I hang the clothes there that I don't want to be bleached out the constant sun we get here.