Well, my 2009 started with a skiing accident, oh ya that was one heck of a start. I was fortunate enough to not to break my neck or head and after a couple of weeks of complete rest, bruises on my face and aches I had vanished completely.

Another memorable event that happened in 2009 was my sister’s wedding and now I have a sweet, loving, friendly and down to earth brother-in-law. Even though I couldn’t be a part of the wedding, my mind and soul was with my sister each and every moment on her big day. It’s sad, in fact the most painful thing to miss these kind of happy and special occasions of our dearest ones. Again, sometimes we need to sacrifice some happiness to achieve others. Everything cannot be achieved at the same time. If that was possible there wouldn’t be any sorrows or worries in this world. And the amazing thing about humans is that as days passes by the pain we have also fades away. I believe God has blessed us with the ability to forget things. Anyway, my sister is leading a happy life with her husband, and this makes me happy too.

One of the best of the best things that happened to me in 2009 was that I finally found the answer to my question, what is my real passion? I was quite confused and couldn’t find an answer to this question for so long. I am a person who believe that each person is born for doing something and there is some kind of talent in everyone: some people discover it, some even after discovering it, they just ignore it and for some it will always be hidden. It took me a while to discover my passion as I am the kind of person who find interest in many things and my interest keeps changing and I will be seen indulged in different activities; for instance, I love glass painting, crafts, sports and adventures. But I wasn’t consistent in any of these activities, all these were just temporary interests for me. I was desperate enough to find my real passion, finally I got my answer, cooking is my passion and I find real pleasure doing this. As soon as I found my passion, I started pursuing it. Initially, I made few cooking videos, after that I found blogging is the best way to share and explore the food world. Hence, I started this blog. I must say, at first I was quite overwhelmed and inspired to see the amazing food blogs out there , the dedication and the passion with which the foodies blogged truly motivated me. Now, I do this for the sake of my passion and I love doing this.

What I’ve realized over the years: Even if you do the best of the best, there will be still people better than you and there will be still people who ignore you or who will never accept you. What I feel is, keep doing what you love to do with all your heart and passion and never get disappointed by those people trying to pull you down. Have faith in you and believe in yourself, success will be yours.

This year my husband and I had attended many live concerts. We had attended the Britney Spears and Pussy cat dolls concert. We went to Green Day concert, this was an amazing and ever memorable experience, Green Day being my all time favorite band, I went crazy seeing the Green Day live. We even went for Bulls-celtics basketball game. Not to miss the Blue man show and few action sports that we had attended.

Then summer came along, we travelled around, explored few new places and restaurants, had a a fun beach and barbecue time with friends.

In november we moved out of Chicago and had a fresh start in Nebraska. I was so fond of Chicago that I  felt it would take a lot of time to adjust to the new place. To my surprise, I easily fell in love with NE and loving it here ever since we moved here. Unless you go to a different place, you will never know what that place has to offer you.

New place, New friends, New neighbors, New start, New hope and a New year around the corner…

I indeed had a wonderful 2009, and hoping for a wonderful 2010 as well.

I would also like to list few people, without them my 2009 would have been unworthy and boring.

My husband, without him nothing would have been possible. He is really an unique person with a stunning personality and with a totally different perceptive for life and everything. He is packed with positive feelings for everything and a person who lives life to the fullest and who’s motto is: as long as you live, live happily, forgive and accept others and do the things you love to do. At times, I wish if I could think and act like him. I am blessed to have him as my husband, who is also my mentor, supporter, critic, motivator and my life.

My mom, without her obviously I wouldn’t be in this world. She is a gem of a person, her unconditional love, caring and affection has moulded me to the kind of person I am today. She is the one who walked me to the incredible world of food with her delicious food and cooking. The dedication she had showed in raising me and my sister and giving us the best she could, truly deserve a standing ovation. I am fortunate and proud to be her child.

My dad, who believes in simplicity and honesty. A real hard working person, his dedication to work made him successful in his career. He never over promises anything, and also never failed in fulfilling any of my needs when I was young. He is the kind of person, who looks everything from a distance and finds happiness when his children are happy.

My sister, I don’t know how many times we would have fought for silly things and had said I hate you, a million times after each fights. But, at the end we are still best friends. Those were the moments, when we were young, carefree, irresponsible and when we laughed together, played together, gossiped together, wept together, hugged together and stood together no matter what. A person to whom I can share anything and who is always all ears to all my stupid talks.

My friends, without them 2009 would have been boring. They are fun to be with and gives a different meaning to my life. With friends I forget all worries and always had the best of the times.

Finally, each and everyone out there who constantly inspire me and motivate me through all their good deeds. Without these people it’s definitely hard to live in this world.

It’s been 8 months since I’ve started blogging. This blog has given a new meaning to my life and a good exposure in the blogging world. I’ve made many friends through blogging who appreciate my food and who find time to read my blog and to leave their lovely comments. Thanks to all my readers and blogger friends, you guys are the real inspiration to me.

I love all kinds of cuisine hence I had blogged about all kinds of food which caught my interest. I am still experimenting and searching for different and easy recipes, I think I have a long way to go. Stay tuned for more food from my kitchen.

Glimpses of Food From my kitchen 2009:

Appetizers:

Side dishes:

Chicken:

Kerala Cuisine:

Sadya:

Rice:

Cookies:

Baked Snacks:

Desserts:

Wishing everyone a wonderful 2010. Hope 2010 brings happiness and peace to everyone. Let’s make this world a better place to live in!

Read at your own risk! If you have a weak heart, please stop right here!

Last night, I was driving back from the blockbuster store after renting out few movies to watch over the weekend. The drive back to my house was through the highway and a few dark local roads. Just near to the store, I saw few houses with haunted decorations and jack-o-lantern placed in front of most of the houses. Since I was driving through a local road I could only drive at 40 miles/hr.

I kept driving, cursing the speed limit. I wished if it was some 120miles/hr, I could have raced my car in such a way that the people living in those houses would feel the vibration and it would make them say what the heck was that? I was listening to the FM station, I kind of felt bored of the songs played in that, and hence I changed to my favorite Green day, 21st century breakdown songs. Increased the volume of the song until I felt the vibrations on the speakers, singing along with the song, and tapping my hands on the steering wheel I drove happily. Just as an uninvited guest, I saw raindrops dripping on to the front glass. Started with the drizzle, the rain got heavy, I could barely see through, I put the wiper on and drove very carefully.

I entered the right ramp and merged onto the highway, there was an unexpected traffic on the highway. I had to drive as if my car was trying to kiss the trunk of the front car. At that moment, I seriously felt if I were a cop, I could have put the siren on as if I am chasing a fugitive and just break through the traffic with less effort and with all grace. I was supposed to reach home in 30 minutes and that time it seemed it would take forever.

After a while, the cars geared up and got back to its regular speed. Next thing that came out of my mouth was huge “Damn It”. I was supposed to take the right exit and there I was still on the highway. I didn’t know which exit to take or which way to go, Yes I am direction challenged, that’s why I take GPS with me whenever I drive. Since I knew my way back to my house from the store, this time I didn’t take my GPS out of the glove box. I somehow managed to take the GPS out of the glove box while still driving, and turned it on. It showed low battery, searched for the cable and voila, I couldn’t find it. “Perfect timing”, I shouted.

I found myself still on the highway. It felt like a challenge to me driving without a GPS. I took the next right exit that came, hoping to stop at a gas station or some store that I would find and get the direction from them. As I entered the exit, for an extra special effect, I saw lightning flashing through the dark clouds and followed by a fairly strong thunderstorm. The rain got heavier and all the effects continued. As soon as I switched off the music, I heard the wiper turning left and right in the maximum speed and with intense sound. I felt this quite annoying while driving. I entered the local road; I was relieved and took couple of deep breaths. I looked around for some stores; surprisingly I couldn’t find any in that neighborhood.

I kept driving until I could spot some kind of store. I didn’t know which city I was in or how far I was away from my house. I looked at my watch and I figured out that I drove for almost 55 minutes already. Suddenly, something flashed through my mind and I felt like a moron for not having this thought before. I had a cell phone and it’s just a click away, I could reach my husband and get the directions. For a second everything fell into place. This put a smile on my lips and reached for my bag to get the cell phone. My search continued for sometime, looked all the bag pockets and I literally turned my bag upside down and all the unwanted stuffs popped out of my bag. One thing was crystal clear to me; everything was there except the cell phone. My frustration increased, I felt devastated and I slapped my hand on the steering of my car until my hands felt the pain.

Heavy rain, accompanied by lightning and thunderstorm, with no GPS, cell phone, recklessly driving without even knowing which exit to take or where to go, I felt like I was abandoned. My eyes welled up and tears rolled down my cheeks. I kept driving, and entered a two way road with both sides covered with wilted dried cornfield. It was dark like hell, only light on the road was that from the headlight of my car, I kept driving, that was the only thing I could do that time. I saw a red signboard ahead of me, I cleared my teared up eyes and saw a dead end sign. After all the surprises I had throughout my drive, this didn’t surprise me a bit. With my teeth clenched together I reversed my car and continued my drive through the same road.

My car started chugging and it refused to accelerate, lights got dim, and in seconds it came to a full stop. This was the least thing I expected, I tried starting my car over and over, needless to say it was in vain. My car just ran out of gas, another truth I had to digest with dismay. I closed my eyes, rested my head on the steering and my foggy brain seemed dead as well just at the right moment. On the other hand, my conscious and sub-conscious mind was found in strong conflict. While the conscious was trying to support me, the sub-conscious was blaming me for everything that had happened.

The sound of the heavy rain falling over my car and the strong thunderstorms put me in terror. I felt like I am loosing myself and deprived of all energy and strength. I had never been in such a situation before; I tried hard to convince myself that I would find some solution. My car was still on the middle of the road, since I haven’t seen any other cars passing that way, at first I felt safe to have the car parked there. Then after a second thought, I didn’t want to risk my life and so made up my mind to pull over the car to the shoulder. I lighted my mini torch, opened the door and stepped out of the car. I got drenched in the rain.

Next thing I did was heaving hard to move my car forward, with my right hand still on the steering wheel. It didn’t shake the car a bit. I felt exhausted and wanted an instant red bull. I again stepped out of the car, tried hard to move my car over and over. I suddenly felt a hard touch on my neck, with a sudden jerk, I turned around. I couldn’t believe my eyes what I had seen. I screamed like anything, I pushed the door of my car from my way and ran blindly through the road and entered in to the cornfield. I tripped several times over the dirt mud, my tees clung on to the dried corn leaves, I pulled it hard from my way and continued running, with my tees torn and fully drenched in rain. I was panting out of breath; I couldn’t see what was in front of me. When the lightning flashed, I found myself amidst of nowhere. I couldn’t run anymore, finally gasping I stood still. My whole body was shivering, I could barely stand, and I fell down on the muddy ground. I took few deep breaths and as soon as I was back to life, I felt I was dragged through the ground. I screamed, cried for my life, shouted for help.

I saw the ground breaking apart into half. I felt someone pulling my feet and throwing me deep into the ground. I screamed and screamed and screamed…

Suddenly, I opened my eyes, still panting, sweating and shouting for help.

Everything seemed so real. I finally had to say: A dream so real on the night of Halloween.

PS: If anyone else had the same dream on the night of Halloween, go ahead and file a case against my dream for stealing your dream. I guess, this dream was not adapted from any novel or movie. If you find any similarity, you do have the right to question my dream.

Now back to my healthy and fun Halloween recipes:

I wanted to make this Halloween healthy. Hence, I made few fun stuffs with fruits and veggies.

Apple big mouth- Quarter the apples and make a wide wedge on each slice with a sharp knife or carving knife. Make few slits on the wedges and insert blanched almonds into them.

Banana Ghost- Cut banana into half horizontally. Spread white frosting onto the banana and insert a small skewer into the banana. For eyes, place whole black pepper and for nose, raisins.

Edible eye: Peeled, wide cut carrot, spread sour cream on top and place a black olive on it.

Witch: Use kiwi to make the face, for eyes: raisins, for nose- kiwi, for mouth-apple skin, for hair-shredded carrot, for hat: glue( use frosting) an ice cream cone on a cookie.

Tongue out face: 2 Ritz cracker, for eyes: raisins, for mouth: apple skin, for tongue: almond, for ears: kiwi skin.

Hope you all had a scary Halloween!