No weigh-ins for me, no sirree

Vivek found our weighing scale Sunday in one of the few remaining "chowder" boxes from the apartment -- and promptly weighed himself. He even carried the scale around the house to test it out on tile and carpeted floors to make sure it was accurate.

It lurks -- our weighing scale.

I won't be weighing in right now. In fact, maybe not until February. Who knows? Maybe not at all.

In the past three months, I've survived a move and a job change and then spent an incredibly relaxing, rejuvenating and delicious week celebrating Christmas with my family and loved ones on the East Coast. Have I gained a pound or two -- or even a few? Probably.

But you know what? I know I'll work off those pounds as I get back into my normal eating and exercising this month, so I'm not gonna sweat it. (No pun intended.)

My jeans still fit, and that's good enough for me.

Adventures in Gardening, Decision No. 1: No More Kale

Vivek and I inherited an incredible vegetable garden when we bought our house. And when I say garden, what I really mean is gardens -- four raised planter boxes, plus some assorted 'volunteer' veggies (think zucchini and purple potatoes) sprinkled in other planters and beds throughout the yard.

I'm super excited about, if overwhelmed by, these gardens. My mom's always had a garden, and I've long wanted to try my hand at veggies. You might have seen my overly enthusiastic posts earlier this year about my third attempt (a charm!) at an indoor herb garden at our San Francisco apartment.

Sage, cilantro, California poppies and two types of basil bask in an afternoon glow just after being planted.

(Pssst: The sage and basils and are still going strong!)

So our huge outdoor garden is something of a thrill -- particularly the tomatoes, sage, chilies and still-unearthed potatoes it came with. We started using the tomatoes right away (especially after December's frost bit the vines and we had to pluck all of the fruit), and we've been giving out lemons from our yard's tree like it's going outta style.

The one thing I haven't known what do with is the kale.

So. Much. Kale. In multiple varieties. In fact, I learned just this morning that what my mother and I had diagnosed (via video chat) as an ornamental 'lettuce' is actually Kamome red kale, a bitter-tasting form of the leafy green. Super! In addition, we seem to have Lacinato and red Russian kale -- and, if I'm not mistaken, premier kale (see this helpful page for more details).

The thing is: We don't really eat kale. I'm not opposed to it, and for such a nutritionally dense food, it's honestly pretty tasty. But it's just not part of my daily intake -- and I've certainly never seen it in an Indian cookbook.

Last week, however, on our flight back from the East Coast, I found this delicious-looking recipe last week in the Real Simple I was reading. Kale strata, you say? With sausage and fontina? In. I now had a use for kale.

This week, I hunted down the non-garden ingredients for the strata (even sending Vivek to get fontina with our regular groceries yesterday), and I ventured out into the backyard this morning to get the kale. It's freshest when just picked, right?

I'd completely forgotten, though, that I've been underestimating the number of aphids on those curly kale leaves. Since we took ownership of the house, we've focused (naturally, right?) on getting the inside of the home settled, favoring being able to find, say, a toothbrush or the 1/2-cup measuring cup over getting the weeds and bugs out of the front and back yards. So the pests, both plant and animal alike, have made themselves plentiful.

OK -- no biggie, right? Feeling optimistic, I still snipped a handful of kale leaves, dunked them into a bowl of salted water, weighted them down with a dish, and went off to church to pray while my aphids, I hoped, were floating to the top of the water.

No dice. I came back to some aphids floating, to be sure, but still clumps of them all over most of the leaves. And attempts to rub them off proved insufficient at best. Have you seen the underside of a kale leaf? It's like a labyrinth of caves specifically designed as aphid hiding places -- or, if you prefer, little aphid villas. No wonder they love the stuff!

A young -- and remarkably clean -- kale leaf from our garden. Check out those curls! Check out those caves!

I'll spare you a photo of the worst leaves -- but suffice that say that, unless some miracle cure reveals itself, most of our kale crop appears unusable.

To save today's brunch, I took the few leaves I could clean off, mixed them with some baby spinach and created kale-spinach strata (ta-da!). I'm sure it will be equally delicious, if not quite as nutritious.  As for moving forward: I'm sad to say it, but I'm pretty sure these kale plants have got to go. (Do you want to clean the leaves?) In their place, I'll be planting spinach -- a leafy green I do buy by the pound, and apparently a veggie less interesting to aphids.

In my opinion, everyone wins. At least in my kitchen.

Et tu? Yeah, I'm gonna try gluten-free

I’m starting an experiment this week: Trying to go gluten-free. Or at least bread-free. OK, gluten-free. Actually, OK, I’m going to try to minimize my exposure to gluten. (As I wrote this, our neighbors delivered a slice of custard-and-apple pie.)

I’ve suspected I might do better without gluten for a few years now -- ever since I did the food experiment that helped me find my citrus issues. I don't think I'm gluten intolerant, or that I have celiac disease -- as I feel otherwise fine. But during the week where I skipped gluten, I felt amazing. I dropped a lot of foods during that week, of course (so I could slowly add them back the next week) -- dairy, wheat, any white flour, eggs, corn, peanuts, bananas, beef, tomatoes, potatoes, oranges, soy, chocolate, pork, sugar (including all candy), yeasts. (I also avoided alcohol and caffeine, save for a spare glass of red wine or cup of black tea.) But that’s a laundry list of suspected irritants that seems impossible to eliminate completely from my daily intake -- even more so when you consider that many of those things listed are either favorites of mine (chocolate?!) or so integrated into what I currently eat (eggs).

So I’ll start experimenting with gluten.

Why now? I read yet another article this weekend (in The New Yorker) in which an athlete, this time Novak Djokovic, is revealed to be someone who avoids gluten. I don’t know that I buy into the diagnosis method Djokovic’s doctor used -- but the concept of avoiding gluten is still food for fodder, so to speak. And as I’ve been feeling oh-so-tired after my workouts this summer, I’m open to new possibilities at the moment.

So off to the gluten-free (as much as possible) races we go. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Life is sweet

I gotta tell you -- there are days when I think I must have the most perfect life ever. This is one of them.

For two weeks, I've been wanting to celebrate the birth of my niece, Lizzy, with a scone, bacon and champagne breakfast -- and for whatever reason, it hasn't worked out. But now that the royal baby's arrived, it seemed a fitting time to snap to -- and I finally had the ingredients, including cherries and clotted cream, in my tiny kitchen.

I had a bit of a nervous challenge ahead of me: My scone recipe was not quite perfected. For years, I've been trying to turn my favorite savory scone recipe into a sweet one, with limited success. No matter what I tried, the scones always seemed to come out heavy, dull or -- worst of all -- bitter. Today, however, the stars aligned, and we ended up with light, fluffy and moist puffs, chockfull of cherries, chopped almonds and dark chocolate.

Why celebrate the coinciding births of Lizzy and Prince George of Cambridge? Well it's lovely of you to ask. You see, my family have a long history of coinciding births with the royal family.  ‪Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, you see, was born a mere three weeks after me -- meaning that my mother and Diana, Princess of Wales, were pregnant at the same time. And as my father-in-law apparently used to call my husband the "Prince of Wales," I'm pretty sure my kin are bound for greatness, power and influence.

Here's to you, royal Lizzy!

Blanc de blancs, cafe crème, applewood-smoked bacon and cherry-chocolate-almond scones with clotted cream. 

Food: Chai

Bundar aur hathi ornaments at tea with devrani.

Food: Mattar paneer

A belated post from our brunch on Sunday in Dehradun. Gita-taiji's homemade paneer was delish -- much fluffier than I've been able to manage in my own experimenting. Something new to aspire to!

We also had homemade parathas. I didn't try my hand at making them, but I did watch and take copious mental notes as Gita-taiji rolled, folded, added oil and rolled again before placing the dough on the tava, a great little pan for making Indian flatbreads.

With all of this learning, I'm starting to plot out a homemade "sari Sunday" brunch for when I'm back in San Francisco!

Homemade mattar paneer and parathas.

Food: B'fast in B'lore

I'm heading for my third cup of tea as I write this, after staying up late chatting with my dearest devrani and devarji -- the Devs. They insisted on coming to fetch me at the airport in Bangalore at 11:30 last night after my friend Kate's flight was delayed. (She's now due to arrive from Sydney, via a long overnight -- how frustrating! -- stopover in Kuala Lumpur, in about an hour.)

Check out that fresh watermelon! Yum -- what a treat.

Food: Channa bhatura

Possibly the best bhatura I've ever had. So soft! And the channa was flavorful but mild and smooth.

At The Pinewood in Barog, a mid-point between Shimla and Chandigarh.

Food: Sweet chai

We stopped for a cup of chai this morning at the mid-point to Dehradun. It was quite sweet, as Pops says is the local custom.

Food: Wedding snacks

Paneer tikka: Just couldn't resist. (From the wedding reception on Monday.)

Food: Breakfast in Chandigarh

Quite a spread, huh? The usual cereal and fruit, plus some mattar kachori made by Vinita-didi.

Food: Chocolate

Mrs. Pradhan, the same woman who made the delicious dessert cups, also made lots of other chocolates for us, including these little fish. (Thank you!) I ate this one on Monday.

Food: Donut Day

A belated donut for Fastnacht Day, had yesterday at Bombay domestic airport.

Breakfast: Upma and cold coffee

I've got to start posting these right away, or I'll never catch up. Another round-up on its way, but let's start with today's breakfast.

I'm really fond of upma -- and after I ordered it at Willingdon on Saturday, Ma asked bai (their cook) to make some here at home.

Upma -- a savory semolina dish, this one prepared with onions, peas, tomatoes and cilantro.

Since it's gotten a little warmer here -- 73 degrees Fahrenheit as I write, likely to get close to 90 today -- and I'd just finished my workout, I paired the upma with a cold coffee -- a favorite of Vivek's. His mom insisted on mixing it up for me, and it was perfection -- chilled with some ice, not too sweet, and just the right amount of coffee. (In fact, I kept sticking my nose in the glass to take in the coffee-house aroma.)

Cold coffee -- made with milk and instant coffee, blended in the mixer so it gets some froth.

Most breakfasts in India over my many visits have been cornflakes with fresh fruit, almonds and cold milk -- and I love that very much, as it's a nice normal meal each day, similar to what I'd have in San Francisco -- but this was a great treat.

A day in London

At long last, having located a new cord for my camera, I'm able to tell you a bit -- with illustrations -- about my day in London.

While booking my trip to India, I had the good fortune of finding a flight to Bombay that included a 10-hour layover in London. I like to break up the 20+ hours of traveling to India when possible, and this particular itinerary allowed me to have two overnight flights bookending a lovely day in the sunshine.

On suggestion of my friend Anna, whom I planned to meet later in the day, I started my day trip off in central London from the Westminster Tube station. It was a perfect place to start, as Big Ben greeted me as soon as I could see the outside world.

Big Ben looms large through the canopy at Westminster station.

I spent half an hour walking around Westminster, taking in the architecture, the sun, the crowds and, as I rounded the southern edge of the palace, the Thames. After a 10-hour flight from San Francisco, I was more than happy to have a breath of fresh air and a chance to stretch my legs.

I stayed at Westminster long enough to hear Big Ben chime 1:30 p.m. and then headed on, as I had only about 90 minutes left to sightsee. I headed north, first along the Thames for a block, stopping to get a solid snap of the London Eye.

The London Eye -- quite the Ferris wheel!

I headed up Whitehall then toward Trafalgar Square, buzzing through en route to Picadilly, which I was keen to get at least a glimpse of.

At Picadilly, I judged that I was in desperate need of some sustenance -- so I hailed a cab toward Covent Garden, in search of a noted chippy. (You can't head to London and miss a chance to have real fish and chips, can you? Thanks for the suggestion, Carl!) You can see the results here. Overall: Highly impressed.

Finally, refueled and in need of some caffeine, I headed back toward Trafalgar Square for tea. After an amusing stop at the post office (they have a take-a-number system, like a deli -- how efficient!), I finally found my long-lost friend, Anna, outside the National Portrait Gallery. We settled in upstairs for the aforementioned afternoon tea (see here), catching up about traveling, studying, writing and the old gang for nearly three hours. Afterward, Anna walked me through Leicester Square and dropped a very jet-lagged version of me at the Tube to head back to Heathrow. I had just enough sense left to pick up some postcards from the shop inside the station.

Postcards, written on my Tube journey back to Heathrow.

While my day there was too short to begin to see all of the sights I've dreamed of, I thoroughly enjoyed London. Next trip: Looking up where Dickens walked and wrote, a tour through rock 'n roll history and, if possible, a look inside the Royal Opera House, where the Nutcracker I watch every Christmas was filmed (yes, I know I was right there in Covent Garden this time -- but I was tired).

For now, off to lunch in Bombay at Royal Willingdon Sports Club, a great reminder of the British presence and influence here in India. For full photos of London, see here.

Meals: A round-up

I woke up all ready to post a bit about my stop to see Big Ben, Picadilly and the Thames -- but it seems I've forgotten the cable to my DSLR, where the loveliest of my London photos are lodged. So you'll have to content yourselves for now with a round-up of my food photos, most of which I've taken with my phone.

Up first: The first plane meal I had, following that delicious (and greedy) pizza at SFO. Virgin Atlantic -- lovely all around as an airline -- served up chicken korma as an option for Monday evening's meal, and I thought it was delicious.

Chicken korma with rice, daal and a bit of fried onion, flanked by the hip, purple Virgin Atlantic plastic cutlery.

Next, in London, I sought out the obligatory meal of fish and chips (and pint). I'd 'borrowed' a Frommers ebook on London from the San Francisco library, and the closest fish joint to Westminster, where I was spending much of my day, was Rock and Sole Plaice on Endell Street. I'm typically a Lonely Planet devotee, so this was my first experience with Frommers -- and it did well. Battered cod, recommended by one of the fry guys, arrived in a huge portion with an equally massive mountain of fries, all of which seemed to dwarf my cold pint.

Battered cod with delicious tartar sauce, fries with vinegar and salt and an Efes pilsner.

I could eat only half of the fish -- and even then, I blame it for the necessity of parcels at afternoon tea. I met my old friend Anna at the National Portrait Gallery's restaurant, where we mulled over all that's happened in the nearly five years since we'd seen each other while also taking in 180-degree views out over the city. It was lovely, but you'll have to take my word for it, as I was too jet-lagged by then to remember to take a photo.

The parcel, however, I remembered to photograph in the midst of my flight to Bombay. I'd finally regained my appetite -- and after devouring the chicken with coriander and dahi, I also ate the orange spice cake, which had been so beautifully wrapped as a foil handbag, as I sipped my chai.

Empty food containers, including one that contained chicken with coriander and rice, one of dahi from Sussex, and one of kulfi. 

The lovely tinfoil parcel, before I destroyed it to get to the orange spice cake.

Finally, last evening, I got to dig in after dinner to a treat dropped off by a neighbor: handmade chocolate dessert cups, filled with strawberry-flavored whipped cream and topped with a fresh strawberry. This dish had the potential to be overly sweet, with all that strawberry syrup, but the chef had done it just right.

Homemade chocolate fruit cups.

And with all of that food posting behind me now, I absolutely must go and have my morning tea. I'm feeling famished all of a sudden!

Hello from Bombay

Just a quick post to say I've arrived in India (before I nod off for the night).

I had a lovely day in London yesterday and a nice, relaxing day of napping and eating here in Bombay today. Photos and stories to come -- stay tuned!

For now, a food posting: Dinner tonight at home, with lots of veggies and homemade chapati. Perfect after traveling so many days. As Anna would say: nourishing vegetables.

Veggies -- okra, cauliflower and bottle gourd -- with chapati and raita.

That's it for now. G'night!

First meal on the road

OK, so it's not Indian food, but it is delicious: A margherita pizza from Firewood Cafe.

I used to get these all the time when Virgin America flew from the international terminal at SFO. A nice treat before I leave.

First meal on the road

OK, so it's not Indian food, but it is delicious: A margherita from Firewood Cafe.

I used to get these all the time when Virgin America flew from the international terminal at SFO. A nice treat before I leave.