But I am home

You're going home after so long?

How did you stay away all this while? We try to go home every year, if not every other year.

Enjoy your trip home!

Didn't you miss home?

But I am home.

I bit my lips, quelled those words and smiled because they meant well. But try as hard as I might, I could not think of my visit to India as going home or returning home because I am home. My home is where my husband and child are. We build the walls of our home together. It does not matter where we live.

Recently, an Australian woman living in Boulder tuned into a Sydney radio channel while making dinner for her family and tweeted that "Surrounding myself with home is pretty awesome." Again, I brushed away those same words.

Hmmmm?!

Read on...

Warm up with Glühwein

Or vin chaud.

Or, as we know it, mulled wine.

It was a treat to walk the streets of Zurich clutching a steaming glass of glühwein. It was a cold, damp and gray day but it was also the only day we had in Zurich. We took a combination of trams and buses to get to Banhofstrasse, Zurich's Michigan Avenue. None of us wanted to step out into the miserable weather but we managed to walk along the frozen promenade of Lake Zurich, and duck quickly into a side-street across the river where a street truck was selling hot dogs and warm wine. The hot dog was huge. The bun around it, even bigger. Dipped in the wine, it was bliss!

I think I first had mulled wine at a friend's Christmas party five years ago. Boulder has been charming that way. We've made it every winter but I've always suffered the following several days because wines are a sure trigger for my migraines. Enter sulfite-free / sulphite-free organic wines. They have tannins but those don't bother me as much so I was home free!

Until now though, I have had nothing to compare my variation of mulled wine to, except for what I had had at my friend's. I'm happy to say I've perfected a recipe that works for me each time and is very close to what I had on those cold streets of Zurich. Sweet but not cloyingly so. Spicy but not overly so. Just right and gluggable by the mugful. I am not much of a drinker but I can easily consume three-quarters of a bottle of wine, when mulled. Pfft, I hear you say, most of the alcohol has evaporated by the time it is ready! Not so. It contains at least 60% or so of its original alcohol content but wait till you read how to make it more potent! It's something I never fail to do, now that I am in the know!

Fruity Zinfandel

Read on...

Of Tamarind and Titlis

I'm sure most of you are wondering what Tamarind and Titlis have in common, or, if this is yet another quiz to buy time before my next travelogue post. The answer to the quiz is here, in case you missed it; as for Tamarind and Titlis, they have absolutely nothing in common. One is found in multiple instances in tropical and warm climes; the other manifests itself in a single occurrence at 10,000ft in the Swiss Alps. One can be used to make a delectably tangy chutney; hanging out at the other in winter will freeze all thoughts, immediately.

Before I hit you with my pictures of Titlis and Engelberg, I would like to thank you for all your reassuring feedback that too much other stuff rocks as much as Indian food does! For those of you who want the recipe for my tamarind chutney, I'll spare you the scrolling down: take me to the recipe already!

Mt. Titlis, 10Kft

Titlis is the highest peak in the Urner Alps of Switzerland. My first thought was: only 10K ft and that makes it the highest peak? Seriously? I hiked up to a little over 12K ft on my birthday! We have so many fourteeners in our Rockies, one of which is in my daily view, so I wasn't expecting anything spectacular. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Read on...

Quick Quiz: What am I going to do with this Adjustable Window Screen?

Here's a quick quiz before the next travelogue post!

I bought an adjustable window screen, slightly smaller than the one in the picture below, from Lowe's for $4.98.

Adjustable Window Screen from Lowe's

It's 10" in height and expands from 20" to 37". I am not going to use it as a window screen. And it would have served my purpose even if it did not expand or was smaller in size. It is going into Medha's room and will (hopefully) serve to reduce a major source of irritation - for me, not her. I was inspired by something she did every night when we were in Bombay.

Any clues how we are going to use it?

Read on...

Where do I begin?

Thank you for the wonderful response to the guest post by my talented friend Jen, while I was away. I'm back after a four-week vacation where we spent three very cold but exhilarating days in Switzerland and the rest in India. I have so much to say and share that I don't know where to begin! How about at the beginning, you say? That is a very good place to start...And, I will. Eventually. Except that I need to precede it with the end which ties in very nicely with meeting good friends and Europe.

When I think of my friend, Gabi Helfert, I think of Europe and the spectacular images she has shared of her life and travels in Europe. Gabi has this incredible ability of making you see patterns, lines, themes in everyday surroundings because of the magic she does with her camera. I am also in awe of her handheld, low-light skills just as I am enthralled by her architectural series. Gabi is also one of the most intelligent women I have the good fortune to know, albeit only virtually until now. Mediocre is not a word she is familiar with, for she excels at anything she touches. Especially Lexulous. There is no word that Gabi does not know. Period.

Joey and Gabi

Read on...