Rong-Chong-e Daal & Mother's Day

Mother's Day definitely deserves a post, some stories and some food.

The reason for creation of a mother is clear from my last post, right? 

I was neither joking nor did I make that up. It is a fact and I believe in it strongly. Usually this belief and realization only comes much later in life . Not at 8 or 16 or 25! Things which I took for granted as HER DUTY when I was young, gradually metamorphosed with years and experience into genuine admiration and thankfulness. I realized (specially after giving birth myself) that this is a relation which is far beyond anything as mundane as duty. ...it is the umbilical bond that is designed to love and care and fight for her child..expecting nothing in return. 

A mother with her unconditional love- God's best gift to mankind.

This is getting a bit filmy, I know. But honestly if the above script reached the hands of a 1970s hindi movie director, this would have been the scene when the child would be singing "meri ma..achhi ma..bholi ma..." while the mom (Nirupa Ray, in most cases) would be coughing away to glory due to poverty and lack of medicine. 

Typical but hit. You would be watching with tears in your eyes.
If I had continued writing a few more lines on these lines, it might have even ended up in a more glamorous one like the one and only "Mere paas ma hai!" scene. 
Super hit! You would be clapping and watching the movie 25 times.Who knows?
(Unrelated, unnecessary information, but have to share: I love Amitabh Bachchan!!)

However, nothing like that happened.

It was Mother's Day. My parents are visiting us in Holland. I went to meet my Mom at my brother's place. She looked at me and said,

Ma: Ektu janla-r kache aye alo-te. Mukh ta dekhi. 
(Please come towards the window in the light, let me see your face)

I did.

Ma: Tor chokher opor abar ki shob jeno hoyeche....shei liver er problem theke noyto? 

(There is something on your eyelids, hope it is not the liver problem you had before!)

Me: MAaaaaa..that is MAKE UP -- Eye Shadow Ma!!!

So much so for wearing eye makeup on Mother's Day.

After the initial laugh is over, I have to say (in her defence) that she has not seen me so much with eye make up before. I never NEVER used it in my youth.

But things have changed. With the years (some of you might call it AGE) came wisdom and eye shadows. Part of life.

I also got a wonderful gift for Mother's Day. It is a hand painted clay piggy bank painted by the small hands that I love the most in this world. With the lovely gift came a lovely letter, heart shaped, pink, best handwriting..what more does a mother want? Opened the letter with lots of excitement.It read:

"To the world's best mom..from the WORLD's BEST SON"

and I thought it was MOTHER'S DAY!!!
;-)

Ideally this post should have a recipe from my Mom. But she will come to stay with me next week...so once she is with me...Lights ..Camera ..Action! I promise you.

Till then, lets eat something I cooked for you.
I cooked something very tasty, very colorful and very healthy (like a good mother should especially on Mother's Day).

Rong-Chong-e Daal 
Daal (Pulses), in my home is another gift of God to mankind! (Ok,ok, after Mothers unconditional love, Mutton Biriyani, Red wine, waterproof eyeliner, TomTom, etc....)
If there is a bowl of daal in any form in my fridge, I feel very relaxed. I solve problems at work, I attend meetings, I pick up Arno from school, I phone my car garage etc --all of this with a smile on my face just because there is "daal in the fridge". The reason for such relaxed mood is because even after a busy day I can just make some white rice, cut some salad and with the "daal in  the fridge" , I can serve a super dinner. If my mood permits, I can even convert the super dinner to a bit of a Michelin-starry-type-dinner by  just frying an omelette with it!
.....and on top of all that, if like a "good" mom, you can add some vegetables to your "daal in the fridge"..
Wa-La. you are SUPER MOM certified. For sure!

I used:

• Yellow Moong daal : 1 cup
• Fresh Spinach  leaves: 1 bunch
• Carrots:       2 large (chopped in big pieces)
• Green peas:  1/2 cup (optional)
• Tomato: 1 large
• Ginger: 1 tsp (cut in very small pieces)
• Whole cumin: 1 tbsp
• Sugar: 1 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Turmeric powder: 1 pinch
• Cooking oil: 1 TBSP
• Ghee:  1 TBSP (optional but surely makes a difference)

Ready -steady- cook:

1. Dry roast the moong daal till a few of the grains change to brown. Be careful not to over cook. Switch off heat as soon as you get the lovely smell of the roasted moong.

2. In a large bowl boil the carrots , spinach , tomato and the dry roasted daal with some salt, turmeric powder and sugar.

3.Let is boil till the daal becomes totally soft.
4. In a separate pan heat the cooking oil. Add the whole cumin seeds and the ginger. Saute for a few seconds and add the boiled daal .
5. Let it come to a boil.
6. Adjust salt to taste and switch off heat.

7. Add the ghee , stir well and cover.
8. Serve with white rice.  (Make an omelette if you have time...cut some salad for sure)

KALLOL junior in "Khelar Putul"

Yes, we "KALLOL junior" have done it again. After gaining confidence from "Abol Tabol Shopno", we the "Khude Kallol" have gone up on stage and rocked it again!

It was indeed fun. 

Fun to rehearse together.

Fun to play together.
Fun to perform together.

Fun to be applauded together.

ক্ষুদে কল্লোল   (Kallol junior)

একটু নাটক, একটু ছড়া,
আমাদেরকে জড়ো করা |
একটু কঠিন একটু সোজা,
অনেক কাজ তবে অনেক মজা|
কখনো বা বুঝি না মানে,
হাসছি কেন কেউ কি জানে?
তবে একটু মোদের বুঝিয়ে দিলে
 হাসি তখন সবাই মিলে ।
মনে মনে বাড়ছে টান ,
আবোল তাবোল-এর অবদান।
দূর বিদেশে থেকেও মোরা ,
বাঁচিয়ে রাখব মোদের গোড়া ,
পুরনো নতুন মিলে মিশে
সুন্দর দুনিয়া গড়ব শেষে ,
বিলোবো খুশী , ছড়াবো হাসি
আমরা global ভারতবাসী ।।

The target was to bring the kids TOGETHER and enjoy the TOGETHERNESS. I think we have succeeded. After the final performance, one child walked up to me and asked, "when is the next rehearsal?" .That is big evidence, right?
 

As the curtain opened and the lights switched on.....oh what a scene! A room full of kids dressed up as the most beautiful toys that you have ever seen. 
Smart, sweet, handsome, cute and beautiful ! --OUR kids !
Kids who put in so much effort to make this happen!
KALLOL junior! Khude Kallol! Well done...we are so proud of you.

Now for the plot and the performance.
With the advent of super technical games like Wii and Play station and DS and what not, the charm of simple toys are gradually vanishing. Kids have been exposed to so much action at their finger tips (literally) that simple, stationary and soundless toys do not appeal to them anymore. The plot is of such a toy shop in a small town where the shopkeeper is frustrated and unhappy because he cannot sell his simple toys anymore. Everyday, he and his wife still opens the shop with hopes of selling some toys. They look at each toy and wish that the toy  could do a bit more to attract customers. With each such wish, the toy comes alive and performs. Finally their wish is granted and a customer comes and buys all the toys of his shop!!!
What a performance !!!Each single toy, "woke up" at the right cue and walked up to the microphone and performed their best. Brilliant! We had flawless recitations, cool guitarists, smart keyboard players, humorous actors, beautiful dancers, classical violinists... 
Yes, the kids were undoubtedly the stars. 
But the adults who helped were no less.
A-da, makes sets with passion and it shows...brightened up the stage totally.
K, arranges and plays the music..one big box of flickering lights and buttons totally under his control.
T has personally visited each light (up on a ladder near the ceiling), hence he knows them so well that magic happens when he switches them on.
T, on my request became the prompter. But at one point , I was so so so off the script that she said, "ki prompt korbo, kono line-i to bolcho na script theke!!"[ What shall I prompt, you are not saying ANY line from the script]. I hope she will still prompt next time.
S controlled the curtains perfectly. No rehearsals...first time..instant hit!  I recruit him as our curtain-man from now on.

All the rest proudly and happily clapped and encouraged us from the audience.
Now, with so many kids, their instruments, the microphones, the set and the toys on stage.....the script demanded for adult presence on the stage...for control and safety. That is how Panchur baba (shopkeeper) and Khendir ma(his wife) were born, in the script. Both turned out to be equally bad in memorizing the script. Between you and me, one had his script in his "hisheber khata (notebook)" , the other had the script stitched on the back of her duster!!
Anyway,the way they were talking on stage, mainly about sharing work loads in the family, it was clear that they were both married people in real life, quite accustomed to the daily khit-khits and did not need a script to continue!! Their real life partners smiled from the audience as they recognized bits and pieces of the conversation.
Panchur baba struggled a bit with his moustache while Khendir ma definitely suffered from a very misfitting hair cut!
But all ended well and alls well that ends well.

Look at the fantastic toys we had in our shop....

Hoping to continue like this for years to come....ALL TOGETHER....
Are you guys with me??
 

The special recipe for Junior Kallol  will follow soon.....

No story is complete without food and no food is complete without story.

Roaming in Rome and Chilli olive oil

Parts of my history book came alive, parts of the Bollywood movies became real, parts of those colourful cook books sprung to life..........what a lovely place to be in......Rome.

Last week Rome happened. Finally.

I am not planning to write ABOUT Rome ( thats too much and too easily available on google). The target is to write and share some of my experiences, some story telling about Arno and some mouth watering recipes for you all.

Some of the highlights:

1. Rome is wonderful.  Beautiful statues and majestic monuments are scattered around  in the city in the same way as toy cars are scattered in Arno's room. They are Everywhere!
2. Rome is delicious. Any food in any restaurant is super tasty. We ended up eating tons of Italian plain bread with olive oil which they serve as the side dish in all restaurants! The waiter's eyes said " you greedy couple, do you even have any space left to tackle the main course? THAT was a side dish!!"
3. The Italian language is like music.  People talk a lot and they talk in a language which is so sweet that it feels like music. The fact that talking is combined with a lot of body language as well, transforms it into an opera.
4. Rome has warm people. They smile, they chat, they swear (in musical Italian!),they make you feel welcome.
5. Traffic is scary. We, Indians, almost felt at home. Zebra crossings are pretty empty, people cross the roads anywhere, anytime.
6. Calendar of Christ is much more heard of than our ordinary January-February calendar. More people spoke about B.C and A.D dates than 27th or 28th  of February!
7. The Guccis and the Armanis and the Dolce Gabanas dominate. There was even an "Armani Junior" shop !
8. The pope resigned while we were there. Not our fault. We did not ask any difficult questions.

 

The moment we announced that we are going to Rome, Arno's first comment was, " Yippee, now I can have ONLY pizza for four days for all my meals". 
However, things turned out a bit different. After his second pizza in Rome his comment was,

"THEY do not make good pizzas here, THE FROZEN pizzas from Albertheijn (dutch supermarket) are tastier!!"

All I could say to that was.."Ssshhhhhhh".
Fresh-basil-fresh-tomatoes-fresh-mozzarella-thin-crust-pizza Vs thick-frozen-with-preservative-thick-old-salami-filled pizzas??? 
Forgive the innocent child ,  my Lord! He does not know what he is saying.....

                       

Arno was also not feeling very well during the trip. The magic of Paracetamol kept him going--poor guy! He complained from time to time about the "Huge rooms full of paintings ONLY, nothing to do" in the Vatican.  On top of that since we had a guided tour, all paintings had a story attached to it. Now for a eight year old, what does it matter if Raphael passed away at the age of 37 or Michelengelo was at the same time a  sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer!!!I tried to be a good mother and re-explain to him some of the stories which the guide told us. But whatever I said, I had the feeling that this little boy was moving with us from one room to the other in the Vatican expecting some kind of a theme park at the end! Look at him!!

O my God, how many more of these paintings?

But what a treasure house the Vatican is....the ultimate beauty being the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. For a moment one is left speechless. The enormity of the project coupled to the difficulty of creating something like this on the ceiling is almost unbelievable. How could someone draw all this?

 Now for a mouth watering recipe. I know this post has already become a bit too long hence I will share with you a very very short recipe. Infact I should not even call it a recipe. 

All restaurants that we visited during our stay in Rome served four things on the table as dressing.

1. Olive oil    2.Balsamic vinegar    3. Salt     4. Pepper.

But some of them also served a fifth dressing :  Chilli olive oil. 
This was really lots of red chilli seeds immersed in olive oil. Nothing more than that. But what a taste!! The first thing I did after coming back from Rome was to have this on my table. Recipe is simple.

1. Buy some dry red chilli seeds (I bought the red chilli seeds in Rome)
2. Buy some extra virgin olive oil .
3. Carefully open the cork of the oil bottle.
4. More carefully pour in the chilli seeds.
5. Observe (with or without camera) the red hot particles gradually work their way down in the bottle --beautiful.
6. Sprinkle a few drops on anything and everything. ( I am using it on sandwiches as well)
7. Enjoy.... 

Next time I will post a real recipe. Promise . Cross my heart.

Wah Taj !!!

We have to decide on one thing before we start reading this. No one is going to ask whose idea it was. Whatever feelings it triggers, be it surprise, shock or utter disbelief, you have to promise to keep your question in your mouth. The idea was born, debated (a bit) and implemented. Its over and done. No questions. Deal?
So, where was I?

Wah Taj.....

So enroute to Calcutta during our yearly summer vacation we decided to visit Agra. (special emphasis on the "we").
To see the Taj Mahal.
The month was JULY and the plan was mine.  My intentions were good.
I had seen it when I was eleven. To be honest I did not remember much of it except for the fact that it was a moonlit night and we were sitting at the back of the magnificient tomb facing the river Yamuna enjoying the cool breeze of September. This picture was so vivid in my memory that I wanted to revisit it. I thought that this time I would look at the monument with different eyes since now I have more knowledge about a mans love for his wife than I had at eleven..hi hi......
;-)
Hence you would agree that the plan was made with noble intentions . The fact that it will be viewed in summer when there would be no cool breeze was not taken into consideration by the "usually-good-planner" lady. I know , I know..but the question stays in your mouth! We made a deal at the very beginning....

With the body still getting accustomed (or protesting in vain) to the temperature difference (it was 15 deg in Amsterdam and 38 in Delhi), we took a car from Delhi and got on the Delhi-Agra highway. 

The journey was actually very nice. It brought back many many memories from the past. I looked outside the car window - glimpses of India complete with paddy fields on both sides, unplastered houses, heavily loaded trucks overtaking from the wrong side with "drive slow" written on their bumpers, groups of cheerful school children crossing the roads with ice lollies in hand ,delicious roadside dhabas (restaurants) to choose from, women in colourful sarees and matching glass bangles, loudspeakers blaring hindi movie songs celebrating the month of Sravan (arrival of the monsoons even though it was super dry without a drop of rainfall)....amazing..India is such a diversity rich county..loved the trip.

Arno totally zapped by the heat... A warning saying "do not sit idle here"

 The heat however was a different story. We did crib about it a bit but very soon realized that there is nothing we can do about it. Hence hands up..total surrender to the power of nature. The look of surrender (Arnos face above) was very nicely caught on camera...
He waited for food at a roadside dhaba with complete oblivion to the surrounding. Just at that moment my eyes fell on a message on the wall where it said " Faltu baithna mana hai" [It is prohibited to sit idle here].
Interesting....
This historical monument was built by a king in loving memory of his queen after her death. The sheer size of the tomb built of pure white marble definitely has a "wow-factor" associated with it. By looking at it, I did not feel the romantic aura that it is supposed to generate as an emblem of love. Instead it feels a bit too large and a bit too white and a bit too cold. For me the wow-factor was more a realisation that hit when I stood infront of the gigantic structure. Reading about the minarets that are more than 40m high in a history book is so much different than standing underneath one and looking up to see them. The fact that this huge intricately carved structure was built so many years ago by real people who did not have autocad to design, google to search for stuff, emails to discuss or facebook to be "Like"-ed!!! is really amazing. The other amazing thing (now I switch on my sarcastic side) was how people could spit infront of this building or how a person (irrespective of caste, creed, culture, education, background ) can throw an empty pet bottle on the lawn infront (inspite of garbage cans marked with "throw pet bottles here" written on them).
After a few thoughts and discussions the conclusion which I can draw( again , my personal opinion) is that in India we are not TAUGHT to love our national property. Anything outside my home is just NOT MINE and hence it does not deserve the same care or attention that MY things need.
Honestly I did not enjoy my trip to the Taj at all. A big part of this I can blame on the scorching sun, But a small part of the blame also goes to the dirty environment we have created around this beautiful monument.
Enough.
I need to come back to my blog tradition now..which means some "elo-melo-kotha" [directionless banter] which needs to end with a food discussion.
I do not have a recipe this time but what I have is a mouthwatering picture of a delicious dosa which we enjoyed enroute to Agra. 
[O God, give me the strength and will power to continue writing without drooling saliva all over my key board]

I will post a very very interesting menu card  in my next post.........Stay tuned!!

End-of-vacation-blues

Coming back from vacation is always difficult. It requires tremendousssss (yes, extra s added to emphasize) mental strength, immense patience, limitless optimism.....and lots of other things to break off from the "vacation mode" and embrace the monotony of routine life (where basically the alarm goes off at EXACTLY 6:15 am and from then on the clock takes over YOUR life).
I am  in that difficult phase of life.

The first think I hate after coming back are the suitcases. They are like these big, mean, smirky monsters, lurking in the corners of the landing, full of stuff (have no clue what)...sneering at you whenever you pass by them or trip over them...a crooked smile saying .."Unnnn pack me!"

I hate them.
The second thing is...okok..I will not bore you with this endless list of what-i-dont-like-after-vacation. So let me proceed with some more details with number one.

So I summon  enough courage and enthusiasm to really open the suitcases. Uff..what a scene..like the Pandoras box..I should have left them untouched...because there can be almost ANYTHING in them. Did I, the practical me, pack all these in?

Clothes, shoes, toiletries..   ok.
Table mats, gift items, wall decorations...  ok.

Sweets, indian snacks, MUSTARD OIL????

Each of these items, at some point of time during the vacation was thought of as a necessity..hence bought and packed! But at that point of time the mood was different. In the current O-my-God-vacation-is-over mood, I do not need any of these things. Hmmm...

Brooding does not help. Regular life needs to go on. The washing machine needs to be loaded umpteen times, then the dryer, dry clothes to be folded and back to their normal places, empty suitcases to be stowed away till the next vacation (which is light years away), kitchen store to be checked, food to be prepared, dishes to be washed,etc etc..

Realization hits...Vacation is over.

Dadu-r scooter e  ki moja.....

Priyankar Bata Macher jhol

One of the best things about Kolkata is its collection of fish and  peoples obsession with buying the "right" fish every morning.My father or father-in-law, (actually their generation) love to go to the fish market early morning, scrutinizing the fish, lifting the gills to check some unknown parameter which reveals the freshness-quotient, chatting with the fish shopkeeper about fish prices and fish produces and the fish slices, coming back home the proud owner of a good buy in a "special" plastic bag which usually (according to my mom or mom-in-laws, actually their generations instructions) goes directly to the sink till the lady of the house has time to clean and cook them.

I hear (from my father-in-law) that times have changed. He complains how "our" generation does not bother to check the fish they buy, nor look at the prices. This makes them "better" customers for the shopkeeper and hence at times the "old careful" ones are totally ignored by him.

Anyway, I love fish. Every inch of every fish.

This time in Kolkata Priyanka cooked lovely fish everyday....slluuurrpppppp!

Priyanka cooking delicious macher jhol

How to cook:

1. Fry the fish with little salt and turmeric. They should look as glamorous as in the picture above.

2. Cut Potatoes and Potol (Pointed gourd) in slices which for some reason look good and taste better in oblique slices. Dice one tomato.

3.Heat 1 table spoon oil . As it heats up add one small spoon of kalojeere and one sliced green chillie.

4. Then add  the potatoes, and the Potol pieces. Fry for a while , add turmeric and salt to taste.

5. Add tomatoes, fry for a while and then add water.

6. Let it simmer for a while (cook covered so that potatoes get cooked).

7. Add the fish one by one into the gravy (carefully so as not to spoil their glamorous fried look).

8. Cover and cook in low heat (without stirring) for 2 mins.

9. Switch off and serve with white rice....

10. Get praised!!!!

355 days left to taste this delicious Bata-macher-jhol again...........

Diploma and Dim-curry

The parents sat with flushed faces, eager looks, focused cameras as their little children took the "Diploma exam" yesterday. The instructor guided the bunch of kids through different types of swimming techniques trying to make a good exhibition. The kids, like a group of dolphins followed her instructions, small hands and small legs making the perfect swimming moves. Then they dived one after the other, went through a ring underwater, popped up their heads from water, eyes searching the crowd to make eye contact with the respective parents just to confirm the "wow" looks in their eyes! The parents looked on with beaming faces, precariously holding cameras to capture the "right angle " for the "right " photograph, some clapping and cheering, some totally speechless with their kids actions.....all of them proud and happy.
At the end of this exercise, the A-diplomas were handed out to the beaming kids...ten smiling faces, glistening with water drops, shining with pride. 

                                                    Congratulations Arno!

As soon as I said this, I knew what was coming.
"Mama, will I get a gift?"
;-)

Kids these days are amazing. They do so many things. Parents are amazing-er. They want them to do so many things. I remember, in my childhood, just balancing studies with singing lessons was already a challenge. My son balances studies with swimming lessons with tennis lessons with guitar lessons. I know of kids who have basket ball and judo on top of this list, their parents currently talking to the piano teacher to book a date!!
The big question I sometimes ask myself is "Is this the way to go?"
At this point I still feel the answer is "yes" as long as I can hold on to this list of my son and not put more on top!
I have to admit that each achievement of the kid does make us extremely proud. And I think I am saying this on behalf of all parents. It is really not about HOW good the achievement is, it is all about the sheer disbelief and awe of HOW the tiny thing whom WE gave birth to is growing up to achieve anything.THAT is what makes us so proud! Did that make sense at all? or am I just blabbering in a happy mood?
Going back to my childhood, I have vivid memories of LOTS OF STUDIES--lots of classwork, lots of home work and lots of exams to test what we learnt during our classworks and homeworks. I also have vivid memories of my singing teacher coming at home to teach me indian classical music once a week in the evening. As it is Ma was very strict with the evening playtime.  Her voice still rings clear and loud in my ears. "Street light jole jabar age bari ashbe" [Be back home before the streetlights go on]. ..And there was no option for any negotiations. The first thing I had to do after coming back home was wash my hands and feet and sit with the harmonium to practise singing atleast for 45 mins. After that the whole homework thing started till mom called us for dinner!Honestly did not enjoy it AT ALL. I must have promised ten thousand times that I will not make MY children go through this. EVER! 

Times have changed. 
I am a mom now. 
I want Arno to practise guitar everyday.
 ..and I do not like to negotiate at all...

Lets change the subject. For everyones good.
;-)
Lets cook  Dim curry.
Dim curry, in my family is a major comfort food. It is easy to make after a tired day, it tastes  good after travel, add a bit more oil and its good for a full fledged party....its really a saviour!!anyday..anytime!!

Dim curry: Any day any time food.

1. First boil the eggs
2. Heat one table spoon of oil (mustard really gives the kick but you can use white oil)
3. Add a pinch of turmeric and fry the eggs. (make some sharp knife slashes on the eggs so that they do not sputter)

4. Keep the eggs aside. To the same oil add whole garam masala (cardamom & cinnamon).I also add a small spoon of sugar which caramelizes and give a colour.
5.Add chopped onions and fry for 5 mins at medium heat. Add chopped tomatoes and chopped green chillies.
6.Add some coriander powder and garam masala powder. 
7. Add turmeric and salt to taste.
8 .When fully cooked , add the fried eggs and add 5-6 spoons of water.
9. Cover and cook for 5 mins in medium heat.
10. Switch off the heat and add fresh chopped coriander.
11. Serve with rice or roti.

Enjoy....................

German roller coaster and New Zealand Lamb racks

Life is a roller coaster.

How many times have we all said that? Philosophical looks? Heads nodding? Eyebrows knitted together? Grave expression?

The LITERAL meaning hit me last week!!!

As the small carriage (with us poor human beings cramped together in it) made its sharp turns, hurling itself up and down the slopes, my hair flying wild, vocal chords bursting with intense shrieks, clutching the bar infront with a I-want-to-stay-alive desperation, mercilessly plunging us now and then into darkness or water or whatever, adrenalin pumping, absolutely no control on life whatsoever, cameras flashing ... ....I thought,

Why ? WHY am I doing this? Am I not past the stage where I want to "prove" something? I closed my eyes (they were closed already from fear) and said a  silent prayer.

O God save me from such ventures now and forever! 
Give me the wisdom to say NO to such rides. Let me be normal. 
.......many many hours later(thats how long it felt), we reached the safety of mother Earth..
I opened my eyes and looked at Arno beside me..his face was flushed...his eyes dancing with glee...his excited and happy smile made me want to do it again!!! Haha!

It was a short break at school. We thought of surprising A-junior by visiting "Movie Park" in Germany. Everything was nicely planned and we set out for our destination. A-junior was TOTALLY thrilled when I dropped a hint....ok ok a bit more than a hint. But what we did not take into account was the fact that MOST parents in this part of the world wanted to surprise THEIR kids, hence the park was very very crowded. Each ride had a long queue..so long that you start making friends in the queue...a wait of 40 minutes on average...
This did not bother the kids at all. For me, every time I finally got on a ride, it felt like an achievement. And after all that wait, the ride was just 2 or 3 mins! (I know some felt like hours!)

But Arno definitely had fun....lots of it....on ground and in air! Other than that one roller coaster ride, honestly I had fun too. So did A-senior...
;-)

Now for some food...No story is complete without some food...food that was really good.

After all the fun in moviepark , we came back home and needed to do groceries. The plan was to get the regular bread, milk, fruits routine but somehow A-senior got totally mesmerized by the rack that had New Zealand lamb rack!! And he refused to budge from its side ...almost with the same looks in his eyes that Arno has when he stands infront of the CARS rack in the toy store! So in went New Zealand lamb racks into our trolley..and we headed back home ....a wide and satisfied grin on the husbands face...wife knowing that the rest of the evening she will be unloading the groceries while the husband will be researching recipes!! ..and lo behold thats EXACTLY what happened..

Anyway, very soon I was also pulled into this research scheme , since this was the first time we were cooking lamb racks at home. After some research, some google and some mutual consultations .. some recipes made it to the shortlist...and this is what we had. It tasted super..try it!!!!

New Zealand lamb racks in honey mustard.

I think this is how he made it. (I think!!)

But offcourse  like most chefs do..HE did improvise here and there ....

;-)

Ingredients:

• 1  lamb rack
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs
• 1/2 Tbsp of olive oil for the lamb
• 1 /2 Tbsp of honey
• 1 /2 Tbsp of Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp of sea salt
• 1/2 tsp of rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 large potato, 1 large carrot
• 2 Tbsp of olive oil for the vegetables

Preparation:

1. Heat the oven to 350F.
2. Put 2 Tbsp of olive oil into a baking tray. Place the vegetables in the tray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake the vegetables on the bottom oven rack for 20 minutes.
3. Mix the chopped garlic, breadcrumbs, 1/2 Tbsp of olive oil, rosemary, salt, honey and mustard into a mixing bowl. Make a paste.
4. Spread the paste evenly over the lamb rack. [see first photo] Cover the bones with aluminum foil so that they do not burn and change colour.Place lamb in the oven directly on the grill over the vegetables. This will allow for the drippings to collect with the vegetables and will enhance flavours. By now the vegetables should have been cooking for 25-30 minutes.
5. Roast the lamb for 20 minutes for rare meat or 30 minutes for well-done.

We enjoyed it with some simple pasta like below. Enjoy......