VH1 and the Demise of My Youth

I'm watching VH1 classic and was feeling immensely kicked that they were playing eighties numbers that I knew by heart and loved dancing to, when it suddenly struck me, these songs are now called "classic" and my youth is gone, gone, gone.

Sunday Brunch Baked-Beans and herbs Frittata

I like to think Sunday is my day of leisure. Ha! Most Sundays, I am involved in my hobbies (painting, art and shopping) and cooking. My modus operandi is to bully my friends into brunch at Flurys, in the absence of which I cook myself a huge brunch and then go out in the evening for a fancy schmancy dinner.

Sunday brunch tends to stuff that I do not have the time to cook during the week like pancakes, dosas, parathas, french toast and very often a huge baked beans and herbs frittata. This frittata is a combination of baked beans and a masala omelette and goes really well on toast. This is very simple and impresses most visitors who think you have slaved for hours, when in reality, all you need to do is plonk stuff in and put your legs up and read the papers while sipping on Darjeeling, but lets not break illusions, hmmmm?

The Ingredients:

Eggs - 5 beaten
A cup of chopped, chiffonaded herbs - I used basil, coriander and parsley here - the basil was frozen, which is why it looks limp, but that doesn't matter because, the flavour is still fresh
A handful of peas - I use these mostly for visual effect, I sometimes also use chopped, diced coloured peppers
Chopped chillies - 2 or however hot you want this to be (you may eliminate this altogether, but I just love the chilli kick)
A small can of baked beans - I have used Druk, but Heinz on any other brand is as good
1 small chopped onion or scallions

Method:

In a small wok, kadhai, skillet, heat a table spoonful of oil (I use olive, any vegetable oil will do, though), add the onions/ scallions and chillies and cook until translucent. Do not let it brown. Add the herbs, peas and baked beans, mix well and cook for a minute or two. Beat eggs well, add some salt and pour the beaten eggs over the baked beans, peas, onion mixture. Reduce heat to really low, cover and let it cook.

When the eggs are set and not runny, take off the lid and turn off the heat and let it cool a bit.

When the skillet has cooled enough to be managable, invert over serving plate carefully, ensuring it does not break.

Slice and eat with warm toast.

I think the herbs and the chillies make all the difference. This is like a mouthful of soft eggs, flavoured with herbs, with a chilli zing, mixed with baked beans. This is enough for 4-6 people and makes a great leftover. I use the leftovers to make grilled sandwiches.

Judases

My friends have ALL abandoned me. Yes, Varsha, you bitch, you too.

The fault is mostly mine. I have been very, very, very busy at work and now, even though I have no friends, I finally have a magazine to my credit. Anyhow, this post is not about my fabulousness.

My friends are either chasing tail (yes Varsha, you), or over-involved with their spawns and devoted husbands and when confronted with my swinging singleness, try to make me feel bad by saying, "don't your parents worry about you?" "Don't you feel alone?" "Don't you want a family?" My answers scare them ( "No, remember, my parents are way cooler than yours and they were the ones who ignited the flame beneath the bra, so No", "No, I actually wish I had time to be alone so I could go for long vacations", "NO! Remember, I think the planet is overcrowded already. Didn't I always say I would never ever be a producer and I really do not want to be a part of the guilt circle") and the sorry losers they try to match me with make me retch. I have made up my mind that the next time it happens, I will remind them of their ex-boyfriends, how they won debates on sexual empowerment and how affronted they felt when professors told them that their tags would help them hook better husbands (it worked).

Women, please do not make me remind you of things that will make you inwardly cringe.

I Love The French

I made friends with two french ladies in Italy, yes Italy. It gave me an insight into the french. This is how women should be. They both (I made friends with them independently) appreciated clothes (my beautiful leather jackets were appreciated very solidly, while I admired their interesting bohemian inspired clothes), make up - They did not know about MAC and when I said Estee Lauder, they snorted derisively and said, "Oh! Estee Laudayr!", food (including dessert, I am surprised - American women I am scared of dining with because they do not eat and when they do, it is either organic or vegan or only fish or they are allergic to whatever's on the menu - egad! French women on the other hand eat everything and will try all kinds of food and discuss it endlessly. My kind of women), wine (one of them knocked off 5 glasses of red wine without any perceptible side-effects), the arts and did not go for jogging at 5 am everyday. Also, they are non-politically correct, opinionated, gossip and are intimately interested and curious about everyone else's affairs. If the French were Indian, they would be Bengali, I am completely convinced of this.

Locked In

I got locked in the office today. Life rocks, I tell you!

Exotic Bengal

This is my new perfume. I bought it as a present for either my mother or my sister, but I liked it so much, I've kept it for myself. Next time folks! This says it has notes of ginger, mandarin, jasmine, apricot, osmanthius, sandalwood and musk.

After a while, all I can smell is the ginger, jasmine and sandalwood and I love it. This is going to become one of my favourite scents.

Soon to come...

More pictures of my travels.

I wish to God I had more time.

Modern Times

I'm always amazed by brazenness about job experience and resume padding. Some people will do anything to make themselves appear good. Corporate job descriptions make me laugh. You could be a james clip arranger, but your job title could read "Senior Vice President - Operations". Which is why it is so easy for people to get away with shameless resume padding. For eg. Someone who "manages" an entire business unit has actually been fired from their last place of work for watching porn or for being a constant non-performer, and suddenly you find their bio on the Internet claimimg to have been "employee of the month" for all consecutive months of employment with said employer. Nice. Outsourcing firms, dime a dozen now will hire *anyone*, provided they can speak fluent English. These are the people who handle your bank records, confidential records, legal records and flight details. Be afraid people, be very afraid.