interlude

fest

quick trip to the southern vaterland:


5 fast days of planes and trains, cookies and cooking, and the comforts of a home not quite so far away, yet in some ways the absolute opposite of the world i live in now.

hit or miss?

global trade.

theobroma christmas stollen. stollen is a traditional christmas bread. usually hard to find in good quality in the states, and hard to avoid in germany. unlike fruitcake, its drier, yeasty, and not overwhelmingly sweet. to make one properly takes a lot of time and energy, and just the right ingredients, so sometimes the store-bought ones are more reliable.
at the beginning of the month, they showed up at theobroma, looking fairly legit. to be seasonal (and have a little taste of christmas) i picked up a few small ones and gave them away, saving one to take to germany, to the fussiest stollen critic i know. the verdict was 'not bad'. kind of overly sweet, and the marzipan inside was double the size that it needed to be, but overall, A for effort. for that, and the novelty of hausgemacht stollen in india, it was a hit.


thank you theobroma, for trying.

hiatus

the elephants, and this blog, have been on hiatus since the end of september.
im going to attempt to catch up and fill-in-the-gaps (by way of post-dating, and finishing drafts started) upon return to mumbai on 29.12.08.
happy holidays.

hit or miss?

back to when we were on holiday.

some random place near the taj. the train to agra got in early, we were still half asleep. what we really needed was a place to wash up, but decided to order food to cover our bathroom usage.
the menu said 'break fast'.
and also 'peanutbutter toast'.
the chai was fine. so were the eggs. but what better than creamy nut-based proteins spread over warm bread to jumpstart your day?
a pb sandwich deconstructed, of course!
the toast was literally peanut+butter+toast.
maybe it was a joke? this went well beyond comprehension, so far, that i hesitate to call it a miss.
surreal. sticking with the chai... but thanks.

a quick vacation

very quick.
and very amazing.

udaipur, jodhpur, agra, and delhi. less than 24 hours in each place.

mouldy passports
rainy courtyards
lake palaces
movie-star priests
temples of columns
neon green hills
elephant traffic
roadside chai
rooftop beers
indigo stained everything
punctuated by color
traveling pilgrims
beautiful shoes
overnight trains
naps on marble
red on white
puri thali
the other taj
capitol heat
expressive cappuccinos
new airplane windows
















it was wonderful. and i want to go back.
(but im so glad to be home)