Cooking for Mr. Latte

I just finished reading and rereading 'Cooking for Mr. Latte' by Amanda Hesser. A long time back, my friend A who also shares a similar appreciation for books about food, (not cookbooks really) had recommended this to me. But with the more pressing challenges of graduating on time, this sort of remained on the back burner. A few months back I came across it on the shelves of the public library and got it home. It was such a good read that it went straight to my birthday wish list and R bought it for me. I have always liked books where the narrative is interwoven with stories about food, houses - 'Under the Tuscan Sun' being a good example. This book follows a brief window in the author's life - her courtship with Mr. Latte and the role that food played in it from their first date to their marriage. I like the ease with which the author, (well she writes/ wrote about food for the New York times, so that would explain the ease) writes about her life, invites the reader to follow her experiences with her family and his, and the progress of their relationship, in all of which, food plays a part. In all it was a light, feel good read, for those times when you just need a break!

Corn Chilli Soup

A long time back, R and I had gone to Austin Java Cafe for dinner. We always order their soup and sandwich special. I love soups and they always have a good soup on their daily specials. Our perennial favorite is the African Spicy Peanut Soup, but they had a jalapeno corn chowder that particular day which sounded intriguing. So I went ahead and ordered that. (I am the culinary adventurer of the couple, as you might be able to tell). It was fantastic. A smooth , slightly sweet corn soup with an underlying spicy smoky taste of jalapenos. I don't know how they make it, but I have been dying to recreate it or at least attempt it ever since. I finally got to try it out a few days back. I think theirs was a smooth corn texture, but I let about 1/4th of the corn stay whole and I ended up using Thai Birds Eye chillies instead of jalapenos.

I used about 20 ounces of sweet corn kernels and 8-10 Thai Birds Eye chillies. I covered the corn with about double the amount of water in my soup pot and set it to boil. While the corn was boiling, I stir fried the chilies in a little oil in a pan. When the corn boiled over once, I turned of the heat and let it cool a bit. Then I put about 3/4 of it along with the water from the soup pot in the blender along with the chillies. After pureeing it to a smooth consistency, I put the mixture back in the soup pot along with the remaining 1/4 of the whole corn kernels. I added about 2 tsps of salt and about 2 ounces of Velveeta cheese and let it boil for 10-15 minutes.

Obama vs. McCain

Some quick thoughts about the second Obama McCain Debate -

"that one"? huh, I found that patronising, condescending and very disdainful.

I liked Senator Obama's answer regarding the priorities he had while fixing the economy and also the fact that he thinks health care in such a country should be a right.

Overall, the debate was pretty much 'more of the same' but I guess after listening to this for atleast one year, one can't really expect anything new, at the end of the night for the last question regarding what they did not know and how they would learn it, I felt like they regurgitated their trademark lines over again just to say that closing statement.

One more to go - and then November 4th!

Biden vs. Palin

some quick thoughts on the vice presidential Biden Palin debate -

Senator Biden did not make any 'gaffes' as he was expected to, hurrah for Team Obama!

Governor Palin performed above expectations too.

But the main event of the debate for me was how well prepared Joe Biden is to be the vice president of this country. His answers were well informed, sincere, and he knew what he was taking about. I did not know that he has been advocating for intervention in Darfur, that's not an issue many people are talking about in this election, but he clearly felt strongly about it. I haven't been the biggest fan of Joe Biden, I supported Hillary Clinton through out the primaries and was rooting for her to get the VP nomination. Can you imagine that debate - Clinton vs. Palin... that would have been THE debate to watch. But then Senator McCain would probably have never chosen Governor Palin as his running mate if Hillary Clinton had been the vice-presidential nominee. If people still feel that the Republicans are going to get the womens vote, they really need to take a look at Joe Biden's record on womens issues. It was an interesting departure from the first debate that the media were tracking men and women on the debate and not Democrats, Republicans and Independants. Time and again, and especially after Bidens answer regarding him being a single parent to his children after the tragic death of his wife and daughter, I felt his answers showed humility, decency and grace under pressure. After watching Joe Biden today, I say 'good choice- Barack!'

Hillary vs. Palin

As I have mentioned before, I was an avid supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton during the Democratic Primaries. That she isn't the nominee is disappointing, but well Barack looks like he is on the right path. But McCain choosing Palin as his running mate sure riled me up! I love this Newsweek article in which the author Patti Davis lays out why Governor Palin is not really the right choice to entice the votes of Hillary backers. Governor Palin might prove to be a good Vice President, but she sure is no Hillary Clinton!

Some Green Articles

May's issue of Vanity Fair magazine, the Green issue has excellent articles about architecture, farming practices, policy backing involved in the greening of energy supplies etc. Some articles that I found very informative were:

Industrial Revolution: Take Two - an article about the author of 'Cradle to Cradle' William McDonough and his architectural practice and beliefs. Its put the book 'Cradle to Cradle' on my 'must read soon' list.

Barack Obama in Austin : Round 1 in the K household

R and I have both been passionate followers of the Primaries, R more so than me. Since we are a house divided on the issue, though we both support the Democrats this election, we have many long and heated 'conversations' on the subject. We have both agreed to disagree without trying to convert the other to our cause. I have been supporting Senator Clinton till now, while R is a staunch Barack loyalist. I would like to make this clear that I do not oppose Senator Obama, I think it is the policy grounding that I got in my planning degree which makes me support Hillary who as is evident in her speeches and debates, is an unashamed policy wonk, though of course the idea of the first female US President is in itself tremendously exciting. I do of course believe that she is thoroughly qualified to be the President. When we heard that Barack Obama would be conducting a townhall in Austin on the 28th of February, we both jumped at the chance to attend.

The townhall was supposed to start at 9.30 am at the Austin Convention Center. R, I and our friend A, in our enthusiasm got there at 7.15 to discover a long line outside. People had started lining up at 5 am! Well. Austinites are definitely passionate about their politics! The doors opened at 7.30 and we were able to get excellent seats in the third row, about 15 feet away from the podium. By 9.30 the place had pretty much filled up and one could feel the excitement in the air as everyone waited for Barack Obama to show up. He showed up around 9.50 to the loud chanting of Yes We Can! There is no denying that he is an extremely charismatic and gifted orator, with excellent control of the audience who were hanging on to his every word. The 15 minute speech felt a little jaded though, but the blame is probably on this media driven age where we have heard and read the speech many times over. I had two questions, one was about his plans to invest in green energy and the other to invest in funding research at Universities. Both got answered along with other questions and I must say that though of course there was not enough time to answer it in as much detail as I would have liked, he did have polices I would agree with. In all, he was able to take only six questions on subjects ranging from 'No Child Left Behind' , the US Patent Office, fiscal responsibility for the government, foreign aid to Africa to creating jobs for the next generation. I personally thought the highlight of the debate was the fact that he seems to be keen about fiscal responsibility, even though liberal Democrats are often accused of being big spenders. The 'cute' moment of the meeting came at the end, when he took a question from a 9 year old who actually had two questions, the first one being if he would sign her book.

I liked the fact that he doesn't offer a panacea to everything and doesn't promise that the government would solve everyones' difficulties. He emphasized that although the government could put helpful policies in place and help people along the way, it is up to people to be proactive and take charge of their lives. I thought that this attitude overall makes him a compelling choice for the Democrat nominee. Of course I am still not a total convert till I give Hillary a chance!