So the housewarming party we had was also disguised as a birthday party for Rabi. Never one to make a big deal about himself, I knew that I would have to fool him into celebrating his own birthday. One thing that he won’t ever turn down though is chocolate…especially a chocolate cake. I’ve made this one a couple of times, though the last time was this summer. Though the cake is good, the frosting is to die for and really makes the cake. read more »
I know, I know, it’s well past Thanksgiving, but some of us don’t want the day to end. I had planned on getting this post up for Thanksgiving, but medical school got in the way. Like my old college days, we had several exams crammed into the three day week leading up to Thanksgiving.
I hope everyone else had as wonderful a holiday as I did. This is probably my favorite holiday of the year as my family fully participates, unlike Christmas, and it’s always at our house, which means my sister and I have started putting our personal touches on it each year as we’ve gotten older. Though most of our blood relatives are still in India or scattered throughout the country, we have a core group of close family friends with whom we have been celebrating the holidays for as long as I can remember. Everyone has the same dishes that they bring and though sometimes I think about trying a new item for the menu, it’s always nice to have the old favorites. I’m so thankful to have such loving family and friends and a wonderful tradition each year. I know not everyone has such fond memories of Thanksgiving and I’m glad that spending time with my family is actually something I look forward to each year. read more »
Our condo is finally presentable, so we did what any logical couple did and threw a housewarming party. Unfortunately, there was so much excitement and fun at the party, I didn’t get any actual pictures of the party, so you’ll have to take my word for it. I definitely have a fun time playing hostess (though cleaning up the next morning–not so much). Even with playing hostess though, I decided to take advantage of my talented friends and make it a potluck so I wouldn’t be in the kitchen all day. I knew that there wouldn’t be enough chairs for a fussy sit down meal, so I decided to make a couple of finger foods for people to graze on the entire night. read more »
I know that we’re already 1 week into November, but who doesn’t love Halloween? In medical school, we have these small groups that you meet with every week during first year. You really get to know these people and since it’s a Thursday afternoon class, it’s always nice to have a nice snack. If you can tell, I love to bake and when I saw these on Baking Bites a couple weeks ago, I knew I wanted to make them the week of Halloween. Honestly, if only I was so organized for my actual studying.
There are many milestones in one’s life, such as graduating from college, getting married, having your first child and all those things. Then there is getting to your 30th wedding anniversary. Today my parents have reached this milestone and it’s made me all mushy and nostalgic inside-though obviously I wasn’t there. It’s amazing to me that they’ve lived over half their lives with each other and have been through things like deaths, births, weddings, graduations and everything in between. They’ve bought houses, sold houses, created a home, created a family, raised two (pretty awesome) girls, all with lots of love and laughter. I know there have been some hard times, but I think overall, they’ve lived a pretty good life and I know I wouldn’t be where I am today without them and though I’m sure they wanted to kill me at points, I think they think I’m pretty awesome as well. That’s what parents have to do.
I suppose this is hitting even closer to home now that I’m engaged and going to be married (relatively) soon. At times, it seems like such a natural act and I knew that it was always going to be something that would happen, but now that it’s here, it all seems very surreal. Rabi and I will start our own family and have our own experiences, similar to those of my parents, but they will be our own. Though many of our friends have already taken this step, I think it’s always different when it’s yourself. Despite all these concerns, at the end of the day, I’m really not that worried. I’ve really had the best married couple as an example for my entire life and if I can do half as well, I think I will be OK. Thanks, Mom and Dad…and Happy Anniversary!
I grew up with a mom that loved gardening. We always had beautiful gardens and fresh cut flowers all summer long in each of our bedrooms. I don’t think I ever really appreciated it, mainly because I was usually recruited to the weeding and that is probably the very last thing a teenager wants to do on her summer weekends. I did enjoy the flowers though and eventually when I left home and lived in the ‘big city’ for a bit, I did miss the random green of living in the suburbs as well as the special vases of flowers my mom used to leave on my dresser on a warm summer day.
I’ve of course gotten flowers for many reasons from a certain boy, but never really had them on a regular basis around the house. A dorm room it not really conducive to having vases of flowers around, but once I started living in my own apartment, I always had this vision of having weekly flowers gracing my table. Then I went to the store and my poor post college wallet would not be able to handle this dream. Since I’ve moved back to Worcester, I’ve started shopping at Trader Joe’s more, where amongst many treats, they sell pretty cheap flowers. I debated back and forth whether I should spend the money, but then realized that sometimes, it’s the little things in life. So maybe it’s 6 dollars not well spent, but at least it brightened up my day.
I live with a bonafide chocolate snob. Rabi constantly needs to find the next level in chocolate awesomeness and usually poo-poos the people’s chocolate, such as Hershey’s. As you have probably realized, I’m a baker and usually when left up to Rabi, I need to make something chocolately. I’m not sure where I first saw this recipe mentioned, but a couple of blogs I read have mentioned Hershey’s recipes from their website. I was a bit hesitant to try something from Hershey’s as Rabi will sit and explain to you why he doesn’t like this type of chocolate. I won’t give anything away as I wouldn’t want to steal his thunder, but needless to say he’s not a Hershey’s fan.
