milkballs

rollum made us an incredibly delicious (but highly involved) meal last night: milkballs!  (that's what his dad called it; it's essentially fried, homemade indian cheese balls (paneer) with peas and tomatoes). the whole process took about 2 1/2 hours.  first step: homemade ghee (clarified butter).  you melt butter and skim the inpurities off the top.  in the meantime, bring a gallon of milk to a slow boil. after it boils, add the juice of two lemons.  then curds form.  (i missed the next part - i went to the store to get some cilantro).  for the "sauce" - rollum used a variety of spices (probably about 10 different ones), canned whole tomatoes, and peas.  when i got back from the store, he had the milk curds in a cheesecloth and we formed little balls out of the cheese.  this part's hard because the little buggers don't really want to stay together, but you have to pack the curds in kinda tight.  then he fried the balls in the ghee and transferred them over to the sauce.  i think he also added some of the whey to tomato juice (and maybe some ghee) to make the sauce more liquid-y.

THEN he decided he wanted to try his hand making poories for the first time - ghee solids, water, and whole wheat flour.  we rolled the dough out and then fried it in the ghee. they're supposed to poof out, and while they weren't as good as the indian restaurants, we did a pretty awesome job.  2 1/2 hours later...dinner time.  i literally said "mmmmm!" after every bite.  cheers to my awesome husband for making an awesome, authentic indian meal.  he is quite the cook now...he's been making different thai-ish stir fries with veggies, tofu and rice noodles.

  (LOOKS SEVEN YEARS OLD BECAUSE OF THE SHIRT AND SMILE)

in other news, i did a supported headstand for the first time in yoga tonight!  (shoulders rest on 2 chairs with my head inbetween 'em, go into downward dog and kick up, lay the legs against the wall).  in the past, i was always too afraid to just let myself go for this pose and to be upside down.  i had to close my eyes when i was inverted because it freaked me out. 

with all this talk of paneer, poori and yoga, i hereby declare this to be my hindu post.  

adventures in yard sales

i went to a yard sale in my 'hood during my break from work yesterday and spotted a 70s canon camera for sale.  i came home and did a little research and decided to buy it this morning, if it was still there.  it was, so i did.  there was a roll of film already in it, so i snapped some pictures in my backyard and took the film to walgreens.  it came back blank. so i thought, 'maybe the film was overexposed' so i bought a fresh roll...took some more pictures in my backyard...went back to walgreens=blank again!   i went back to the lady's house and thankfully she gave me my money back. (she had never even used the camera.  she said a woman had left it at her place of employment & never came back for it, so after a year she took it home, but it sat in the closet for years and years).  phew!  i was kinda concerned that i had paid a bit too much for it to begin with, so i am happy the way this all played out.  even though i feel like i've kinda wasted my saturday - 4 trips to walgreens, 1 visit to the Y, 1 mini sandwich at jersey mike's, and browsing at kohl's while i was waiting for film #2 to be processed.

i went to a few other yard sales this morning.  question:  why do people sell used socks, boxers, and bras at yard sales?  question:  does anyone actually buy used socks, boxers, and bras at yard sales? 

i ended up buying "the very best of talk talk" and xtc's "english settlement" on cd.  apparently we already have the talk talk cd.  and an old reader's digest book on sewing that i may pass along to carolyn if she's interested.  

this whole camera thing gave me a photography bug though.  i need to do a little more research and perhaps i'll find another cool old camera somewhere.  

kid pics

via popcandy:  this is a brilliant idea.  you submit a childhood photo & then a new picture re-creating the kid shot as an adult.   my potential candidates for re-creation...sorry for the katie overload:

                                                                

 

     

               

it's been awhile!  i wish i had something exciting to report, but the past week or two has been relatively uneventful.  no pretty pictures to post, no recipes to share.  i guess i'm just writing this for the sake of writing this.

a few not-really-noteworthy things:  

1-i did a focus group study for 20/20 research last week and made $100.   you should sign up for their mailing list, and you just may qualify to participate.  and make the easiest money of your life!  i think i signed a disclaimer saying i wouldn't write about my specific study.  but it involved face care.  

2-i've figured out what i'm going to do for my first gocco project, but i haven't actually made it yet (or taken the gocco out of the box).  hey, that's one step further than before!  but i can't tell you about it because it's a surprise for my family.  

my dog helen

rollum found some glasses in the closet last night.  why not put them on the dog?

chocolate chip pie

chocolate chip pie recipe

it's like a cookie cake, but in a pie pan. or, imagine a pie with no crust, but the entire thing is a cookie.  or, imagine smooshing several cookies into the shape of a triangle, and that's what it's like to have a piece of chocolate chip pie. but it's good.  if you like chocolate chip cookies.