Somewhere Over The Rainbow

It's been a few months, Riya and I head out right after school, once a week, for a mom-daughter, girl to girl talk. No topic is out of bounds for these tete a tete. At times the conversation is intense and at other times it gets as silly a 12 year old can get. We discuss Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With The Wind and recite dialogues from "The God Father", a side effect of watching all the 3 parts back to back this Thanksgiving break. Time does fly. It feels like yesterday, when we brought her in a car seat from the hospital and today we discuss middle school drama with her.

Can you see the secondary rainbow?

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Tiger Creek, Tyler TX

My parents joined us for our Thanksgiving dinner along with my cousin, her family and a friend of hers. A friend of mine and I headed out shopping in the wee hours of mid-night. What's Thanksgiving without a bit of  retail therapy.

Saturday, we visited the Tiger Park in Tyler, a conservatory for rescuing tigers. They have about 30 tigers and close to 40 big cats in total including a couple of lions, pumas, bob cats etc. I don't think I have ever seen so many tigers in one place. Looks like there are more in captivity than in nature. Rohan was all attention to what the guide was telling us and re-enforced multiple times that the trip was worth the long drive.

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Grapevine Lake, Texas

Looking for a good hiking route in DFW metroplex area, the trail around the Grapevine lake is an option. May be not in Summer as it's right around the lake and it feels way more hotter than it really is. Not something you need in Texas Summer.With that said, it's a great option for a Fall or Spring time.

Most lakes in Texas, with the exception of two are man made. Natural or not, sails in water capture my attention and a place on this blog. Must have been the influence of English poets like Williams Wordsworth. Too bad they do not do much of English poetry in my kids' schools, at least not yet.

Received some goodness from a friend's backyard. One bite into it, I am determined to add some plums and peaches to our garden next year.

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Samosa And Chai

It's a beautiful Autumn day outside, while I am still in August on my blog posts. Another major, may be not, milestone that occurred during the Summer is that my kids learned to make tea. Tea making is a perfect start to teach somebody how to cook as it starts off with boiling water. A little flavoring gives the new chef some freedom to try out their natural abilities and be a little experimental while staying with in the boundaries.

Here's the recipe I taught them to make a cup of tea.

Heat 3/4th a cup of water with crushed ginger and 2 cardamoms

When the water starts boiling, add a teaspoon of tea

Simmer the tea and add 1/4th cup or less of milk.

Wait patiently until the tea boils. Turn the stove to low heat for a couple of minutes and switch it off.

Filter and serve tea with samosas, rusks or Parle-G, our favorite go to biscuit to have with tea.

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Read ... Laugh ...Repeat

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Chinese Lantern Festival, Dallas, TX

A must see exhibit of lights beaming with creativity. Dragons made out of Porcelain plates, ancient creatures assembled from tiny bottles filled with colored liquid, ants on vacation some see-sawing while others playing a band, a miniature Temple Of Heaven about 1/3rd the size of the original one, mermaids, mushrooms, octopus gardens, dinosaurs, flamingos and Texas long horns to name a few exhibits.

No doubt the dragon was the high light of the show, mainly because the 300 feet dragon built from 15,000 dishes joined by hand is spectacular. Can you spot the plates?

The peacock simply stole my heart with dynamically changing lights imitating the natural movements of the peacock feathers.

The picture/photo does not do justice to the lilies and lotuses lighting up the pond. A couple of weeks ago, we had sneaked peaked into the Lantern festival during Diwali Mela as the venue was the same for both the events. We decided to come back another day and I am so glad we did. It's worth the 15$ for parking and the ticket price.

I am off from work starting tomorrow. What a delightful way to kick start our holiday season. I have to admit, the show was way better than I expected it to be.

You can find more pictures on pintrest.

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Happy Diwali

 

It's still raining Diwali celebrations here in Dallas. I have a 2nd round of Diwali party at work tomorrow. The first one was held last Friday. My parents are here to join in the festivities with us. Super exited about that!!! We hosted last weekend with sparklers and sweets galore.

I have a new found love for sarees. But some how could not get myself to buy one this Diwali for a one or two time wear. Sure I will get there, some day. The water jug filled with roses and the heavy duty appam-maker (appam-karai) as shown in pictures below are my latest finds. Actually my dad's finds.

The roses are from our back yard. Yes, it's still green here in Texas and sure is a pleasure to party out doors in November. Until I find a chance to make appams, the appam maker shall serve the purpose of a candle holder.

 

Of course my favorite urli filled with flowers, starring along side is the wooden floors that I am still mad about.

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