Time Square, New York

Whether you choose to watch the ball dropping from your television or live; Times Square, NYC is synonymous with New Year's Eve. For the 104th time, the ball will drop on the night of the 31st**. Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and others are performing this year**. 

On a personal note, 2011 was good and went by too fast. Usually I host the New Year's Eve party. How ever, I was tempted to grab the very first invite I received. A friend of mine from school is hosting it and the theme is Casino Night, with evening entertainment provided by the guests. The girls (aka us) are performing the song from "Rang De Basanti". We took the steps from the flash mob performance in Mumbai CST station for the same song. Much to the ridicule of my kids and husband, we have been "practicing" for the performance. 

Each family usually performs a dance or a spoof of a movie scene. I am looking at either "Yamma Yamma", a song from the movie Shaan or something related to the latest rage "Kolaveri Di". Any other ideas ...let me know.

** source : TimesSquare Official Website.

2011 at a Glance

Song Of The Year - Kolaveri Di, a Tamil song from no where (sung by an actor, Dhanush and music by a new music director) gained immense popularity by means of posting and re-posting on FB, twitter and other social media sites. It made headlines in one of the top Indian newspapers, The Hindu and finally found its way to being named 'Top Song of 2011' by CNN. Is Grammys the next for Kolaveri Di?

Times Person Of The Year : "The Protestor". This is my personal favorite. People all over the world stood up to things bigger than themselves and rocked those in power. Aptly awarded by Times.

Word Of The Year : Humble Brag. The urban dictionary defines it as bragging about something with out either realizing it or doing it subliminally. Most face book messages and blog posts are humble brags by nature. An exaggerated example would be "I am so tired of waiting in the line for the David Letterman show".

See any trend there? All of the above are driven by people. There is so much information out there on blogs, FB and twitter on things like home decor to scripting apple apps to parenting choices. It is tough not to become copycats and blindly follow what others are doing. What works for one in personal life, friendship, parenting, relationship or career may never be the right choice for you. Make your own rules, even if its copied or inspired; tweak it to suit you and where you are at, in life. Leaving you with a simple yet profound thought from the genius of the century.

Life is too short to lead another person's life - Steve Jobs.

Happy New Year - 2012

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Lego Dragons

More often than not, toys for kids are highly over-rated. This post is not about whether kids need toys or not but about one kind, I have no problem buying for my kids - Legos. It's raining Legos in our household. My six year old has been churning pieces into Ninjago Dragons and the one above is supposedly the Jade Castle. At times with his dad and at times with his grandma. The one above - all by himself. 

Lightning dragon

We got him a few for Christmas. I promised him I will get him the Fire Dragon with the Castle if he finishes all the other dragons. The fire dragon/castle has a whooping 1174 pieces. Now that he kept his word, I am off to get him his Ninjago - Fire Dragon. I only wish these were not expensive.

Ice Dragon

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Bake Crumbs Shop, New York City

Don't get fooled by the picture, these cup cakes are humungous and that's coming from person with the biggest sweet tooth ever. I tried the Blackout cupcake and could not finish it, even on an empty stomach. However I have to say, the texture was moist and gooey with chocolate fudge inside. The crumbs on the top was the best part.

I am simply on a chocolate-craving phase.

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Dylan's Candy Land

The above is the ginger bread house in Dylan's Candy Land. Pretty impressive one.

All I saw was sugar in all shapes, sizes and color. What else can you expect from a candy store.

Did I tell you, they play really loud music inside the shop.

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Chocolate Pecan Pie

Pecans grow in Texas. There are farms where you can buy pecans and they crack open the nuts for you. This year there is a shortage of pecans due to severe drought and export to China. Yes, you heard that right. We export pecans to China. Now, enough of the general knowledge lesson. This is a post from a time when I was going through a pecan obsession. I skipped most of the ingredients from the original recipe and struck to pretty much the chocolates and pecans. I made a chocolate pecan pie for Thanksgiving.

Recipe

1. Melt 4 ounces of chocolate chip and 1/2 a stick of butter.
2. Beat 3 egg whites and 1 tsp vanilla extract.
3. Fold in the eggs and the chocolate mixture.
4. I used frozen store bought pie crust. So I baked the pie crust first according to the instruction on the package.
5. Pour the filling into the pie and bake at 325 for 45-50 minutes.

We saved this bottle of Pinnacle dessert wine from our trip to Canada this Summer for a special occasion and were thoroughly disappointed. To top it all, we took a bottle to my husband's cousin home when we visited them. Moral of the story, stick with wines or tested and tried dessert wines as a host presents. Good part, this will serve as a story opportunity for future get-togethers.

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Central Market, New York City

There's food all over the city and you still don't see as many overweight people as you find in the other parts of the country. Most walk a lot on a daily basis to commute, the kind of walk you do in an airport to catch a flight. Not like a scheduled walk/run on the treadmill, that comes along with a load of excuses, if you are not up to it.

The Central Market is a good place to pick vegetables, fruits, breads, pastries, sauces, cheeses, spices, tea , flowers and other condiments you generally find in a farmer's market.

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Christmas Day Brunch

I am not a big gadget person and a very few appeal to me. Like the dishwasher that truly washes without help or a GPS/beeper that can tell me where my car is parked in a crowded lot. Its sad most of these are not in market yet. I have been eying the hand blender for a while. Santa apparently heard that and I got one. It's only obvious, I went over board with the whipping.

I whipped up milk for my coffee, cocoa and milk for hot chocolate and finally whipped up a Panettone French Toast.

Panettone is an Italian cake you get only during the holiday season. The taste is similar to the plum or fruit cake and is a lot less sweeter making it a good candidate for a French Toast. May be we should be called an Italian-French-Toast.

Recipe

4 Egg Whites

2 Cups Milk

A Pinch of Saffron

1 Teaspoon Illaichi Powder

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon Powder

1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar

1 Panettone

Method

1. Slice and discard the top crust and bottom.
2. Slice the remaining panettone into slices of medium thickness
3. Whip all of the above except the Panettone.
4. Dip the sliced panettone into the mixture and toast it on a hot gridle
5. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top before serving.

I usually add a pinch of cinnamon powder to the sugar and powder it in a small coffee grinder.

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It's The Most Wonderful Time ...

With the advent of online shopping, malls and other retailers no longer invest in Christmas decor the same way they did years ago. I was glad NY has still retained the Christmas spirits. As you walk around, many corporate buildings have huge decorated trees in their atrium.

Retailers dress up their windows in wintery themes.

... a carousel on display here

and trees lighted on streets ...

Wishing You & Your Family A Merry Christmas

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Deck The Halls And Other Self-Made Traditions

I am home and glad I don't have to travel again until 2012. There's nothing more I want to do the last two weeks of the year than spending it with the kids and family. We started a few holiday traditions after our kids were born. We flip a few things here and there but follow a few every year meticulously. 

Our tree goes up the day after Thanksgiving. There are years me and my husband do not buy gifts for each other but we always do for our kids. I take the kids with me to my husband's favorite shop so the kids can choose a gift for him and he does the same for me. We started this tradition this year. Its a good age for the  kids to pay attention to what their parent's likes and dislikes are.

Outdoor lights goes up for Diwali and stays until New Years. Like a true desi shopper I buy lights for the following year right after Christmas. Each year our collection grows and some are just replacements for those that stop working.

We fuss over Christmas day brunch and is usually my favorite. Hot chocolate is a big part of our lives this time of the year and there are other ways chocolate sneaks into the brunch menu.

The kids made a ginger bread house from a kit. It was pretty simple to make. Not the fanciest of all houses, but they had fun making it.

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Hot Chocolate in the City

Eating is as much a part of my travel escapades as much as walking around the city. When in New York City, you have to savor a cup cake from Magnolia, share a NY bagel with veggie cream cheese, try a black and white cookie, ice skate at either Bryant Park, Rockerfeller Center or Central Park and then have a hot chocolate. Bryant park kind of super-cedes Rockerfeller Center for me. I personally thing the later is over rated and pricy. 

Right at the intersection of 42nd and 6th Avenue is Bryant Park. Aroma Espresso Bar is one of the places where you get the most decadent cup of hot chocolate. A good way to keep yourself warm on a cold rainy night, when you have to walk a couple of miles to get to your destination.

The Christmas Tree At Bryant Park

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Neuhaus, New York City

When we visited Belgium, one of the co-passengers on the plane recommended "neuhaus". For what ever reason, we were unable to go there. Not that we did not eat chocolates, just chose other places. Frankly we were overwhelmed with the number of chocolate shops in Belgium. We couldn't walk an inch with out finding a shop we did not want to eat from.

Well, not going to "nehaus" was not a missed opportunity as I saw a glimpse of this shop from the side walk as I was passing by the Grand Central. I had to stop in, tasted a few and bought some for my family. Do watch out, some of their stock is not fresh. Buy what you taste and you won't be disappointed.

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Rockerfeller, NYC and Other TV Shows

The first time I went to NYC, I could'nt wait to take my daughter to NYC during Christmas. Presenting to you the Queen of Trees, the one in Rockerfeller. I am sure you can google up facts on the tree and the traditions around it.

This time around, the 30 Rockerfeller center also reminded me of 30 Rock. If you do not watch that show, I highly recommend it. Especially with all the travel for business, I have added a couple of TV shows during the weeknight. As I am not busy making dinner or watching the kids do home work.

Two Broke Girls is hilarious, the girl's got a mouth and you cannot watch with kids. Other new shows on my DVR are Suborgatory, Two and a 1/2 Men And More 'How I Met Your Mother'.

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Avra - New York City

You certainly need a reservation to get into this one. One of the best upscale places to get Greek food in mid-town East especially if you like seafood. Their wine selection is good or I should say the wine recommended by the bartender was good.

I always find Greek food salty and lemony. May be I should remember to remind the waiter to go easy on the two. Other than that, I loved my food and was good with the restaurant I choose to dine in.

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NYC Style Inspirations

Loft and Limited are my favorite stores. I should probably look for work in one of these stores or make friends with someone working there to benefit from employee discounts. Loft was everywhere in NYC and loved their displays.

I think the above is Fendi's display but can't remember. The one below is from a local boutique and thought it was blog-worthy.

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Magnolia Bakery, New York City

You have to try their red velvet cup cake. We waited 15 minutes to get in. At this point of my trip, I was convinced there is a good treat at the end of every long or short queue. We chose a banana, walnuts, pineapple cupcake, a flour less brownie and a red velvet cupcake.

If you are lucky you may get to see a baker or two icing the cake.

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The View(s), NYC

 

Can't believe this shot is from my 4S iphone. It was a foggy night and the colorful building on the right is Dylan's Candy shop.

Another foggy day shot from the 46th floor close to Times Square. There was just enough sunlight to make the Liberty island look like its floating in the clouds.

 

Another I can't believe its butter 4S picture. Night view of the Empire state building from 46th floor.

I wonder how somebody can focus on anything even remotely work related with a view as spectacular as this. View from the 45th floor.

There are just a few days with ample light in NY. I should really not be complaining. It was high 50s in the beginning of December. This was a shot of the street right below from the 46th floor.

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Walk With Me

Based on my description, this trip may look like a sight seeing trip, but in reality, it was not. I was at work pretty much from morning to at least 6 in the evening. I am a traveler at heart. No matter where I am or how little time I have at hand, I act like a tourist. All of these places were shot on my walk to and from my hotel.

My kids and husband joined me on the weekend and we took them to a select place or two.The picture above is that of Radio City.

The Grand Central

The New York Public Library

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