Moms out there YOU ROCK!!!

10 random thoughts that cross my mind in my role as Mom:

1. To come back home from a full day of work, pause slightly at the front door - muster up all my strength and walk in and announce 'Team buckle up Mama is here'. Well, this also means the kids almost ignore you until you raise your voice and scream 'GIRLS did you hear me, I am here!!'

2. It means as you drive back home 'you make a mental note of what is in the refrigerator, what I could cook for dinner and also updating Cozi with the things that still needs to be bought for tomorrow's dinner. Sometimes, it also means taking a sharp detour at the last minute, freaking the hell out of drivers behind me when I realise that I need to stop by the grocery story to pick up Crème fraîche for the chicken masala I would like to make.

3. It means answering a very urgent late evening call from a colleague at work with one hand and at the same time trying to tell little bunny using a lot of futile actions telling her that her handwriting could be much much better. I keep reminding myself that she will not have to write on paper when she is my age, but anyways.

4. It means getting the best welcomes in the world to die for after a business trip - but then as a matter of fact expected to immediately shed your business attire and jump back to being Mummy again - 'Mama can you take us to the schwimmbad today?' At the same time looking into hubby eyes totally in acceptance of the fact that the real superman was at home holding up all fronts diligently single handedly.

5. It means churning up some yummy food to eat in very quick intervals of time and then getting really painful looks as to why this yuckky stuff has to be really eaten completely. Thankfully gets compensated by hubby happily digging into dinner with a content smile.

6. Getting corrected regularly on the right usage of German grammar especially the artikels and constantly correcting the kids to use either complete German or English sentences.

7. It means getting squeals of delight from across the Atlantic to see their Mom on Facetime, where you would do anything in your strength to reach out and kiss their innocent faces.

8. It means trying to squeeze in couple of hours no matter how short a business trip may be to get back home with a little small gift that they would love but you know very well would be lying somewhere under the bed in a couple of days time.

9. It means lying in bed with your little ones all cuddled up and reading a night time story and stopping to take a deep breath thanking God for such blissful moments when in the next minute there could potentially be a screech right into your ears 'MAMA, she tugged on my half of the blanket !!!'. These moments of bliss always comes and goes in waves. These waves can be compared to the birthing contractions where the break between them for a woman is so blissful, but you are almost on the verge of knowing what is coming up next. I think I am analyzing that thought a bit too much here, I better stop.

10. It also means trying to endlessly clear up the clutter in every room of the house and having to start all over again in kind of cyclic intervals. But cleaning clutter even comes with an advantage, that it gets you into this state of nirvana where I can clearly visualize a product feature that can immensely help my customers solve an integration design challenge that they are facing.

This is not a complete list, but cheers to all the Mom's out there, I think this job makes all the other jobs in the world seem so easy :-) I was a bit late for international women's day, but I just think we women rock...

March through March..

OMG, it is already March and the first week of the month is already done. I am really spooked thinking about how the weeks are flying away. I still have not started working on any of my New Year resolutions. Actually at this point in time cannot remember if I made any at all.

A lovely vacation week now behind me and I am rearing to march through the entire month of March. Actually it will be quite a packed month at work. But still cannot seem to forget the mountains, the fresh air, the feel of the cold snow, the warm smile of Nadja our hostess who take care of us during our stay at the chalet in the Czech Republic. Little bunny asked me before going to bed when she can go skiing again and I knew exactly what was going through that beautiful mind of hers.

I promise myself that at the speed the months seems to be rolling ahead it will soon be time to go back.
But for now let me focus on marching through March.

Breaking the rules with an Orange Almond cake

I keep telling little bunny never to follow any recipe point to point. I don't know if she completely understands what I mean, but everytime she is observing me cook she asks me 'Mama are you following the recipe?'. And almost always I have to tell her the truth which is 'Not exactly my dear'. I hate following recipes to be honest so it is strange that here I am posting another cake recipe! I believe in adding a personal touch to almost everything I do, I guess it gives me the pleasure of having broken the rules.And then I wonder from where little rabbit has that streak in her that calls for breaking every rule that I set for her :-)

Talking about cakes and recipes I met S last night for dinner who according to me is a master or mistress of baking. I think she makes some of the most amazing cakes in the world and is one of the best cooks I know. She slipped a small packet into my hands when I went to pick her up and told me to try it and let her know how it tasted. It was a kind of streusel kuchen and she had added cranberries and Czech apricots which was grown in her friend's garden back in the small town of Most and bottled for her to use :-)  Bottled apricots reminded me of the salted pickled whole mangoes back in India. S had her own personal touch as I am sure that the original recipe could not have called for Cranberries. As always it was delicious, I think she is to blame for having converted me into a true cake lover. More about S and her cakes in another post, an amazing woman, one who truly inspires me.

So guys here is a lovely recipe of an orange almond cake or rather tart I would say. I love the fact that you use the entire orange in the cake, peel and all. I also like this cake particularly because there is no flour used at all. Yeah, a very unique cake and also very healthy - well minus the sugar. But again I personally like to use dark brown densely packed sugar rather than the chemically bleached white variety that I sometimes happily consume with large pots of coffee during a working day :-( So here you go. Make sure you have the following ingredients ready, and this time it is only 5 things you need!!!

1) 2 large oranges

2) 1.5 cups of brown sugar

3) 5 eggs - yeah makes it really yumm!!!

4) 2.5 cups of almond meal

5) 1 tsp of baking powder

- cook the oranges in boiling water and then drain and cool. Put it into a blender and puree until smooth, the whole fruit including the peel

- beat the eggs with the sugar until nice and creamy, add the pureed oranges, almond meal and baking powder. Mix carefully, not too much. For those of you living in Germany you get ready to use almond meal at the Rewe supermaket, it is called Mandelpulver.

- pour into a greased baking pan and bake for almost an hour at 200 deg c in a preheated oven.

- once done keep it on a rack to cool

Your cake is technically ready but if you want to turn this into a kick a* orange almond cake then continue to read for a personal twist. Take half a cup of brown sugar, the rind of one orange and also the juice from the same orange. Boil and caremelize the mixture and pour this icing over the cooled cake. Now wait for the magic to happen, by letting it settle overnight. Next day you are ready to savor some deliciously moist orange almond cake. So go ahead break the rules my friends, add your own twist but try out this simple recipe and let me know what you think. Have fun!!!

Chalo Bangalore!

Excited to be on the flight to Bangalore. 4 work days which will be packed from morning to night and really excited to meet my work colleagues whom I normally talk to on the phone or see sometimes on telepresence. At the same time missing my little darlings back home who wished me good luck with their energy packed kisses when I started from home today morning.Waiting to see the delight on their faces when I am back home and the warm welcome that awaits me.

On another note I Was reading the Sunday Times on the flight and was horrified to read an article about 'Unwanted children' mainly girls born to parents in Maharashtra who were named 'Nakusa'. Yes that's what the name literally means 'Unwanted'. These children were born when parents were repeatedly trying to have sons but then they would have a girl and since she was not in their grand plan they would be named Nakusa. Apparently the Indian government has a plan to rename these childen with the name Nakusa so that they do not have to bear futher social stigma while growing up!!!

The Indian food served on flights these days definitely seems to have improved. Or maybe I was just too hungry, but the dal makhni I should admit tasted the way it should be tasting. Post meal distress started when I was trying to figure out a polite way of handing over a mouth freshner to passenger sitting in the neighbouring seat, but deciced that a mouth freshner alone would not do the trick and hence decided that the whole action plan was futile and curled into the right most corner of my seat!!!

After working on some 32 + email responses, I decided to check out the inflight entertainment. They were playing the movie 'Chalo Dilli' which translates into 'Let's go Delhi' - seemed like a fun movie. A strange combination of characters - sophisticated no-nonsense business woman meeting her complete opposite on a missed flight. The moral of the story was live life happily don't complain about the little complexities that life throws your way once in a way but either accept them or work on changing your situation but dont complain! Though I saw only the last quarter enjoyed it completely and will definitely check out the whole movie with hubby dear back home.

Well its another hour to go and the flight will land in Bangalore, guess I will post this once I am in the hotel which will be way past midnight and if the internet connection works as I hope. Hopefully I get some time during the next days to post some glimpses of my Bangalore experience.

Miss you!!

This post is dedicated to my father-in-law. A man, I can't actually believe is no more!! A man whose strong value system, I see reflected in his son the man whom I married and deeply love. Yes I had or still have a special kind of love, a combination of respect and deep admiration for hubby's father. I loved him for his sincerity, admired the fact that he always allowed people around him to have their sense of freedom and space, his very strong but not suffocating love for his children.

A completely self made man who I believe was much ahead of his times in his thinking, he educated his siblings, convinced his young wife (my mother-in-law) back in those days to do a double graduation and pursue a career, gave the best education to his kids and never stopped them from pursuing their dreams even if it meant them going far away from him. He always had a sense of satisfaction about him when we were around him and especially doted on his grandchildren.I think he was in his true element only when he was in his own home in Udupi, in the world that he felt the most comfortable in.

 
I really wish that I was together with hubby dear back in Udupi now, being part of the whole process of telling his father goodbye but I think staying back and having the time to think about him and reflect back on some very fond memories is also very special. Today, as I went through some of the pictures of their paternal grandfather with the girls, little bunny told me that her Nana is now in the sky and that he was smiling at us. I am sure he is but we miss you dearly dearest Daddy!!!

Alsatian pottery anybody?

Looking to buy some beautiful cooking pottery that can also decorate your kitchen walls? Then Soufflenheim in the Alsace is definitely a place you want to head towards and this is exactly what we did on the 24 of June a lovely summers day. The attraction of this place is clearly beautiful and colorful pottery and my personal opinion some of the most beautiful colorful houses and window frames.

Some of the molds of the pottery found in Soufflenheim dates all the way back to 400 B.C. The origin of the name Soufflenhiem is believed to come from the Celtic root 'Sawell' which means furnace. Since the village is close to the forest of Haguenau the clay used for making the beautiful pottery is also got from the forest. We went directly to the tourist office there and asked where we could see the actual process of making the lovely pottery. The lady there was very friendly and gave us some recommendations. We first went to the Pottery Hausser where they had some of the most awesome looking traditional Alsatian pottery that you could imagine. But unfortunately you could not see the actual workers in action there. After that we checked out Poterie Richard Hausswirth and there we could see the artisans at work.

How much control the women had over their hands as they very effortlessly painted the beautiful pots with the very traditional designs. Little bunny was thrilled to see the whole process in action.

I was looking for the traditional Baeckeoffe but the huge number of choices that were available made it very tough for me to come to a decision. Yes  the array of colorful designs in multitude of shades like blue, green, red, yellow and all painted with the motifs of traditional flowers, birds and costumes.


You can walk through the main street and you have numerous pottery workshops you can visit.

If you are looking for a really nice place to have your afternoon meal then I can definitely recommend restaurant Au Boeuf. Next time around we plan to visit the twin pottery town of Betschdorf and maybe also go and check out the pottery festival coming up on the 4 September 2011.

Savoring Silz

I just can't seem to get enough of the Southern Wine Route!! Every little town lining the Palatine forest is a little treasure on its own. Driving through some of these towns gives you the feeling that time has stood still and looking at the people who live there I always think that they don't have the slightest care in the world. Silz is a little town tucked away in the Southern wine route in the Wasgau region and it boasts of a 100 acre nature park called the Wild-und Wanderpark. It was Mother's day and it was a perfect sunny day to visit the park with the kiddies along with hubby dear and my parents.

There are several hundred animals who have made this nature park their home. Little bunny and rabbit met with fallow deer, deer, mountain goat, horses, rabbits, sheep and many other animal friends.

The deer roamed freely and some of them made it a point to walk all around the park with little bunny. She made sure that she collected enough animal feed for them and kept them very happy and it was no wonder that they followed her around very obiediently.

Indeed a great place for the kids and also for their parents. Plan to definitely go back there again one of these summer days.

Storming of the city hall

Got to see and take part in a very interesting carnival tradition in our local town of Wiesloch yesterday (Mar 5 2011). It was called the Rathauserstürmung or the storming of the local city hall.

 According to tradition the mayor has to hand over the town hall key to the carnival revellers. A more of a symbolic hand over of the keys than a real act.

Yesterday in the old city center of Wiesloch it was nice to see all the people dressed up in their carnival costumes and the mayor Franz Schaidhammer officially handing over the city hall keys.

Everybody was in a jolly good party mood, little bunny also went up and shook hands with the mayor and was beaming with pride after having done that :-) Also bumped into some friends who also live in town and who also decided to start their weekend by partaking in this local tradition.



A nice way to start a lovely weekend indeed!!!

The Robber Hotzenplotz

I heard about Robber Hotzenplotz for the first time from a friend who told me about what he had read to his son the previous night. That odd name piqued my interest and when I checked out the book which was originally written in 1962 and read some excerpts about it found the story really interesting. I decided that I would buy the book for little bunny and little rabbit. Then came the perpetual question of whether I buy the original 'Der Räuber Hotzenplotz' in German or the translated editon 'The Robber Hotzenplotz'. I decided to go for the translated editon that way having to avoid doing the pre-reading and making sure I know all the meanings of all the words before reading it to the girls ;-) This was our first book of the author Otfried Preussler and right from the beginning we were addicted to it. Bed times in those weeks used to be so easy because both little bunny and me wanted to know what was going to happen next and 'Hotzenplotz' would be the code word to go upstairs to bed :-) So when I heard that the Werkraum Theater in Walldorf was going to host a childrens performance based on the story of Robber Hotzenplotz I asked little bunny if she would like to go and watch it and it was no surprise that I got a loud and resounding 'Yes Mama'.



We loved the way the characteres we knew from the book came alive on stage with their costumes and their dialouges. The characters Kasperl and Seppel and how they get their hats exchanged and get their identities switched. The magician Petrosilius Zwackelmann and the Sergeant Dimpfelmoser with his Prussian spiked helmet, riding his official bike.

The fun part was when during the performance when one of the characters was enjoying the stolen 'Bratwurst mit Sauerkraut' grilled sausage with shredded cabbage asked the children if they would like to try some and little bunny immediately raised her hand. I thought it was a joke but the children who actually went up to the stage got their own sausages from the robber!! The older children put up a very professional performance and the little children definitely had a great time. I definitely plan to read some of the other well known books of the author Otfried Preußler and keep an eye open for theater performances of his stories as well.

Puppets @ the Glühweinmarkt!!

Strict instructions to little bunny sitting smug in the backseat to reduce the flow of questions for some time, staying focused on the instructions from lady GPS on which exit to take on the A6 to get into Bad Rappenau and banishing random thoughts running through my head on what I was thinking before making this trip!! Little bunny was oblivious to my thoughts and continued to bombard me with questions ‘Will we be on time Mama?’, ‘Can you repeat the story of Frau Holle Mama?’ And me in response ‘B please!!! I need to stay focused here’. Anyway finally we made it, though I have to admit we were 10 minutes late and when I made little bunny aware of our delay she was not too pleased and asked meto hurry up. Oops, I forgot to mention, we were driving to Bad Rappenau to see a Puppet show for kids of her age in this little town and the whole show was part of a Glühweinfest (mulled wine festival) happening there.  Ha, ha now I seem to have got your attention I guess, yes it was a Glühwein festival (guess it’s an unique German idea) and you see my vested interests in bringing bunny to this particular puppet show, I really wanted to understand what this whole thing was about. 

Anyway first things first, looks like a lot of other children and their parents had the same idea like me. The place was packed and kids of all sizes were lined up in the front benches in this nicely warmed up tent and we quickly nudged our way through the crowd and made some space for ourselves.  Frau Holle in German or Mother Hulda in English is a German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm and all the children answered all the questions that the man who single handedly ran the whole puppet show kept asking in between.

After the end of the show, it was fascinating to check out the back stage and I was surprised to see how the artist used so little accessories to achieve the overall setup and change of scenes.  Little bunny curiously checked out the different puppets and was not too pleased that the show was actually over sooner than she had expected.

Outside the tent it looked like all the people were warming up to the evening with nice big glasses of mulled wine in their hands. There even seemed to be a contest for the person who could drink the most glühwine. More than 35 varieties of Glühwine to sample from!!! Hmm..this was getting more interesting than I had expected.

The stall selling the cotton candy got a lot of attention from the kids. I was pretty intrigued by this cool cotton candy machine, was not interested in the end product though. After all the only ingredient in cotton candy is SUGAR!!

Little bunny got some interesting gifts from the treasure chest for kids, funny things they decide to put in these kind  of games. Brrr…it was getting cold, realized that it was tough to hang around longer without the help of some mulled wine after all it was -1 degrees.

The whole fest took place in the beautiful Salinenpark, and on our way back to the car realized that there some beautiful sculptures and pieces of art in this park itself. Ok need to come back but for now it was a quick rush back to where we had parked. Goodbye Glühweinmarkt, bis bald!

A trip to Seville and back!

I had never been to a Flamenco performance before. So when I saw P's event invitation on Facebook to this Flamenco performance by Maria Pages I was mighty thrilled. Since P is a connoisseur of arts and culture I  knew the performance would not fail to impress. So last Friday the 14 of Jan little bunny, P and myself found ourselves at the Theatre-im-Pflazbau in Ludwigshafen sitting on the second row all set for the Flamenco performance from this very reputed lady in the Flamenco field.

The whole performance was a reflection of the life in Seville a city in the south of Spain characterized by its Moorish influence and of course Flamenco heartbeat. Maria Pages was accompanied by dancers both men and women who conjured up through their dance, with their lovely costumes, song and the use of the guitar pictures of the Sevillian traditions and cultures. The stage backdrops fit perfectly to reflect the mood and the setting.

I did not understand the language but the songs were sometimes carrying a deep sad emotion reflected also in the faces of the dancers and sometimes passionate love and sometimes a child's joy. When the dancers came out with their brightly coloured dresses with large polka dots and lots of frills, I could not help but burst into laughter when little bunny asked me why they were dressed up like Marienkäfers (ladybugs). I found out later that these costumes were very typical reflecting the influence of the Gypsies on this art form where they sewed small round mirrors into their dresses to ward off the evil eye.

The choreography was beautiful each piece enhanced with the use of special accessories like the Castanets the clappers the dancers hold in their hands or the small colorful fans and not to forget the very typical red or black Flamenco shoes. In fact there was one piece dedicated to the red Flamenco shoes with white polka dots where with the use of lighting it felt like the shoes were cavorting and dancing all by themselves on the stage. Maria also transformed us into a bullfighting scene right out of the Plaza de Toros de Maestranza the historic bullring of Seville, she was half bull and half bullfighter..very beautiful indeed.

At the end of the performance P encouraged little bunny to stand up on her chair and clap hard as a standing ovation to the artist and her entire troupe who captivated us with their enthralling performance and for taking us on a virtual tour to Seville and back!!