Recipe - Hunger Correlation

I confess - I am a foodie. My passion to cook stems from my desire to eat good food. Sounds arrogant, but that is the truth. And if this desire ever abates, then I always have the challenge of wringing a compliment out of the world's toughest food critic -my husband. Hence, I conclude that I will forever don the chef's hat.

At the risk of sounding unfeminine, I will also admit that I am hungry at all times, except when I am eating. This hunger is exacerbated by restraining orders that keep me confined to small cubicles. The usual grad student is satisfied with a free pizza and sugary sodas. Obviously, by now, one has divined that I am no normal being (I suspect Kumbakarini , Sapadu Lakshmi are phrases flitting across your mind) . No, I have the deepest disdain for cheese pizzas and have eliminated all thoughts of sodas from my system.

To support my lofty ideals about my viands and victuals, I launch upon a mission to find THE new creative recipe, the stunner that will stop my world. I seek inspiration in those gazillion web sites that promise delicious dinners in a jiffy. Well, since I am Vegetarian only 40% recipes are relevant; eliminate about 20 % from this, cause they use eggs. But my favorite haunts disappoint me. I know them all, read them a million times. (alas! had I spent my resources on 'actual' research, I would have had my own personal chef by now!).

I have printed pages of my mother's recipes- painstaking translated into Tanglish, collections from my mil, bound cook books and yet, I surf for recipes! So I hypothesize that there can be no conceivable explaination for such irrational behaviour other than the fact that : I believe looking at recipes, will assuage my hunger!

Sometimes, I feel sorry for myself. For the unconscious that is being deceived by my conscious. All this rambling is making me hungrier. If you happen to know of some great veggie recipe sites, let me know. It won't be too long, before we hear the rumbling of my hunger again.

Movie mania

30 second reviews of movies we watched the past weeks. Heck! These records are just to make sure I don't watch the same movies again.

House of Sand and Fog : Watch it just for Ben Kingsley. He is such a great character actor. Movie is thought-provoking, with an unexpected conclusion. You keep taking sides until the very end and stop as you feel so emotionally drained. You wish things didn't happen the way they did.

Constant Gardener : Read some good reviews about it. On the contrary, the movie is just some clever story-telling, with Africa thrown in to provide the color.

Maria Full of Grace: Foreign language (Spanish) movie which details the life of one young girl, caught in the drug smuggling racket. Although predictable, the movie has its moments of suspense.

Monster: Hopeful that Benigni would have produced another stunner ? Forget it. Expect a slap-stick balderdash coated with puerile humor.

Bewitched: Can't believe Nicole Kidman starred in this one. Avoid at all costs.

Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

For all the hoopla about this novel, I was quite disappointed with it. Six stories, all entertaining in their own right; however, fail to produce that 'big bang' as a whole novel. The language in the beginning is a bit tedious to read. As the novel progresses, you wait for that mysterious connection to be revealed. Unfortunately, there is a only a fizzle and you start skimming through the last pages.

Crestfallen - thats my reaction about this novel.