From the Midwest Plain to Spain in 7 days

The Labor day weekend brought a long awaited (and planned) trip. The excitement and the anticipation was intense. The trip was to take us through Madrid, Seville, Granada and Barcelona. We booked round trip flights via Barcelona. On the way there, we took a Spanair flight to Madrid and started our trip there.

Highlights:
Madrid - We landed on a Sunday, and some of the touristy spots were closed. We stayed at Hostal Santa Cruz Sol which had double rooms with private bathrooms for about 58 Euros a night. So we just decided to walk around the area and familiarize ourselves. The location was amazing with Plaza Mayor being within a 2 minute walk.

The Royal Palace was about 15 mins away by walk. Its a beautiful palace. Also, in Madrid, we experienced a nice Flamenco performance (with Sangria). Just a tip - Flamenco performances are much cheaper in Seville. So if you have time in Seville, do go to the Flamenco Museum and you'll get a better deal.
My husband's vegetarian and we were worried he might not get substantial food. But we were pleasantly surprised when we noticed a fast food falafel chain in both Madrid and Barcelona called Maoz Vegetarian. We also had the opportunity to eat Paella Verduras (Vegetables). Unfortunately we spent Sunday & Monday in Madrid which was a bad idea since most places are either closed or have limited visiting hours on those days. We could manage a visit to the Guernica at the Reina Sofia Museum. Madrid also gave us a first glimpse of stained glass work that we would find in churches everywhere we went.

We left for Seville on Tuesday morning via train. I was super impressed with the local transportation. The trains can get expensive compared to regional flights but the convenience could be worth it. Seville brought us architecture with a lot of Moorish influences mixed with the Romanesque style. We did a day long walking tour taking us through the royal palace (Alcazar), Cathedral & Giralda tower.

We also had some good Tapas food at reasonable prices (Taberna Coloniales) recommended to us by a local.

The next day took us to Granada where the main attraction was the Alhambra (it means "red earth"). A walking tour also took us along the narrow streets of the town. I've listed the link below. There was also a really nice view of the city from Plaza San Nichols, and do try some patisseries in the area specifically the chocolate stuffed croissant. It was really good!!


Finally, our last 3 days were spent in Barcelona. The city was nice, but (and this is just my opinion) I was a little disappointed. I like the happy vibe I got from Madrid & Seville, while Barcelona was just too tourist business - like. As the hub for Gaudi's architecture and Picasso's art, Barcelona definitely did not disappoint. We found a really nice restaurant called Santa Anna that had wonderful Spanish wine and tapas for reasonable prices. Las Ramblas is the tourist hub and it was interesting to see most of the souvenir shops were owned by Indians. I did think Ramblas was a little over rated. The Ramblas does have the La Bocqueria Market which is really colorful and has fruits & vegetables are pretty fresh. We had a couple of drinks at Cafe Zurich which is right at the beginning of Las Ramblas and its a really nice place to people watch since the street is active for most parts of the day. The view of the city from Parc Guell was definitely worth the 20 min uphill climb. My most favorite part of Barcelona was our walking tour of Barri Gothic or the Gothic quarter. There are 4 columns that are remains from a 1st century BC Roman temple. It was like the Gothic quarter's little secret.
Sagrada Familia is impressive in scale but I liked the interiors of the Santa Maria Del Mar. The Gothic quarter also had a few walls that showed the impact of the 1936 Spanish Civil War like this one.
We spent the last day in Montjuic mostly where we went to the Palau Nacional. It houses the National Art Museum and its a gorgeous building. I do believe there is a fountain show in the evenings but we didn't have the time to do that.



Spain is a beautiful country. There are so many more things we could have done if we had more time, but I think in the given time, we did a satisfactory trip. If ever I do go back, I'd love to go to the western parts of the country. I have heard the beaches are really pretty. Also, there's this 10 hour drive from Barcelona to Toulose that's supposed to be gorgeous. Its a vacation to remember!

Recommendations incl. books & links:

• Frommers city guide to Barcelona specifically the neighborhood walking tours
• National Geographic Walking tour of Granada
• Pre-booking tickets online for trains, museums specifically Alhambra
• Checking for student discounts (if applicable)
• Using local trains more than taxis - cheaper and sometimes quicker

Things to do differently:

• Fly into one city and out of the other if price is right
• Avoid Mondays in Spain since most museums are closed. Or make Monday relaxed. Missed out on Prado Museum in Madrid
  

AAA dinner: An Andhra Anniversary dinner

A few weeks back was our 4th wedding anniversary, and we decided to celebrate at home on the day. My husband's from Andhra Pradesh, and it had been a while since I made some traditional Andhra meals at home and so came to be our AAA dinner! I have to give credit to "Pedatha" for inspiring me to learn Andhra food. Her book has been indispensable in my learning. These 2 recipes are from her book.

I rarely make eggplant at home! Its just something I don't really like. However, my husband does and so I decided to go for it. The menu for the night: Brinjal (Eggplant) Roast or Vankaya Vepudu in Telugu and Red Gram with Spinach or Palakoora Pappu. Here are the recipes:


Brinjal Roast
This one's a super easy dish to make. You can substitute the brinjals/eggplants with potatoes, bitter gourd (make sure to soak it in a dilute paste of turmeric, tamarind and salt for 20-30 mins) and even okra. Honestly speaking, I didn't taste it but the better half said that it was pretty good. So, we'll just have to go by that.

Ingredients:
Eggplants, 2-3 medium sized
Red chilly powder, 1 tbsp (please adjust as per your preferred spice levels)
Oil 3-4 tbsp
Salt to taste

Tempering:
Urad Dal/ Split black gram 1 tsp
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida powder 1/4 tsp
Turmeric Powder 1/4 tsp
Curry Leaves 6-8

Cut the eggplants into 2 inch pieces. In a wok, heat oil for tempering. Add the black gram and as it turns golden add the mustard. Lower the flame and add the remaining ingredients for tempering.

Add the vegetable and allow to roast on a low flame, stirring once in a while. After about 8-10 mins, as the eggplants turn a light brown, and salt and chilly powder. Continue cooking on a low flame until well done. In almost all recipes with eggplants such as Bharta, bababghanoush hummus etc., slow roasting is key. It helps bring out the flavor of the vegetable better.

Red Gram with Spinach
Ingredients:
Spinach Leaves 1 large bunch
Split Red Gram 1 cup
Fenugreek Seeds 1/4 tsp
Turmeric Powder 1/2 tsp
Tamarind Pulp 2-3 tbsp
Asafoetida Powder 1 tsp
Green Chillies 3 slit
Curry Leaves 1 stem
Coriander Leaves 1/2 cup chopped fine
Ghee/Oil
Salt

Tempering:
Mustard Seeds 1 tbsp
Fenugreek Seeds 1 tbsp
Red Chillies 8-10

Add the fenugreek seeds and turmeric to the red gram and pressure cook in 3 cups of water. Mix well.

Chop the spinach roughly. I also added some kasturi methi and mint leaves to the spinach to add another taste profile.

In a wok, heat the oil - pop the mustard and then add the fenugreek for tempering. Lower the flame, and add the red chilles when the fenugreek starts turning brown. Add the spinach (an other leaves if using), cover and cook till well done (nicely wilted!!).

Add the tamarind pulp, asafoetida, and simmer for 5-7 mins. Add the cooked gram, 1/4 tsp turmeric, green chillies, curry leaves and coriander leaves, salt to taste and continue to cook. Do adjust the # of green and red chillies if you are not a big fan of spice. Add some ghee before switching off.

Here's the final meal which was served with white rice. I had some fried crispies or vadams at home which I added to the meal.

New York New York!!

I spent the week of Jul 26th in New York City and decided to make this trip to the Big Apple on a budget! I promised myself to not spend more than $200 which would include train trips and other travel as well. I was lucky to have a friend, S & A, who lived a short distance from most tourist places and was close enough to a subway station. I stayed in the Upper East side and experienced some typical NYC style living. I walked a lot during this time!! You'll see.

I landed early afternoon on Monday, Jul 26th and went straight home. Due to a turbulent plane ride, I was feeling a little nauseous. A light meal and a lemonade made life much better and then on my first day, my friend and I walked atleast 50 blocks. From 78th st & Lexington down to 28th st. & Lexington. We made some detours to walk by Central Park and 5th Ave. I think we did about 3.5 miles at least. 28th st. & Lexington is an Indian/Pakistani neighborhood with some good restaurants and stores. We had Kathi rolls ($5 each) and REALLY good paan ($1.50 each)! I wound up coming back to the paan place. By the time we got back home, it had been a tiring day and I just went straight to bed. Total expense for Day 1: $11.75 incl train ride back +$22 for taxi ride from airport to home.

Day 2 had a relaxing start. We made lunch at home and got out only once it got a little cooler in the day. We went down to the New York Public Library on 42nd St. and 5th Ave - just a few blocks away from Grand Central. Its a gorgeous library!! The prettiest I've seen with amazing paintings and architecture on the ceiling and the walls especially around the 3rd Floor reading room. Best of all - its free!! Hunger caused us to exit and we had a quick bite of a slice of the New York style pizza. I wonder if I should have tried skimping on the Starbucks $3 visits. Dinner was at a Lebanese Cart on 53rd and 6th I think for $6. Pretty good stuff! I was finally starting to get the geography of the city!

Day 1 & 2 had been moderately tiring, so we decided to just chill out on Day 3. I finished up some work for my non-profit and then walked around the Upper East side. While trudging around, I found this place offering a manicure/pedicure for $25 and just had to do it!! The most relaxing day of the trip had just become the most expensive!! So before I spent any more - I went back home and watched the Motorcycle Diaries - an excellent movie if you haven't already seen it.

On Day 4, I met another friend, U, at Times Square. T. Square is always such a tourist destination. I've never seen it quiet - its buzzing all the time. All those Bollywood movies shot there must have had such a hard time clearing out the places (and I'm sure expensive). We made the short walk from Times Square to Bryant Park to watch Broadway show snippets. Definitely worth it and once again - free! We saw Lion King, Addams Family (the best one!!), Wicked, and Next to Normal. Bryant Park also has a "to-go" version of Tom Colicchio's 'wichcraft. The coffee cake was really nice - lemonade not so great. Fortunately or unfortunately I had heard of this Dosa Cart in NY and I really wanted to go there. So U & I walked the 40+blocks to Washington Sq. Park! But the cart was shut for the day. It was a little disappointing but it gave us the opportunity to walk to Macdougal St. and get food from Mamoun's Falafel. The sandwich was a little dry but I think their spicy sauce does the trick. Even better for $3.50. We, then, walked around Soho and on to Little Italy and part of China town. We had some chocolate frozen yogurt at Pop Yogurt in Little Italy. It was really nice and refreshing on a hot day! In China town, I really liked this fake bag, and even bargained for it but decided against the transaction. Finally, we decided it was time to go back home, and I got mine from Spring St. It was peak hour, and the train was packed! Fearing claustrophobia, I got out and walked the remaining 20 blocks home! So on the whole - I walked 80+blocks that day and saw some really cool parts of NYC! Until now, the expenses amounted to $103. Feel like the manicure/pedicure was an indulgence but it felt so good!

On Day 5, I left early in the morning to go to the Metropolitan Museum. I was able to cover most of the 2nd floor - the 19th/20th century paintings (love!-I indulged in a Van Gogh magnet), the Japan exhibit (so peaceful) and a Picasso special exhibit. I got hungry and also splurged on a salad at the Met. I met S and we took the bus down to the Upper West side. We got dropped off at Broadway & 80th and walked down to Zabar's since S hadn't had lunch. I had dessert - a chocolate babka! So good! We walked around the cute neighborhood for a bit and then took the train down to Union Square to meet another friend. I also met some friends at Cafe Medina a little later. It was a cute cafe but unfortunately I was too full to eat or drink anything. Finally, I took the train down to Grand Central to meet family and head to White Plains.

On Day 6, I just spent the morning relaxing and had a good lunch at a local Thai restaurant. I was to meet S & A at Grand Central and we headed straight to Brooklyn Bridge. We walked across from the Manhattan side toward Brooklyn. I do recommend the other way around though. There are some really pretty views of downtown from the bridge. After walking a few blocks around Brooklyn, we headed back toward Macdougal St. near NYU. This street has some really good restaurants for reasonable prices! We tried another Kathi Roll place. I have to say I liked the first place better. We moved to Mamoun's again. $5 for an amazing falafel plate! They have their house spicy sauce on sale in 5 oz bottles. If I could check in my bags, I would have definitely bought one of those! As we walked around a lot of students seem to descend on the place. We picked a bar called Kenny's Castaways for some live music. After a long day, it was great to sit and just talk with each other. We took the train back to 28th & Lexington for that paan again! It didn't disappoint.

On Day 7, I took the train back to White Plains and spent the day with family. We had tons of fun making some sweets and eating some good home cooked food!

Day 8, my last day in NYC. I decided to make it reasonably relaxed and went to the Guggenheim museum. For the price ($15), I'd say its not the greatest. The building was the best part and that's a Frank Lloyd Wright creation.S & I went to an Indian restaurant to finish off a really fun trip.

My total expenses on trip? $200 (The manicure & pedicure was an unnecessary indulgence). How did I manage that? I have to credit my brother-in-law for some free train rides courtesy his monthly pass. I also have to thank S & A for some food treats. I couldn't have done it without them!!

Memories

Its such a hot and humid day here and the only thing that I remember are my evening trips to Marina Beach, Chennai when I was living there. The evening sea breeze and the street food around always perked me up. The trip always included bhutta or coal grilled corn and spiced green mango. While I couldn't replicate the mango, I did have some corn on the cob in my fridge and I decided to make this super simple all season street food. I just grilled the corn on my gas stove top (make sure you have the stem still on if you don't have a corn tong!) until it was nice and toasted all over. Like you can see, I like mine REALLY well toasted. While it was grilling, I made a "glaze" of lemon juice, red chilli powder and salt. Once the corn was done, I just brushed on the lemon juice mix and ate my way through it!

Since I am in the mood to revisit old times - dinner time is no exception. When I was living in a hostel in Delhi, I'd visit my grandparents almost every weekend. At least once every alternate weekend, my grandmom would make this extremely simple yet super tasty dinner that would include paneer bhurji (scrambled Indian style cottage cheese), and masoor dal (red lentils) with rotis. So when Eatomaniac posted her recipe on Paneer Bhurji stuffed peppers, I had to try it! By the way, I love the Eatomaniac blog. The recipes posted are easy to follow and I definitely appreciate the ideas that follow the recipe.

Luckily I had just bought some colorful yellow and orange peppers a few days back and it was a perfect opportunity to use them. To the paneer bhurji ingredients already posted, I adjusted the paneer amounts to also include finely diced mushrooms which I added between the corn/green peas step and the paneer step. I also added cut green beans. Instead of red chilli powder I used finely chopped green chillies. Just another thought - sometimes to add another flavor profile, I use the oil from Indian pickles that I have at home to cook the meal. It gives the dish a subtle tangy flavor that I quite enjoy. On the left is a picture of the stuffed peppers before they went into the oven.

I leave you with a picture of my dinner plate and many thanks to Eatomaniac!!!

Berry berry nice cake

After a lethargic morning and lack of productivity, I wondered what would be the best way to get my spirits up again. Well, a sugar high would definitely help. A raid on the fridge gave me a box of raspberries and blueberries along with eggs and butter. The result - a perfect summery berry cake!

In search of recipes, I came across this one which sounded perfect. However, I had to put some healthy spin on it - so - instead of all purpose flour went in wheat flour, buttermilk got substituted for home made apple sauce, I used "I Cannot Believe its not butter" instead of regular butter. The only other adjustment I made was that I used brown sugar and not white sugar. I don't think they're nutritionally different, I just like the texture & taste of brown sugar better in baked goods.The above is a picture of the cake before it went into the oven at 400F for 25 mins.

How did I make the apple sauce? I boiled chunks of 1 apple and some baking dates (a gift from a friend who was moving away for the summer) with cinnamon powder in 2-3 inches of water till everything softened down. I mashed it with a potato masher to give a chunky sauce. Here's the cake in its full glory after spending about 25 mins in the oven.

The cake was a refreshing change from my usual chocolate based cakes and with the fresh fruit and other healthy spins, you just don't feel as guilty eating this! This is my slice of berry nice heaven!

Pizza shizza

Its been sometime since I put up some food posts. Probably because I've been out so much that I haven't really been able to experiment too much. So last night my hands were itching to try something! I had a lot of left over veggies in the fridge and for me Italian food is the best way to use those - be it soups, pasta or what's going to be this post, pizza!!

After trying a few pizza dough recipes, the one that I like the most is here. I did however use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour for a much healthier alternative. The dough was just the right consistency and steps in this recipe are simple and straightforward. I also froze this dough for 3 weeks without any issues. A good pizza sauce would be:

5-6 cloves fresh garlic, minced
5 tomatoes, pureed
1/2 cup red wine
1 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 tablespoons dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

Lightly saute minced garlic in olive oil over medium heat until golden. Add the tomato paste and fry with the garlic. Add to the rest of the ingredients and blend. This sauce can also be frozen. You could omit the wine and add some vegetable broth instead. Also, I like to add fresh tomatoes but you could use canned as well. I love the flavors of different herbs, and you could definitely play around with those as well.

The pizza dough recipe also has good step by step instructions on how to roll the dough. You can adjust the thickness to your liking. For example, to create a Chicago style pizza at home, I rolled out the dough a little larger in diameter than my cake pan. Then, I fit it into the cake pan with the sides rolled which created a deep dish pizza effect. Last night, I just made a regular thin crust pizza. I highly recommend using the fresh dough immediately. The texture of the pizza crust is much much better.

For the toppings, I used some roasted Indian cottage cheese (Paneer), Parmesan cheese, Goat cheese, Corn, Red pepper, green pepper and onions. I also had some shredded plantain on hand which I added as well. I think this was a good balance of veggies and cheese. I also added some mango peach salsa to the paneer for some flavor. The assembled layers were pizza sauce followed by parm cheese and the veggies weighed down by the paneer salsa mix with goat cheese and plantain sprinkled over the top.

The final step is to place the pizza in a 450 F degree oven for about 15 mins and let it bake! Keep checking on it after 12 mins have passed by. Let it cool for a few mins before devouring it! This particular combination of toppings was really tasty. I've tried others and will keep experimenting but I just wanted to let you know the one I loved!

Key to a relaxing weekend!

We just got back last night from another travel filled weekend in Key Biscayne! It wasn't a tourist weekend but a getaway filled with fun, friends and water. It was relaxing, stress busting, and totally chilled out! It was a summer retreat in the right sense. This was an official trip organized by the company my husband is interning with.

As we headed toward the airport at an hour (7 am) that I hadn't seen in many many months, the excitement between my friends and I was so visible! We'd been waiting for this for weeks. And to add to the medley of emotions, it was my first visit to Florida.

We landed at Miami International Airport mid afternoon, and headed straight to the hotel to meet our significant others who were already there on business. The drive to Key Biscayne was gorgeous. A lot of the time, you see water on both sides. I was so lost in the views that I hadn't realized how hungry I was until I got to the hotel. I was worried we might have missed lunch, but we managed to get hold of the few boxed lunches that were left from an earlier event.

After a quick nap and freshening up, we headed straight to the pool where we were to spend a lot of our time over the next few days. We also managed a dip in the ocean at the hotel's private beach. The water was so cool and even for those who aren't that fond of water, it was an easy walk on the ocean floor for about 20-30 feet in. Even in the morning hours, it was so hot outside and I hadn't expected the water in the ocean to be that refreshing.

There was a lot of talk about Le Bron James signing up with the Miami Heat on Friday, which also included our dinner plans that had been organized on the top floor of a parking structure. An outdoor dinner and after party was not such a great idea. It was so hot during dinner that we couldn't wait to get to the after party which was going to be pool side. And then it started raining when we went pool side at the W! The reason I mentioned King James earlier was because he was staying the Miami W and was having a party there as well. A lot of folks were hoping to see him but his party was near his pent house suite and the rain wasn't a big help either. We took the first bus back to our hotel. We were so tired that we just decided to call it a night and meet up with everyone at breakfast on Saturday.

We just about made it to breakfast - after a few snoozes and an alarm switch off. It was a good hearty breakfast and we headed straight to the pool after that. Our morning schedule included lounging in the pool sipping iced tea, sighting iguanas on the hotel grounds, stepping into the ocean, eating ice-cream and then again lounging in the pool. Sounds good doesn't it!

The afternoon was a catamaran sailing trip that took us out into the ocean, anchored in the middle of nowhere and we could swim around. There was also a water trampoline that some people too complete advantage of. The one thing that I don't like about swimming in salt water is- well - the salt water. If swallowed, it tastes disgusting. Like over salted gargle water. After a few gulps of that, I decided to get back on to the boat and just sit around. I should have reapplied the sunscreen because now I just have a badly burnt back.

The evening was hosted in the hotel and the preparations were just grand. We had some amazing food, interesting drinks (pictured here: Miami Blue Iced Tea) and fire dancers! The dancers were so cool and I had the opportunity to capture some interesting shapes they created with the fire. A dance party brought to a close the official proceedings of the weekend.

The next morning, we just hung out at the pool some more and then drove to the airport. For two weekends in a row, we'd had some fun times to remember and I had some more blogging material. I leave you with a picture of the blue ocean!