Feasting

Have you seen the movie ‘No Reservations’ which stars Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart? It is not an amazing movie or anything. I just happened to catch it as I was flicking through the channels on TV. You see, I am usually under pressure to watch something on TV. I must, must watch some TV everyday. I don’t know why, but I must watch. Usually after my little girl has hit the bed at night, I try and catch up on TV. Whoever said that housewives can lounge around the whole day and watch TV, needs some serious medication. I am speaking for most housewives here, when I say that we have to really push other stuff around and steal time to watch TV. So at the end of the day, you might have some work looking at you in the face, waiting to be done. But what the heck!

I did wander a bit now, didn’t I?? Ok, now in this movie, Catherine Zeta-Jones is a master chef (with a typically type A personality), at a restaurant. Every dish that is made is crafted to perfection. I am going to deal with that aspect of the movie. For the rest of the story, you have to watch the movie.

I kind of felt a little like that today. Actually, I feel like that all the time in my kitchen. I feel like - a master chef. To me, cooking is a great stress-buster. And I cannot even begin to tell you how much I like feeding people. I am meeting so many like minded people these days, personally and in the blog world. Women who take serious pride in what they do. Women, who have left their demanding careers behind to pursue the even more demanding job of a homemaker. Gone are the days when people looked down upon our lot!

Yesterday, I spent my morning doing what I love best. Cooking. I treated two of my close friends and their families, to an authentic Onam lunch. Served on the Banana leaf and all. Though I did not make all the dishes, I made nine of most famous ones. And I had the time of my life doing it. One dish after the other left the stove and I was done with the cooking, way ahead of time. So well planned and executed it was. I was pleased with myself and the outcome. Usually, I would be cooking even after the guests have arrived and I would be mad as hell if someone crosses my path. But this time it was handled very differently. My friends (lovely as they are), offered to come over and help. ‘Cause there is some seriously crazy amount of cooking involved. But I would have none of it. I am not very good at handling a crowd in the kitchen. It is too confusing.

Check out the spread!!



The instructions to my husband and daughter are very simple. Steer clear of my kitchen. Usually, my daughter wanders about and wrecks havoc. But Mr. Bean entertained her rather well today. I think she was just scared that I would actually cancel the lunch and she would not get to have fun with her friends. I have to throw such idle threats about (bad mommy that I am), to get my way.

So people, do come on over. Mi casa es su casa.