The Art of Warfare

The way to a man’s heart has always been through his stomach, I know, but sometimes, given a guy’s penchant for indecision, this route seems fairly fraught with trouble too! Especially when the guy in question is your five year old li’l boy.

My pride and joy, one fine day, concludes that I’m slacking way too much in the culinary department, and decides to take matters into his own little hands. So he comes up to me, and with some hostility announces that he’s had enough of me taking short-cuts with meals and calling French toast and pancakes dinner, and that if he needs to become strong like them power rangers, he needs to eat chicken and atleast two types of vegetables every day. For the briefest moment, I wonder if the big guy had been coaching him with this little speech, but then change my mind. He quite follows the stomach to heart rule without much ado.

So, I stare incredulously at my brat for a full minute, allow some mental wheels to turn, click into place and then with a big grin, agree to help him turn into ranger material. He scoots, with a bigger grin plastered on his impish face! As far as he knows, he’s won the battle. And all this drama because he hates eggs in any form, even in pancakes! Go figure!

Thus begins the veggie onslaught at A-102! You name it, and I cook it! But like I already know, while I’m quite the wizard (albeit lazy and uninspired) with cooking foodies, there’s only so much veggies a five year old can take.

Two days and five different vegetable preparations later, said little boy returns. Oozing confidence, he informs me that he’s had enough vegetables to give him ranger muscle power, thank you very much, and if I so wish, I may now make pancakes and French toast again. Ask him if he’s sure he doesn’t want more veggies, especially greens, and he’s quick to tell me that he’s sufficiently nourished to last a year. (Yes, for the tiny mite that he is, he does use rather big words)

Yes, I do wish. And I agree.

So maybe every now 'n then, we gals ought to stop and let the guys win a few battles before we subtly win the war.

And what’s for dinner tonight, you ask? I dunno. I’m having trouble deciding between take-out, ordering-in and driving thru…

Doing My Bit for World Peace...

So here's your social message for the day:

ok...so I'm off to munch on lunch now!

And you...spread the love! Go cook!

bye-bye!

Look What's Cookin'!

Those who know me also know the kind of resistance I put up when it comes to the kitchen. Don't get me wrong. I'm quite the foodie person. But talk about cooking, and you'll see me run. (Though I'll admit I'm really, really good at cooking up excuses to...ahem...not cook!)

This is why I have people around me, who make up for my lack of enthusiasm in the culinary department, and keep me happy with their skills. (Focus! We're talking culinary skills here!)

God bless them all!

Here's a recipe my friend Brian cooked up. He claims it's amazing. Easy too. Hmm...worth a try, no?

Calamari stuffed with Rice and Drizzled with White Wine and Cream

• Get a wide pan and drizzle some olive oil into it
• Clean up some calamaris (Remove the outer skin and the heads, and the ink of course) and stuff some cooked pulav rice into the cavities
• Place the stuffed calamari on the pan and sprinkle some chopped onions around it
• Drizzle some more olive oil over the calamaris and onions
• Add some white wine to top that
• Add some cream over all these wonderful things and sprinkle on some oregano and thyme
• Stuff the pan into the oven for 20 minutes to cook at 180°C. Bring it out and the pan should be empty in no time!

Recipe courtesy of Brian Moses from DreamCatcher - http://www.dreamcatcher.co.in/

Apparently, a Swedish lady cooked the dish on a boat, during one of Brian's travels! The sky, the sea, the wine and some calamaris. What more can you ask for?! (Hmm...I'll admit i have some ideas there...!)

So guys, try this...and call me over for dinner! I'll bring my appetite along for company! ;)