beverage news

First of all, the trip to Delhi was a great success. We met 9 applicants who were all promising to some degree or another. Offers will be made. Also, Delhi is covered in monkeys. Just FYI.

On to the important stuff: beverage news.

1. You should make your own masala chai with whole spices. I will tell you how. Take the following and crunch them up a bit with a mortar and pestle or with a pulse or two in a spice grinder: 3 black peppercorns, a piece of star anise (or a few fennel seeds), 3 cloves, 2-3 green cardamom pods, and a small piece broken from a stick of cinnamon. Dump that along with a slice of peeled fresh ginger into a pot with 2 cups water and 1 cup milk or soy milk. Bring it to a boil for a few minutes. Turn off heat and dump in 3 rounded teaspoons of loose black tea and let it steep for 3 minutes. Strain everything into a teapot or mugs or whatever. Sweeten to taste. Enjoy the spicy goodness.



B. You should also make your own fresh lime soda. Squeeze some limes. Make some simple syrup (boil equal parts water and granulated sugar till the sugar is dissolved; let cool, then store in fridge). Pour about 1" lime juice in a glass, add a glop of sugar syrup, and top off with chilled club soda. We like to add a few shakes of salt, too. It's like Gatorade, except yummy.



iii. It is hard to get good coffee here, and in any case we do not have a coffee maker. I have discovered the beauty of the Greek "frappe." In a cocktail shaker put a couple of ice cubes, a Tbsp. of instant coffee (preferably the powdery kind, it dissolves easier), a couple glugs of milk or soy milk, about a Tbsp. of sugar syrup (see above), and about 1/2 cup water. Shake it up real shakey. Pour into a glass. It will have a nice head of foam.




d. We have now flown a couple of times on Kingfisher Airlines--yup, the same Kingfisher as Kingfisher beer. And yet Indian law prohibits the consumption of alcohol on domestic flights. THIS IS SO, SO WRONG. On the other hand, the flight attendants are gorgeous. Seriously, they are hot. Did I just say that in my out loud voice?

DAT cat, world traveller

The DAT cat has been having quite a few adventures lately. Sure, normally he lives in the air conditioned comfort of the office:



But sometimes he goes along on trips. Here he is at the crack of dawn aboard a train from Delhi to Agra:



I won't tell you everything he saw out the window on his two-hour train ride, because this is a family blog, but he did see a lot of pigs and monkeys. In fact, DAT cat would like to show you a monkey:



Did we mention that DAT cat has a friend named MEOW kitty? They get along famously. Here they are at the Red Fort in Agra:



Sometimes they gang up on Casey:



DAT cat is somewhat of a connoisseur of the textile arts, himself having been handcrafted of the finest raw silk and English cotton, not to mention some polyester fiberfill I found in the back of my closet, so he enjoyed our trip to the Kanu carpet factory in Agra:



He even helped me pick out this handmade merino wool rug to buy and ship back to San Francisco:



Finally, DAT cat would like to demonstrate for you the infamous Indian "head bobble." What is he trying to convey? "Yes?" "No?" "Maybe?" "Your mom?" As always with the head bobble, it remains a mystery.

show me the monkey

OK, the quality is not great and it's short, but you get the idea: Agra is COVERED IN MONKEYS.

the sky is falling, but not on us

No, we were not in this building, nor anywhere particularly near it (it is in a neighborhood a little north of us). It doesn't surprise me, though, that there is a known issue with buildings collapsing during monsoon. Everything here looks a little...collapse-y.

Does anyone else find the following sentence from that news article somewhat odd? "Seven people, including four women, were plucked from under mounds of concrete, twisted metal bars and mud by rescuers who carried them to a nearby hospital on makeshift stretchers." Seven people, including four women? Because, uhh, women are some kind of special subset of "people," so you should mention it specially when they appear somewhere? Okayyyy.

Casey and I and some other people (including one woman) are going to Delhi and Agra and the TAJ MAHAL this weekend. Saturday forecast: 97 degrees. I predict we are gonna be seeing some *hot* monkeys. If you know what I mean. (If you do, please tell me, because I HAVE NO IDEA...but it was fun to say.)