Come one, come all! Free buffet for arthropods in the Athens, GA area!

Insects feeding on pollen, leaves, and other small arthropods living near Athens, Georgia have unlimited access to a free buffet at all times of the day, all days of the year at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia!

Joe and I took a short trip to Athens this past weekend and stopped by the gardens for a few hours -- we highly recommend it to those living in or near the Atlanta area!  Plus, it's free to the public!

Here are a few shots of insects feeding on pollen (and some others, including a shot of pitcher plants, which are just awesome).  Check out the little grasshopper buried inside a giant flower with pollen ALL OVER HIS FACE!  What a cutie pie. :)

King of Pops -- bringing people together through popsicles since 2008

Steven Carse and his two brothers took a trip to Central America several years ago and got to experience the deliciousness of many exotic fruits there (see here for part of a post devoted to fruits found in Costa Rica!) -- thus, a dream was born and fresh fruit ice pops were made!  Steven and his brother Nick jump-started King of Pops in Atlanta in 2008.  Losing his job at AIG in 2009 solidified his decision to follow his dream of opening up a shop selling refreshing paletas full time.

I think Joe and I started to see KoP carts with their iconic rainbow-colored umbrellas pop up around town around 2009.  The creative flavors and focus on using seasonal, organic fruit intrigued us.  As they grew, we began to see more and more carts at city festivals, various food truck parks, and at staple locations around Atlanta, including some grocery and convenience stores.  Of course, we instantly fell in love with the Georgia peach, and every year starting in late June, we scout out KoP carts.  Not surprisingly, peach is always one of the first flavors to sell out in the summer months!  

The most amazing appeal of the KoP product is not that it draws crowds wherever available, or that their popsicles are better than anything you could get anywhere else (because it's true, folks), but that there are few things more satisfying than enjoying a great popsicle with friends and/or family on a hot summer day.  I've never heard of someone sharing a conversation over a popsicle and not had a good time.  It's virtually impossible!  Popsicles promote love and happiness.  

This is how KoP has recently promoted love and happiness in our lives:

1. Joe and I had a few popsicles with my mom when she visited Atlanta over the fourth of July weekend.  We even got to try the Patriot Pop (a combination of strawberries, blueberries, and lime), which is not only a best-seller, but only available for about a week, around the fourth of July!

2. Joe and I cannot emphasize enough how much we enjoyed our wedding in Atlanta a few months ago.  We really saw it as a big reunion of sorts -- an opportunity for all of our closest family and friends (mostly in the US) to come together and celebrate with us as we committed our lives to each other.  As you all know, I strongly believe food brings everyone together, and popsicles are no exception to the rule.  We heard from several people after the wedding that the popsicles served as a bit of an ice-breaker during the cocktail hour, and allowed people to get to know each other a little better.  One of our all-time favorite pictures from the wedding was a group photo of all of our Emory friends enjoying pops with each other in the gardens.  Seeing it made us so happy!  

Photo credit: Yan Ping Qi

We are amazed and proud of how King of Pops has grown over the last several years.  They now sell popsicles in Charleston, Chattanooga, Savannah, Athens, Charlotte, and Richmond!  AND, they just bought a 68 acre plot of land to grow produce and herbs for their pops and to sell to the public!  We can't wait until it opens.

Joe's favorite flavors: blueberry cobbler, key lime pie, Georgia peach

Sharoda's favorite flavors: Georgia peach, orange basil, grapefruit mint

For a whole list of pop flavors, click here.   

Lotta Frutta

"From food are made all bodies, which become

Food again for others after their death.

Food is the most important of all things

For the body; therefore it is the best

Medicine for all the body's ailments.

They who look upon food as the Lord's gift 

Shall never lack life's physical comforts.

From food are made all bodies.  All bodies

Feed on food, and it feeds on all bodies.  

The physical sheath is made up of food.

Within it is contained the vital sheath,

Which has the same form, with prana as head,

Vyana as right arm, apana as left,

Space as heart, and earth as foundation."

~Taittiriya Upanishad

I love these verses from the Taittiriya Upanishad.  I came across these words last night while reading, and they moved me.  We are all conected by the maha prana, which we must care for and nourish.  First and foremost, we must always nourish ourselves physically before we can grow spiritually, and this is a reminder of that.  It is also a reminder of how all creatures need physical nourishment through food to survive.  When serving others, our family members, friends, small children, we must always serve them food with tender love and care, for we are serving the Self, we are serving that which connects all of us.  

...

Speaking of feeding others, we were fortunate enough to have my mother come stay with us last week and one of my goals during her stay was to expose her to as many of our favorite treats around Atlanta as, possible.  One of our best loved sandwich/smoothie restaurants is a little shop in the Old Fourth Ward district, a stone's throw away from the King Memorial and MLK's old childhood home.  Lotta Frutta is owned by Myrna Perez-Cifuentes.  Originally from McAllen, Texas (a small town in south Texas just north of the border with Mexico), Perez-Cifuentes is a passionate "fruitologist" who instills Mexican, Central American, and South American flavors into her delicious menu.  From juicy guanabanas to florally sweet Andean blackberries to the South American lulo (a "cousin" of the kiwi), all of Lotta Frutta's smoothies are made from scratch with the freshest, finest ingredients around.  While their menu isn't large (they only offer four sandwiches on their lunch menu), each and every food item they offer is absolutely delectable.  My personal favorites include the LottaMora smoothie (a fruity blend of Andean blackberries, strawberries, milk, and banana) and the Just Veggin', a panini-style sandwich with havarti cheese, slices of avocado, cucumber, and tomato, and fresh alfalfa sprouts.  Oh!  And I can't forget the Queso Quartet, which is exactly what it sounds like -- a panini with four types of gooey cheeses and slices of tomato, sandwiched in between pieces of grilled, crunchy, Latin bread (it's unclear what kind, though -- I'll have to ask the next time I'm there).  The Fresa Fetastic, an entree-sized salad, can also hit the spot, and contains sliced strawberries, grapes, hummus, and feta cheese atop fresh greens.  And last, but not least of course, I can't forget the house-made chulpas, or Ecuadorian-style toasted corn kernels.  Paired with a sandwich and a creamy, cool fruit smoothie, this salty snack is extremely addictive.  It is said that they provided Incan warriors with energy during trying times.  

One thing I have been meaning to try, but haven't gotten a chance to order yet, is their house-made vegan ice cream (available in guanabana, passion fruit, lulo, and Andean blackberry) and paletas (fruit-based ice pops -- available in limon, chocolate, horchata, and pineapple). 

One more thing, though -- if you're in a rush to eat, don't go to Lotta Frutta.  Word has gotten out that they have the best smoothies in town (okay, so I'm a bit biased), so their lines can be quite long, and they make everything to order.  They work extremely efficiently, though, and trust me -- the food is worth. the. wait. 

A re-entry into the blogosphere

It's been over a year since my last post.  Many things have happened since then; here are the highlights below:

1. Joe and I got married in Kolkata so my extended family could participate in the festivities and I could have the traditional Bengali wedding I've always wanted.

2. My husband and I honeymooned in Delhi, Agra, and the beautiful island of Mauritius for two weeks shortly after our week-long wedding in Kolkata.

3. Our sweet pup, Sasha, died of late stage lymphoma within two weeks of returning from our wedding in India.  We don't think she suffered for long, but knew she had been deteriorating for quite some time.  Our hearts still ache in her absence, but we know she is in a more peaceful place without pain and suffering, and that is the most important thing.

4. Since we were unable to share our Kolkata wedding with most of our friends and family "stateside," we had a second wedding in one of our favorite gardens in Atlanta over Memorial Day weekend (which totally rocked).

5. Much of my PhD dissertation work fell apart just before wedding #2, which will make for a busy, and hopefully productive, summer for me.

Over the course of the last year, I've planned out many written posts in my head, but unfortunately, failed to type any of them out.  I've even taken pictures of food several times.  Life happened, and I made a lot of excuses for not writing.  I've put pressure on myself for not writing, too, which subsequently perpetuated into a vicious cycle of expectation and unwarranted feelings of guilt. But, instead of being self-deprecating about not meeting my own expectations for writing in my food blog FOR FUN, I'm going to move forward and post ramblings about food and life whenever my schedule allows for it (and whenever I feel like).  I think I've also decided not to restrict myself to talking about food in each post; although, knowing me, I'll probably do it anyway.

Joe and I have had a lot of life changes over the last year, and we're incredibly thankful that we have each other to lean on in times of turmoil, and to embrace (read: butt-bump and high-five!) in times of celebration and joy.  Since we moved in together, we've learned to clean the house and organize grocery lists together, watched many episodes of our favorite shows (e.g. Game of Thrones, 24, Hart of Dixie), and cooked many amazing meals for each other.

Our wedding in Kolkata was pretty magical, I won't lie.  Every event (and there were many) held its own significance and incorporated special rituals which, most of the time, involved eating (much to our delight!).  It was amazing to see our two families come together during the week of our wedding -- we experienced so much love, joy, and and happiness as we pledged our lives together.  Perhaps I'll write about the details of each event in a later post, but in the meantime, here are a few glimpses from our wedding in Kolkata, including some of the food we had on the night of our wedding ceremony :)

 ...And just for fun, I'm including a few photos of my parents on their wedding day in Allahabad.  Check out my dad's cool 'stache.  That's so '70s.

The engagement story...and yes, this does involve food

So...yes.  Joe and I have fabulous news, which is that we're getting hitched!  Here's the full story, and yes, it does involve food.

It all started last December, when Joe first bought the engagement ring.  He was still unsure about when to pop the question, but kept it deep in his dresser drawer, unbeknownst to me.  Joe began to think that my birthday would be a great day to ask me to marry him, but he knew had to get permission from my parents first.  The Wednesday evening before my birthday (March 13), he summoned up the courage to call my parents.**  To his surprise, my parents told him that this was something they wanted to discuss in person so they could talk through it face-to-face.  Joe was terrified, but he spontaneously decided to take a flight out to Houston that following Saturday, and my parents agreed to see him.  Luckily for him, we were on a little "couple hiatus" this past weekend since we both had a tremendous amount of work to do (so he told me...but actually, he does have midterms this weekend, which added to the stress of asking for my parents' blessing and proposing to me!), so I had no idea he was even GONE!

**Note: Joe actually called my parents while on an evening walk with Sasha.  Usually, they're gone for about 10 minutes, but he didn't return home for about 45.  I was terrified!  Forty minutes into their "evening walk," I began to worry (to the point of paranoia) and suddenly imagined that he and Sasha were picked up on the side of the road and put on an ambulance stretcher headed straight for Atlanta Medical Center!  I began searching around parts of the neighborhood where they usually walk around and even thought about calling the police!  Luckily it didn't get to that point.  Boy did I feel silly after I found out the FULL story of what he was really doing!

During his 26 hour stay in Houston to get my parents blessings, my father, being the tough and protective parent that he is, asked Joe to make a case for why we should get married.  Joe confessed to both my parents how much we loved each other, how good we are together, and how well he promised to take care of me and make me happy for our whole lives, after which Joe received official blessings from my parents to get married.  Upon his return to Atlanta, Joe called me and asked me to come over for dinner the following evening...

...Fast forward to the evening of Monday, March 18.  I had a pretty stressful day, but was excited to spend a nice evening meal with Joe.  Immediately after walking into his apartment, I noticed things were strangely...cleaner.  The coffee table (read: dining table) had been cleared off, dishes had been put away...it was spic and span!  And there were beautiful candles laid out on the coffee table!  AND, I smelled Indian food.  Immediately, I began judging (you all know how judgy I am about my Indian food).  "Where did you get this food?" I asked.  He replied that he had picked up the food the night before from Chai Pani, a new fast food Indian joint in Decatur, and had a lot of leftovers to share for tonight's dinner.  "I heard that place isn't very authentic!" I replied.

I began to inspect further, lifting the covers off the saucepans full of food heating up on the stovetop.  I was shocked...this looked like Bengali food!  Traditional unripened papaya curry, ginger-spiced chicken curry...maybe I misjudged this Chai Pani place after all!

(*Note: I'm not officially disapproving of Chai Pani, since I have never been there.  Also, I would never bash a local restaurant on my blog.  My statements regarding Chai Pani are solely based on hearsay and I only included this detail to add to the story line.)

We sat down to eat, and from the very first bite, the food tasted like my Mom's cooking.  I kept exclaiming it over and over, too -- "Honey, this is just like my mom would make it!  So much ginger, the sweetness...the fresh papaya, so carefully grated..."  Then I had an idea.  "Honey!  I love this place.  We should go and have a sit-down meal at Chai Pani.  Can I borrow your phone to check out their menu?  Maybe the owner is Bengali.  Maybe I can talk to him so we can get a discount!"  Anyway, nearing the end of the meal, Joe asked me if I wanted some dessert.  I immediately assumed we'd be having ice cream, so I started heading towards the freezer to pull out the triple peanut butter ice cream (being Joe's favorite ice cream, he almost always has it on hand).  "No, no -- I brought some dessert from Chai Pani, let's have that instead."

Joe pulled out a traditional rice pudding (payesh) from the fridge.  Now, most of you know me pretty well enough to know that while I am extremely judgmental of food served at Indian restaurants, I'm even more critical of the desserts.  This is because Bengalis make the best sweets in India -- especially if they're milk-based.  And the rice pudding that's usually served at Indian restaurant buffets?  Awful -- usually soupy, thin, lazily made.  But THIS payesh, you guys.  It was full of richness and the rice wasn't falling apart and it was just pure love.  It tasted...again...just like my mother's!  That's when I KNEW I had to look up this Chai Pani place on his phone.  I tried to grab the phone from his pocket, which he subsequently blocked from my reach, and told me he had one more birthday gift to give me.

At that point, he gave me a card, which read "All you need is love. ~John Lennon" on the outside, and "All I need is you. Forever and for always, Joe."  Aw, very sweet.  I was sort of scratching my head at this point, wondering what I did to deserve all this special treatment!

That's when he noted that he had actually taken a picture with the chef at Chai Pani.  I mistook that to mean OWNER.  "Wow!!" I exclaimed.  "You had a picture taken with the owner?!  Let me see!"  ...that's when he pulled out his phone and showed me a picture of my mother and him together.  Boy, was I puzzled.  "Wait, was this from a few years ago when you visited Lake Jackson?" I asked.  That's when he revealed that he had actually been in Lake Jackson the past weekend.  I still felt generally confused -- almost like I was in a dream!

A few seconds later, Joe had me close my eyes and he handed me a beautiful ring box, which was...empty.  Well, that's only partially right.  It didn't have a ring in it, but it DID contain a sheet of Japanese grape candy (much like a sheet of pills, but with candy).  Each tiny piece of candy represented good luck in one single aspect of the consumer's life, e.g. dating, sports, shopping, studying, friendship.  The last candy, which had been uneaten, was labeled "marriage."

It turns out that he had bought this candy sheet the last time he was in Osaka for work, over a year ago.  He ate most of it, but left the marriage candy piece for the both of us to eat together when we were ready to take this step together.  It wasn't until I pulled out the candy sheet, and he explained its significance, that I began to gain clarity on what was happening.

Pretty soon after, Joe got down on one knee and asked me if I would make him the happiest man in the world.  And I said yes.  Then we giggled and danced around the apartment.

Yeah, I'm pretty lucky, aren't I? :)

Happy half birthday, Sasha bear!

Before I begin, I have to warn all of my (three: maximum) readers that this post has nothing to do with human food.  Instead, I am specifically dedicating this post to my hyperactive, sneezy, sickly, cuddly, contemplative, and incredibly clever puppy*, Sasha bear.  Actually, she is only by default partially mine since Joe, my partner, has been kind enough to share her with me since he adopted her about three and a half years ago.  Sasha is a brown and white Jack Russell terrier mix with an intense love for fish eggs and an obsession with attacking all living things small and cute (e.g. chipmunks, squirrels, smaller dogs, sparrows), and also things not so small and perhaps not always cute (e.g. possums, raccoons, slightly larger dogs).  Actually, she's gotten better about behaving around other dogs, but all the other parts are true.  She's an incredibly vivacious dog who loves to run and play, but also enjoys cuddling with pretty much any warm body who's willing to give her a head or belly rub.

When we first got Sasha, we noticed that half her medical records stated that she was born in July, while the other half reported a birth date sometime in January.  Not knowing the exact date, we just sort of assumed she was a summer puppy.  Sadly, though, we never got around to celebrating her birthday; it was always a fleeting thought in conversation..."Hey, we should get people together for a party!" or "Maybe we should give sweet Sasha an extra treat for her birthday" were examples of comments floating into conversations around the summer time.

Well this PAST year, I took it upon myself to actually make it happen for her 8th birthday.  Several days in advance, I made all the preparations -- invited five dogs (and their owners), made doggie treat bags for all the guests, prepared a birthday cake for the canine of the hour, decorated the living room with banners and balloons.  Joe even bought Elmo birthday hats and tiaras for everyone.  Now, let's make one thing clear -- we're not crazy dog owners who dress our pups up in ridiculous outfits and put makeup on them and carry them around in large purses (murses).  We just had to make up for the past three years, so we went all out.

The evening was filled with various different activities involving fetch and playing with doggie mental-stimulation toys.  About half-way through the party, I gave Sasha her birthday cake, which had all of her favorite ingredients -- Beggin' Strips, masago (tiny fish eggs), milkbones, peanut butter, and a doggie-safe muffin.  I know...it sounds completely grotesque for us humans, but I can guarantee you it was a hit for all the honored canine guests, who were clearly in doggie heaven at the time (the cake was a bit much for Sasha alone to consume, so I let the others take a stab at it).  (So, see?  Food not only brings HUMANS together, but also doggies.)  All pups ended up being over-stimulated from eating and playing for at least two hours, after which every one of our guests crashed.  It made me wonder whether this was what it was like to experience a sugar crash at a kid's birthday party!

Anyway, in honor of our special little girl, here are a few snaps from the party.  Sticking with the tradition of belated (and forgotten) celebrations, happy half birthday, sweet Sasha.  Sorry we missed the past three years...here's to another 10 years of remembering!

*As many of you know, I could write a whole book on stories of Sasha scheming to accomplish something.  I'll save some of those stories for another post.

Chicken Soup for the...Soul?

Yes, it's true that the term "soul food" was coined in the 1960s to describe traditional Southern food, but to me, soul food describes any comfort food that brings a group of people together to eat, e.g. family-style meals.  Here's a recipe for a hearty chicken and brown rice soup that will bring your family and/or friends together, especially when on a chilly, wintry day (I know...just in time for spring in a few weeks...sorry!).  If you live alone, this is a great way to create a big batch of balanced food for the whole week.  Oh!  And this is a great post-workout dinner as well.

I won't lie, I do take the easy way out by using rotisserie chicken instead of  raw meat, but doing so adds more flavor, and honestly, makes your life way easier.  I have a tendency to add a variety of vegetables to my soups, and I make this soup differently every time.  I am currently making a pot of the stuff and happened to add carrots, parsnips, celery, spinach, and parsnips; however, I have used different types of squash (chayote, yellow, etc.), leeks, and mushrooms with equal success.  Use your best judgment on what to add, and have a little fun experimenting!  Below are just suggestions on how best to whip up a batch, with some recommendations and guidelines on how to add a little more love into this dish.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

-1 whole rotisserie chicken, roughly chopped into 1-2 inch cubes.  I tend to remove about 3/4 of the skin, but leave some for flavor; I also throw in the bones to flavor the broth.
-6 carrots, chopped
-3 parsnips, chopped
-1 medium-sized yellow onion, chopped
-6-8 cloves of garlic, chopped
-1 shallot
-3 stalks of celery, chopped
-1 bunch parsley
-3 tbsp chicken broth base
-1 cup brown rice (uncooked)
-A few sprigs of thyme
-Salt, to taste
-1 tbsp of fresh peppercorns
-1 tbsp Bolst curry powder (nope, I don't use anything else) -- this is my not-so-secret "secret" ingredient!
-1 tablespoon ghee

Preparation (chopping: 0.5 hour; cooking: 1.5 hours)

1. Fill half a large pot with water and add chopped chicken (with bones), chopped vegetables, garlic, shallot, onions, thyme, salt, peppercorns, thyme, parsley broth base, and curry powder.
2. Cook on high heat until contents of pot begin to boil, then reduce to medium heat for about an hour.
3. In the meantime, cook 1 cup of brown rice using a pressure cooker or rice cooker.
4. After about an hour, check on the soup and adjust flavors as needed.
5. Add rice to soup, then readjust flavors again (you may have to add a tad of salt after adding the rice).
6. Just before serving, add 1 tbsp of ghee to the soup.  This adds to the richness and comfort of the soup.
7. Serve piping hot, with love.

*A tip: Never add the rice until the very end, to limit risk of your rice melting/dissolving into the soup.  Also, never cook the rice IN the soup; your rice will just absorb the flavors of the broth.  This may end up tasting delicious, but you won't end up with soup -- only flavored rice.

 A bowl of comforting chicken and brown rice soup.