Happy Vaisakhi!
Happy National Jelly Bean Day!
(i will never not cook my spices again before using them - holy moly. yes, holy holy moly. my house smelled amazing all night) So the last holiday, although true, was not really celebrated in our house this weekend. Unless you count the three remaining jelly beans in Mr. sixtyone45's desk candy jar that for some reason have been pardoned. But this past weekend it was Earth Day and Vaisakhi. So what did we do to celebrate? Step one...google Vaisakhi.
(if they invented scratch and sniff computer screens you would be drooling right now...i may be a little already) We live in a community that has a large concentration of Indo-canadians. It offers some fantastic Indian restaurants and great spice shops. Our friends at google informed us that Vaisakhi is the time when farmers have put their sickles to harvest and celebrated the coming of a new year. There is a wee bit more to it but for that, I send you to the loving arms of wiki.
(is it wrong to have more pictures of garlic in your blog then pictures of your kid?) How perfect, as it turns out I am feeling very Vaisakhi-ish these days. I too, am ready to put my sickle to harvest...or maybe just plant a few green beans...but I appreciated the spirit of the celebration. Maybe I am reaching, but it felt like another whisper - connecting with origin of the food my family eats. At the very least it was going to force some creativity into a regular Saturday night bbq.
(greek yogurt - shown here getting jiggy with the spices) I think what I love most about connecting with the orgin of food and subsequently talking about it here, is that it slows everything down. Its not about hitting a drive thru (for which I pass NO judgement on...ever...ever.) but rather about integrating consciousness and thoughtfulness into meal preparation. Its kinda like saying grace six hours before a meal and several times thereafter, before you ever lift a fork.
(apparently cilantro, corriander and chinese parsley are all the sames things...don't say I never teach you anything) So on this particular Saturday we arose to our news lady covering Vaisakhi and our weather guy sporting shades. Que the BBQ - tandoori style. One of the 255,343 wonderful things about having a child, is that a 'task' becomes an 'adventure for the day' and therefore is very conducive to a slow food day.
(i think my raw meat photographs are improving. distance helps) On our venture to the butcher we went for breakfast, went to the park, watched a ball game...granted not all contributed to our bbq night but the purpose and pace of the day made it that more enjoyable. (as did world's greatest kid)
(it was pitch black by the time i took this and out of the 50 i took, this is the one photo i dislike the least.) Even taking photographs is slowing down our meals and making me appreciate the food before us. I am constantly now saying to Mr sixtyone45, 'don't turn that on until I take a picture' or 'let me shoot that before you take it off' or 'please for the love of all things good hang your coat up'. I plate our meals with more intention and care and we take a moment to admire it before digging in. (if I figure out a way to teach a 15 month old that I will be sure to share)
(indian food can be a bit beige making it tough to shoot, gonna have to add that to the list to learn (now that I have mastered raw meat of course) It was after nine before we even sat down to eat but it was worth the wait. We enjoyed the process, the house smelled great and we got to spend a fantastic day as a family together with this little dollop of deliciousness....
(there, now equal pictures of son and garlic)
BBQ Tandoori Chicken
...with Cilantro and Onion Couscous, Spinach Paneer and Grilled Garlic Naan
(recipe to follow..I promise, one day I will get the recipes in here)
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