HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FRIEND!

Spoke to a friend today. Initially, it was a birthday wish, but am hoping it made the said friend's day as much as it did mine. Put a smile on my face, really. What did we speak about? Nothing earth-shattering, nothing that is of importance globally. More importantly, it was topics of conversation that made the both of us happy, and glad that we did touch base. It's not often that we speak - yet! (it's a newly forged friendship, you see) - but catching up is always fun. The SMSes that fly back and forth are snippets of conversation in themselves. Hmm, contentment.

Why do I write this post? No, it's not to make the friend get a feel of 'oh, look - I write about you just to flatter you'; neither does it have to do with wanting anyone else to feel that way. What I'm pleasantly surprised is about the fact that you find friends in the most unlikely places, under the most unlikely circumstances. About meeting said friend: a business meeting with a fair number of others, but somehow seem to hit it off with just this one person. A quick promise to keep in touch (did I mention that we live in different cities?), and which we stuck to, saw us swap contact information, led us to explore a tentative new friendship. Safe to say that on the friend front, this is a good place to be!

P.S.: Here's wishing you a wonderful year ahead, friend! You know who you are!

SPRING CLEANING

Dunno about spring, really, but got a spot of cleaning done today... Take that, evil dust mites!

Behind the refrigerator, the newspaper hamper, under the cupboards and the bed, the kitchen cabinets cleaned on the inside, the drapes, carpets and furniture vacuumed... I'm quite the proud houseowner at the moment. (Deserve a diamond tiara, too, methinks. Or at the very least, a ring.)

Clean, yes, but if I'm to look at the time - the best part of Sunday's vanished in the hum of the vacuum cleaner, the swish of the dustcloth. Still on the agenda: a trip to the supermarket to buy a week's worth of veggies and fruits.

Whoever said the working (and married) girl's life was easy? Stories to share, anyone?

TO THE RICE COOKER...

... What would I do without you?

Turn back the clock to a few years ago, when the kitchen was entirely alien territory to yours truly. (The hubby not-so-quietly opines that some things don't change, but that's for another post.) Had the BFF over to lunch one afternoon, and the trusting Mum left me to my own devices whilst she popped over to the market on her jaunt for veggies. One request she made was "put the rice on, three whistles should do it, before you can turn it off". Days of the pressure cooker, these. Uh-huh, so I look at the clock, turn on the gas stove and wait for the rice to happily cook itself. Some time later, and with no response in terms of the three promised whistles, am wondering what to do. Just then, the BFF walks in, and is informed of my query. Horrified, she learns that I've not put in any water in the cooker itself - turns out it's a situation (quite literally) waiting to explode! Seems you need to have water not only in the rice vessel itself, but also in the cooker... whew!

Today, my love affair with my rice cooker begins. No pressure cookers for me, but swear by this multi-purpose (it even steams veggies!) rice cooker instead.

Basic rice:

1 portion rice

2 portions water

Salt, butter/ ghee to taste (if you want to)

All you have to do is plug in the rice cooker and wait for the fragrant aroma to waft past... and that's it! Enjoy the rice!

THE TWILIGHT SAGA

So it's my latest obsession... move over, Harry Potter!