I am not promoting Paperboat, but I love them.

Me: Hey we forgot to taste the Paperboat guava drink. Let’s try it now.

SSM: Okay

We sip it

SSM: hmmm a bit like paaka pyara (ripe guava) na, with mirchi!?

Me: It is not. It is like kacha pakka peru (Not so raw not so ripe guava) with mirchi.

SSM: It is OKAY!

Me: It is OKAY with the first sip. Gets better as you keep sipping it. Try.

SSM: Yeah, you are right. It is good.

Me: Reminds me of the pink peru we used to it when we were kids. I don’t think they grow them anymore. Sigh.

SSM: (sipping) hmmm.

Me: Hey, check this out… you can actually suck it in while keeping your head straight. You don’t have to roll your head back to take a gulp. This is so cool!

SSM: How does that matter?

Me: Of course it matters. This is like the whole things is a huge straw. It is like magic.

SSM: Sigh, it is science.

Me: Oh, Shut up. This is the awesomest thing ever. (awesomest should be a word) I mean you could be reading a book and drinking this. But you don’t have to shift your glance away to take a sip. You can just read and suck at the same time. You don’t even have to pour it in a glass and use a straw anymore.

SSM: When do you ever use a glass and a straw to drink something while reading!?

Me: I don’t, but I could. And now I don’t have to. I have to tell the Paperboat guys about my wonderful realisation about their bottles. They should totally send me free drinks for bringing out this super USP for their product.

SSM: They do that anyway, weirdo!

Me: That’s true too. Yeah. But I love the Paperboat guys. 

***

In the meanwhile, check this awesome little short film that they have come out with. :)

A normal conversation and a lesson about rules.

SSM: So, how was the flight?

Me: Oh, good. Finished reading an awesome book. I'll tell you about it.

SSM: Alright. And did you eat something good on the flight.

Me: Well, thanks to you, I had to have upma and masala tea.

SSM: Thanks to me? What do you mean, thanks to me?

Me: I asked you to web check me in on seat no 6A!

SSM: So? It wasn't available! What has that got to do anything with you eating upma.

Me: If I was on 6A I would have eaten the grilled chicken with rosemary and caramelised onion sandwich, and a manchow soup.

SSM: So that got over by the time the tray reached you?

Me: No, they still had it!

SSM: So??? Okay, I know where this is going. This is not gonna make any sense. I know it. But tell me anyway.

Me: As a rule I only have the grilled chicken with rosemary and caramelised onion sandwich, and the manchow soup when I am on 6A. Any other seat and I will eat upma and drink masala chai.

SSM: ????

Me: It is a rule. My rule. I live by that rule.

SSM: So even if you feel like not eating upma, you still will?

Me: Yes! That is what rules are for. You follow them.

SSM: Nonsense!

Me: No wonder you are so undisciplined.

SSM: I am sorry we even had this conversation. Lets stop talking for a while.

Me: Okay. But next time remember... 6A.

How Paperboat added awesomeness to my Diwali

No, Paperboat has not asked me to write this post. But I will, because I love those guys.

So a long time ago, this is what happened. They sent me drinks to review. I enjoyed the drinks but forgot to review. Then they sent me a book - the lovely - Three men in a Boat. So I felt very warm and a little guilty and I reviewed them.

All this was a long time ago.

And now suddenly this arrived at my mail a week before Diwali and had me jumping with joy.



Happy box



A tin box loaded with awesomeness

The moment I opened the box, the awesome scent of the hay got me totally heady. The box contained two post cards, a magnet, two laddoos and two packs of their newest drink, Anar. Also a lovely letter.

The whole presentation was so festive and warm that it instantly took me to my childhood. I that is what their idea was - the tin box was supposed to make you nostalgic

Click on the picture to enlarge it and read those lovely words.

And the Anar drink. I havent had anything so delicious and refreshing for a long long time. The laddoos were yum too.

And the tin box. well that obviously has snuggled itself in my sewing shelf.

adding to my beautiful clutter

Thank you Paperboat guys. Thanks for adding that smile to my Diwali. :)

***

Read more about them here - http://paperboatdrinks.com/

No, I am not dating a vampire.

Sourced from the internet. The picture, not the roll.

A few days ago, a colleague at work told me about this incident that happened in the metro. This happened on a weekday morning. The metro was very crowded. Suddenly one woman bit another woman's hand. And by that I mean that she bit her hard enough to leave teeth mark and some blood. True story. Seriously. I asked this colleague about why did she not click a picture. She said three things - 1. photography is not allowed in the metro. 2. The metro was super crowded. 3. I cannot remember.

But she is a nice girl so I will believe her and so should you.

This incident really shocked me. I kept wondering what could have possible caused a woman to bite another.

Anyway, with time I forgot about this incident.

Then today something happened that made me remember it again.

I am on a diet. Okay, I am lying. But I do try to be on a diet. But some edible products are a home to Satan as we know. Rolls, are one them. They just tempt you to hell.

This colleague who sits next to me had ordered a chicken roll today. He offered to share it with me and I couldn't refuse. Satan, remember?

So I split the roll in halves and took the top half for my self. Which means, I did not have the butter paper that protects the roll, protecting my half of the roll.

I took a deep breath till the aroma of the roll hit my head, closed my eyes, opened my mouth wide and sank my teeth in that hell of a roll.

When I opened my eyes, I saw people at my work place staring at me with hungry eyes. (Some might mistake that look for disgust, but I am sure it was a look of hunger and crave)

And then I noticed that the contents of the roll had spilled from the other end all over my kurta. Yes, the front of my kurta was stained with chicken and juices and oil.

I looked at the people again and this time I noticed, it was disgust written all over their face.

I rushed to the washroom and tried to wipe the stains off.

Suddenly a lady from another department walked into the washroom. She stared at me vigorously scrubbing my kurta with a wet washcloth and said, "wow you smell like, erm..." "Like roll", I completed her sentence. She smiled and said "yes". I replied, "erm, thanks. But I would really not appreciate if you bite me." She gave me a weird look and walked out of the washroom. Without peeing.

But what I said had freaked me out too. The metro incident mentioned above suddenly flashed back in my mind and I just knew why that woman had been the other woman.

After ages I was scared to enter the metro. (The last time was after watching the movie Kahani.) I was seriously worried about being bitten by the co commuters who were traveling back home after a long day at work. Hungry.

Luckily the metro was not too crowded and I managed to stand in a corner with my backpack strapped to my front to block as much of the aroma as I could.

Seriously, I smelled so good that I was surprised that I did not bite myself.

Anyway. After this I just want SSM to know that if ever he finds bite marks on me, he is not supposed to assume that I am cheating on him and dating a vampire.

No, I am not dating a vampire. I AM JUST A LOUSY EATER.

If there is any sort of romance involved, it is purely between the Bengali bhodrolok and the roll. The Satan.

And I shall finally eat mete chorchori tonight.

I have been having this insatiable craving for mete chorchori for the longest time now. Like for ever, Since 20^th June 2015.

I have also been through crazy highs and lows for a real long time now. More lows than highs.

What with days of not wanting to get out of bed, to days of browsing through Pinterest all day long trying to cheer myself up with pictures of chocolate cakes, glazed chicken and pretty quilts, life has been pretty crazy.

Unfulfilled craving for mete chorchori has just been adding to my woes.

Hence yesterday on our way back, I had been pretty grumpy.

SSM: What happened?

Me: Nothing.

SSM: Okay. (Continues driving)

(Silence for some time as I grumble in my head about how SSM never probes me after I say ‘nothing’)

Me: So remember, how on 20^th of June I had told you that I am craving for mete chorchori and you had said that you get the best mete chorchori only in North Kolkata and you shall get it for me. It has been ages since we have had that conversation. I guess this is what nine years of being married does to people.

SSM: Eight years. Seven and a half, actually.

Me: What?

SSM: We have been married for seven and a half years.

Me: Of course. Seven and a half. I remember. But that is not the point. Just because of your fixation for North Kolkata, I am starving to death.

(I notice SSM roll his eyes at that.)

Later that evening at home.

SSM: Why do you have dark circles around your eyes?

Me: Because I haven’t eaten mete chorchori for ages.

My Ma-in-law (she is a sweetheart) on hearing our conversation, laughed, and promised that she would be getting mete and cooking chorchori for me today evening.

And that is how I get mete chorchori for dinner tonight. :|

 ***

(I shall vote this as my most random post ever. But I am ecstatic since morning just thinking about dinner.)

***

Update: Mete dinner last night was the best dinner ever.

Paper Boat - Drinks and memories - A review and more.

Have you heard of Paper Boat? They make drinks - nice, juicy, natural drinks.

Well a long long time ago I got an email from them to review their drinks. I usually do not agree to review products but their mail was full of wit and humour. It made me laugh and so, I agreed. They promised to send me drinks soon... but that did not happen.

Then many days later they sent another email - a witty, humourous one again - saying that there was a delay and they will be sending me the drinks soon. I agreed again and this time they did send me the drinks.

I had drinks; enjoyed them; even photographed them. But I forgot to review them. Yep. I really did mean to review them but I kept putting it off to another day till I forgot.

And then, last week, I got a package from Paper Boat. This.

Three men in a boat - the book and a lovely note with it

Damn them! Trust those guys to make me feel horribly guilty, about not having reviewed them, in such a lovely way... Brutal!

***

So here is the review.

I was impressed the way those cute little (not really little - 250 ml is not little) bottles were sent to me. In this lovely orange jute bag. (I use it to store legos now. I shall check if they can send in more -jute bags, not legos)

Cute bottles and the orange jute bag

There were six of them. Six amazing flavours:
Imli (a reminder of the times when I would climb tress sit atop and suck on them - the imlis)
Jaljeera (life saviour - always)
Jamun Kala Khatta (memories of slurrping on golas while walking back from school)
Golgappe ka paani ( :) )
Amras (Alphonsos and Bombay)
Aam panna (heaven and nothing less).

Ha, aren't you salivating already? Don't those names bring back those lovely memories of hot summer vacations playing outside all afternoon and getting back home to gulp some of that awesomeness.

Trust me I had that exact same feeling as I opened them and took that first sip. They were all awesome. They all had that traditional ghar ka swaad.

Literature, sure to make you nostalgic.

Read that? How could one not love them?

And my favourite would be the Aam Paana. These guys are a natural there. It's the first time that I have got close to tasting Aam paana the way my mother makes it. And she makes the best aam panna in the entire world! So there - THAT is a HUGE compliment!

Go Ahead and try them out. all of them, especially Aam panna. Try them to relive some best memories of your childhood.

Also they have great packaging and great literature there on it. So read whats written behind while you sip on your drink.

Believe me, these guys are good.

***

Thank you, Hector Beverages, for letting me try these amazing flavours from Paper Boat for free. And thanks a ton for the book. :)

Read more about them here - http://paperboatdrinks.com/

Sometimes i cook..

I love cooking... I seriously do ... but its just that i haven't really cooked something nice for a really loooong time.

And that's how i decided to invite a few friends over for a nice Sunday lunch... And this is what i cooked up :)

Looks Yummmmm doesn't it... OK let me tell you what it was and how I made it... so here are the recipes

Grilled Chicken - I mmarinated the chicken for an hour in a paste of soy sauce, honey, chilly flakes, salt and pepper. I then took some oil in a pan and sauteed loads of chopped garlic and then grilled the chicken over it... easy peasy n super yummy.

Cheesy Noodles - Well this one was inspired from dish i had at Mocha. I made maggi chicken flavoured noodles but used just half pack of the chicken seasoning and then mixed it with some cheese white sauce and added chopped chicken salamis and sweet corn to it... a simple one again right... Oh OK this is how i make the cheese sauce. In a pan i take some butter. add some garlic to it. then mix in some cornflour and cold milk. when it thickening i add salt pepper and cheese (grated or slices) to it... :)

Baked Eggs with Sausages - This one is the recipe i picked up from the recipe book i got with my Samsung Microwave Oven. which is basically mixing in eggs with chopped vegetables and sausages and a bit of milk..top it with cheese and bake it in the microwave... a quick and easy meal...

So that was the lunch and my guests loved it... super yummy (and fattening :( ... ) but hey its OK once in a while to indulge...

Oh ya and the dessert... well i tried the colourful cake but it was quite a disaster :( since i couldn't get the icing correct. Its OK. was my first time at making icing... I am sure i will get it right the next time. :D :D but it was still yummy... here is the picture and the recipe you can get here Though i just used the regular ready to bake cake mix :)

So do try out the recipes above.... I'm sure they wont be a disappointment :D... take care ...