How to make a jigsha

Ingredients: 5 parts success 3 parts ambition 3 parts beauty

Method: Layer ingredientes in a shot glass. Top it off with a sprinkle of caring and enjoy!

Try it for yourself Username: Personality cocktail. From Go-Quiz.com

this will be edited in the next couple of days to make it more chai-like (designwise i mean). just wanted to remember this. but am surprised at the result. beauty aside, it hits a little close to home.

UPDATE: above table has been modified. hope to report more. lots been going on. folks and shiv were here, so had a full riotous home — loved it. grand times were had. found out in the past couple of weeks that one of my good friends is pregnant and two are engaged. wtf. uh oh - the pressure is on now. i'm sort of coming to realize my social circle has come of age. darn.

I think my apartment is sort of finally in order. I bought and installed my last bookcase on Monday and almost all my books and little knickknacks have their place now.

Then I sat down on the light green sofa as my red fairy lights twinkled against the orange wall and realized that shit, I have a home in Knoxville. This so wasn't meant to happen. I was meant to be living frugally on boxes and odds and ends and be ready to leave in an instant. But my very particular taste wouldn't make do, so I had to get things I liked and that fit my modern/clean/dark wood/orange+green style.

I so wanted to be a nomad; have no home or roots in this country. My true home will always be in Z., or maybe where my parents are (in Rolla now). I liked the idea of being able to pick up and go. And I think I can still do that to a certain degree, but I'll want to cart with me my green sofa and self-stained headboard and dining table, and heavy dark wood bookcases, some of my prints and my dark red dinnerware. So we'll see. If and when I decided to spend a couple of years (how I talk so frivolously!) in Europe, I'll have to really protect my prized furniture in my parents' warehouse in Rolla.

But in a way, it was meant to happen, I think. I'm really fond of entertaining at home and having friends and family come stay (the most awesome Dharmisha left Monday and my parents and Shiv will be here next week), so I needed to make sure my home is a little comfortable and accomodating. What a quandry, but a nice one at that.

And I'm lucky to be living where I do. Where I can borrow band aids from one neighbor, a cutting board and spatula from another, play checkers in the dark with another and get along fine with them all. I can almost always pop in for a visit and spend time conversing on all sorts of things.

Damn, this wasn't meant to happen.

The orange gathering Friday happened! I was amazed that at one time there were over 30 people in my apartment milling around, drinking, eating and admiring the wall. The beginning of the party was — as always — frantic with me still preparing things. But all in all, I think it went down OK and the last crowd left at 4 a.m.

The good thing about the party was that all my neighbors came, so it was good to get to know them a little bit more. And no one complained. And I danced some. A night of fun — and quite possibly the promise of more social gatherings as they're so much fun to plan.

Yesterday, was an experience like none other. The very amazing Scott, Anthony and I partook in a culinary expedition (my words!) of Southeast Asia. Scott and I had talked a long time about having one day to choose exotic recipes and spend the day gathering the ingredients and spend the evening cooking it.

Scott chose a paneer mughlai. I went for a Balinese panfried catfish with spicy coconut sauce. We had a side of baby bak choy, carrots and apple salad, and rice and parathas. I made chocolate custard cups for dessert.

Almost everything we made was from scratch (only exception were the parathas). It was a hectic afternoon as we rushed to different stores trying to find kencur root, paneer, galagal root candlenuts. Unfortunately, some ingredients were a bit too exotic for Knoxville, so we had to make do.

We got back home at 5 and started prepping and cooking. This was the first time I shared my kitchen with someone cooking a full separate dish, so it took some getting used to. But we did just fine.

The cooking went underway almost without a hitch. There was a cut here, spilled boiling water there, but all in all fairly successful. I was a little worried about the base gede. I'm sure the Balinese version is quite different from the one I made, but it still turned out OK.

We had our sit-down dinner a little after 9. We were all surprised at how good the paneer, fish, salad and chocolate custard cups came out. A debate on the progressive movement accompanied the dinner. It made for a perfect day and cap to a delightful weekend.