March is a great month because its first day marks my arrival on this planet and the following thirty involve people giving me the coolest things. Like the year Julie presented me with a care package containing everything a good geologist could ask for including Madison, WI Dive Bars: The Game or D unsuccessfully, yet sweetly, tried to surprise me with an XM boombox (tech support included).
Arriving home for lunch today, what should I find propping open my storm door but a box from the rare and cultivated Ms. brimful. She had mentioned mailing me something, but I figured it was a card at most. No, no, the darling woman sent me a collection of food, more explicitly her homemade baked goods expertly and lovingly wrapped, the cutest little bottles of Fudge Fatale dessert sauces and a bottle of Chandon. *does happy dance* How could I eat just one of those yummy chocolate-smothered flowers or crunchy globules of flour, sugar, cardamom and another ingredient whose identity eludes me, but with which my tummy is in love? Let’s say that I’ve just consumed enough dessert for four days. Brimful of comatose …
Like the rest of my family, I show my friends love by feeding them. When Machelle or Amanda come over, they eat whatever I’m eating, even if it’s berries, eggs or microwaved Lean Cuisine and I will go out of the way to reduce the hypoglycemia quotients of the ones I hold dear. This is something else I love about New Orleans – every party, every get-together, every shindig has enough food for a wedding. From gumbo to red beans & rice and bread pudding to olive salad, it is difficult to go hungry in this city.
Note that I said I feed my friends and don’t necessarily cook for them (ok, rarely, and only Indian food). brimmy, on the other hand, is the consummate baker; affectionate is the first word that springs to mind regarding her confectionary creations and the people for whom she makes them. *sigh* Thank you, brimmy, for the love you put into remembering me and for the thoughtful-funny card. You bet challenges will be met with my “characteristic resolve” as long as I know I’ll come out on the other side to your delectable carbs.
As someone who shuns simple carbohydrates (and lost 25 lbs. after moving to New Orleans by staying away from them), it’s hard to hail from an Indian family. Seriously, we have every form of starch, sugar and combination thereof cornered. Speaking of love and food, what about the birthday package I received a few days ago from my parents? Aside from a dozen or so of the most snazzy pieces of jewelry picked out by my tasteful mother, the box contained an assortment of South Indian desserts, murukku (a salty, crunchy snack), sambar powder and narthangai (a dried-citrus pickle/relish).
How many times have I asked my parents to send me just three laddus and to cease and desist with the murukku? “No, no, the poor child doesn’t get enough home cooking and we will have to stop referring to her as an eruma maddu for a while.”
They adore me and wish only for my happiness – what else can I ask for? But, these pounds don’t get taken away by elves, you know!
Some day we’ll win ’em all. Until then, these culinary gifts go in a safe with a timer that shoots the door open for five minutes every other Saturday. After I tuck into one last piece of brim’s cardamomy goodness … teehee …
Um, yum, huh? She needs to open shop!
And, losing weight in New Orleans is unheard of, I don’t understand. I think I gained about 30 pounds living there, in a one-year span!
I was in New Orleans for three days once and I think I gained 30 pounds.
Also, as I mentioned in my email, these kind words are really too much! And I was so disheartened to hear, upon going to the post office to mail your package, that Express Mail is still not open for New Orleans mail. These little things just serve to further show how much is still left to be done.
And somehow I know you will have a hand in those things that are left to be done, Maitri. :)
oodles, losing weight in New Orleans is unheard of. People refer to me as the AntiChrist here (is that 1/666 = 1.501e-3 – the InverseChrist?). It has a lot to do with eating po’boys and beignets, walking into a clothing store and realizing that I don’t fit into my regular size or the next one up. It’s very easy to get carried away here, as you well know, and smaller portions and exercise are the only way.
Says the girl who left her running shoes in the car after charting a course to the gym. I need to Get On This.
brimful, did you ever know that you are my hero? Everything, everything, everything, I wish I could bake. Alright, I’ll stop. Now the question is: how do I send you dosa and sambar through the mail? Guess I’ll just have to come out to SF, wear a flower in my hair and get cooking for you.
I’ve lost weight in New Orleans by virtue of activity. I might be putting it back on now, but when I arrived, I found myself eating less, walking more.
Eating less by virtue of going to a great NOLA restaurant and sitting down to dine.
This rather than grazing off of Sam’s Club bundles in the pantry and fridge.
Dave is stopping by in June by the way. As the blogging social coordinator, I thought I’d let you know. We can have an AA versus NOLA game of quarters or something.
That’s awesome! We’ll have to live-blog the game of quarters, of course.
I wonder if it will be AA vs. NOLA or MI vs. WI. :-)
Actually, it’s July. I don’t have exact dates yet, but I should, to echo Maitri’s phrase, Get On That. I think my April visit is a bust though, owing to my agreeing to go up north that weekend and then totally forgetting about it.
P.S. Badgers? We don’t need no stinkin’ badgers!
Michigan’s just a bunch of trolls. Please let the UP secede to us, where it rightfully belongs.
Go BIG RED!
No way, eh?
Hey Dave, I’ve fallen into the black hole which is Library Thing. So deep that I removed the latest three books I’ve read so I can enter all of my books and then re-enter the latest three so they show up on the blog widget.
Oh, and I’ve linked to you from my blog now. ‘Cuz life’s all about suds and soliloquies anyway. Plus the tiki motif. Remind me to tell you about The Prodigal Son (R.I.P.) some day.
Take off, eh! (in keeping with the McKenzies – the best things to come out of SCTV).
Maitri,
Yeah, that’s what I’m talkin’ about! Thanks for the honor roll inclusion.
Re: LibraryThing — I know what you’re saying. I’ve wanted to just go nuts and start adding books but I’ve held back because I wanted to use it as a “What is Dave reading now?” thing on my blog. So that’s why I have only 8 books in my library at the moment. HOWEVER, I think there is a way I can go nuts adding books and still use the widget the way I want — by using tags. I was actually going to try that out tonight after work. I think you can now tell the widget to display books with certain tags, and so I was going to make a “currently reading” tag or something similar. Should work.
If I see you while I’m down visiting Alan I’ll ask you about The Prodigal Son (R.I.P.).
P.S. Plus buy you some suds when you tell the story. (Stories are always so much nicer with beer.)