Booze Project!

Technically, The Alcohol Stove Project. I came across Tom Allen's website a couple of weeks ago <www(dot)tomsbiketrip(dot)com>. My jaws dropped, and I spent an entire day browsing his website. Basically, Tom's from England who's on a bicycle since 2006. He's traveled over 40 countries on 4 continents. The best thing about his adventure is, he doesn't know where he is going!! "You never know who you gonna meet, what you going to be eating. Do it, do this kind of trip, your life will never be the same again" he says in his movie -Janpar. Hope I get the nerve to do something like this :)

Anyways, digging deep in his website I found a DYI tutorial for an alcohol stove, and this blog post is about my own alcohol stove based on Tom Allen's idea.

I'll let the pictures do the talking..

Its an easy dyi stove, just find an empty soda/beer can and with the help of the can opener rip off the top. cut the can into two halves. Make combustion chambers for the top half with the help of a pocket knife. 

The top portion should look like the picture below. 

This is how the two halves should look like after the combustion chambers are made. 

Place the top half inside the bottom half, it should slide easily. Make a tiny hole with the help of a pin on top half like so.,

Your finished Stove should look like this. Buy medical alcohol from pharmacy, this is your fuel. 

Pour some into the stove and light it up. Your alcohol stove is ready.

This is me making pasta in my very own stove :D

Have a g'day! 

Culinary delights of Wimberley,Texas.

Texas is an amazing place, especially the country side. The place is very different and distinct from California! This distinction is mainly FOOD! Yes, of-course when you talk about Texas the first thing that comes to your mind is Cowboys and Wildcatters, but they no longer exist in great numbers.. Food is the only thing that is very distinct from rest of the states of USA. You can easily lay your hands on chicken-fried steak, a smoked brisket, a bowl of queso in any of the cities in TX. Wood smoked BBQ is a must eat when you are in TEXAS.

You gotta watch Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservation" Austin - episode to know what food in Texas is really about, here's the link if you haven't seen the episode <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsKMJG4UJPU>

During the formula 1 weekend of 2013 me and three other friends stayed in Wimberley TX. We were looking for really good places to eat and our Airbnb host Amy suggested "The Leaning Pear", I did a quick google search and apparently this is the best place to eat in Wimberley and had amazing reviews. We immediately decided to give it a try.

It was 12 pm in the afternoon and we drove up to the restaurant and parking was nearly full, luckily we found a spot and walked in.

 The Leaning Pear

We went inside and the wait was almost 45 min to 60 min. We decided to wait and my god it was worth it!! I'll let the pictures do the talking and try not to make your mouth water ;)

Hassles of being a Veggie in Texas, Rohit and Venkat trying to find some veggie food :)

Me and Shashank started off with some lemonade, Rohit with iced tea and Vekat wanted to try something new and he ordered some interesting drink (I dont know the name) it turned out to be sparkling water..lol..

The Farmers' Market Wood-Fried Pizza (Daily special)

Corned Beef Reuben

  

The Crab Cake

Venkat with his Caprese Panini! 

All in all it was a very different yet an amazing experience!! 

If you are in/going to Wimberley then this is a must visit place!!

The leaning Pear - check!

Hope you guys liked this quick update!

Culinary delights of Temple Texas.

Temple whaaaa?? 

That’s right I never heard about this place! Thanks to our grumbling stomachs we had to take a detour to Temple TX and I’m so glad we did!!  Shashank, Venkat, Rohit and me were driving from Dallas to Austin on a hot and sunny Friday afternoon.

Venkat: aren’t you guys hungry?

Me: naaa…,

Shashank: hmmm kinda,

Rohit: (Thinking what to say)..,

Me: (self-realization) actually yeahJ,

Shashank: actually I’m super hungry,

Rohit: le nan makkalara nillisro ootake (guys stop the car for food)…

I immediately opened my trusted yelp app and started searching…. Saigon café came up as the most reviewed restaurant around Temple, we pulled over near the restaurant and didn’t like to ambiance; after a quick search on yelp, we found that Mee Mee’s authentic thai restaurant <http://www.yelp.com/biz/mee-mees-authentic-thai-cuisine-temple> is the second popular place around Temple, TX. It was about 2 mile drive from Saigon café; we pulled over near the restaurant and decided to give it a try. Our host was a very sweet lady, the restaurant was quite resalable and the food was really good.

we started off with tofu and some tea.

The food looked amazing and didn't let down on the taste.

Shashank's Veg - "Pad Thai"

Rohit with his "VEG" Noodles :)

My chicken Pad Ka Pow -  super spicy, our host warned me about the spice and I was like bring it on!!! it was an amazing dish. love to try it again. 

The food was super spicy and filling!! we couldn't walk after the meal :)

Venkat, Rohit, me and Shashank from L to R.

The food coma was at its peak after the meal. This is venkat trying not to fall and doze off :)

Hope you guys enjoyed this quick update!!

Eggs, Poached!

…..first we eat then we do everything else - M.F.K. Fisher (my all-time favorite food writer)….

Food is a core component of life. It gives us energy; it gathers us around a table and makes us social. I’ve been a foodie all my life – I should thank my parents for it, when I was kid my mom hated to cook and more often than not we ended up going to restaurants. As I grew older I visited more and more exotic restaurants (courtesy of Mr. Daya Shankar). After coming to US of A, going to restaurants became infrequent (courtesy: No ride). So I started to cook, taking pictures along the way!!

Most of the posts (Labeled Food) will be about my experiments in the kitchen! Hope you enjoy em!!

Eggs, Poached!

I was on the internet and I found this! I was bored to death, so I decided to try this recipe!!

It’s a bit of time consuming; however it’s worth the effort!

Pictures, pictures….

Take a plastic bag; smear the inner surface with olive oil, add an egg!!

Place these bags in boiling water and after approx. 15-20 min VOILÀ!!

Sprinkle salt and black pepper!! Yummm!!

hope you guys enjoyed this quick update!!

Chicken Tikka

…..first we eat then we do everything else - M.F.K. Fisher (my all-time favorite food writer)….

Food is a core component of life. It gives us energy; it gathers us around a table and makes us social. I’ve been a foodie all my life – I should thank my parents for it, when I was kid my mom hated to cook and more often than not we ended up going to restaurants. As I grew older I visited more and more exotic restaurants (courtesy of Mr. Daya Shankar). After coming to US of A, going to restaurants became infrequent (courtesy: No ride). So I started to cook, taking pictures along the way!!

Most of the posts (Labeled Food) will be about my experiments in the kitchen! Hope you enjoy em!!

Chicken Tikka J

Super easy recipe, preparation time is less than 5 min. all you need is 1-onion, 1-pepper, 1-tomato and of course chicken. As usual I’ll let the pictures do the talking! 

I bought this at wholesome choice next to my place and its super good. Cut chicken into 2 inch cubes and add the seasoning to it, also add couple of table spoons of yogurt and mix and mix!

Let this sit for couple of hours!! Smells soo goood!!

In the meantime cut onions, red pepper and tomatoes into cubes. Stick em to wood skewers and throw it in the oven and VOILÀ!!

hope you guys enjoyed this quick update!!

All about men's fashion: Part 3 - Collar Shapes.

The collar design is one of the essential features defining the style of every shirt; the collars of the early shirts were cut in various ways. The fundamental distinction is that between the stand-up collar and the turn down collar.

Some of the collar shapes.

THE WIDE TURN-DOWN COLLAR - The wide turn-down collar is the most formal, and at the same appears the least conspicuous collar style. The gap between the collar tips may vary.

These are also the examples of turn-down collar. I vaguely remembered reading somewhere that Ronald Reagan said, "its possible to make long neck look shorter by wearing a wide collar, just as a short neck can be made to look longer with a narrow collar".

THE CUTAWAY COLLAR - This elegant collar shape has many names, mostly it’s called the cutaway, or the spread collar. The name refers to the typical way in which the collar tips are cutaway to the sides. In fact this design allows a free view of the neck tie knot. The cutaway looks more elegant than the extremely turn-down collar.

THE PIN COLLAR - The pin collar, on which the collar tips are connected with pins of various designs, is also a very American collar style. Sometimes the collar design looks very elegant. The pin collar can be worn with collar tips which are relatively close to each other.

THE BUTTON-DOWN COLLAR - this design has a special stature among collar designs. It looks just as good with a necktie as without. Someone who wears this collar with a necktie look very "dressed up", nevertheless, the button down collar looks less formal than other designs.

THE TAB COLLAR - this design is very famous in USA than in other parts of the world. It was supposedly first worn by Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII on a journey to the USA. Americans adopted this style with enthusiasm. The small strap emphasizes the knot of the necktie very elegantly. However the collar cannot be worn without a necktie.

All about men's fashion: Part 2 - Choosing A Shirt.

I guess there is no need for introduction, so let’s cut the chase and move on to the important stuff..

First of all, how to choose a good shirt. ..

Some good shirts at a glance.

Collar bones - a good shirt has a removable collar bones. Most collar bones are made of plastic but some outfitters offer brass collar bones. Whatever they are made of, they give the collar the right curve and prevent the collar tips turning up. This can be particularly important when the shirt is worn with a neck tie.

Split yoke - as people generally have shoulders of different heights, a split yoke can be used to adjust the fit of a shirt precisely to the man's stature. On ready-made shirts split yoke is just a detail and suggests expensive work.

Buttons - traditional buttons are made of mother-of-pearl. Mother-of-pearl buttons are so hard that they will break the needle of sewing machine.

Sleeve - on a good shirt the cloth of the sleeve is pleated several times where it meets the cuff. In addition there is often a small button above the cuff that prevents the sleeve opening up to reveal the arm in an unflattering way. in very good shirts the button holes are horizontal, and not vertical. On the very best shirts it is hand sewn, of course just like the other button holes.

Gusset - a Gusset a triangular piece of material is usually added for reinforcement in the corner between the breast and the back. This detail can be seen in all good shirts.