How to Make Fluffy Basmati Rice.

I love Indian food.  It's a wonderful combination of everything that is good to me-- onions, fresh ginger, cilantro, coconut, curry, garlic-- I could go on and on.  The problem with my little Indian food addiction is that there is not a ton of places that I can indulge here in Mount Pleasant.  I would love to pick up the phone and order take-out on any given weeknight, but really? Supporting my habit means driving to the other side of town.  Normally, not a big deal, but when you're attempting to adhere to a 10-month old's schedule, it gets a little tricky. So I cook it myself.  Here's how I've figured out to get the fluffy basmati rice.  I was always a little off with this, and it makes such a difference!

Hint: you really need a metal colander for this method to work for you.  

First, you need to get a pot of salted water boiling on the stove.  Not those puny little bubbles-type-of-boiling... the real robust rolling boil.  Got it?

Next, measure out 1 1/2 cups of uncooked basmati rice, put it in a colander, and rinse until the water coming off the rice is clear. 

Then, put the rice into the water.  Wait until the little grains of rice begin to dance around, and then boil for five minutes.  

After five minutes, pour the rice back into the colander and rinse again.  Meanwhile, put about an inch of water back into the pot, and put it back on the stove on medium heat.

Put the colander (with the rice) straight into the pot, and then seal with a little homemade tent of tin-foil.  Steam the rice for about 8 or 9 minutes. If your curry isn't quite ready yet, no worries!  Just don't touch the tin-foil "lid", and the rice will stay warm for about 20-25 minutes.  

Enjoy! 

The past two weeks.

These last two weeks have been a little crazy!
We've traveled to Memphis to go house-hunting...

...gotten the full 'hood house search-experience,

...rented a cute little place for a while, so we have time to buy and renovate. Please note the bathtub in the master bedroom.  I don't really get it either.

...spent some time with my family in Atlanta,

...took Adelaide to her first baseball game. Go Braves! She was absolutely mesmerized by the lights and the crowd.   Despite keeping her up a good two-hours after her regular bedtime, she didn't cry once!  That's my girl.

We're relaxing this week, before we head to Costa Rica next week!  It's a hard life we're living right now.

Superman Banana

I made it to the gym earlier than usual today.  It was neat.

I did not, however, make it in time for my planned yoga class at 7:45.  Someone sleepyhead's (ahem...) snooze button held me up.   While I was initially a little frustrated, I looked at the schedule and determined that my plan B would work just fine-- spin class.  Not the relaxing hour to think, but spinning is fun!  I wasn't sad about that at all.

Grabbed a bike, checked Adelaide into the nursery, ran back in.  I thought something might be amiss when the instructor mentioned that we would need 3 lb weights, but I grabbed them nevertheless.  Why didn't I figure it out then?  I'm still sore today from the card deck workout I completed yesterday, with the soreness specifically focused in my core.  We span (spun? spunned? spanned?) for about 20 minutes, hopped off the bikes...

And then this happened:


Please... no one make me laugh.  I may not make it.