Label it

"Label me...otherwise I'm gonna spoil your taste", those were the words spoken by the crazy containers in my kitchen closet. Life becomes easy when the unlabeled food containers are under ONE (wo)MAN ARMY control. They confuse us with their talents(tastes) when more people enter their territory.

Now you know what I'm talking ;-). Yes...it's the problem with unlabeled Masala and other powders in the kitchen closet. When it comes to storing grains and powders, I prefer transparent containers, and one of my favorite brand is PearlPet. Thanks to my sister-in-law for introducing me to PearlPet.

These containers are much better than Steel dabbas that make me google around until I find the target. But still there is another problem..how about the unlabeled powders that deceive your eyes? And YES...it happened to us once when my parents visited few years back. 

With BP patients at home, we reduced our salt intake. But didn't relalize why our food was bland even after pouring so much salt. This mystery continued for four days. First day, we blamed the tomatoes, Second & Third days, blamed the poor onions. Fourth day, I got a call from my dear husband who was WFH on Ganesh Chaturthi. He called me to share the most exciting moments of his life "you know what, today Ganesh is so happy, even butter milk is tasting sweet". OMG, I couldn't stop laughing and immediately asked my mother to taste the salt powder. Voila...that was not salt...but Sugar. All happened when my mother poured Sugar into Masala Dabba. Big lesson learned and will never forget in my life ;-).

That makes all the confusing powders in my kitchen closet to display their identity. Good exercise..but worth spending time in labeling them. Can't imagine all these white powders without labels...

 

Not just white powders, those spicy indian masala powders are siblings to the confusing category.

Small tip before I end this post...if you have printer, use it to print the labels. If not, just cut and use the labels on the covers to label the containers.

All you need is scissor, cellotape and few minutes of your time. Enjoy..

Do trees have feelings?

Last month my parents visited Kurnool (in Andhra Pradesh, India) to meet friends and relatives. On my request, they paid a visit to the house where I spent 23 years of my life. Whenever I think of my birth place, the first thing that comes to my mind is the big Neem tree (Vepa Chettu in Telugu) that has grown with me and of course, part of my entire childhood.

How can I forget the tree that gave lots of fresh air to breathe....

How can I forget the fresh breeze that took away all my tiredness....

How can I forget the gentle movements of tree branches for the tunes of my mother's Chandamaama Raave lullaby...

How can I forget the smell of spicy food when the tired labors rested and ate under the shade of the tree....

How can I forget the tree that attracted monkeys to show off their naughty tricks....

How can I forget the tree that showered sweet Neem fruits in summer..and of course lots of flies...

How can I forget the labors who collected dry Neem seeds to earn money...
How can I forget the warmth of winter mornings sitting around the campfire of dry leaves....

How can I forget the taste of bitter brush to beat the bacteria...

How can I forget the moments of peeping through the tree branches to get a glimpse of the Moon and shining stars by resting on nulaka mancham(cot made with ropes)....

How can I forget the tunes of Koyal sitting on the tree and asking us to compete with its tunes...

How can I forget the tree that made me sit under its shade to study....

How can I forget the swing hanging from the tree to bring a chuckle on my chins....

How can I forget the taste of the tree's tender leaves to test my tongue....

How can I forget Vepa puvvu (neem flowers), the essential ingredient of Vepa Pachchadi on UGADI, the start of Telugu new Year...

Wish I could go back in time and spend time with the loving tree. For me, it's more than a tree...a friend...a mother and God. I was shocked to learn that the tree is dead dry now. Only one question lingering in my mind, how can such a big and healthy tree die so soon? Was it missing the Carbon dioxide and Oxygen cycle that bonded us together? 

Research has proved that trees grow healthy with music around. So was it missing the music of our voices? Didn't realize that a tree can bring tears to my eyes. Hard to digest the fact that the healthy and young tree is no more. But happy that the tree's bark made my God's list for the last 11 years. It will live its life in my heart forever and ever.... 

To all my Telugu friends, UGADI SHUBHAKAANKSHALU and HAPPY GUDI PADWA to all Maharashtrians. On the start of this new year, give life to a plant or tree if you can.