My First MeMe & A Summer Cooler

When Richa of 'As Dear As Salt' tagged me to share 7 random facts about myself, I started thinking of what I would write. Talking about oneself is something that we are all taught, as kids, as something bad. At first, nothing came to my mind, but slowly as I kept thinking, I thought of a few things, and so here I am...Thanks Richa ! After all its not often that I get a chance to speak about myself. ;)

1. Before getting married, I was teaching French for almost a year in India. Yes, along with my masters degree in Commerce, I also have an advanced diploma in French and am pretty fluent in spoken & written French which is considered a very romantic language.:)
2. I did not own any cookbooks until very recently, and even then I do not have any on Indian cooking. The two books I got, I found at a public library book sale which feature American cuisine. All the recipes that I know are either my mom's or my MIL's.
   
3. I am almost a neat-freak! Why 'almost'? Well, though I do like things neat and organized, there are days when I can overlook everything, and then get up one morning and start cleaning like crazy. I like my kitchen to be clutter-free when I am cooking...cannot cook with a hundred things on the kitchen platform. I also like things well planned...groceries, dinners, outings. I cannot do things well at the last minute. My husband has almost gotten used to this craziness, and I really torture him with this habit of mine :))
4. I love watching 'Gilmore Girls'! Just love the 'mother-daughter' relationship and their girlie chatter.
   
5. I absolutely love to talk on the phone....can talk for hours together and will still be fresh for another conversation. My dad always tells me how his phone bills have gone down tremendously after I got married an sympathizes with my hubby ;)
6. As a kid, I dreamed of becoming a Teacher, and would play 'teacher-teacher', all by myself, for hours together. I also had co-ordinated my wardrobe with my class teacher's wardrobe. Since I was in a convent school, most of my teachers were Christians and would wear skirts and dresses. So I would come back from school, slip into a dress I thought was close to my teacher's dress that day, wear my sandals and live my dream...of course, somewhere in between my mom used to make me take off my sandals, as it was a big no-no to wear them in the house.
7. Lastly, no one in my family knows that I have a food blog. My husband is the only one who knows about it...so everytime I have to come up with some real good excuse to ask more details about a particular recipe, as my mom and MIL are always wondering why I am asking so many questions. It feels good to be a little mysterious ;)

Thats all...i have unveiled a few facts about myself and for a little fun, I am going to ask you guys to guess my sunsign...I am a true ......... can you guess ? :)

I would also like to know more about Swapna, Manasi, Priyanka, Deepa, Suganya and Laavanya. Play along only if you wish to...no compulsion at all :)

I now leave you with a simple yet perfect summer cooler--- Jal Jeera. We just love this drink and so a few days back when my hubby suggested that we buy some ready made jal jeera powder, I was not keen on the idea. Basically, I think its very uneconomical to buy ready made masalas as they all taste the same and by the time you use up the entire packet, the masala has already lost its flavor and aroma. So I prefer making them in small batches at home, whenever possible. I found this recipe for Jal Jeera online and made just a few additions...Enjoy!

Ingredients: (makes 3 glasses)
Jeere (Cumin seeds) dry roasted and powdered 2 tbsp
Mint leaves 4 tbsp (I added more because I like it, but you can stick to 2 tbsp)
Cilantro leaves 1/2 tsp
Amchur powder 1 tbsp
Black Salt 1/2 tsp
Lemon Juice 2 tbsps
Cayenne pepper 1 tsp
Salt according to taste
Water
Boondi to garnish

Method:
In a mixer, make a paste from Cumin, Mint leaves, cilantro, amchur powder. Then add the remaining ingredients except water and boondi.

Before serving add about 2 tbsp paste to each glass, add chilled water and stir. Check for taste and if required add more jal jeera masala. Finally, sprinkle with some boondi and cool off with this great summer drink.