Shelby Elizabeth

My flight left this afternoon at 2:30 pm out of Detroit Metro Airport. I am heading to Dallas, Texas to spend Christmas with my family. Seat 16D, an aisle seat - my favorite, to stretch my long legs (joke, but I do like to stretch). Seated next to me is a nice Indian man, perhaps in his late 50s to early 60s. He introduces himself as Patel, explaining his first name is too hard to pronounce so just call him Patel. The young girl that had the window seat is flying by herself, heading to her dad’s for Christmas. She is 12 and very very chatty, she was learning all about Hinduism in school and wants to ask Patel a million questions.

He is good-hearted, “Ask me anything. I’ll answer any question.” And her first question is if he had ever ridden in first class on an airplane. “Oh no! Even if I could afford it, I would not do that.” He is pleasant and friendly. I typically am immediately annoyed by chatty seat-mates on a 3 hour flight when all I want at that point is to get to my parent’s house - but Patel is a nice reminder that there are interesting people out there.

Window Seat Girl is telling Patel all she knows about Hinduism and the Indian culture that she had been reading in books. It’s making him laugh a lot. I think she is a little wrong with some things, but what she does know impresses him. He is a really kind teacher. Explaining a little about how it all came to be, and how his people got to where they settled - sadly I’m missing all of those details because of some loud cough-ers to my left.

Patel and I chat about weddings once Window Seat Girl falls asleep. He had flown to Detroit to attend his niece’s wedding. It had been planned in just 3 weeks and they kept it small, to about 50-100 guests. I mention my sister’s engagement to Sarath, and the multiple ceremonies that would follow. I can’t help talking a little bit about it (sorry you two) and he seems excited for them. He says Italians are just like Indians, and he likes Italians a lot. He really loves pizza, “All Indians do really. We leave for some time, and the first thing we do when we get back is eat pizza. New Jersey has the best…something about their ovens, I’m not sure.” He pulls out his iPod Touch and shows me pictures of his nephew’s New Jersey wedding some months ago. They traveled by boat to the bride’s parent’s house - some of the pictures had the NYC skyline in the background. The colors are vibrant even in the iPod pictures. And it makes me more excited for Stacey & Sarath’s wedding in September.

About half way into the flight, Patel asks to grab his bag from the overhead compartment. He pulls it down and we get settled back into our seats, seat belts securely fastened. He pulls one zip lock bag out of his bag. I will realize later how “in this day and age” it might be unsafe to eat food from a stranger’s back pack, but that thought doesn’t enter my mind yet - he’s an honest man. He had all these snacks from the wedding, the family insisted he take some even though he kept refusing. “I didn’t want their snacks. I have food at home, what do they think I am? But here I am, bags and bags of food in my carry-on luggage.” The first bag contains a puffed rice mixture that has chili peppers and peanuts I believe, the rice was flattened, very thin flakes. He says it’s a common breakfast. I’m not exactly what you would call an adventurous eater, and even the idea of ’spice’ scares me and my stomach. I can’t resist my first taste of Indian food though, so I accept his offer of a taste. It was delicious. The spice has a power to it, leaving almost a sting on my tongue but not exactly a bad sting at all. The second bag contains a crunchy type bread, almost like a toasted pita bread…that’s the only thing I can think of to compare it to. Window Seat Girl at this point has woken up and is also enjoying a sampling of the food. She asks what was in it and Patel simply replies, “spices”. The third bag has a flat bread with veggies cooked into it and of course, spices. It’s delicious. “Well it’s a really common flat bread. With spices, of course. This stuff can last you forever. If I travel, I have some. It just lasts and lasts and never goes bad. A good snack. Healthy.”

I’m so thirsty, just from snacks and being in the airplane making hydration important but I’m not necessarily ready to wash the taste out yet. So I wait. Our flight is coming to a close. Landing, at the gate, get your bags and shuffle out the plane.

I express by gratitude to Patel, and wish him safe travels as he continued home to Arizona. I laugh and joke that he is safe now from the awful snow which we had talked about earlier.

“Oh yes yes. Have fun with your family and Merry Christmas. I’m glad you enjoyed Indian Food 101.”

A nice collage of Friday and Saturday in Chicago. Clockwise from top left: The Notwist (our main time sensitive reason for going to Chicago this weekend); the Ann Sathers restaurant where we picked up breakfast on Saturday morning; Amy and Graham, totally awesome people - Amy is a bridesmaid in our wedding and there are rumors Graham knows a couple mean dance steps…; and lastly, Yats! where Graham works, the picture says Coming Soon but its definitely open now!

Mike, Benji, Joel and I set out for Chicago on Friday morning. We parked our car up by Amy’s apartment, and headed downtown via the elevated train. Went out to dinner with Amy and Graham, and then headed to Logan Square Auditorium for The Notwist. Awesome show. Nice atmosphere and vibe, not too loud, not too late. Got caught in the rain a little bit on our way home. Saturday morning brought the best cinnamon rolls from Ann Sathers, then we headed to the ‘Meat Packing District’ to Yats where Graham works. I’d never had Cajun food before. I’d definitely recommend it. After lunch, we packed up and got back on the road to Bowling Green. Arriving late evening, exhausted but in a good way. Nice weekend away.

Tonight my mom and I attended a culinary class at Market Street in McKinney. It was “A Taste of Fall” with the Executive Chef from TPC at Craig Ranch (a PGA Tournement Players Club facility).

Here is the menu, including the wine each dish was paired with:

Course 1: Butternut Squash Bisque paired with 7 Deadly Zins

Course 2: Stuffed Pork Loin with Cumin Roasted Pumpkin and Fig Chutney paired with 2007 Wente Morning Fog Chardonnay

Course 3: Whiskeyed Pecan and Dark Chocolate Tart paired with Gates Zinfandel

My thoughts:

Amazing. Getting the inside tips from Chef was really fun. Essentially it felt like being front row at a very very exclusive taping for a Food Network show. Chef would prepare the dishes, with full explanation and tips, and then we had the full meal - not just a tasting, but the full plated meal. My favorite was the soup, I can’t wait to try making it. Very simple techniques, limited ingredients for ease of cooking at home. The fig chutney was a little spicey for my taste, but Chef offered alternatives for those that didn’t like too much spice. And the pecan and chocolate tart was delicious - very light yet decadent. Chef improvised with adding a home-made whipped cream that was flavored with vanilla and orange zest. The pork was stuffed with spinach, cream cheese and carmelized apples. A surprising mixture when you read the recipe, but it was not overpowering in any way and the flavors complemented each other incredibly well - he’s an Executive Chef, I guess he’d know what he’s talking about!

It was a really fun thing to do with my mom while I am here in Texas. I don’t want to include any more details on the recipes, I’m keeping them secret for myself right now! Perhaps I’ll be able to perfect it as one of my special dishes I make for celebratory occasions, or something of that sort. I wish we had Market Street up north, so I could attend more of these classes.