Catching up

A lot to report since my last post. Last Wednesday, instead of schlepping out to Cambridge, I actually checked out a cafe in my neighborhood: Herrell's cafe. Completely empty and there's only one outlet for my computer, but the drinks and food are significantly cheaper. Plus, I get to try out a fantastic restaurant for lunch. Last week, it was Buk Kyung II. Had the ganjajang, which is a noodle dish with black bean sauce and pork. Quite yummy, and I loved the pickles.

Last Saturday was Nikita's first "swim" lesson at the YMCA. Nikita was miserable. I think the whole experience (complete with a friendly yet new teacher) completely overwhelmed him. Seeing Galina and Igor didn't help. Another parent said that his son cried through the first 4 lessons, and now he's fine.

Saturday was also my (35th!) birthday. We had some lovely pickled mushrooms and other salads from a Russian grocery store (Bazaar on Cambridge St.) for lunch. Igor took me out to dinner at The Jasmine Bistro, a Hungarian-French restaurant in Brighton Center. Started out with a lovely spicy (and warming) mixed squash soup and yummy garlic bread. Veal Forrestiere (cream tomato sauce) for main course, though Igor's was much better: Beef Stroganoff. How can beef stroganoff (at $23, to boot) be that good? The dished consisted of very nicely grilled filets of beef, with a little cream sauce and mushrooms. The rice pilaf was also one of the best I've had: firm yet tasty grains of rice. Igor wishes I made rice like that instead of plain Asian rice. Washed it down with a Hungarian Pinot Grigiot (me) and an Australian Shiraz (Igor). Dessert was lovely chocolaty confections: Igor's had caramel and mocha, mine had chocolate mousse and raspberry. All in all, a lovely dinner, and so close to the house!

Weekend in general was quite relaxing. Had a long nap on Saturday. The only work I did was on Sunday night, when I tried to read a paper for one of my classes. I kept falling asleep.

I got hooked, however, on Bride and Prejudice, the Bollywood version of Pride and Prejudice. The movie isn't as good as Monsoon Wedding, and the lyrics to some of the songs were horrible, possibly because they were in English. In addition, Martin Henderson was miscast as Darcy. Although the director, Gurinder Chadha, cast him because he is "searingly handsome", Henderson is bland compared to the radiant Aishwarya Rai. Naveen Andrews was better looking, but he's Indian. I kept thinking of whom I would cast, but couldn't think of anyone. Brad Pitt? Perhaps too old (I hate it when they pair a young woman with an older man). Matt Damon? At least he has character.

More food notes: Finally found a natural cookie I like: Brent & Sam's All-Natural Chocolate Chip Pecan. Has ingredients I actually heard of, like butter. And I'm hooked on Good Earth's Original Caffeine Free tea. The Rooibos supposedly has the same antioxidant properties as green or black teas, but no caffeine. It's funny that when I was in Stanford, I used to go to the Good Earth restaurant, but didn't like the tea. Another example of how tastes change. The only problem is that I sometimes come upon a bag that makes horrendous tea.

Nikita's latest trick: he can now say how old he is when asked in either Russian or English.