I’m just watching the world go ‘round. I’m just watching the people roll. Tonight the stars will replace them. ‘Til then I watch the flow. Kenny repeated these lines that grew from his original motto for the day, which in turn grew from his original intention of existing only as an observer for twenty-four hours. He woke up at 6:00 that morning, which was his typical time to rise and was immediately struck with a desire to see from a new perspective the argument he had with his girlfriend, Carol, the night before. They had been fighting pretty regularly these last few months and the one consistent theme with Carol’s complaints was that he was too stubborn to see anyone else’s point of view. At first Kenny believed that this was a manipulation tactic, but after a month or so he realized that Carol was being too consistent and sincere sounding and with little to no return on her efforts for it to be manipulation. So, after Kenny had his eggs, toast, yogurt and coffee he headed walked to Central Park and was an active observer his entire way there.

As Kenny walked he noticed numerous people in various states of transactions, conversations and business exchanges. He was amazed at how many people had cell phones and how busy most of them seemed to look. He had never given so much attention to those around him on the city street nor had he ever realized all of the details in their expressions and behavior. As he approached the park he passed the hotel Central Park and saw dozens of tourists busily walking in and out of the lobby entrance. And while these faces were also animated and busy looking he noticed most of them were also excited and relaxed seeming. He made a mental note to ponder this more later and to try and incorporate more of a vacation perspective in his regular life.

Kenny reached the park were numbers of people were jogging, walking, playing Frisbee, etc. He had never spent a morning in the park and watched a group of people in the their various yoga poses. Kenny wanted to join in, but restricted him self to observing. He noticed a single mime who was busy creating his own silent world. Kenny wondered about this and if it were true that mime’s had a different perspective based on their time spent in silence and observation. This was definitely going to be an interesting day, he thought. He couldn’t wait to experience the possible effects it would have on him and hoped they would help with his arguments with Carol.

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Coming to India can be one of the most pivotal moments in a lifetime, and everyone who gets to see this magnificent country remembers their first visit.  Subsequent visits can be no less dramatic, revealing deeper and deeper sides to this complex puzzle.  The puzzle is unsolvable, too, because it keeps moving and evolving at a rate that’s impossible to predict.  Baffling in its complexity, and always stunning in its quiet beauty and its louder moments, India is a place to see at least once in a lifetime.  There are so many diverse regions here, and diverse cultures that pass through and inhabit its cities, that there are way too many choices in anything in India.  5-star hotels are plentiful, and visitors looking to stay in the best that luxury can provide will find themselves well cared for here.

Brilliant food is all around you, in any of the cities, and in the hotels, you can certainly expect the finest of the local regional fare, or a host of international choices prepared by chefs who know some of the most delicious techniques in the world.  Indian food on its own lends itself to enormous variation, not just in terms of local methods of spices, and regional differences, but accommodations to the constantly shifting population in the country.  In Mumbai, for example, there is a large Jewish population, and when you start looking around, you’ll find a lot of kosher Indian cooking.

This speaks not only to the diversity in the country itself, but illustrates the long history of India with the rest of the world.  Because of many stereotypes that come from film and 19th century travel literature, India is often seen as an isolated place, where the people all grow up without any contact with the rest of the world.  Of course, there are places where people still live according to tribal customs, but like anywhere, there’s a lot more contact that suspected, and it’s been like that for awhile.  So when you come across something like Bombay Potatoes, and you notice that they’re kosher, it’s a good time to reflect on culture and dialogue, and think about some good questions that you’d like to ask.

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Spas are great.  Hot tubs are fantastic.  When one chooses to have a spa from choosehottubsdirect.com installed they are making a decision to put health and pleasure at home in their own backyard.  Family and friends will enjoy it on a festival occasion, and you will enjoy it on a nightly occasion.  At the end of the day, the best way to unwind and just hang, is in a big tub of bubbling water, jets hitting the small of your back, and the wind and the nature surrounding.

This can happen each and every night, when you choose to incorporate a spa into the design of you backyard.  This can be a private retreat, orsanctuary , wherein you can listen to beautiful piano tunes created by a best friend living far away, or you can invite the entire neighborhood over for a backyard barbecue party.  It’s your choice.  Quiet nights at home, or weekly hot tub parties.  There are no limitations to the imagination when considering a gathering of friends.  The theme of a hot tub party could revolve.  In college we had dinner parties, each one focusing on the cuisine of a particular region.  We did not have a hot tub at the time, but if we did, things may have been more interesting.

They would have been more relaxing in the end that’s for certain.  Planning dinner parties, well it is fun, but it is taxing as well.  It would have been the perfect ending, to many a perfect night.  That said, each and every time one chooses to soak in a hot tub, they are taking care of their mental and physical well-being.  Not only will soaking serve to rejuvenate , it will serve to relax.  A much needed respite from the daily here and there, to the nightly after-party clean up.  Next time there is a dinner party, there will be a hot tub involved, especially because now, years later, there is one…in my own backyard.

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One of my bosses emailed me the other day asking if I would come up with a BBQ sauce for a BBQ competition with which he had signed up our company for. He knew I was the best barbecuer in our office and his proposition was somewhat intriguing. I’ve always used someone else’s BBQ sauce, but never considered coming up with one of my own, but I’ve been interested in trying to make one, just never was motivated to do so before, so, here goes!

One of the first things I noticed about what I like in a BBQ sauce is that it’s not too sweet, and I like it to be refreshing. In order to make this work and not making the sauce too watery, I thought I’d try a reduction of a soda pop that had a sarsaparilla taste. I bought a few cans of Dr. Pepper and basically turned it into a more concentrated form, but first I tried it without the reduction technique, but that sauce didn’t turn out well, so the reduction form was the best. I thought about using bourbon too, but in the end decided against it.

So, after much trial and error, and thanks to my husband installing a barbecue islands. I managed to come up with a very unusual and refreshing BBQ sauce. Okay, so here’s the recipe:

1 can of Dr. Pepper (reduced)

1 can of tomato paste

1 Tbsp of mustard

1 Tbsp of worcestershire sauce

2 Tbsp of your favorite BBQ rub

2 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar

¼ cup of brown sugar

¼ tsp of liquid smoke

I found that this BBQ sauce it best on chicken. So, when it came time for our company to participate in that BBQ competition I had perfected my BBQ sauce and managed to come up with the best way to use it while Barbecuing chicken. I was really nervous and excited! I mean, who ever heard of using a soda pop reduction in a barbecue sauce? When judgment time came, our company place 3rd! We were demolished by a BBQ sauce made with Coca-Cola!

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We decided to spend a few days in the the Kerala region of India essentially to check out the food, because, well, that is what we are in to, and it was tremendous. We noticed a lot of turmeric powder her, which is good because turmeric has healthful properties. There is lots fo rice here, and rice can mean vegetarian and non vegetarian  foods,both of which have a long tradition in Kerala. Meanwhile, you have to like coconut too, as these are grown and used in abundance, just ask at any of the India five star hotels you find in the area.. Many of the spices of the region include the aforementioned turmeric, cumin, cloves, a little cinnamon, coriander (one of my favorites).  Breakfast is usually hard to figure out, so accustomed to the idea of a sweet roll or pastry and coffee. I always like to acquaint myself with the local cuisine’s breakfast offerings and as pleased to report an interesting puttu made of coconut and powered rice. We got a little lesson from Mrs. Vasnhi who told us not to to over water the rice powder, and that if we rolled the puttu into a roll like enchilada like item it was called, happily, a manipputtu. I think I will name my next dog manipputtu. Anyway, the water was added and it resembled a kind of dough, only coarse, and can be made with flour of wheat, corn and other items. She then showed us how to steam a puttu in a basket with two halves that steam the little crepe like thing. Skipping right  to breakfast, we encounter payasam, a sweet exotic (to our tastes) of nuts like cashews, coconut (lots of coconut here), dried fruit, milk. It sounds as good as it tastes. We tried too the fried bread mad of bananas, called unniappam, which I tried with kohlfi, the frozen ‘ice cream’ of India.

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I’m a foodie, so where ever I go it’s a must for me to check out as many restaurants as my time allows. While staying at one the hotels Williamsburg offers, I managed to eat a three very excellent restaurants. The Old Chickahominy House, Dudley’s Farmhouse Grille and the Fat Canary. I do recommend all three. They were so delicious, I gained five pounds, but I’ll lose it when I get home and use my treadmill for a whole week.

The Old Chickahominy House had the best biscuits and gravy. It’s located in a 200 year old plantation off of Route 5. It’s a family owned restaurant and has been open since 1955. The breakfast was exquisite. As soon as I was seated at my table, I was brought a tray of drinks: grapefruit, mimosas, rebel cocktail (tomato juice, beer and some spices and orange juice. I ordered the rebel cocktail as it was tauted to be known as the ‘redeye’ drink. I did need that after clubbing all night. It tasted like a tweaked Bloody Mary. I even got to meet one of the owners and asked her for her secret to the best biscuits I’ve ever had. She just laughed and thanked me for enjoying them so much.

Then I ate at Dudley’s Farmhouse Grille for lunch. It opened in 2007, so it’s not as established as The Old Chickahominy. But, it does offer the freshest food possible, because they purchase everything at the local farmers market that day. Plus, the restaurant keep an herb garden right outside of the restaurant. I had to try the homemade creme brule made with local eggs. I was melted with just how having the most freshest ingredients can make something taste even more marvellous than can be expected.

My final stop was having dinner at the Fat Canary. It’s a small family run restaurant that’s upscale and it’s the kind of place you’d like to go to on very special occasions. It’s modern, which was refreshing compare to the other two restaurants. It was dimly lit and the walls are painted a pistachio color with accents of original art purchased locally. The kitchen is an open fare for all to see what’s going on.  The mozzarella is homemade, all the food to purchased locally and the dishes are serve with a playful flair, like the lobster mac ‘n cheese combination with mint ice cream sandwiches brought back childhood memories (except the lobster part). The specialties are their sandwiches, but I went for the mac n’ cheese with the mint ice-cream sandwich. Mmmmm…

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