What a tasty life!

Hello to lovely dreamers, lovers, writers and everyone who had a chance to pop in to my blog!

Today there will be a bit of background, my dear friends. And this post is going to be a very tasty one, a delicious one because it’s going to be about food, kitchens, studying how to cook, etc.

Before telling you what happened in India, I need to give you some flavor of my background connected with the cooking.  My grandmother used to be a chef in a restaurant (point number 1) and she cooks amazingly and enjoys it very much (therefore I enjoy eating 😛 but I am not in Guinness Records with my weight yet because I also enjoy dancing very much. It’s good to have a balance in life).

When I came to the UK in 2009 year – I stayed with a beautiful (inside and outside) Turkish family. It’s difficult to explain how great they were (are) and unfortunately it’s not the topic of my post. I wanted to say that with my host-father Umit I worked in his Italian restaurant (point number 2). Basically, my job wasn’t the best one (at first sight) because I simply washed dishes, kitchen and tried to help as much as I could at the kitchen. However, I loved that job because of the fun we had together and I knew I was loved (as a daughter and friend). Also, at some point Umit taught me how to make Tiramisu (a delicious Italian “drug”)) and we made this beautiful dessert for a hundred customers. Honestly, I couldn’t look at Tiramisu anymore. It was my nightmare afterwards)).  It was coming to my sweet dreams and asking to put a bit more cream in it and then started to say

“A whole piece of cake

In exchange to a slice of your head,

Fed you with excessive sweetness

And made me famish for your entire mind…” © (Ronald Ryan Carrasca)

Anyway, my second point was about working in an Italian restaurant and also living with a Turkish family where they cooked like in a paradise (even I haven’t been in one, I can imagine that a chef in heaven cooks the same way my Turkish family did).

When I came to the UK for the third time, I shared a house with my friends in London (where I had “the biggest” room with a small wardrobe, small bed and I even had a little space to stay on the floor! That can explain how big my room was! I should’ve eaten all the food my grandmother cooked so when people saw me they would think I could only live in a huge room)). Anyway, I lost my third point which was about a lovely French middle-aged woman (she will kill me if she reads this because she is a young lady, around my age, but older, of course, because she is middle-aged!)))) However, she loved cooking and she taught me some useful things (such as how to make wrinkles unseen…haha, definitely I am playing with a fire)). She showed me some recipes and once we even made French croissants! (We didn’t make origami, we actually made real ones in the oven and what’s more important everyone survived!)

In a half-year time I moved to another house to live with an Anglo-Russian or Russ-English family)). It’s a long story how we’ve met but my forth point is about a lovely Russian lady (I mean a woman middle-aged – she also hates when I call her this way and I am trying to be always kind to people as you can see)). My second name is Angel just so you know. However, this Russian girl (now she loves me)), mother of two amazing daughters cooked absolutely delicious. It was stupid to go to any restaurants in London because she was (and still is) a magician of the food! If only you all could try what I tried there)).

From all of those 4 points you could probably get the idea of my tasty life! I have been lucky staying with such gifted chefs. I did learn different things from them but still not enough therefore I hope they will teach me more next time. By the way, I took my words about middle-aged away. I am so sorry! It wasn’t me! Can you please teach me your magic?)))

Returning to my unforgettable holiday in India. Fortunatelly, my family met some Russians in Varkala (Russian people are everywhere!! I won’t be surprised if there are a lot of Russians in Mars :D) and they adviced us to go to a cooking lesson. We couldn’t resist such an opportunity and so we went to join spicy world of India. It was a private lesson for me and my mom which cost around 20 pounds for both. What’s more all the ingredients were included in that price. I hardly remembered the names of the dishes we made, but there definitely were a butter fish grilled in a banana leaf, some Indian spicy food, pancake with a pineapple and something else (all the dishes on the photo above – that’s what we cooked!). It was such a hectic, energetic, spicy, exotic, delicious and funny atmosphere. Our chef-teacher was an Indian guy called Anee. Of course, I liked him because he was impressed of my speaking English (maybe I spoke with an Indian accent that time)).

There were Anee, me and my mom cooking at the class. My father and grandparents were supporting us from outside and also taking photos of us cooking (like we were animals in a zoo)). Afterwards all my family enjoyed the taste of India made by Russians)).

And now I am waiting for another chef-teacher to enter my brightful life. I am not sure who it might be and which country she/he is from, but I expect it to happen because life has been good so far while providing me with magicians of cooking.

Enjoy your meal! Bon appétit, mes amis! (Cinderella is learning French and she is still alive. What’s more not a single Frenchman/woman was harmed))

A present from the sky

Russian Natasha is writing from Russia today but upcoming stories in my blog will be about virgin India and modern Dubai as I just came from those fairy-tales. It is life – sometimes a clock needs to ring 12 o’clock at night and the fairy-tale has to be finished but surely not for a long time as another miracle is always about to happen.

Last time I promised to tell you about my incredibly wonderful 8^th of March. It was men’s favourite day because they usually should be nice to their wives, daughters, sisters, mothers, etc.

Anyway, that day I was in Varkala which is situated in the south of India. I wasn’t planning to make it a great day of my life but sometimes everything is already planned without your efforts. One of my friends invited me to a dynamic meditation which wasn’t far away from us, therefore I agreed. I didn’t know what was it about, but being a naive Cinderella, of course, I imagined a ball with a prince (that’s what I always do when I don’t know the details. If someone invites me to Summit 20 – it’s a ball with a prince, Oscar Ceremony – a ball with a prince, Formula 1 – a ball with a prince…life is easier when you always think about the only thing)). Anyway, it wasn’t a ball, there was not a prince, but it was marvelous! I am not sure what to say and how to explain, but I will try to give you some flavor of it…

The place we went to, was on a cliff with a lovely house and a garden full of palms and other exotic plants. Everything looked lovely and picturesque. What’s more there was a stunning view on the powerful endless ocean from the cliff. I am not sure how many people came to experience bliss dance but I suppose there were around 20 of us, majority of whom were women. I think men simply preferred to stay inside their houses at this day as it was 8^th of March – women’s day – such a dangerous point in the calendar))). Our bliss DJ was a Finnish man coming from Amsterdam. Apart from his music and what he did for us, I could also feel that he was an absolutely lovely person. His energetic could not leave you unimpressed.  He was also a good example of showing his dedication to the music, sometimes he danced with all of us and we saw this joyfulness and there wasn’t a chance to resist the celebration of the rhythm.

I know many of you reading my post will not understand why I marked this day and the event itself as a special one. I think I did so because of the atmosphere. The music was selected specially to awake you up I would say, to make you feel the life. It was a salad of different kinds of music and all of them collaborated with the nature around. I felt enormous happiness inside, while moving near palms and observing the ocean. Everyone was free and could dance, shout, lie down, etc. It’s better to experience once than talk many times (but you know my logic which doesn’t exist))) – therefore I am writing and describing it here, in my blog). In addition to all that beauty, my friend I came with, had couple of minutes joining the musical dish while was playing a flute. That was real magic!

There was another miracle that happened at the bliss dance. Maybe not all of you know, but my dream about London became truth and for now I am dreaming to speak French and to work and live in Paris for some time. I already know the alphabet)) so I suppose a week more and I will speak the language fluently)). One interesting thing was that majority of soul dancers were French there and another thing – when I was lying down on the ground, listening to a very slow and melodic song, I was looking at the sky through leaves of a palm that was near me. There were a lot of bright stars in the sky and I decided to make a wish. I chose one star and said to myself that it was Paris and I should take this sky-object with me, which will help me to make my dream as a reality and I did so. I actually rose my hand and moved it softly and plastic with a rhythm of the melody, I took the star and imagined it was my Paris (not like I took the whole city for myself, I just took my wish from the sky). I could not believe my eyes what happened next. The clouds covered that part of the sky where I grabbed that lovely smiling star! What a coincidence! First of all, I was scared about it but then realized that the sky gave it to me and I should know and feel that this star that symbolizes Paris will be always with me!

That how I spent my 8^th day of the third month of 2013^th year.

I wish you to find your own bright star and keep it in your memory, heart and soul! All the best, my dear friends!

Get some risks and drink champagne!

Hello my dear strange friends and friendly strangers! I hope you are all doing well and keep smiling!

I am in India right now and therefore my blog will present a bit of taste of travelling. My journey was very tiring but fun and anyway it was kind of experience as it took me around 40 hrs to get to Varkala which is in India.  Of course, the country surprised me again even I have been here before. India is a very different world. The weather, people, their traditions, habits and the way people live here – everything is out of the blue.

I couldn’t update my blog as I have been incredible busy. You know what I am talking about? Since I arrived here, all the coconuts were shouting at me “Try me, try me!!” (I tried to explain that I was Cinderella, not Alice in Wonderland but anyway, the fact I was talking to the coconuts doesn’t make me cleverer and more serious)). All the fresh juices started to dance in front of me just like the dishes did in “Beauty and the Beast” cartoon. In addition to that I was walking on sunshine (whoa oh), I was walking on sunshine (whoa oh)…anyway, my point was that it was a very tiring and difficult period of time))) and finally, I managed to kill laziness in myself and said “Show must go on…in your blog, dear Natasha!”, so here I am writing again, yo-yo-yo)).

Today I am going to share the only miracle happened here so far. I made majority of my friends smiled and laughed when said that me and my family were not going to book any hotels in advance but will find something when we are at the place. Some of my friends asked me: “Don’t you think it’s logical to book a hotel and to be confident you have a bed to sleep on and shower to use (for washing all the fruits, not people, of course)In Russia we say that tap water is very dirty and you cannot drink it but you should wash the fruits with that water in order to make them clean! I love it!)” And I replied on my friends’ question: “Logical? What do you mean? Don’t you know me and my family?” My question was a rhetorical one which could make my friends happier. They could laugh at me and my relatives and that is what I like – to make people laugh.

However, when we came to Varkala, we put all the luggages near a cafe where some of my Indian friends work and 3 of us stayed there (who enjoy the food more than anything else) and 3 of us including me, my dad and my friend went to look for a hotel.  If you have never been to this Indian town you won’t really understand what “hotel” means here. It’s very unusual, far from European style, it’s very simple, with no hot water in the showers, no hairdryer, it can be extremely hot inside and the room may not have air condition as well. From all those points you can understand how “easy” it is to find a proper lovely place. We looked up to 10 different places and finally we found a para-para-paradise! I would call it Indian Hilton (even it’s nothing close to Hilton but the hotel we found was really amazing, especially for Varkala). In addition to that, it was cheaper than we thought; we took the rooms with a marvelous view on the ocean (Atlantic one because if you believe in something – that will definitely become a reality!Therefore everyone observes Indian ochean here and I can see Atlantic one) why not? especially if I can talk with the coconuts)). Actually, I still don’t believe that we are living here. What’s more – there are only 4 rooms in this house and we are all renting 3 of them, therefore we feel here like at home (even we don’t spit on the floor). The other day I was almost climbing on my parents’ balcony. Should also add that I was in a beautiful long dress, so I stopped this silliness in myself  and remembered that I was a lady from Siberia))), a beautiful one (thanks for Photoshop which is the best face-cream and make-up ever)).

I almost forgot to say about Subash. He is a manager of this hotel and I feel he is the best one! I didn’t talked with him much, only when I need something or my family needs – I do translate everything as Subash doesn’t speak Russian (that’s very strange that Indian people don’t learn Russian in schools. For example, we learn it)). Anyway, to not lose the point, I was going to say that Subash is an extremely friendly, helpful and kind person and we all feel like at home in his little hotel.  What’s more his smile reminds me Eddie Murphy’s one.

To sum up, I would like to say that if you believe in possibilities, there will be one for sure! If we booked a hotel in advance (we had some chances) it would not have been that nice. We got more than we wished for. As we say in Russia – “Who do not take risks – do not drink champagne” or similar English version “Nothing ventured – nothing gained”. We were brave and we did great)))

Enjoy your champagne!

P.S. I will upload a picture a bit later:)