AVATAR & Sherlock Holmes on Christmas Day!

Its Christmas day, 2009 - Reminds me of the one in 2004 while I was in a dilemma to resign my first job or not. I was working night shift that day. The office cubicles were decorated with Christmas trees and colorful balloons. With the same amount of excitement and fun as any other day, I was ready to put my papers for good! The next day morning at around 5.30 AM I took my cab home. In Chennai, travelling along the Marina beach road early morning used to be fun, but not on that day! Well, it was the day of Tsunami. My cab driver changed route as there were a lot of chaos on the roads of Chennai early morning. Immediately after an hour all TV channels were flashing headlines about Tsunami in Chennai. Until then I guess the word Tsunami was not familiar in Indian dictionary.

'Avatar' and 'Sherlock Holmes' - Watching those 2 movies on the Christmas Day amidst American audience was quiet an experience!

Avatar - Well, Mr.James Cameroon's return after Titanic. Do I need to explain about Avatar then? Go watch it, if you have not yet. With the Imax 3D, the movie was scintillating! The imaginary Pandora's, floating mountains, flying animals, amazingly beautiful places in the Pandora were breathtaking views. The blue skinned Na'vi of the planet Pandora resembles the blue skin of lord Krishna. Maybe that was a reason for it to be called Avatar ( Dashavatar - 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu) ; was truly our(me and my husband's) view of the movie.

But again, aliens invading earth or man invading alien-land is not new to Hollywood.

Sherlock Holmes - Again two thumbs up! During my school days I have never read any Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie books. Hence naturally I felt it difficult following this movie. The background score, the set that portrayed London Bridge during its construction, olden days London, Robert Downey Jr. add beauty to this movie. People say the movie is running as equally as Avatar recently. But Avatar would definitely make it at the box office- no doubt!

Thanksgiving time with Sweet potato pie

I was wondering why in India we don't celebrate 'Thanksgiving Day'. I just love the reason why the people here in America celebrate Thanksgiving day and the amount of happiness they have is endless. From their busy schedules they just take a day off to be with their loved ones thanking them for all what they have done! When I look back, I have never sat down a single day with my mom thanking her for all what she has done for me. Well, the love was definitely there in each others heart and we kept it within ourselves. Here I am several thousand miles away, blogging about her.

Its not about the word 'Thanks', but about the time we give to think about the family we belong to; children thanking parents, father thanking son, mother thanking her daughter-in-law, friends thanking each other - so emotional to look at!

Well, before I get too emotional let me explain something else that is important during this festive season - Food! Oh yes, when was it not important. But during thanksgiving the variety of food items they make are mouth-watering. Cheesecakes, sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie, a whole turkey are part of the thanksgiving dinner. I tried my hands on one of them and here is how I did it - of course with the help of great chefs from the 'Food Network'.

You need:

Sweet Potatoes - 2

Butter - 1/2 stick

Eggs - 3

Sugar - 1 cup

Milk - 1/2 cup

Vanilla extract - 1 tbsp

Pie crust - ready made

Here you go:

1. Boil potatoes for more than 30 mins till they are really soft

2. Peel the skin and mash/blend with the remaining ingredients except the pie crust. You will(should) get a smooth paste.

3. Pour them on the pie crust and bake for 1 hr

4. What next? Slice it and have a bite!

I tried it with honey and dates.