To get you started in the US

All set to leave to the US ??
Well, you need a list of stuff that would help you get settled during your initial months of searching for an apartment. It is not easy to just go into the supermarket and buy what you want. I mean, you do get everything here. But you will not know its equivalent name. Also, being an Indian, our spices are so important to us. We have lived with that particular taste on our tongue for as long as we can remember. Our clothes, shoes and accessories came from our favorite stores.  Our family doctors knew our medical history. Now, leaving everything behind and starting off all over again may be a bit overwhelming. So, here you would find a list of things that you need to carry with you and also few pointers on what not to carry.... 

1) Medicines - This is the most important of the list. Carry all your medicines with a prescription for each. Take along with you tablets/syrups even for the common cold and balms/sprays for headache/sprains. Medical facilities are highly overpriced here and they do not give over the counter medicines here without a prescription.

2) Prescription eye-glasses/ Spectacles -  Carry atleast two pairs of optical wear (specs / lenses) with your latest eye-test readings.

2) Pressure cooker -  Carry atleast 1 pressure cooker with you. The ones you get here are not as good. You may or may not find a cooker here in all the stores. Also, purchase an extra gasket and a whistle, in case, the ones you have might wear out.

3) Chapathi rolling pin and board - It is tough to find it here in any store, so carry one of each.

4) Spices - You may not find the brand that you used in India, but you will get most of the spices at the Indian store in your area. So if you want,carry a few packets of spices from home. All packets must be tightly sealed. Loose and opened packets may not be allowed in the US Customs Dept.

5) Mixer/ Grinder - There is no point in carrying electrical devices as the output power supply has a different voltage/frequency compared to India.   If you really want to, you can buy a mixer/ grinder which is compliant with the US power supply i.e. in terms of voltage/frequency and the pin style. The Preethi Mixer Grinder range has one which is compatible for use in the US.

6) Iron  - Do not purchase from India, you get good ones here for quite reasonable rates.

7) If you are carrying any electronic chargeable devices like laptop/camera/cellphone, it is advisable to carry a 3pin to 2pin US style converter.

8) Kitchen utensils / dinner ware / cutlery -  Carry the basic minimum. You can purchase more from here later.

9) Rice - Rice is not allowed by the US Customs people. Many people carry rice and increase the weight of their luggage for no reason. You get good quality rice here in the Indian stores.

10) Pickles / Pickle bottles - Not allowed by the US Customs Dept. They will ask you to open the jar / packet and look inside it. So not worth the trouble.

11) Soaps/ toothpaste/ shampoo - Carry only one of each in a sealed box/ packet, you get a variety of these here. Seal the shampoo bottles with tape.

12) Detergent - Washing machines require liquid detergents to be used which can be bought from the stores here.

13) Clothes - Few women wear salwar/ kameez and saris here. But then, if you don't want to stand out, you can carry western wear with you along with a few Indian wear for a get-together or any Indian functions. As it gets very cold here, carry jackets,sweaters, winter caps, scarves, mufflers from India, . You might have to still purchase a few from here when the winters are unbearable.

14) Bucket and a mug -  This might sound weird, but they do not sell buckets and mugs here in the stores. You might find a few at the Dollar stores (not always in stock), so carry one of each with you.

15) Seeds -  Any type of seeds are not permitted in the US Customs.

All liquid items (sealed) /spices (sealed) must be put in the check-in luggage.

Please check with your airlines about what you can carry with you in the cabin and what you can check-in.

When I baked for the first time

Baking has always intrigued me. I admired those who could bake. My first experience of eating home made baked goodies were those of the Christmas cakes and biscuits brought over by one of our neighbors near my mum's home. There were a variety of assorted baked goodies that were tasty and more importantly, she baked them herself. I was very apprehensive of baking, one because we did not have a conventional oven to bake and also, the cakes that were baked in a microwave oven do not have that particular taste that a well baked cake has which comes out of a conventional oven. There is a difference ,trust me. And secondly, I had no idea how to make a cake from scratch and did not know how to go about all the measuring or the whipping or using a whisk or using the right amount of butter etc etc. 

Our kitchen in the apartment has this huge conventional oven below the cooktop and I was not using it. Well, I did use it to store my utensils...
It kept looking at me begging me to make 'proper' use of it. Every night, once I retired, my mind was filled with thoughts of trying it once and burning up the cake or worse, the whole oven going up in flames!! 

Weird dreams and fears apart, I still wanted to bake. So I started on my quest of learning the basics - reading up articles on baking, scouring the Internet for the right ways of baking, simple recipes to start with, the type of baking dish to be used etc.
After a lot of researching, I stumbled upon this recipe which looked quite easy. I had most of the ingredients in my pantry, so I started with the process, apprehensively though, checking the measurement of the ingredients again and again at every step of the recipe. Finally, with a prayer on my lips, I shut the oven door with my batter in a pan. I patiently waited for the timer to go off, all the while hoping that the oven does not blow up! When the timer beeped, I sprang to take the pan out from the oven , again hoping that the bread is not undercooked.
And voila! I had my first perfectly baked bread!!! My masterpiece.... it sure felt like that.... There was so much joy in my heart that I felt I would burst.....

Here you go, make your very own masterpiece 
Banana Bread