Hello from Kansas City , Part 2 !

Hi everyone,

It's hard to believe 1/4th of 2025 has gone by ...

Here I am sharing what else I did during my visit to Kansas City .

After the meetup ,my friend took me to a middle eastern restaurant for lunch. I was very conscious this time about ordering food in the USA- the portion size is huge, you are always asked about sides and drinks. 

There are so many cultural differences between dining out in India and USA. Major ones being- portion size, sharing of food and tipping culture. Not going to talk about these here, if you are interested to know about Indian dining culture , leave me a comment.

After much contemplation I ordered falafel sandwich with grilled veggies , side of lentil soup. Both were delicious.

If you have been following crafty news , you may be aware that Joann's , which is chain of big craft stores in USA is closing down. I came to know about it in January thru a office portal and I planned to visit it during my visit. My colleague was so kind to drive me to the nearest Joann's , her sister joined us and we scavenged thru the aisles. I picked up one skein of each DMC floss available. So happy I was able to add new colors to my stock.

Next day, my colleagues took me to Kansas city Zoo and Aquarium. I usually skip zoos but it was such a nice day to be outside that I took the chance.

Got to see some new to me animals.

On the second day of my trip, my team and I volunteered at a thrift store. Now, thrift stores don't exist in India and volunteering and community service isn't part of school /college system and doesn't earn you credits. My colleagues in the USA have to complete certain amount of volunteering hours as part of employment. I love thrift store concept and volunteering at one of them was such an enriching experience. Here is what I picked up from the thrift store.

I had an extra day before I flew back to India- my team took me to Kauffman Centre for the Performing arts and we were able to get a tour of the facility.

One of the visual and auditory highlights of Helzberg Hall is the Julia Irene Dennie-Kauffman Casavant Organ, Opus 3875. This custom-built instrument was commissioned to showcase incredible sound, elegant beauty, and perfect harmony complementing the acoustical and visual design of Helzberg Hall.

I close this post with the picture of these cross stitch leaflets/booklets my teammate gave me. She was talking to her mother about how I do cross stitch , her mother who is down sizing very generously sent these for me. How often do you meet people who gift stuff to strangers? 

I'm humbled by the love and affection my team showered me during my short trip.

Hello from Kansas City!!!

Hello and almost bye from Kansas City !!! 4 hrs until I leave for airport to start my 30 hour journey for home.

This is my second time visiting Kansas city , both times for work.

Interesting fact about Kansas city is it lies between two states -Missouri and Kansas. I go to work and stay in different cities :)

I couldn't have asked for a better weather to visit...my cold weather loving body enjoyed it so much.

I got to see a blizzard with snow, super hot sunny days, winds upto 50mph and rain..all in 12 days. And its snowing as I write the blog.

This time I got to do one of my most favourite things - attend a craft meetup at a local craft cafe when travelling to a new country. I have done that before twice in past, I just realised may be I didn't share about it.

Last time I visited Kansas city , I came with colleagues so didn't think of doing my hobby stuff...however this time I started looking up yarn /craft stores, meetups a month in advance.

I asked my one and only local friend if she would like to attend a meetup, she agreed. So last Saturday we drove to this quaint yarn store who hosts social hours regularly. The day I went there, there was a trunk show. 

My knitting

Yarns by Yarniculture

To my surprise , it was a big turn out. We almost ran out of space to sit. 20 + people sat in this beautiful cafe knitting, crocheting , chatting for 2 hours. Oh I loved it!!!

I have talked about attending meetups during my travels, and people have told me its a novel idea.. most people don't even think of that. My friend  was surprised to know how many craft stores I knew her city. 

After the meetup , we went for lunch...I will cover that in my next post..

Wish me luck for a long journey home.

Georgia(Sakartvelo) thru eyes of a Foodie

Dear Friends,

I’m back from my 12 day vacation in Georgia. We had good time in Georgia, it’s a beautiful country with lots to offer. This vacation was a bit different from the vacations we have taken in last 4 years, different in both good and bad way.  However, I would like to talk about the good things and use proper forums to review facilities and services which didn’t meet my expectations.

Some of you may know I started this blog to record memories of my travels but then life happened. With the onset of fancy travel blogs and accounts on Instagram in recent times, I was a bit intimated that no one will like my plain writing and simple mobile phone pictures. However, I have realised that one should do things which make one happy without thinking about the reaction of audience on social media. With that in mind, I’m going to talk to you about another hobby/passion of mine -Food.

I became interested in different types of Indian cuisine when I moved to Western part of India for my first job. My room mates hailed from different states and cooked food which I had never eaten before. The interest grew when I met my then future husband and I wanted to cook for him . Since then I have expanded my horizon and now I can cook recipes from following cuisines- Indian (which is collection of 50 different cuisines), Turkish, Italian, Mexican, Arabic and English.

During these years I have discovered that a hobby isn’t about doing only one thing, there is so much more you learn thru a hobby- about cultures, history . For example, thru my hobby of cross stitching, I have learnt about festivals and holidays in western world, learnt names of new flowers, fruits etc.  

During my travels , I have seen that food brings people together. I have seen people connecting and bonding over food. Each year when I plan to travel to a new destination, I study about the cuisine of the country. The focus is to eat local (vegetarian) food, understand what ingredients are used and why. We avoid eating Indian food or at fast food chains when travelling.

Through this post I will narrate my journey in Georgia thru food.

The first thing which shows in google search when you look up Georgian food is Khachapuri. It is a staple food of Georgians, available in homes, restaurants and road side stalls.

Khachapuri – to describe simply is stuffed bread. Wheat dough is rolled into rounds, stuffed and then baked in ovens. The stuffing varies from cheese, red beans, potatoes, spinach (tarragon actually) to red meat.  The most famous among tourist is Adjarian Khachapuri , which is like Turkish pide but with semi cooked eggs, cheese and salted butter. This Khachapuri hails from the coastal region of Georgia and the shape represent a boat. I liked it the most from the various Khachapuri I ate.

ACHARULI – AJARIAN KHACHAPURI

Picture from our dinner at Puri Guliani , Funicular, Tbilisi

Megruli Khachapuri
Picture from our lunch at Bermuxa, Zugdidi

Kinkali – it is Georgian dumpling stuffed with cheese , potatoes or meat. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to taste this as most of the places I asked for it had only non-vegetarian version.

Image from Internet

I always make a list of vegetarian food available in the new country I travel to. It is important to know the local name of the dishes when travelling to non- English speaking countries.

My travel guide in Georgia was surprised when I showed him the list of food I wanted to eat during our tour.

This time it was a bit of struggle to get vegetarian food when I said I didn’t want to eat Khachapuri anymore. If you ask for vegetarian food in Georgia, you are suggested to order Khachapuri , if you say no, most of the times they serve you potatoes , mushrooms or salad.

Georgia has a rich fertile soil and most of the things are grown naturally with no pesticides or fertilisers. So if you are like me, thinking I didn’t travel to 2000 miles to eat potatoes, think again. I ate stir fried potato chips almost once in a day during my trip but I must tell you the potatoes with just a pinch of salt were mind blowing. I stopped eating potatoes in 2017 due to health reasons but it was hard to resist the stir fried potato chips in Georgia.

Georgia has wide variety of mushrooms which they use a lot in cooking. The variety of dishes they make with mushrooms is very interesting.

Pan baked Mushroom with almost no spice.
Picture from our lunch at KP  Tavern, Tbilisi

Mchadi – This is traditional corn bread of Georgia. When I first ate it, I was surprised that it tasted so much like Makka ki roti –India flat bread made from Maize.

I ate variations of corn bread, each beating other in flavor. I even ate corn on the cob from a road side stall ..ha ha

Dobali
Picture from our dinner at Ethno Tsiskvili, Tbilisi

Mushroom Kuchmachi & Chvishtari(cheese corn bread)
Picture from our lunch at Cafe Ushguli Maspindzeli , Ushguli
A must visit home establishment where everything is made to order and you can actually  participate in cooking.

Lobiani served with Mchadi and pickled veggies
Picture from our lunch at KP  Tavern, Tbilisi

Lobiani- its name of food made from red/kidney beans. Most of the time it is served with Mchadi and pickled veggies. Do you know Lobia is Hindi name for black eyed peas?

Now coming to less popular vegetarian food…these were served when I dug deep and asked the chef what else they can serve except the above listed.

Badrijani Nigvzit - Georgian Eggplant Rolls with Walnut-Garlic Filling. Very interesting recipe, never imagined using nuts with eggplant.

Badrijani Nigvzit
Picture from our dinner at Kidobani, Tbilisi

Jonjoli is one of the Georgian appetisers. In particular, these are pickled sprouts from a bush that grows in the area. Jonjoli is consumed in various ways, sometimes it’s mixed with olive oil or with other pickled vegetables such as cucumber, pepper or tomatoes. The appetiser goes well with Lobio, Georgian bean soup as well as with boiled potatoes or simply with Georgian corn bread mchadi together with cheese.

Jonjoli
Picture from our dinner at Ethno Tsiskvili, Tbilisi

Green Salad- with its fresh veggies, the salad with cucumber, onion and tomatoes in Georgia are class apart. If you happen to be in Tbilisi, do try Green salad in Summer Menu of Barberstan. This restaurant is one of the highest rated in Georgia but apart from the salad , we were disappointed with the availability of veg food.

Most amazing Green salad at Barberstan

Vegetarian soup- I was lucky to stay in home stays during my trip and the owner made vegetarian soup for me. This soup is quite different from the traditional soups I’m used to eating. Traditional soups are made of boiled veggies or lentil which are pureed and then cooked with spices. Georgian veg soup was more like a stew- big chunks of veggies cooked in water with sauteed onions.

Tolma- Very similar to Turkish Dolma /stuffed vegetables. Mine was stuffed with cooked rice and served with sour cream.

Made to order Tolma at Ushba Guest house, Mestia

Nazuki is Georgian spicy sweet bread. This scrumptious treat is made in different parts of Georgia , but nazuki from Surmai , a small town in Shida Kartli Region, stands out with its exceptional taste. Every Georgian and tourist alike who passes beautiful Surmai road is unable to resist a good loaf of homemade sweet bread exhibited by the locals in front of their homes.

Image from Internet

Churchkhela is a traditional Georgian candle-shaped candy. The main ingredients are grape must, nuts and flour. Almonds, walnuts, hazelnut and chocolate and sometimes raisins are threaded onto a string, dipped in thickened grape juice or fruit juices and dried in the shape of a sausage. This is the best souvenir you can get for your friends and family.

Image from Internet

I should mention that Georgian cuisine is known for its meat dishes as the meat used is natural and not factory produced. My husband who eats selective meats praised the roasted trout he ate by the river side in Pasanuri.

Georgian is famous for its cheese, wine and breads. Every house has a local winery and bread baking set up.

If you love cheese- there is so many varieties to taste- Sulguni and Imeruli being the most popular ones.

If you are not found of wine , try Chacha- which is home made vodka.

June is fruit harvest season in Georgian plains, we were in awe of the abundance of cherries, apples, pears, plums in the market. The otherwise plain food of Georgia is well complimented by fruit sauces/chutneys, jams and pickles served with it. 

Tkemali- Sour plum sauce

My post will be incomplete without the mention of bee keeping business in Georgia. We found thousands of bee houses adjacent to the roads we took to get to various regions of the country. It is major occupation of the country.

Bee houses in Svaneti region

I hope you haven’t dozed off until now … ha ha this has become a long post.

Georgian food relies on the natural flavor of ingredients and most of the times least of spices are used , quite opposite to spices heavy Indian food.

Many of the dishes I mentioned in my post are vegan or can be made vegan , so pls ask if you need more info about these or in general about Georgia.

I'm going to try making some of these in my Kitchen.

P.S.-The views expressed in this post are mine , I have added links to the restaurants and eateries I ate at.This post is not paid , I wanted to document good places to eat in Georgia .

How did I do for "Stitch every 'Day' in 'May'"

Hello Friends,
May month has come to an end , I hope 'Maynia' in the cross stitch world has settled down. I have enjoyed looking at the various versions of Maynia . I hope you enjoyed whatever version you followed, after all its about enjoyment right?

My personal goal was to Stitch every 'Day' in 'May'. Many of you commented that stitching daily is a routine and you don't have to make it a goal. I on the other hand sometimes have to push myself hard to get my ass up from the couch and the TV and sit to stitch. I'm pretty happy with the what I achieved during the month, there were initial hiccups but things smoothed after a while.

Let me show you how I did statistically using a pie chart.

And here is the progress on my WIP.

Progress on 28th April 2018

Progress as of 31st May 2018

Fabulous Florals 

Designed by : Claire Comerford

Pattern source : The World Of Cross Stitching Magazine, Issue 245

I made a new start for an upcoming birthday and managed to stitch this much.

New start on 27 May 2018

Can you guess what this is going to be?
I love the color of the variegated thread and blackwork is one of my favourites form of cross stitch/embroidery.

I wish to continue this streak next month but looks difficult as we are travelling to Georgia for vacation . Its hard to carry needles ,scissors , patterns and floss during travel. That's where knitting comes handy ..no scissors, patterns required. It easier to knit when the light is dim or when the road is bumpy.

Let me know in comments how did you do stitching wise this month.

Mesmerizing Garhwal - Part II

See Part I here

The group had lots of stories about the summit climb which were shared on the way to our accommodation for 3rd night. After a short drive the bus stopped on a narrow road. We were told this is where we will be staying for the night. We started looking around and couldn’t see any building, hut or even a brick around. We disembarked the bus, carrying our bags and started following the guide to a place unknown. After walking down a trail among trees this what we saw

Camp Chalkot

A camping ground with pre-assembled tents, the camp had portable toilets, a kitchen where cooks prepared food for the guests. “No electricity, no mobile connection here” is what we were told once we were allotted tents. For once we thought how can we survive with no electricity, no mobile connection in these days. But we did…

Oh what fun it was to request for a bucket of water to clean yourself, water being fetched from the nearby river. I have stayed in a tent before but never used portable toilets or lived without electricity. It was so much fun using torches to navigate to the dining area after sunset , eating local food, karaoke around the bon-fire.

We decided to sleep early to recover from the strenuous hike of the day, to be ready for the next day. Though I must say it’s difficult to sleep when it’s so quite that you can hear people moving in next tent..ha ha .

Day 4 –We had an early start for a long drive to Joshimath, elevation 6200ft. Five hours later we were in queue for a ropeway cable car (or trolley as we call it in India) ride to Auli .Auli cable ropeway holds a record of longest in Asia with total length of 4.15 km. 

Its lower tower is at 1906 m from MSL and the upper tower is at 3016 m. The view from the ropeway captures beauty of the snow covered peaks, the alpine forest and the bracing climate.

View from the cable car

20 min ride to Auli and we were ready for a short trek to valley of Gurson Bugyal (bugyal means meadows in local language).We reached the meadows after trekking through dense oak forest with occasional spotting of Nanda Devi peak.

Our tents at Gurson Bugyal

On reaching the meadow, we selected a ground big enough to accommodate the whole group. We were trained how to assemble our tents, pack our bags and instructions on how to keep away from forest animals and use no water toilets. Boy, did I laugh and weird when it was described on how to use ecofriendly establishments.

View from our tents

Sunset at Gursan Bugyal

The temperature started dipping with the sun going down and everyone started feeling hungry.

The kitchen and dining area consisted of two taller tents and we were served instant noodles “maggi” as evening snacks. Trust me instant noodles never tasted better than on that cold evening. The whole group gathered in small tent of 10 ft by 10ft, sitting so tight, helping each other keep warm. No one wanted to move and go back to their tents to come back for dinner. We decided to stay where we were and started sharing stories from our childhood. We had such a blast laughing our hearts out at the things we did as a kid. Dinner was served and we ate whatever was served never thinking how much we were eating.

Now sleeping in these tents was another story….we started teasing each other that how a jackal can enter this tent or a strong wind will blow it.

It was decided to wake up early to see sunrise at some of the highest peaks of Himalayas. I knew that’s not my cup of tea, waking up early is one thing which I haven’t achieved my whole life.

Day 5: I woke up at 4 am to the sounds of birds chipping. I wasn't able to sleep properly as I was cold inside the sleeping bag. Hubby said why don’t you join us when you are up.I joined the early risers for a small hike for a better view of the sunrise point.

I must say the sunrise was one of the most beautiful natural phenomenon I have seen so far. It was a blessing to be present there and see the colors changing, light filtering thru clouds and sun rise behind the mountains.

  

The only task for the day was to walk down to the cable car boarding point which seemed easy after the last two days.

View of Nandadevi peak,the second highest mountain in India

After a few hours bus ride , we reached our cottage in Auli with overcast sky and snow covered peaks as the view from the window.

Our cottage at Auli

Everyone took nap, and evening we played cards, sang , shared jokes and had a good rest .

Day 6 – This was travel day back to Dehradun, the group members had become quite close to each other after spending such wonderful times together. The journey back was full of talks of what memories we created.

With heavy hearts we said good bye to the group and got down at Rishikesh (Translates to Hair of a Sage) . Rishikesh is a small town in the foothills of Himalayas with many Hindu temples.

Day 7 - We had our flight in the afternoon so we decided to visit Ram Jhula  which is an iron suspension bridge across the river Ganges built in 1986. We visited the nearby ashrams  to understand more about history of the town.

A late afternoon flight from Dehradun brought us to Kuwait , and an incredible journey in the Himalayas came to an end.

I hope you have enjoyed my ramblings about this trip of mine.