Family and Food-Kolkata








My two favorite things...family and food. I grew up surrounded by amazing food and a loving family. The way Indian families shower you with love is through food. Works perfectly for me.

We are in my mom's home city, Kolkata. Kolkata is a very special place for me. I have very fond memories as child here and my Nani and Nana (my grandparents on my mom's side) hold a very special place in my heart. I remember so vividly my time here as a child and playing with my cousins who were also from the US. We were young, curious, and a bit mischievous. And now as adults we have a good laugh about all the trouble we caused our parents when we visited India. Thankfully my kids have not taken after me too much, they are much more behaved.

This family--my Mammi and Mamma (my mom's brother and his wife) and there kids Bunny and Hunny (those are not there good name's but there nicknames) are what keep us coming back to India. They also have a dog named Snoopy that is 2 years old and full of life.







I really don't where to begin with my story about them. There are so loving and kind and dote on James and Ashram as if they were their own children. We just have a special connection. We have not seen them for 10 years and it when we   meet it feels like we never left. We are so comfortable with each other and we talk so freely and truly enjoy each other's company to the point we never want to leave. So much so that we are out with them until 11pm every day. Surprisingly, our kids have done so well with staying up so late. They actually start falling asleep by 10pm. We just don't want to leave each other and I don't think the kids want to leave either. In the morning, they get up and are excited to go to their home. They get ready fast and are waiting for us to go.



Now about food. They shower us with specialities of Kolkata and traditional Sindhi dishes. I don't think there is an hour that goes by that we are not eating something. They are always introducing us to something new. This trip we were introduced to jaggery ice cream and yogurt. Jaggery is commonly made from two products, that are sugar cane and date palm tree. It has a kind of molasses taste to it.










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