Watching, Making, Eating, and Reading this Weekend

Independence Day’s long weekend is going to be a quiet one for us. Piglet, as usual, will go for his horse-riding class, and Snubnose again, as usual, will go for her art class. So nothing particularly new there.

By the way, if you are wondering why I haven’t been sharing any works of hers lately, it’s because she’s been in practice mode – she started trying out watercolors this summer and has struggled a bit trying to create nice paintings using a tool she’s not very familiar with.

Anyway, apart from ferrying them around to different classes, I have planned absolutely nothing leaving me with plenty of free time on hand. Here’s what I plan to do with it.

Watching

This year I am going to give the regular Independence Day stuff on TV a skip. I’ve been pretty disillusioned with patriotic jingoism when I feel so many issues still need to be resolved in our country. Every time someone is killed for eating beef, or a girl is raped, or a student or farmer commits suicide, I think, where’s the freedom?

So, this year I will be giving the mandatory patriotic Independence Day movie (I’ve watched this movie every year on Independence Day, I think), Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi, a skip. Instead, I will finish feeding my kids and then settle down on the couch to a marathon binge-watching of The Mindy Project. It’s on at Comedy Central on Aug 15th from 1:00 pm onwards.

As Mindy, oh so eloquently says:

The true definition of independence, you think? I’m still on the fence about such a dramatic statement, but yeah, overall, everybody should be given the strength to stand on their own two feet. That’s independence.

If The Mindy Project doesn’t rock your boat, there are a couple of other shows that might:

• Orange is the New Black – An American TV series about a woman in prison is airing 15th August on Colors Infinity. If stories of prisoners trying to figure out their lives in prison and attain freedom from their own inner inhibitions interests you, then check this one out.
• Another show that looks promising is VH1 trending in India, which is an Independence Day special about the songs that moved India. That’s on at 12:00 pm and 6:pm on VH1.

So, I’m not just going to be a couch potato this weekend. There are tons of other things I plan to do. Read on.

Making

I have a lot of spaghetti at home, and plenty of parmesan cheese, and extra virgin olive oil, so I plan to recreate this aglio olio spaghetti as it was such a clear favorite when I made it the first time. If I can manage it, I”ll throw in a few slices of garlic bread for sides as well.

Some time back, I had pinned this recipe for cauliflower and spinach risotto. It sure looks delicious and seems simple to make too.

Btw, have you ever tried recipes from the goop site? The recipes there sound pretty good, and I like that there are quite a few options for us vegetarians.

Eating

So, of course, I am going to be eating what I make. But apart from that, if it is a nice hot Sunday, I think Snubnose and I will make a visit to our local Corner House and order our standard thick chocolate shakes – one for each of us.

Aah, I am already drooling over the thought. If you go to Corner House, give the overhyped Death by Chocolate a skip, and try this shake instead. Much lighter, and dare I say it, tastier.

Reading

I took a short break from reading A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James. Because, well, Harry Potter always gets priority, right?

Anyway, the announcement of this year’s Man Booker longlist prompted me to hurry up and finish with this book already (I’ve been reading it piecemeal over the past two months).

So, that’s what I am going to do. Finally, finish up with this book.

Blogging

After changing up my theme drastically, a couple of weeks back, I haven’t really refined things further. I am not sure if I will actually get to it this weekend, but yeah, if I have some time on hand, a little more fine-tuning of the blog’s appearance is in order.

One question: what do you think of the fonts and the header sizes? I am conflicted, as I am a long-time sans-serif lover, but I also feel the serif fonts suit this theme better. Decisions, decisions 😊.

Actually, any feedback or suggestions on the blog’s appearance are welcome. I am really aiming for a clean, neat, and most important quick-loading blog.

What are your plans for the long weekend?

Post written in collaboration with Comedy Central.