Monday, January 12, 2009

Born to a career Air Force father and a stay at home mom in the midsixties, no wonder I developed a love for travel,appreciation for other cultures, cooking and learning. Moving around alot was always exciting but a little daunting to a very shy person like myself. Many summers and holidays were spent with cousins, aunts uncles and grandparents in a very small southeastern town, all holed up together in a very small, but very loving home. We picked vegetables from mama's(pronounced maah -maah, lord knows we would get in trouble if we called her grandma)garden and spent many days shelling peas and stringing beans on her screened -in front porch. My grandmothers made homemade everything and their biscuits were fabulous, as well as homemade Ice cream, fried chicken, peach cobbler,creamed(mashed) potatoes and sauerkraut. I think my love for cooking was germinated here while I was very young.For summer entertainment we rode bikes, went to "coon dawg races", camped out,played games, and hung out.I remember many times spent with cousins, after receiving a tape recorder for christmas in 1975, recording family conversations,and making goofy spoofs of tv shows, commercials and the olympics on cassette tape.

After retiring at the age of 45 from a 27 year military career, my dad moved us to a small southern US town near their hometown so my older brother could attend college. My life was spent as a typical kid growing up in 70's and 80's America; eating pizza, going to the movies(loved "Grease"), watching the Hardy Boys on t.v.(wasn't Parker Stevenson dreamy?), listening to records(Donny Osmond, David Cassidy, Earth wind and Fire, Beatles, and KC and the Sunshine Band just to name a few) going to school dances, vehemently reading Nancy Drew books, and hanging out with friends. I went to college twice, once as a traditional student, then as a much older student in my thirties, earning a degree in nursing.

I married my husband who is from Calcutta, West Bengal, India at the age of 41. I have always told him(he disagrees somewhat) that Bengali culture and food are very similar to southern culture and food. We have so much in common. We are both younger siblings of older brothers, our cultures are conservative, and both are very close to our extended families. Both our families love their daughter -in -law and son- in -law immensely. We both love to travel, eat, learn and cook. Bengali food and southern food use lots of okra, beans, peas, rice, homemade breads, potatoes, all made with lots of love.
We now make our home in the New York City area.

With this blog I would like to relay my experiences and insights as an American who married a Bengali guy. I hope to relay to you recipes, thoughts, poetry, and other things that I find interesting to discuss. I do not claim to be an expert in Bengali cooking or southern cooking, I only will relay things that I have learned from my mother-in-law and others. I don't chose to be political and I hope I will not offend. I would love to hear from others concerning similar experiences and answering any questions one may have.

Welcome to my World.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Bengaliwife! Nice to read your story - I look forward to reading more :-) Thanks for putting a link to your new blog on the IndianTies forums!

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  2. Hi Heather,
    thank you so much for allowing me post my link on your blog page. i look forward to seeing your new posts and participating in your forums.Your page is really a great website.

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