Cooking on the bright side



I am guaranteed a sympathy vote from my mother if she calls when I am cooking dinner. Across phone lines, she tells me how bad she feels for me. How hard my life is that I have to prepare my own meals and how she wishes I would just hurry up and get a cook. I enjoy cooking but she sees it as a chore. My mother, unlike most Indian mothers, does not cook. She has no interest in stepping into the kitchen unless she is constructing a stuffed roast chicken (one of my fondest dinner memories ever). Every week, she simply follows instructions from our cook, Rosario, and in turn, he makes sure she eats three square meals a day. Without him, she'd live on over-boiled rice and burnt toast.

She imagines living abroad hard enough, but for her daughter to have to chop, slice, dice, stir and measure ingredients almost every day fills her with sadness. When visiting me, unlike most Indian mothers I know, she does not stuff my freezer with six months worth of frozen curries. Instead, I feed her with sandwiches, salads, and sometimes even Indian dishes. Once she hesitantly stepped into my kitchen in Toronto and asked if I needed any help as I furiously tried to emulsify a salad dressing before heading to work. She answered her own question, saying I looked like I was in control and retracing her steps.

I found a series of cookbooks that my father had bought my mother just before they married. In it he said something about the way to a man's heart being through his stomach. He was well aware of her lack of culinary skills but as a man who loves nothing more than to eat, I think he secretly harboured a desire that his future wife would have a change of heart and take to the kitchen. My aunts and mother grew up in a household with a father who prefered they were accomplished women in the arts; each of them earned a masters degree before they were married. My mother, the youngest, went on to become a doctor. She didn't have time to sit by my grandmother's side and learn to emulate her dishes.

She also hails from a generation of feminists who shunned the kitchen. And her only child, me, hails from a generation of feminists who have embraced it. As a kid I was rebuked for lingering in the kitchen. She always said I would find time later in life to take a class or two in home economics. Now my bookshelves are lined with cookbooks and I am ever grateful to my friend's mothers who have taught me how to sustain myself. But my mother still thinks I should use my time for more creative pursuits. She has yet to understand that cooking is, well, creative.

WWE TLC results

Asuka won the SmackDown Women's title in a TLC triple threat with Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair

Dean Ambrose won the Intercontinental title against Seth Rollins

Daniel Bryan retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against AJ Styles

Ronda Rousey retained the Raw Women's Championship against Nia Jax

Rey Mysterio beat Randy Orton in a chairs match

Finn Balor defeated Drew McIntyre

Natalya beat Ruby Riott in a tables match

Braun Strowman beat Baron Corbin in a TLC match

Sheamus and Cesaro retained the SmackDown Tag Titles against The Usos and New Day

R-Truth and Carmella won the Mixed Match Challenge by beating Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox

Business Insights
  • As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses. 
  • SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income. 
  • Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.

Electoral College Victory

Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate. 

 

Popular Vote Tally

The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale

Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni

Director: Amith Krishnan

Rating: 3.5/5

A Bad Moms Christmas
Dir: John Lucas and Scott Moore
Starring: Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell, Susan Sarandon, Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines
Two stars

Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode

Directors: Raj & DK

Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon

Rating: 4/5

The specs

Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6

Power: 400hp

Torque: 475Nm

Transmission: 9-speed automatic

Price: From Dh215,900

On sale: Now

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
Business Insights
  • Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
  • The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
  • US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
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Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Rating: 4/5
THE SPECS

Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine 

Power: 420kW

Torque: 780Nm

Transmission: 8-speed automatic

Price: From Dh1,350,000

On sale: Available for preorder now

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How to become a Boglehead

Bogleheads follow simple investing philosophies to build their wealth and live better lives. Just follow these steps.

•   Spend less than you earn and save the rest. You can do this by earning more, or being frugal. Better still, do both.

•   Invest early, invest often. It takes time to grow your wealth on the stock market. The sooner you begin, the better.

•   Choose the right level of risk. Don't gamble by investing in get-rich-quick schemes or high-risk plays. Don't play it too safe, either, by leaving long-term savings in cash.

•   Diversify. Do not keep all your eggs in one basket. Spread your money between different companies, sectors, markets and asset classes such as bonds and property.

•   Keep charges low. The biggest drag on investment performance is all the charges you pay to advisers and active fund managers.

•   Keep it simple. Complexity is your enemy. You can build a balanced, diversified portfolio with just a handful of ETFs.

•   Forget timing the market. Nobody knows where share prices will go next, so don't try to second-guess them.

•   Stick with it. Do not sell up in a market crash. Use the opportunity to invest more at the lower price.


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