Snippets

Time is speeding these days in Cocoville. The lazy woman is literally juggling a multitude of activities and loving it all! Add the festive season to the scene and watch her going crazy multitasking. 

1. Celebrating the wintry festivals which arrive like a train, beginning way back at Dussehra and going on till Makar Sankranti in January. To us, festive season also means all our birthdays and anniversaries. Both Coco and 'Bringing Up Coco' became 4 year olds, one a naughty preschooler and the other a creative outlet, both of them bringing oodles of happiness to me.

2. Going dizzy receiving orders at 'Pink Pitari', making stuff and delivering them. It is hugely satisfying to watch my craft dream grow. 

3. Creating marvels like 'Chinese Chilli Idli', an absolute makeover of these desi delicacies into something unrecognizable. These turned out well.

4. Receiving such pictures from delighted customers and feeling great that my absolutely rustic work is actually finding place into people's nicely decorated living rooms.  

 5. Doing Zumba, getting fitter by the day and enjoying the company of amazing army wives full of energy, inspiration and good vibes. Seen above is my incredibly motivated and awesome Zumba instructor who by the way is also an army wife. 

6. Completing craft courses one after another and crafting to my heart's content. This place has a dedicated hobby centre and most of us are making the most of it. Last week it was candle making which I did with a close friend and we totally rocked at it. Before candles, it was decoupage and mural art is lined up to be the next. Not only did we make all the candles in the course package, we also shared a lot of new ideas from the internet and the very talented instructor herself learned a thing or two from our brainstorming! She is a local woman who does not have much access to the internet for ideas, learning new skills or selling her handmade stuff, but she still has a room full of amazing crafts, a lot of which has been picked from army wives like us during instructing them, I think. The above candle is one of almost a dozen candles and all those flowers are handmade with wax. Reminds me of my wild roses!

7. Learning to take good pictures with my new digital camera, highly inspired by the friend who did 'Pink Pitari's' first photo shoot. In the above picture, I have tried to go artsy by using one of my candles as a flower vase. I hope to learn soon!

8. Exploring an amazing craft outlet in the neighborhood and amazed to find great stuff and superb yarns in a place where it is difficult to find even the basic craft supplies. Bought a few supplies and made a wishlist of the gorgeous yarns that Pony craft store have at their factory outlet in the Nilgiris.

9. Visiting beautiful places and getting lost in the amazement. Visited a tea factory last month and saw the journey of teeny tiny tea leaves from gardens to tea cups. Truly mesmerizing...

10. Meeting talented army wives and getting surprised to find that there are many like me. This Diwali, I made these two handmade purchases, a paper lamp by an army wife who is also a Madhubani painter and sells her work through Facebook; and a tea-light holder candle, also by an army wife who shared my stall and goes by the name Candle CRAFT on Facebook. Not only this, my surroundings are buzzing with creative energy from other entrepreneurs like chocolatiers, bakers, painters... you name it, I have them here!

Tumse Na Ho Payega ( Honey, You Cannot Do It)??!!

'You know, I used to wear extra small sized clothes, and now, going through all the sizes, I am fitting into extra large ones!' I squealed in front of my friend, who did not point out due to politeness that sure I could still wear extra small clothes, if only I looked into the plus-size category. There has not been a day when I have not wondered how it would be like to lose my flabby belly and to look like my pre-baby old self again. Its not like I did not try. I gave it a try many times, working out, cycling, swimming, walking, the works, but I could hardly keep it up beyond two days, credits to my laziness, except walking, which I do for reasons I would not like to disclose (okay, because of my husband!)

My eating habits are not worrying normally and I have never believed in dieting. Even if I did, I do not think that it is made for me, because I know I cannot do it. The moment someone says, 'you should not eat this', I start wondering and craving and salivating for that forbidden thing, though I am a regular sabzi-chapati eater and not a foodie from any angle. When I returned from my parents home and saw my husband after a gap of two months, I was shocked. All he had done was study and eat, and was looking round in shape, at least his face was. So I declared that I am not cooking anything (except for Coco, of course!) till both of us lose weight and qualify again for having some real food. Both of us pledged that we will be slim again. 

Apart from being physically active (he is in army, remember?), he is more methodical than me and regularly takes warm honey-lemon water every morning, which he says is a great way to keep weight gain in check. I started having it too, but two days later came back to my plain water. No worries, I had mealtimes during which I could eat (or not eat) what comprised of a healthy slimming diet.

He said that he will have three rotis from now on in his lunch, I completely skipped my rotis and stuck to dal and veggies only. He said he will have only soup or fruit in dinner, and I followed suit. I carried my new found 'healthy-no carbs-fiber rich diet' enthusiastically almost for a day and a half and then the world was suddenly a very gloomy, lethargic place for me. I had not felt this lazy in a long time as my stamina had completely drained out. Like a zombie, I spent the rest of the week, barely managing to get up and look after Coco. It was almost a week later that the above mentioned friend called and I went to see her. I told her that I had not eaten in the last week and was very hungry. She smiled and cooked a nice simple sabzi chapati dinner for me, and the above conversation about clothes' sizes took place while I was savouring her spicy 'papad sabzi'. After I had my fill, I came home happily and kissed my diet goodbye.

Though, small changes like replacing sugar with honey are really helpful. Dabur Honey has launched Honey diet which is the answer if someone wants to cut down on calories without giving up sweetness in their life, and also enjoy added health benefits like great immunity and glowing skin to name a few.

Glee, Thy Name Is Tea!

(Theme 2)

A blogger friend is very fond of tea, and she asks for a cup of tea whenever she comes home, and so I am very fond of her. Actually, I am bound to like someone who likes tea. I also love people who display their association with tea in any manner, for example in the following picture, because at once it is two things I love the most, tea and flowers. Though I am friends with people who love coffee and shun tea too. Doesn't matter. One has to have all sorts of friends.

We are a family of avid tea drinkers. Almost tea addicts (My husband calls me something which could be 'tea-holic' in english!) I am having tea since my teenage years, though I remember ginger-holy basil tea served to us kids whenever we got drenched in rain. I remember lemon tea was prepared at home for various reasons: The milk had gone bad, after a non-vegetarian meal when milk is not advisable, to feel refreshed after a heavy meal, to aid digestion (in combination with caraway seeds) etc.

Perfect day for a steaming cuppa!

I have hardly seen my father in the kitchen. When someone tells me about how their dad makes the best chicken curry or rustles up the greatest cheese omelette, I quietly listen and wonder. Once or twice I have witnessed how the kitchen turned upside down when my father was looking for a cookie box or was trying to find the sugar container, while the object of his search was right there. But, but... my father knows just the perfect recipe for lemon tea. The yummiest, most refreshing tea!

And why are we suddenly talking about tea? Because today when I was reading articles on spending quality time with family and family bonding in the family life section of rewardme.in, I suddenly remembered how I have bonded with friends and family over cups of tea, mostly with our shared love of tea. Surprisingly, rewardme.in also has this amazing write-up about mood altering teas in its time saver recipes section which made me nostalgic and I started missing my cup of lemon-tea like a long lost friend. Whether the lazy woman wants to kick herself out of her reverie and get going or whether she wants to calm herself and slink back to her lazy comfort, the most refreshing, tangy, fragrant lemon tea is there to her rescue. And how do we does my father prepare this magical concoction from heaven? In the following few simple steps:

1. Boil a cup of water with a teaspoon of sugar (or to your taste).
2. Meanwhile, squeeze half a lemon (or to your taste, again) in your teacup.
3. Just before removing the boiling water from heat, add a pinch (strictly, a pinch!) of your regular tea-leaf.  Turn off the heat immediately. DO NOT wait for the tea to boil or take colour. It will do that on its own.
4. Strain the tea mixture into the teacup.
5. Sit on the veranda/balcony with a book and tea. Enjoy!

The awesome ginger-honey-lemon tea from Landour Cafe, Mussoorie

The above recipe is the original method of preparing plain lemon tea. Although, with changing lifestyle and food preferences, the recipe also got a face-lift and one of its many forms is known as ginger-honey-lemon tea, which I recently found being served in a cafe in Landour, Mussoorie and immediately fell in love with it. Preparing this tea is incredibly simpler than its name suggests:

1. Boil a cup of water with half a teaspoon of grated ginger.
2. Add a teaspoon of honey and squeeze half a lemon in a teacup.
3. Strain the boiling water in the teacup.
4. Dip in a teabag of your choice. Your steaming and superbly refreshing cup of exquisite ginger-honey lemon tea is ready. Sip your way to heaven.

After sipping this tea, I realized that it helped clear my blocked nostrils and buzzing head which was slightly aching due to cold. So there. My best friend!

A couple of friends visited Sri Lanka this winter and brought back nuggets of information about tea along with some great tea. As they told me, our regular tea has health benefits equivalent to green tea. Though we ruin a lot of its qualities by adding milk and sugar. Of course, drinking plain black tea will take a lot of sacrifices and efforts from me, as it is clearly an acquired taste. Lemon tea is the closest that I can ever come to having black tea. So lemon tea it is!

While we are on this topic, somewhere in our country, these were spotted:

I am participating in the ‘Ready For Rewards’ activity for Rewardme in association with BlogAdda.

Sonth Laddoos

When there is a new birth in the family, some recipes are traditionally prepared in order to celebrate as well as to improve and maintain a healthy mother and new born. I think, grand mothers all across India give something or the other special health and lactation food to the new mother. A few such food items are not only mastered by my mother in law, they are almost patented in her name, like her famous 'Sonth Laddoo'. For relatives with new born babies, she always sends a box of these amazing sonth laddoos. When my son was born, she used to keep a constant supply of these to me and when I was fed-up (pun intended), I had to ask her repeatedly to stop making them for me.

For the diet conscious, these old-world laddoos can wreak a havoc on the waistline, but they are certainly great for lactating mothers, especially those who have a premature baby to nurse to health, like I had.

They are easy to prepare, but maybe a little time consuming. To prepare laddoos, you will need:

1. Atta/whole wheat flour- 4 cups

2. Dry fruits- raisins, makhana(Lotus seed), cashews-finely chopped, thinly sliced dry coconut- 1 cup

3. Edible gum-1/4 cup

4. Ginger powder-2 tsp

5. Turmeric powder-2 tsp

6. Desi ghee- 5 tbsp + for binding

7. Sugar- 1 cup

8. Tikhur-Indian arrowroot (can be found at stores selling ayurvedic plant products)-1/2 cup

All measurements are approximate values. It is after all just a sweet and ingredients can be increased/decreased/added/deleted according to personal preference. My mother in law puts less sugar in my laddoos and a lot more in others', and the amount of ghee that goes in is way more than 5 tbsp mentioned above.

Read More on World Of Moms

No Crying Over Spilled Raita

A couple of weeks ago we invited a few friends over for lunch. In order to impress them with my culinary skills, I prepared food since morning. I was expecting this particular bowl of cucumber raita (spiced curd) to become a conversation piece as the guests would pile up their plates. After all, I had used so much ingenuity and improvisation, cutting out the bottom of a paper cup and bending the hole into a heart shape, then using the heart shaped hole as a stencil held above the curd, sprinkled red chilli powder ever so gently . Caution: never blow away the excess chilli powder as I foolishly did. After removing the paper cup, I patted my own back and admired myself for inventing something genuinely in the era of Internet, when I could have easily copied someone else's idea. 

After some more decorating, and photo shoot to my satisfaction, I hastily proceeded to keep the bowl in the fridge. There was still a lot of work to be done in other departments. In my haste, as I was putting a lid on the bowl, it slipped and shook the entire liquid and my red chilli heart broke! Raita fail gaya!!

But as I was in no mood to give up (the chances of my hospitality being talked about), I stirred the red chilli in, and created a similar heart again. This time I was very careful and the bowl with a red fiery heart made it to the dining table intact. The guests talked about the raita, but about its lip-smacking taste. Even better!

The Lesser Known Bihari Momos AKA Pittha

Coco is visiting his Nana-Nani (i.e. I am at my parents :) ). It was a delight to receive the plateful of Pittha with a delectable green chilli-garlic chutney from a sweetheart Auntyji next door. After a little spell of hot-talk with my mom (over never making Pittha and always telling me stories about it from her own childhood as if Pittha was some inaccessible fruit from heaven) and a photoshoot, mom and I quickly settled down to eat, though we already had had our breakfast.

                                                                          

The chana dal dumplings looked delicious and tasted great. Aunty had added her own twist with Rai-tadka. I pleaded with my mom to cook it once so that I could learn (and eat it too!). For any foodie/Momo lover who would be interested in this Bihari version of Momos, scores of recipes are easily available on the internet. But seeing is believing you know.

So what happens next??

Um... nom-nom and gone !

The kadhi that came back!

It is quite a sight to find Coco sleeping like this every morning, on his tummy,  typically like his papa. Hence proved, sleep posture is genetic!

Ahh... and that is the luscious, delicious Aloo kadhi that I made from a recipe found in a booklet. It was cooked with the purpose of returning a bowl to my neighbor. It was difficult for me to part with such a generous portion of my yummy kadhi. I glanced with a lustful, greedy gaze at the full bowl and sighed deeply, as it was being carried by my hubby to the neighbor next door. 

I assume I have a magnetic gaze and a powerful sigh. As it turns out, the neighbor asked for chapatis too (which I had totally forgotten to throw in!) and hubby dear promised him that night's dinner. Come dinner time and chapatis are ready to leave my kitchen. Neighbor is called and here he comes with the bowl of kadhi intact!!

After dinner, being a polite man, he never asked to take his leftover kadhi back. So here we are, my kadhi and I. I am looking at it, and it is looking back at me with it's charming golden silence. Yumm!

At this point, I remembered Paulo Coelho and his Alchemist. I had desired this kadhi so much that it had to come back for me :)

(Days later, the bowl was sent back with cheeseballs.) 

Introduction to food

Dear Coco,

Today was your 'Annaprasan Sanskar' or formal introduction to food. I was happy to see you grown up enough to understand taste, what with all those faces that you made while you licked 'prasad' and other foods. I was sad too, because it marked the beginning of fraying of our cord.

Till today, I was the single most important person for you since you depended solely on me for food. Today, I realised that was one fibre gone from the rope that tied us together. Watching you eat was like watching sand slipping through my fingers, inevitable, beautiful and forlorn.

 

Also, your Dadaji, who I associate with the most ideal behaviour on earth, surprised me. He insisted on feeding you ice cream daily henceforth because you seemed to like it today. How children transform people!

Happy eating son,
Congratulations!