mayurisjikoni

crunch, crunch, munch   Tomorrow I am leaving for Italy... my dream destination. I have always wanted to visit Italy because from what I have read , pictures I have seen and the food, makes Italy seem like a romantic country. Wine, pasta, pizza, caprese salad, gelato, limoncello.... seriously how can one leave that country hungry? Churches, piazzas, gondolas, beautiful beaches, scenic countryside what more is required to feel romantic? Before hubby and I get into that holiday mood and behave like typical tourists, clicking umpteen photos and trying to see every thing and anything, we have to pack, catch a flight, close the house, etc etc. So many minor details to take care of before we can go on a holiday. Have you noticed how stressful it has become to actually go on a holiday? Visas, millions of forms to fill, measure the exact dimension of your suitcase, make sure the weight of the luggage is not even 100g over the specified allowance, meander through slow moving traffic to get ...

SHHHH COOKING SECRETLY # 2      I started making my choco coconut bites on Friday and kept them in the fridge so that I could coat them with chocolate the next day. However that was not possible as there was no water! We woke up in the morning to find our taps dry. Everyone came out of their apartments to find out what the problem was. The pump had broken down and it was going to take a while to repair it. How many homes in Mombasa have to store water in jerricans, buckets, huge plastic containers etc. I bet most of us. With the new government and each county having its own governing body, we had high expectations. But unfortunately things just seem to be getting worse, water problems, power cuts, roads full of potholes, insecurity. These are just a few of the problems. Everyone hopes that things will get better but when is the big question.     Coming to the recipe, my two secret ingredients were chocolate and milk powder given by Srividhya Balaji . The first t...

brings out the kid in you     How many of us really dare to act like kids when our hearts feel like it? Not many of us, we tend to hold our feelings and are scared to act completely carefree for a moment. Playing in the rain, digging up sand and making sandcastles, letting an ice cream dribble all over your hands, jumping on the bed, making huge bubbles with a chewing gum and getting it stuck on the face in the process, dunking pizza in coke. There are so many things we feel like doing but we just hold back.    I made orange creamsicle pops a few days ago. Today I had one and licked and sucked on it like kids do, making a bit of a mess. Hubby dear thought I had gone a bit mad. Did I enjoy doing that? Yes and no! Enjoyed the lolly, wasn't particularly too thrilled with the sticky hands.    Oranges are available in abundance these days. They come from Tanzania and are very sweet. Some say the market is flooded with them as hotels are not able to buy them as t...

baking and some more baking     Just a few days after I had made the pesto braided bread and patted my back :) and Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen comes up with the August We Knead to Bake challenge.... a savoury filled bread and the bread had to be decorative. Couldn't do the Russian Braid again so the earnest hunt began for a decorative bread. The first place I hunted was my book marked and saved recipes and lo behold came across rose buns to try from Fauzia's Kitchen Fun. More than the filling what caught my eye was the shape. I searched for other decorative shapes but the rose rolls were stuck in my head. So one more bookmarked recipe or rather technique over and done with. I made a veggie filling as I am a vegetarian. Also my friend's family is vegetarian. Yes, I met up with my best friend for lunch ( friendship day celebration) and also shared the rose rolls with her. I am glad that she exists in my life. My other best friends are my daughter and hubby dear. All three ar...

  Home Bakers Challenge # 1  This is my first entry for the Home Bakers Challenge , a group where enthusiastic home bakers bake every month according to the challenge set. The group was started by Priya of Priya's Versatile Recipes . This month the recipes were selected by Gayathri a member of the group. She gave a choice of five recipes. I spent nearly a week trying to decide which one to make, sweet or savoury, savoury or sweet. Kept on scrolling down the recipes umpteen of times. Finally decide on a savoury recipe as for the past few weeks I have baked so many sweet treats. I am glad I chose to make the pizza rolls. I decided to make the dough at home and make a veggie version. The original recipe used pepperoni. Hubby dear enjoyed the just baked warm pizza rolls and wants me to bake them as starters for the next guests we invite for dinner:)    In the past 2 months I have joined 4 different groups of which three are baking challenges. Trying to meet the deadline...

Do you like reading true stories?   Every time we have guests who come to stay with us, they tend to leave something or the other behind for us besides the presents they may have brought for us. I have loads of half used shampoo and hair conditioner bottles, some shower gels, bath towels, slippers, magazines and even story books. I leave all that stuff for the next guests who may need to use any of these items and I get to read all the magazines and books. One such book left behind was Shame Travels by Jasvinder Sanghera. I am about to finish reading this book. I read it in spite of not having read her first two books, Shame and Daughters of Shame. All three are true stories. Waiting to get hold of the two I have not read but I just couldn't resist reading her third book. Its all about how Jasvinder runs away from home at the age of 16 because her parents wanted to get her married off to a boy not of her choice. She gets married to someone of the lower caste and her family disowns ...

Food for the soul    Good books, good music and good movies are like good food for the soul. Some make us cry, some make us laugh, some stir our hearts to the core and some make us thankful for the good things God provides us with in life. Some movies make you appreciate the talents of others, be it singing, dancing or art. This lazy Sunday, after a meal of thin crust pizza and strawberry gelato,(at the famous Yuls/Aquadrome) hubby and I watched the movie 'Step up Revolution - We are The Mob " on telly. Its amazing how dancers are able to control every muscle in their body to perform a robotic dance, or the women appear to flit around like butterflies performing a contemporary routine or the dancers are so agile and acrobatic while performing hip hop.  Getting a social or political message across through dance is like a peaceful revolution. I enjoyed watching the movie and forgot about blogging for a over an hour. Watch the movie, you will surely love it. And of course wh...