mayurisjikoni

Gingerbread and Oatmeal Bread#BreadBakers Theme: Whole Grained Holiday Breads    Whether people would like to admit it or not, December brings about an air of festivities for all. The celebrations begin with ThanksGiving and will end with New Year celebrations. Shops are decorated, Christmas sales are on, friends and relatives share decorated streets, trees, homes photos. One cannot help but get drawn to this seasonal celebration. I consider myself very lucky that I get to enjoy Diwali, Eid and Christmas. As a Hindu living in a predominantly Christian Country and a strong Muslim part of Kenya, I get drawn into celebrating all three festivals.    When Kalyani of Sizzling Tastebuds suggested Whole Grained Holiday Breads, I tried looking for recipes where I could use whole grains. There are many recipes out there using spelt and rye flour. I don't get either in Kenya or India. Kalyani suggested that we try and use whole grain as much as possible. I was nearly going to s...

The festive spirit        Yes, I know I am a bit late. Festivities are over and everyone is back to their own routine with new targets and resolutions. However, I had to write about the festivities which gets most people in the happy, celebration mood whatever religious background or beliefs they have. Everywhere around the world holiday mood begins with Christmas and ends with New Year celebrations. Parties, holidays, fireworks, decorations, special food, presents... the list is endless. I have experienced Christmas festivities in England. What I remember the most are precious moments with family. Though it did not snow during that time, the scene of dark nights with bright blue lights sparkling from every home. I remember my cousins sprinkling the table with Christmas confetti and laying out Christmas crackers for us when they invited us for brunch. It was the first time I had tasted mini mince tarts. And the best part of Christmas day was making a jigsaw puzzle wi...

a lovely way to decorate a Christmas tree   For the month of December, Saraswathi challenged the International Food Challenge group with some Dutch recipes. Bitterballen, boterkoek, kerstkransjes and gevulde speculaas. I chose to make kerstkransjes as I wanted to take some festive cookies to Dubai for my daughter in law. She loves home baked cookies. Baking these cookies was a delight as I loved the way they turned out---- so festive looking. Kerstkransjes literally mean little Christmas wreaths. These cookies are tied with ribbons to decorate the Christmas tree. The best part is that these cookies can be decorated with sliced almonds, sugar granules, chocolate, sprinkles. Actually whatever you fancy. They are nice fillers for Christmas goodie bags or even as a present. The cookies turn out crisp and buttery, much like shortbread. If you don't want them as a wreath shape, then you can have them star shaped or any shape you prefer. When I was in Primary school, I remember our teach...

The year is ending  Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year. Hope 2015 is filled with joy, happiness and magical moments. The year is nearly ending and everyone is in a happy festive mood. Hubby and I are off to Dubai today to spend Christmas with my son, my daughter in law, her parents and brother. Hubby's first visit to Dubai and my second time. Looking forward to seeing a bit more of Dubai.Double celebration for us... our first Christmas with our daughter in law and her family and my hubby's birthday is on 25th Dec. Today our house help Julius is travelling to his village, to celebrate Christmas with his family. He has been with us for over 15 years.Don't know who the boss of the house is.... him or me??? More like he is as he always gets his way. I baked some muffins for him to take home for his sons and wife. The eggless cherry chocolate muffins turned out really soft and spongy. Sorry, I had left 2 and they got gobbled up before I could take another photo. Am I ...

Disasters in the kitchen!          Many recipes that food lovers come across on other blogs, the internet, recipe books, magazines, television, etc tempt them to save it and try it out some fine day. I too have saved, bookmarked, copied recipes and try them out as and when I can. Many have turned out to be disastrous. While some can be saved or consumed, others have had to be binned and I hate that. I've had nankhatais where the photos portray lovely dome shaped cookies and when I baked them they were flatter than a pancake! Caramel custard that sank as soon as it come out of the oven as the recipe called for whipped eggs and high temperature! Dhoklas which refused to rise.However the photos depict a perfect preparation looking smooth as silk, delicious, spongy, well risen, beautiful colour etc etc. Now and then such disasters occur. Now I actually research different recipes of that particular dish and check out for the similarities. Many times I have posted com...