mayurisjikoni

COLD DAYS = SPICY DRINKS      Bangalore cannot make up its mind weather wise. Its cold sometimes and hot over days. We are in the winter month and its not as cold as it used to get some years back. However, I'm not really complaining as I'm enjoying the weather. Yesterday was one of those chilly days and just the right time to have a hot comforting drink. Usually a hot cup of spicy tea does the trick. However, I made Pumpkin Spice Latte to ward off the cold. A hot drink cupped in our hands and watching a 'girlie movie' was a Sunday well spent.    The coldest weather I've ever experienced is 0°C in Chandigarh and at Lake Louise, Alberta. Both experiences were totally different. When hubby and I went to Chandigarh we didn't know that it would be so cold. I'd wear my leggings and jeans, a vest, top, sweater and a shawl. At night once I was under the thick quilt, I didn't want to move even an inch in case the cold air got in! The tiny heaters that the hote...

a cooling indulgence   Valentine's Day was a bit hot and hubby dear was expecting to find iced tea, cold fresh juice or something cool in the fridge. He didn't find anything so I asked him to have a cold glass of Ribena. He didn't want to have that so I thought of nimbu pani. He didn't want that too. Its amazing how some people love to beat around the bush when they have something specific in their minds and cannot speak it out forthright. The conversations went towards all deviations but the direct path.... "It's been so long since we have had that nice cooling cold coffee, home made, not the ones we find at cafes, watery and with blobs of cream. Ummm I can taste it in my mouth. I wish somebody could make it for me". I look around to check if he is talking to someone else, but that can't be as its just the two of us at home. "If my mum was here she would have already be making it as I speak." That too didn't make me rush to the kitchen b...

Finally had to use an icing bag!       Our Sweet Fantasy Club #4 challenge for the dessert was churros. When I read the word, I thought, gosh never heard of churros.Research began on the internet. I asked my daughter if she had ever tasted them and she just went yummy and asked "when are you making them?" However, I didn't get the time to make them in Bangalore. I made them yesterday (totally am losing track of time). The first challenge was handling the icing bag. My son bought it for me from Dubai but I have never bothered to ice cakes or muffins with it. I prefer using an icing tube. My churros is the basic recipe provided by Preeti of Simply Tadka and the initiator of The Sweet Fantasy Club. To make it a bit different I added coffee powder and cinnamon powder to the dough. When I started squeezing the dough out of the bag with the star nozzle, the task was taking forever and the oil beneath was getting hotter and hotter. Turned off the gas and piped them on ...

three birthdays on the same day A very happy birthday to my little sister Sapna, to my niece Pooja and nephew Sheel. So easy to remember... one day. Hope you guys had a whale of a time. This gave me an opportunity to try out my eggless coffee muffins. Sapna loves her coffee so coffee muffins it had to be. Though you 3 would have to travel all the way to Mombasa to try them out. Still a few left so hurry. They actually tasted better today, as now  we can actually  taste the coffee. Ajay made a lovely mug of coffee to go with the muffins.... typical indian style of coffee... nice and milky! I loved it. With fresh cream on top, its a wonderful dessert idea, light and yet refreshing. The recipe calls for 1 cup plus 2 tbsps of flour as I did not add cocoa powder to it. If you wish, add 2 tbsps of cocoa instead of flour but that will mask the coffee taste. Couldn't blog this recipe yesterday as we had power problems.  EGGLESS COFFEE AND CREAM MUFFINS Makes 12  1 cup + 2 tb...

 Happy birthday Prina dear!            I know Prina's birthday was on 11th of August and I also know she doesn't like cakes. Its amazing how she will always insist on having a cake for her birthday but she wouldn't eat any. However there a still a lot of things she is finicky about eating or even trying and some of her favourite things neither will I taste or make them.... chicken being one of them. Where vegetarian meals are concerned her favourite is suva or palak bhaji nu shaak and rotli. Perhaps at some stage will even blog her favourite shaak so that all her young cousins and aunts will learn how to make it. So as I had mentioned earlier, we still celebrate important occasions with something sweet so on Prina's birthday I tried out an eggless brownie recipe which had actually been collecting cobwebs! I did find it on the internet but unfortunately didn't write down from which blog or whose recipe it is. It is so simple to make and it is not sickly...