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...

Include Millet In Your Diet Theme: Cookies For Your Sweet Tooth BM#81 Week 2 Day 3    Today has been such a horrible day for me. I wait till 9a.m. for the maid to turn up. I had planned so many Diwali cooking and baking items but didn't get even one done. She turns up after 9 and goes and sits down. I was a bit annoyed so didn't say anything. After a few minutes I hear long sighs... what a brilliant way to attract attention. I go to her and she tells me she is sick. So I tell her to go back home and rest and come back when she is well. She continues to sit there. The softie me asks her if she needs a cup of tea. She says yes. So I make some tea for her. She sips on the tea and then asks for money as she needs to go to the doctor. I really was mood spoilt by now... its not the end of the month and already she owes me quite a bit of money. She leaves.     I start tackling the housework. By mid morning I am so annoyed and lit...

Baking is therapeutic    I nearly skipped the 96th #FoodieMonday #Bloghop theme Baked as I am just too busy and didn't have time to bake. Weddings are fun but at the same time stressful. Bangalore traffic makes the tension worse as one has to be on the road nearly 1 hour or more to reach the venue on time. I was feeling sad when Waagmi chose baked as the theme. I so wanted to bake something (I've missed the 2 cookies theme!) but knew it was not going to be possible.    I thoroughly enjoy baking. I find its so relaxing and fun. If all the ingredients are at hand, then its pretty easy. Baked goodies make great presents for any occasion, a nice treat for picnics, a tea time snack and they can be stored for later use.    So you may be wondering how come I have this post. Well a few weeks ago was my best friend's birthday and I had made these muffins for her birthday. I hadn't tried out a new muffin recipe for a long time and decided to try this one out. The ...

My favourite Country   When Anshie, blogger at Spice Roots  asked members of Bread Bakers  group to bake breads from Italy as the April theme, I was really excited. I love the country and Italian breads with all that olive oil, roasted tomatoes, cheese, bell peppers. I've been wanting to try out panettone for such a long time, so I got the opportunity to bake it for this theme.          Panettone bread is usually baked as a Christmas breakfast or dessert treat in Italy. Full of fruit and wonderful aroma of orange, its suppose to like a cake but with yeast. Panettone means pane de tono--- bread of luxury.Its believed that this rich Italian bread has originated from Milan. When yeast was considered a luxury item, this bread was baked only during important religious events.          Original panettone making process is long where the dough is allowed to proof for several days which adds to the fluffy texture. Fruits added to ...

Drought--A national disaster          2016 did not bring enough rains to many parts of Kenya. Fast forward to 2017 and out of 47 counties 23 which are arid or semi arid parts of Kenya are facing drought. Rivers have dried up, animals and humans are dying without food. A National and International appeal has been sent out to help these areas with food and water. NGOs, Charity organisations, Private companies all have sent out foodstuff, but that is not enough. If the long rains do not arrive by April, then many more will die without food.                   Nakumatt has put a huge box near its exit if anyone would wish to buy some foodstuff to be donated. Every time I pass the box its empty! People cannot afford to buy foodstuff to give away as they themselves are barely making ends meet with the high cost of basic food stuff. The basic 2 kg maizemeal packet which is required to make the staple food ugali or sima is sel...

IRISH FRECKLE BREAD#BREADBAKERS HAPPY ST.PATRICK'S DAY       Isn't it wonderful to be part of cooking groups where one can learn not only about cooking about also about different cultures and festivals. So,though I've heard about St. Patrick's Day and know that the Irish celebrate it, I've till today never really bothered to find out what the festival is all about. So there I was sitting at the computer and asking Mr. Google all the hows and whys of this festival.      So my understanding is that St.Patrick's Day is celebrated by the Irish world over on 17th March every year.St.Patrick the patron saint of Ireland died on 17th March.He was not Irish but came from Britain. He was kidnapped by Irish raiders and lived in captivity for 6 years. He went back to Britain and came back to Ireland to preach Christianity.What began as a religious feast day in the 17th Century has evolved into a celebration of the Irish culture globally with parades, special music...