mayurisjikoni

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder    Every Tuesday, the members of Foodiemonday/ Bloghop group wait in anticipation to see what a fellow member will suggest as a theme for the coming week. We all take turns in suggesting the theme. For the #132nd theme Mallika who blogs at A Foodie Housewife had to decide the theme. She suggested Edible Food Art and also gave us some examples. So some of us said no to the theme and some of us immediately said yes. Usually the majority win. All who said yes immediately, slowly began sending messages that they are not artistic and have no clue how to go about this theme. I was one of them. What came to my mind first was a pretty shaped bread, but then I do that now and then. Then I thought of cookies and seriously couldn't go through the stress of icing in my super hot kitchen... yes its just too hot in Mombasa! Finally, I decided to challenge myself with a nicely arranged food shapes which normally all mothers do to make their kids eat. ...

Spreading Love    This is the first time I'm participating in the annual event #FoodBloggerLove Valentine's Day. This event is organized by PinterTest Kitchen . This blog is run by Sharon Boyer and her two daughters Allison and Jessica.  Basically, you sign up for the event (it was a group I'd joined to share recipes and to get to know other bloggers, but forgot about the group till I got the invite to join in this event). Here, it works like  secret Santa. I got assigned a blogger and some else will get me.The deal is to either prepare something from the assigned blog or prepare something that he/she would like.We share our recipes on the same day ( Please scroll down right to the bottom to see what other bloggers have prepared ). I was waiting with much excitement to see who I would get...seriously this is the first time I'm actually participating in this 'Secret Santa' game. Never ever participated in it but have heard all about the excitement and joy from m...

Antipasti          Italian meals are usually served with a starter. Starters or antipasti (singular antipasto) usually consist of cured meat, pickled vegetables, mushrooms, cheeses, olives, peperocini, pickled meats etc. These are suppose to be colourful, attractive and usually should be able to change the mood of  people or gathering who will dine together. Anti means before and pastus means meal. Therefore its the starter or appetizer. Antipasti is usually served in individual plates or as bite size where diners pick it and enjoy it. It can be cold or warm or hot.                  There is much confusion between the crostini and the bruschetta. Crostini are usually made from small bread slices like an Italian baguette.The bread is toasted and the topping are more rich.                 Bruschetta is usually served on more rustic Italian bread slices that are slightly ...

Summer time   It was in year 1 that I learnt that there were different seasons. Growing up in Nairobi, for us it was always hot during the day, cold at night and the occasional showers in April and October. That was pretty much what the weather was back then. Words like Summer, Winter, Spring and Autumn were all new to me, seasons not experienced as yet. Postcards and pictures in books made them all seem like such refreshing and exotic seasons. When my aunt and cousins went off to UK in the 70s its then we would hear from them how windy the autumns were, umbrellas flying away and how their hands would get ice cold shovelling the snow. Mombasa's hot weather was the hottest we would ever experience when we went there for our holidays in December.    My first experience of a really scorching hot Indian Summer was when I was 12. That too in the really hot city of Ahmedabad and in May! It was unbearably hot for a girl who comes from a cool climate of Nairobi. My skin would bur...

It's sooo cooling   For the month of March, the Shhh Cooking Secretly group decided to make #SummerCoolers as summer is already here. I hear its really really hot in India. It's hot in Mombasa too and slaving over a hot stove is becoming a very sweaty task.     I am grateful that my partner Shobana Vijay gave me such cool ingredients, watermelon and mint. So no boiling milk or making custard or anything of that sort on the stove. All I needed was a blender and the cold fridge. Years back when I had gone for a movie in Ahmedabad with my guardians I had tasted a soda float for the first time. It was ice cream served in what was then available Gold Spot. Remember the so orangy and sickly sweet drink! Well, back then I loved it perhaps because I tasted it for the first time, or because it was a cool satisfying drink for the really hot May month... I don't know. After that I tasted a coke float, which my kaki loved and I wasn't too huge a fan of.      ...

where are the rains?      The main conversation these days where ever you go is the heat. People are getting fed up of the really hot weather and are praying for rain. Energy levels ebb, no breeze, every one sweating profusely, reaching out for ice cold water, drinks and trying to spend more time than necessary in the very few air conditioned shops we have in Mombasa. High electricity cost means most shops have only fans and some don't even have that. Men pulling heavy loads on a cart, women walking with babies tied on their backs and loaded baskets on their heads. Life has to carry on whether its hot or cold. I complain about the weather and immediately think of all those who have no choice but to work in the scorching heat. Long queues for the ferry and my heart goes out to all those sitting in the overheated cars patiently.So I guess I shouldn't complain too much as I am sitting comfortably in a house that has air conditioning and fans.     Yesterday I made s...