mayurisjikoni

VERY SIMPLE LIFE       Last Sunday our club, Lions Club of Mombasa Bahari went to to a remote village for the opening ceremony of a bore well. This was the 3rd bore well that the Club had constructed with the help of generous donors. As soon as we reached the village, what struck me was how simple life is in these remote villages. No electricity, no water, no complicated or complex buildings... actually nothing except for huts, lots of trees, greenery and cattle. When we have to stay without power for even an hour, we get frustrated and life comes to a standstill when our taps run dry. These villagers live without all this. Women, girls, young children have to track long distances to get water. Boys may have to look after cattle. Children as a result cannot attend school. We are hoping that by digging a bore well, the villagers will lead better lives and children will be able to attend school. The villagers entertained us with some traditional dance. Their musical instru...

What not to do when travelling     That's an interesting article I read on MSN today. Sometimes we think that some things are just common sense and not worth writing about or telling others about. However, every airport has its share of people who travel wearing the most weirdest clothes, accessories or footwear. I personally like to travel in comfortable clothes so its either jeans or cotton trousers and a top or kurti with trainers or my fit flops.Depends where I am going to. Colder areas, I put on jeans and trainers. Warmer areas call for cotton trousers and fit flops. We all love to smell pleasant on a flight but its best not to wear overpowering scents. So the writer recommends comfortable clothes but no skimpy clothes and obscene messages displayed on tops and t-shirts. Strong scented perfumes and food is a big no no. Stilettos and platforms are best left for the fashion ramp or parties and not flights and airports. I wonder how women in stilettos ever manage to walk fas...

I am missing Star Plus!    Yes, I am. I love watching the series on Star Plus. Suddenly our cable provider decided to not air the Star channels from 1st May. Obviously its a way to get more money and that too from the Asian viewers. Though I don't watch, actually watch all of them, I have the telly on while I am blogging, checking mail, doing my sudoku , crossword etc. Its like following the stories without actually paying much attention to the series. I watch Yeh Hai Mohabbatein, Yeh rishta, and Diya aur Baati hum attentively. So for now missing the series.. okay, do try and catch them on the internet, that's if the connection is good. I pity all those retired and old people who have been following these series and suddenly have nothing to watch, nothing to talk about and nothing to speculate about. I sometimes wonder why the sports channels, children channels, Nigerian channels etc are suddenly stopped? Its amazing how cable providers can remove programs without asking the v...

Round up Bake Fest # 42 - April 2015    The event for sharing baked recipes for Bake Fest #42  is over. I would like to thank Vardhini of  Cooks Joy  for letting me host the event. If you would like to host the event visit her blog.      Though I was expecting many more recipes as the baking marathon was going on throughout the month of April, I am grateful to the following for sending in their recipes. Linking your recipes to events gets more people to take an interest in your blog and recipe. Once again thanks to the following : 1) Sandhya - My cooking journey Buttermilk bread wholewheat cinnamon buns Albanian spinach pie Iced ginger cookies semolina bread 2) Vardhini - Cooks Joy Banana walnut muffins Sour dough bread 3) Sadhna - Herbs, spices and tradition Lentil stuffed bell pepper 4) Deepali - Lemon in Ginger eggless Chocolate banana quickbread/ muffins eggless orange marmalade and wine mini bundts 5) Rafeeda - The Big  Sweet Tooth bana...

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT - MAY 2015 I am happy to announce that I will be hosting  IN MY VEG BOX   for the month of  May 2015 . The theme for the event is   BUTTERNUT SQUASH .   In my veg box was started by  Nayna Kanabar   of   Citrus Spice and all things nice   and   Simply food What is butternut squash? Butternut squash also known as butternut pumpkin in Australia and New Zealand is a winter vegetable. However, some areas are fortunate to get it mostly throughout the year. Its similar to pumpkin, orange fleshy pulp with a yellow orangish skin. It is sweet and nutty. In reality its classified as a fruit but is usually prepared like a vegetable. Its roasted, boiled, toasted and pureed to prepare different dishes from soup to muffins. Butternut squash is a good source of fiber, Vitamins A, E and C, minerals like manganese, magnesium and potassium. To Participate: 1. Prepare any vegetarian recipe(eggs allowed) using BUTTERNUT SQUASH....

my 500th recipe      Its been an exciting journey since I started blogging. Along the way I have learnt so many new ingredients, recipes and cuisines. I've had my shares of flops and hits. I have also learnt how to try and salvage a flop dish, if possible. Looking back, I do have to update some of my recipes. I need to take better photos or do a better presentation. However, my main focus is always on the recipe itself. Since I have started blogging, its also been a way of sharing my thoughts and views with my followers. It's like a diary which I can go back to whenever I want. Sad and happy events, both have found space on my blog. So today's event cannot go unmentioned. An earthquake of magnitude 7.8 hit Nepal, parts of India and parts of Bangladesh. The level of destruction, the lives lost, the fear created and livelihoods snatched is enormous and unrepairable. Years back we had experienced a very small tremor in Mombasa, and that event scared me so much. So I cannot e...

Celebration      As I mentioned in my previous post, April is full of birthdays and anniversaries. Last weekend we celebrated my hubby's mama's 77th birthday. I baked a cake for his birthday. It had to be eggless as mamaji is a total vegetarian, no eggs or meat or fish. I had loads of over ripe bananas and thought of using them up. Hot weather means bananas do not stay good for too long. I though of using butter icing and then changed my mind as I thought a 77 year old man deserves a more classy cake. He wanted to serve ice cream as dessert so mamiji requested for a cake that could be served with ice cream. I decided to drizzle the cake with some chocolate ganache. I am so glad I did that. My butter icing would have melted in the heat. That day was just too humid even in the evening. Mamaji at 77 is still full of energy. He loves his food, and he thoroughly enjoyed all the old hindi songs that were selected and some of the guests sang for him. Both mamaji and mamiji love ...