From my kitchen to yours

From my kitchen to yours

Monday, May 28, 2012

MY SPECIAL BIRTHDAY GIFT.....

The "ARTIST" ..Harshvardhan Kadam.

SHAKTI'S DISCOVERY


The concept behind the painting. Self realization of this woman happens in a cosmic ethereal space where the wings represent anticipation of a leap towards freedom. Her posture is submissive. She had surrendered her soul to the realization but she is no slave of anybody. Her being naked represents purity & beauty of her womanhood. Energies within her have found new horizons to explore & explode. I call this painting - Shakti's discovery.
Harshvardhan Kadam.



So my Friend Jaya, wanted to give me something that is really special, and that is me....
And she kept telling me that she has commissioned a painting for me...
Now who on earth gets a "commissioned" painting, only, of course if you are the Queen...
Or if you have a friend like my friend Jaya...(here I'm curtseying)
Who looks at me , but can read me like only , she can ...
And so she kept telling me , its getting done and will reach you soon ...
And stop asking me again ...its special and that takes time...

When I received this , I was speechless...
I knew that Harsh was painting me a birthday gift...
And he was going to paint only after he met me...
Artists ..I tell you...
But this guy is something else...
He is quiet, shy, intelligent and has the warmest smile....
And his work is mesmerizing...
I'm speechless..
All I can say is that "It's an honour"...
And "Thank -you" .....
OH MY GOD.......YEAAAAAAAHHHHHH.....


I'm just extremely and happily surprised , and starry eyed with this interpretation ...
Done specially for me...


I love you guys....
And I wish you all the love and luck ..for the collaboration you are working on ....

P.S. Sharing this with you, because Food and Art like LOVE.....is most fulfilling when shared ...
       Yup ..this is my theory and I'm sticking to it ....


Saturday, May 5, 2012

AS PRETTY AS A WOMAN IN LOVE....


And so this afternoon, I finally finished my "Sugar-paste and Fondant" workshop ..
Have immersed myself in the art of making sugar flowers, because have an insatiable desire to learn new things and also because I love flowers..
Especially daisies ...
They make me happy ..Very happy..
Flowers always, and I mean always, put a smile on my face...

So for the past three weeks..
With a few holidays in between ..
I have made flowers and more flowers..
Roses, Carnations, Asters, Poinsettias, Azaleas, Lotus, Daisies,Lilies Blossoms etc..etc..

 How the petal should look ..
How it should curl or twirl...
I have done ruffles and crimps and borders....

Learned how to make a wedding cake..
NO NO have absolutely no intention of getting married..
This is for the other suckers...ha ha ha ..

Learned how to make caramel..
How to air-brush flowers...
Pipe dots that look like lace, make pretty pieces of lace out of royal icing, make butterflies , that I'm crazy about and basically everything that makes the outside of a cake ...
As pretty as a "Woman in Love"..

Yup..Because a woman in love, looks beautiful because of what she holds inside her...
That her smile speaks in a language you may never understand...
Her eyes light up with embers nobody can extinguish..

And I feel, in the same way, if you can translate , into a form how yummy the inside of a cake is, then well, you have learned some "MAGIC" in life...

Fabian , my teacher is absolutely fantastic...and Magical...
He is patient and always has words of encouragement..
And in these  past 3 weeks , I have not only learned , how to decorate cakes and make them beautiful inside out, but also learnt a little more patience...
Because when you learn Sugar-craft...
you need patience...LOTS OF IT ...

So you see, in my (fantastic or crazy...take your pick) opinion, the out side of a cake is very much like a woman is love...
Very very beautiful, intricate, fragile and brimming with an unparalleled glow..
But if you do not handle her with a lot of love, care and loving attention....
She will crack under harshness or neglect, just like the beautiful sugar-paste flowers or an over exposed Fondant, (which keeps the beautiful essence of the cake protected like a loving arm wrapped protectively around the one you love...)
And all the richness and flavour and essence of love that she holds inside her , will lose some its fragrance and wholesomeness due to exposure to the harsh elements ...

So in my conclusion...
Please do go and learn at least one thing in life , that challenges you and makes you happy..
To me , I'm blessed that I get a chance to explore various roads in my life...
Fall in love..
Drink wine...
Smile...
Believe in magic, only then can it stay alive..
Let water flown under the bridge ...GO...
Laugh, even if no one is cracking any jokes...
And love your self...
And thank the one above , before you go to sleep , for everything...Regardless...

And treat everyone with as much love and care as possible...
You never know , if you ever gonna meet them , ever again...

So yes, I love all that I learnt from Fabian...
And yes I love spending time with flowers...
Now I need to get down to practising , all I learnt...
And put it all to good use..

Till then...
I will stay , happy and smiling...
And will walk a mile..
And will talk , as much as I do...
And make you laugh , like only I can...
And sing my favorite songs...
And chase butterflies..
And put daisies in my hair, smile and squint at the sun..
And sit by a lake so blue...
And wave out to the puffy clouds passing by..

OK I'm stopping ...now..
Or Mini, Jaya and Sandy, will again shake their beautiful heads and and toss their tresses and roll their kohl lined eyes and say, "The girl has lost it"...
Well frankly, "I have"...

P.S. Call Fabian (9820521374), if you want to learn , all this really amazing stuff..

 
 


Friday, May 4, 2012

Day 71 - ZENE ZOE'S 5TH BIRTHDAY...

And as usual , this year too, Zene cut more  cakes than my little Zeke ever does..
She cut 4 cakes again..
One in school..
One for her birthday party, that we had for her for the first time, (as in May there is really no one to have a party with..)
The cake I made for her , which had pink bows and blue flowers..
A small group of monkeys that I love
A layer of marzipan, butter-cream icing and chocolate ganache..
It had to be filled with flowers..

The birthday girl, through the loops..
Had to put daisies..happy flowers..
And the fresh mango cake that we always have for her birthday at Waterstones, that is simply , out of this world...

And so this year, was wondering what to make for her birthday and as she is not completely into chocolate , I decided to bake a simple sponge that was not too chocolaty..
I tried this for the first time...



INGREDIENTS..
115 gm-Chocolate
1/2 cup-double cream ( I used the Amul tetra-pack)
1/2 cup- Milk
1 tbsp- Vanilla essence
115 gm- Butter
175 gm- Castor sugar
3- Eggs
225gm - Flour
1tsp- Baking powder

METHOD

Pre-heat the oven to 150 degrees, and grease and line two 8 inch round tins with silicon or parchment paper..
In a small bowl, sift the flour, the baking powder,and keep aside... 

Melt the chocolate with the cream on a double boiler,over a low flame , stirring until smooth..
Then take it off the flame and stir in the milk and vanilla essence, and set aside to cool...

In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar for about 3 to 5 minutes, until light and fluffy...
Add the eggs , one at a time , beating after every addition...

Alternatively add the flour and the chocolate mixture to the egg and sugar mix..Until just blended..

Divide the mix into the two tins, and bake for 30 minutes or till the cake springs back if you press it in the center.. or if you insert a tooth pick in the center, it comes out clean...
Cool the cakes in the tins for 10 minutes and then, take them out and leave to cool on a wire rack..

It is always better if you can cool both the cakes and then keep it in the fridge over night...
It is easier to slice them..

Slice both the cakes in the center..
Stack them over one another, filling each layer with a filling of your choice..
I use Almond marzipan in one layer...
The second layer had butter cream icing..
And the third layer had chocolate ganache..



And once this was done ..
I was then wondering what to do as part of the decoration..
Well I knew it had to be as pretty and dainty as my little monkey "Zene"...
And so this is the first cake I decorated in the middle of doing my Sugar-craft and fondant course..
And it was great fun...
Zeke kept her away from the kitchen, while I made flowers and mixed colours and formed ribbons , and piped leaves...
Zene would keep coming to the kitchen on the pretext of water or just generally...
And Zeke would keep chasing her away..
Or then we would make her shut her eyes and drink her water that she kept coming for...
After some time...
I decided that I need to have a glass of wine..
So I poured myself some really nice Pinot Noir..
And left it near me.....
Till I finished the cake..
Once it was done, I looked at it, and frankly could not really believe that I could create something so beautiful...
I was very happy with what I created, really happy...
The cake looked happy and pretty and so beautiful , like my Zene...

On Zene's birthday, that is 2nd May, we all went to our favorite , Dakshinayan, with Zene's friends and my friends and , grandma and grand pa..
Stuffed our selves with "Gun-powder idli's , rasam-rice, Bissebille bhat, Dosas, vadas and when we were all too full to move...

We got Zene's birthday cake out, cut it and ate it...
It was soft and had a nice mix of different flavours...
The marzipan , butter-cream and chocolate, along with the lightly flavoured chocolate sponge, was a very delicate taste...
It was very much like my Zene actually...very lovely on the outside and completely surprising and full of flavour on the inside...
Well what can I say, she does take after her "Mama"....ha ha ha 

We then proceeded to our little piece of paradise...
Where we swam and chatted and had a mad time..
Arshad took pictures of the kids under water, and they went crazy, making funny faces...
Sambo and Jaya chatted about "Life" and its funny happenings...
And I slept under the shade of a coconut tree...happy and satiated and drunk on life...
(but missed Mini, Vivaan, Sairah, Sandy, Kichie, Shaheen, Arsalan and Ayatal...It did not feel quite the same without everyone...)

But Zene's birthday is always full of magic...
Just like her..
Everything turns out very special, where she is concerned...
Even the way she was born..was like straight out of a film scene...
Unreal..
Will share that a little later..

As for Zene, she is just a little munchiken , who is into princess stuff and considers herself one too...Have no clue, where she got that from..
She says whats on her mind..
Throws tantrums...
And when she cries , she breaks your heart...
And when she hugs, they are the tightest hugs ever...
She is a feisty, naughty little bundle of contradictions...
She is learning to swim, and would not take out her swimming goggles, even when they were completely fogged up..ha ha ha
It was really funny, she kept walking around with them...
And Jaya, Sambo and me would keep asking her to take it off..
But sorry , its now a much needed fashion accessory, and was not coming off, however fogged up they were...
She is more than, all I could ever ask for..
And gave me the tightest kiss, because she had such a great time...
We cut one more cake, the fresh cream , with fresh mangoes...
Oh my God...Now I really want the recipe of the sponge, the cream mix and everything...
It was to die for...

My little Zene, She is 5 today, and to me she will always be my little angel..
Cannot believe this, but I wanted another boy after Zeke...
Well I thank God for not listening to me, I ask for really silly stuff sometimes...
Thank God, he filters all my requests...

And I got this little bundle of squashable love...
She says the right things and wraps us all around her little finger...
And she has a smile , that can sell sand to the Sheik's in Dubai ha ha ha ...
She is all and everything...
And all I want for her, is that she is kept safe , in mind, body ,heart and soul...
And pray that her smile is always filled with happiness ..
And she never loses that naught spark in her beautiful brown eyes..

I LOVE YOU MY ZENE ZOE POOIEE....