DAY 54 : RAJILICIOUS ALWAYS

Every time i hear the name 'RAJ' ..Four people always come to mind

1. Raj Albuquerque-My brother-in-law who is just the nicest guy i know

2.Raj Jathar- the maddest guy with an appetite for food and life that's insatiable..

3.Raj Kaushal...a director and very dear friend who I'm extremely fond of but do not meet as often ....

AND

4.Raj.. As in Shah Rukh Khan form DDLJ....

Still cannot get over that scene in the film where Kajol has returned home from her Euro holiday and she is collecting her bags from outside her house and she imagines she is seeing "her Raj" there....
That was the moment I completely forgot Aamir Khan and was smitten by this guy in a red and white striped t-shirt , with floppy hair, that glint in his eyes , waving out bye....sighhhhhh...

But now enough of the drooling...
Because today is about RAJ NO.1...My bro-in-law...

Well what can I say ..he made the most amazing and smartest decision in life by marrying my sister , and to top it all he gets me as his fun sis-in -law , i can see him laughing right now and shaking his head saying ...YA RIGHT!!!PAIN....

But seriously Raj is the coolest , he is happy , chilled and has his fundas of life right ...He is just the most amazing husband, a great fun dad and a wonderful friend...
When he laughs he gets dimples on his cheeks that my sis adores and she says that he is always making her laugh...

Well i just spent my holidays with him...
Poor guy..had to hang with 2 sagi chicks and 4 kids ..all nuts and running in different directions and must say that ...he was just awesome....
He never looses his cool. always has a smile and has the patience of the Pope...

Every year on the memorial day weekend...He plans a trip and takes the family off somewhere far for a holiday, two years ago we were all at Virginia Beach which is on the east coast this year , we all took a 13 hour car trip to Destin beach Florida from Frisco, TX...
I flew in from another friends place straight into the arms of this beautiful aqua green coastline with powder like sand....heaven and bliss...
Raj and Juggie had their friends also coming in...
It was fantastic...I got to know a bunch of new people who were so warm and welcoming and had a great time..
Raj just ensured that both my ZZ'S and me had the holiday of our life..
We used to go to the beach late morning and hang there till late evening ...Thank you Raj for making me a beach bum... the kids and me were the colour of Scooby-doo, by the end of this trip and so freakin happy...

Raj loves good food and every evening , while at home he would say ,"c'mon what would you like to eat", and then he would proceed to take out a whole lota stuff and we would whip up something together and the three of us would laugh, cook and listen to some great music over a glass of wine or champagne....
And the cherry on the cake would be that he would read a story to our collective kids every night and they would drop off to sleep...

He works ...frankly all i know is that he does stuff with computers that i do not understand...I'm just not tech-savvy and that's that...
And he cooks , he also helps with the cleaning and looks after kids (while my sis and me went out shopping)
And Zene just loves her 'Uncle Raj"...
I made this while in Destin for Raj, Juggie and all their friends...and am dying to share it with you because it turned out really yummy, we'll they all said so....

Pork Chops ala RAJ...

1 kg pork chops
Horseradish paste
Cajun blend dry
Mustard
Salt
Olive oil
Lime

I put all the pork chops in a dish and really did not use any measurements..
I sprinkled the dry Cajun blend over all the chops...
then squeezed the mustard over them but not too much...
also added 2 tbsp of the horseradish paste..
added minced garlic and chili flakes
3 squeezed limes and a luscious pour of the extra virgin olive oil ....
blended it all in with my fingers and then took a fork and poked it so that the marinade gets into the meat and then let it stay in the marinade for 24 hours

Along with this i made a pasta salad with the most amazing vegetables i could find at the super market

Tri-coloured penne
Snow peas
Asparagus
Bell peppers
Broccoli
roquette leaves
crispy baby lettuce leaves
Tons of fresh basil
pine nuts
extra virgin olive oil

So after a long day spent getting sun-kissed on the Destin beach, while everybody jumped from the sea into the pool, i took a dip to get rid of the saltiness and went up to make this dinner ...

I heated the oven to 170 degrees and when it was heated put the pork chops in for 45 minutes....
i then took them out and put them in a pan to brown and reduce the liquid...
the chops were ready in about 25 minutes...

And then i went for the pasta salad which i had pre-cooked a night before ...because as i was officially a beach-bum ..i was not going to get all this ready on time IF I STARTED NOW...
So cut all the vegetables and power boil them separately..

In a large bowl mixed all the vegetables and the pasta together and drizzled it with olive oil and salt..
Pulled all the basil leaves apart, added the pine nuts that had been roasted , olive oil , 2 pods of garlic and 3 cherry tomatoes...and as I'm an extremely unbelievably lucky girl...the mixer just did not work...

So there went my pesto ...

But frankly all was not lost because I added some olive into the pan,fried the garlic, added the tomatoes , the pine-nuts and then just slightly sauteed the basil...the entire condo was filled with this amazing aroma...i just needed to be serenaded by a hunky ,tawny Italian with a husky voice...singing to me the Andrea Botticelli song that I'm in love with .......
But no such luck...

Well dinner was ready and thankfully , Juggie and Raj's friends all really liked it..
This was our last meal at Destin beach and needed to be a celebration ..
so to all the wonderful new friends I made, who treated me like family...

Sonia and Dax and your lovely boy Yohan...big God Bless
Michelle and her two lovely angels ..Allie and Zach...enjoyed all the health food we tried having
Bud...you are an amazing guy and wish you happiness

AND NOW TO JUGGIE, KYLE, CRUZ and the non-filmy RAJ in my life...
Thank-you for always welcoming me with open arms , giving me the most comfortable, warm , fuzzy , mad , adventurous , crazy holidays ever..
This dish that i conjured up in Destin, will always have your name on it..

Here's presenting lovely juicy pork chops with a pasta salad ...''RAJILICIOUS ALWAYS"...

This dish will always bring back memories of a holiday like no other...till we meet again...
Love and happiness

P.S. will now nail bheja masala ....so can make it like its supposed To be made , the next time around ...

DAY :53 I'M DIFFERENT...WHOOPIE PIES

Its 4.30 am and I'm wide awake...

Well I'm jet-lagging and really want this to stop..

It's been a week since I have come back from vacation ..and there is something different about me...firstly i have started drinking coffee...

And every time the sky darkens and its pours I have this deep urge to walk in the rain and drink, hot ,strong and sweet hazelnut coffee..

And 1 have never been somebody who drinks coffee or tea...
I'm a water body..ha ha ha

Any way while I try and fathom ..this skip in my step and this naughty smile on my face..

At 4 freakin 30 in the morning ..me and Taz are roaming around in the house...
The sky looks beautiful , bird sounds everywhere...and I'm not being pulled in different directions to do 150 things , which for some reason "that cool super-girl chick in me " thinks i can do ...

And hell "I'm craving CHOCOLATE"
I can eat chocolate at any time...
But I have given it up for a year to test my own will-power, I do that once in a while after completely O.D'ing on it.

I love dark chocolate ...and I love creamy melt in your mouth , lick your lips kinda chocolate..and I'm driving myself mad...

Yup I do cheat a bit and have stuff that has a bit of chocolate in it...but I'm staying away..

Sometimes in life, you need to know whether you can "SAY NO"...
I know I sound a little crazy ..but that's OK ...'I LOVE BEING ME"

So at 4.3o after walking around with my Taz and drinking water and eating a mango...I start wondering what to do...
And because of the mood I been in lately..
I knew immediately what I want to make..

This is how my heart is feeling, I want to run up a mountain, lay by the sea, play in the rain and feel free...
and so Thank you Google , I found this....

WHOOPIE PIES it is....
Then I read its history and geography ha ha ha ya I know what you thinking .....I really have too much time on my hands..


Ingredients..
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
8 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs

Filling
8 tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
2 cups marshmallow cream...which i have not yet found since its too early...
I tsp pure vanilla extract

So while I decided to start getting out the ingredients.. I saw the sun peeping out at me from behind the grey monsoon laden clouds ..

And heard Zeke n Zene walk out saying, "Mama"...REALITY CHECK...
ha ha ha so the day begins...I'm off to wash , brush, pat cute bottoms , feed, change, scream , laugh, go mad ,giggle, chase and have a much needed cup of green tea..

Will start baking post the ZZ'S go to school...


Method

Sieve all the dry ingredients together..
Add the vanilla to the butter milk and keep aside..
Beat the sugar and the butter to a creamy consistency...Add the egg , beating it till its completely combined
Now to the butter mix add flour and buttermilk alternatively , beginning and ending with the flour

I got myself a Whoopie pie tray from 'Crate and Barrel' so that's what I'm gonna use , but you can also spoon little teaspoon full onto your baking sheet , keeping at least an inch of a distance between them as they do spread , like we did for the macaroons..
Bake this at 170 degrees for about 8-10 minutes...

Well I got back and joined my friend Sandy for a walk in the rain to drink coffee....
Ha ha ha it was not raining LIKE WE EXPECTED it to and we were feeling extremely hot and wondering why on earth we going to have hot coffee in this humid muggy weather...
But it was fun and hazelnut is ADDICTIVE and we chatted 19 to a dozen and laughed a lot about stupid and other various things...


WELL I was just thinking of all the times I drank coffee...
and they bought back fun mad memories....

Remember drinking it somewhere at some stop to Goa, when I could not really afford flying there and it was the time I used to dance...the best time ever...I so miss dancing ...
It was a dimly lit dhaba...and the whole group of us were huddled together drinking coffee with a little rum in it , for the warmth, because it was cold ha ha ha

Then I remember shooting for my Titan ad- film with Rajeev Menon in Manali with Parvin Dabbas...and it was freezing and I was wearing this white dainty blouse and freezing ..my hands were icicles, and I was holding flowers ...after some time my fingers froze and production were using it like a vase and were just changing the flowers...for continuity...
Remember swigging small cups of coffee with rum inside at some bizarre hour in the morning again at some quaint paratha dhaba ....
Rajeev and his wife said , it's to keep me from freezing ......

Then walking around in the East village in New-york,XOXO Jeans, boots and a lovely scarf , nose cold and pink cheeked, holding my warm Starbucks and walking around, having hot-dogs at "Gray's papaya", Iwas there to host the MTV Music Awards from Radio City Music hall, and I loved walking alone and doing my own thing...went to the MET and of course Central Park...just me and my coffee..

Then I remember Zeke and me sitting at Starbucks in London , he was just 2 years and 7 months and he was too adorable, (Err he did not fight with me then)and I was pregnant with Zene , and we would walk around , eat Kit-Kat 'for energy to walk' , we'll that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it and then , hanging at Piccadilly circus , or Portobello road , his 3 kg pram slung on my back and hot chocolate in his little flask and hot coffee(sprinkled with Chocolate) in mine...

We'll i have no idea where I am in my head...but I'm likin drinkin ma Coffee

Well the whoopie pies are ready , outa the oven and waiting to be bitten into...beautiful an tempting...
So filled them with the frosting and added tiny pieces of marshmallow to it...
Sandy was on the phone with Dr.Shroff in a very animated happy way.... i don't think they are talking about her back .... But liked how her eyes lit up after a bite...

and Kichie poo just walked in... took a bite and said, "UR back ..... thank you ...!!!!

Zeke has walked in through the door and devoured 2 already and wants to at least eat 8 whoopie pies in all....

So I'm thinking this works ...these little babies have done it ...they work like Magic...

Here's presenting happy , smiley , "WHOOPIE PIES" made with a glint in my eye and a naughty smile on my lips ..fresh and oh so yummy only from "Maria's Kitchen....

DAY 52: SAGI-MAGICAL MOMENTS....

And so after years of being technologically challenged and refusing to change my Nokia for any thing in the world ...

I get myself an IPhone 4...

And I suddenly grew up ...

It's a diff world out there and a whole new ball game ....

Interesting features ,games, down loads and matrix kinda apps...

At first I definitely did not want to do anything with this iPhone creature ...

That looked so swish and did all the right things...

I like my old Nokia that had fallen down ...God knows how many times....

My Nokia was my partner in crime, jumped into pools with me , has been chucked by Zeke, Zene and me , at different occasions and for different reasons..

My Nokia has been with me through, smiles, giggles, tantrums, tears, bad-words, gossip with my girls, heart-aches, power-breaks....it knows all my secrets...

I just need a simple phone for required phone calls and sms's ..

But think I kinda...
Ok im saying it "I love the IPhone 4 "... (even though I carry my beaten Nokia in my bag as back-up)

It has all the basics and some really fun apps...
You can tango, whats app, read books, learn a new language, download music, know which direction you going in , check the weather in Timbuktu ,play scrabble , take really good high resolution pictures , instant videos ,send them , receive them and so on and so forth ... And learning new things every day ...

I've fallen for this contraption ...
Hook ,Line and Sinker ...

And probably will have it roaming with me every where in the back pocket of my XoXo for a long time to come ...

What it has also done is open my world of friends...

And even though I'm a gregarious ,unpredictable ,impulsive Sagittarius ...
And come across like a retriever wagging her tail and running all over the country side.. I realized that I take time to make friends ....

And sometimes I think I have found a friend .. And jump right into it ... To realize that I was completely wrong ...
And then I have also made friends who are my family and cannot think of life without them ....

So to all who were,are and will be part of my life ...

And to the ones who will stay in my heart no matter what ...

I dedicate this ...

To karmic moments , soul connections ...

AND friendly, warm, intriguing, mysterious, ,sometimes drive you mad , adventure seeking , adrenalin charged, talkative,inquisitive, nature loving , charming ,truth seeking , trusting , flirty, lovable, incorrigible , philosophical ,athletic ,romantic ,prey to foot-in-mouth disease , confident and high spirited "Sagittarius" .....

You know we centaurs are clumsy , brash l'il brats...we may not always say the right things and sometimes make a mess of it all , but our hearts are in the right place...

I'm sure PETER PAN was a Sagi...

And so today when my sister Juliet (who is also a mad, sweet Sagittarius and a very talented photographer ) came home with the most seductively delicious ripe and juicy looking cherries, and all I wanted to do is make something that would be a combination of contradictions ,the ripeness of the season with good ole comfort food ...

So here goes

Creme Anglaise

1 Cup full fat milk
1 Cup cream
Vanilla essence or 1/2 a vanilla bean split
6 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar

Method:
In a heavy bottomed pan bring the milk and cream and vanilla to about just a boil , and then take it off the fire.In a bowl whisk together yolks , sugar and a pinch of salt, and then whisk in the hot milk, cream and vanilla liquid in a thin stream.
Over low heat cook this custard stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until it turns thick, please take extra care and see that this custard never comes to a boil.
Pour this through a sieve into a bowl and stir occasionally.
Chill it completely, your creme anglaise tastes fantastic if you can keep it for at least two days in the refrigerator...

Waffles

1 3/4 cup Cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs separated
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Method
In a small bowl stir together flour , baking powder and salt.
In another bowl beat egg yolk slightly. and stir in the milk and oil.
Add this yolk mixture immediately to the flour and stir till its just moistened.
In another small bowl beat the egg whites till they are stiff and form firm peaks.
Gently fold the egg whites into the flour, yolk mix and do not over mix and yes do leave a few fluffs of egg white.
Spoon the waffle batter into the hot waffle iron and cook till its nice and crispy..
Every waffle iron behaves differently so it may take a little longer or shorter time than the 15 minutes my iron took...

Drunken Cherry compote

1 cup cherries sweet
1 tbsp fresh orange juice
1 cup Sugar
A dollop of Golden syrup
A dash of a sweet wine..a Zinfandel, or a Muscat ..what ever you like .....

Method

In a non stick pan over low heat , mix all the above together on a very very low flame, until the cherries are thoroughly cooked , don't feel shy to give it a good boil...because that will give the sauce its thickness and its gloss...

Allow it to cool completely and refrigerate...

What i did is i made the creme anglaise and the cherry compote in advance ..

And on a lovely evening after watching "LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS"....
I went and made fresh waffles , and added a few blue berries in it.....
They were crispy and begging to be eaten, I know that we all eat our waffles with maple syrup ...
And they mostly eaten for break-fast...

But all is fair "in love, war and food "....

So I poured the voluptuous creme anglaise over it and topped it with the Drunken Cherry ...
And bit into a bite of sinful ......MAGIC..

The crispiness of the waffle , with the satiny texture of the sweet creme anglaise and the wine infused cherries... Explode into your senses like fire works on a moonlit night...

We all can't do magic like Siegfried and Roy , David Copperfield , P.C.Sorcar or David Blaine...But we can find magical moments in the simple things in life...

So here's presenting, " SAGI-MAGICAL MOMENTS"...fresh scrumptious and naughtily saucy ha ha ha .....

Only from 'Maria's Kitchen....

DAY 51 : C'MON JUGGIE LETS GET HEALTHY

I Love travelling, sometimes feel that I may have been A GYPSY I MY PAST LIFE !!!....

And a new place is always bliss and if its a city that i have been to often then I'm happier than ever because i just fit in like it was yesterday...

Well frankly from the time i got interested in the process of cooking and all it entails...(because before i was only interested in eating), i now love visiting the fresh produce markets and love buying all kinds of ingredients and making something out of it...

At the moment I'm in Frisco, Texas and keep going grocery shopping with my sis...i love it...And am so happy every time i find some thing yummy in the market...

And frankly from the time i have reached her place I have been devouring all her dark chocolate and she has been devouring Hagen-daz coffee flavoured ice-cream and my bro-in law...the cool guy who is magic with kids, food, cleaning and family....well he has been providing me with all the sinful (and according to me necessary evils of life) portions that i promise myself every morning that im not touching ...EVER...

So as Juggie and me were shopping i found "SILKEN TOFU"'...now this to me is just awesome because i simply love tofu... (that reminds me i really need to go to Bangkok on holiday ) and most of the times , what i have picked up back home ...has been anything but silken...

So I told Juggie that ....this is it we are eating healthy and that's that...so picked up ...

Silken Tofu 1 packet
Cherry tomatoes ...that still had the stalks on them..

Orange and Yellow peppers ..
Crispy snow peas..
Asparagus ..that was tall slender and soooo fresh
Broccoli ..that my sis immediately said ...I'm not eating that...
Courgette.....My bro-in-law was like...that's just too many vegetables..
Prawns ...to pacify the meat eating ALBUQUERQUE family
Chicken stock 250 ml
Oyster sauce 3 tbsp
Soy sauce 1 tbsp
Garlic...3 ..thinly sliced
Ginger ...about an inch big..
Salt to taste

I cut the asparagus , broccoli's and courgettes and kept , them aside.....about a small bowl each..

Then power boiled the vegetables for less than a minute separately...except the peppers..and kept them aside.....

In a pan add a table spoon of vegetable oil and warm it slightly , to this add the garlic and saute it a lovely crispy brown,add the stock and bring to a slight boil, add the ginger ...

To this boiling liquid add the soy and a tablespoon of the oyster sauce..let it simmer for 30 seconds ..

Then add the prawns ..shut it for a minute and a half and let it cook..

Then add all your vegetables except the peppers, and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce and give it a little stir...close the dish to retain all the aroma....

In another pan add a tea-spoon of butter and a little vegetable oil and very lightly toss the Silken Tofu in it...

Add the tofu to the cooked vegetables and add the peppers now so that it has a lovely crunch...my tofu was so soft that it all broke into bits...

Also you can make this dish with chili oil and add those beautiful birds-eye chilli's if you like it spicy...

You are done...spoon this hot aromatic prawn , tofu and garlic infused vegetables into your bowl and just go for it...you can also have it with just boiled rice or boiled egg noodles...but avoid it if you trying to go for the healthy option ...

It was crunchy and lightly flavoured and was just right , if your looking for something light and healthy and something that does not put you to sleep...

I went shopping post this....PURE BLISS ...

I call this dish of mine, "COME ON JUGGIE LET'S GET HEALTHY"...

So here just for you a lovely aromatic bowl of pure healthy energy, only from "Maria's Kitchen"

DAY 50 : ALLELUIA CHOC-MUFFINS

For the longest part of my life , in fact for as long as I can remember the one constant love in my life has been chocolate, I devour chocolate when I’m happy, excited, sad, mad, bad, crazy,
hungry, starving, weeping, before sleeping...well I hope you getting the drift..
So I felt that there is no better way to start this column with Hindustan times, but with the
love of my life.....

So I decided to try a whole bunch of new recipes so that I could get you one that is really delicious and easy..
So you can just imagine how many different recipes I tried and God I baked and tasted and my help at home ...poor guys ate every muffin I baked ...

My man-Friday Vijay, is someone who now understands what I do completely and gives me precise feed-back..Well after 5 different trials ,got this which I made for my choir and I made about 80 pieces and got nothing back...

So here goes

200 gms good quality cooking chocolate

115 gms Amul butter

150 ml water, room temperature

275 gms brown sugar or brown sugar or organic sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

4 eggs separated

175 ml sour cream

350 gms flour2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp soda bi-carbonate

On a very low flame mix the chocolate and butter along with the water,so that the butter and chocolate melt and a pouring consistency of the mix is formed....

Beat the egg whites till stiff peaks are formed and keep in a cool dry place..

Beat the yellow of the eggs with vanilla essence and keep aside..

To the flour add the baking powder and the soda bi-carbonate , sieve
it all together and keep aside..Now to the chocolate-butter and water mix, add the sugar and beat with a hand mixer on low..
Add the egg yolk and continue beating...
Now keep the beater aside and with a spatula add the sour cream and fold it into the above mix...

When the sour cream is fully incorporated add the flour by folding it in...

Now after the flour ,very delicately fold in the egg whites making sure
that it stays fluffy...and do not beat or mix vigorously ...
You are done...

This batter makes two 8 inch cakes or then about 80 bite size muffins..

If you making cakes bake it at 150 degrees for exactly 40 minutes and if you making bite-size muffins then bake it at 150 degrees for 18-20minutes...

The key is to first make friends with your oven….. And once you establish a good friendship..well the benefits are awesome...
If you do no find sour cream please use dahi ...it comes out as delicious....

So i made bite-sized muffins and I loved them and my official taster
Zeke , with his mouth stuffed with the muffin gave me the "wow"expression ...These muffins turn out really soft and melt in your mouth...

I then waited for them to cool and decorated them with a chocolate butter cream icing ....
I love these babies...they fit correctly in your mouth ,as they are not too big and so you really don’t mind having about 4 ...
And then what i do is get up really early the next morning and go for a 40 minute run on our uneven , traffic infested ,dog chasing Mumbai streets ..ha ha ha
But you don’t have to believe every thing I write here, what I want you
to do is , go and bake this ...and then please do write in and give me your feed back..
As for me I’m a happy bunny, , I call these my "ALLELUIA CHOC-MUFFINS"because that’s what you want to sing straight after eating them...
So here just for all of you straight from "Maria's Kitchen’, fresh, soft and melt in your mouth ''ALLELUIA CHOC-MUFFINS" with love from me to you....

DAY 49 : PRETTY IN PINK....

And today on the 2nd May 2011, my little Zene Zoe finally turned 4..
We'll the reason I'm saying "finally' is because we have been celebrating her birthday since April as she is born in May and everyone is on holidays..
So 13th April the school party,25th April the family party , 30th April, her God-Mother threw her a birthday party in Dallas and today finally we sang ''Happy Birthday " to her on her real birthday...made her this pink cake in the shape of number 4 on it ...and she beamed from ear to ear as her brothers Zeke, Kyle and Cruz sang to her and clapped for her...they all then sank their teeth into this plain sponge cake with a strawberry butter-cream icing..
I make this cake at home all the time whenever Arshad has a meeting and there is nothing at all and I'm stuck ..I just put my ingredients together and ABRA-KA-DABRA-KAZAM !!!!
The softest and spongiest cake that you just want to keep biting into is sitting quietly in your oven !!!!

INGREDIENTS
Flour: 100gms
Milk powder : 50 gms
Castor sugar :120 gms
Butter : 150 gms
Eggs : 3
Salt : a pinch
Vanilla essence a few drops
Baking powder : 1/2 tsp
Milk : 50 ml

Sieve salt, baking powder, salt and milk powder together..
Cream the butter and the sugar very well together..
Fold in the flour and adjust the consistency with milk...
Pour the mix into a 6 inch greased tray and bake for 45 minutes at 150 degrees...

Its actually that simple and my sisters kitchen has this lovely aroma wafting through...

My sister Juliet who is 2 years younger than me .... lives in Dallas and has the most beautiful house and lovely boys Kyle and Cruz , and the most wonderful husband Raj....who is great with the kids, the house, computers, cooking , cleaning,entertaining the kids and he also works.....
Well Julu n me were pregnant together...actually she always got pregnant 1st and i think it's contagious because i was pregnant soon after...both the times...
Zene Zoe is Julu's God-child..and is as feisty as her god mother and is used to having her own way like her mother, she is charming like her Dada and has him wrapped around her little fingers..
I think girls come with their own special manual that the boys don't really get...
Because Zene says the most amazing things and has her Dad's sense of humour...
Like this one time when she was not well, I asked her how she was feeling and she said,"My fever is gone" then she smiled looked up at me and said "down to play", we'll coming from a 3 year old i thought that was wicked...
I think Zene is incredible ....but then I'm her mum and i guess all mum's feel that way about their kid's...
But she really is the sweetest, and she just holds my face in her hands and looks into my eyes and says's "mama i love you "..
Sometimes she just gives me a hug when I'm feeling blue ...like she just knows ...and when we go to sleep she hugs my face onto her little chest and gives me little kisses......sometimes i feel like I'm her little girl...she makes me feel protected , loved, warm , peaceful , beautiful and incredibly lucky that i have her...That's my little Zene Zoe in a nut shell...
And her tantrums are world class and adorable....she gets upset and then just walks out of the room and goes and sits on her bed with her cute face in her hands...she chucks thing's (that's not good at all, but i do that too)...she has a sad walk..which is this slow drag ....and its basically slow because she wants us to run after her and pick her up and kiss her and hug her , and then sometimes she just stands behind a wall and shows us her little finger.....because she is upset about something....
Oh! God, I can just keep talking about Zene...
You know I love my babies and the whole experience of getting pregnant ,getting fat ,then struggling to loose weight , the hair loss, the skin changing , my nails breaking, my gorgeous clothes not fitting, my shoe size increasing, not sleeping ...i even love each and every little stretch marks ( thank-fully very few of those ) ...kids are the most perfect part of a relationship.......
So this pink cake is for my little Zene Zoe...
it's like her soft, yet firm and easy ..only if you follow the instructions and the best quality ingredients...Girls are high maintenance ...but that you already know ...ha ha ha
I just pray to God to keep that vibrant smile on her face forever and may she always stay safe mentally, spiritually, physically and emotionally...and that smile , that million dollar smile intact...
GOD BLESS U MY ZENE POOIEE...
And for all of you this soft and simple "PRETTY IN PINK" cake made with lotsa love and incredible patience only from "Maria's Kitchen"......

Coming soon: Maria Goretti's recipes - Hindustan Times

Coming soon: Maria Goretti's recipes - Hindustan Times

Day 48 : VICTORIOUS ORANGE-CHOC MUFFINS...

And like any other normal Indian, i was glued to the television all of Saturday,
it was impossible not to..
India was in the ICC Cricket World Cup Finals...
And that's reason enough...
So Zeke made a few calls and voila...there were a bunch of boys home...
Then we started tattooing the flag and names of Sachin and Dhoni on their chests and these little ones , ran around screaming 'INDIA ...INDIA ..."
and basically there was mayhem...
The game was really fantastic and SriLanka under the very suave Sangakkara put up a great fight ...
I think i was in shock when Sehwag got out ...but what killed me was when Sachin got out....
I was in Shambles and so were these little six and a half year old boys who were sitting shirtless with tattoos of their Sachin....
I was seriously wondering if i should just not be screaming so much ...maybe its bad luck...and frankly I'm not superstitious , and
then came Gambhir....Bless that boy..
Virat Kohli...who i love watching because he is too cute...and talented ....
Dhoni of course came and swung into action ..
Yuvi...I was sooo happy that he is back in action....
I knew that we were winning this Cup...
Our boys in BLUE... had that little edge..there was a fire in their eyes and a burning desire to win this cup ...and not for themselves , but for the man who makes India shine...Sachin Tendulkar...
I was in school , when he first played and I remember school was buzzing with talk of this boy wonder with this curly mop of hair...
and when DHONI hit that 6 ...OH MY GOD.... I know for sure that all the Indians watching the match or listening to it on radio...all let out a huge huge scream...
By then of course Zeke was asleep so recorded all the victorious excitement for him..
I was alone jumping up and down on my bed......
Freakin helll ...this is how it feels..... to be the winning nation...
I could hear crackers and yelling and music and mayhem ....
and just went back to 2003 where I was hosting the ground events of the ICC Cricket World Cup from South Africa and had the privilege to watch the matches from the V.I.P. box , have an all access pass and meet all the best cricketers in the world...do interviews with them , watch their net practices and be part of the magic...
I was sooo lucky i got to experience that....
But we did not win...

But it was the best and most fun experience of my life even more fun than hosting the MTV music video awards live from the Radio City Music hall in NYC..

So many emotions running through my mind..it was party time ... so decided then and there that I'm baking sinfully delicious muffins...because had to use up all this excitement and frankly could not sleep , so pulled out a few books and did what Shashi mam taught us at Sophia college...

But I added nutella , chocolate, coffee, orange rind and orange juice.....because that's what delicious victory tastes like to me , tomorrow is the screening of Arshad's film FALTU that he has a special appearance in , so will take it all there...

INGREDIENTS...

Butter 125 gms
Sugar 90 gms
Brown sugar 30 gms
Eggs 2
Vanilla essence 1tsp
Flour 200 gms
Baking powder 1 tsp
Cocoa powder 30 gms
Milk ml

Cream the butter..
then beat in both sugar's and mix until the consistency is light and fluffy..
Beat the eggs with the vanilla separately and then gradually beat them into the creamed mixture...
Here i added a dollop of nutella, 2 tsp coffee, the rind and juice of 1 orange, and about 100 gms melted chocolate and mixed it all really well together
Sift the the flour and cocoa together and fold into the butter , sugar egg mix alternating with the milk...
I spooned out a teaspoon measure into small cupcake tins and baked them at 150 degrees for 13 minutes....

They are soft and have a delicious aroma...left them to cool on a wire rack...
I then made frosting and coloured it orange , green and left some white....
Because these are the colours that rule the CRICKET WORLD.....


Swirled them on the muffins in the morning ...and took them to the film...
the kids enjoyed "Faltu" and the songs are great fun.....

And my 'Victorious orange-choc muffins, soft and melting only from ''Maria's Kitchen....

P.S. And now the icing on the cake, on Monday my dear friend Sanjay Narang invited me and of course a whole bunch of friends , to the most wonderful dinner and celebration in honour of Sachin Tendulkar and the boys in blue..to a location that is actually Mumbai's best kept secret....its a little "pearl" in this crazy, crowded fast paced bustling city.....
The air was filled with sweet victory , warmth and laughter...the spread was scrumptious..and the ambience was magical...
Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvi, Zaheer , Nehra and Gary Kirsten were the cynosure of all eyes...after many warm and funny speeches ...the victory cake was cut and the bubbly was popped...
To me, i needed no bubbly because i was high on the victorious infectious air that wafted through...
I like a true fan got photographs and autographs with them all...and loved every moment of it ...i went back a happy bunny...
Thank you ''Team India''....for everything ....
And "Thank you Sanjay' for making the "twain meet"....

DAY 47 : BAGHI BIDS US ADIEU

These are the hands that have held the hands of the most precious part of my life.......
This girl walked into my home when Zeke was about 1 and a half .....
and frankly helped me whole heartedly with Zeke...then came Zene along the way and Bhagi that's what we call her, her full name is Bhagyashree...took to her like a fish takes to water ...And frankly today as she packs her bags to leave us after 5 years ,as she is getting married , i have a lump in my heart...

She is tiny in size but can pack a punch..feisty and stands up for herself and has been such a wonderful person to me...
She does not get easily bullied ..though Zeke tries carrying her to show us that he has become very strong.......
I thank her from the bottom of my heart, because if she was not here to help me out with the kids i would not be able to do my baking at Sophia's.....

She is too cute and I have walked into the kids room to see Baghi entwined like a pretzel rolling around the room.....with Zeke and Zene laughing and clapping...she also used to do head stands ...because i have also walked into the room to see Zeke n she plastered against a wall having a competition...
Zene is fiercely possessive about her Baghi Didi and would get upset if she played with other kids like she plays with her....
She has played , danced , sung , eaten , chased, cooked and been a kid with my kids...
All Zeke wants to do is grow taller than her and cant believe she is getting married because she looks like a little thing herself...
And my Zene is going to miss her 'Baghi didi" terribly because i know how much she loves her and the feeling is mutual...
She has jumped into pools with the kids fully dressed in her chudidaar....
she has taught them games, fed them with patience , run after them and has been their Bollywood song tutor, every time Zene sings a new song...I know its Baghi's flavour of the month...
She loves her saas-bahu serials and her spicy chutneys ..that she would share with me....
Will miss her every time i go to the market to buy fish and her bright happy face around the house and her chirpy joyful voice...
It's amazing that the only thing constant in life is change.....
And today as my Baghi leaves to set up her own family...
I pray to GOD to keep her happy and blessed and may her life be filled with immense joy and helpful people...
I made her this cake yesterday and all of us cut it singing to her "All the best" but of course the kids started singing "golmaal ...golmaal ..baghi is back again..."..
Don't know if they are able to understand that she is never coming back....
I know they will miss her terribly...
Okay have to stop getting so emotional and give you the recipe...

Wanted to make something really nice for her so zeroed down on this cake recipe i took straight out of Nigella Lawson's cook book, because i love her food...and this was pretty easy and fun to eat..
and i really like it out of the oven and with some ice-cream...

• 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, minimum 70 percent cocoa solids
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 6 eggs, 2 whole, 4 separated
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons orange-flavored liqueur, optional (recommended: Cointreau)
• 1 orange, zested

Directions

For the cream topping:

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon orange-flavored liqueur, optional (recommended: Cointreau)
• 1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder, for sprinkling

Special equipment: 9-inch springform pan

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C. Line the bottom of the cake pan with baking parchment.

Melt the chocolate either in a double boiler or a microwave, add the butter and let melt in the warm chocolate.

Beat the 2 whole eggs and 4 egg yolks with 1/3 cup of the sugar, then gently add the chocolate mixture, the orange-flavored liqueur and the orange zest.

In another bowl, whisk the 4 egg whites until foamy, then gradually add the remaining sugar and whisk until the whites hold their shape but are not too stiff. Lighten the chocolate mixture with a dollop of egg whites, and then fold in the rest of the whites.

Here I added 100gm of almond flour mixed with maida ...

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the cake is risen and cracked and the center is no long wobbly. Cool the cake in its pan on a wire rack; the middle will sink as it cools.

When you are ready to eat, place the still pan-bound cake on a cake stand or plate for serving and carefully remove the sides of the pan from the cake. Don't worry about cracks or rough edges...because it tastes awesome with all its outer flaws...

Just reminded me sooo much of Baghi.she may not have all the right moves but her heart is in the right place...

WILL MISS YOU DEAREST BAGHI...

HAVE A HAPPY LIFE

''THE GOOD-BYE CAKE" baked this with a lump in my heart for little Baghi who will always be remembered with a smile...

Stay happy and blessed....

DAY 45 : TIME-TRAVEL TRUE BLUE SNICKER MUFFINS.....

And yesterday was a weird day, it's funny how life completely changes ..
Bryan Adam's was in the city and was doing a concert and i was not part of it in the real sense of the word..
I still remember the last time he came to Mumbai on tour and MTV was hosting the gig and i was hosting the concert...
it was buzzing the whole atmosphere at the Goregoan grounds...there were throngs of young faces that stormed through the gates when they opened...i remember losing my crew and getting pushed through the crowd into the audience area and had to jump over the barricade in my black skirt with slits on either side and my favorite glitter horns in my hair...
The whole week prior to that ..i just listened to Bryan..Bryan..Bryan...
It was fantastic talking to the audience, i don't even remember if there was an opening act ..I'm sure there was..but we all just wanted him to come on stage and sing to us in that smoky voice of his and then...

As the sun was setting and I got on stage again and said ....

Mumbai...are u ready
the whole crowd ROARED .....
breathe ...breathe my heart was pounding....
"This is it...the one we have all been waiting for the one the only ...BRYAN ADAMS"....and I walked out ....
Bryan Adam's walked in ..wearing white..nothing fancy ..no bling ...just him his guitar and his band...
I walked down and joined all my MTV Vj friends in the front of the stage....
and then he strummed his guitar ...to the roar of the entire crowd and mesmerised us with his wonderful voice....we were so close to stage that we could see the sweat beads on his fore-head...the sound from the speakers became one with our heart beats...we screamed ..sang along...cried ...danced and also behaved like silly goats...
and then he came to the edge of the stage and gave me the pick from his guitar...
ha ha ha "thought I'd died and gone to heaven" just like the song....
oh my God...this was one concert that I'm never ever going to forget ..not because of the "pick" but because of the sheer magic of his voice .....

Today that felt like another lifetime....
Bryan Adam's was again in my city dong a concert and i was sitting with Zeke my little boy explaining to him why i could not come with him to one of his favorite brother's (friend) birthday ..while baking snicker bar muffins for the lovely beach party that his mom Radhika had put together, actually i forgot that it was the day of the concert and then later bailed out...

Yup and so i spent the afternoon making these lovely muffins for little Dhruv who was turning 6 and was just reliving the last time in my head...
And so I went through my Nigella Lawsons "how to be a domestic goddess" and the snicker and peanut butter muffin recipe sounded perfect and really yummy...and easy ha ha ha ....

250 g plain flour
85g Castor sugar
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
6 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
60 g unsalted butter
1 large egg
175 ml milk
3 bars of 65g each..snicker bars

So i stirred the flour, sugar , baking powder and a pinch of salt together..
added the peanut butter and mixed it all together till it was a bowl of course crumbs...
oh ! i also put in half a jar of nutella ..because i love it...
beat the eggs and melted butter together and then added it to the milk and then gently added it into the bowl of dry ingredients ......used 2 eggs as our eggs are smaller..
cut up the snicker bars into tiny bits and also ate up the extra bar...ha ha ha
I then scooped them into tiny bite size muffin trays and baked them for 25 minutes....

Have to say that the melting snicker bars with the caramel oozing into the muffin mix drives u a little mad if you are inhaling that aroma in your kitchen while thinking of Bryan Adam's crooning "if you love a woman" ...lethal i say....
170 degrees and 25 minutes down these lovely nutty chocolaty beautiful muffins were out of my oven...and as i toppled them on to my counter table ...i was thinking i have just enough time to go get a blow dry and come back in time to do a frosting for these babies and send them with Zeke and Zene to Dhruv's 6th beach birthday party...
So 45 minutes later with my beautiful blow dry in place ...I get down and dirty again with the cutest blue colour frosting which i made with

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup nutralite
4 cups icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp milk
wilton blue colour

i loved the bright blue and finished all my muffins ...
They really looked cute ..but not half as cute as the birthday boy having fun with his friends.....
so armed with presents and muffins and scones ...Zeke and Zene left for Dhruv's birthday party...
meanwhile...i hurriedly got into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and , Arshad and me sped of ...err i mean crawled our way in the Mumbai traffic to the concert..
Reached exactly 15 minutes before Bryan hit the stage..

We were in the VVIP enclosure...very very sweet of Sunil and Mana Shetty to invite us..
But seriously we were sooooo far away from the stage ..that it just did not feel right and i felt like crying...
He was soooooo far away and the speakers were just not making my heart thump....I was sooo upset ...this is no way to watch a concert..i wanted to be in the middle of that crowd hanging on that security railing..screaming..singing...and just merging with the music...but that never happened .......

I left the concert cribbing about how this is not right and how we should have been closer to stage and blah blah blah...and realised .....

Oh my God i have hosted live concerts with Bryan Adams, Boy Zone, Ricky Martin, Peter Andre ub40, Boney.M, Lou Bega, Stephan Gately(bless his soul), Code Red , Enrique Iglesias , MC Hammer , Air Supply and the MTV Video Music Awards in the year 2000 from the radio-city music hall...and mostly all of our fantastic Indian musicians and singers......and some artists I have forgotten..... I think , because its been soooo long back...

And i just thanked God for giving me this fantastic life and for giving me these fantastic opportunities..
Also said a little prayer for Natasha Malhotra my boss at MTV...who i thought made my life crazy...but all she did was push me to do better than i thought i could do...
(She is now with Disney and gave Mini and my kids the best time ever when we all went to the Hongkong Disney Land)

We'll what can i say...these are nostalgic muffins and i time -travelled with them ...so not only are they yummy ,but also very very special because they were made for one of Zeke's best buddy's 6th birthday...

I don't know if Zeke or Dhruv will ever remember this day or the muffins ..but i sure will...
'TIME-TRAVEL TRUE- BLUE SNICKER MUFFINS" made with lotsa love only from "Maria's Kitchen"