DAY 65 - LITTLE REBELS

And I really do bake a lot.These last two weeks have been a little crazy.
Lots of soul searching and making little little decisions that I hope to follow.and in the middle of it all, I suddenly felt like I needed to change something.

So went out one afternoon and cut off my hair.
I think a girls hair is her vanity and also her veil and kind of a security blanket.
And I just felt the need to let it all go . Well I loved my long hair , but I went to Asha my hair stylist and told her I want really short hair like about an inch, she looked at me and said, 'why , please don't', guess I was feeling like a huge change or rebellious , I don't know what, but she said , that I was to leave my tresses in her hands and she will do something...NOT DRASTIC..

Well so I came back with shoulder length hair , and Zeke was like , 'It looks nice Mama, but I love your long hair, so please grow it again" and Zene said, 'Mama its just like me"...and she was happy with that..Girls and boys are so different...

Anyway In Mumbai at the moment , the Lakme Fashion week is on, frankly I'm not big on designer brands or fashion, I wear what is comfortable, and what makes me feel happy.
And believe it or not I have been to just one Fashion show, Wendell Rodrigues...My first ever show about 3 years ago, never been to one before that...

And then walked the ramp for Payal Singhal twice, once alone and once with my kids...

And so this Sunday after cooking lunch for my friends, Ritambhara , Sambo, Kichie and Akshay, we all decided to go for Anita Dongre's show at 9.30 and it was already 7-45, dressed up quickly in my Indian Ghagra that I completely love , and then Akshay drove us to Bandra in record time (he could sincerely be taking part in the Grand Prix) and after running around a bit , we reached the show..
I was just happy that my short hair was behaving itself and I did not look like I had just gotten outa bed...
It was a lovely show and really beautiful clothes...
Such really tall girls.. gosh sometimes wonder if I was just 2 to 4 inches taller, what could go wrong, everything is right but still wonder sometimes..

And so I walk the ramp again for Malini Aggarwala of Malaga..
Frankly I'm not very big on jewellery , and bags, but she does make beautiful jewellery and really funky bags , so I wore my own dress and put my short hair up, and walked the ramp , its quite frightening I must say..
Every ones eyes on you...
But as I was walking with friends Mini, Shaheen and Sharmila, I was OK...
I was the shortest ...And was too frightened to walk in my normal high heels on the ramp, so changed to flatter shoes....
ha ha ha ...but like the song in Thumbelina goes, ''When your heart is full of love , you're 9 feet tall'..and that's exactly how I felt...fantastic...

Well my friend Jaya looks at the photos and asks me why I'm dressed like Bellatrix from Harry Potter..

HA HA HA only she can say stuff like this...and I thought yup right ...I'm a witch and completely loved the idea, of flying around on my broom-stick..


Coming to Jaya..It was her son Kabir's birthday , and I'm happy to let you know that he is one kid, who really likes my food and so, wanted muffins, for his birthday...
Well I know Kabir, since he was 4 years old, while he was busy jumping from here and there in his spider-man suit and making me little drawings on pieces of paper , and smiling from behind the curtains...
So how can I refuse him, he was turning 13...
wow a teenager...
Now that's a very big deal..
I remember my 13th birthday, minis were in fashion and my mum made me a yellow hipster mini, that i swished around and walked ha ha ha ...
Well I made Kabir, peanut -butter muffins with a chocolate butter cream icing...

Ingredients..

400 gm -Butter
400gm-chunky peanut butter
350 gm- flour
350 gm- eggs
350gm-castor sugar
300 gm- cooking chocolate melted
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 TSP Vanilla essence
Add a little milk if the batter is not of a dropping consistency...

Method..

Beat the butter till its nice and fluffy.
Add the sugar and continue beating till nice and fluffy..
Separate the yolks and beat them with the vanilla essence , add to the butter/sugar mix..
Beat the egg whites separately till soft peaks are able to form.
Add the flour little by little to the mix along with beaten egg whites.
Mix in the chocolate..
Then spoon this into medium sized muffin cases and cook in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 12-15 minutes , or till its golden brown but still nice and soft or, till the top springs back up after pressing it down..

Take them out of the oven and let them cool completely before icing them...

Icing
11/2 cup non salted butter
6 cups icing sugar
350 gm melted chocolate

Mix the ingredients all together and you are ready to pipe , those little peanut babies..

Every time I make muffins at home, Zeke behaves like he has never seen muffins in his life and begs and runs away with a few in his hands...
Never understand him..
And then Kichie was behaving just the same...
So in between making baked chicken and talking to my friends , I finish icing 80 little muffins and send the kids and the little muffins , to Kabir's home for his 13th birthday...

Happy birthday Kabir, lot of love and hugs and blessings and pray that you never get tainted by the world and always stay the absolutely fantastic boy that you are...
Frankly I have yet to meet a boy who is as fun, kind-hearted , generous and such a little care-taker like Kabir...

And so finishes another little experiment in my kitchen...
These little babies tasted a bit salty and had a nice crunch because of the peanuts and the chocolate butter cream icing just sealed the deal...
So here's presenting, "Little Rebels" complete with a contrasting flavour of sweet and salty and a bit of what I completely love....Chocolate...yup these muffins are a bit of a little uprising waiting to happen, but only in the nicest muffin sort of way..
Only from ,'Maria's Kitchen"