ZEKE AND ZENE WALKED THE RAMP..FOR PAYAL SINGHAL...

Yes , these are my kids, Zeke Zidaan and Zene Zoe..
And I thank them for helping me find myself...
They taught me to love as much as I can...and cry loudly when you get hurt ...
And I'm going with that for life...
And Thank you Payal Singhal for always making me feel so beautiful...
Your clothes are absolutely breathtakingly beautiful...but not half as beautiful as your heart ...
All the best always and forever....

DAY 61- LITTLE ARTIST'S SPECIAL BREAD-BUTTER PUDDING..

And so on Sunday I went for my 1st Art exhibition ever..
And frankly , I'm glad that it was my first introduction, into the world of beautiful art, because i swear i have never seen such a pure display of heart felt colors in motion..

Zeke, Zene, Vivaan, Angaad, Kiara, Rihaan were some of the artists displaying their paintings , under the tender and patient nurturing of Sonali, who they have been with for some time now...
The kids had some of the sweetest work you could see..
Zeke and Zene have been working with 'Aunty Sonali for some time now...
Zeke much longer , while Zene like any younger sister would hang on the table and just be there throughout the class..
Asking tons of questions...frankly like most girls i know..

Till one day Aunty Sonali, gave her some paper and colours and we all realized that she has just been soaking in all that Zeke was being taught...

It was lovely ,the whole ambience..
The beautiful paintings, the little fingers pointing at their creations, the proud Mama's and a few of the Dada's...
Friends of the little artists...
All buzzing around like little bees...and I swear the paintings were really lovely...

And I must say that I went home with one of the best paintings at the show...
Why because 8 yr old Vivaan who is the son of my best friend Mini,painted it for me , for my birthday..
Its a painting of this man holding a baby...something that I saw in London ,and fell in love with on sight, a Lladro figure..
And Vivaan painted it for me...
Bless him...

So like all excited and enthusiastic mum's..
Everyone of us made a small batch of goodies for the 'Art Exhibition"..
Manasi bought sandwiches and chips that we all attacked..
Mini bought delicious brownies...
I made fudge, apple crumble and really easy hazelnut and chocolate bread puddings, in tiny molds , with some Creme Anglaise sauce...

Well , I have eaten bread pudding from the time I was a kid..and frankly its like French toast but , you can bake or steam it...
After eating bread pudding for years, and being completely fed up of it ...
I started making it a few years ago again...

It's only after becoming a mum .that I realized why I was fed this at most given occasions..
Well, it has eggs, milk and bread, as its main ingredients..

And If I can put all this in one morsel in my kids mouths, I'm a happy bunny..
Well as you all know ,I'm a chocoholic and my kids love Nutella , so I now add that to the recipe, also some orange juice and Cointreau for extra measure...

And it has such a comforting, wholesome and home taste to it..
That frankly its our home favorite..

So I am going to give you, my version of what I made for the kids...
You can also add a few nuts like almonds or pistas..it really tastes nice...


Ingredients..

Milk - 500ml
Butter - 100 gm
Eggs - 2 , plus 1 yolk
Sugar to taste...
Bread - 10 slices
Nutella - spread as much as you like in the middle of the bread, so that when you cut it into 6 pieces, every piece has a little nutella
Freshly squeezed orange juice
Cointreau if you feel like it..

Well I needed 1 slice of bread cut up into six squares for every one and a half little mold..
So fill your mold depending on its size...

METHOD
Pre heat oven to 180 degrees..

In a shallow vessel, mix the milk, eggs and sugar...
Melt the butter and add it to the above mix...
Add the juice of 1 freshly squeezed orange...
Add cointreau to your taste...
Smear 10 slices of bread with nutella and, cut them into six squares...
Dip this into the milk mix and pile it into the molds...
See that the bread is moist and filled to a little less than the top of the mold..
Bake this in the oven till it rises up and is golden brown and slightly crisp...
It should take approximately 20-25 minutes...

This is a great fun dish to do with kids, they love breaking the eggs and mixing it with the milk, and frankly even if you go a bit wrong, you really don't go wrong..
So Zeke and Zene, went for it with a vengeance, were dirty , with splashes of milk on their clothes and everywhere and of course the kitchen was a mess..
And they were both giving one another instructions on how it is done...
Well what can I say...Guess they hear me talking about food a lot...
And they were so excited because they knew we were taking this to their art exhibition...

So after I put all the little bread puddings in the oven..
The three of ours showered , changed and got ready ...
And after much shouting and trying to pack the fudge, the apple crumble ...we were waiting for the little bread puddings...

I cant even explain to you or describe to you , the aroma that my kitchen was filled with..
Hmmmmm....that warm orangey-chocolatey flavour..that wafted through..
And so as soon as I took, all these little puffy babies outa the oven..

We dug into it, immediately....poured a little Creme anglaise and some Hersheys Chocolate syrup..
And dug into a bite-ful of just the most comforting morsel of crispy-soft goodness, the hazelnut and the, slight tangyness of the orange exploding like tiny stars...

This has to be eaten fresh out of the oven on to a plate and into your mouth...
So off we went Zeke, Zene. apple crumble, fudge and 36 puffy little bread puddings in the boot of my little Red Bug...
We drove from Versova to Juhu, loudly singing, 'Wake up Sid"..
We love that song...
Thank God , we were not really singing to Sid , because he would have run away ...screaming ha ha ha ..

So After a really long time, here's presenting. 'Little Artists Bread-Butter Pudding"...yummy and if can say so, ever so slightly better than my Mommies, with a whole lot of smiles and yeah..yeah..yeah.. only from, "Maria's Kitchen"...

TANTE MARIE : WEEK 10...GRADUATION AND GOOD-BYE..

SUNDAY
Wanted to cry was so so homesick , so I went to my friend Lorraine's house just to sleep ..
As soon as I walked into her car from the cold, just felt all warm and at home ..
She is just all heart and knows me for most of my adult life ..
Was so happy inside ..

Dear Lorraine,
Thank you and love you for everything ...
For sharing your home and your beautiful children ..
And Allan who just welcomed me like family ..
Always ..


MONDAY ...
Travelled early in the morning back to Monday morning, took a train back to Woking..
Was not feeling too good , and by the time I was getting ready for class..
Was just feeling like a wave of low blood pressure....
So called the college and stayed home ...
Went for the second half of the day , had a demonstration ...
Finished class and decided I needed to go to Knightsbridge to buy Nespresso pods...
So walked into Harrods and was immediately embraced by the wonderful Christmas spirit at Harrods...
I just sat in there and was getting all set for my big indulgence at the chocolate bar...
And to my good or bad luck ..the chocolate bar was closed and due to open soon ..
Damn..damn...damn..
so needed my happy hormone fix..

So walked around.. Took in the freezing cold ..and was thinking ..
Next Monday I will be in Mumbai ..

TUESDAY...
Went to class and then to a Fashion show with Eve in Guilford , I fell asleep was soooo tired , and she was too cute, she said , i should continue as i was not missing much..
She took me to her favorite haunts and i bought myself a lovely gown..
was very very thrilled...
and then I walk straight into, Wagamamma...
aaaaaaah...it could not get better than that...quickly ordered my take away...
and got home, gobbled it up ..and sat very happy with all the rice in my tummy...

WEDNESDAY..
Well today was definitely not like any other normal day ...
Today was our graduation ..
And yesterday Al told us
that we could come in or not , he had everything under control , so our choice ..
Well frankly I would not miss a minute working for Al, because he is an awesome chef , completely sure of his craft and he knows it ..
Walks around with an easy swagger of someone easy and completely secure in his skin
Working with him is always fantastic , because he is completely no nonsense and yet is a very open and accommodating teacher ..
And this morning learned to make beautiful looking mushrooms ..
Well from now on every time I look at a mushroom I will always want to present it the way Al taught me ..
So thank you Al you have your name written on every mushroom I make your way ..ha ha ha ..

The morning was filled with an energy I have not experienced , we were all there because we wanted to be part of the whole graduation meal and partake in the preparation ..
So amongst much ease and laughter and under the capable broad shoulders of Al , we finished all our chores and left for home or wherever to while away time and dress up for our graduation ..
I have never done this before..
So it just felt awesome to dress up and go and be part of a celebration that you have been preparing for the past 9 weeks ..
Eve my lovely land-lady came with me , she approved of what I was wearing , and came with me for one of the most important mornings I have been looking forward too ..
It was beautiful walking into a place that was so familiar and yet everybody looked so shiny new ..
All our teachers Ally, Al, Nick , Vera, Kate and Tim looked fantastic and glam and festive ..
Also they wore a celebratory welcoming energy that was completely infectious ...
They all looked so beautiful and handsome ..
And we looked oh so nervous ..
We all sat down in our assigned seats and then Andrew our principal .. Opened with wonderful words of wisdom .. That we will all take home and ponder upon ..
We were all then given our results ..
And amongst many claps and an uneasy or confident walks ,to the all familiar kitchen podium , we received our certificates..
At the end of it all we all heaved a sigh of relief and were happy with our results ...
We all got what we deserved ..
With Sam topping class ..

Well I'm absolutely thrilled to bits for him , because his work is impeccable and the pastry he makes is absolutely awesome ..

Felt really nice to be served food by the ones that taught us how to prepare it ..
And we all sat down and ate and smiled and giggled and laughed ..
Gosh this was so so worth all the time I spent here ..
Post our lunch we were all to go to a pub at Horsell..

So I went back to now what I call home ..
Eve's place ..
And Maya and me chilled a bit , had green tea and just spent a few minutes together ..
Went off then to join all the revelers at the pub in Horsell called .. I forgot the name ..
It was truly a fun filled evening , probably the last I will spend with all these wonderful new friends of mine ..

Then I went off to London to meet my friend Tosh , who is just one of the most wonderful guys I have met in a long time ..
A gentleman , funny, witty and a warm heart ..
I know I have made a friend ..
We celebrated my results and good news that he shared ..
And after tons of laughs and more hearty laughs ..
Such a mad mad wonderful bright , laughing evening I went home to Woking ..

THURSDAY
Think I just needed to do bits and ends of shopping and so spent the entire day just choosing two warm jackets for Zeke and Zene...
Sat at Starbucks and had a leisurely hot chocolate ..
Whatsapped my friends ..
Banter and more photos exchanged ..
Oh by the way I love "whatsapp"

Then met my dear friend Lorraine , who refused to send me home and thank God I listened to her because it was wonderful spending time with her family ..
She stuffed me with home made goodies and I went off to sleep in her jammies in her warm beautiful room ..
I don't know when I'm gonna see her again , but she has been my family in London and knew that no matter what ,I had her just a phone call away ..Bless her and her family..

FRIDAY
Think in my 11 weeks here this was the coldest day ever..
I was just frozen and felt that if it snowed it would be just the cherry on the cake ..
I needed to pack , had tons of stuff that I had bought and tons of kitchen stuff and God , really was cringing at the sight of all my stuff that I now had to take back home ...
But Friday evening wanted to go meet Rachna and say bye..
So did just that...
She is a beautiful person and have got to know her as a friend in these past weeks ..
She has a calm peacefulness that she carries and yet is full of adventure and yet is satiated with what life offers her ..
We went for a long walk in the cold and then , had a lovely dinner and then , hugged her tight said good-bye...

It's funny how life sometimes brings people you have known back into your life , but makes you feel completely different about them ..
you get to know them..
Some become friends ..
SOME MORE THAN JUST FRIENDS..
Some still stay exactly where you met last ..

It's a very nice feeling..
This year 2011, has been a beautiful year ..
I have actually connected with people I have known and have formed deeper bonds ..
I have been a little more accepting and forgiving ..
I am not flawless and so hope that people are more accepting and forgiving with my mistakes ..

I went back to Eve's, this would be my last night there ..
I sat on my bed for the longest time..
This was my home for the past 11 weeks..
I have gone through so much and have grown up ..

I learned to sleep alone ..
I realised that I love early mornings ..
I like to take my time to drink my green tea, listen to music and then go about my day..
I learned to tell the people I love that 'I love them immensely' regardless of what they felt ..
I realised that I love the cold as much as I love the warmth..
I love healthy food as much as I love chocolate ..
I love Soya milk as much as I love champagne ..
I like people .. But am very happy being alone, this is something I discovered that was new to me ..
I still get hurt ..
I'm still impulsive..
I still cry like a baby ..

But there is something different about me ..
And I can't put my finger on it, but I feel loved and beautiful ...
And with all this I thank God and go to sleep ..

SATURDAY
I wake up early as usual ..
And Eve my lovely land-lady , dropped me off into Woking..
Where I just spent the next few hours walking through familiar lanes , just saying silent good-byes..
Then with my favorite hot chocolate from Starbucks .. I just sat on the floor of the packed food court and listened to this brass band play wonderful Christmas carols ..
I love Christmas..
I love December...
Think I could not have asked for a better good bye..

Came back to Eve's and said my final good-byes..
Gonna really miss Eve..
She was much more than just a land-lady to me ..
And I was lucky that I lived with her ...
Hugged her and Ralph tight..
Think if it lasted a little longer I would cry...
Will miss you both very very much ...

Took my cab checked into Kingfisher ...
And must say they were absolutely fantastic ...
Mr.Inderjeet thank you for all your help ..
My kitchen is always open to you ...

Reached Mumbai ...
Heat, traffic, and all the other craziness..
But it's home and that's all that really matters ..
E.T. GONE HOME ...



Sent from my iPhone ..
One fantastic moment is worth a hundred average hours ...