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"

DAY 44 : LITTLE DEVIL- BOTTOM MACAROONS..YEAH ..YEAH...

I have loved macaroons ever since i can remember, have finished heaps of coconut macaroons as a kid during Christmas and only stopped once my mouth started feeling weird and coarse, last month at Sophias, Shashi mam taught us coconut macaroons, so yup i now bake them whenever i feel like and eat to my hearts desire, which is another reason why i have started running and working out, today my day started early in the morning because according to me , the school fair was on Friday and i had to get stuff done , so i did trial batches of the red velvet muffins , made 4 diff batches and thankfully , have got my zing back, the lovely and talented Pooja Dhingra of Le15 gave me a recipe and broke my jinx, so i have been at it and later when i got to school to pick up the kids i realised that I'm cooking 2 weeks ahead of time, but the thing is i was so excited about making the macaroons that i just went ahead, before starting them i felt that "wish i had gone to a baking school somewhere fancy so that i could understand the nuances and the finer points, but i have not , so i "pulled up my BIG GIRL panties " and got at it, of course i have been reading about these sweet little devils for some time now and decided , how bad can it get, it will just not happen and frankly , i will learn from the "experience" and so far that's who my PROFESSOR is at my "college of cooking and baking " ha ha ha

I found a whole lot of recipes on the net after after a tic-tac-toe i choose this one , its by Lizzie Karmenetzky....i love her name..so that's a positive thing...

Ingredients
175 gm icing sugar
125 g ground almonds
3 large egg whites
75 g caster sugar

Pre heat the oven to 150 degrees c..
Whizz the icing sugar and the almonds in a food processor to a very fine mix and then sieve it , i sieved it twice...just in case
In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt to nice soft peaks.
Add the caster sugar bit by bit , until thick and glossy.
At this point add your colour or flavouring, i did not do any flavour, because i just 1st wanted to get the basic right, i did add very little blue in it..
To this mix fold in half the almond and icing sugar with a spatula, fold and cut , do not handle this batter roughly or it may sink, when the 1st half is done add the second half, and fold the mix till its shiny and ribbony....

WHEW !!!!!!!! its actually done

Line 2 trays with parchment paper and then fill the mix into a piping bag and with a 1 cm nozzle, pipe out small rounds of the macaroon mix and leave it for about 20 minutes at room temperature to form a slight skin, so that if you lightly touch the batter , nothing will stick on to your finger....

Put it in the oven and frankly ....just said a little prayer.....

I'm grinning from ear to ear because 22minutes later i had these lovely pale blue babies looking back at me and they also had the crusty part around the bottom which is called the foot, and that i believe is 1 of the signs of a well made macaroon, they look so cute that i felt bad that was going to be biting into them soon, "cute little chubby protected species" that's what they look like and as tempting as "string bikini bottom "ha ha ha ...
Let them cool and then very gently lifted them off the parchment paper..tricky busines...

So now its time for the filling and ya its got to be chocolate so nutella was at hand and it went right into these babies, both the ZZ.s , my man friday Vijay and me bit into our home-made heaven and broke out into peals of laughter and happiness , and yummy wow and further , frankly i heaved a sigh of relief , i did it , wow, im happy i may include this in the school stall, but not yet decided, in the meanwhile think i should go for a run...because this much of sugar and fat intake is not fun for your .... ha ha ha
So here they are
"Little devil-bottom macaroons" happy and really heavenly only from "Maria's Kitchen".

P.S. Think im having a sugar high.....have too many sweet things today...going mad..

DAY 43: HMMMMMMMMM BREAD

There is nothing more satisfying to me than baking bread, i love the whole process of the flour , mixing with the yeast and sugar and water and just like that ,like magic , it all emulsifies together and grows into this wonderful wholesome and fresh mound of loveliness...

I make a lot of bread at home in fact i find it very therapeutic, a few days ago Zeke my little 6 yr old made lovely bread following all the instructions i gave him, i couldn't believe that little boy of mine...felt so proud of him....the way he mixed it all together and pounded it , he had a blast and we all looked at him like he is "wonder boy"...
We'll i don't know about anyone else but to me, he is my wonder boy... we'll after he kneaded it all together and even added the olive oil and salt,he had finished his bit , he was also tired with the kneading and so he looked at me and said, "mama , it's ready now...." my little Zeke with his little apron and flour on his hands , gosh he looked pleased as the cat who got the cream, gave him a smashing hug and a tight kiss, and he in true boy style rubbed the kiss off with his floury hands....
we'll the dough was ready to prove...

I then sauteed some garlic, onion kept it aside to completely cool , i then pulled out some fresh basil from my little terrace garden , washed it and tore it into bits, hmmmmmm i love fresh basil and mostly try and use it as much as i can...

250 gm flour
15 gm fresh yeast
125-150 ml water (but i mostly use an approximate amount, depending on how its going)
1 tbsp olive oil
salt
2 small onions sauteed
15 garlic cloves also sauteed
red chili flakes

Like i said , frankly you can go to town with bread and add what you like in it and own that little wholesome wonderness...
So after the dough proved or after it doubled in size , i slowly added all the garlic, onions , chili flakes and basil very very gently , you may also have to keep adding a little flour into the dough as it does tend to get a bit sticky, and then shape it into a loaf tin and leave it to prove again, it takes approximately 40 minutes or slightly more , depending on the weather ...
I then baked it for 40-45 minutes at 220 degrees...
Oh before you put the dough into the oven , give it a milk wash and sprinkle it with water , i keep forgetting this part and most of the time I put it in and then remember as I'm shutting the oven , and then go for it like "speed Gonzalez" ha ha ha ...
I also sprinkle a little dried rosemary on it, because i love the crunch once it is baked...
Post 40 minutes ,there is that beautiful fresh bread aroma wafting in your kitchen, pull it out, slather the crust with butter if you do not like a hard crust, leave it to cool for a bit , taking it out of the loaf tin , or it will sweat in it and ....
We'll i love to bite into fresh hot scrumptious bread with a little dollop of butter....that's me...
Fresh hot "hmmmmm bread" only from "Maria's Kitchen".....made for the very 1st time by my little Zeke Zidaan Warsi"

DAY 42 : TOOMUCKINGFUCH CAKE

This is just a preview of what I'm making, the kids are out playing so I'm going for it with cointreau, oranges, dolche de leche, chocolate and fresh cream...
Oh my god i hope i don't eat it up , making it for Mini place for our friends for Diwali...
HAPPINESS LOVE AND PEACE TO ALL , HAPPY DIWALI GUYS....
lotsa love only from "Maria Kitchen"