Contemplations and Ruminations

These are the easiest cookies I've ever made, they bake in no time at all and they look cute, kids are sure to love them. All you need is 100 gms Maida A tablespoon of baking Powder 2 teaspoons Vanilla Essence 50 gms margarine (or butter, margarine is the cooking butter and it is unsalted) 30 to 40 gms sugar Milk as required Gems or M&M's So mix the butter and sugar together first (I used the crystallized sugar, did not bother to powder it). Then drop in the vanilla essence and beat it up. Add the maida and the baking powder and knead into a soft dough by adding the required quantity of milk. Once you get a soft dough, roll it into coin sized cylinders as shown below. Refrigerate this cylindrical dough for half an hour. After 30 minutes, chop off cylindrical bits and place them in a greased and floured pan, and just push down some gems on them. Here they are in a greased and floured pan, looking all colourful. Now lightly dip your fingers in milk and just brush them ov...

So when the construction work was going on at home, I collected some broken pieces of tiles, marbles, stones and other junk. Made this frame using those odd bits and pieces and then used metallic paint on it. By the way those are my siblings, this was taken during the holiday season, its one of my favourite pictures  (check the link to get a clearer view). I like the way the light falls softly on us, and I love the dress I am wearing (I call it my TCM dress) along with my favourite pair of jeans and of course I love those three funny people near me, they are all the entertainment I need... God in His infinite wisdom knew that I wouldn't grow up to be socially active so he created three crazy siblings who have no choice but to hang out with me and a whole horde of authors who create the characters I interact with on a daily basis. I sometimes wonder though how it would be to be at the other end of the spectrum... like going out to the cool places and hanging out with the hep and ha...

T he Italians who came up with the idea of layering a flat bed of leavened flour with a sauce and some simple vegetables sure created something great for mankind. Don't be daunted by the thought of making a pizza from scratch, this is a simple enough recipe and the looks of wonder on the faces of the people who bite in that first slice is what makes the whole process worthwhile. So let's get started... Ingredients for the pizza base : Dry Yeast :  about 6 teaspoons heaped Warm Water : a cup Maida : 2 1/2 cups Baking Powder : about 2 teaspoons heaped Vegetable Oil : 2 teaspoons (preferably Olive Oil) Salt : 1/2 a teaspoon. Take the lukewarm water in a bowl and drop in the 6 heaped teaspoons of dry yeast. Remember, the water has to be slightly warm, if it is piping hot it will kill the yeast and the dough will not ferment. After dropping in  the yeast cover the bowl and let is sit for 10 to 15 minutes. After the 10 minutes are up, the yeast will have dissolve...

The TCM (Turner Classic Movies) channel is really entertaining, love those endearing old movies... those awesome dresses, the pretty girls, the dapper looking men, the less action more story script, the clean and entertaining fun, and the captivating song and dance routines. They don't make movies like this anymore... Calamity Jane (1953) : This is one cute movie, the leading lady Doris Day (Calamity Jane) is like one of those rough and tough men, she can shoot and ride a horse better than any man, she even gets into fights with them. And her dressing is atrocious, she looks like a mean hard working cowboy... the soiled clothes, boots and the hip holster thing, not to mention her dirty blonde hair... yeah, she's quite a sight. Her friend Howard Keel, the only man in town who can outshoot her and who is allowed to make fun of her is a nice level headed guy, he is the only one who tells her to act like a girl from time to time. Jane has the biggest crush on the lie...

If you have some apples lying around, then go ahead and make this delicious cake. You'll love it! Ingredients Apples : about 3 to 4 medium sized ones Maida  : 1 and a 1/2 cup Baking Powder : 2 heaped Ts Sugar : 1 and 1/4 cup Butter : bout 80 gms Milk : 1/2 cup  Vanilla Essence : 1 Ts Eggs : 1 No. Peel and slice the apple into wedges.  Heat 2 Tbs butter on low flame, add 1/2 cup granulated sugar & stir constantly with a wooden spoon... Till the sugar melts and forms this light golden syrupy liquid... Warning : As soon as the light golden syrupy liquid forms, drop in the apples immediately. Do not delay (like I did fiddling with the camera), otherwise the syrup will crystallize and form a sticky hard chunk like toffee, and its difficult to work with that. You have to dissolve it again and use it. Drop in the apple wedges and mix it up, till the caramel coats the apple pieces. Cover and cook till the apples release their juices and become tender and everything is...

Somewhere in the 17th century, a few Portuguese merchants were caught in the midst of a raging cyclone near the coast of Bay of Bengal. Their ship got wrecked and they were starting to lose hope when they saw an apparition of the Blessed Virgin holding her divine infant in her arms... they were astounded by this sudden appearance in the middle of the ocean and as they watched she guided them safely to dry land. These merchants landed in an obscure little place called Velankanni and they learnt that the Virgin Mary had appeared two more times in the same village during the 16th century, once to a crippled boy whom she cured and this other time to a Hindu brahmin boy who was resting near a pond with a pot of milk. She asked the Hindu kid a little milk for her son and the boy complied and today this place is called Our Lady's Pond. The Portuguese merchants then proceeded to erect a shrine to the Blessed Mother out of gratitude and  devotion,   they sculpt...

Shahi means royal and Kurma refers to a dish prepared using either yogurt, cream, nuts or coconut milk. And this recipe is termed royal cause it makes use of most of the above ingredients... and it is truly worth all the effort. Its a typical north Indian dish and not something that can be made quickly... I make it when I want a change from the usual spicy curries that form the norm at my home. First step, grind cashew nuts with ginger & garlic paste, cumin seeds and coriander powder. Fry chopped onions along with cloves, cardamom and cinnamon till the onion turns translucent. That's translucent enough... (I like that word, translucent) Now add the ground cashew nut paste, chillie powder and the washed chicken pieces. Mix it up well and fry for a few minutes... Now add whisked yogurt, bout half a cup and mix it up well. Then add appropriate quantity of water, salt and pressure cook till the meat is tender (bout three whistles time). Now add a little coconut milk, bout on...