Banana Bread with Orange zest, Fractions and Happiness

Banana Bread is becoming a frequent bake at our home these days.

We deliberately leave out two bananas from the bunch we pick every morning from our luscious banana tree to decompose to a state that calls for serious FDA intervention. Also since I am a procrastinator, the one with good intentions of making a banana bread, the bananas are first left to decay in the fruit bowl. Right there on the kitchen island. Two over-ripe, brown spotted, sweet smelling bananas.

When they are sufficiently soft and brown and almost ready to be trashed, the moment when I should have cranked up the oven and actually made the bread, I put them 'bananas" in the refrigerator. There they decay further.Albeit at a slower pace and in a cooler environment. I am sure the bananas are ever grateful to me for that.

Then when the FDA arrival looms large and I am pretty sure that I can do with some happiness in life I make the banana bread

You all know that banana has "serotonin", right ? The neurotransmitter which is thought to be a contributor of happiness. Well, I don't know about banana but carbs like white rice with musurir dal and buttered toast with sprinkle of sugar on it defintely makes me happy. The banana bread does too and that is why we finish off all of that loaf in a single day. All in pursuit of happiness.

This weekend, 80% of the baking work was done by BS and LS. They measured, mixed and did the clean up. I put it in the oven. And then I took it out.

LS wrote out the instructions saying Stir, Mix, Clean

I don't have a family hand-me-down recipe for banana bread as my Mother never ever made one for my or anyone else's happiness. She made "kolar bora"-- sweet fritters -- with over ripened bananas instead. So the laurels of success of my banana bread now currently rests on Food Network. This is the recipe I have been following like a zombie for sometime now. So far it has failed me only once. Which is a good sign.Also the fact that the recipe calls for oil and not butter gives me some kind of relief.

Now given that there is already a recipe, why you think, I need to replicate and write it down again here. Well, the reason is Fractions. Baking recipes are a good way to introduce kids to fractions and that is what we did some years ago. That 4 of the 1/4th cups make 1 whole cup was a revelation in Arithmetic. Ahem. Scoff, Scoff. Of course, my generation got introduced to fractions without any cake to bake and we are darn good at it but then that was "tomader shomoy"(your time) as the girls like to say.

Without being cynical though, cups and measures and letting the kids handle them does give them a real life example of fractions. The fact that 2 of the quarter cups fill up a half cup or that 5/4th cup actually fills up 1 whole cup with 1/4th left over becomes more real when done with flour and sugar.

Recently for her fractions class, BS's math teacher gave them a homework, where they were supposed to get recipes of cookies and cakes and then quarter them, halve them, triple them or do some fraction conversion on them. Only of course she mentioned that the recipes should include mixed numbers. Which means the recipe should call for 11&3/8 th cup of flour and 3&2/5 th tbsp of butter. Which also means recipes I stay miles away from.

So, what I did is, I took my simple banana bread recipe, an awesome Lemon Yogurt cake recipe and this Hershey's Chocolate recipe and then changed around all the ingredient measures so that the banana bread now asked for 4&11/18th of bananas and 18/16th tsp of baking powder. She did her homework. I breathed easy.

I am eternally grateful that we didn't use those measures to bake. While baking the bread we stuck to the base recipe and asked BS to merely halve it. That was like child's play for her. Just like baking the bread was.

Original Recipe

Banana Bread

Dry Ingredient

1 cup of AP Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp salt

To make Wet Ingredient

1 egg
1/2 cup Sugar
2 very ripe bananas
1/4th Cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 tsp Vanilla

How I Did It

Pre-heat oven to 350F

Wet Ingredients

In my Magic Bullet Blender jar put
1 egg cracked
1/2 cup Sugar
Mix for a minute, at 30 sec steps


To the above put
2 very ripe bananas
Give a whizz until bananas is mushed up

To the above add
1/4th Cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 tsp Vanilla
Mix again for about 2 minutes, at 30 sec step

You have your wet ingredient ready

Dry Ingredient

In a separate bowl add
1 cup of AP Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp salt
Combine lightly

Slowly add the wet ingredient to the dry, mixing gently with a spatula. If you are adding walnuts, add 2 tbsp of chopped walnuts to the batter.

Add  1 tsp of orange zest if possible and pinch of cinnamon. The orange zest lends a very nice flavor to the bread so do try if you have.

Pour out in a 9x5 loaf pan, put in the oven and bake for 40 mins to 1 hr. Chances are after 40 mins, you will see the top has browned and has started to crack.
Then check the bread for done-ness by inserting a toothpick at 2-3 points.

Different ovens and different material loaf pans kind of change the bake time so I suggest this after 40 mins:
If inside is raw, cover the bread lightly with an aluminum foil and bake for the rest 20 mins.
If inside is done, take it out and let it cool.

Now take out of the oven and let it cool. The oven part needs to be handled by the adults but all else can be done by 9-10yrs old and up with little supervision.

Eat. All of it.

Pasta with Grilled Vegetables and toasted Breadcrumbs

We had this Pasta for dinner some time last week.

It was so good and the girls liked it so much that I decided to share with you all.

Also maybe I would want to make it again, very soon, and I would be moving heaven and earth trying to find the Pasta recipe that I just did on 26th September, 2013 or was it 25th ? But I would never find it because a) it would all be in my mind and b) I forget things that are on my mind.

So for benefit of mankind and myself, here is the recipe as I made it.

1. Chop veggies like pepper, mushroom, onion. Toss in Olive oil and salt. Pop in oven at 350F for say 30-40 mins.

2. While veggies cook, you can do several other things, none of which should involve stressful activities like doing power yoga.

3.If you still have time from doing non-stressful activities, put a big pot of water to boil. Generously salt it.

4. Cook pasta according to package directions. I had Fettuccine and the box said "cook for 10-12 minutes" and so I chose 13. Once pasta is done, drain and reserve some pasta water.
Toss the pasta in olive oil and keep aside.

5. While the pasta cooks, for 13 minutes is a looong time, put a a frying pan on fire. Yes, you heard it right.

6. Warm up some olive oil in there. Add  a good amount of minced garlic and stir around a bit. Gahhhlic is important. For your breath.

7. Once the garlic is fragrant add some chopped sausage if you have or want them in your pasta. Follow with a tbsp of marinara sauce from the jar.
Again, if you don't have the tomato sauce, fine, go and add a tbsp of ketchup. This pasta thing is very free wheeling as long as you are not Italian.

8. Throw in the almost-done veggies from the oven and toss with sausage etc.

9. Now put in the cooked pasta. Add some salt to taste. Sprinkle little of the pasta water and toss the pasta along with veggies. Add a splash of olive oil if you feel that is the right thing to do.

10. Meanwhile put a cup of breadcrumbs into a oven safe tray and toast in the oven for couple of minutes. You can use fresh for that is best but I had the store bought seasoned kind.

11. When you taste and all feels fine with the world add some...Guess what ? Add some of the toasted bread crumbs!!! Yes, yes. Breadcrumbs. I had no idea that people add breadcrumb to pasta until I saw this. Toss the pasta with breadcrumbs. It is excellent.

12.And since there has to be a twelfth commandment for 11 is an odd number to end a list, garnish with some fresh basil and add feta if you so wish. Then dig in.

Now something that is totally unrelated to Pasta. As in "Pasta se koi wasta nahin". If you have by any chance read through my book, you would get a general idea that I am not the one who has perfectly matching accessories and high sense of fashion. I am severely challenged in that area. That does not preclude my being friends with fashionistas though. Many of my friends are impeccably turned out and have a very acute sense of what earring complements which high heels.

One of them is this lady who has been creating waves with her beautifully designed sarees. If you are in the area and you want to catch a glimpse of her exquisite creations do stop by her exhibition on Oct 5th.

Peas and Corn with Himalayan Pink Salt

The Himalayan Pink salt is not important to this recipe.

The sweet peas are. So is the corn. I threw in the Himalayan Pink salt because it sounds hippie chic and also because I bought it very cheap at Costco.

I think Saindhav Lavan is how this Himalayan Rock Salt, mined in the Khewra salt mines at the foothills of Himalaya, was known to us in India. The Kala Namak which is more popular in India and is known as "Beet Noon" in Bengal, is a chemically transformed version of the Himalayan rock salt. Though these days Kala Namak is synthetically produced and there is no trace of Himalaya in there.

This Pink rock salt, looks like an original. Raw and unprocessed. I will keep my fingers crossed until someone crashes my delusion only to confirm that the cheaper Costco version was actually made in some lab in China.

Until then, here is this easy sweet peas and corn snack which will be packed for BigSis's lunch tomorrow along with ravioli. Whether you want regular salt, Himalayan Pink salt, Kosher salt or Kala namak is up to you.

Steamed sweet peas sauteed in butter was one of my favorite childhood snacks. Sometimes diced carrots and potatoes would be thrown in. At other times a chopped boiled egg. Sprinkle of black pepper and salt were the only seasonings. And it tasted so good that I care to make it again and again.

Only this time I did a tempering of Curry Leaves and Cumin seeds. You can ditch both and saute in just plain olive oil or butter too.

Cook 1 cup of frozen peas and 1 cup of frozen corn kernels in microwave. Usually 1 min for 1 cup cooks mine.

Now heat a tsp of Olive Oil. Temper the oil with 2 Kari Patta and few cumin seeds. You can add some sliced red onion too but I skipped.

Add the cooked peas and corn. Saute for a couple of minutes.

Season with Himalayan pink salt or regular salt. Sprinkle some crushed black pepper.

Done.

Ganesh Chaturthi was on Monday. It was also the day, both girls started their school after the summer break. Little Sis came back from her half-day KG and happily said "They call it Early Learning Center. But actually there is no learning."  I am sure hoping, she thinks it will remain that way.

Big Sis too liked her homeroom teacher. But she has a busy schedule with lots of running in between different classes and that too with heavy books and binders. Once the classes start in full swing and band practice etc. begins, she is going have a full day.

Leaving you with some pictures of Ganesha around my home and may the one with Curved Trunk, Large Body, and with the Brilliance of a Million Suns remove obstacles from our path or show us the way to do so.

Next week, I will be announcing some interesting giveaways on this blog. So stay tuned. And don't forget to get your copy of my book.

Pasta in a Thai Red Curry-Coconut Milk Sauce

Thai food is equivalent to comfort food for me. So is it for BS.

When we need to be comforted, a plate of white rice and Thai red curry comes very very close to masoor dal and alu posto.

I might as well have been a Thai Mom.

Next life, I will try  to go about it.

So when another Bong Friend. N, who am sure has already applied for the Thai Mom position even before me, for she loves Thai Food above and beyond everything else, suggested this pasta cooked in red curry paste and coconut milk, I just blindly followed. And then I threw in stuff I had in my refrigerator.

It was the easiest and most delicious meal to rustle up if you have Thai red curry and Coconut milk in your pantry. This time I dried up the sauce a bit but on afterthought next time I will have a little more gravy.

First boil pasta according to package directions. I used Fusili, my friends used elbow but I think spaghetti would go best. Anything else should be fine though.

Pre-cook the vegetables you want to add. I steamed some broccoli. I also microwaved some frozen vegetables(cauliflower, zucchini)

Heat Olive Oil in a pan

When the oil is hot add two fat clove of garlic finely minced.
Follow with quarter of an onion minced or chopped small.
Saute till onion is soft and translucent. Add couple of thai basil leaves at this point.

Now add about 1-2 tbsp of red curry paste. I use the Maesri brand. The amount will depend on your spice level, I went a bit low because the kids would have it.

Saute a little and add the coconut milk. Now, I had only 1/3 cup coconut milk so I thinned it with little water and added that. I would suggest to go with at least 1/2 cup of coconut milk

Add little salt and sugar to taste and mix well.

Add the pre-cooked veggies, some halved cherry tomatoes and let the sauce simmer to a boil. When the sauce is right consistency for you, add the cooked pasta and toss in the sauce.

Cook for a couple more minutes and switch off. Garnish with Basil leaves.

Nutella Covered Crackers

If you land up on a random day at my home with kids in tow, you will not find a pack of Oreo cookies, sack of Doritos or a bag of soft chewy cookies in my pantry.

It is not that my kids survive on carob chips and spelt flour cookies. I don't even know what they are, just wrote them like that. But because if I do have the oreo and the doritos, the conversation every 15 mins goes like this.

"Can I have a oreo? Pleaaase" with a big smile and the best of behavior.  No

"Then Dorito chips?" smaller smile but hopes still high.  No

"You are being mean. I don't like you," followed with lots of tears and feet stamping. Good.

If things get still worse, a white paper is scribbled with "I Don't Like Mommy" and presented to me with much flourish. Remind me who said that crap about Motherhood and divinity ?

Usually it is the younger one delivering the above dialogs. The nine year old is pretty aware about healthy eating, what with the school enforcing it and nothing but fruits or veggies being allowed for snack in school. The younger one though a fruit lover will eat cookies/chips and candy if she can set an eye on them.I am still monitoring Valentine Day candies and rationing 4 M&M's a day.

So I have stopped buying the kind of junk snack I don't want the kids to eat unless of course they are on vacation and I want peace.

However when it comes to Nutella, my views are pretty relaxed.
I like to believe Nutella is made with flax seeds and has Omega 3. What ? It doesn't ? Oh bummer.

So when I came across the Chocolate covered Graham Crackers at Tasty Kitchen, a voice in my head whispered "NUTELLA"

We have been making nutella covered crackers since then.

It is child's play. Literally. And it is the 9 year old child who does it except for handling the hot bowl or tray part.

We have used different kinds of crackers as base -- Marie biscuit, saltine crackers(the ones like cream cracker) and club crackers. The club crackers taste the best and the girls love it. They add sprinkles and stuff to pretty the crackers up and are very happy to have their own homemade chocolate crackers. Well, after the first few times LS lost interest in these crackers though. She however hasn't asked for oreo either.But BS loves them and it works perfect for her snack.

For the recipe of these crackers and a review of Chitra Banerjee Divakurani's latest children's book "Grandma and the Great Gourd" head over to my Kids' blog.

These lovely Lunch Skins reusable sandwich bags were gifted by my blog friend Indosungod. It was a pleasant surprise when they arrived on Friday. The amazing thing about these bags which can be used to pack sandwiches, cookies etc. is they are reusable. Cleaning is also very easy as they can be put in the dishwasher. Thank you so much Indo. The girls loved their bags and cannot wait for Monday. In fact BS liked them so much that she put her crackers in them and clicked the above pic.

Thank you Indo.

Sweet Potato Broccoli Parmesan Tikkis

These tikkis or croquettes are inspired by two people. Mandira of Ahaar and The IKEA people. But before diving into them, let me pique your interest by showing you my picture, as rendered by our in-house artist LS.

Did you see it ? Did you see it ? Ain't it cute ?

She has made me look so good in there. My adult acne and thick moustache has been totally covered up and my flowery feet and similarly flowery fingers have been accentuated. My arms look toned and my ears round and well formed. That girl sure knows how to bring out the best in her subjects.

And did you see the belly button ? My belly button ? That big round circle with a dot is apparently my belly button. She pushed up my shirt and confirmed that body part. "Oita tomar belly button", she said with conviction.

"Really ? " I thought. "It pops out like that ? Why did no one ever tell me about this wardrobe malfunction of mine? Or is that my tummy is so big that it surfaces as the most prominent part like the tip of an iceberg ?"

No idea which is what, but it must be true, given that it is the artist's view and all. I had thought that after completing its foremost important job of connecting me to my Mother, the belly button had taken a retirement package. Looks like it has resurfaced.

So any of you interested in getting a better-than-real portrait drawn, e-mail me please. We are still accepting orders.

Edited to add: The picture also shows my computer/laptop and a wireless mouse. Go find them

Now to these tikkis which I had set my mind on when I first saw them as cutlets at Mandira's Ahaar.

Then one fine weekday morning, I had the rare opportunity to go to Ikea. I had never seen the interiors of IKEA on a working weekday morning before and I am telling you, it is an experience. Whole lot better than a weekend one. The best thing was the cafeteria, where for once there was more food than people.Over and above the fixed menu items, there were many other edible stuff and the broccoli and potato medallions which I added to the tray as an afterthought was the best find after the Hemnes mirror. Those were really good and I could only think that it would only get better with Mandira's sweet potato idea.

When I came home and googled though for Ikea potato and broccoli medallion copy cat recipes, I got this. I had no whipped cream but I had parmesan. Also I wanted to use sweet potatoes. When done, those Sweet Potato Broccoli tikkis turned out great. I have packed them for school lunch along with bread. You can make a sandwich with them as the patty but BS did not like that idea, instead she wanted them separate. You can also wrap them in a roti and that is how she had them for dinner.

For the recipe of  Sweet Potato Broccoli Parmesan Tikkis check my kid's blog where I am storing Kid's Lunch Box ideas.

Chirer Pulao aka Poha -- witth Oats ahem

Chirer pulao featured a close second in my "Most wanted School Lunch" list as a kid.

The winner was almost always the egg noodles.

Third and Fourth place were tied and was either a fried rice, savory french toasts or aloo paratha. Yes, my mother packed good lunches.

As far as I go Chirer Pulao is largely similar to a Poha, with small differences like the former does not have kari patta, is sweeter and is overall Bong. The experts may differ. My Mother made chirer pulao with a tadka of mustard seeds and finished it with lime juice and fresh coriander leaves. It would be a little sweet and tart. That chirer pulao would be studded with crunchy brown friend chinebadam pale on the inside, alu bhaja -- finger length potatoes fried and soft and soft green jewel like green pea motorshuti . It was a simple dish, I thought.

The first time I tried to make it on my own in the US, my self-esteem took a good beating. The chirer pulao turned into a chirer khichuri. And it all happened in the split second that I was searching for the mustard seeds while the poha was soaking. I did not know of a term called "mise en place" and I did not know I was using thin poha. It was the wrong kind. The thick poha stands a better chance of holding its own and is the poha of choice for Chirer Pulao.

Having survived that tragedy, I have been making the chirer pualo the way my Mother makes until that is this Monday.

This Monday I decided to add oats to chirer pulao. Why you ask ? Why not just let oats be and eat it as a breakfast cereal.

Well, while me and the husband eat a decent amount of oatmeal, the kids do not. They don't like the texture. Since I was making this for BS's school lunch, I thought why not make it a bit more healthy by adding steel cut oats. I mean people make oats upma all the time so why not this.I used only 1/4 cup of steel cut oats and 1 cup of poha and then cooked and rinsed the oatmeal to remove the slimy texture. The end result was pretty good if I may say so myself.

I was pretty impressed by my fine sense of culinary mix and match (ahem) and just when I was feeling a wee bit like Marc Samuelsson this conversation happened.

The husband(who was at work on Monday and would be back next day): What did you make today ?
Me: I made a Chire Oats er Pulao for tomorrow's lunch.It turned out so good.
He: Oats and Chire together ? ***Followed by Long silence ***
Me: Yeah, why ? It is really good.
He: Amake khete hobe na to ? I hope there will be none left by the time I return.
Me: !!#$%#$!!

But of course I did not let that bother me. The lunch was packed for BigSis next day and she did not complain.

For the recipe of Chirer Pulao with Oats check my blog for kids where I am storing lunch box ideas. 

Chirer Pulao or Poha

Steel Cut Oats -- 1/4th Cup (optional)
Thick Poha or Chire - 1 Cup

Vegetables

Potato - 1 medium
carrot - 1 medium
Green peas - 1/4 Cup
Cauliflower -- 8-10 small florets chopped if available

Green Chilli - 3-4 minced
Ginger - 1" knob minced
Onion - 1 small chopped

For Tadka

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Dry Red Chilli - 1

Other Ingredients

Peanuts- 1/8th Cup
Coriander - to garnish
Lime Juice - 1 Tbsp

Salt - to taste
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Oil -- 2-3 Tbsp



Prep

Cook 1/4 cup of steel cut oats in boiling water for 8-10 minutes or as mentioned in package. The oat should be cooked but have a bite. Once cooked drain on a sieve and rinse out the starch with cold water

Chop 1 medium potatoes along the length or small cubes. Chop 1 carrot in small cubes . Defrost 1/4th cup of  green peas

Chop 1 small sized onion. Peel and chop 1" knob of ginger in julienne

Fry a handful of raw peanuts till brown and crunchy.

Keep 1 cup of thick poha ready. We are going to soak it soon.

Start making the Chirer Pulao

Heat Oil in a fry pan. Vegetable Oil or Mustard oil preferred but I often make it with Olive oil too.

Saute the potatoes with a sprinkle of turmeric till they are golden brown. Remove and keep aside.

Temper the oil with 1/2 tsp of Mustard seeds and 1 dry red  chilli

When the spices pop, add the onion and saute till soft and pink. Throw in the 2 green chilli chopped in rounds and minced ginger

Next add the carrots and green peas. Saute and then cover to let the vegetables cook.

When the carrot is almost done, add the potatoes and finish cooking them.

While the veggies are cooking do this:
Take a sieve
Put 1 cup of poha/chire on the sieve
Now hold the sieve under running water and soak the chire until they are soft.
You can also soak the poha in water directly but I often end up with soggy poha that way. The sieve and running water helps me control the exact softness I want in my chire.
Once the chire/pha is soft, squeeze out the excess water and keep it ready

Once the veggies are cooked, add the poha/chire to the frying pan. Add salt to taste and toss the poha so that the vegetables and the poha are nicely mixed. Add the cooked oats and mix well. Add a tsp of sugar and cook the whole thing for a few minutes. Taste and adjust for seasonings.


At the very end add juice of about half a lime and mix. Garnish with fried peanuts and chopped coriander.

Pasta with Roasted Peppers, Greens and Ricotta

Today was one of those days. The kind of day when you have a long To-Do list and nothing on it gets done.

Wait. Actually that is not today, that is everyday.

But while everyday, I just push off the today list to tomorrow, "today" some of the things on there had to be done. Simply had to. And one of them was to get Valentine's day gift or treat or some such thing for LS's class. Yes, for a class of four year olds who care the sheeshkabob about Saint Valentine. All they I am sure want is some colored candy which unfortunately I wasn't going to give.

Now all these years I have never sent gifts to school on V day. I have sent treats for the party but not individual gifts for the kids. "We just did this for Christmas. Why again in February?" was how my general train of thought went.But this year in a moment of weakness (or maybe it was the moment when I was busy clicking a food photo)I promised LS that I would send goody bags on Valentines Day. I promised but did not lift even one of my fat fingers towards that promise until I made the TBD list for today. "Buy V G.Bags", was scrawled on it along with several other illegible stuff which may  have included "Go to Gym" or may not.

To keep that promise, I came home; took a shower; drank tea with one several Marie Biscuit; quickly made a Pasta with roasted sweet pepper, spinach and ricotta because the tub of ricotta in the refrigerator was inching towards its expiration; donned a jacket and then rushed out to the nearest available store that sells stuff that can qualify for "V G.Bags". Thankfully the husband was around to take the kids to their taekwondo class and I could scratch that from my list.

So the main thing is, I donned a jacket and rushed out. When I say donned a jacket, I "donned" it on whatever I was wearing at home while sipping tea and cooking pasta. If you know me or in the case that you don't, it is high time you understand the way I function. I do not sip tea or cook pasta in designer wear. Forget desinger wear which I don't even own, I actually prefer drinking tea and stirring pasta in tracks which have been through the wash cycle so many times that they are now super comfy and in t-shirts so frayed at the edges that they might work better to mop my counter than covering my body. The only reason I like winter, is zipping up that jacket hides my wardrobe inadequacies in most places.

Comfortable in the super cape power of my jacket I breezed through the aisles of the store trying to figure which pack of valentine cards will give most bang for my buck, all the time feeling like I was being hit by a cold draft. But there was too much on my mind, like Winnie or Dora,  to pay attention to drafts and winds.

Finally all set, when I was at the checkout, the young guy at the counter was extra nice and kind of treating me like he would an older senile lady. You know, how you are extra nice and gentle and sweet when you encounter a ninety year old who is slightly woozy in the head. Well she has a reason, her sleep medication is doing that. "What is my excuse", I thought. It was then that I glanced down and what do I see ? The jacket that I had so confidently zipped up at home, had somehow unzipped midway and split up exposing my threadbare tee and holey pants. I surely looked like someone whose upper storey needed some repair work. Struggling with that zipper did not help at all and I quickly gathered my stuff and walked to the car. Fast.

Now I need a foolproof jacket. That tee and track pants are here to stay,

That said this Pasta with Roasted Red Peppers ,Greens and Ricotta was pretty good. A pinch of Garam Masala and some garlic made it better. It was inspired by a recipe in NY Times and will be packed for school lunch tomorrow. Of course it works perfect for a dinner too.

The recipe is in my kids' blog where I am storing lunchbox ideas.

Piya's Orange Chocolate Cupcakes on Mother's Day

Yesterday was Mother's Day. I am sure you had a nice one if you are one or made it nice for some Mother if you are not one.

Mine started on Friday itself with a Mother's Day Tea at Little Sis's school. I am very excited about these pre-school activities as I get to see the child in a different scenario than I am used to and this time I was going back to the same school where I had attended many such teas for Big Sis.

I took along Big Sis and we had a nice half hour in the school. The teacher had helped make the kids pretty flower cards with their picture and then she took our hand prints to make a laminated card later. It is a relief to see Li'l Sis finally settled in her school and besotted with her teachers. The little mite even has the gals to tell me "Today I don't love you. I love Miss K and Miss L.Tomorrow I will love you." Never knew such a statement could make me so happy.

Speaking of happy, Mothers and Mother's Day have any of you watched this new TV show called Satyamev Jayate ? I do not get the channel but discussions about the first episode regarding female foeticide  made me go to their website and watch a part of the episode in which Aamir Khan talks to two mothers. As much as we know that such things happen, since I have personally not known anyone pressured to abort a girl child, it was a thing which I complacently believed happened only in few remote corners of India. As a result it was very hard to watch these women speak and I was amazed at their courage and spunk as much as I was disgusted by the act of the Fathers. The show claimed that according to 2011 Census, the rate at which the unborn female child is killed amounts to killing off 10,00,000 girls a year. In a modern India shining with multiplexes, snazzy malls and booming economy it is a shame to know that there are multitude of families both educated and not who think killing of a girl is road to good karma.

After watching that episode any Mother's Day celebration seemed kind of frivolous and shallow but then again I decided it is an occasion to celebrate Motherhood and life and applaud Mothers, more those who have fought an adverse society to raise and protect daughters.

Yesterday after the usual morning routine of breakfast which I made sure the Dad made and loads of hand made cards gifted by the girls, Big Sis wanted to make cup cakes for Mother's Day. They also wanted to decorate it courtesy a "Cookbook", R Mashi had given to Big Sis. After having promised them frosting and sprinkles and having watched videos of "how to frost a cup cake" for the whole of last week I had no energy to get into such hard task. Big Sis wanted to make pretty cup cakes like Sunita's. "Tough luck kiddo", I said.

After much negotiations we zeroed in on orange flavored cup cakes with chocolate chips, colored with food colors and then slathered with Nutella. What is not to love here, tell me.

Now to the cake recipe which some months back Shreya's Mom, Piya, had sent me. In her exact own words.

"All purpose flour – 2 Cups
Baking Powder – 2 ½ Tsp(Tea spoon)
Eggs – 4
Sugar – 2 Cups
Vanilla Essence – Few Drops
Vegetable Oil – 2 Cups
1/2 Tsp salt.
In a mixing bowl, mix the sugar and the vegetable oil. I use a spatula first to get it all together and then I use the hand beater. It will not rise as much as it does with butter.

When mixed well, add the egg one at a time. Add Vanilla drops.Beat this mix for long to get a nice consistency.
In a separate bowl, mix the all purpose flour, a pinch of salt and the baking powder together. Mix it well.
Now add the flour slowly into the egg-sugar-oil mixture. I alternate between my spatula and hand beater. You can do it all in the food processor if you are using one. You will know when the batter is all ready and done. If it is too thick, I sometimes add a splash of milk(sorry this is the "aandaj" part)
Bake it at 350F for 35 mins or so, varies by oven. Bake it till the knife comes out clean from the center of the cake.
I usually like to add on flavors to the cake – Like a layer of chocolate for the marble cake, orange rind and cinnamon gives a nice flavor too or simple add whatever nuts/raisins the kids are fond of.
Try it and let me know if it comes out well for you. I do not use Baking soda, some folks do. I personally think it makes the cake a bit crumbly. Also, you can do half butter and half oil if you do not want to do it with just oil. Half butter and half oil makes the cake more moist. "

It is a simple recipe, no frills, no stand mixer and not even butter. That suits me. The whole "beating the butter" thing bothers me terribly.

In the course of the last few months her cake recipe has become my "go-to-cake-recipe". We add something or the other to her base recipe and always make cup cakes. They turn out to be soft, fluffy, moist and everything a cup cake should. 

This time it was fresh orange juice, orange zest and chocolate chips.

Then the kids went wild and there was color.

After which there was gooey Nutella. Those cake could not help but be good. could they ?

Orange Chocolate Cup Cakes

I reduced the recipe to make only 6 cup cakes. 

All purpose flour – 1/2 Cups 
Baking Powder – 1/2 + 1/8Tsp(Tea spoon) 
Eggs – 1 
Sugar – 1/2 Cups 
Vanilla Essence – Few Drops
Vegetable Oil – 1/2 Cups 
1/8 Tsp salt 
Orange Juice -- Juice of half an orange 
Orange Zest -- 1/2 tbsp 
Whole Milk -- 2 tbsp (if needed) 

 How I Did It 

In a bowl mix the dry ingredients -- flour, baking powder and salt. 

Blend the sugar + oil. You can use the hand mixer. I simply use my blender. 

In a mixing bowl put the wet ingredients -- oil + sugar, egg, orange juice. Beat the eggs into the mix and with  a whisk beat for about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla essence and orange zest. Mix. 

Next add the dry ingredients to the wet. Do it in steps mixing with a spatula. After you have mixed all the dry into the wet, add milk if you think the batter is too thick. I added about 2 tbsp 

Mix in the chocolate chips. Pour in greased cup cake liners. Bake for 30-35 mins at 350F.
Cool and then decorate.

LadyBug Pancakes for Edible Book Festival

Ever since I saw this event "Edible Book Festival"  announced I wanted to take part in it. A fun way to spend a weekend with the girls I thought. But I wasn't sure what exactly to create until one fine night under the comforter we read "Pancakes, Pancakes" for Lil Sis.(by Eric Carle)

"Pancakes" it hit me. "We can do pancakes".

"We can color it", said Big Sis who always tries to find an excuse to use the tiny box of food colors we had got last year and rarely used.

I decided to go with one of Little Sis's book simply to get her interested. Big Sis is a voracious reader and needs no motivation. And it really did--got the little one all piqued. She diligently followed the steps needed to make a pancake from flour, to milk, to eggs, to butter and then promptly fell asleep. It was tedious if you started from the wheat bit and followed the long supply-chain involved in making a pancake. But it also gave the kids a good idea that even a simple food like pancake involves a complex process.

After narrowing it down to Pancakes we decided to shape it like The Very Hungry Caterpillar because, because...ummm well we thought a caterpillar would be easy to create with pancakes.

All things said and done I made this very easy and totally reliable Pancake Mix on Friday night before going to bed at 12. I like to plan my days. I am very organized that way.Not.

On Saturday morning due to my superb organization skills there was crisis. We searched high and low and could not even get a whiff of The Hungry Caterpillar-- the book. Like many of Lil Sis's belongings I am sure it is tucked away somewhere to be found 1, 5 or even 10 years later.

So then Big Sis suggested a LadyBug pancake based on "Ladybug Girl Dresses Up"(by Jacky Davis) another of Lil Sis's favorite books. She loves how Lulu dresses up as a pirate, an astronaut, a spy and then finally a ladybug. Since we had enough food color to paint the town  a ladybug with red wings and chocolate chip dots appealed immensely to both the girls. I got idea of a ladybug pancake from here (they have more lovely ideas there).The girls of course went wild with the color and added a teal blue sky, greenery around and flashy red wings with day-glo orange for the antennas.

Then they added more colors and made a caterpillar. Then they added more and made stuff I did not even recognize. Finally we ate them with a good drizzle of Maple syrup. The pancakes were soft, fluffy and just right.

The Pancake recipe was courtesy Nigella Lawson snagged from here. The Homemade Pancake mix is such a brilliant, brilliant idea that I have been gushing over it. You can make it ahead and store it in an air-tight box. I used it within two days but I think it will keep for a week. Oh and I also made some pancakes and froze them to be used during the week. My first time freezing them and I thought it was a pretty helpful thing to fall back on busy week days.

This is my entry for edible Books going over to Play By the Book.


And on the creative note do checkout the lovely Etsy store stocked with the cutest framed appliqued art work of my another favorite blogger Peppercorns in My Pocket.


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Homemade Pancake Mix and Critter Pancakes

Make Pancake mix

All-purpose flour ~ 2 cups
Baking powder ~ 1.5 tbsp
Baking soda ~ 1 tsp
Salt ~ 1/2 tsp
Sugar ~ 1 tbsp + 2 tsp

Mix all of the above ingredients and store in an air-tight jar or box.

Make Pancake batter

For the batter
Add
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
to about 1&1/8 cup of the dry pancake mix. Mix gently to combine. Do not overmix.
Note: the recipe said to add 1 cup pancake mix but I wanted thicker American style pancakes and so added a little more.

Make the pancakes

Heat a flat griddle or pan over medium-high heat. Grease with little butter or oil.

Spoon 1/4 cup of batter onto the hot griddle and when bubbles appear on the surface of the little pancakes, flip them over to make them golden brown on both sides.

For the ladybug pancake we used
1/4cup batter mixed with cocoa powder to make the body,
1/4 cup batter with red food color for wings,
1/8 cup batter with cocoa for head,
1/8 cup batter with orange food color from which strips were cut for antenna.

Chocolate chips made the polka dots.

Toddler Menu -- a la Frittata

My Dad who is really bad at story telling is coerced into telling LittleSis a story.

He goes, " There was a cow who gave us milk...".

Okay I really don't know how this exciting story would have turned out but LS intervened " Cow gives you milk ? Naaaah. We get Milk from the fridge and Baba puts it there. He gets it from the grocery stores".

Does this prove "Baba is cow" ? Kind of.

The BigSis enters the picture and is apalled at her sister's lack of knowledge.

She goes, "No LS listen. The cow who lives far off gives milk. Then they put that milk in big trucks. The truck transports milk to the grocery store, blah, blah...."

LS gives her older sis an incredulous look and walks off saying "Naaaah".

LS's Dad is telling her a bedtime story. He starts off with Ramayana. The poor guy has been trying to tell the same story for years and has never gone far. It truly is an epic when told in our house.

This time however amidst all interruptions and questions he proceeded to the part where Bharat returns to Ayodhya with Rama's sandals on his head.

LS goes "He carried sandals on his head.Ewwww, that is disgusting"

LS went to school for all of 4 days, 3 of which she cried buckets. All 4 days we got her back in 2 hours. And then she proceeds to tell everyone who cares to listen "I went to school. I did not cry even a little bit"

Beginning of this month we went to visit the D's sister. LS ganged up with her same age cousin and they both played together very well. They would set up their play things in corners or in closets and shoo away the older sis. It was a huge change from last year when they met for the first time in India and fought like cats & dogs.This time it was the BigSis who would come and tell us, " They are not letting me play, what do I do ?"

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Tomorrow is Mahalaya and the count down to Durga Pujo begins. We will be celebrating it far from Bong land like Sudeshna says. Also there is something coming up for you all also in a couple of days, so stay tuned and be back.

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Now to the Frittata, which is an easy breakfast for weekend or even weekday Mornings. It is both easy to make and to shove down a reluctant child's throat, upto a point that is. I do it totally on the stove top, no oven is involved. You may say that makes it an omlette, but I will stick to Frittata because that makes it a la-di-da dish to gobble up quick. And that is how the girls like it.

Cook few pieces of Broccoli florets(cut small) in the microwave.

Heat 1 tsp of Olive Oil or Butter in a small fry pan. Saute some chopped onion, cooked broccoli or what-have-you vegetables. I usually add some chopped spinach and tomatoes. Thinly chopped Bell peppers are another attractive option.

Once the vegetables are cooked I also add some pieces of bread, hand torn. Note:Bread is optional.

Meanwhile beat 2 eggs + 1/4 cup of milk in a bowl. Spike it with a salt, little Garam Masala powder and what-have-you herbs.

Once you are done sauteing the veggies and the bread pieces are just browned, spread them out and pour the beaten eggs uniformly covering the veggies. Tilt the pan around to ensure that the liquid has reached all edges. If necessary , add about 1/2 tsp of Olive Oil around the edges.
Cover the fry pan, reduce heat to low medium and let it cook. Check in between to see if the top has set, lifting the edges a little with your spatula. Sprinkle some grated cheese on top and let it melt. Serve warm.

Note: Ideally after the bottom is cooked you are supposed to transfer the pan to the oven and broil for couple of minutes. I don't do that, because  the Frittata I make for the kids is not very thick and it gets cooked pretty well on the stove top without firing up the oven. The only thing you need to be careful is not to burn the bottom of the frittata and you are all set to serving up a happy meal to the kids.

Chotoder Chicken Stew -- Chicken Stew with Vegetables

A couple of months back...

Me to BigSis: Have you heard of Isaac newton ? Do you know who he is ?

BigSis : Yes, yes, he is the guy who said we should wash our hands twenty times with soap and water to kill germs.

Me: ????? Don't they teach anything at your school ? Newton was a famous scientist...

BigSis: Yes, that is why he said to wash hands !!!

Me, now confused, maybe Newton said something about washing hands after all, who knows: Well, that is fine but more importantly he was the one who explained gravity, apple falling from tree... F=G..blah, blah, blah

Big Sis: Okay...

A few weeks back, little neighbor girl has come over to play.

Me, with my favorite question: Have you heard of Isaac newton ? Do you know who he is ?

Little NG: Uh, Oh
Big Sis very interested : Yes, yes, he is the guy who said we should wash our hands twenty times with soap and water to kill germs.

Me, now exasperated: Didn't I tell you that he was a famous scientist and apple falling from tree...blah, blah...gravity...blah, blah

Little NG: BM Aunty, Yes, apple will always fall down from tree, will not go up but Hand washing with soap and water really kills germs.

Now really who is this guy. Where in the Principia did Sir Newton tell us to wash our hands ? For now I am washing my hands off this and cooking up a chicken stew with loads of vegetables. You do too. A warm bowl to cool a hot mind.

I make a chicken stew(you can make with mutton too) with loads of vegetables every week. Little S loves chicken and this stew, Big Sis at her current stage not so much chicken but still likes the broth part. Every week the vegetables change, the spices change but the stew is always there.Till about 6 months ago I would puree the vegetables like this egg curry. Now I just put everything in the pressure cooker. The aroma is divine. With a hot green chili, it makes a lovely dish even for the adults.

There is no set recipe that I have. I go along with the flow and some week is just better than the other. The spice mix I used a couple of weeks back was different, a bit unusual and I liked it. That is the only reason I am putting the recipe here. Now tell me, what is your child's favorite everyday food ?

Hope you all had a Happy Eid and a lovely Ganesh Chaturthi.

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Chicken Stew with Vegetables

The measurements etc. are totally eyeballed, go with your instinct.

Marinate 2-2&1/2lb of whole cut up chicken (skinless with bones) with 1 tsp of Garlic Paste, 1 tsp of Ginger Paste, a little turmeric powder, salt and lime juice

Toast
1 tsp of whole Corriander Seeds
1/4 tsp of Cumin seeds
1/4 tsp of Fennel seeds
6 Cloves/Laung

Make a paste of the
above spices
4 cloves of garlic
1" piece of peeled and chopped ginger

Heat Olive Oil or butter in a Pressure cooker or a deep bottomed pan

Temper the oil with a thin 2" stick of cinnamon and 3-4 green cardamom (gently crushed in the mortar)

Add about 1 small onion chopped fine and fry till onion turns brown on the edges. Add the masala paste and 1 chopped tomato. Fry covered till the oil is separating from the masala and the tomatoes are all mushed up.

Add all the vegetables (potatoes, carrots, zucchini, green beans, few leaves of spinach, a beet maybe), sprinkle a little salt and saute for 2-3 minutes.

Next add the marinated chicken pieces and saute till the meat is no longer pink.

Add enough warm water so that the meat and vegetables are fully covered. Add a fistful of fresh coriander leaves.Pressure cook for about 5 minutes at full pressure. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and lime juice. Serve as a soup or with rice.
Note: For grown ups add a couple of hot Indian Green chili for a spicy kick

Toddler Menu -- Egg Curry with Veggies

As much as I love traditions and festivals, I abhor rituals that most times comes with it. You might say that it is the rituals which make actually make up a tradition and there is no point celebrating Diwali with unlit candles. But I like to adjust the rituals to my convenience, to bend them around to suit me instead of bending backwards to comply. A lot of it comes from sheer laziness and finding joy in lighting up tea-light candles for Diwali instead of spending hours rolling cotton wicks between your palms.

I liked rolling the cotton wicks and maybe I will do it again some day when I have nothing else to do.But what I am saying is the fact that I have the liberty of not doing it and lighting up the tea-lights instead, liberates me.

Ditto with Saraswati Pujo. I am not a morning person and as a kid I loved my morning sleep on holidays. On foggy mornings of Saraswati Pujo, this was not to be. We had to wake up early, really really early and take shower in the water from the overhead tank, which was still cool to touch. With remains of sleep in my eyes I would then help Ma set up the Pujo. Pujo at home was usually done by my Dada(paternal grandfather) or Baba. Both were stickler to rituals and wanted to start the Pujo at the exact time written in the crumbling pages of the jacaranda colored Panjika. Somehow when I think of Saraswati Pujo along with the nicer parts, I also remember the early morning part and my reluctance in getting up.

So now that the baton has been handed over and I am the Master of Ceremonies I have shifted the Puja time very conveniently from early morning to late evening. That is how we had it last Tuesday, after work, after school, in the confines of the home, we prayed for Knowledge and enlightenment.

Little S also had her "haathe khori", literally translated as "chalk in hand" on the same day. This again is a tradition to make a child write her first letter, thus initiating her into the world of knowledge. But instead of taking her to the temple or any such place, we did the honors ourselves. While I guided her hand to trace out the curves of the first Bangla letter, Big Sis helped her trace the straight lines of the English alphabet.Then Little S went totally berserk and scribbled structures which she declared as lowercase t and p. She, who has to always share Big Sis's markers and easel and such, loved all the attention and the chalkboard and refused to budge from the scene.

Talking of Little S and food, as I have said before she is not really into food. She is also not exactly crazy about veggies. So like all sane Moms who hyperventilate about five serving of vegetables and their kid, I have to find ways to sneak it in. It was easier when she was smaller and did not know much. A Khichuri with plenty of vegetables could be shoved down her throat. But she is 2 and has a mind of her own. Thanks to Didi being around she has tasted lollipos and cheetos. Khichuri is not exciting any more and she loves Chicken Biryani.

So I try to put in a good amount of vegetables in the gravy dish that I make for her. It is usually a chicken curry or an egg curry. Vegetables like beet, carrots, butternut squash, sweet potato, sometimes spinach makes its way there and gets blended to remove any trace of its original appearance. I tweak the recipe around every other day to give a new flavor. I would not go so far as saying she loves them but at least she gets her quota of veggies that way.

This is an egg curry with butternut squash and sweet potatoes. It can be other veggies. It can be anything other than egg. This is just a base recipe. You can alter and make your own changes around it.


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Egg Curry with Butternut Squash & Sweet Potatoes for the Kiddo

Boil and peel 2 organic eggs. keep aside.

Heat 2-3 tsp of ghee in a deep saucier or kadhai.(Making your own ghee is easy)

Temper with 1/4 tsp of whole Cumin Seeds. Let the cumin sizzle to flavor the Ghee.

Add quarter of an onion finely chopped. Saute till onion is soft and pink.

Add about 1/4 tsp of fresh Ginger-Garlic paste(I make it over the weekend and store for a week)

Fry for a few seconds. Add half of a nice juicy tomato finely chopped. Saute till it is mush and there is no raw smell.

Add about 1/2 cup of peeled and chopped sweet potato. Add about 1/2 cup of peeled roasted butternut squash(I always roast and then peel butternut squash, you can add them raw too).

Add about 1/4 tsp of fresh roasted Cumin powder + a little Turmeric Powder. Saute the vegetables so that they are nicely coated with the masala. When the veggies start browning a little, add about half cup of water. Add salt and let the veggies cook.Add more water if necessary.

Once the veggies are cooked, puree them, either with an immersion blender or by putting them in a regular blender jar.

Add a little more water to the puree and bring it back to a boil. Add a pinch of Garam Masala.

Now add the boiled eggs. Since LS does not like the texture of cooked egg yolk, I halve the boiled eggs and mix the egg yolk into the gravy.

Make the gravy as thick or thin you desire. Adjust for seasonings and garnish with some corriander leaves.

I usually serve this with rice. You can feed it by itself too along with a bread toast or chapati.

Better Than Anything Chocolate Cup Cakes

We have too many parties during the holidays. By too many, I mean "two", but that is many by my standards. And by parties I do not mean the sequined slips, pointed stilettos,dancing in smoky room kind of parties. That would be cool and I could have then put up pics of such dos on FB but I am never invited to such parties and I don't even have a personal account on FB or a sequined slip for that matter.

No, ours is very un-snazzy Jhumpa Lahiri-ish Bong party. The kind where the kids play in the basement, the female folks gravitate around the kitchen and family room, the men folk drink wine and discuss Sodepur vs Obama and umpteen trays of food warm in the oven. I would say "desi" but there is a difference.

"Desi" parties have games, lots of them. Till date, I have been forced to identify 20 pictures of unknown buildings and memorize 10 random objects on a tray, two of which were safety pins, all while I waited for the hostess to serve Dahi Vada. The husband was once asked to put a bindi on my forehead, blindfolded. He fled.We are yet to return the hostess's dupatta, the one used as blindfold.

Bong parties have no such pressure.No showcasing of talent is necessary.No one is expected to do anything except eat, lots of it. You can get by without saying a single word other than, "Chop ta darun hoyeche(The chop is delicious)" or "Doi ta byapok(Yogurt is great)" and still be re-invited. Ask the Husband.He is the king of no liners.

I love games though, especially dumb charade. Maybe I will return the dupatta next week and see if I can get back in.

Yesterday night BS & I baked some Chocolate cup cakes for our Christmas Party.Our very own.

It is what some of us close friends throw together to provide the kids some entertainment and a Santa. Gifts bought by parents are distributed, kids play games, sing songs, play the piano and then everyone eats food.An immature attempt to warm up an otherwise cold Christmas Night. The kids might actually cringe at the thought of such parties in their adolescence but we like to think otherwise.

Now to these chocolate cup cakes which are hands down better than anything ever. Every chocolate cake is but these are rich, moist, chocolate-y and perfect. BS has loved them earlier and of all the things I have baked so far this and the Chocolate brownies are her only favorites. My search for the perfect chocolate cup cake recipe came to a stop once I found these and I have already baked them a couple of times.

I love chocolate cakes with a gooey center but wasn't brave enough to do the mousse filling. So I put a single Hershey Kiss at the center of each of the cup cakes and baked them. The result was not exactly a gooey center but a slightly soft, more chocolate center. The next time I will put in half of a Lindt truffle and see how that works.

These cakes are pretty rich and perfect sweet by themselves but for some I did a nutellaa frosting just because I had a Nutella jar itching to be opened.and for some BS did a icing just because she loves doing those. Also since these are pretty rich, I think it is better to do mini cupcakes instead of 16 regular ones. That way you can indulge without guilt. These go to Nupur's Holiday Buffet and thanks Stef of Cupcake Project for the awesome original recipe.



And we have already demolished 4 of the 16 cupcakes.If at least 12 survive for the 14 kids coming tomorrow, hail Santa. BS also plans to play " I want a Hippopotamus..." tomorrow. If we survive the hardly rehearsed rendition, we will have a Happy Holiday. You have one too.


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Chocolate Cup Cake

What You Need

Butter ~ 1/2 cup (1 stick) at room temperature
Sugar ~ 1-1/4 cups
Eggs ~ 2 large at room temperature

AP Flour ~ 3/4 cup
Baking powder ~ 1/2 tsp
Baking soda ~ 1/4 tsp
Salt ~ 1/4 tsp
Unsweetened cocoa powder ~ 1/2 cup

Milk ~ 1/2 cup
Vanilla ~ 1 tsp

Mini semi-sweet chocolate chips ~ 2/3 cup. Instead I used a regular Hershey
Kiss for each cup cake, 16 sweet kisses.

How I Did It

Beat butter until softened.

Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Check my post to understand how much to beat.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined.

Pre-heat oven to 350F

Measure
the flour,
baking powder,
baking soda,
salt, and
cocoa powder into a small sized bowl and whisk to combine.

In a cup add the milk and vanilla and stir to combine.

Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Beat gently, I mostly do this with my rubber spatula.

Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.

Stir in chocolate chips. I did not do this, instead I added a Hershey kiss to each of the cups.

Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 1/2 full.

Bake at 350F for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Mine were done at 18 mins.

Frost or ice or decorate according to your wish.

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If you want to create yummy chocolate cupcakes like this one, pastry schools offer classes on baking and pastry arts.

Roasted Winter Vegetable Soup -- spiced up

"Any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field."

Who in the frickin blue blistering barnacles drafted this thing ? It is so dang complicated, I don't even have something concrete to base my argument upon.
Who brought on this topic about gender equality and equal opportunity ?

Yeah, please Sir/Ma'm,  I want some amendments.

All that equal opportunity has done for me is to make me work outside the home, inside the home, in the periphery of home and everywhere foreseeable. I have been given enough opportunity to work. Thank you.

Now I want the finer points ironed out. Like who gets the opportunity to fold the laundry or say pack lunch or plan dinner every night ? Whose fundamental freedom is it to watch Hulu while the kids are being taken care of ? Who gets the opportunity to be depressed when the baby says "Mummy four o clock e asbe" every single day ? Who has the exclusive rights to check and sign homework every night ? Who gets the "once in a lifetime" opportunity  to research & pick the nearest, cheapest Taekwondo center/Gymboree/Swim Class/some class in town ?

If in simple English, maybe bullet points, someone could take care of these, and in printed letters put it to UN or where ever you do such stuff, I would be ever obliged.

Ok, I am having had a bad day, so what ?

* The UN has intervened since this was drafted (on Monday) and some sort of a treaty has been reached but I want a signed official document.

Fall is practically Winter to my tropical soul, the kind of Winters I like, mild, pleasant with the sun on your back, and cold enough to bring out the woolens. But it getting colder and windier and a sweater is not enough.

Everyday that my Dad calls he asks, whether we need a jacket outside. "Yes, we do", BS says. My Dad sighs and grumbles about how difficult the cold must be for the kids. They don't mind all that much, except for the winter jacket. Yeah they don't like winter jackets and we are not yet discussing mittens and scarves.

A bowl of warm soup with the colorful winter vegetables warms up the heart though. It is a perfect way to welcome the cold.With some bread brushed with olive oil this made a lovely Sunday night dinner, a calm end to an otherwise hectic weekend. BS loved it and had two small bowls, though LS insisted that "Ami soup khai na"(I don't drink soup).

I don't know where or how I came up with this soup. It all started off with the lone sweet potato and then I was inspired by my previous Moroccan Lentil Soup.


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Serves 4, measurements are eyeballed

Roasted Winter Vegetable Soup

Peel and roughly chop 1 sweet potato, 1 small-ish beet root and half of an yellow squash, ok any squash, ok, ok no squash

Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Arrange flat on a baking tray and bake at 400F for 30 minutes till you see the veggies shrivel a little.. These are my small toaster oven settings

Heat Olive Oil in a deep stock pot

Add half a cup of chopped onion. Saute till onions are soft and translucent.

Add 2 tsp of fresh ginger-garlic paste and fry for half a minute. Add one small peeled tomato along with some juice. I used canned else chop one small.

Add 1/2 cup of chopped baby carrots(or regular). Cook till carrots are soft.

Add the roasted vegetables. Wash and add about 1/3 cup of Red lentils

In a skillet dry roast 1-2 tsp of cumin and then grind to a fine powder. I usually do a whole batch of this and store it in an air tight jar. Add 1 heaped tsp of roasted cumin powder and 1/2 tsp of dry ginger powder to the stock pot. Add a dash of adobo chile powder(optional). Ok, honestly you do not need adobo chile powder. What does adobo have to do with this soup anyway. It is just that I have a bottle of it and wanted to use it 'coz it sounds nice. No pressure.
Give everything a good stir and saute for a minute or two.

Add enough water and salt to taste.Cover and cook till lentils and vegetables are done. Squeeze a little lime juice and adjust seasonings to taste.

Puree with an immersion blender. Season with fresh ground black pepper.

Serve with some crusty bread or enjoy a warm bowl by itself.

More Heart Warming Soups:

Oven Roasted Tomato Soup

Healthy Moong Bean Soup

Thai Vegetable Soup

Salsa Soup

Moroccan Lentil and Carrot soup