All those cakes!

April is a big month for us. It's birthday month!

While Vishal had to make do with his 'flan cake', I got to cut not one but THREE cakes! And a little birdie tells me that there are a few more cakes in this week. (So greedy!!)

From an exquisite, super fancy chocolate orange cake ordered by the husband

To a great pink, layered, super gooey, strawberrilicious cake organised by some wonderful colleagues

And then finally culminating in a delicious, crumbling cheesecake!

Birthday this year has been a 'sweet' affair indeed. Thank you for all the good wishes and positive energy!

Here's stepping into the next decade of chocolatey beginnings, gooey and juicy memories and delicious hard work!

Snacks from Sichuan!

 

One of my colleagues just came back from a visit home and got us a big bag of Sichuanese goodies!!

Thanks to Jaycee it has been one big party in office with us Indians exclaiming over the pepper peanuts - more like red chilli chips, various flavours of spicy (read, numbing) dry tofu, spicy beans, spicy peanut candies and special order hot hot dried beef strips.

Wonder how I spent nearly 29 years without this amazing Sichuanese food!!

 

Special thanks Jaycee for getting snacks especially for me to take home and share with the husband!

<3 <3

Birthday without cake

What's a birthday without a cake? And what's a cake without baking powder?

So, with no cake and no clue that baking powder is essential to cake making, I fretted and frowned on Vishal's birthday eve. Then inspiration in the guise of my mother's voice struck - make caramel custard - it's sweet, it's festive, it's cake like appearance wise, it's easy!

So last night, an hour after midnight, the husband cut his birthday cake flan!

And boy, did the custard not let me down. Was so so proud of it. Honestly didn't expect it to set  - having finally taken it off the heat at 11:15pm.

But set it did and we had ourselves a happy birthday song and candle blowing ceremony.

Correction, we had the entire custard cake and ate it too!

Flan for all reasons and for all seasons!

Happy Birthday!!

Smoothie surprise: A recipe

Simple, instant, filling, nutritious, delightful, breakfast in a glass.

That's a smoothie for you!

Ingredients

• Grapes
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• 1/2 apple cut into cubes
• Honey
• Yogurt
• Milk
• Cinnamon stick

Preparation

Chop the fruits into chunks. Place in a blender.

Add honey

Add yogurt

Add milk

Add cinnamon stick broken into several pieces. Blend!

 

Breakfast in a glass... all good things!

 

French toast with berries: A recipe

I enjoy experimenting with various flavours and today a serving of french toast with a side of berry puree, as part of my spring themed brunch, did take me by surprise! If you want to try this slightly unconventional combination, here goes the recipe!

Ingredients

• Bread sliced into small cubes - I used brown bread with sunflower seeds but any bread would do
• Olive oil
• Eggs - I used eggs 4 for 2 people
• Salt and pepper
• Grated parmesan cheese
• Strawberries and berries
• Sugar

Preparation
Break the eggs, add salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar and grated cheese. Whisk well.

One by one, dip the bread slices in the egg and let them soak in the egg mix.

On a low flame, heat some olive oil on a non-stick pan and place 3-4 pieces of bread.

Once the egg is firm, nice and brown, flip the bread slices.

Take off the heat once the egg is cooked on both sides. You don't need to keep adding oil to the pan every time you put in the bread if using a non-stick pan.

Serve with berry puree as a dip. Recipe here. Or with honey or maple syrup or just plain!

I would love to hear about the quirky combinations you enjoy. Do let me know!

Berry green tea: A recipe

So refreshing. So good. So simple. A simple twist to the boring green tea - a glass of berry green tea on a spring day!

Ingredients

• Green tea bags
• Water
• Sugar
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Lemon juice

Preparation

Boil the water. Place the tea bags in a pitcher and pour the boiling water into it.

While the tea steeps, wash the berries by putting them in a bow of water and gently swishing them so that the dirt settles on the bottom. 

Scoop them out one by one once clean and put them on a kitchen towel. Hull the strawberries.

Put the berries in a blender jar along with sugar and lemon juice. I did not add too much sugar as I wanted to balance the drink with the berry dip for the french toast but you can be as liberal with the sugar as you want!

Blend the berries till smooth with some strawberry chunks in it.

Remove the tea bags and pour the berry puree into the green tea pitcher.

Mix well.

Serve immediately or chilled!

A berrilicious Sunday

It's been a while since I've made a 'Sunday breakfast' and I missed the absolute lethargy, lull and feeling of contentment which follows a Sunday brunch. So today was the day!

Although the dark, foggy, brooding weather (see the cloud covered hill in the background?) doesn't suggest it, we are in the middle of HK spring and what better way to celebrate the season than have a 'berry' themed meal!

A pitcher of hot 'berry' green tea followed with (very experimental) french toast in berry puree seemed like a great idea.

And then I thought, spring is about all things green and new, leading to a fresh grape and lettuce salad brainwave!

Now that I am stuffed full and sated, on to my guilty pleasure - a 'Koffee With Karan' marathon (!!) while the husband heads to a Sunday in office.

Happy Sunday everyone... see you on the other side of the week! :)

A note to Maggi

For those days when you feel that there is nothing, absolutely nothing in the house, there is always Maggi!

Sometimes I do wonder how good a wife I am - the house is in slight disarray from Monday to Friday, meals are used to be mostly outside, we just seem to come home to sleep and shower! And then I ask myself if that's the only qualities of a 'good' wife - keeping a clean house and running a kitchen. Every single time, 100 out of 100 times, the answer is a resounding, clear, loud NO. 

Of course the house has to be managed, it has to be run, the fridge has to be stocked but the occasional absence of groceries explains how busy or hectic or full of activity and life our week has been. It doesn't and shoudn't be an example of my house-managing skills. 

If you ask me what I really missed the most about India in my first few months in HK, the answer would be somebody who would come and cook and clean. But in the absence of all household help, I think we're doing just fine. Because on the days when there is absolutely nothing in the house, there is always Maggi! And eggs and cheese and chillies and onions and beer and milk and wine and suddenly, there seems to be food aplenty!