Lamingtons

Lately blogging and even cooking have become an weekend affair for me.After my last post, I don’t think I have visited this space more than twiceL That too not more than few minutes..

I am caught up in the midst of a whirlpool at work and I can say that  I am virtually living in my office and coming home just for sleeping. Needless to say my kitchen and oven have been idle for weeks..The craziest part is I am even dreaming of work, slides, and even colleagues..to be specific bossesL. Every morning when I wake up, I feel like I just came out of  a long exhausting meeting.

To keep myself sane, I am making some time for some fun activities as well. DH and I have started going to mandarin classes..which turned out to be 2 hrs of sit-up comedy. 4 classes down and I can’t even remember 4 phrases. And even those 4 , when I tried on my colleagues, I got weird looks, stares and one even said never ever say that loud again. So I am absolutely sure I haven’t even nailed down a single phrase yet.The most difficult part for me is the tones..Oo man , no wonder why Chinese people are way smarter. If they can master such a difficult language they ought to be smart !

And yes, we started Salsa classes too, thatz was weird at start ..but turning out just like the mandarin classes...Two classes down and our dance doesn’t look even look a teeny tiny bit close to Real salsa dance.

Homemade Salted Caramels

Weekend is here..Oo lalalala.Let’s start it with something sweet. Homemade salted Caramels!

I have been wanting to make some homemade caramels recipe ever since I have the most yummiest cheesecake ever..Salted Caramel Cheesecake.Also I badly needed to use the candy thermometer which I have used only twice in last 3 years, if not I may not even remember that ever existed!

I blindly followed the recipe from Joy of Baking and worked like a charm. It makes a perfect gift item if you can manage to spare a few.

Happy Diwali..And a Ribbon Pakoda recipe

Happy Diwali /Deepavali to all my lovely readers!!Hope you are enjoying this festival of lights with your dear ones and with lots and lots of diwali sweets and snacksJ

For this Deepavali I made a simple savory snack which reminds me of a very very special person who is very close to my heart.

Back in my hometown in Kerala, it’s a very closely knit society and our neighbours are more like our family.So the Ammumma next door is more like my own grandmother.

I must admit that I spend a veee bit more time with her than my real grandparents. As both my parents were working I can say that I was practically living at their place.My clumsy description can't do justice to a person like our Ammumma…Infact all of us called her Ammumma including the kids gang ,my parents, other uncles and aunts in our colony.Such a pious, serene, loving person she was..The fondest memory I have of her is me lying down by her side in a  straw mat in afternoons and she reading out stories from “Urumbum Pravum”.

How I wish I got a chance to relive all those precious moments..I wish I could go back and hold her hands once more and tell her how much we all adored her…

Even though she is not with us anymore..her memories are soo vivid and I still can feel the her love and warmth..Love u always Ammuma..

Vegan Sticky Dates Cake

I am in a total hibernation mode…After a very long and nerve-racking week at work, I took a day off and am enjoying my 4 day weekendJ Now who can beat that!

Cant believed that two days of  my precious 4 day weekend end is already over and all I  did was go moo-moo and eat. Both of which I hardly did in last one week.

Sigh sigh..Diwali is round the corner and I haven’t made a single festive snack.Let alone snack, I haven’t made a meal in almost a week now. I rarely switched on my stove and when I did it , it was just to make some tea or coffee.

Anyways tomorrow I have a big todo list ,hopefully I can break out of my laziness shell and make some festive snacks. Meantime here is a veganised recipe of my favourite sticky dates cake.

Vegan Orange Drizzle cake

Oo my..I have been ignoring my bloggy for more than 10 days.Its almost dead..let me quickly give it some CPR!

DH was sick..This time it was big-time !May b the virus was visiting him after 3 long years, it stuck him ,world class this time.DH  as a rule is a hyperactive adult who absolutely hates sleeping and when he is down and asked by doctor to sleep until cows comes home..it’s like asking for the moon!Sigh sigh

I have been missing all those lip-smacking dishes from my dear blog buddies ,especially the early diwali sweets.. Soo much to catch upL

Coming to today’s recipe it’s an egg less orange cake with a simple chocolate icing. This cake has been in my drafts for over a month now.. I adapted the recipe from Vaishali’s awesome blog Holy cow. Just halved the recipe and made some changes in the flavourings.