Season's Greetings! - 2013

Merry Christmas and Wishing all friends, family and readers a flavorful Holiday Season!

My kitchen has been popping with cake pops this holiday season. These are a little messy to work with (I prefer using lollipop sticks) but they are super cute. And the best thing of all, they are bite size. Calories, hmmmmm!...not to be considered during the holidays!

These are made similar to cake pops (which you can find here) but I use a spoon to coat the cake balls with melted chocolate. Set them aside on parchment paper to dry and then place them on paper cups. 

Super Bowl 2013

It's Super Bowl time! It is the long awaited game in our house. This year, it is the Ravens Vs. the 49ers. What's your prediction?

Football is always a mayhem in my house (in a good way!) since my boys have never ever supported the same team during any football game. I leave the boys by themselves, and utilize the time for myself during Sunday Night Football, with the exception of the Super Bowl. You can imagine the chaos in the house! I think it's best for me to say "may the best team win". I have watched a few football games occasionally, but still have no clue on any of the rules. The best thing on Super Bowl day that I look forward to are the ads and the half time show. Getting game day food ready is my only contribution to football ; and of course, I cannot miss Beyonce's performance after her lip-syncing episode at the President's inaugural. I look forward to the interesting ads and the two brother coaches playing against each other.
Last year when the Giants won, one of my boys almost jumped on the couch. What excitement! It reminded me of Tom Cruise on Oprah's couch! The other was rolling on the floor, frustrated.
Super Bowl being on Sunday's, we have always stayed at home and watched the game. But after a long, crazy week, I decided to accept an invitation to a friends Super Bowl gathering. I'm looking forward to relaxing and catching up with good, old friends and trying different types of food including Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings and Panini with Ground Meat. Thank you "S" family for inviting and hosting the event.

Happy New Year!

Here's wishing everyone happiness, prosperity & good health throughout 2013. 

Another year older...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

My baby turned a year older today. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY"! Years fly by and I still remember the first cry, first tooth, first step, first word......... and many other first's. Little Mr. Personality was always energetic, enthusiastic, inquisitive and a big social person. At times, I thought it was dangerous for him to be too social- (worrying he would let the cat out of the Bag)! A voracious reader of fiction books, a budding percussionist and a master of silly faces is quite a joy to be around with. I was recently going through family albums and it was a trip down memory lane. Although the memories are always carried with us, the picture brought life to many growing stages. All the passing years, the changes and the challenges, feels like it's hard to catch up and they grow up too soon.

This time of the year is always crazy but we try to put aside our daily schedules, Christmas activities and make this day a very special one.

Since last year, his birthday celebration has been a week prior to the actual birthdate in order to make it convenient for all his friends. Although, the birthday boy is not a big fan of cake, I was determined to bake a football theme cake for my die hard "Steelers" fan. With the amount of time I had, I was debating between home made or store bought cake.

So, I brain-stormed a few thoughts before going to bed the previous night & the next morning I baked a cake before heading for work. On my way back, I picked up decorating supplies and after dinner, spent a few hours & managed to finish it. I had initially planned on a design which I realized was a little complicated & this was the final result.

The cake was made with store bought yellow cake mix and I used store bought vanilla frosting. While icing details on the cake, I realized home made icing with confectioners sugar would have been a better choice. Store bought frosting is perfect for spreading or sandwiching the cake. Using fondant would have made the details look neater but it has never been a favorite, especially with the birthday boy!

I used a very thin layer of icing which controlled the sweetness.

Diwali - A festival of Lights

Wishing all my friends, family and fellow readers a very HAPPY DIWALI!

I took a little help from my son who wrote this passage on Diwali.

   Diwali, or Deepavali, is known as the festival of lights in the Hindu religion. This event is celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs. The significance of Diwali remains the same for all the listed religions.  Diwali is known as the ‘Festival of Lights’ and is celebrated between mid-October and mid-November. For Hindus, Diwali is one of the most important festivals of the year; it signifies: (1) the return of Lord Rama after 14 years of undeserved exile with his recovered wife, stolen from him by the demon lord Ravan; (2) the death of another demon, Narakasura, slayed by Lord Krishna’s wife Satyabhama; and the return of the Pandava princes after their exile. These reasons are commonly associated with Diwali.

    ‘Diwali,’ is a contraction of ‘Deepavali’ a Sanskrit word that translates into ‘row of lamps’. Diwali is mainly consisted of lighting clay lamps filled with oil. This action is believed to signify the triumph of good over evil. The lamps are lit at night and are left burning overnight; this action welcomes Goddess Laxmi, goddess of wealth, into one’s house. One must keep his/her house clean to make the goddess feel welcome. Firecrackers are burst to drive away ill spirits and demons and to purify one’s soul. During Diwali, one wears new clothes, shares sweets and distributes gifts to family and friends. Diwali is a time to spend with family and friends, have fun and eat good food!

Here's what I made this year - Chakuli, Shankarpali, Tukdi, Cereal Chivda, Nippat and 7 cups Khadi.