I grew up, an Armed Forces kid, in sleepy little cantonment towns all over India. We usually lived in rambling old houses, which more often that not, were old POW barracks or accommodation for the British army. Gardens, a luxury today, were also huge and overgrown, teeming with snakes and mongooses (mongeese?). Inevitably the gardens …
I live in a tropical country. Tropical? We’re practically on the equator! It’s muggy and humid all the time. But, though I sigh about (almost) chilly Hong Kong and balmy California that I visited recently– we in Singapore have a HUGE plus. Mangoes! A long mango season through summer. Mangoes of all kinds. Mangoes from …
I have no excuses! None at all. But I’m back to posting now, and you are going to hear a lot from me! On my travel, on cakes and of course our wonderful Study Group on the Silk route, that just came to a close. For the finale, I wanted to surprise my friends with …
I had a Hippopotamus, I kept him in a shed And fed him upon vitamins and vegetable bread I made him my companion on many cheery walks And had his portrait done by a celebrity in chalk His charming eccentricities were known on every side The creatures’ popularity was wonderfully wide He frolocked with the …
My son gave me the most thoughtful gift on Mother’s Day- this story! Culinary I stumbled, tripping over a loose rock on the road. ‘Damn it’, I thought to myself. ‘Stay focussed’. I glanced at my watch. Twelve minutes to go, and about ten minutes of walking lay ahead of me. This was cutting it …
Five layers of chocolate cake, drenched in rum; sandwiched together with a berry buttercream; covered with a dark dark ganache. Crowned by luscious, brilliant raspberries! Enjoy! R
Can a poem haunt one? I’ve not been able to stop thinking (I’m sure you guys are thinking- “Here she goes again! One day it’s pigs, another day, it’s poems!”) of ‘Kubla Khan’ written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Kubla Khan Or a Vision in a Dream. A Fragment In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately …
I look forward to my Wednesdays! Not just the interactions with like minded people, not only the array of delectable treats, but also the learning that comes from these beautifully pared-down talks. Kabul and Kandahar and their respective roles in the trade along the Silk Route, was our first talk for the day. The story …
The new Study Group has begun! And it’s on a topic that appeals to the romantic, in each one of us- the Silk Route. There was an overwhelming response, and in the space of a mere couple of weeks we had 24 people who signed up to research on myriad aspects of the Silk Route. …
I saw a picture of a cake on the Internet recently. A picture that had gone viral! A cake so cute, that I thought of it constantly. And finally here it is! This was an 8″ chocolate cake that I filled and covered with ganache. I didn’t have kitkats, so used Redondo chocolate cookies, which …