The stranger in the mirror

I looked at her and wondered,
transfixed by her eyes;

glowing with the soul of aeons,
the piercing impersonal light.

The face was just a mask I knew
of who she chose to be;

And as I stared I saw a glimpse
of the stranger that was me.

Random post

In the elevator -

he said - "Hope to meet you again"

she said - "when hell freezes over"

At the concert-

he said - "Serendipity"

she said - "dumb luck"

On the phone -

he said - "longing"

she said - "lust"

At the cafe -

he said - "affection"

she said - "hallucination"

On the beach -

he said - "love"

she said - "love you back!"

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Nothing quite elevates...

...like Chocolate, especially the dark, melt in your mouth and transport you to enlightened places variety.

So obviously, for my mom's b'day, it had to be chocolate, and rich and sinful at that...

It then took me a week, to get to the exact recipe I wanted(at this point its wise not to mention that I changed it entirely at the last moment and didn't use most of the ingredients I had shopped for)
I dont remember which recipe I finally modified, but I did end up making something a little different, and surprisingly the cake turned out really moist and dense, though ofcourse it might have something to do with the entire bar of dark chocolate I forced the batter to consume!!

The layers are stuck together with apricot puree( idea blatantly stolen from sacher torte)....so in effect, it looked beatiful, tasted really quirky(and heavenly) and I'm still boasting about my skills ;)


Here goes -


[I have the modified recipe written down for anyone crazy enough to want to make it....but since it isn't a food blog; atleast not yet;it doesnt make much sense to put it up]

Baking Mania continues...

.....with carrot cake!!

Again, pulled the recipe from Pinch My Salt

Though I did cheat a bit in the frosting, by substituting hung curd and cream instead of cream cheese; as its not easily available, and is kinda expensive. Turned out beatiful and crumbly , and enough to feed an army!!!

beautiful caramel

Im suddenly damn kicked about baking, one of my newer whims which started after me nd my sis baked two beautiful cakes for my jeej and niece, complete with icing.
My next experiment was with cheesecake, for which i used ridiculously expensive mascarpone, and made sour cream at home. Turned out a tad bit heavy, but very very creamy, with a perfect base, and perfect color.

So I decided to get away from the usual yellow and chocolate cakes this time, for my sister's b'day.
After a lot of thought, a friend suggested a site which had a recipe for Caramel Cake. One look at the pics and I was totally sold out!!!

With a little help from my mom(I am v scared of hot molten sugar), we threw the cake in the oven. It took almost an hour to bake but the result was mind blowing. I never thought a cake could take in so much liquid!!!!

I got bored with the icing though, so I didnt bother to whip the cream a lot, just added a little icing sugar, gave it a swirl and poured it on the cake, and mom swirled the remaining caramel on it, and added thin almond wafers.

Not bad, eh?( thats the last piece I managed to capture before it disappeared)
PS: I have trained my sights on carrot cake this weekend....I'll try taking better pics this time around

No Noodles please...

Jobless. So following up on the Mangalore pub scene. Latest is girls can't wear jeans and noodle straps. Wow!!! This from a state where guys love eating/marrying/doing most of everything wearing a piece of cloth draped around their waists hitched up almost to the hem of their boxers. Very unsexy. But yeah, I kinda sympathize with these poor hapless souls. The main reason they are against girls in skimpy outfits is to keep the population of India in check. Girls look ugly/or plain uncomfortable in layers of sarees(or dress, salwar, and a kg worth of dupatta), guy in lungi looks ugly, major turn off on both sides, no nefarious businesses in the dark, no making babies. Which is maybe why that one article about a husband beating up his wife for wearing jeans.
Maybe he got upset that his elaborate plan of never ever having snotty kids was half shot when his wife wore jeans, and he couldn't….er….control, so, very rightfully he got pissed.
Poor guys….cannot keep their emotions in check around pretty semi clad chicks. Or maybe they are plain jealous that gals can wear skirts and they cant. Without looking silly that is. I've got a few that I can lend for all those envious guys who are man enough to try them. Any takers?

Travelogue - Diweagaar

Random notes -

26 th Jan:

Pit stop@ 8 am Karnala- Had d most mindblowing maharastrian bkfast of xplosive misal,alu wadas and sweet fresh tea. @ "kshanbhar vishranti"(we spent more thn a kshan(=moment in marathi) here) karnala. Totally recommend 4 d alu wadas and d stinky garlic chutney. Topped it wid groundnut chikki. Ooh baby,it rocks 2 start d day on an unhealthy note!!

12.46 pm Diweagaar- Checkd into a bright blue and red resort.no appetite 4 food.just half a sandwich and chips.looks like i got suckered into a pilgrimage!3 stops.3 temples.there go my dreams of plonking myself on d beach.wot d hell is d name of ths resort?its got a mansize pool and no food or soft drinks coz a lotta ppl ate and drank over d weeknd.

4 pm.harihareshwar - mandir. Saw some beautiful glimpses of d sea on d way. The pradakshina is from outside d temple,like in ganapatipule.nd it culminates into hauntng rock formations and untamed sea.inspired.and refreshed by an assortment of healthy drinks and kunda.yumm.very konkan.

7 pm. - random long stretch of beach a little way off srivardhan.huge stretch ending on both sides mystically into dark rocks and thick trees. Breathtaking.and very very chilly.

27 th Jan:

8 am -beach at diweagar.the walk to the beach was long and beautiful. we were of some entertainment value to the localites in our beach attires and beach bags. the beach rocks!! spent a whole 3 hrs tryng 2 swim.thoroughly njoyed! 6 extremely salty and sticky people in extremely high spirits!!

2.15 pm -leavng diweagar.after a very authentic lunch of rice bhakri and usal and aamti rice.fish fry nd curry in my jeeju's case.picked up some mango and jackfruit products.hm...nxt stop pali.

4 pm -pali.thts our kuladaivat.it is also one of the ashtavinayaks.bright green serbet and hot pakodas and we're on our way bk 2 bombay!

8.17 pm-abt 2 reach.and everyone is super cranky! 6 hrs 5 adults and a boisterous kid in one car....

In all....a very nice trip, though I'd love to concentrate solely on the beach sometime later.....

New format!!! I'm damn kicked about it...

I have this feeling of being in a zen(or zombie ;)) like state....like Im standing in the midst of a collapsing crumbling world.....scams, blasts, nuclear feuds, sinking markets, millions of lost jobs, dreams shattered.....

The Vultures

She looked up at the harsh sky, and saw … vultures….patient; almost as if they were tied into those bare branches they sat on. Rooted by life, but waiting, waiting to get liberated, and swoop down, at the first signs of death.

They looked at her almost spent energy, the last trickles of energy that feebly sustained her limbs. They waited for their pound of flesh.

She knew they didn’t want the whole of her, just enough to assuage their hunger, and that thought made her laugh…. how petty to sacrifice a whole person, for a few bites of sustenance.