When it rains...

....it's absolutely essential to do two things

Go for a long run in the rain....it's exhilarating...

(Make sure you run carefully, slipping is NOT fun, and make sure you wear a windcheater to keep the torso warm so that you dont end up getting pneumonia)

Throw together a hot apple crumble...

A bit o' spice and everything nice...

Making a cake for my dad is tough. He doesnot like gimmicky cakes, frosting or other frills. He likes his cake straight out of the oven, or if not, then the cake should have a rustic character and flavor that makes up for not being warm.
He also likes his coffee, which doesnot seem relevant at this point, but trust me, it is...

After a lot of thought, I decided to make a rum n' raisin cake. Now the next hurdle I faced was finding a good recipe which didnot use buttermilk, or too many eggs, or applesauce. I've realised that buttermilk lends a certain shiny bubble dry texture to the cake, which I was sure my dad wouldn't really like.

So I finally decided to stop wasting time, and made my own recipe, going along with whatever felt right while making it.

It turned out really well, moist, full of flavor and my Dad went for a second helping, which means he loved it!!!!

Now, while I was throwing ingredients together, my mom decided we'd have an unconventional cake cutting, and offer small cups of freshly brewed coffee infused with saffron and nutmeg!!! That combination was stupendous!!!

And then there was cake.....

I had the most fabulous b'day this year...it including me time, gifts from M.A.C, pampering, time with my mom and sis, good food.....and ofcourse, cake.
I was barred from baking anything for myself. And nothing seemed to be happening till the day before, of my bday.
I kept dropping hints, noone took them, or so I thought....

On the actual day, my mom got up really early, and turned out this special thing for me...

IT's a cherry cake, she'd put in real cherries in it. Have I ever mentioned that my mom is an excellent baker....I have a long way to go before I reach her instinctive baking...
The taste is incomparable, she's put in ingredients without measuring, so I unfortunately dont have the recipe :(
But it was one happy birthday :D

I havent been able to capture it quite right, but the cake was slightly pink with surprisingly juicy cherries, and pink buttercream.
Did I say I had an awesome b'day?

cookies..

I recently combined two different methods, and various kinds of flours to create a cookie that tastes like shortbread, and is full of iron and calcium!! So while it looks very weird, it is extremely addictive and has a nice rustic flavor to it.

Recipe:

Red peppers!!!

Since I'm the only one in the family with a penchant for spicy food, normally my mom makes a red pepper preserve for me. These red peppers are extra hot, extremely spicy, and touching it can induce burning for a day or two.

This time while she was cutting and deseeding them, I flicked a couple of peppers, topped it with vinegar and a bit of salt. My mom has an extremely old bottle of great quality vinegar, which has been extracted from grapes.

What a pretty red color!!

In the meanwhile, she made a chunky sauce of peppers, garlic and salt.
While using this preserve, she normally heats up a tbsp of oil, adds a tsp of mustard seeds to crackle, a pinch of asafoetida powder and a small pinch turmeric to the oil. This she then pours on the preserve and its ready to eat!