I guess blogging everyday puts such a mental strain, that sometimes I wonder what to put down at the beginning of each blog post. Seriously, I am blogging at such a mad pace only to finish off the amount of drafts I have in my list. You may be wondering, “What’s wrong with her? She has a lot of drafts, so she should relax!” Yes, I wish I could but sometimes when I look at the dates that I have saved certain drafts, it does come with a huge shock to me as to how long it takes for what I have cooked to appear on the blog. For example, the time this cake was baked… never mind, I don’t think I have to dwell on it. It was one of my sneak bakes when D and umma had gone for their medical check ups. When she came back,…
Dulche De Leche Bundt Cake
It is always a pleasure to be writing guest posts to my fellow bloggers. Infact, I love the idea of guest posting as it improves virtual relationships between bloggers and makes it a place for some friendly competition and co-existence. I would like to thank Haffa for considering me to be a part of her little lovely blog! Even though Haffa’s blog is quite young, I love the variety of recipes that she has on her blog. I am a big fan of Pakistani food and love to eat them whenever we are out. I have already bookmarked some recipes to try when I get the chance to, like Sooji Ka Halwa and Chapli Kebabs. I sincerely wish Haffa many many more months and years of successful blogging ahead… After quite a thought, I decided to share this awesome cake that I had prepared as a “thank you” gesture to…
Peanut Butter Cookies
There are times when we wish that Allah would give us answers to the umpteen number of questions that we have in our mind. “Why is it like this when it could have been like that?”, “Why me every time?”… When depression seeps in, it is common for such questions to come up in our mind. What we don’t tend to understand is that – at the same time, many others are being tested in much harsher ways, some asking the same question in their mind while many others enduring it all with patience – a quality which is so beautifully denoted in the Qur’an as “Sabr“. I am not somebody, who can boast of high patience levels. In fact, my patience is something I am very ashamed of. Each time I wish I could really improve my levels. But Alhamdulillah, nowadays through diversifying my energies, I seem to…
Eggless Orange Chocochip Cake
Sometimes, doing intros is not an easy task. I wish I could skip them, but then my mind just does not allow me to be in peace if I don’t do something. So just sharing this with you… to ponder about… Though I agree on everything on the slide, just a little disagreement on the statement which says “learn from your mistakes but never repent”. Yes, learn from our mistakes, we must do, as these mistakes are the ones that will make us more cautious about things that we will do in the future, but regret, we must – if we don’t regret, then we have no conscience present in us… if we don’t regret, then we will tend to fall into the same trap and same mistakes… if we don’t regret, then we automatically forego the important protection that the Almighty promises us… Looks like I have…
Easy Cheesecake Cupcakes
Due to my hectic schedule, I was not intending to cook up anything for the February Home Baker’s Challenge, which is being hosted by Siri of The Brave Cook. She had given a list of Valentine bakes which were really irresistible, but all of them needed some time and patience to make that I was considering not doing it. That is when my eyes fell on this recipe in the list. One Friday, to be precise the Friday when Valentine’s Day fell, I made this as dessert for lunch. Let me do this with a disclaimer that we don’t celebrate this day at all! It just happened that I ended up baking on that day, hehe… Even though it was slightly on the more sweet side with the DDL contributing to the sweetness even more, every body enjoyed it, considering that the portions served were also quite small…
Creme au Chocolat
As I sit to type this post – my fingers stuck to the keyboard, my eyes staring at my PC screen… it’s a very strange feeling knowing and acknowledging that today I am posting the 300th post @ The BST. The journey has so far been really relaxed… I have been able to post on a regular basis without much breaks, which may not be the case in the future. I strongly believe at looking into how things are now and go with the flow rather than worry about the future. Does not mean that I am carefree about the future, in fact a small thing could drive me really nervous but somehow over the past few months, due to “wear-n-tear” of real life experiences, I seem to be much more calmer than I was before. I see that as a really good sign! 🙂 Two habits that I have…
Blonde Brownies| Blondies
I love challenges that give me recipes that are on my bookmark for ages. This month’s Home Baker’s Challenge was by Shey of Just Not the Cakes and she had chosen an array of recipes related to the national cooking dates of USA. As per her list, January 22 is supposed to be National Blonde Brownie Day. Well, we are past that day, however, I don’t think blondies need a day to bake!!! The recipe she provide was this one, however the quantity was large and I was not able to halve it. I wanted to bake a normal brownie pan for my colleagues. After checking with her, I changed the recipe and tried and absolutely loved the result! If you are not very keen on brownies and are more of a white cake person, then this one is for you. I took half of the blondies to office and…
My First Attempt at Buttercream Frosting
I did not start this blog only to type in mysuccess stories, but also to put in my not-so-successful attempts as well. However, I doubt if I have ever done that before. Oh yes, I did do it in my Black Forest cake post! OK, so let this be my second post in that category!!! I will never call myself as a talented cook – just like everybody, I really get jitters when I have to try something new. I have nightmares, scares and what not! Before this used to happen when I expect guests too, but now somehow that nervousness is off. But still, when I want to move into unexplored territories, I still feel uneasy. It is through blogging, that I broke off my scare to use yeast. Though not fully out of it, but I can say with confidence that I have somehow pushed down my devils…
Eggless Greek Simitia/ Koulouria
No, no, please… don’t get scared by the name of the dish! Simitia or Koulouria is just a beautiful looking braided bun, encrusted with sesame seeds! For this month’s Eggless Baking Challenge, Priyaakka had challenged us to these beauty of a roll! And definitely, I enjoyed baking it as well as the family enjoyed it over a cup of hot chai! The Eggless Baking Challenge, the brainchild of Gayathri completes two years of successful running and I am glad to be a part of this beautiful group, enjoying each and every challenge I have been able to participate! Without much ado, I guess I will move on to the way I made, with reference to the original recipe – especially for knowing more about the history of these cute looking rolls… 🙂 Recipe adapted from here Originally, a grape-based liquid called “petimezi” is used. I opted for honey for an…
Coconut Muffins
OK, to start off the post with what I love to do – share quotes, of course! 🙂 A very thought provoking quote by a very famous artist – I guess he needs no introduction, right? Being simple is really difficult in today’s world, which has its eyes all yellowed by the “ash-posh” of the modern lifestyle. People tend to look down on those who seem to look ‘different’ from the gang. Many fail to understand that there is a beauty in keeping things simple – whether it’s your dressing, your attitude, the way you hold yourself, your food… anything! It is in being simple that your mind will find rest. I feel keeping things simple and straight forward make matters clear to you, especially when you want to move forward and tackle challenges and difficulties in life. Complications will only lead to confusions and disappointments, rather than solving…
Biscuit Sables ~ Eggless French Shortbread Biscuits
I have been very enthusiastically baking as a part of the Home Baker’s Challenge, whenever I am able to. This month, Priya akka had provided us with a list of interesting French bakes, out of which, the lazy head in me chose these quick butter biscuits for two reasons – one, they were easy to make and two, I was sure these would appeal to my children, who are mad about biscuits. I was absolutely not wrong in my calculation. I baked half the recipe provided and in no time to even cool down, Azza would come, take one and go out of the kitchen munching only to come back in three minutes to pick up the next one from the rack! I had to hide them so that I could give it to them for tea time the next day and whatever remained, vanished. Thank you, akka for these…
Cheesy Vegetable Puffs
There is a charm associated with the old… I don’t khow many of you agree with me on this but whenever I go to any historical places or any area which exudes a lot of nostalgia, I automatically get pulled into it. The place where I live in is surrounded by a lot of these Arabic wind houses made of coral stone. The structure of these houses are such that when you stand inside them at any time of the day, you can feel a breeze and a cozy feel inside. The ventilation provided on the top ensures that there is sufficient air circulation inside the property. The climate of this area must have got people to making their homes like this at a time when the modern amenities of life weren’t there. In UAE, Sharjah has taken extra care to ensure that these buildings are maintained in its…