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…
Wholewheat Brownies
I am surprised that I am doing a post from home! Normally I refrain from sitting on my laptop, first of all, I suppose most of us have this issue of having snag ladded laptops or personal computers at home, that were meant to only irritate in first place! Hehe… On top of that, Azza loves to come and hit random keys off the keypad that sometimes I see very unusual characters spring up on my post! Since the kids are sleeping, I thought this is the best time to plug in a post quickly before they wake up – provided my little lappy cooperates! Hopefully, it should… 🙂 Today is a part of a long weekend, but we are in the colds. We had a day full of rain yesterday, which ensured that we all were inside home, full on with sweaters, socks and what not! It was really…
Eggless Creme Brulee
Creme Brulee is an egg based dessert, similar to a custard, but with a crunchy sugar topping, which is normally created by sprinkling the sugar on top and caramelising it with a blow torch. For December’s Eggless Baking Challenge – by the way, completes its two years of successful running!-, Vimala had challenged us with making this dish, that she had suggested from Sanjeev Kapoor’s site, into eggless. It has been two months since I have been missing my challenges due to time constraints and many other factors. Even though, this time also I was in a tight corner, I really wanted to make it without losing out on this month. When I saw Gayathri’s post, I just went ahead with making it the way she did, with slight changes and was really happy with the result! Nobody missed the eggs for sure.  The sugar topping was a pain to…
Pinwheel Cookies
The last weekend of 2013 vanished without much happening. A lot of guests and loads of cooking had literally exhausted umma and me, that we opted for a silent yesterday, where we had minimal cooking. As much as I enjoy cooking, days as such really temper your mood down that you do not want to do anything with the kitchen for the many many days to come! Today also I am thinking of pulling my folks at home out for dinner rather than something home made… A couple of days of no-cooking will not be of any harm, would it? 🙂  My kids love cookies, period! They love to munch on biscuits, wafers and cookies any time and our home has always stock of whatever they like. Nowadays, I am trying to push myself to bake them at home, so that I know what they are eating is home…
Banana Walnut Loaf
When the seas are rough and the going gets tough, holding on to your belief and faith takes a lot of guts. The Holy Quran clearly says:  “Do the people think that they will be left to say, “We believe” and they will not be tried?” (Surah Ankabut 29:2) It clearly means that the Almighty is going to put things into your path, which will shake your belief in Him, which will make you doubt as to His existence and His support. I strongly believe that these difficulties come to you only to test how strong your belief is in Him. Many people crumble in the midst of hardships and difficulties. It is really difficult to hold onto your beliefs and faith when things don’t look rosy at all. But when the Almighty Himself warns you that you will be tested, it means we have to be ready all the time, accept that things may not be really easy as we want…
Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies
I visited an old friend on mine in Oman a couple of weeks ago. I was going to see her after 15 years – yes, that is after school! You could wonder how excited I was. Iwanted to ensure that I would make something with my own hands and take it for her as a token of love. That was when I remembered that I was yet to complete the month’s Home Baker’s Challenge, which is hosted by the lovely Priya, who blogs at “Cook Like Priya“. The list she provided were some lovely Christmas bakes, of which I zeroed on these cookies, as they seemed easy to make yet perfect for gifting to somebody. I made the recipe into half and got quite a big quantity of cookies, which I carried completely for her children. I don’t have to say that the whole day, we chatted like school children…