I have loved participating in Home Baker’s Challenge ever since the event has begun. Starting from the pizza, it has been a lovely experience. Barring two challenges, I have been able to participate in all of them and have loved the feeling. I love challenges when they suggest recipes that have been on my to-do list from long and I make them to be able to stash it off from my ever increasing list!!! This month’s challenge is being hosted by the lovely Shazzy from Malaysia, who blogs at “He Chops, She Cooks“. Her blog was previously known as “Cooking with Shazzy” and she has previously guest posted for my blog as well. Being an established home baker in her own way, she hosted a very interesting challenge this month – the Red Velvet cakes and cookies. Now Red Velvet is such a beautiful name for an equally stunning looking…
Tres Leches Cake – Three Milk Mexican Cake
Post number 350, it shows on the right side… Am I excited? Definitely… but am I really excited? I don’t know… there has been times when I have wanted to close down the blog. Another option I have been playing with is to finish off the 60+ drafts for which I had painstakingly taken pictures of and take a break from blogging till I feel that I am ready to come back to it with the same frame of mind that I had started this blog with. I started this blog just like a diary of all sorts – of recipes, of my ups, of my downs, of my thoughts, of my ramblings… and so far, it has been so. The way my life has moved has been so etched to this blog. I have as much as I could, toned down my words, so that only I would understand,…
Chocolate Meringue Cookies – My 50:50 trial
I have always mentioned previously that this blog of mine does not just mention my successes, but illustrates my failures and “part successes” as well, just for me to not lose motivation and keep trying to get better at things next time. Here is one such attempt which I was partially happy about. Making meringue cookies have been something that I have wanted to do for long – yeah, just like many many other recipes!!! I love the soft chewy crunchy layer of addictive sweetness that meringues give. Going on to say that it is one of the healthiest dessert considering the level of fat is quite low in meringues. The main reason why I didn’t want to make it is that I had to ensure that I utilise the egg yolks at the time I am using up the egg whites. So when I had the whites sitting…
Bavarian Dampfnudel – Bavarian Sweet Dumpling
This month onwards, I am a part of the International Food Challenge, which is a brain child of Shobana and Sara. I have been watching my other blogger friends participate in their challenges over the last couple of months, and I was particularly enticed by the Iranian challenge that was done by them for March. That was what forced me to take up the challenges, so that I could learn different cuisines and try it out. The challenge for the month of April was German Bavarian Cuisine which is hosted by Sara. Bavaria is part of South Germany and the cuisine is basically rural, with more emphasis on meat and prominent use of flour. To know more about their cuisine, you can refer here. Off the recipes Sara suggested, I decided to try the Bavarian Dampfnudel, which is a steamed yeasted sweet dumpling. It is a steam fried dumpling…
West African Hot Chocolate
I found two quotes that go so much hand in hand… One slide is a quote which is a gentle reminder as to how the Almighty can support and be with you during distress and the other is a context from the Qur‘an… how soothing it is when He himself tell you that He knows how distressed you are and to leave it to Him to take care of it for you… I guess it is the ultimate feeling of satisfaction in this imperfect life… I have come to learn that happiness lies in how you see and take things and how you can relate it to goodness. When you fixate your mind against one concept of happiness, you are bound to be disappointed and distressed. A change in focus and a high trust in the Omnipotent is all that takes to know that “all is well”… 🙂 I…
Vanilla Pannacotta
As I type this post, I am really excited! There was a blogger who I have been trying to meet for the past almost a year. Despite being away from each other by just 15 kms, time never came for us to meet till yesterday morning. I was supposed to leave home by 10, but thanks to a nasty headache, I was forced to sleep for some more time and by the time I settled the house and I was out, it was quarter past 11. I was sad that I wouldn’t get much time with her, but then there are certain matters which just need a start and then the flow will come in. So I was adamant to make it started. So finally, I meet the beautiful lady behind Gheza-e-Shirin, Humi and had a great time chatting to her and eating her home made delicacies. Thanks to her,…
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…
Be My Guest – Fish Tacos with Red Cabbage Slaw
Today is another Saturday… and I have another guest post!!! 🙂 This time, it is the beautiful and vivacious Tisa Jacob, who blogs at “Blessing From My Kitchen“. I love the way she writes, as simple as that!!! The prose that she uses is quite mind blowing. She tells me that it comes like a natural flow, but then I believe she’s immensely gifted to be able to write like that!!! I’ve told her that her next venture should be writing a book! I have been reading Tisa’s blog for quite some time. I love the energetic feel to it. The colors that she incorporates into her pictures, the way she writes, the detailed explanation she provides and most importantly, the way she immediately comes back with answers to any questions that you may have. I had left a message on her blog to email me and she was quite…
Be My Guest – Mee Bakso
Today is a Saturday, and time for another guest post. I was just wondering how Saturday to Saturday to move. Days are flying so fast. My little baby is fast approaching it’s third month and this is the fourth guest post on my blog. Like I mentioned before, my blogging friends have been really very kind to revert back to me when I have requested for a guest post, be it Meena, Hasna or Noor. This time, it’s my favorite blogger, MS. JEHANNE ALI!!! 🙂 I do not think that Jehanne from The Cooking Doctor needs any introduction – at all! I have always been very open about how much she has been very supportive of my blog. She has from the beginning been very kind to me, considering the level her blog sits. What she does is quite unimaginable for me. Being a full time “heart” doctor is not a joke. On top of…
Banoffee Pie
I was actually not intending to do this post anytime now, but then when my cousin, who happens to be carrying, saw the picture on my FB page and asked for the recipe, I couldn’t say no! So here I am posting the recipe, as good as fresh!!! 🙂 The DDL, Instagrammed… 🙂 I’ve been wanting to make banoffee pie for quite some time but thinking about the calorie laden dessert gave me weak knees. But then, what do you do when you are faced with the below situations: 1. Dulche de leche at half the price because the expiry is less than 2 months old. 2. Whipped cream spray bottle at 25% price because the expiry date is by this weekend. 3. Biscuits lying in your pantry, not wanted by anybody because it was not the biscuits you had intended to buy! 4. Some nice ripe bananas!!! …
Mexican Flan
I do have a sweet tooth, but I can tell you one thing – once I started cooking, I really cannot eat Nutella, condensed milk or the likes directly into my mouth. I somehow feel that they are better when included in cooking. Seriously!!! These were things I could keep licking my spoon and dipping it over and over again, but now I have got over the urge to do so. Therefore, last time, when I baked a cake for our schoolmates get-together (will post sometime later), I had this remaining dulce de leche, called DDL with love, lying in the fridge and was really wondering what to do with it. Seriously, if it was not for blogosphere, I would have never know what DDL is!!! As usual, I hung onto my phone surfing for some idea – I love to do that!!! – to finish it off and I found…
Haupia – Hawaiian Coconut Milk Pudding
I love easy desserts. There’s nothing to beat the feeling of being able to make something quickly and dump it into the fridge, especially when you have sudden guests coming. I got this recipe at the back of a coconut powder box and was really not sure how it would turn out to be. But to my pleasant surprise, it was a nice and simple tasting dessert. Linking it to the CWL Spouse event hosted by Hema’s Adugemane… Haupia – Hawaiian Coconut Milk Pudding Save Print Prep time 5 mins Cook time 15 mins Total time 20 mins Author: Rafeeda Recipe type: Dessert Cuisine: International Serves: 4 Ingredients 2 cups coconut milk 1 cup milk 6 tbsp sugar (upto taste) 4 tbsp corn flour ½ tsp vanilla essence Instructions Pour one cup coconut milk into a saucepan. Mix sugar and cornflour into it till no lumps and bring…