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Mother – the reality

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I know , my last post was way way back, what caught me motherhood. Running behind my kid phew , so I got an idea why not pen down something for all mommies.

A mother is the most fakest character you can imagine you know why.? Because a mother even if she is hell tired or frustrated she will still make her kid(s) happy . Her body might be aching with pain but she will still carry her kid on her lap . Her heart might be sobbing or crying for so many other reasons but she will laugh smile play with her kid so that her kid gets a peaceful happy environment. That’s why I say mother is the most fakest person. Why we fake , why don’t we just cry our heart out when we feel like in front of our kids or yell show our frustration because we feel if we do so , it will sink our child heart . Mother’s child will become sad . Hmm , such an unrewarding Job isn’t it ?

One day I was driving to work and you know the morning is the most Stressful time, as you have to make sure your kid is ready , you are ready , everything is ready for school and work . If you wake up 5 minutes late in the morning then your schedule is haywire . So while driving I was thinking man I have become a robot , all the I do is wake up get my son ready , get ready , go to work , just focus on work , then when the clock hits 5pm brain starts hammering that you have to leave now as you got to pick up son , take him to activities , make dinner, help him do his homework , play with him, shower and get him ready for bed. Phew my day still didn’t end , he has to sleep then forcefully I tell myself get your me time that’s may be by reading about some Bollywood gossips 😇 or watching some food channel . So a complete robot 😭 . Ahh ,so I asked myself what if someone comes and tells me go simran jee le Apni zindagi haha me being Bollywood , it’s a famous Bollywood movie dialogue which means go and live your life . I know what will be my reaction or action , I’ll just give a blank look as I really don’t know what is life ? I cannot imagine myself beyond this robotic life . So what realization , we all love our robotic life isn’t it . This is the life ! We are human , but how long , once your kid goes to college what are you going to do ? You will have your ample me time but then what are you going to do. It scares me . Wake up , we all need to have a hobby or grow some hobby that will make you a human again otherwise we all will turn into a zombie . You can do this . I was telling one of my colleague that don’t worry for a mother to sail in agile environment is easy coz the moment a woman turns mother she is in agile environment, there is no scope for water fall methodology. My blog friends , waterfall and agile environment are terms of software development , what to do can’t leave my work behind. You can develop a hobby or something interest which will make your brain active . Let’s grow some hobbies my friends . I’m yet to find out what will keep me busy when my kid goes to college.

You know why I said few lines before that the motherhood job is a full time job but with no bonus or no promotion or no appreciation, do you agree ? Each and every passions or dreams takes a backseat to embrace the rewards or the promotions when your kid grows to a pure human being not making poor

choices , helping others , walking on the path of honesty , taking of care of others feelings , isn’t 😍?

So to all mommies here is the recipe from my kitchen to yours 😊💕.

Shrimp stuffed inside pumpkin or bottle gourd or zucchini leaf

Steps

  1. Finely chop onions , garlic, green chillies and coriander leaves .
  2. Make a paste of mustard seeds with grated coconut .
  3. Chop jumbo shrimp.
  4. In a bowl , mix shrimp , with chopped onions, garlic, green chillies, coriander leaves, mustard paste, salt to taste , pinch of sugar .

5. Keep this mixture for 10 minutes aside.

6. In a separate bowl, make a batter by mixing gram flour , turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt.

7. Now stuff the shrimp mixture inside the leaf , fold it nicely and dip it inside the batter.

‘ 8. Now deep fry the fritters. It doesn’t take much time . Fry for 7-8 minutes , it’s done. Serve hot with white rice. Just try this finger licking food. You can present this as starter too.

Cheers to all the mommies. Adious until I come back💕

A trip to a princess dreamland 

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Kolkata , India visit rather Myka princess dreamland 
When you leave your country for another , there are so many dreams , feelings you leave behind and travel to a place rather country which is completely unknown to you . You create your own world in that country but there is always a void in your heart, you miss your homeland , miss your home but still you move on with a smiling face .  I have been or rather I would say I would continuously fulfill all the responsibilities, dreams with a void heart . I get excited the mention of visiting India . Option given going to a exotic vacation over India , I always choose India , my princess dreamland .
For me visiting Kolkata, India is revisiting my princess dreamland. My princess dreamland pampering starts with a bed tea along with reading telegraph newspaper aww I’m gonna miss reading T2 followed by yummilcious breakfast which ends with sweets. The day doesn’t stop their , either you go out for shopping or visit family members or just get a spa at home. Sitting on the balcony overseeing river Ganga and sometime just gazing at the rain shower and thinking how different is life here and their. Not caring about social life . Not caring about weekend parties , not that I don’t like parties but this dreamland attracts me more . Then I pinch myself and say this is dream because you are visiting and if you had stayed here permanently , life would have been the same or rather more tough . You know why I say more tough because I realised how tough is to go to work everyday in the jam packed public transport . If you are in the bus you don’t know what the man sitting just opposite to you is thinking about you . He might be raping you through his eyes or may be not. When you travel by train you don’t know whether you will reach home safe or not beacuse one push from somebody you handshake with some casualties as everybody is rushing to get one place to sit in the train and reach home as quick as possible . If you are traveling with your own car then you don’t know whether the bus will just hit your car and leave without even caring about the damage for your car. Be optimistic I say to myself. These are few darker side of my princess dreamland. Like every movie one character is bad and another Is good. This princess dreamland has hell lot of goodness which makes my heart a void Iheart . The sweet shops where people just go to eat kachori with cholar dal Yummmm in the morning or as a evening snacks !!! Indulging yourself in sweets , street foods and yet you get to experience world’s best cuisine .You see , we Bengalis just live for food and adda . You know what is adda sitting with your friends gossiping, discussing about politics , food , etc. It doesn’t matter how tired you are , people look forward for addas. 

Loved and felt immensely proud to stand for national anthem every time I went to watch movies . My son even learnt Indian national anthem . 
I’m going to miss my princess dreamland . You know I feel so insecure rather scared to go back to the reality because sometime reality is fake . Ever changing relationships , friendships and yes social network . I wish I could hold the clock and say please please stop let me not go and stay in this princess dreamland . 

Since I belong to sweet dreamland let me share how to make rossogolla

1. Cuddle the milk to make chena

2. Knead well so that you can make small balls.

3. Make Jaggery syrup and boil the chena balls.

4 Rosogolla is ready

Miss you my dreamland.

Spread Happiness

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The journey continues:-

Right now you actually made me feel that I have become a celebrity and this is all because of you by providing me encouraging feedback and comments.  Thank you my blog friends,

As I told you in my first blog each comments/feedback will lead to a new journey with a new thought process which will be translated into a recipe.

So the beautiful year is coming to an end and everywhere people are in festive mood. Laid back environment at work place. It actually starts from October and ends with a New Year bash.  So I thought of choosing the month October why, it’s a month where season Autumn (fall) meets winter. Day starts with a pleasant sunshine and evening gives you a cool breeze, where hearts unite, the eyes meet while crossing the roads , hold each other’s hands to enjoy the moments of celebrations/festivals.

Hmm, so I thought of doing some research and you know to my imagination I was amazed by the nature of festivals that’s been celebrated throughout the world. They are wacky, colorful, breathtaking stunts.

Here are some wacky festivals which made me go crazy and these places got added to my destination wish list.(smiles)

  • Tubingen Duck Race which is a rubber duck race takes place in the River Necker. You know what is the number? It’s over 7000. Can you imagine? This happens to be almost the third of the population in Stuttgart city, Germany. So I have to make sure and please make sure if happen to visit Germany do visit in first week of October and don’t forget to get your Rubber Duck which could make you a millionaire. Why do I say so, the winner in the race gets €10.000. (Ha ha ha) and you become overnight celebrity. Cool isn’t it.

 

 

Look at Thousands of Rubber Ducks

 

  • My next pick would be Diwali / Dushera , these two festivals which takes months of preparations. The two festivals signifies the victory of goodness over evil .  Each and every roads, streets, corners are decorated with lights, humongous idols of deities, people wear new cloths, every house would have yummy foods. Celebration is not for only one day it’s a week-long celebrations. People from all the class have smile and happiness on their face. Lights, colors, yummy food , deserts , new fashions and what not. People just forget their sorrows , grievances,  and hug their friends and families to celebrate these festivals. You should visit India during October to experience these wonderful festivals.  Here are some snippets.

 

Durga Puja

 

 

Dusshera
Look at the happy face .

 

Colors which spreads happiness and friends are the colors of life
Vibrant Colors
  • The next pick is Halloween , wooooo scary . Trick or Treat. That’s what kids say when they dress up as their favorite character and hop house to house to collect their treats which are candies, chocolates, etc. I make sure to add some goodies along with candies. Kids love it. The houses are decorated not beautiful though, the more scary decoration, more fun.  I dress up as scary witch/vampire which I think I don’t have to dress up as I am already a wacky witch (ha ha ha). Let me share a funny incident which occurred with my first Halloween. I didn’t have any idea about Halloween 13 years back , so when kids knocked on the door for Trick or treat , didn’t have any candies to share rather I thought they have come to share the candies with us. So I picked a few candies from their bags while they kept on saying trick or treat (ha ha ha ) and I closed the door and felt very happy that wow kids have come to share their candies (ha ha ha). Now when I look back I just can’t stop laughing at my foolishness. I’m sure you are laughing like crazy.
Booooo
Scary

There are so many other festivals around the world but these are my favorites.

Since I’m a dreamer celebrity , so whenever I entertain friends/ family at my house , I feel I am throwing a Page 3 party , celebrities are coming , the paparazzi are waiting to get some click of their favorite celebrity. Like I’m welcoming my heart throb ShahRukh Khan (Bollywood actor), Russel Crowe, Julia Roberts , you know there is no harm dreaming like crazy. There shouldn’t be any full-stop to your dreams. I’m always ready to pose for shutterbugs so are my friends ,dress like celebrities and I make sure the evening is filled with entertaining actions and make them feel they are celebrities. (Smiles). Friendship is when you stand by your friends through thick and thin and entertaining them , making them feel that they are celebrities is the real mode of spreading happiness. 

So entertaining friends/Families without a desert is incomplete that too when you are throwing a celebrity party, what say? Again an out of box desert which I thought of sharing with you all. 

This desert got out of one of the famous street food in India and that’s Panipuri , some part it is referred as Gol Gappa, some where it is called as Puchka, others call as Gupchup .  You will find this street food stalls specially during Dushera/Diwali every five minutes of walk, people just indulge themselves to this street food. The stall becomes the place where hearts meet,  lovers come to get a glimpse of someone they love , friends  challenge each other who can eat more (ha ha ha ) Went back to your memory lane ? Or thinking yes, we do all these (ha ha ha )  .

So what is this actually , it consists of a round, hollow puri, fried crisp and filled with a mixture of flavored water (pani), tamarind chutney, chili, chaat masala, potato, onion and chickpeas.

I know , enough of creating suspense, here is the recipe for the desert . The desert unites salt and sugar like the month of October.

Name : Lover’s Surprise

Steps to prepare :-

  • Prepare a rabri :- This very rich dessert is made by heating sweetened milk in a large open vessel . As the layer of cream begins to form on the surface of the milk, it is taken off and kept aside. The process continues until the milk is exhausted. The rabri thus formed is extremely creamy and very heavy. I added some resins as well .
  • Store bought Boondi : – is a snack food made from sweetened, fried chickpea flour.
Boondi

 

  • Store bought Pani Puri.

 

Pani Puri

 

How to serve:-

  • Make a hole in the pani puri , put the bundi filling and top it rabri. You can actually give the feeling of street by asking your guest to stand and serve them.                 Here how it looks

 

  • Lover’s Surprise

    P.S. :- Make sure you hit the gym or walk everyday for 30 minutes to stay healthy and happy. 

Love your Dreams!

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Sojourn Chimera: The journey Begins

“Don’t ever let anyone prevent you from dreaming. Imagination is one of our greatest gifts.”

So I’m a dreamer, a complete dreamer. I dream about various creative roles, sometime I dream that I would be a great chef or I would be a great singer or I would be a great dancer or I would be a great writer. People think I’m mad or an unpractical dreamer. So I asked myself is it true? And I said to myself no dream is unpractical so why not combine all my dreams in one and make it real. You must be wondering who this crazy human being is. Why on earth I need to read this blog. I will say just waste two minutes and you will find that I am no one but the image of your dreams which is in oblivion. The dreams which make you feel like a kid, makes you feel like a celebrity. These eyes which will take you into that utopian world, helps to explore the lost you. That’s me.

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Why do I say so, because every human being dreams, dreams to become someone, to die someone who is worth remembering? Agreed? 

 OK now, why do I say combination of all dreams, this blog will have a recipe which will be inspired by a song/music or the innocent smile of a  baby or a snowy winter morning and each of this  will depict a story or a thought process which will translate into a recipe. Do you mind  to dance to the tune of a song. Don’t you think our actions are combination of someones dream? I’m sure there are millions of people who dream of so many things and ahh, no dream is unpractical. Dream gives happiness which leads to peace of mind and what else, food does the same magic. I’m sure you are saying come on start your thought process, I know you are restless and you have started hating me (smiles), believe me every feelings you have I love them.

 Ok let’s start the journey together  , so I was listening to this song today,  from the Bollywood ( Indian Film Industry) movie named “Life in a Metro”  and the song is “In dino dil mera”  and do you know what does this song say, it tells you to love yourself, take out time to love yourself.  While listening to the song I was thinking hats off to those lyricist who come up with new lyrics every time, hats off to the composers who come up with new music, hats off to those people who make you cry, laugh, motivates by their movies , takes you to the dreamy world, hats off to those people who think out of the box and enriches others life.  So I thought why not come up with something which makes you feel as a celebrity and who doesn’t want to become, right?  Which might motivate directly or indirectly to think out of the box and follow your passion. So let’s be a celebrity.  I made a desert which is inspired by the song and you know while preparing, mind and heart were dancing to the tune of the song. Imagine yourself biting on dark chocolate which had a topping of dried apricots, pistachios and raisins and while munching that, take a sip of sweet wine. Imagine the bombardment of flavors like bitter, tangy, nutty, sweet taste from dark chocolate, apricot, pistachio, almond, raisin and a kick from that sweet wine. Tell me do you feel the flavors, did I make you restless and I’m sure you want to make the desert and feel the flavors. I promise you will not be disappointed. Did we not treat ourselves as a celebrity? Don’t you think it was a beautiful journey together where we made a desert and treated ourselves as a Celebrity? Yes celebrity like actors portrays numerous emotions and this desert had number of flavors, so is it not a combination of everything? Did I not make everything real, all my dreams?  The combination of all the flavors  in the desert depicts the theme of the song.

Love Your dreams.

Why do I say love, anything you do with love you always ex-cel. So indulge yourself what you love the most. This is my passion and love to write and provide you some mouthwatering recipes and I know you all will love me J.

If you hated this blog , type in my friend , I’ll take that as a positive feedback and as I am dreamer celebrity ,any criticism is publicity (smiles)

 If you created this desert and made someone feel like celebrity or made yourself feel like celebrity , pen down your thoughts , because that will be the inspiration of another thought process and creation of another food , another journey ,another dream ,together we will live . Ahh, a splendid journey.  Thanks for holding my fingers in the first baby steps of this journey of dreamy togetherness. We will walk many dreamy roads together…

 I know, now you want the recipe, scroll down J

 Mind it all the health conscious friends it is a very healthy desert and sometime treating yourself as a celebrity is worth trying.

 

  • Cut an inch thick lengthwise dark chocolate (I used Belgian dark Chocolate )
    • Nutritional value for dark Chocolate :-
      • Dark Chocolate is a Powerful Source of Antioxidants(this is one of the benefits)
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    • Top it with dried apricot (sliced), blanched pistachio (sliced), blanched almond (sliced) and raisins
      • Nutritional values for all the dried fruits and nuts :-
        • Apricots and Raisins: – Raisins and dried apricots, are dense sources of energy, vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants. Additionally, they are packed with several health benefiting poly phenolics anti-oxidants, dietary fiber, and other phyto-nutrients.Featured imageFeatured image
        • Almonds and Pistachios: – Those who consume almonds on a regular basis are at lower risk for developing heart disease. One study even found they actually help lower elevated cholesterol.
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      • A desert wine.
        • Nutritional value of sweet red wine :-
          • Since the skin is left on the grape for considerably longer during the production of red wine, red wine particularly is high in antioxidants. The risk of contracting diseases like cancer, certain heart conditions and diabetes is greatly reduced due to the presence of high quantities of antioxidants in the wine.

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Not much effort but yes truly blissful.

Here how it looks

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See you soon.

Disclaimer :-  Dessert wine is sweeter and higher in sugar levels as compared to other table wines. It is loaded with lot of calories as compared to the normal wine to the tune of 125 calories in a 3 oz to 5 oz glass. If someone is having chocolate dessert along with the dessert wine then he or she is obviously piling up lot of calories. In summation, make smart food combinations. Combine dessert wine with plain or low-fat biscuits and pastries. If your dessert is something rich and heavy like cake or tiramisu, skip the wine altogether. Drinking wine every day is recommended for a healthy life but do not overdo it. Limit yourself to a glass a day.