Wanderberry Tales

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Just the right season for baking and celebrating.  Latest addition to the baking list - Cinnamon roll! I am not sure how the idea of baking a cinnamon roll crossed my mind, but I enjoyed every moment of this baking session. Seeing the dough rise to folding it over and over again, it was amazing. The roll looks complicated, however the baking process is not as complicated as the roll itself. So here is another recipe to celebrate Christmas this year. Ingredients For the dough All purpose Flour - 2 cups + 3 tbsp Yeast - 3 tsp Water as required Salt - 1 pinch Sugar - 2 tbsp For the filling Cinnamon powder - 1/8 cup Sugar - 1/4 cup Raisins - a handful Butter - 2-3 tbsp Method Soak the yeast and 2 tbsp sugar in 1/4 cup of warm water and keep it covered for half an hour till it turns frothy. Take sifted flour into a big vessel, add salt to this and mix well. Tip it onto the kitchen slab ...

There is lot in common between Shibin and I.We love to travel and we love to try out new cuisines. The traditional gastronomy of the places enthuse us and we make sure we study it before we head out there. Our travel to Cyprus was no less. We came across an exciting array of cuisines primarily comprising of meat and potato. If you go to Cyprus and you are not sure what to eat,head into a traditional Taverna and order the Meze. The Meze like the Kashmiri Wazwan consists of several small dishes starting with the salad and course by course servings of pita bread and Tahina, Pastitsio, Souvla, Sheftalia, Kleftiko, Aflia, Tavas and may be even grilled Halloumi cheese. If you are baffled by the number of dishes in Meze, you will be even more baffled by the huge portions they serve. I definitely had to try out one of the dishes and I chose Tavas. The original recipe is from Mr.Xenios' wife-the owner of the cottage where we were staying. She had prepared this for us on our last night...

It is the best time of the year again. I may be a little too early.  Nevertheless,the weather is too tempting and the carols playing are just so joyful that I cannot let it go unnoticed. That is how I came to bake today after a long day at work. The aroma from the hot oven is tickling palates around here. Shibin ( that is my husband) and I love Christmas. Perhaps that is what drew us close - our love for Christmas. I remember how endlessly we could chat about Christmas and the holiday season earnestly before we were married. This is our second Christmas together and we vow to make this Christmas even more beautiful than our first one together. Carols to wake us up in the morning and Christmas movies that make our evenings! I would be doing a grave injustice, if I forget to mention CBN radio - an American radio station that plays carols round the year. That is what is playing right now, giving me the Christmas spirit. For those who love Christmas as much as I do, google up CBN ...

That was a pretty huge break from blogging. After a wonderful trip to Cyprus - (details on a travellogue soon) and also a bout of sickness, I am back in the kitchen. Now that Diwali is right around the corner, why not a sweet dish? Diwali is probably a festival that brings together the entire country. From lighting the lamps to bursting the crackers, everyone irrespective of age and religion join in. The energy can be felt in every lane in India and the hustle bustle in every household. The earliest memories of Diwali for me is the kids in our colony gathering for Diwali celebration at a neighbors house. We joyously lined the walls with candles and lit them, took part in the pooja, burst crackers and finally gobbled down really sumptuous food. This was a day, we the kids of Vidyanagar colony looked forward to. Crackers were not my favorite but I loved lighting the lamps and loved going on a drive to see the beautifully lit houses. This is my first Diwali away from India and discus...