Banana bread

                                                                                  

Ingredients..

1 and 1/2 cup ata
1/3 cup butter melted
3/4 cup sugar powd
1egg
1tsp vanilla and 1tsp soda
4 ripe bananas

Method..

Mash bananas..add butter.
Mix well .Add beaten egg,sugar and vanilla and soda. Mix with wooden spoon well. Soda must be mixed well. Add ata. Mix. Bake in preheated oven at 180degrees till well browned and fork comes clean. About 40 minutes.
Cool. Cut into pieces.
Chew happily!

Homemade Jackfruit halwa

                                                      

I am a big lover of jackfruit halwa. No visit to Kerala ends without my buying at least a kilo of this , to gobble up on my return home.

The other day, Mom-in-law packed some not-very-ripe jackfruit for us to carry back. She didn't know what to do with it. "I'm making halwa,"I declared, without thinking.
I had no clue how to make it.

Yesterday I began. 
"Just eat it as it is..why go into this bother?" Hubby protested.
I was determined.
 The end result was simply delicious. 
Just like the store variety. Maybe even better. 
And it's so easy to prepare!

Ummmm...I just finished the last piece, hubby offered me so lovingly. Grateful, he didn't finish it off!

Here's my recipe.

Ingredients...

1 and half cups finely chopped jackfruit(seed discarded)
1 cup jaggery
a pinch of jaiphal powder
two tbsps ghee
two tbsps finely chopped cashewnuts

Method...

Melt the jaggery completely in a nonstick pan on medium heat. Add the jackfruit. Mix well. Remove into a mixie jar and grind to a fine paste. Now transfer the contents back on the pan and heat while stirring continually, till the paste begins to leave the sides of the pan.
Wow! Smells so good!
Now add the jaiphal powder, cashew and ghee and keep stirring till it becomes a thick lump without any moisture whatsoever.
Transfer it onto a greased plate. Spread evenly. Cool, refrigerate.
Cut into pieces and serve.
Tastes heavenly!

On Indiblogger road...

I began blogging in 2010. I penned down some memories after our very first school reunion. Simply because my sons prodded me to. So  I wrote about our kerala trip on my blogsite, 'My thoughts'..and loved the attention it received from my family. The reunion memoir connected me with my former, now greying classmates. Soon facebook happened and my interest in writing diminished, and eventually I stopped writing altogether till 2012, when I happened to log into a blogging site. I began and never looked back since( till last month. )I wrote around six hundred articles...and loved every moment of it. But my pals there left and new just-out-of-school kiddos joined the site. I began feeling left out. I had to leave, though it was tough. We were like family.

Scrolling down the net, I saw Indiblogger. Glancing through a few stories, I felt satisfied. I had arrived. I needed variety and boy! Did we have it here? Plenty!
The topics ranged from fashion to travel, cookery to technology, kids' stories to science fiction. Outstanding!
So I logged in. Having been turned down by another site a few day's ago, I wasn't sure I would be taken in.
Thank God, they didn't kick me out. I do look like an Indian, thankfully.

I sent in my blogs (beginning with two/three at a time...) , but I soon realized one post per day is a safe bet. The reason being-very few bloggers are privileged homemakers like me..and just cannot read all my posts in a single day!

I liked the networking of folk here, friends are made so easily. No jealousy/insecurity seen in anyone. Nice encouraging comments appear on posts, thankfully. I loved every write up I have read so far. I realized I have still miles to go before I can ever catch up with any of the folk here. Authors are experts in their various fields, no controversial topics are chosen, each one remains within his respective limits. Some bloggers seem to be around my age, I observed gleefully.

But I was a tad disappointed. I would like to see a lot more humor in the writings out here, sometimes one does come out with a sprinkling here and there, but could we have a blog simply dedicated to humor? Is laughing a crime?
I do want to begin my day laughing.
One more thing I noticed was a dearth of easy poetry. Simple,heartfelt lines. Some of them are so deep, I can't get head or tail of it.
Indibloggers love get togethers, I noticed. Something so rare on other sites.

So far so good. I just started my journey on Indiblogger road, but am enjoying it immensely!

Dumb belle no more!

                                       

Women don't really need to hit the gym. 
Here are some tips for the fittest you.
In exactly a month's time!

Stand next to the window, first thing in the morning. 
That is if you belong to any place other than Mumbai. 
Now, inhale. Smell the flowers? 
Don't forget to exhale.

Next, hold a huge pillow, a bolster's better. Hit your hubby with all your might. He's awake in a jiffy, eyes wide open. Laugh out aloud (at his puzzled face ). Laughing exercise numerous facial muscles.

Next, stand in your sunlit balcony. Do all asanas in full view of your neighbors.( To motivate them).
Collect coins thrown your way from admiring male viewers. (It's commercially viable too.)

Stand still for a few moments. Just look unblinkingly into the far distance. It's good for the eyes. 
If some dashing guy, a Prithviraj look alike, comes into your line of view, it's really not your fault.

Then, pound the tea masala in the mortar.. good for the muscles..sit down, enjoy your tea.
Let hubby have the paper..for a lil' feel good factor. And peace,

They've left, so take a deep breath, hitch saree up,  tuck it's pallu into your bulging waist, hold broom tight, bend forward...and begin cleaning the rooms corner to corner.
Wipe droplets of intense sweat beginning to form on your forehead, resist the urge to swear.

For ultra body toning, stand tiptoe, try to reach the topmost shelf. Dust objects with a clean cloth...without pause.
It really takes a good fifteen minutes or so.

Now, heave half a bucket of water, bend on all fours, press down with all your might. Mop the floor like Kanta bai.
You have to. If you wish to have those great abs.

Take some rest, or you'll faint. You've never worked so hard in all your life. 
A wave of new found love for Kanta bai now sweeps all over you.

Cooking over, take the soiled iron pan, brush it spotless. Prevents upper hand fat accumulation.
No bad words please.

Both hands laden with bags of vegetables from the nearby market..weightlifter style.. for well toned arms..(you can do without your martyr looks...that causes wrinkles)..
You get your full dose of vitamin D too.

In the evenings, walk outdoors briskly. Hands moving up and down, military style for added spectacular effect.
They'll think you've gone mad.

With thousands of rupees saved, with a katrina like figure, a little more compassionate are you now..
Certainly not the dumb belle you would have been..
Had you been to that silly Gym.

Over

                                                               
She traipsed into the room and seeing him sprawled on the sofa, laid the sheet over his slumbering body; that's when she discovered a long strand of hair tucked away on the inside of his collar (it wasn't his,she was sure). 

His cheeks wore traces of faded red lipstick and she noticed, he looked strangely good but reeked of alcohol, which he had never touched till..perhaps tonight.

Turning on his side, "Sara," he moaned ,"I love you so my darling."

Shocked completely out of her wits..she came to this one conclusion.

Sheela's twenty plus years of wedded bliss was over.

Charcoal painting..my new love

It is easy, inexpensive and fun.
Painting with charcoal.
Here are some samples...
(Try drawing some yourself..it's not tough!)