A Cooked up Story

Hello Folks!!! You may eat them sweet or savoury, with your fingers or a fork, soaked in syrup or sprinkled with sugar, but we agree- waffles are wonderful. Got an instant craving? Then keep reading to make yourself some crispy yet light and fluffy waffles. During my school days, weekends during hols were meant for sleepovers and fun time with my friends. As soon as the exams were over and the school bell rang, the silent corridors turned noisy, and we would run across the passage to meet at our secret hideout- the wooden bench under the tree. That beautiful spot brings memories even today. Most of our ideas came to life over there. It was where we shared our snacks, planned our next adventure, and waited for our parents to pick us up on sunny afternoons. Though we were experts in addition and subtraction, we were still trying luck with multiplication and long division. Our love for creativity, precision and challenge made us 9-year-olds work better at certain subjects. Whether it was ...

Hello Folks!!! Last evening my sister and I were fishing through our cupboard to find something interesting. To pass our time and do something creative, we thought of going through our old stuff. We rediscovered our long forgotten board games and thought of playing chess for a while. This reminded me of an incident. When I was little, the Bishop of Francistown once came to our home and I was so afraid of him. The kind and gentle Bishop Frank asked me why I was scared. I told him that I was scared because the 'bishop' kills. Poor Bishop Frank had a hearty laugh and said that he only kills flies! The game of chess, the bishop, rook, knight and pawn still evokes a sense of mysterious charm and fascination within me.  My sister being smarter, each move of hers looked like a well planned trap to capture my kingdom and establish her dynasty. Her eyes bolted across the board, measuring the little distances and making clever calculations to note safe points for her knight to take shelt...

Hello Folks!!! It was yesterday that I completed my exams and now I have all the time in the world to do things that make me happy. So overjoyed that I had finally completed my degree, I couldn’t wait to celebrate. We planned to have a long night filled with movies and chocolates. But just before that, Rule no. 1 - Grab some snacks to binge eat. It was then that my eyes fell on a packet of chocolate chips.   This brought in a rush of memories and scenes of three years ago, when my sister and I were at our native. We stayed at our cousins’ for over a week and had the best time ever. My aunt and uncle were at work so, we were by ourselves at home- the best thing that could ever happen when you are with your cousins, because that’s when you are known by those three very dangerous words- ‘Partners in Crime’. Dancing, singing, playing, cooking, watching movies, staying up late at night… if there was a to-do list of “all things fun to do with your cousins”, we had achieved more than th...

Hello Folks!!! The last few days were like the best days of my life. Although all of us are at home and it looks like we have a lot of time, we are unable to do the little things that bring happiness to our lives. Many a times, we just get caught up in a lot of busy things, forget to live those moments and share time with the ones we love. The fun began this Friday eve when my sister and I wished to make this Karnataka sweet dish. We usually cook in the evenings and enjoy our snacks for high tea; but this time, we tried something new and fun!!! We enjoyed ourselves the whole day- after attending our online classes, we played board games, watched videos together, had our dance and music classes and watched a movie. Now that looks like a very normal and busy day, but I will tell you, the fun begins right after we finished our supper. We had left some dough in an air tight container and after we were done eating,  quickly grabbed our aprons and eagerly set the pan on fire. We imagin...

Hello Folks!!! Festivities are a smorgasbord of religious traditions and fine food. From mouth-watering cuisines and delicacies from different parts of the globe to fusion dishes, sweet and savory, there is a certain charm that surrounds a festive season. Easter is one of the most fun celebrations in any child's life - with a basket full of chocolates, nests full of colourful easter eggs, super cute Easter bunnies and lots of sticky buns.  In Africa, Easter means a long weekend, which creates the perfect opportunity for a large family gathering. We would have lunch parties in our friends house, play in the swimming pool and also have 'eggs'changing.  As children, we had so much fun at the easter treasure hunt game, picking up easter eggs and presents specially kept for us at each doorstep. After the treasure hunt, we used to have the perfect get together! All families, friends and neighbours at home. Every year a different house would host the party.  There was a very bea...

Hello Folks!!! "There's nothing as cozy as a piece of candy and a book" says Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. The word candy is enough to brighten up your boring day and make you happy.  I am a huge candy fan! Wherever there is candy or any other kind of sweet dish, just look around and I will be there. During my 7th grade summer vacation, my grandfather came over and we decided to visit my grand aunt in Pondicherry. She was just lovely. With wavy white hair, a beaming smile and a lovely French accent, both of us had one thing in common - our love for candy. She loved this particular one called  'Kopiko', a coffee flavoured candy.  However, the day before we went to visit her, we searched all the shops, every nook and corner! But no luck …  having lost all our hopes of finding the Kopiko candy, we left for Pondicherry early in the morning . On the way, I found a mini truck offloading Kopiko I was overjoyed.... Even if candy is playing hide and seek, I can always find it .... a...

Hello Folks!!! “I’m starving, thought Horrid Henry. I’ll just eat a few biscuits really, really, really quietly”. Last afternoon, my sister wanted me to watch her cartoon shows with her. Before we settle down to watch TV, we always make sure we have some really good munchies.   She quickly switched on the television and we made ourselves cosy on the sofa. This time, she wanted to watch “Horrid Henry” and both of us agreed to watch it for some time, after which we would watch a show of my choice. A few minutes into the programe, Henry said “I’m starving. I’ll just eat a few biscuits really, really, really quietly”.   As soon as I heard it, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. It reminded me of a similar incident that took place just a year ago, but it was not just one girl, there were three hungry girls who planned a master plan to nick a snack from the kitchen. It was a normal week day, when everyone was hungry at 5pm; the time we expect to munch on 2 thin biscuits a...