Baking with Merry

I have tasted panna cottas in hotels and never really liked it. To me, they were bland! So, when I came across this simple and easy recipe on Pastry Affair , I wanted to try it the very moment.... But somehow, it kept on postponing...I even thought of making them on Valentine's Day as it would be a perfect dessert for the day but since we had guests, didn't bother!!  Finally, yesterday when I had some free time, I decided to give it a try. Since it was my first attempt with panna cottas, I decided to keep it minimal. However, it was a success at home and my people loved them. If making for kids, you could avoid the wine syrup and use any fruit coulis instead, as the wine syrup was a bit sharp in taste for the kids!! Ingredients:  Recipe Source: Pastry Affair For the Panna Cotta Unflavored gelatin - 2 1/4 tsps Cold Water - 3 tbsps Heavy Cream - 1 cup Milk - 1 cup Granulated sugar - 1/4 cup Salt - a pinch Vanilla essence - ...

"No matter how dreary and gray our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful. There is no place like home." L. FRANK BAUM, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Though I am happy to be free from my vacation hangover; deep inside I miss the vacation.... We had a wonderful time in Kerala. The best part of the trip was the to and fro train journeys. The kids were totally excited especially my little one as this was her first journey by train ... When we reached Kerala it was blazing but it started pouring like anything towards the end of our vacation. They were days when we hardly saw the sun !! Come rain or shine, the kids had a marvelous time…. And me; I had a delicious time having mangoes, jackfruits and of course mummy-made food … yum yum… . Oh!! How I miss all this…… Anyways coming back to today's recipe... . I bookmarked this recipe in my mind the day it was posted on Divya...

Ever since the summers have begun, milkshakes, smoothies and fresh juices have become a part of our diet.   I make them with whatever ingredients I have at home. These days I also have a bottle of chilled milk and a few cups of yogurt ready in the fridge. The other day I had few ripened bananas and dates, so decided to combine those with the chilled milk and there I got yet another milkshake *winks*........ Ingredients: Recipe Source: My Own Banana - 4, small Dates - 5-6, seed removed Milk- 2 cups, chilled Method: Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until all the ingredients are blended well. Transfer to a glass and serve immediately. Notes: You could the milkshake with a few ice-cubes. You could add sugar or honey accordingly.   

It's been sometime since I have baked a cake. After the birthday cake fuss, I haven't had the motivation to bake anything!! I was going through my recipe book the other day and found few pending cake recipes. One among them was the Williamsburg Orange Cake. This recipe was jotted down from the newspaper along with the Applesauce spice squares  last month; but it had to wait for so long to see the limelight.... I have baked cakes out of mangoes , apples , strawberries and so on but this is the first try with oranges and believe me it was the best among the others!! The cake was so flavorsome and tastes better as it ages, though sadly in my house cakes normally don't last for more than two days!! I have made few changes in the original recipe. The original recipe uses 1 cup golden raisins and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. However, I didn't add those as we like a plain cake. Ingredients: Recipe Source: The Hindu All purpose flour - 2 1/2 cups Sugar...

Hope the photos below speak more than the words! Ingredients & Equipments: Recipe Source: everyday smoothies and juices by Parragon Books Ripe Pineapple - 1 Oranges - 4, halved Ice cubes Juicer, Cocktail Shaker and Squeezer (not included in the picture above) Method: Slice the bottom of the pineapple and stand the pineapple upright on a board. Remove the spiky skin then cut into six long pieces. Puree the pineapple in a juicer. Squeeze the oranges with a squeezer.  Pour the juices in a cocktail shaker and add some ice cubes. Shake well. Pour into a glass and serve. The juice all ready to be poured into the glasses. And here it is the "Sunrise Crush", to kick-start your day or to un-wind after a long tiring day!  

Normally, I don't like pumpkins, especially the ripe ones. So, if they are used in sambhar or avial or made as erissery , I am fussy! But that's not the case with the raw ones.... I love raw pumpkins and papaya...Raw pumpkins are good for salads  (especially their skin)  and juices; and raw papayas make a good thoran . It was my papa who introduced me to these juices made out of raw pumpkins and they tasted yummy.... . He used whatever fruits and veggies that were available in his garden for the juices... . The main ingredients, however were pumpkins, carrots and apples, with a few additions or subtractions in the ingredients. I always prefer to stick with pumpkins, carrots and apples without any sugar and we, including my little fussy-eaters love it. Ingredients: Recipe Source: My own Raw Pumpkin - 1/2, peeled and cubed Apple - 2, cored and chopped Carrot - 1, peeled and chopped Method: Place the chopped pumpkin, apple and carrot in a food ...

The summers are becoming unbearable; the sun is shining down in its full glory. I have started skipping my evening tea or coffee with something cool. I normally go in for cold water or some cold fresh juices. My kids too have started skipping their hot milk for milkshakes or cold milk. Though I have had smoothies from cafes or restaurants, I am not a great lover of those as they are calorie-laden drinks. But, I wanted to try out smoothies for my kids. I searched for a healthy smoothie recipe for kids and found out many on Food Viva . Since I had few apples in hand, I tried out the Apple Smoothie, to begin with..... Ingredients: Recipe Adapted from: Food Viva Fresh Apples - 2, cored and chopped Milk - 1 cup Curd - 1/2 cup Honey - 2 tbsps Ground cardamom - a pinch Golden raisins - few, to garnish Method: Put the chopped apples, curd, ground cardamom and honey in a blender and blend until smooth. Add milk and blend it again for a few seconds. Pour pr...