Happy 2nd Blog Anniversary

This comes 2 days too late. I was so disappointed about why I didn’t plan it better. I flipped through many a books to see if I could do something spectacular for this day or run a giveaway but nothing materialized. I ranted on twitter and to all my friends who listened.

But ultimately I felt I could do a post without any food in it. It is allowed,isn’t it? My blog wouldn’t mind either, I am sure.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLOG

2 whole years of blogging, eating, feeding, baking, cooking, thinking, photographing and writing has been a mean adventure. I feel like my toddler of 29 months and this blog were the sole reasons why I maintained my sanity all this time. I realized so many new things about myself and met so many wonderful people – bloggers and non-bloggers alike.

On my blog anniversary when I was worrying about how I completely missed baking something incredible, I was actually walking a Walkathon for Cancer Awareness, here in Bahrain. It was so much fun and at the same time important. It meant this fantastic cause was supported by so many individuals and Corporate alike to fund treatment and research for Cancer. The walk happened early evening when there was a nip in the air but that did nothing to quell the excitement of the huge crowd that generously donated and walked their way to finish the 3.5 km mark.

This was the first time I had participated and I enjoyed it a lot.

I hope the next time there is a run so that would really help me start preparing for my long haul (half marathon) end of this year.

For now I have photos of the walk which appeared in the newspaper today. The hunk in the black tshirt is my dear hubby.

Nutella Pots and A Blog Award

Blogging happened to me purely by chance. One balmy afternoon, at my parents home, whilst observing my 5 month old sleep peacefully under the rhythmic whirring of the fan, I had this incredible urge to say a few things. The whole household was asleep and there wasn’t anyone I could speak to. I browsed through a couple of blogs on the internet and marvelled at how much people wrote and how well, too. On a whim, I decided to create my own and Slice of my Lyfe ( I did not get ‘Life’ since it was already taken) was born. Post after post I felt, I had so much to say and my blog was taking it all like a good sport. Nobody read my blog in the beginning except a few friends who knew about it. I didn’t care. I never got any comments. I still did not care. I loved that I was able to pour myself out to the world without the world judging me at any step. It was an incredible feeling.

In my nearly 2 years of blogging, I feel my blog has shaped itself into what it is today; a food blog. This is my 145th post and it deserved a toast. I didn’t feel, I needed to wait for it to cross a 150 or a 200 to celebrate because 145 as a number is just as good. My blog is all about me and my inspiration and that inspiration I sought from inside of me. I felt it was important to recognize my own progress and take pride in my accomplishments ( even at the risk of coming across as being completely self-absorbed). I also felt it was important to share my achievements with others and brag a little. People who find something valuable in my blog and come back again and again to read it understand this about blogging and do not take it in any other sense. The recognition and support of these positive souls around me nurtures me and motivates me to give the best that I have.

One such friend that I made in the blogosphere is Cassandra of Food My Friend. We have supported each other by going to each other’s blog and discussing our love and passion for food and related things. A vegetarian, a bunny lover and an impulsive holiday booker, that is Cassandra for you. Most importantly she is somebody who takes pride in creating her own recipes and being a perfectionist while she is at it. Do take time to check out her lovely blog.

Cassandra was ever so kind to bestow my blog with The Liebster Blog Award. Thank you Cassandra for this lovely Award which would be my first in all this time. It makes me feel very special and happy to be recognized with an Award such as this.

A little about the Award : Liebster is a German word meaning darling or beloved. The Liebster Blog Award is to recognise your favorite up-and-coming bloggers . It requires a little rule-follow which is as under:

1.Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.

2.Reveal your top 5 bloggers and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

3.Copy and paste the award on your blog.

So to spread the love, I have a list of five bloggers ( not in any order) that I feel are terrifically passionate and it shows through their blog.

1. Nashira – who  blogs at nashplateful is a brilliantly talented cook. I say this with a lot of force because I have had the good fortune to sample her food and gracious hospitality when I went visiting her in Doha. A mother of two boys, Nashira is passionate about photography and can spend hours perfecting a shot. She is the only blogger that I know who uses a point and shoot camera and still comes out with DSLR kind results. She is somebody I totally relate to and can talk to for hours. Hop over to her blog to see yourself get addicted to Nashira’s casual chatter in her posts and luminous photography.

2. Ameena – who blogs at FancythisFancythat is a mum to the adorable Maya. Ameena writes about her everyday quirks in little postlets ( that is what I call them) which actually run quite deep. There is so much lesson and meaning to what she writes that if you didn’t know better, you would only laugh it off and forget about it. I take her blog very seriously and I earnestly feel she has a great chance at being a life coach ( I am sure Ameena, herself may be quite surprised with this admission of mine).  Take a look at her blog and decide for yourself.

3. Gayathri – blogs atFood and Fiction and happens to be my first friend when I landed in this alien land ( not alien anymore, I love Bahrain). . After a business degree and five years of working with a Corporate, Gayathri decided to give it all up to be home maker and mum to an adorable 2 1/2 year old. Gayathri and I share a deep love for baking and reading. Her blog is a testimony of her passion for baking cakes and writing little fiction pieces. Only if she took herself seriously, I believe she has it in her to publish many of her written pieces.

4. Anamika – blogs at Taste Junction  had a flourishing career in the advertising industry, but took a sabbatical to move with her hubby to Bahrain. A mum and home maker now, Anamika divides her time cooking up some delectable food ( which is lip smacking good) and taking fabulous pictures of the same. Anamika’s eye for detail and aesthetic has given me the necessary inspiration to improve my photography capabilities. Anamika enjoys writing as well in her spare time and it would be worth your while to read it in her scribbles section of her blog.

5. Arva - blogs at I Live in a Frying Pan and is probably the biggest foodie I have known in the virtual space. Her passion for food shines through from her posts about the quaint little places that she discovers in Dubai. I find myself in splits every time I read her foodie adventures and admire her for that since I know how difficult it is to get people to laugh. As I have mentioned to her umpteen number of times before that she has that special ability to make any sort of food look five-star quality and that says a lot about her photography skills.

Now after that felicitation, I think I need to toast these beautiful people with some Notoriously Delicious Nutella pots for their consistency with blogging and endless zeal for life.

These Nutella Pots are just right for occasions like this. Sweet, creamy and full of nutella goodness, this bi-coloured custard can only whet your appetite for more. Without further ado,

Recipe for Nutella Pots

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 eggs+2 egg yolks

1 tbsp castor sugar

1 tsp cornflour

600 ml milk

75 gm plain chocolate

4 tbsp of nutella  or any hazelnut chocolate spread

To Decorate – grated chocolate

Preparation

1. Beat the egg yolk, eggs castor sugar and cornflour together until well combined. Heat the milk until almost boiling.

2. Gradually pour the milk on to the eggs; whisking as you do so.

3. Melt the chocolate and nutella in a bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water, then whisk it into the eggs.

4. Pour into 6  ramekins  and cover them with tinfoil. Place it in bain -marie /roasting bin after filling it with boiling water that comes halfway up to the sides of the ramekins.

5. Bake in a preheated oven, 160C/ 325 F/ Gas Mark 3-4, for 35-40 minutes until the custard is just set. Remove from the tin/bain-marie and cool. There after, chill the ramekins in the refrigerator until required. Serve decorated with grated chocolate.

This is a make-ahead dessert and so easy to put together. The two colours of the light and dark chocolate settle on their own and in my opinion is the ‘wow’ factor of this pudding. You have to make it to believe it!

Happy Blogging!

Dorie’s Marbled Loaf Cake for Ana

People who have followed this blog right from the beginning would know the original intend of this blog was never to be a food blog. I wanted it to be a journal to record my  mommy memories and following that, sharpen my writing skills. But somewhere in between I started baking and that influenced me so much that slowly and steadily I started chronicling my baking adventures and at times, misadventures as well. I guess, everything has to evolve and my blog did too. The content might have changed from diaper stories to Dorie recipes but the passion for writing  prevailed.

During the course of my 1.5 years of blogging, I also happened to join the Bahrain Writers’ Circle that aimed at getting  fellow writers and authors come together once a month to talk informally about writing and related topics. It has been great for me, a home maker, to venture out once a month to meet like-minded and inspiring bunch of writers. An offshoot of this circle  is the Creative Writing Workshop that is the brain child of the beautiful Ana Corradini Boreland.  Ana is from Brazil and came to Bahrain with her husband. She is a journalist, translator and an author of 14 children’s books. A live wire, Ana brought such energy to her Writing Workshops that we were forced to come out with our creative best. She spent hours  building wonderful writing exercises for us that manipulated us to push our writing boundaries. The truth be told, I feel a difference when I write now and try not to be as uni dimensional, like I used to be once. I try to gauge a topic from all corners and then attempt to bring out the best ( in my opinion) that I possibly can. These workshops by Ana instilled in me a confidence  and the courage to stop being so self-critical. Not in many words, her message was – ‘Unless you put yourself out there, there is no way you are going to know how well you can do something‘ and  ”Unapologetic-ally be Yourself“. Her workshops were fun, informal and such a source of joy that I looked forward to them from days on end. But I had an inkling that  it was just too good to last and soon we heard some bitter-sweet news from her about moving away from Bahrain. To say, that I was heart-broken, would be an understatement and due to unavoidable circumstances I wasn’t able to attend her last workshop. But I wanted to tell her how much her time, effort and energy meant to me and as a going away gift I baked her the classic Marbled Loaf Cake.

Thank you Ana for every laugh, every word of encouragement and for simply being you.

Recipe for Dorie’s Marbled Loaf Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups plus 2 Tbsp All-Purpose Flour

1 ¼ tsp Baking Powder

½ tsp Salt

1 ½ sticks (10 ounces) Unsalted Butter, at room temperature

1 cup Sugar

4 large Eggs

½ tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup whole milk

4 ounces Bittersweet Chocolate, melted and cooled

1/2 cup  of Chocolate chips – milk & semi sweet for topping

Directions:

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter an 9×5 loaf pan, dust the inside with flour, and tap out the excess. Place the pan on an insulated baking sheet.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth, about three minutes. Add the sugar and beat for another two to three minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Don’t be concerned if the batter curdles and stays curdled. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and alternately add the flour mixture in three additions and the milk in two (begin and end with dry ingredients), mixing only until each addition is incorporated.

4. Divide the batter in half and stir four ounces bittersweet chocolate into one half and keep the other half plain. Scrape the batter into the pan. Top it with chocolate chips.

5. Bake the cake for 1 hour and 20 to 30 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean. If the cake looks as if it’s getting too brown during its bake, cover it loosely with a foil tent. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it rest for about 15 minutes before unmolding, then cool the cake to room temperature right side up on the rack.

6. Wrapped well, the cake will keep at room temperature for up to four days.

Ana, I hope you enjoyed the Marbled loaf cake and here’s wishing you all my  best!

Indian Street Food : A Guest Post for Taste Junction

In my opinion, the whole Guest Post concept is such a swell one. In many ways, it expresses the great camaraderie that the  food blogging community shares. I did a guest post about Indian Street Food for Anamika of Taste Junction who had been away for three whole weeks on a beautiful vacation. My love for chaats and all things chaats is legendary, so before Anamika took off for her vacation, we had an Indian Street Food theme dinner at my place. The excerpts from that delightful night are here.

While Anamika and I were busy prepping the dinner, the food was being photographed by my talented friend Namit. He did a brilliant job with the collage that depicts the true essence of Indian Street Food.

Though a bit late, hope you have a good time reading it!!