Myriad Musings

My thesis, validation and kids on vacation makes for a terrible combination.  My younger one is used to a modicum of attention from me, some art, a story here and there,  lots of conversations and trips to the store/beach/coffee place; My older one is used to having me whip up treats, some savoury, some sweet, some savoured, some not so much.  Now, I am continually shushing them while I try to write, to think out they next line/paragraph/chapter mentally.  I also have CMC asking to validate my two projects, WB government reading about our mannequin in TOI and asking to see a demo, TN government medical centre,  right around the corner from IITM, finding out about us from TOI and wanting demo and training... Nice problems to have, but very poor timing.  My deadline is Oct 28th and I have barely 2 of my 5 chapters written!  On the other hand chapters 3 and 4 are just papers and validation I have already done, so they may need no more than 3 days. ...

One teenager, one small child and the two of us make for very odd eating schedules.  The rather odd hours S. and I keep adds to the oddity (odd adds to oddity, repeat 10 times);  Basically, at any given time in our home someone is very hungry and someone else, usually the cook, me, is very sleepy/tired/unwilling to cook at all.   The net result is, Ash, being the sweet boy that he is, will be satisfied with Bananas, S. will eat anything and Gau will demand junk and junk only.   One goto snack is cereal, homemade ot store brought.  Honey Bunch of Oats is the most preferred cereal at our home but it's carbon foot print must be enormous!  From time to time, I get up caught in the "Be Indian Buy Indian" slogan of yesteryears and want to buy only locally made products from Indian companies, not MNC in India.  The 24 Mantra ones are OK, but not what I would call a resounding success with Gau/Ash.  I have to chop up nuts, fruits and add a fistful of...

It is not just kids who get their heads turned by TV. My hubby recorded and watched half a dozen Seinfeld episodes and then started longing for the zillion cereal boxes he saw stalked on the fridge.  Probably harking back to student days at UT Austin or pre-baby working days in Dallas.  I am on a minimum Carbon Footprint endeavour, I decided to make Granola at home and keep bottles of it stashed away for the pre-breakfast, post-dinner hunger pangs. My younger son insists on a bowl everyday.  Older prefers Chocos which are a rare treat. The recipe is very simple: 1 cup oats, NOT the quick cooking kind 2 cups of Millet/Brown Rice Flakes(Aval)/Maize Flakes or combination 1 cup of popped Amaranth seeds (Optional) 1/2 cup Oat/Wheat Bran or 1/3 popped bengal gram ground to a fine powder 1/4 cup flax seeds ground to a powder 1/3 cup almonds/walnuts/pistachio or combinations 1/3 cup sunflower seeds/ melon seeds/ pumpkin seeds (Optional) 1/2 cup light honey 1/4 cup s...

February has flown past, leaving in its wake a dozen planned projects, book to read, software to catch up, foods to cook. Maybe I should make my march list fewer and simpler. This past sunday was Sivaratri and I had fasted most of the day and concocted the usual sweet potato dish for prasadam ; Sivaratri Sweet Potato Boil 2 sweet potatoes, peel, chop coarsely add it to 1/2 cup of thick jaggery syrup. Garnish with a handful of freshly scraped coconut. I had quite a bit leftover; This made todays breakfast very interesting. Amaranth Seed Sweetpotato kanji Cook 1 cup amaranth in 2 cups water and 2 cups milk for 15 - 25 minutes. Add a handful of raisins when you start cooking. Add 1 recipe of the sweet potato dish mentioned above and mix thoroughly. Ladle onto cereal bowls, top with fresh milk and enjoy. Both my DH and son enjoyed this. BTW I had not realised Amaranth is just Thandukeerai, a sure fire in my mom's arsenal. I used to love eating Thandukeerai ...

and a child unwilling to eat any :( I had always had this visual image of a pleasant kitchen with a small dining table; A pretty looking cookie jar on the table. I forgot to visualise my son grabbing the cookies; Now, I beg him to try 1 cookie, promising him a red juicy apple or a bunch of grapes in return! I have slightly better luck with my younger nephew; My older one is just as fussy. This time, when my in-laws returned home to Erode I deceided to bake 2 different batches of cookies, one aimed at tempting the older one and the other one a proven success with the younger one. My version of Amaretti (Italian Almond Cookies): 1 Cup Almonds 1/2 Cup Chiroli 3/4 Cup Melon Seeds 1/2 Cup Sugar 1/4 Spoon salt 8 - 10 peppercorn 2 tbsp Maida (All-Purpose flour) 1 tsp Vanilla Essence 4 egg whites beaten 1 yolk (optional - mine was a mistake but tasted fabulous) Roast items 1,2,3 in a 100 deg Celsius oven for 8 to 10 minutes; Take care not to burn. Pre-heat oven to ...