Snow on Pink-New Year!

Snow reminds me of many good things in life. I have written about my first snow experience in Europe (on this blog in Feb 2012) and I have not stopped fancying it since then. To me,Snow is a symbol of something Fresh, Soft, Pure and Serene (and actually something warm...). I have noticed the calmness within me whenever I see snow.
This year has seen a few episodes of Snow in England, an earlier one and also later in December.

I remember creating an 'Alien Snowman' during the early part of this year, but not much from the snowfall in December. 

I did a few photos of the snow, edited them after by enhancing and applying some soft focus. I decided to make a collage of these photos with a pink background.

Although it is Christmas time, I have not forgotten what a big year is ahead of me and I want to support Cancer Research UK next year as well (a reminder to myself; just thought I should explain the reason for the pink background...).  I want to carry the freshness and purity of the snow in my mind into each day of the new year.

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !!

Before I end just a few tips to understand the photos in the collage

a. Top: Roads just showing the signs of snow and a light fog (Don't know what the foggiest place on earth will look like....Is it the Grand Banks of Newfoundland?)

b. Bottom Left:  Snow covering some leaves on a bushy plant.

c.Bottom Right: A deciduous tree with snow as its leaves.

Sun Shines!

It is nearly minus 3 degree centigrade; all the snow and ice have melted away. No  wonder the tree is embracing the sun for a little warmth!

For the Chancellor of the Exchequer

I do not understand politics or economics, because I choose not to understand. Today's  'Economic Forecasts' and 'Autumn Statements' by the Chancellor of the Exchequer sets the hearts in gloom even during Christmas times.
When progress is to be made today for a better tomorrow, I think gloomy economic forecast in itself sends negative vibes and hinders progress. I read this useful story which I am sharing here.

Be Your Own Judge

There is a story about a man who sold hotdogs by the roadside. He was illiterate, so he never read newspapers. He was hard of hearing, so he never listened to the radio. His eyes were weak, so he never watched television. But enthusiastically, he sold lots of hotdogs. His sales and profits went up. He ordered more meat and got himself a bigger and a better stove. As his business was growing, the son, had recently graduated from college, joined his father.

Then something strange happened. The son asked, ``Dad, aren't you aware of the great recession that is coming our way?'' the father replied, `No, but tell me about it.' the son said, `the international situation is terrible. The domestic situation is even worse. We should be prepared for the coming bad times.' The man thought that since his son has been to college read the papers and listen to the radio, he ought to know and his advice is not to be taken lightly. So the next day, the father cut down his order for the meat and buns, took down the sign and was no longer as enthusiastic. Very soon, fewer and fewer people bothered to stop at his hot dog stand. And his sales started coming down rapidly. The father said to the son, `Son, you were right. We are in the middle of a recession. I am glad you warned me ahead of time.'

-Many times we confuse intelligence with good judgment.

-A person may have high intelligence but poor judgment.

Choose your advisers carefully but your own judgment

 Who are the advisers of the Chancellor of the Exchequer?

Do you hate someone?

This is a simple story that was forwarded to me. Just thought  it is great to share and did not think too much about copyrights etc before copy pasting here. A kindergarten teacher decided to let her class play a game. The teacher told each child in the class to bring along a plastic bag containing a few potatoes. Each potato will be given a name of a person that the child hates. So the number of potatoes that a child will put in his/her plastic bag will depend on the number of people he/she hates. So when the day came, each child brought some potatoes with the name of the people he/she hated. Some had 2 potatoes; some 3 while some up to 5 potatoes. The teacher then told the children to carry with them the potatoes in the plastic bag wherever they go (even to the toilet) for 1 week. Days after days passed by, and the children started to complain due to the unpleasant smell let out by the rotten potatoes. Besides, those having 5 potatoes also had to carry heavier bags. After 1 week, the children were relieved because the game had finally ended... The teacher asked: "How did you feel while carrying the potatoes with you for 1 week?". The children let out their frustrations and started complaining of the trouble that they had to go through having to carry the heavy and smelly potatoes wherever they go. Then the teacher told them the hidden meaning behind the game. The teacher said: "This is exactly the situation when you carry your hatred for somebody inside your heart. The stench of hatred will contaminate your heart and you will carry it with you wherever you go. If you cannot tolerate the smell of rotten potatoes for just 1 week, can you imagine what is it like to have the stench of hatred in your heart for your lifetime???" Moral of the story: Throw away any hatred for anyone from your heart so that you will not carry sins for a lifetime. Forgiving others is the best attitude to take! Love Everyone & Be Loved

Tree with a character

My Morning Glory!

My mornings for the past 1 year has always wished a 'Good Morning' to this particular tree. As I come down the elevator with transparent clean windows I always wondered how this tree is so beautiful. It is full of character and it is as if it can talk to me in as much as I want to talk to it. The branches like a Medusa's head is giving a monstrous look today!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Labneh

Most of us like pizzas because the cheese on them tickle the taste buds and the olfactory system. Some of us have the non stop approval from the brain for any kind of cheese. Cheese plays a very important role in culinary and it has the power to majorly enhance the sensation of food.
Although I like cheese I have never made one myself. I have been to cheese factories where I have seen them made the traditional way and how some cheese are matured in caves.
I stumbled upon a simple method for making my own cheese. What intrigued me here is the fact that this cheese is made from yoghurt rather than milk!
The cheese is called 'Labneh' and is Lebanese. All I had to do is add a pinch of salt to 8z of Greek style yoghurt and wrap it tight on a clean handkerchief. The whey separates from the mix which is left overnight in a refrigerator and is collected in a bowl.
Tada! The soft cheese is ready. It can be marinated in herbal oils and olives but I can eat it simply as a spread over my toast.
I have added a few pictures here.

 

Rechargeable Souls

It feels like its been a long time since I blogged. I have not stopped to enjoy petty things in life like eating,cooking,dreaming etc. I only stopped blogging for a while because I was washed by a sea of other more enjoyable blogs that only today I beached on the shore taking a deep breath to start writing again.
As usual from work I was knackered which took me into thinking ' What if I had a rechargeable duplicate soul'?  I could do with  'two souls' can't I? One to do the morning tasks and another for the evening tasks. As one soul gets tired, the other can jump with to boost my spirits up so that I can remain in motivation and perform well.
Mental tiredness is so common that sometimes I feel my mind has stopped working and is looking at a remote distance to get back into action.
Coming back to the topic, how can I recharge my 'souls'? I don't know. If you stumble upon this article and know the answer you can tell me all about it!  Until then Auf Wiedersehen!

One Food and a Photo

Whilst my oats flapjack is sitting in the kitchen oven at 175 degree centigrade, I am preparing myself to organize some of the floral pictures I have taken in the past. As I browsed through the shots there is this one picture that really brought the summer into my mind.

It is one of the random shots as one might capture during a casual walk.

I noticed this tiny insect cushioned on the lovely scented elderflower. How happy will that insect be to have the huge elderflower and its nectar all to itself? Does insects undergo emotions like me-Happy, Sad, etc.,?

 Some of the stigma are still hanging around underneath the corymb suggesting the deliberate unwillingness of this flower to abandon pollens to the wind and the insect.

This Elderflower stands like a sturdy pole to flag and soar up on its own to reach the blue skies.

Having seen this flower in full bloom in August this year, I would have to enjoy some Elderflower and Apple drink.

I am deeply distracted by the burning butter from the oven. Off I go to rescue my flapjack!!

Void

I don't like this at all.What is this? This big 'Void' or 'feeling of Emptiness'. Part of me is watching the physical me perform so many day today chores yet the inner me is not fed at all. Is this void otherwise called 'Soul'. It will be a bit of shame if soul were supposedly only a void and these voids can not be fed enough.
How can I get rid of this emptiness? How easy is it? Is this the beginning of 'Soul Searching'? What can I feed my soul? Where to find the answers?

Dreams

I wanted to write about 'Dreams' for a long time. I wonder what my first dream was as a baby. I know we all dream from an early age during sleep. They say, to dream, one should go into a sound sleep.

I can't say that I dreamt a lot up until completing my undergraduation. It is during my post graduation days that I started dreaming often during sleep. Sometimes, annoyingly, the same kind of dreams appear again and again. One such dream is I am still  at my final year in secondary school and appearing for my mathematics exam. I still don't want to interpret the meaning of this dream and the insecurities it brings along.

I usually dream about people who I have already known and normally no strangers are allowed even in my dreams!!

People appear sad, happy, smiling, crying, suffering, dying etc., in my dreams. I strain myself to remember forgotten dreams and would start imagining the end after waking up.

I have to talk about the other aspect of 'Dreams'. People dream of 'becoming somebody', in other terms ambitions. 'I am a dreamer' would imply some one who is constantly persevering to rise himself to a higher platform. In reality, real dreams would keep oneself from sleeping and make him work hard to realise the goals.Such is the power of dreams.

Honestly speaking, I have never dreamt of becoming anybody. I am taking the road that was laid by GOD for me and am just walking in my own pace to reach the destiny. If I knew my destiny today, I will hardly have any interest in enjoying the rest of my life. Although this road of life is long and hard, when I reach my destiny I hope to take this deep sigh of relief that 'Yes, I found the purpose of my Life on this earth'!!.

Venom vs Poison

I don't often watch the so called 'intellectual' programmes on telly. Surprisingly, one such programme caught my attention and I enjoyed learning some informations through this.
I did not know that venom and poison are two totally different terms especially in their meaning. I learnt that 'SNAKES ARE NOT POISONOUS'. They are in fact 'VENOMOUS'.
Venom of a snake is a mixture of protein/enzymes that can be hemotoxic, cytotoxic and neurotoxic and it has to be delivered under the skin for it to be toxic.
Poison, on the other hand, is toxic when swallowed/inhaled or absorbed through the skin. Poisonous animals do not inject the toxin into another creature. Venom are NOT TOXIC if swallowed!! 
It isn't too confusing is it?

Food from Heart!

So, it is Krishnajayanthi aka Gokulashtami today. Does it mean its Lord Krishna's birthday? If so when was he born? What is his age now?
Am I obliged to answer these questions from a small kid? Probably not but apparently the birthday of Lord Krishna is July 19 or 21, 3227or 3228 BC. He is indeed very very old now isn't he?
 I started thinking about the concept of celebrating various religious festivals and their purposes. Hindu worship is idol based which in my humble opinion is the easiest form of worship to promote Bhakthi. People decorate the idols to their taste and attain a sense of fulfilment and happiness. Although I am not totally religious person, I am religious in my own way.
Part of worship is 'Neivaideyam' wherein we offer the deities whatever we have cooked /made with real devotion. I have several experiences myself where my cooking tasted better without having to taste the food during the preparation just because it is made for the Almighty and he is the first to taste them. Usually it is the men who chants verses of slokas on special occasions and neivaideyam are prepared by women. It is teamwork and probably was intended to be this way when festivals were conceptualised that it becomes a family event and the genders contribute equally and enjoy equally. It is also an opportunity to show talents and improve.

What is my stand on the modern day 'Neivedeyam'??
It is depicted that Lord Krishna likes milk, yoghurt and butter. This is  probably because these products were readily available as he was raised in a community rearing cows. So, ritually the neivedeyam consists of lots of butter mixed with raisins, cashews and fresh grapes, not to mention the sweetest 'Ladoos'.
Although it is a belief that Lord enjoys our offerings, it is us who engulf the sweets and savouries made on the day.
Assuming this is the strategy for all festivites can the 'Neivedeyams' be replaced to healthier,less fat, less sugar versions? My answer was a BIG YES (although I am perfectly capable of  indulgence and love the buttery food) , so I embarked myself to do this 'Oats and Nuts Ladoo' for Krishnajayanthi (an Internet recipe) . No refined sugar or butter was added to this recipe, so it is indeed healthy. It contained oats, figs, dates, walnuts, almonds, linseed and pistachios. Cashews and raisins were not included purposefully. (Why am I taking this on Kutti Krishna?)
Any way my ladoos were ready in 10mins and after the prayers I tasted them. They were really tasty and got the family approval.

 Is this a picture depicting our perception of  how the food itself is the 'Big' thing during festivals than the devotion to God himself?

 Baby Krishna typically pictured as eating the sweet Ladoos.

Food is probably the best way to get not only into people's heart but also the 'ALMIGHTHY' !!!

A 6yr Old's British Joke

There were two Crisps walking on the road.

 A taxi came by and asked them ‘Do you want a lift?’

 The Crisps answered, ‘No ,thank you, because we are the Walkers’!!

The Last House on the Road

I realized what a difference that a slow stroll can bring replacing a fast walk into the moor down the lane. I  have walked down the lane,on my return I took a stroll when I perceived how much of the surrounding I have missed to enjoy . When the pace of the walk is slowed down, I noticed that all the houses in the lane have a uniqueness. There is this house where a baby cries, another with a beautiful colourful garden filled with begonias, hydrangeas and roses, another with a lovely bay windows seeping the sun through, another one with a massive 4x4 blocking the invitation from within, another one with an old couple mowing the lawn, another one with a family enjoying the big screen LED, another with a broken yet antiqued fence,another with a cat sitting on the windowsill and glaringly staring at the on goers and so on...
Above all I am intrigued by the 'Last House on the Road'. It is a massive family home, I suppose. It is uniquely surrounded by the motorway, the rails and the airport noises,yet it is blanketed by the thick shrubs that protects the house like a mother embracing her beloved child. This house,often I felt,sends waves of an eerie stillness despite all disturbances. Hares,squirrels and foxes are the routine visitors to this house.
If I extrapolated my remarks of my tiny stroll to slowing down in life, I think, I will wish to revisit some of the things I have walked past in my life without actually enjoying them.  A second chance is always good if taken in the right spirit. Also to the future with the hope that there is always something to enjoy and to spot the happiness just by slowing down.

Duty

For people who are organized and disorganized alike, I think, a book or scripture with a list of  ' Prescribed Duties 'for men and women is desirable. As one approaches the 'duty' either philosophically or religiously, it is unclear as to what the broad terminology actually means.
I question myself, 'Am I doing my duty'? . Most of the times the answer is 'I don't know because I don't know what my duty is? This is the time I put down a list for myself as a woman to be my prescribed duty. There are 2 columns to say Yes and No,so that I can audit them at the end of the month and calculate the percentage of yes and no. I will know if I have been good enough  and if I followed my duties. It also gives me an opportunity on self reflection and self correction.
The List is my Preamble to be a 'Good Person' or 'Good Soul'. At this stage I have to define 'what is my definition of good'. Good to me,contextually, means a person who has helped oneself and others.
The list will have to undergo certain changes as one progresses through the different stages of life (Brahmacharya, Grihasta, Vanaprastha and Sannyasa).
I again questioned my motivation to do my duty. Suddenly a thought occurred to me, 'What if I added ENJOY LIFE within my prescribed duty. If enjoying life is my duty I better do it and that in itself be my motivation to my duties. 

Neuroplasticity

At times, I like to be cocooned in between the lines of books and yet feel liberated like a butterfly.

 On one of my cocooned moments I came across the word 'Neuroplastic'. It refers to the fact that the brain is a malleable organ and it can constantly change (!) under stimulation. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to restructure itself after training or practice.

I read a  few interesting things to about neuroplasticity.  Change takes place rather suddenly in the brain.  Studies have shown  that habits can be formed in as little as 7 days of repeated activity, but can dissipate just as easily.  In other words, change comes naturally and quickly and can disappear just as quickly as it arrived.  It also appears that “learning a variety of new things, rather than simply practicing old skills, may be most effective in terms of brain structure alterations”.

Having known this feature of brain I have no excuse not to learn new skills and perfect the existing ones. All I have to do is focus on what I want to be rather than questioning myself whether its achievable or not. It is probably due to the Neuroplasticity of the brain that most of our dreams are realized!

'I Blamed it on my Son without knowing it is the Sun to be blamed'!

This is what I do after I have generously allowed the rest of the family drive in my car without me. I have to give a cursory look inside the car to make sure things haven't been moved around in my absence. Obviously if rubbish has been moved I will be pleased.
I am very particular that my parking permit card (PPC) in the car be left where it should belong because I hate searching for petty things in the morning hours when top priority is to go to work (arriving late to work is another issue).
I noticed that my PPC was way too kinky. Within fractions of a second I get judgemental and carefully questioned as to who did that. Should I need a warrant to put the 'Blame on my little son'? No I don't because I am his mum and he is wrong when I say he is. This time I say he is wrong.
Next morning, as expected the card reader rejected the PPC and I managed to get into the car park by other means.I decided to request for a new PPC and went into the office.
The nice lady at the desk asked me,'Where did you leave your PPC'? I answered back saying I left it in the car. She guessed that it is  the warm weather that made the card kinky.(warm weather in Britain-ridiculous.,' The only Sun that comes out in the UK is THE SUN' (referring to the newspaper belonging to  R Murdock). I have copylefted this remark anyway.)
 I spurted suddenly, 'I Blamed it on my Son without knowing it is the Sun to be blamed'!!. The whole office burst into laughter.
With a sense of mild guilt of having cursed my son for something not being his fault I wanted to make up to him. I was nice to him in a motherly way, I allowed him to sit next to me and allowed him to operate the radio in the car. Everything was fine until  he decides to apply the HANDBRAKE whilst I am still driving. For that moment I felt like 'The STIG' on the Jeremy Clarkson car show trying to pull a car stunt.
 My rage went uncontrollable but what can I do except to shout his name in CAPITALS and thank God that his small hands weren't strong enough to pull the brakes fully!!
Moral- Kids are Kids

Balloon photography

I was walking along side this helium filled balloon and was intrigued to know  how a balloon would  see this world-Here we go...Topsy Turvy Planet!!

Oh! What are these moving objects?  Cars

A non moving object-A Tree?

A moving object but on a moving platform? Boats on River Thames

I spy something Blue- An overly Blue sky and a somewhat Blue Sun!!

Selfless Motivation

It is hard to remain motivated all the time. Motivations brings out the selfishness within oneself.
 The question now is how to be motivated selflessly?
 I found a convincing answer from Bhagawat Gita. When Arjuna was demotivated and depressed, "Lord Sri Krishna said: You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty. Perform your duty equi-poised, O Arjuna, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such equanimity is called yoga."
 Our motivations should be channelized and focused towards our duty. If this can be done on a daily basis then it creates the selfless motivation.
 Once I read Gita things get clearer to me, but then Confucius comes and confuses me !!
 "The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence-Confucius

British Rose

There are different types of British Roses, these are unique!

Blink of a flower!

Green Blood Corpuscle

I have never heard of a Green Blood corpuscle. My kid is 100% sure that just like a red or white blood cell, the green blood cells exist. I could not give him an evidence against his belief. On googling, I learnt that although mammals and few animals have Red blood, some animals like crabs, crayfish, octopus, squids etc have blue blood and some marine worms have green blood!!( yuck- remembered Shrek, the ogre). People who are overdosed with sumatriptan can have their blood turned green, as a result of sulphhemoglobinemia!!

Kitchenette Affairs

Again a lazy Sunday morning at home. After seeing the companionship of couple of potato farls and coffee Americano for the morning breakfast I was reminded to open the fridge to look out for some afternoon home dinner options.

Yes, there is a lettuce rather looking fresh, but the best before date was 2 days ago, and a cucumber which was leaping in front of other vegetables to establish its line of seniority for being the longest residing veggie in the fridge untouched. I silently acknowledged the growing tension in the fridge amongst the rival vegetables, 'Who is she going to pick at last?'

Oyster mushrooms are my husband's favourite and I promised that I will cook them for him today. The green beans are slightly tuning brown, so should I cook them today?

Decisions made. It’s a greens day today. I, at last opened the bag of lettuce, could see the British Soil coating the leaves, just gave a quick wash in the colander, started chopping them, when  my son was loudly enjoying a recipe shown on telly. He said, mum this recipe is mouth watering; we should try this at home.

It was the Saturday Kitchen but shown on Sunday brunch hour, how confusing? My son thought it was highlights of the program from previous day, I laughed, how can one show a highlight of a cooking program?, may be just show the main ingredients and skip the minor ingredients?? For God’s sakes, its not cricket or a football game!

The recipe was for ‘A Chocolate Cheesecake’. I was told that good cakes need eggs and good baking time. I am one of the few unfortunate people that don’t know how to crack an egg. This reminds me,

‘If an egg is broken by outside force -- LIFE ENDS : If an egg breaks from WITHIN - LIFE BEGINS

(I read this somewhere, not my quote)

Anyway, the ingredients for the recipe were missed on the telly but fortunately after 20min of  searching on internet the program was found,  I started noting down the ingredients, to my surprise, ‘No Eggs, No Baking needed’. SHOULD I TRY?

I don’t have at least 5 ingredients which are the dark choc, white doc, milk choc, cream cheese and choc digestives. All set for shopping now. My son was so enthusiastic that he picked the shopping basket then understood that it is rather easy to carry the shopping list than a shopping basket. Well well, all done.

For those who do cooking with measures, stop reading now. Although I have all the ingredients I could not simply stick to measures, I randomly blended things together.

The original recipe is as follows

400g-Milk Choc Digestive

75 g-Melted butter

800g-Cream cheese

4 TBsp-Icing sugar

100g-dark choc

300g-milk choc

100g-white choc

I prepared the second layer which is the filling and allowed it to set in the fridge when my son enquired about icing sugar when I realised, oops!! I did not add it to the filling (not that it mattered) I removed the cake tin from the fridge and tried to rescue the cake, retrospectively I feel I should have left it as it is because the icing sugar that I added was unfortunately lumpy and filling was setting, never mind.

Here is the picture before the cheesecake went into the fridge.

Hope this “Triple layer Chocolate Cheesecake” will serve good to our palate and taste buds as well. Cannot wait to dig in, YUM..!!

Snow Flurries

“Open the right poem at the right moment and you will be intoxicated by the distillation of meaning; as its sense unravels you will find it reaching into the nooks and crannies of your mind”-Daisy Goodwin

Just I finished reading these lines, my mind instructed my eyes to look out for some wintry flurries outside the window. Yes, the temperature has constantly been -2 or less and the heavily pregnant sky appeared as if her waters are going to break any time. I have been subconsciously awaiting the snow flakes for more than a month now. Snow to me is like a white angel from the sky who affectionately caresses the earth as she gently flies over it. At times she is the cure for melancholy, she actually brings so much warmth in me that my senses are altered.

I have always been happy to see snow. My first ever idea of snow came to reality in Oct 2004 around 7:30am in the morning, when I was traveling from a village in Germany to the big city of Muenchen. It was one of the surreal experiences in my life. I enjoyed the walk under the snow with a thick pullover and no umbrella. Someone mentioned that the initial flurries settle on the black jacket as dandruff. How rude can one be to do such a comparison? The first time snow settled on me, I felt like I was covered by flower petals. I like snow, but not so much the Ice. Ice is the beautiful twin sister of snow but with an attitude. Mostly, she only brings chaos and trouble elsewhere she helps preserving anatomy, history and entices people in gastronomy.

At last, the windows gave me sight of the first entrée of snow for this year. This snow has come in the right time, it has awakened my spirits. I summoned everyone around to glimpse her. She is still there outside covering everywhere with whiteness. So pure, so light, so tender…I Love Snow, just like some people in my life!