There are a few moments in life when you are truly & completely happy. My yearly visit to hometown in Udaipur, Rajasthan is one such occasion when I wish I could stop the time and live in those moments forever. Though many old familiar houses have given way to high rise apartments now and there are very few familiar faces to greet, but every visit is worth preserving the childhood experiences and keeping them afresh…..from authentic Daal Baatis to exotic Gatte ki subji filled with nuts and dried fruits…they leave no stone unturned to pamper me with their love and let me indulge in my favorite food.

I don’t know to roll a perfect Sushi and I get cold feet when I bake Macaroon and probably will never be able to appreciate a glass of wine alongside my dinner plate…but still, cooking to me is a way to unwind. I am in my most happiest of moods when in kitchen, cooking for family and friends.

Did I hear ‘Old school’?  I accept it with pleasure

I was added to this group by Charan Sarvanan a versatile blogger and a treasured friend now. Back then I ignored this group on the pretext of  just another FB group where bloggers drop in to give a shout out for their new blog posts or share the….

‘ If you truly love Nature, you will find beauty everywhere‘. ~ Van Gogh.  Early morning walk with my hubby is one activity I eagerly look forward to each day. Its a wonderful time I see some of the miracles of nature unfold as we walk along the narrow lanes and parks nearby.

The dim sky, the fresh morning air, quietness and the gentle pace of life is so enchanting.  The thumping of joggers zipping across, symphony of chirping birds, cling-cling of the milkman and the newspaper boys on cycle break the silence of nearly empty roads.

I have started appreciating these simple and small beauties of nature more and more after my new found love for photography. During one such walks I picked a few colorful leaves dressed in morning dew.

Creativity has no boundaries and is best expressed when the mind is free and the world is your canvas to work upon. For the last couple of days South Indian cinema and politics is abuzz with a certain ban on the release of a Tamil movie. Though I don’t follow the happenings from the field of cinema or politics much, but this one caught my eyes. People in the shops, morning walkers, school children, my maid and not to forget the screaming TV channel anchors, everyone seems to be worried about the freedom of expression overnight.

Anyways, hope both the sides resolve the issue amicably soon and the freedom of an artist to express art without any boundaries or political pressure is restored and also the powers of politicians to bring in peace and justice are appreciated.

Anyways, hope both the sides resolve the issue amicably soon and the freedom of an artist to express art without any boundaries or political pressure is restored and also the powers of politicians to bring in peace and justice are appreciated….

“Travel wasn’t fun if you didn’t get to see or do what you wanted.” Though we have traveled extensively to many beaches of South India, there still are a few things left in my wish-list. Sit on a beach and gaze a ship leave the shore till it meets horizon, observe a day in the life of fishermen and wander in marshy Mangrove forest are a few of them. Our recent trip to a few places in South India last weekend made it happen.

Most of our trips are decided on the spur of the moment. But these unplanned vacations have a special magic in it such that the enthusiasm & suspense remains till the end and our recent trip was no exception. More about the same here.

Each night we would sleep with dreamy eyes to see some other horizon the next day. Waking up at 4.30 am each day, sipping tea overlooking the sea, seeing busy fishermen on the job, walking in the woods and watching the world go by…ahh, the feeling is yet to sink in…am still mesmerized.

It was just another day in paradise…spent an evening on beach, had fun and listened to each drop of water tell a story of life! The pleasing sight of vendors selling colorful snacks, lovey-dovey pair lost in their world, elderly couple walking hand in hand and children from the most affluent to common families playing together on the beach…the more I see, the less I know about life.

A trip to beach is always welcoming both to the parents and the children. My kids and hubby love to play in water, make sand castles while I travel to and fro with the waves in my dreamland. Hubby keeps a watch on both children & me, interrupting frequently with “Take care of our shoes, camera, bag …don’t get lost in your own world”.

There are things I love to do for my children even though it least interests me, going to movie is one such. I could never connect myself with the world of cinema except for listening to good songs. When hubby’s choice ruled there were more of detective English movies which later changed to animation and comic movies once the children started to influence us. But all I remember & cherish about my movie watching stint is the time we all spend together and of course the huge bucket of pop corns!

Recently my son persuaded me to watch this Hindi movie ‘Burfi’ by downloading & playing the songs over and again. Not bad, songs are melodious and for a change I forgot to eat pop corns and kept myself awake till the end of the movie

‘So much chocolate. So little time‘! Yes, that’s what my children say whenever there is a chocolate dessert on their menu. Wish they said the same for studies also. I often take advantage of their chocolate love by sneaking in healthy foods which in its normal form are non acceptable. Oats, peanuts, almonds, dates, prunes and the list is endless. Most of the recipes on Lite Bite revolve around my endeavor to find out ways to make the food kids friendly, more healthy and also taste scrumptious at the same time.

The rustic iron Wok which was abandoned long back sits pretty in the backyard of my mom’s place after the entry of  that swanky oven in her kitchen. This black heavy-bottom wrought iron wok has been a part of our childhood memories for long. The melt-in-mouth cookies, Naan Khatais, Baatis and sort of spongy cakes she baked in it makes this ‘wok’ an important  part of our growing years.

These Chickpea flour (besan) cookies were the most baked goodies in our indigenous oven. Half of the wok was permanently filled with sand and a thin aluminum plate served as the baking tray to bake.

‘If there is no chocolate in heaven, I am not going‘  ~ Jane Seabrook   Oh no I am not jumping in the bandwagon of chocoholics. I enjoy my celibacy with chocolates barring a few occasional indulgences now and then. And given a choice between different flavors it is vanilla for me.

“Anything tastes good if it has chocolate in it” says my little princess as a matter of fact.  No doubt that this luscious, gooey and seductive food is defined as world’s perfect food by many. A tiny bar of chocolate can save many bad days and meals at home.
I used half of the pack by rolling out the chocolate Truffles and made this no-bake nutty chocolate cake with the rest. Thanks to my friend now I shop for more of these ‘once upon a time disdained’ cookies