23.2.11

White Chocolate Lemon Brownie

i'm two months old in US and being in dearth of a real job i am always on the look out for things to-do to engage myself in those afternoons which seem unbearably long....  so... that is how i chanced upon the recipe cards from Giant Eagle.....

and since it was a friend's birthday..... yesterday i tried out the white chocolate-lemon brownie ..... and believe me they were absolutely YUM !!  soft, moist and chewy....  these brownies were a real treat...   so while i munched on last piece of the brownie i thought i should share the recipe with you all.... just in case you haven't come across it as yet....


Ingredients for the brownies

6 tbsp butter (about 85gms)
11/2(4 oz) bars high quality white chocolate, cut into small pieces (I used Hershey's cookies and cream bar)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2  eggs (i replaced this with 1/2 cup soft tofu pureed)
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon jest
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cups flour

White Chocolate Icing:
1/2 (4-oz) high quality white chocolate (/ Hershey's cookies and cream)
3 tsp milk

For the Brownies:
  • Preheat oven to 350F /180C. Grease 8x8-inch baking pan with butter.
  • Combine 1 bar(4 oz) of white chocolate and butter and microwave for a minute or until the butter has melted.
  • In a mixing bowl beat the eggs/tofu and sugar until creamy.(with tofu this was really easy !)
  • Beat in the melted chocolate-butter cream into this.
  • Next beat in lemon juice, zest and salt to the batter.
  • Add flour and  beat until just combined.
  • Stir in the remaining 1/2 bar of white chocolate pieces and pour the batter into the greased pan. 
  • Bake for 22 to 25 mins. if you are using eggs then you can check the doneness the usual way... i.e a wooden toothpick inserted should come out clean. If you are using tofu then the toothpick inserted should come out with moist crumbs and not clean.
  • Remove from pan and let it cool for atleast two hours before you proceed with the icing.

For the icing:
  • Break 1/2 bar of white chocolate into small pieces (cutting the pieces with a fork is easy);  add milk to it and microwave for 15seconds. Stir the combination into a smooth paste and pour it over the brownie. Cool completely before cutting them into pieces. 
  • And now your brownies are ready to be enjoyed !

Happy Baking !!

22.2.11

White Orchids....


 ......to add some beauty to your Tuesday !!
Have a nice day !!


Photograph taken by husband at  the Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Show, Phipps Conservatory, Pittsburgh.

11.2.11

his last words...

it must have been a decade 
that I hadn't stepped outside that door.
with him lying in his corner of the bed,
and my days tuned to his mood and health...
this had begun to feel like home.
and I had no complains....

but last night they took him away
said, he breathed no more, whizzed no more
heard me no more....
then in words less harsh they let me know
that I too should leave,
they needed me here no more...

they helped me gather my remains-
layer the summation of my life
in two bags-a case and chains..
paid me the monthly wage;
and asked the driver to drive me to the bus-station
from where the buses would take me to my destination-
-my home from where the master had brought me hence
several decades ago...

But as the bus embarked the rickety-roads
a strange hollowness grabbed me whole...
fuzzy faces of  dear ones flashed across
reminding how wretched it is to be alive yet alone...
And just when I thought I would choke to my end
from the green-alleys my master echoed....
loud and clear in his heavy voice -
like the other day   I heard him recall......
''Grow old along with me!    Amy!
 The best is yet to be ...''

10.2.11

Life is full of interruptions and complications.....

and ... general opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed,
but I don't see that.

It seems to me that love is everywhere.....
Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there-
parents and kids,



....husbands and wives,   




boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends....


 When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love.

If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion...
love actually is all around.



the photographs:
  • brother and me
  • husband and me
  • my mom and dad
  • my dad with his youngest friend 
  • mom and aunt
  • friends from my graduate-years
updated with new images of us with our son on 6.11.2013
text quoted from
Love Actually

7.2.11

Hello Monday !!


the berries looked more reddened
the breeze felt just right
didn't pinch the face
or numb the finger-tops
blew softly    -nouncing
           spring surrounds.....

Saturday morning we planned for The Illusionist. you see magic delights me and the reviews also looked nice. so..  Illusionist it was.
but we were late. missed our bus and reached the theatre a definite fifteen minutes late. but what luck !
we were just in time for The King's Speech. and yes it was a great watch !! loved the movie, loved the actors, the set and did not quite realise how the two hours just flew away..... 

how was your weekend ? hope you had a lovely time...

[photograph by google search]

4.2.11

Though the life holds its treasures out ....

              To be enjoyed by everyone........
                   It is the lifted face that feels the shining of the sun..

nothing but the clatter of cups and spoons and the hissing of the cooker
mark my mornings.... yet i am bent on lending each day a character.
so without scorning the normality of the regular, i go ahead
and complete my chores,- one after another. - till all is done.
set the bed, fluff the pillows, lay the meals on the table-set. 
clean the surfaces bearing marks of yesterday, then read and write by the afternoons.
later with hair neatly set apart and in a dress ironed to the hem
i wait for husband to return and share his story of the day......
each day follows a routine just like the other.... 

yet the reading, writing and the cooking sets it apart.... 
besides... every night when i resign to bed
i rest myself with the realisation that i have grown a day wiser
and have come a day closer to you-  my love ...


[the title quoted from here]

xīn nián kuài lè !


With the sun peeping indoors through each of our windows, it certainly feels like spring today ! ... and since after the dreary winter every day of spring calls for a special celebration, i thought to myself why not celebrate Chinese New Year ! so greetings to all !!  

xīn nián kuài lè !

3.2.11

Knitting can be quite a cakewalk....

 When I was little I remember Ma and grandma used to spend all their winter afternoons sitting in the lawns, chatting and knitting up hats, sweaters and socks with such ease as if knitting up sweaters were a cakewalk. I had learnt the basics from them, but i  never ventured into making anything beyond doll-dress till recently. In mid January, caught between all the cold and snow I finally decided to give knitting serious try.  ... so with the help of lessons from  The Knitting Community and youtube, I set out to knit a hat with a yarn and circular needles... and guess what at the end of a wee and a half.. i realised that if you follows the instructions right... knitting can actually be a cakewalk :)) ...

so here i proudly present to you a picture of my finished hat !!


2.2.11

letter to chuiya.... my li'l sister

Sweet little chuiya,
The clock just struck four and there.....
            Do you hear  the golawala call ?
            Do you hear the clatter of his cart-wheels
                         The shrills following him thence ?

Ever since the day of the mela
I haven't had a single gola....
saved every aana in my pot
so that together we can have  orange and kala khatta ,-
when someday-    a policewala brings you home.

Li'l sister, I promise
I'll buy you the red and golden bangles,
             the shining bindis you adore...
I'll even give you my gudiya  
for which you had begged and implored...
My dear sister please come home
I'll never fuss with you again
I'll give you my mala and lehenga... 
O' come home for ammi's sake.....


At night,  after the lights dim off
I have often heard ammi sulk,
heard her cry, whimper sometimes
and say, Chuiya, my l'il one.... my li'l darling child....
She thinks you have forgotten us
or something terrible has struck...
But abbu comforts, -says, have faith in Allah,
and soon  He'll  bring our gudiya to us...

I wish i could keep abbu's faith
and not be torn like ammi...
But four Ids have passed without you
and the fifth   i am scared   will pass by too...
I fear that you've forgotten us 
and blame myself hence....
Had i known li'l sister   you'll abandon us thus
I would never have left you   and run after the candywala thence...



*aana is penny,  gola is ice-candy,  golawala is ice-candy man, gudiya is doll, mela is fair in Hindi.

1.2.11

Wishing and wanting to see you, I step on thin ice....


Oh, how I wished and wanted to see 
you, but you were a person I could not 
see at will. With the tip of my shoe I 
played with the thin ice that had
frozen on a small pool of water. I did 
not know what to do with my feelings 
of wanting to see you.

When two people fall in love, it is 
sometimes possible for them to see 
each other whenever they want. But 
with me, I did not have the courage to 
go see him, so I stayed at the edge of 
the thin ice.

Like the thin ice in the early spring, 
my feelings were so fragile that with a 
small shock they would have broken 
apart.

- haiku by  Madoka Mayuzumi


[the picture is from the February-page of the calendar that hangs on one of our walls.. and the haiku is my find of the day... aren't they just the verses to begin the month of valentine's day !!]

today the little missy turns two !!



Shruti baby turned 2 today !! and when we called to wish her last night.... for the first she called me "cho-to-ma".... i was so...ooo thrilled to hear her finally call me so. our baby is growing up really fast....... lots and lots of love and kisses to our baby doll !!


Birdscapes...


Inspired by Pragya K's lovely birdscapes we tried to photograph some birds during our  trip to the Liberty Island, New York. i picniked our digital captures further and i am quite delighted with the outputs :))

i am contemplating framing at least one of them for the house. what do you think ?

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