Monday, January 10, 2011

Secret Ingredient for Chocolate cake with ganache.

It was a wonderful saturday after a great shot of snow.Our satsang members decided to give a wedding satsang party to newly wedded Narayananji and Rekhaji.As we already planned, I decided to make a chocolate cake and navaratna kurma.So I decided to make the cake and sekhar on navaratna kurma.A week before this party,on new year day, we got the divine blessings from our Guru Maharaj through his lecture. We got the fortune to attend His mass prayer through Namadwaar Webcast.While sharing Nama anubhava, one devotee named Kumaresan from Ambur said,chanting nama makes mind peaceful and challanged people how chanting Maha Mantra while cooking makes food so delicious..Me and sekhar decided to test on this.We started chanting nama throughout the process of cake making and decorating.With no doubt, it was a big hit and i never made such a delicious cake ever in my life.



This is the recipe of  chocolate cake with chocolate ganache frosting.

chocolate cake
Ingredients

Unbleached 
All Purpose Flour            1 &1/2 cups
Sugar                           3/4 to 1 cup (depends on taste)
salt                                1/2 t.spoon
baking soda                   1 t.spoon
unsweetened 
coca pwdr                      1/4 cup
vanilla extract                1&1/2 t.spoon
canola oil                     1/3 cup
White distilled vinegar    1 tb.spoon
cold water                    1 cup
Rama nama                  no limits .. as you wish

procedure

@ Preheat 350 degree F for 10 mnts.
@ Mix all the dry ingredients from flour to coco powder.
@ Add all the liquids ,don't overmix it.
@ Bake for 32 minutes.

Chocolate ganache

16 ounces   semisweet chocolate
16 ounces   heavy cream

Heat the heavy cream, just before boiling ,add the heavy cream in the chocolate chips ,till it  smoothens.keep it outside for overnight for frosting.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Healthy living

Tips for Healthy living
  • Include plenty of fiber, pulses, whole grains, foods made with wholegrain flour (such as wholegrain bread), and fruit and vegetables in your diet.
  • Stay away from food items that contain too much oil or sugar. While they do not contain extra nutrients, they surely pack in a lot of extra calories.
  • Put a limit on your salt intake. While salt is necessary for the body, its excessive intake proves to be quite harmful.
  • Limit your consumption of processed foods, which contain empty calories, saturated fats, added sugar, refined cereal grains, and additives.
  • Eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Rather than aerated drinks and alcoholic beverages, stick to water, juices and soups.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Relationship with in-laws( middle class bride with high status bridegroom family)

Even in this modern age, this is one of the critical topic to deal with.Is there anyone who really believes her mother-in -law as her second mother or else daughter -in-law as her daughter? 99% of the answer is 'No'.Why? How come so friendly with some unknown neighbors, but not with their own MIL and DIL..feels very crazy ,isn't?

When a girl is married ,gets a new life,not only with her husband but with so many new relations..MIL,FIL,SIL,his grandparents so and so...She feels very terrified when she enters a new family with butterflies in her stomach,just as the way when we go to watch a horror movie or get into an adventurous roller coaster.. Being depicted in the movies and TV serials, the most cruel villi personified in the house is none other than our MILs.Because the first seed of discontentment starts from marriage ,if it unsatisfied from both the ends.In such cases, new bride feels resentful at the way her parents were squeezed on marriage.In the same way, bride groom family feels the way they were treated in the marriage as an act of insult.So, the first feel of disliking and disagreement starts.

In spite of all,DIL wants to get appreciation and identity from MIL.But if the husband has a sister,particularly younger,DIL is gone. The same aged two girls will have a different treatment.In tamil we say a proverb"oru kannula vennai,maru kannula sunnambu" .The so called experienced,friendly MILs show 100% partiality between the two.Even the small word spilled from DIL's mouth gets a new meaning and effect.The affectionate ,lovable daughter can sleep till 11'0 clock in the morning,but the same aged DIL should have enough capability and responsibility to run the whole family.

Finally,another reason for clash is ,MIL becomes more possessive with her son.An illusionary thinking of separation with her son creates more aversion to her DIL who is blamed for the cause.It is the duty of the MIL to teach their family traditions and values to the newcomer.Everyone in this  world has Ego.I agree.The so called experienced 50's  ,(with less ego) with their
understanding ,appreciating ,forgiving and forgetting(most important) qualities should put an effort to  reduce the problems with  their younger DILs.
Finally what we need is "Happy Home and Happy Living".

May be,this article is biased to DIL.After all, I am a human.

Thursday, February 11, 2010