Family traditions are the threads that weave the fabric of our shared experiences, binding generations together with cherished memories. These are the rituals we do on a regular basis - whether it's the annual holiday gatherings filled with laughter and love, or the simple Sunday dinners where stories are exchanged over homemade meals, these traditions create a sense of continuity and belonging.
There obviously is no topic that is hotter and en vogue in the first month of the year than “health, fitness and weight loss!” Year for year we list our goals and, year for year these topics always make the top 5 list of New Year’s Resolutions. Over the turn of the year my WhatsApp and Telegram messages were brimming with all the tips and to dos my friends were planning as soon as January came along. The gym I go to has been uncommonly full this month with people, sweating and pushing a few extra weights, determined to stick to those earnest goals they set. Every blog and food website I have visited this month also has some awesome recipe list on “detox”, “clean” food and how we can eat better through the year. I guess that is why I waited patiently to post my first recipe of 2019. .
Easter for me is an adopted festivity. Being an Indian Sikh I took to this colorful spring tradition when I married my German husband almost 17 years ago. As a Sikh we are a very tolerant religion and are more than open in celebrating the rituals and traditions of other religions. I was raised mostly in the Middle East and the US where as a family my brother and I were encouraged by my parents to take an interest in the traditions and cultures of all our friends.
We are a household of two different religions and cultures. Both our worlds were so far apart as we grew up that we were separated by a wall - literally. My husband was born and raised as a Catholic in the “GDR” or what is known as East Germany. A child of the 70s and 80s, at a young age he saw the wall come down in his early twenties. I am a Sikh, born in Bombay and raised around the world from the US to the Middle East. Fate definitely played a big role in bringing us together.
I’ve been having a lot of fun lately! Maybe it’s the break of spring and the wonderful warm weather we’ve been having. I just feel a lightness in all my activities, tasks and chores and my ideas are running freely again. I just wish I could find out how to make time double up for me to have enough of it to realize and try making them all come true. So, instead I am making sure to have fun with those activities and tasks I have decided to focus on and give priority to.
Here in the Northern Hemisphere we are celebrating the arrival of spring. Temperatures are rising and there is a general air of “Happy” around everyone. When it comes to food spring really is my favorite season. It even gives autumn a good run for all its variety. Probably because after bleak and somber winters, there is so much freshness around at this time of year that it is hard not to cave into the abundance and variety available at the markets.
I am realizing the restrictions a person has when part of the body does not function as usual. Simple things that we take for granted have become frustrating obstacles.
Have you ever actually thought about the simple act of climbing or coming down the stairs? Living in a 3 storey house this has become my daily feat. Taking it for granted as I would often run up and down the stairs from kitchen to my studio to my prop attic.
I’ve sung the song of my love for meatballs often and earlier this year took you on a world tour of meatballs. Here I am again with more meatballs for you. This time with a classic German recipe that has a long tradition and history.
Before moving to Germany I was never the one to indulge in boiled meat. I liked my meat seared and then simmered in liquid but the idea of raw meat boiling in stock or water just made a cold shower run up my spine. The only time I would ever eat cooked meat was chicken in a chicken soup.
London came and went. Even before I could digest it, reminisce in the warm memories and allow for the thoughts and the experience to settle in, I was packing again and heading for the slopes in southern Bavaria.
What a difference a weekend makes!
One of the most comforting aromas for me is the one of freshly baked bread emanating from the oven and filling the house with it’s sweet, yeasty perfumes. I live in Germany and have the most wonderful variety of fresh bread available from an abundance of several bakeries to choose from. I am spoilt for choice. The short distance I drive each day from home to work, which is about 4 kilometers, there are 6 bakeries, 2 of which offer organic bread and baked treats. Yes I am spoilt for choice.
“Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first.” ~Ernestine Ulmer.
And if I may complement this piece of prudent wisdom “… start with a pavlova!” Because after you have tasted this true piece of heaven, whatever may come after that will just be consolation in the form of dessert.
Uncannily just a few days before Earth Day we got a paramount wake-up call disrupting us all out of our comfort zones. It reminds us of how small and helpless we really are doesn’t it? The chaos caused around the world due to the airspace shutting down in most of Europe was of such a magnitude that I am sure we’ll be feeling it repercussions for months, if not years. Not to mention the impact the ash cloud will have on our atmosphere for the coming months.
Easter is just not the same without chocolate! I went to the stores today and my shopping cart has never before brimmed over with so many chocolate treats in all shapes and sizes.
As March turns into April and we turn our clocks forward to “save time” I was surprised to look at the calendar and see that another holiday is upon us. Time is flying and there seems to be no saving it. Easter is but a few days away and this year Easter Sunday also chimes in Tom’s birthday.
If I should ever loose track of time or forget what time of month it is – it’s the Daring Bakers’ challenges that always remind me exactly in which time frame I am in. It comes around like clockwork and considering the fact that I have been a part of the group for four years (next month), there is not only a certain routine but also that perfect sense of organization that I truly find relaxing.
It seems like the Weather Gods decided to play a little joke on me and tease me further. Soon after I wrote my post singing the song of Spring, it began to snow again! As you can imagine I was shattered to see the white flakes coming down again. Some of my cherished friends jump for joy at the sight of snow, but please, not in the middle of March. I felt taunted!
I tend to be like a mad scientist in her laboratory mixing and concocting. There's an idea of different ingredients floating in my head and I begin writing it all down in my diary. It's a process that takes days, sometimes months, before I even begin to actually play around with the ingredients in the kitchen.
As I got back from Dubai one of the first blogging duties I did was check out the latest Daring Bakers’ challenge. Although the group has grown into a size of a small town and I certainly do not know half of them, I am always pleased to surf onto a new find and make a new acquaintance. I also love seeing the variety of interpretations on one recipe, which often gives me new ideas and inspiration for a future recipe or experiment.
“Sorry we’re not baking this month...” was the very first line I read as I opened up the Daring Kitchen forum earlier this month to see what the Daring Bakers’ were going to be challenged with. OK I am going to admit I did a sigh of relief! November has been full for me – too full! It has taught me to never pack a month so full with things!
There's something very different and, in my opinion, quite classy when you invite guests over for tea and coffee. In Germany "Kaffee und Kuchen" is usually reserved for the weekends, when friends or family are invited to enjoy a selection of cake over cups of coffee or tea.