Friday, June 28, 2013

The beginning....

Temporary relocation to a scandinavian country, harsh winters, snowfall, shorter days and longer nights , holed up in the house most of the times ( couldn't subject my little one to the chilling cold here )...Well, not all was dull, dark and bleary of course... I had my two shining bright rays of sunshine too...Hubby dearest and my little baby boy..But sometimes, loneliness did loom large, what with hubby being at work all day and the little one having his oddly houred naps.

           Internet came to the rescue...err...kind of got addicted to it !! Facebook, googling baby food recipes, reading books (am a voracious reader )...one thing led to another and soon , I found myself spending most afternoons browsing food blogs and drooling over all the deliciousness in beautifully captured photographs…Harboured a secret desire to start my own blog some day !! I found myself spending more time in the kitchen , doling out new dishes whenever I could....the sight of S (hubby dearest ) happily devouring it , not forgetting a word of praise, was worth it all :)

         Food bloggers amazed me as much as their blogs did.... They seemed to look at food with such an idolizing, worshipping way that only a true food lover would....enticing  photographs followed by detailed step by step instructions on how to achieve that beauty..I was bowled over, to say the least !! This is where I came across a blogger who is now an inspiration to me, in addition to being a guide and a friend…Shireen Sequeira of  Ruchik Randhap . She , primarily blogs about Manglorean food and has an amazing array of recipes from other cultures as well, including from those around the globe. She has such drool worthy pictures of food that , I always wish they could come to life !! Well, I got hooked on, to say the least.  During one such browsing session , I came across her cake and brownie recipes. Having never baked before, baking always intrigued me, it seemingly being such a fancy aspect of cooking..had so many questions hovering in my head, even about the  simplest and the most basics of baking ( yes, even preheating ) …Had tried to clear my doubts before , with friends and family who divulged in baking but was met with either vague answers ( or I wasn't smart enough to fathom the obvious part ) or with a " Cant- believe-you-are-asking-me-this?" stare. Shireen was different !! I wrote to her for the first time with apprehension, prepared to face disappointment if she too found my questions not pertinent enough to answer…but boy, was I surprised !! She did reply, not one but a barrage of questions  that ensued .. Patiently hearing ( reading ) out my  fears and doubts about baking, she assured me that baking was not so difficult after all…and egged me on to give it a shot… With my confidence going up a wee bit higher, I decided to bake… selecting a simple recipe of hers with minimum ingredients ( lest I have a disaster in the kitchen )…Just days later, I baked my first ever cake, Shireen's butter cake and such a happy happy day it was for me …not to mention, my confidence surging up a bit higher !! This was just the beginning…went on to bake a few more goodies and before I knew, I was, absolutely in love with baking…

         Well, my secret wish to own a blog bore fruit in the form of "Peppery tales" …. my humble ode to Indian cooking, baking and a bid to help and reach out to others in my own little way….Hope this beginning does not have an end ever !! The tryst with food continues……………..