Coffee!!

No hold on, before you conclude this as another recipe post wait! Relax it isnt :) I'm not a die hard coffee lover as well, so what is it about coffee that makes me write a blog on it?

During my early childhood days(yeah I still don't accept the fact that my childhood days are over :)) coffee was all about "by-two coffee kodi" at the darshinis in Bengaluru after a yummy breakfast of steaming udipi idlis or mysore masala dosas, which I used to share with the person accompanying me on early morning breakfast trips. Strong filtered on non-filtered coffee, its my favourite still.

My first stint with the coffee day hype was during my late high school days, I remember taking dad to coffee day in malleshwaram. I had to take him along because he was the one going to pay for it! :) Tropical iceberg with two scoops of ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate sauce! Gosh, I was feeling full for the next 2 days. After that the number of coffee day visits over the years were endless, it had become a favourite hang out place to meet friends, gossip and basically do nothing useful! :) The number of birthday treats, farewell treats, treat-for-no-reason treat are countless. Late night bike rides to the 24x7 coffee day located on bangalore-mysore highway is still a favourite amongst many. Its not just coffee, but these places hold fond memories, celebrations, good byes and yeah a lot of money spent but the money never mattered much. Over the past two years going to coffee day died out eventually, but the memories are priceless :)

Once in a while I visit the coffee places here, just to sit and dreamily watch the world go by or read a book, or chit chat gossip with friends. Cafe gusto was the favourite choice coz it was not only located in the heart of the city but also because of a special 50% discount if Claudia was at the counter with her big cheerful smile always :) Looks like we were her favourite customers and we love her as well. However Claudia no longer works there and eventually Cafe Gusto trips are almost zilch.

Another favourite of mine is the Ginger bread latte which is a Starbucks Christmas speciality. I had it almost everyday in December and it was a perfect combo to the magical snow effect all around. Ginger bread latte with whipped cream and a dash of nutmeg. Bliss :) The other day I was quite disappointed that the nice lady who makes my coffee usually at office Starbucks kiosk was off and that day I grabbed one from the vending machine without any second thoughts! So its still not only about coffee that makes one visit a coffee place I guess! :)

As you can see, the last incident got me thinking about coffee and coffee places, there certainly is a lot more than just the coffee it serves. And oh yeah, this post was also written over several coffee breaks :)

Chai, Masala chai!

The word 'Chai' holds a special meaning amongst all other words and when heard anywhere any time my heart does a teeny weeny dance :) Apart from that Chai is an Indian version of Tea and tastes heavenly as you slurp it on a cold evening, better still when had round the table with friends and a good conversation any time :)

Till a few days back, our lazy weekend evenings would be spent by having some chai made by Aniket. But now that he has gone back to Mumbai for good, I have to make it myself which I initially thought is a very bad idea because I do not know how to make good tea! After quite a few trial and errors, here is a version of chai that I finally like. Try it out, I'm sure you will like it! :)

Ingredients for one cup of tea:
Water- 1/4th cup
Milk-3/4th cup *Whole, skimmed or semi skimmed according to your preference. I use semi-skimmed milk
Tea leaves - 1 and a half Tsp (Assam tea or any of the Indian tea leaves available)
Crushed Ginger- half an inch.
Sugar- to taste *I use a little more than 1 tablespoon
For the chai-masala(coarsely crush all the below ingredients, best to crush it each time you make tea for the freshness of whole spices)
5-6 whole black pepper
3-4 whole green cardamom
about half an inch of Cinnamon stick
4-5 whole cloves

Method:
1. Take water in a pan and as the water warms add chai masala and crushed ginger. Leave for about half a minute and then add tea leaves. Leave this until water beings to boil and for about 2-3 minutes after.
2. Now add milk and wait for a couple of minutes. Before the milk begins to boil add sugar.
3. As the milk boils and raises, take the pan off the heat and allow the milk to settle and once done put the pan back on heat and allow the milk to raise. Repeat this for 2-3 times as desired.
4. Strain your tea into your favourite cup/mug

Enjoy your cuppa chai! slurppppppp! :)

I have enjoyed and still love going to many tea-hangouts like Infinitea in Bangalore, Boston tea party, and papaji's but the best tea is the home made one :)

Swimming: Part-01

I've had always wanted to learn how to swim, I also want to fly like a bird, but lets keep impractical dreams for another day. So yeah over the years the only swimming I've ever attempted is "bath tub swimming". There was always a hindrance when I attempted to join swimming classes in the past, either I was too busy, or the time was not right and the classes were booked, or it was too cold outside, mostly plain silly reasons!

Sometime towards the end of 2009 I 'gifted' myself a swimwear though I had not a clue when I would use it, a year, 10 years, probably never! Nevertheless I bought it and I'm glad I did, coz I successfully completed my first swim lesson today! :)

Tr-in-trin, trin-tr-in
voice on the other end: Hello, horfield leisure centre how may I help you?
Me: Are there spaces in adult beginner swimming classes starting sometime soon?
voice on the other end: yes there is one starting this Saturday, would you be interested?
me:*thinking; no more stupid enquiries just book it* Yes please, the 11 am one would be perfect. Thank you.
voice on the other end: OK, that's done for you, see you at 11 on Saturday.

That was one of the quickest booking I've made without asking silly questions and finally saying I will call you back later and never do! And off I go at 11 AM sharp and Kendall was my instructor. Whats to follow is quite some boring stuff on swimming lesson one for future reference, so continue reading at your own risk :) Else more stories later :)

Step 1: Get into the pool and get comfortable being in water.
Step 2: Splash some water on your face and when ready dip your face into the water, face down. If you don't freak out at this point your good.
Step 3: The instructor drops a ring to the bottom of the pool and you would need to pick this up. Your ears get blocked but nothing to panic. You may or may not keep your eyes open. I had them close due to contact lens usage.
Step 4: A very important lesson- breathing. Its quite difficult to put it in words but let me try my best. Breathe in with your mouth , like your gulping in air, and breathe out through your mouth by blowing bubbles under water with your mouth very slightly open. When you are breathing out it is important not to inhale through you nose else you will choke! Repeat breathing in and breathing out in a regular pattern. Initially you may swallow water like I did, but keep practising and you will be OK.
Step 5: Another important lesson- Kicking. Make sure both your toes are pointed and kick with swift scissor like movements. Make your kicks deeper as you progress. Make sure your legs are lifted to be in parallel with the surface of water.
Step 6: Grab a floater(the long cylindrical ones) bend it into a U shape and hold the free ends one in each hand. Extend this in front of you. You will notice that you will be floating on water now. Keep your chin in the water and kick and you will start moving forward. This is a lil difficult coz your legs will get pulled to the bottom of the pool, but try to keep them towards the surface. As you do so don't forget to breathe as mentioned in Step 4.
Step 7: Floating on your back: Hold the floater as mentioned in the earlier step but the floater is behind you now. Lie on you back and let go freely. Keep your legs apart initially and then bring them together, toes pointing forward. If you are comfortable floating start kicking your legs, kicking deeper as you progress and you start moving backwards.
Step 8:Practice Step 6 and 7 till you tire out and there ends class-1 with a nice warm shower at the end of it :)

Here comes 2010

After weeks of fun and frolic I've begun to finally realize that its already been 8 days into 2010! It's been an awesome time towards the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010 with loads of fun, laughter, friends and hangovers.

It would be unfair not to mention the amazing company I've had over the past few days. Resh, Shabz, Venky, Sonal, Jeet, Payal(hereafter called "gu-gu dolls" :) ) you guys rock and hope we have many many more such funtimes in the years to come. Also Ram, Amol and Prash, devon would have been incomplete without you guys, dankesh! :)

Whats in for 2010, well lots and lots :) I've stumbled over on a hidden side of me and I intend to explore it further, what is it? Well you have to wait and watch.

2009 has certainly made me a better person and hopefully 2010 makes me even better!

Wish you all a happy and successful 2010! :) Ciao