Just.

Not so long ago my older one would sit on the Kitchen counter while I'd cook.He'd play with the dough while I'd be making chappatis.He'd often ask to shell eggs,peel potatoes,demand that he use the knife or light the fire. From the time he learnt to walk he'd often find me in the kitchen,tug at my skirt and insist upon being sat on the counter.There'll be times when I'd pull him up 'cos there'd be nonone in the house he had as a companion to play with.So,we'd turn our kitchen space into a story-telling time or just unwinding time.There'd be fun times and there'd be exasperating times when I'd have no patience with the kid. But all that fell away with time and I'm so glad they did.(With my younger one I'm so much more mellowed and wiser.)When he was 4 he even kneaded some dough and made his first chapati with that which he called India- Roti and learnt about the 3 states of matter when he insisted on making lemonade and putting it in the freezer to see what happened to it.We'd often make all kinds of sherbets and place in the freezer.It used to get intolerably messy but inexplicably joyful. Just how or when all these rituals became natural for us we don't know.
When he grew older,he'd often pull the dinning chair in the kitchen and tell me about how his day went at school watching me cook simultaneously while I'd help him with his school work.Proud to say that now he doesn't need that kind of help from me anymore.But he often drops in out of curiosity and checks what's cooking or just pilfers stuff from the kitchen -cupboard when I'm taking my afternoon siesta.Part of growing up I'd say.He's growing big and needs more food!
He still asks for the dough though and competes with his little brother,six years younger on who's made a better dinosaur.Sweet!
The other day he n I were watching'Fabulous Cakes' togeher on TLC and he didn't insist on changing the channel.I was pleasantly surprised.He likes the deftness with which those people use their tools and likes to watch it,he said.We discussed about whose cake turned out the best later.We watch 'Nigellissima' together and discuss about whether 'getting inspired' is an emotion when he sees me leaping to the kitchen after the show and announce that there's something outlandish for dessert like 'Creme Brulee'

or something. He! I like to look and sound really cosmopolitan when I do that,it gives me a high! :)
Now he's graduated to making dahi-papadi on his own,which he bites more than he can chew quite literally,prepares his tea and mine as a privilege assignment,all of 10, cooks Maggi and toasts his own bread when he's hungry.He'd remind me to put on my baking gloves when I'm handling the hot tray in OTG or warn me that's its on the Power 'on' mode for too long.He'll make note of the level at which the batter is filled in the cupcake casings and suggest me an alternative to the topping I've planned for that particular time.

I reckon that this is a part of his problem-solving temperament which has been passed on to him from his Dad but is greatly aided by partaking in tasks like the above where he can apply this wonderful disposition.
Including children while cooking hones their fine motor skills say while kneading the dough,using the rolling pin ,cutting,peeling the egg-shells, picking up things.It goes a long way ahead,particularly improves their handwriting which we parents are so worried about.They inadvertently learn about sequence of things,what comes after what,temperature(hot,warm,cold,lukewarm),texture,rough,soft,smooth,coarse etc. The law of cause and effect;if you do this ,this will happen,counting numbers,shapes,measurements,tidiness,hygiene.You can work on their organisational skills while building their vocabulary all along.Cooking along with children makes them get involved with family like no other job does.They love it.They get creative,imaginative and get to know their palate.We tend to keep technology and kitchen out of bounds for children.That should not be so. It helps in interdisciplinary learnings .Most importantly,it makes them happy esp. if you are cooking something of their choice.

Okra Fritters !

Okras,LadyFingers or bhindi as we all know it,is a good old favorite amongst children.Any child you'd come across will definitely tell you that bhindi is her favorite vegetable.It has got superb qualities too.It helps greatly in digestive processes as it is fibrous and contains mucilage,a sticky substance which helps in cleansing liver and gall bladder. So,what you have to do is cut tiny hexagonal pieces of your okras, say for a 250 gm. add 2tbsps of gramflour,a tiny spoon of ginger garlic paste ,li'l cuminpowder,li'l turmeric powder,chilli powder if you like,acc to your kid's preference and add a bit of water to mix them all such that the okras get well smeared with gram flour or 'besan'. Heat the wok,in about two ladles of refined oil,heat it,put it on simmer and deep fry.Your crunchy okras are ready to serve.Kids love this dish.They like to take it to school.You can keep a parantha with it and pack a healthy meal for your child to school.Don't forget to sprinkle a bit of chaat masaalaa on top. The USP of my blog is children's food.You would find innumerable recipes under 'bhindi-besan fry' if you look for it on Google.And infact,I'll implore you to do just that because I can't compete with the articulateness of those recipe-writers.I may not even bother to talk about it if I'm not too impressed by it myself. What I'm doing here is listing down food items which work best for me and my children. You're getting it from the horse's mouth.There are times when I find there is a large gap between what I cook and what they'd like to eat,that's the usual sceanario and frankly, a lot of times I couldn't care less.But it still gets you worked up because finally you are the one reponsible for their growth and health in general. So.Bhindi it is,friends,not cut vertically but in tiny hexagonal shapes..it chews faster and they swallow better. Till next time Tada! (My camera ditched me at the last moment.I couldn't take a picture of my Okra-fry!)

Cheese!!! More Please!

Almost all kids I've come across love pizza.So, wouldn't it be great if they found something similar in their lunch-boxes?!I just tried something new the other day to pack for my sons' tiffin.Since ,that's a million dollar question my friend! What to pack for your child's tiffin which they lick off quick in five minutes flat and rush to the playground. Because in my opinion,the big reason why they are bringing back there unfinished tiffin home and making you lose your sleep over it is because they don't want to spend all the little time they get in the recesses on eating their uninteresting , boring,tasteless tiffin. So,my experiment was this- I had bread,the regular loaf?! at home.And I had some shredded Mozzarella lying in the fridge from yesterday.Cildren love melted Pizza cheese.I was in a hurry,hadn't thought of what to pack for tiffin last night,it was time for the bus to arrive and kids were shuffling with their bags,water bottles,shoes and last minute hair-brush and stuff.I just grabbed the bread,cut its sides(you can choose not to do that),smeared toamto sauce on both sides (tomato sauce is a wonderful substitute for pizza sauce) and dredged it with a good fat layer of Mozzarella and qickly put in the mw oven while I moved on to see that the younger one's finished is milk and ready with his bag.All it takes is 5 minutes,better if you've thought of it before hand, like the night before ,and your version of the pizza is ready.(This is a very basic version,you can add any kind of topping to make it more interesting) The tiffin came back polished off nice and proper.You can pack it as it is.You can apply butter,dredge some Oregano or you can grill it to perfection if time permits you.Whatever! I take cues from my child's palate,preferences on food and stuff,so can you.Ofcourse its not always easy advisable to do that everytime because what they like and love in terms of food is usually not healthful ! But having said that,wherever one can make adjustments in one's menu for the day one should. I do and that keeps both my children and me happy!:) ,

So here I go...

I am always at my wit's end when it comes to what to cook for my children?! As I presume most of the mothers out there will swear by.Its a nerve-wracking question.So,I have decided to dedicate this blog to Children's Food for all you lovely Mummas out there. :) My older child is 10 and so I have been smarting this issue since 10 years you can say and still on my way to crack it...so.in a lot of ways I'm just like you. So.I'd love it if you can make this forum as interactive as you can! For one,I know,anything that children love has to be palatable,they like food in semi- solid state,something they can swallow quickly and rush to resume their play quickly without wasting much time chewing. I tried something on Sunday night which the kids loved.It was macaroni with white sauce mixed with Spinach paste.You'd say its a no-brainer.Kids usually love Macaroni.Yeah,

but what we are doing here is shoving some nutritious food too down their throat while making it look like they're having their way.What's more? Who's seen a green-colored gooey looking Macaroni??? Its a hit with boys,they like to imagine they're eating worms or something..(eeewe!!! )And they pretend-play too,like becoming Zarroonga from outer space eating all those worms.Haven't we heard 'if you're happy eating what you're eating it does show on your body?! (Recipe on request)

Clueless !!!

When I began with this blog I had no set agenda.All I knew was I have to get started with blogging.Because a. I am the only adult in the house,there's so much to say and there's nonone listening,I thought its a good idea to spend my verbal effort in writing and reaching out to others. As with everything else this writing was impromptu and I'd never thought i'll put it up for public viewing.Its too private and it takes a lot to make people privy to such thoughts which are so close to your heart. You run the risk of being labelled as too emotional or dramatic or vain or vulnerable...but what you've got to do ,you've got to do ! I'll borrow here a line from Vikram Seth's 'A Suitable Boy',which says'we are all accidents of history and must do what we are best at without fretting too much about it' Not that I'm claiming I'm so good at writing that it warrants publishing a blog of this nature.All I'm saying is, there's a need to express..and in my present situation blogging presents before me an ample opportunity to do so. While gloating and gleeing over and checking every now and then my pageview count somewhere down the line I got nervous.I thought'wait a minute,cooking and all is okay butI really haven't given a thought over what my blog will constitute.How will it shape up,will I put up recipes,if yes,what kind,will it be a regular feature or sporadic thing which will be written when I'll be in the mood for it?!I really dont know

Doing all these tricks is giving me a kick and I'm just motivated to do more for the sake of blogging.Gee!

As it goes,cooking is cathartic !!!

Just when my surroundings begin to give me the comfort of waking up to familiarity,

I have to leave.I like this subliminal smell of my house which is a mix of freshly cooked food, clothes worn and washed,children in whatever state emanating the smell of happiness,the smell of my plants sprinkled and watered everyday,the musky smell of the bathroom just vacated by children after a long-playful bath.Its so overpowering that I guess I can start producing incense with these. My house is my place of worship.
I like the ease with which I carry on my daily routine when I've lived in that space  long enough to feel this way and I don't want to let it go.Its so visceral.I just get consumed by the space that I inhabit and I love it.It floods me with my memory of what I remember as home..There's a reassurance one derives out of routine.As if your life's in order! Time for children to go out and play,you make time for your own self by hitting the gym or going for regular walks..or knitting,writing,painting,sketching,whatever it is that you like.The children need settling down and so on and so forth.These only come with time when you've lived in the same space for atleast eight
months and you don't have to leave very soon.I even love the chore of spreading wet clothes on the terrace while musing to myself about life,catching up my breath,prioritising chores and making a checklist of what remains before the kids come back from school.
And then comes the imminent question,'what's special today Mom?' my li'l one asks as soon as he hops down the bus.I have to make sure there's something fancy as a treat for him...there's always something,I make sure,it could be Choco-pie,doughnuts,cupcakes,jelly or just plain egg,sunny side-up! and so my days go and every day I take delight in the first bite that he takes and I ask him 'did you like it?' This is a likeable monotony I don't get tired of ....
 I would love it if there were no major upheavels! Like shifting base every three years or so...
The mid-day whirring of the ceiling fan in an empty house... khatag..khatag... Oh how reassuring! As if it'll go on forever...in the same comfortable rhythmic pace. It dispels all my anxieties.
The freshly wiped floor mosaic where many a times as kids we'd sprinkle Cuticura,(my brother's idea) , and slip n slide from one end  of the passage to the other, making our own fun games like these..climbing the Guava trees with cousins and friends I grew up with or the 'pitthu/pitto' that we used to play with the tenants' children.Or perch ourselves up on the pillars of our main entrance and have 'pachak' from the  pachak vendor.These are memories indelibly inked on my hippocampus.
I pine for an establishment.period.You can go around ,come around ,stay with this thought or move on with it...its not going to change.
..I'm soon going to be so busy packing ,shuffling,sorting, readjusting,unpacking.These thoughts will be pushed to the back of my head... only to resurface again..its a scary,insidious thought!
A house gives you the confidence you get from a trusted friend.You know your walls and they, you so well that they may as well start speaking to you.You wish..!
Your child appears suddenly in the dinning hall with a toy and then disappears again and you know exactly, right from where you are sitting ,where he'd  have  found his cozy nook!  That is what a long-standing,permanent abode does for you.It is reassuring and  stands by you like an Oak.My child ambles down the corridor in the knowledge of a contented,peaceful,always there space.
And you say to yourself 'All is right with the world.'
That's what a permanent house does to you.Quells your worries,settles you in..


As I paint and handle household,children,larder,dog and plants I am settling in with my own challenges as I have so many times before but this time it seems its here to stay ,this calm.
I am a single parent for the time being,bringing up my two children,all by myself with phonecalls from my husband and family  for moral support,which is great indeed!
I usually have a great time  cooking up a storm in my kitchen,quite literally.Because the kids demand it. I have to do a lot of prioritising in terms of my childre's needs,activities,wants etc. So, its only imperative that I have my refrigerator stacked up with salubrious ,wholesome food at all times..so that I don't fret at the last hour as to what to feed them..since I'm the only one who has to run around garnering the larder. When the weekend comes I just start making preparations for the Sunday, sort of brunch ,rightaway. It gives me immense pleasure to see the children gorge on stuff that I make. :)