A while back (and I am sorry to the person who asked this because it’s been quite a while back), someone asked me for a good recipe for pancakes. The simple kinds. Easy to make, and great to taste.
Since V is not that crazy about pancakes, they are never made in our house. In fact, during the first month or so of our marriage I remember bringing one of the boxed mixes home. I made them once, but realized later that V is not a fan of pancakes, and that box sat in our kitchen pantry cupboard till it expired, never to be used again and finally thrown after a year of passing its expiry date.
I, on the other hand do like pancakes.
I have grown up on pancakes.
Almost every weekend, my brother and I would request my mom to make pancakes for us. She generally used box mix, but sometimes made them from scratch too. Along with the pancakes, on the table would be maple syrup that my grandmother would get from Canada every time she came to visit us in India, but I always preferred the lemon syrup that my mom made from scratch.
And that’s how I remember pancakes. My mom serving them hot with a good serving of butter and the lemon syrup drizzled on top. Oh sooooo good.
The post talks about how Sukaina got an email from one of her readers and how the reader thought she had a perfect life with everything about it perfect- “the perfect house, the perfect blog post, the perfect meal, the perfect recipe, that perfect image, the words or story that sounds just perfect.” But, of course, as she points out in her post, in reality, things are far from perfect.
For me, Sukaina’s blog is perfect. Her recipes look and sound great. The pictures are bang on in terms of styling, lighting, sharpness, and focus. The video she made is still, in my opinion, one of the best cooking videos I have seen. So it was refreshing to know that she goes through the same doubts as I do, that like me, she too is constantly struggling with getting everything perfect and somehow that more often than not does not happen.
Take this post for example. I made and took pictures of this “oats khichdi” a few days back. I was not happy with the pics. So I decided I will have a go at them again. I made the khichdi again, and I had a picture in mind as to how I wanted to style it (which I did even the first time but this time I improved on it). I tried different surfaces, different stylings but somehow what I wanted I couldn’t achieve, mainly because that would have required props I did not have. So I ended up with these pics that I am posting today and I am just not satisfied. None of them were how I had imagined it to be. But, since the recipe is good I decided to post anyway with what I have, mainly because of what Sukaina had to say.
I know I have come a long way from where I started almost 3 years back, but I still look at blogs and sigh to V, when will I be THAT good!
I also know there are people who have started blogs with the perfect pictures, the perfect recipe and everything about their blog being perfect; but I have come to terms with the fact that while some people catch on quickly, some take their time. I am the latter, but then, I try every day to improve myself and I think that says for some thing. So even though I am not happy with what I have to put forth today, I know tomorrow I will improve on it. But because of my insecurities I should not let a good recipe go by and as Sukaina puts it:
There would be no blog if that moment of perfection is coveted. Perfect is not always possible. And that shouldn’t be our aim. If you succeed each time, you will stop trying. And if you stopped trying, you would stop creating.
I survived another coffee get together today. Every Friday, a group of us ladies meet at someone’s place for coffee and treats and general chit chat. Being raw or even gluten free/sugar free means that I can not have any of the goodies my friends make. Today the host had served an apple pie, a pumpkin pie, and a pumpkin bread. None of which I could taste, but from what I heard my friends saying, they were absolutely delicious. I just consoled myself by repeating 3 more days to go every now and then someone took a bite of pie from their plate. And continued chewing on my strawberries and apple. It did help when my friends noticed that going raw/gluten free was suiting me. I do have kind friends and that gave me the nudge I needed!
It’s not all that bad either. Not since I made these bars to treat myself.
These are raw, vegan, gluten free, sugar free, butter or oil free energy bars! And they are pretty good. Well at least the “raw me” who has been deprived of all things indulgent thinks they are pretty good! If you are into raw energy bars maybe you should try these.
They are super healthy too with chia seeds, sunflower seeds and dates instead of sugar for the sweetness.
