I am warning you before you start reading- this post is going to be long and its going to be sweet- very sweet!
There’s going to be chocolate.
Lots of it.
There’s going to be tragedy.
Plenty of it too.
And there are going to be cavities!
You bet! A lot of that too!
This is the exact kind of post my dentist would disapprove of.
And that is exactly why, my friends, dentists and I could never be friends!
The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy!
The challenge this month was to try our hand at bonbons, truffles, chocolate bark, pate de fruits, honeycomb and any other candy we would like to make.
So, I am a defective piece. I was finally recovering from my sprained ankle- which FYI I sprained COOLING down after exercising. Yes, I do realize the irony- isn’t cooling down done to avoid such injuries? But, I guess my body defies all norms. It really does!
So as I was saying, I was finally recovering from my sprained ankle- when, out of the blue and without doing anything I have this severe lower back pain.
Now, I have a weak lower back- all the years of slouching, bad posture and of course carrying my excessive weight (ok! it’s not that excessive but its quite a lot for me to handle!) has resulted in a weak lower back which results in back pains now and then, but never has the pain been as bad as it is this time. And the most frustrating part is that it started when I was doing absolutely nothing! Its almost like my body was like-
“Hmmm, her ankle is almost fine now, she looks really comfortable.
C’mon lumbar area- do your stuff- start paining- give her pain- give her some real physical pain!”
*the body then goes ahead with a devilish laugh*
and bam! my lower back starts paining.
I tell you my body doesn’t like me.
That’s why, when I have an important outing- my face gets a zit.
Always.
I could cite more examples but I am scared my body would catch up on me catching onto it and do something more severe. (You would think that my body would have had its fun with giving me a painful lower back. But, nah! my body is not that kind!)
And well this pain could not come at a worse time. I am trying to lose weight and have been doing good with my exercise regime. My goal is to fit into my pre-marriage jeans and things were looking pretty good with the dedication I was showing. But, all good things come to an end even though I didn’t expect it to so soon!
I have no clue though how I let myself to become so fat. Actually I do know- it’s all V’s fault. He always made me believe that I looked the same as the first time he saw me- thin and pretty.
Ok.
Here’s a little something about me- something that my dad has identified as the Capricornian trait– my mom has it and since I have her genes and her zodiac sign, it was but obvious that I would get it too. People with the Capricornian trait believe that the blame always lies with someone else. So even though I was the one bingeing and stuffing myself on the freakingly big portions you get at restaurants here, it’s V’s fault that I have become fat, as he led me to believe that none of those calories resulted in saddle bags and big butts (Now, don’t I paint a pretty picture of me? And yes, I know V is a lucky guy to have me:) !)
And since I’m talking about blaming people for my weight problems, there’s another person I would like to blame today. The unfortunate soul who I incriminate for such a heinous crime of introducing this easy a recipe is Pingabhi of My red M&Ms.
These caramelized pineapples are sooooo freaking good. And they are so easy to make. Served with a dollop of whipped cream or with some lemon gelato (yum!) like Pingabhi does, its a great way to end any meal.
Things this good could be so simple to make- who knew! Read More →
The very talented Amanda of Amanda’s Cookin started The Secret Recipe Club (or TSRC, here on) a while back. I know! Doesn’t it sound so cool and fun! Well, it is! The idea behind TSRC is simple. Each participating blogger is assigned one of the other participating blogs (much like a Secret Santa). No one reveals whose blog they have, they just visit, pick a recipe, and make it! My assigned blog this month was Suz’s Thru The Bugs on My Windshield.
Now, the moment I clicked on Suz’s blog, I knew what I wanted to make. Because the first recipe itself caught my eye! Now, I have to tell you, recently I have this craving for everything coconut. The list includes coconut chocolates, Indian dishes with coconut like the Kerala cauliflower dish I recently made and Pina Colada (yes, alcohol can never be left behind, can it!). So when I saw Suz’s recipe for coconut banana bread which was topped with coconut lime sauce (coconut lime sauce- who can resist that!) , I was sold.
Coincidentally, Suz tried this recipe for her last month’s TSRC blog hop. Well, Suz and I get attracted to the same sweet things, I guess! Besides this recipe, Suz who lives with her Mountain Man, has a lot of other good recipes that I am tempted to try and have bookmarked, including her Chicken Asparagus Penne Pasta salad, her never-fail Pie crust and Amanda’s Cantaloupe Quick Bread. Do check her blog out, guys (she makes her own homemade vanilla extract- yup, she is that good!) I did a slight variation to the recipe. Though I would have loved to try the recipe with bananas, my stomach just can’t digest it anymore. It’s sad, really, it is, especially at times like these! I used to love banana bread and to have coconut in it, ah! How good would that have been! Sigh! Well, some things you just can’t help, can you. So, instead of banana, I thought of using zucchini. The substitution worked really well, more than what I expected. The only problem, I feel, some might have is that since I took out the banana, some of the sweetness also went away with it. V found the sweetness perfect, and with the glaze you don’t miss the sugar, but if you like your stuff sweet, you should up the sugar amount. Another reason why the sweetness might have been off the mark was that I did not realise that my stock of sugar was low, and found out only when I started mixing everything up.
Now, not that I need a reason to make Pina Coladas, but this was a perfect time to make some! So, there I was, sipping my Pina Colada and biting into my take on Suz & Krista’s coconut banana bread, with this song playing on my mind.
Yes I like Pina Coladas
And getting caught in the rain
I’m not much into health food
I am into champagne
I’ve got to meet you by tomorrow noon
And cut through all this red-tape
At a bar called O’Malley’s
Where we’ll plan our escape.
I am warning you before you start reading- this post is going to be long and its going to be sweet- very sweet!The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy!
