Bottling Jam: day 42 of #100happydays

To say that I have always dreamt of making my own jam is an admission I would be scared to make. But it is true. As a child, nothing personified winter more than my mother making and bottling tomato jam, which we would then enjoy for the rest of the year. In my eyes, I knew I would attain Domestic  Divadom the day I could do similar.

But though I bottled fruit preserve and fruit chutney often, I never had the courage to try a jam. And then, I gathered all my courage. And did it. Nothing Ventured, Nothing Won.

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Setting Curds: day 37 of #100happydays

“Can you teach me to set curds?”, asked the Younger One.

After heating the milk, and adding the starter, he even make a pretty note to place on top of the bowl where the curds were setting- “Do Not Touch. Curds being Made.”

Since he thought overnight was too long a period for him to wait for the curds to set, he wanted to try something new. “What if we mix some strawberries into the milk before setting the curds, will we get strawberry curds?”, he asked.

There was only one way to find out- by doing it. We did!

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Nothing Ventured: day 36 of #100happydays

There are some things that we attempt, fail at, and decide not to try again. And there are those other things that we never attempt because even without trying, we are convinced we cannot do them. Baking bread fell firmly into the second category, till a chance encounter with a packet of yeast got me addicted. Over the weeks, I’ve experimented a lot with bread, and am getting better at it. Confident enough, to try even the tough ones.

“Nothing Ventured, Nothing Won”, is the topic my older one chose for a school essay. I could be writing that myself.

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This "sunshine bread" is one I would have never even thought of attempting a few months back- just like I would never attempt to wear a dress that looks gorgeous on a supermodel. But then I tried, and it wasn't so hard after all! 

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Easy once you know how- Day 23 of #100happydays

Growing up, paneer was something we only had in restaurants. Though a fantastic cook, I don’t remember my mother ever making any paneer dish at home, and I didn’t know you could. Then I married into a Punjabi household, and learnt that you could buy raw paneer from a store. I started doing that regularly, because paneer is one of the easiest things to cook and invariably tastes great.
And then, one day, when there was more milk in the fridge than I thought we could consume, I tried making paneer. Like everything else, It’s easy once you know how.
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Tomato Soup for the Soul- Day 15 of #100happy days

On a cold winter day, you don’t need very much to be happy. A warm shawl to wrap around yourself. A bowl of steaming hot tomato soup in front of you.

All these years, the tomato soup used to be from a packet. Pour the contents of the packet into a pan of boiling water, making sure there are no lumps, and keep stirring till done. Bliss, in fifteen minutes.

But this winter, tomato soup has been made from scratch. Using the plumpest tomatoes I can find, and by balancing the spices just the way we like them.

Pleasure guaranteed.

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Celebrating Festivals- Day 12 of #100happy days

Festivals are always a hit or miss thing in our household. When I am in a mood, I go all out; if not, I look the other way. When I woke up on Sankranti Day, I hadn’t decided whether to celebrate the festival or not. After first deciding to ignore it, I changed my mind, and spent the next two hours in the kitchen cooking the traditional dishes you make on that day.

The kids aren’t sure if they like it, and I might end up having to eat it all. But who cares- I’m happy and everything smells divine!

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