The Price of Spice

There was a time long ago, when spices were more expensive than gold and India abounded in them. Of them, pepper was highly prized and often black pepper was referred to as "black gold". This brought many traders and explorers to the coasts of India in search of fortunes.

Flowers of the Field

"See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these."

I'm blessed with both a Mom and a MIL who love plants. They grow everything they can get the seeds / branch / sapling of.

They have always tried to impart this knowledge to me but ended up watching in confounded horror as every plant I touched or tried to grow just withered away!

The harsh truth was clear -  I did not inherit the green-thumb-gene from mom and it seemed unattainable inspite of their patient guidance. Now my only hope is that my son has inherited this prized gene from his grand-mothers. 

Blushing Beauties

Recipe: Blushing Beauty Cupcakes

Last month I had the wonderful opportunity of spending a few days with 4 sweet little girls aged between 7 months to 5 years - one is my friend's daughter and the other 3 are my nieces. I fell in love with their heart-warming smiles, their wonderful stories, their gentle play, innocent eyes and pink blushing cheeks.

Though I love my son's curious mind, wild imagination and spontaneous actions, I thoroughly enjoyed the calm and serene world of little girls.

These 4 little girls are the inspiration for these cute little cupcakes. I'd like to call them Blushing Beauty Cupcakes.

Apart from the fact that the batter for this cake can be easily whipped up in a blender (!),  let me also tell you that there is a surprise ingredient in these. Can you guess what is the gorgeous pink colour on the top of these cupcakes?