Basic Sponge Cake in Microwave

It has been 2 years since we fondly bought our Microwave LG Intellowave. Ever since this LG one has arrived at home, I have always thought of baking a cake at home, which is the primary/traditional use of an oven.

Recently & Finally I have broken the jinx and baked a cake on X'mas eve (24th Dec 2009). It is a basic sponge cake or a Vegan cake you may choose to call. And I must say the end result was worth every bit of effort that went into making it.

Here's my recipe for the Basic Sponge Cake. And remember, if you are new to microwave, have no beater (egg beater i mean), have frugal MW-safe dishes, and are in a hurry to show your cake to your folks --- this is the recipe you got to bake!

Basic Sponge Cake recipe by Aparna:

Refined Flour (Maida) - 1 tablespoon

Castor Sugar - 1 cup

Cornflour - 2/3 cup

Eggs - 3

Cocoa Powder - 1.5 tablespoon

Vanilla Essence - 1 teaspoon

Baking powder - 1 teaspoon

Salt - To taste

How to do it all:

1. Sort Egg Whites and beat it up nice and fluffy. Then slowly add Castor sugar to this slowly and let it mix well. If you dont have a beater, a juicer/mixer would do great too!

2. Beat the egg yolk as well and mix it in the (1st) mixture. Mix in Vanilla essence.

3. Meanwhile sieve together the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, salt.

4. Now in a wide vessel, put the flour mixture and to this slowly add the egg mixture. You dont have to beat this mix again. Just an easy hand is enough. Make sure no lumps are formed. If you have beaten the eggs well, you wont have trouble with lumps at all.

5. Place this cake mix in a greased vessel (Microwave safe one ofcourse)

6. Place it in Microwave mode HIGH (800) for 2 mins. Then check if it is done. Else place it on HIGH again for 30 seconds. Else the cake is ready to serve.

Tips: If you want a Coffee flavored cake, you can pour in Instant coffee over the cake while it is still hot, or any flavored jam dissolved in water to give you that flavor.

If you are a Diabetic, you could go in for just 1/2 cup of Castor Sugar instead of 1 cup.

Garnishing suggestions: People who have an easy hand at icing, can go in for a beautiful icing on this cake followed by colourful fruits or simply cherries!

The end result was my hubby was very happy as well to see a really spongy & tasty cake in the very first attempt itself. My daughter was too excited to find a cake on the table and wasted no time in cutting it. Oh btw, she made her friend sing 'Happy B'day' too :)

Blessings packaged

Blessings:
-----------------
A young man was getting ready to Graduate College . For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.
As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat disappointed the young man opened the box and found a , Holy book "Shrimad Bhagavad Geeta". Angrily, he raised his voice at his father and said, "With all your money you give me a "Shrimad Bhagavad Geeta" ?" and stormed out of the house, leaving the holy book. He never contacted his father again for a long time.
Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and a wonderful family, but realized his father was very old and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day.
Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.

When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search his father's important papers and saw the still new "Shrimad Bhagavad Geeta", just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the "Shrimad Bhagavad Geeta" and began to turn the pages. As he read those words, a car key dropped from an envelope taped behind the "Shrimad Bhagavad Geeta".
It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words PAID IN FULL. How many times do we miss GOD'S blessings because they are not packaged as we expected?

AUM SAI RAM

The colourful nailpolish

Nailpolish - Is one of the very feminine possessions which has been an all time favorite make up tool. No ladies' kit is complete without a nailpolish.
And of late, far from being just a luxury the nailpolish has become a necessity or even a customary thing for women.

It is unknown what percentage of women regularly use nail polish but it is a safe bet that more than half of the women on Earth use it at least once a month.
So where did this all begin ?? The Chinese who are infamous for their inventions need to be given credit for the nailpolish as well. They did this 5000 years back and guess what their favorite colors were? Red and Black. At their times, nailpolish was made out of beeswax, vegetable dyes, gelatin and Arabic gum. The polish we use today, thanks to the car industry, is a refined version of car paint - thin and lustrous. The chemical composition of nail polishes is close to that of car paints, which constantly raises questions, but it looks that environmental issues alone are not convincing enough for consumers to stop using nail polishes. Probably the demand is too high and the fact that it is technologically impossible to make a nail polish out of natural ingredients only, make nowadays nail polishes acceptable to people.

Colored nail polishes were invented in the 1920s and the first nail polish was launched by Revlon. Basically, a nail polish is made of nitrocellulose dissolved in a solvent, to which various pigments are added.
Nail polishes come in different colors. There are some companies that offer more than 100 shades! There are also transparent nail polishes that only add gloss and protection to the nails. Also, there are many crazy nail polishes with huge chunks of glitter in them but they are harder to apply and often the glitter fades away after a couple of days. No matter what color you have chosen, the techniques for applying it are the same.

• Lets now get down to some interesting facts about nailpolish:
  * Few suggest to keep nail polish in the fridge to preserve it for longer periods of time, keep it in the fridge. But few others say that condensation and cold negatively affect nail polish, making it too thick to use reliably. So, use your intuition to preserve your polish. The best place would be any dry, shady place.
  * If the smell of nail polish makes you dizzy, you can go to the terrace and apply it there. When you are in the open, the smell is less suffocating. In any case, ventilate the room properly, after you have finished polishing your nails.
  * Even the best of people spill drops of nail polish on the bottle or on the table. If you happen to drop nailpolish, remove the drop quickly because it will leave permanent stains on the table. If you don't remove nail polish drops from the top of the bottle, the bottle might become glued shut.
  * Best way to apply nailpolish is make a base coat, two layers of nail polish and a top coat.Each layer must be thin and done in three strokes. Top coat can be applied daily if your nails are subjected to constant scratches to preserve your polish for a longer time.
  * Do not apply thick layers of polish as thick layers dry very slowly and also chip faster as they are in lumps.
  If you want to minimize chipping, paint a little across the edge and under the nail tip. This thickens the polish and increases its changes to stay for longer.
  * If you have polished your nails and have some work in the kitchen or in water, do not forget to use rubber gloves or any gloves for that matter. We get gloves made of cellophane plastic of late and that is very very affordable. Check these out in your nearest cosmetics store. Even if there is no polish on your nails, it is always advisable to wear gloves during kitchen work to keep your hands off from cuts, bruises, and preserve the manicure effect.
  * The shelf life of a nail polish is 2 yrs ONLY. So if you have an old bottle in your closet, please do not use it. And for those who think that costly polishes last long, it should be noted that price has no relation to how long a nail polish will last.
  * People who are fed up of traditional colors can try nail art for a change. But make sure, this is not done when you are venturing out for business or office work as it reflects very poorly on one's personality to act 'crazy'(as nail art is usually referred) in a dignified environment. :-)
  * After you've finished your polish application, use a rich hand cream and apply it on using circular movements until it is absorbed. Don't forget that our hands are constantly exposed and need constant attention.
  
• Well, now for those who have emptied their nailpolish bottles and dont know what to do with them, just fill the clean bottle with vegetable oil and paint your nails and cuticles several times a day. Oh yes, even this can be reused.
• People who just cannot afford that bottle of polish, dont worry, the most beautiful women - the Egyptian women, never used any polish. Instead they dipped their fingernails in henna paste and allowed it to dry. The effect of henna(or mehendi powder) on nails is known to all. It provides a very deep orange-red shade which doesnt fade for many weeks. Maybe one can try this, if you dont want chemicals on your nails and later apply just cuticle cream to keep your nails safe from chipping.
• Finally, it is always said that one should choose the right colour for their nails depending on their skin tone(of the hand/feet). If one has olive or yellow skin tones choosing peach or clear polish will help cover minor nail imperfections. And if the skin tone is pinkish, pink shades suit the best. For other tanned or dark skin tones, it is always a safe bet to go in for mild shades.
• Last but not the least, imitation is least expected when it comes to personal grooming. Choosing your foundation, powder cake, lipstick and nailpolish all depend on your skin tone and face cut. Just because your friend has that lovely lavender shade on her eyes or lips or nails, doesnt require you to own the same. It might just make you look out of the place, which is the last thing one wants.
  

I hope reading this was as useful to you as it was for me.
If someone is really interested, I would be encouraged to write on How to do a perfect Manicure and Pedicure yourself at home!

:-)

Changing Habits - Article by Michael Dylan

I read this article and really liked it, which is why it is listed as one of the topics in my blog. Ofcourse entire credit goes to the actual author of this article Mr. Michael Dylan.

Human beings are creatures of habit. We get into a routine that we are comfortable with and we stick to it unless something big comes along and shocks us out of it. Our daily habits often force us to put up with all kind of degrading and destructive events, all in the name of keeping things comfortable or familiar. We would rather put up with the habits we know because we can put up with them, rather than create new habits that we have never experienced before.
The excuses for clinging to our habits range from almost acceptable to completely neurotic. For example, staying in a job that you don't like so that you can continue to pay the mortgage and feed your family is almost an acceptable excuse for staying at your job. It would be just foolish to suddenly quit and start thinking about how to pay your bills.
But it is wrong to think that this job that you dislike has to be it for the rest of your life. Sure it's comfortable, you know you can do it, but don't you owe to yourself, your family, and your employer to get out and do a job that is right for you?
Nothing will change if you don't change. The first step is recognizing that change is necessary. Secondly you have to figure out where you would be more fulfilled in your career. Maybe you have to do something more creative, something outdoors in nature, something that allows you to be in different places, or maybe you have to be the one making all the decisions with your own business. When you are clear about what it is that you really want from your career, you have to start taking steps towards it.
A new job is not going to come running to you just because you're unhappy with your old one. If it's a new industry you may have a lot to learn before even thinking about applying for new positions. You may have to take classes at night while you put up with your dull job during the day.
If it's your own business that you dream of, you may have to start from your home. Working during the night and weekends to move closer to doing it fulltime and leaving your old job.
Just because we are familiar with something is no reason to continue doing it. It's easy to get caught up in day to day living - especially if you have a family to take care of - and to put off any changes that could improve your life. Change can invoke fear, insecurity, and feelings of loss in people. Make the change anyway!
Life is not pausing for you while you are putting up with something that you dislike. Life is passing you by while you waste it doing the wrong thing. There's no rewind button, there's only now, and if you're not happy with your now, Change it!

The Harry potter revolution

Most of us have noticed the character Harry Potter emerging from nowhere 9-10 years back. And before we could notice, it has become a household name, a fantasy for kids, a timepass for teenagers and an amazement for adults and 'elderly' people. Probably even the author would not have imagined that her works would become so famous one day.
Harry potter is a series of seven novels by the famous author J K Rowling. This series is about a boy named Harry J Potter and his study at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a school for young wizards and witches. The entire plot focusses on Harry Potter's fight against the evil lord Voldemort. Basically, it is a fight between good and evil and the author has creatively brought in the whole idea of witchcraft into this so called 'war'. Voldemort kills Harry's parents Lily and James potter 18 years back, in a personal vengeance when they try to stop him from taking over the magic world. However, when he attempts to kill Harry, the Avada Kedavra killing curse rebounds upon him, and he gets destroyed, becoming nothing more than a spirit: neither dead nor alive. Meanwhile Harry is left with a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. Harry is the only known survivor of the killing curse, and his mysterious defeat of Voldemort results in him being dubbed "The Boy Who Lived" by the wizarding community. Voldemort is known as "He who should not be named".
Harry is raised by his relatives, the Dursleys, who are very cruel to him and intentionally hide his magical secrets and keep punishing him.However, as his eleventh birthday approaches, Harry has his first contact with the magical world when he receives letters from Hogwarts school which are delivered by owls. The letters are taken from him by his Uncle before he has a chance to read them. On his eleventh birthday he is informed by Hagrid, the gamekeeper of Hogwarts, that he is in fact a wizard and has been invited to attend the school. Each book describes one year in Harry's life, which is mostly spent at Hogwarts, from then on.

Who doesn't like magic and tricks? And this is exactly the trump card for potter's stories. And apart from just the books, slowly movies were made on HJP (Harry J Potter) and video games and merchandise gained immense popularity. Some people feel that all this is fantasy and unbelievable. In South India, we simply call it a 'Vittalacharya movie' a nickname for movies made with tantra and magic as base. There are several famous movies in this genre viz., Mayabazar etc. And so when people still swear on the creativity and logic of these Vittalacharya movies till date, I am one of the millions who swear by Potter-mania.

The wizarding community shown and depicted in this series is both imaginary and yet intimately connected to our own world. While Narnia was a fantasy world and Lord of the Rings a mystic past, I felt that the magical world in HJP is very much believable. Most of the institutions and locations are in towns and cities, including London for example, that are recognisable in today's world.
Regarding the narration style of Rowling, I have always felt that her novels have drawn inspiration from a whole lot of authors (like Stephen Kings, Sherlock Holmes) ofcourse making it an irresistable combo and ultimately a super hit. Her stories are always told from a third person point of view except in few books like opening chapters of Philosopher's stone, Goblet of Fire and few chapters of Half Blood Prince, where the reader comes to know the truth as and when Harry comes to know. All books follow the same pattern though - Each begin with Harry at home with his relatives ill treating him and later he going to a magical location like Diagon Alley, Weasleys' or No.12, Grimmauld Place for a period after which he boards the school train at Platform 9 3/4. Honestly, i felt that was such a creative thought of Rowling to imagine a platform in between 2 platforms.....which would instantly give the reader a sense of magic :-).

Once at school, Harry is shown interacting with old and new characters, be it teachers or students and challenging issues to be overcome inspite of few people swearing to make his life difficult. Also as Harry grows old, awkward crushes, confusing affairs are also shown. All stories reach the climax just before or after final exams when he confronts either Voldemort or one of the death eaters. He learns some lesson out of this and interacts with Dumbeldore and becomes one more step closer to the headmaster. The scene always closes with him going back to Dursleys at the end of the year.

Whatever it may be, this film and books have been constant entertainers and fascinated people like me over a very long period. It is like i wait for either one to be released.... and this month is a bumper gift for Potter fans. The 5th book's film and the 7th book's publication is out in the same month, which is adding to the ecstasy like never before. All said, i do not like just one thing and that is the highly priced books which are not affordable in original print by the age group of people who actually ought to read it - Kids & Teens.
As employed people, it is okay to buy a 500/- book.... but the last book "Deathly gallows" is priced at a whopping Rs. 975/- in India.
Yet, people are ready to make Rowling and her publishers rich day by day. This in turn is also encouraging piracy experts who sell "indian version" at cheaper rates.

Rowling once fondly said that she is in favor of killing Harry potter and making him immortal so that she doesnt want other authors to write sequels on say for example, Harry life after Hogwarts etc. This has stirred off a fear among fans if it will be true and she has seen a constant pour of fan mails and requests asking her to rewrite the story with an alternative conclusion.

All depends on 21st July when the book will finally be released. Some silly websites quote statistics like "80% of readers say they will flip to the last page first to see if their hero is alive or dead."
And as the non-reader population of HJP sums it up, its a big revolution persuading people into unreal stuff and imagination which makes them dream a lot and do unreal stuff. Yes it is a revolution but as far as i see, it aims at giving a person a chance to dream, a chance to feel powerful, magical and equipped.... For those few hours, one can just forget everything and bask in an imaginary glorified cloud.
For me- thats entertainment....and thats the reason why I am a true Harry potter fan.

What it takes to be a good cook!

Yesterday i watched the film "Cheeni Kum" and was probably fascinated at the way chefs were shown in this movie. Hence am inspired to blog it out.
Cooking is a very easy task yet a very uphill one for few. Some lucky people are trained from childhood to make good food and some learn it due to circumstances. I belong to the former group.
To my surprise, cooking was not just about putting the vessel on the stove, adding veggies and ingredients and eating it..... but i learnt with this film that there was something more serious to it as a profession and i learnt what exactly it is.... These are a few of my learnings.....
Should you study at a hotel management college in order to cook well ?
Well, it’s not absolutely necessary. Experience is the ultimate teacher. But education coupled with experience is even better. We regard our mother and grandmother to be the best cooks in the world. They havent studied anywhere but learning once and practising a 1000 times has made them experts. They learn the tricks of the trade in due course of time and are all set to impart their knowledge to youngsters. They know shortcuts, ways to reuse leftovers, tastier way of preparing food. Their efforts were time consuming but their concentration entirely lay on serving us the best dish. As far as anyone remembers, our mother and grandmother hardly resorted to shortcuts, processed food, ready to make foods etc to fill our stomachs. Their recipes were neatly designed and crafted from Square 1 at home. Be it tedious masala preparation, sambar rasam powders or even all those tasty snacks and sweets.
Today is the day of perfection. People are ready to spend that extra buck for a tasty morsel of food. Further, due to lack of time and interest, ready meals and pre-processed foods are in vogue. Everything comes prepared and ready. Just dip in water and eat...Thats the mantra. But how many of us take time to read the ingredients of such a packet and what it really contains apart from rice and cereals and food? Preservatives et al.
Anyways, since i am drifting away from my actual topic, let me come back and explain what my chef friend told me about their profession. I must say i was both awestruck and sympathising at the end of it. Schooling will give you a good platform from which to begin, and make you more hirable. But it is only the start.
Learning about a dish and making it once or twice in school is nothing compared to the person who’s done it 400 times, as I already wrote.
He says, a catering student (I will call him a chef ) won’t go from school to a position of sous chef directly. One has to do more than his/her share of "dirty work" first. Forget your homemade food and think standing on your feet for hours filling vegetables with masala, cleaning artichokes, peeling potatoes, chopping onions, mincing meat, dressing chicken, cutting salad artistically and being expected to perform these monotonous, mechanistic chores with assembly line speed and accuracy. :-) Well i just kind of sighed hearing this.
At the next level, the chef is responsible for making appetisers, soups, salads, cocktails and other preparations. How long the chef remains at this position depends on their skills and the restaurant's main speciality. If the place was famous for these preparations, ideally they would hire 5-6 such chefs of this level, known as being a line cook. Their work is also equally gruelling and consists of nonstop work until demand exists.
Once a line cook is too good, they become a sous-chef. This designation is known to many of us. Imagine what a sous chef might have gone through in order to become this in life. Hence a fresher out of catering school becoming a sous chef is an IMPOSSIBLE feat. A sous chef is a prestigious designation and their responsibilities just double up. Monitoring the line cooks, waiters, making sure dishes are rightly garnished, trying a hand at inventing something new, taking feedback from customers, a sous chef does it all with élan. Like all aspiring souls, a sous chef's ultimate goal is to become a executive chef. This is probably the highest position before one goes on to own their own restaurant. But my friend says, this transition from a sous chef to a exec chef is mixed with hardwork, sheer luck and also some backing. But this probably exists at every professional "that-last-step-to-success" level.
Neverthless, a chef's life never is a 8-hour job however high he is on the ladder.
And this is not just the only occupation for a catering institute pass out. There are other occupations like cooking school teachers, food stylists, caterers, and restaurant consultants to name a few. But inevitably, these people have spent years paying their dues in front of hot stoves when everybody else was out having fun or being with their family. If one is not interested in being any of these, they could still end up being Food writers. Remember all those articles and columns you read in newspapers, mags and websites and wondered who has the time for this.... Well thats a food writer for you ! You probably have a better chance of ending up on the Food Network than being able to support yourself, (let alone a family), by food writing alone. Let me not sound discouraging, but people now are smart to grasp this truth and everyone does their bit at multitasking to make ends meet. After all, at the end of the day, one measures success by not just money but also one's experience.
If i were to correlate it to the IT industry, it would be like a software engineer doing their job, coming back and writing technical papers, columns, coaching freshers etc. The same career path is spanned by catering professionals in order to make their lives worthwhile.
Finally, I dined at this restaurant at Hyderabad - Krsna Bistro, the brainchild of a sales guy who worked with TATA. He says he felt bored doing his job and since he was inclined to good dining, he thought why not open his own restaurant. And lo, he is now a proud owner of a very happening place.
And as Amitabh says in this film Cheeni Kum about the profession of cooking - Other art forms just draw the vision, hearing and touch senses whereas cooking attracts all the senses of a human being, the most important being taste.
Wish you good food! :_)

Forms of art in my life

From my childhood, all forms of art - be it dance, music, stitching, knitting, drawing, drama were part of my daily schedule. And now, after so many years, when i look back at what i have achieved in life, apart from just professional success as a software engineer, these so called "extra curricular" talents are the actual ones that make me feel satisfied and as a "special" person.
When people ask me "You dance?? You sing ?? You stitch ?? Wow...", it makes me feel elated and a sense of gratitude goes out to my parents who aspired to see me as an all rounder and hence provided me a chance to learn everything......and my teachers who taught me all this.
I was not born with a silver spoon but everything in life came pretty easily to me, thanks to my parents' never-say-die attitude. They were prepared to do their best to make us happy people...

Coming to my art, the most cherished talent i feel is the art of my expression that has come to me through dance. It has helped me take a new turn in understanding people, their expressions, situations and I succesfully respond to all of them. Also what dance has taught me is the power of silence. A danceuse remains silent throughout the dance. Yet she conveys a lot of meaning through her eyes and body. Not that being silent helps a big deal. But people should learn to keep quite when they HAVE to. Opening up unnecessarily makes way for lot of arguments.....this too i learnt after lot of experiences.

Music, another art form, which runs parallel to dance for me, is something that has given me the power to voice out. I have never been an introvert ever since. Stage fear kind of disappeared the moment i started to sing. I have performed shows in many places, as a child and even when i grew up. Singing made me feel powerful and equipped. And as they say, music releases so many toxins and tension that body becomes very light and easy.

As a high school student studying in Tamilnadu, i faced lot of tension, competition & study pressure in academics. My parents were desperate to make me an engineer at any cost but i was to get a free seat in a decent college, for which marks were vital. With everyone getting 95 and 96%, it was a tough job for a OC candidate for me......
Music was the only thing that gave me the relaxation i needed at that level and it made me unwind pretty fast and later come back to the same level of seriousness.
I would really suggest people at high stress levels to take up either singing or listening to music or learning some instrument at free intervals.

As a kid, i did my schooling in Calcutta where "Work education" or Art classes, were in vogue for school kids. West Bengal was already a land of arts. I was taught Yoga, hand stitching, wollen knitting, crotia, making handkerchiefs, scarves etc.
This was a 4-yr schedule along with regular subjects. And now, till date, i havent forgotten even a thing that i have learnt, thanks to my sound basics and dedicated teachers.

Now, i have settled down as a professional in the software industry and a married person that too. These small things that i know make me go a long way in planning small things for my household as well as making my people feel proud for what i have in me.
For instance, I do my own embroidery on my clothes, I do up design patterns on pillows, bedspreads, hankies, make Crotia covers, wollen knitting etc, making small money purses, etc etc which may seem silly at times but are my way of personalising my things.
I sing when i am free and my family is proud about that. I have performed many shows in temples, stages and functions.

Cooking, i feel is another form of art, which is by far the most useful art i have come across. I have learnt my basics from my parents and
Thanks to all this talent, I also used to head the music club & fun club at my workplace.

What i would like to convey through all this, is that, life is a long journey. Just family, studies and career is not everything in life.
A person's worth is calculated by not just his salary but the value he brings to the table as an all rounder.