All from my mother's vegetable garden

I know I know its been quiet some since I wrote anything on this blog. What I didn't expect was a short casual break I decided to take would grow into such a long break. So rather than discussing about what I was up to in one post,  I will give glimpses about it from time to time... trust me some of them are pretty good...:). We had a pretty wild summer vacation....:P

After all the fun and finishing up my big project and classes at university, currently I am enjoying my two months vacation with my mother and family in Trivandrum, getting completely pampered and back to being lazy in the kitchen. 

My mother maintains a small vegetable garden. Although less in number compared to what we had few years back, my mother maintains a lovely vegetable patch in our terrace including this tiny "Vaazha" (Banana plant pictured above.) Every morning my mother go to terrace to water the plants and collect vegetables which are ready for use. Yesterday morning I decided tagged along with my camera to click some of them. 

With that being said, i am ending this post with some of the pictures from my home.  Hope everyone is enjoying the new year well...:). Wishing every one a happy and prosperous New Year !!!

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Photo Blizzz -2

After an overwhelming week of work, all I want to do is to go back in time and enjoy the scenery once more. But thanks to the invention of photography, even if we can't go back in time, we still can enjoy the frozen moments captured...So today I wanna sit back and enjoy the awesome road trip we had few days back...:)  

Wind Mills

Irrigation of Farm Lands

Second day journey started here.

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Hot Chocolate - For a Rainy evening

I think I have lost track of the number of times I tried to have a decent hot chocolate but ended up with the same disappointing tale ... I always feel like it is too good to be true...

I particularly remember this one time. After some hectic schedule at work, I wanted a break, and thats when I thought about the hot chocolate served by one of the vendors in the food court. The vendor being  one among the top and famous in the field of dairy products I had my expectations set pretty high... A mind filled with joy, I set out from the building to the food court blaming myself, for not doing this earlier...When I reached there I could see there 'Hot Chocolate' written on the menu board. With utmost excitement I ordered one hot chocolate and waited at the other end of the line...When I finally got mine I couldn't wait but to have a sip... It sure was hot and it kind of burnt my tongue a little ...but that was not the sad part...I waited till I took another sip to confirm it. Yes, that same feeling crawled into my mind. It tasted anything but hot chocolate...more like a health drink (like boost)

As time went by, the memory of hot chocolates also faded, until I stumbled upon a picture recently. I was determined to try it this time. I made it. At last something worth calling 'hot chocolate'.

For a more deeper chocolaty flavor try adding some semi or bitter sweet chocolate...:-).

Recipe:

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Source : Hershey's Hot Chocolate

1. Milk                -  4 cups
2. Sugar             -  1/2 cup 
3. Cocoa powder  -  1/4 cup 
4. Salt                -  a dash
5. Vanilla extract  -  3/4 tsp
6. Hot water        - 1/3 cup 
7. Miniature marshmallows or sweetened whipped cream (optional)

1. In a medium saucepan, stir together sugar, cocoa, salt and water.
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil.
3. Stir for 2 minutes more.
4. Add milk, stirring constantly, until the milk reaches the required temperature.
5. Do Not Boil.
6. Remove from the heat source and add vanilla and stir. 

   
   

   Serve topped with marshmallows or whipped cream, if desired.  

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