Guest Host for my "SYF&HWS - Cook With SPICES" Series Event - MAR 5th to APR 5th

Hello Friends,

I started this Event in December 2011 and called it as "SYF&HWS - Cook With SPICES" which is a series event.

This month my fellow Blogger Friend Vardhini "Zesty Palette" is guest hosting from Mar 5th to Apr 5th and she had chosen the Spice - FENUGREEK (Methi).

Vardhini has a beautiful space, very nice collection of recipes and very inviting presentation along with she also hosts other events too at the same time. So please visit her space and hope to see many recipes for the event.

Happy Hosting Dear.....

Almond Banana Milkshake

I never skipped breakfast till now. No reason behind it. I am wondering now, why I never skipped it? I had many times missed my college bus only because of my breakfast.



I remember my aunt yelling at me for missing bus and not keeping up with my time. She tried to change me. Finally she changed herself and packed breakfast in a box. Advised me to have it during the long(?) journey to the college.



Then, in the crowd among all the other students, I started to have my breakfast in the bus. I didn't feel shy at all.  I never worried about others unnecessary annotations and weird look. I know my mind always thinks about eating at correct time.



Well, Last week, I visited my aunt's house. She is still yelling, not with me but with her son. She packed breakfast for him and gave it to him. but the box was returned in the evening untouched. I understand, these days kids are not concentrating on food while going to school in the morning even though they are good at eating.

The next day, I prepared this milkshake and gave it to him instead of breakfast. Hah... Success...He finished it while tucking his shirt in. Why can't you try this simple breakfast for your kids for instant energy? It is good to you too.



Basic Information:

Preparation Time: <15 minutes (except for soaking almonds)

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Banana - 2 nos

Almonds - 8 nos

Milk - 1 and 1/2 cups

Sugar/Honey - 2 tablespoons (Optional)



Method:



1) Soak almond for overnight/2 hours and remove the skin. Slice the banana into slices.

2) Put almond first in a mixer/blender and blend it for a minute.

3) Add milk and banana slices now and continue blending for another minute or until you don't find any lumps.

4) Add sugar / honey and blend it just enough to mix.

5) Pour in glasses and serve chill.

Note:

1) Add vanilla ice cream/ice cubes if your prefer.

2) Add a teaspoon or two of cocoa powder for chocolate shake.

3) You can also prepare this drink instantly without soaking almond. However, it is advised to remove the skins, if you are going to serve for kids to avoid digestion problem.

4) Almonds are sometimes difficult for few people to digest because of an enzyme-inhibiting substance in their brown coating. Soaking or sprouting removes this inhibitor so that the enzymes secreted during digestion can do their job.

Coffee Cupcakes

I prefer to use Camp Coffee when cooking. It's a rich syrupy strong liquid coffee. Alternatively you can use instant coffee mixed with water; 1tsp of instant coffee mixed with 1 tbsp of water is the equivalent of 1tbsp of Camp Coffee.

We made coffee cupcakes using camp coffee, here's the recipe

Ingredients

6oz SR Flour
6oz Caster Sugar
6oz Butter
3 Eggs
4 tbsp Camp Coffee
1 tub Mascapone
2 tbsp Soft Brown Sugar

Method


Mix together the flour, caster sugar, butter eggs and 3 tbsp of coffee until smooth. Fill 12 muffin cases and bake at 170C (fan) for 25 mins. When cooked remove from tin and allow to cool.

Now make the icing: mix together the mascapone brown sugar and 1 tbsp of coffee until well blended and pipe onto top of cupcakes.

I have recently bought some Wilton piping nozzles and have found them to be marvellous, it's sometimes better to invest in a good product. It's certainly the case here.

This is the nozzle I used for these cakes: