In the mood to bake!! =)

I get these impulsive desires to cook sometimes!

Cooking can be a whole lot of fun, and pretty much an art in itself! Having an awfully sweet tooth, I enjoy making desserts the most!

Well, here is something good old GOOGLE helped me find! The recipe is aptly titled as the –

ABSURDLY EASY VEGAN CHOCOLATE CAKE!


Ingredients

3 cups flour (‘maida’ in hindi) (680 grams)

2 cups sugar (preferably powdered) (450 grams)

6 tablespoons cocoa (100 grams)

2 teaspoons baking soda (10 ml)
1 teaspoon salt (5 ml)
3/4 cup vegetable oil (200 ml)

2 tablespoon vinegar (30 ml)

2 teaspoon vanilla (essence) (10 ml)

2 cup cold water (480 ml)

Directions

Mix the dry ingredients. Sieving the dry mixture would be a good idea! Add the wet ingredients. Stir until smooth. Bake two greased, floured pans at 100-150 degrees for 30 minutes (do keep checking on the cakes while they are being done!).

Makes two layers of a two-layer, 9-inch or 8-inch round cake, or one small sheet cake.

When cool, frost it.

Eat.

Hmm, well most of this recipe  is taken from the original one on http://www.boutell.com/, excluding a few minor changes =)

I just love how crisp and precise the instructions were! =D Hats off to the creator!! =)

This recipe is so perfect for me, simply because you don’t really get ready-made vegan products here in India. Atleast, not as yet…

Everything I needed was already at home! Do comment!

Especially if you can think of any interesting vegan modifications, add-ons etc…!!

MY VERY OWN VEGAN FROSTING!


For one medium sized cake - 


100 gms powdered sugar
1 and a 1/2 tbsps of cocoa powder
50 gms margarine or vegetable oil ( I prefer olive oil (extra virgin) )
Water 


Stir all the ingredients in a saucepan over the stove. Add water as per desired thickness. Bring the mixture to a boil. To make the frosting healthier, lose the oil. A reduction of powdered sugar, cocoa and water makes a great frosting. Oil makes it richer though! Enjoy! =) 

Vibes...

The world around me is a frenzy of people who don't understand the person I am…

They ignore me, they judge me, and they call me foolish…

My quests are simple, they find them ridiculous…

They say I need to be conniving…

They laugh at matters I don't find funny, they laugh at me… It hurts when they do…

I am told I must try and fit in or just leave…

I refuse to believe that ideals have no value…

I refuse to ‘cope’ with the devious; I refuse to live this farce…

I love myself… I won't hurt ME…

Mind and melody...

Hold up... hold on... don't be scared
You'll never change what's been and gone
May your smile... Shine on... Don't be scared
Your destiny may keep you warm.

Cos all of the stars are fading away
Just try not to worry you'll see them some day
Take what you need and be on your way
And stop crying your heart out...

- Stop crying your Heart out by OASIS

When I'm all messed up, this song lifts me up to this incredibly positive trance... the words are so beautifully apt =)

It is truly amazing, how music can make you think and feel in a million different ways...

As i drift away from the 'unadventurous' and 'predictable'... i visualize a future... a happy one...
It has everything i want... I feel content... I feel right...

I feel free already...

Scared... and hurting...

It is beyond disturbing to see lives being taken away repeatedly, in the name of religious fanaticism... I've reached this point where i don't feel safe anymore... and I don't like it...

The German Bakery, a truly wonderful eat-out in Pune vanished last night, prey to terrorism... When in Pune last year, I fell in love with this place... the food, the people... everything about it was so warm and comforting... In the one week that i was there, i visited it thrice or so...

It had this natural, green ambiance... which instantly calmed one who entered... one would be lucky to see osho devotees playing instruments, meditating or sharing their thoughts with others... pretty much in their own trance...

The staff there, was always cheerful and ready to help...

It is rare to find eat-outs in India, where the staff is genuinely happy with their work... this was one of those places...

The people who died, were probably regulars there... who came in peace having absolutely no inkling that something of such magnitude could happen...

I always thought I would go back to the German Bakery when i visit Pune...

Nature is everything.

One farmer says to me, "You cannot live on vegetable food solely, for it furnishes nothing to make the bones with;" and so he religiously devotes a part of his day to supplying himself with the raw material of bones; walking all the while he talks behind his oxen, which, with vegetable-made bones, jerk him and his lumbering plow along in spite of every obstacle.
~Henry David Thoreau (American author, poet, naturalist, historian, philosopher, and leading transcendentalist...)

It is pretty shocking as to how 'meat-eaters' justify themselves so callously...
Pretty much  the same with those who use animal products....

They seem rather content with their 'lack of knowledge' of the same...

Of-course, it is a matter of personal preference and everything... But thinking about what you consume and the overall consequence of the same wouldn't do much harm...

On switching to vegan-ism ( seen using a vegan wallet ), i was told that the use of leather is intrinsically beneficial, as it is biodegradable... humph...

Does that justify animal-slaughter? What about plant-based products? Cloth, jute, synthetics too... aren't they biodegradable!?

I once, had a conversation with my brother about the use of leather... and he pretty much had the opinion that it is one of the most uncomfortable materials one could think of wearing...

In my ignorant carnivore days, i remember my foul-smelling leather wallet...
Didn't quite strike that it was nothing but dead skin...

Most animal skins, like hide and fur, even after extensive tanning, bleaching and de-odorising etc give out a foul and decayed whiff... meat too, only after cooking and seasoning, is 'relished'...

I guess humans are the only beings who kill for pleasure and in avarice... watch Natgeo sometime and you may just see a lion walking calmly alongside a zebra or deer when not hungry... or even a lioness adopting an orphaned antelope with much love...

Greed and ignorance dissolve life only faster... wish we could see that...

"I travel to get new identities. And to write about them. It is how kids 'enjoy getting lost'. It reminds me that personality is not solid. In a new land people don't know you, you can become whatever you want!"

- Hoshang Merchant (poet)

(The Hindu (Magazine), Sunday, February 7, 2010)

Fragments of thought...

When idle or totally disinterested in what surrounds me, I sink into this totally different current... My mind goes all adventurous and happy or awfully slow and miserable!

And in this very oblivion I wrote...

In this flood of emotions, I am disillusioned by my surroundings... Blinded by the conventions of responsibility, security, obligation and certainty, I forget to 'value' myself...

It is hard as hell to live a life that isn't mine, a life that depends on 'should-Be's'...

I want to be in this place where i know what i want from life...

I want to stop doing what others do... be it the smallest possible choice, i want it to be entirely mine!!

I'd be nothing but a coward if i just 'exist'...

I am pulled between want and need every single day...

Why should it be so hard to decide? Why don't i just BE...?

Snippets... found in notebooks all over the place...

Maybe, in this one life that I hold(not ruling out the possibility of rebirth though!), I need to come to terms with the 'fact' that i 'cannot' accomplish everything i want to, the only reason being the timed, mortal life that I have.

But, reaching out to all of those dreams is probably the most amazing way in which I can splurge my days!! Mould them the way 'I' love 'em!

Multi-tasking with your dreams and desires is truly awe-inspiring!! Those who do so, must be REALLY treasuring their hourglass lives...