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Hello peeps! First blog coming atchuuu. You have no idea how proud I am of myself for coming through on this. 💪🏼
Hope you enjoy reading this 🌼
The idea for this week's topic came from my brother handing me a small jar of Bonne Maman strawberry preserve.
That got me thinking of all the jars we have in our home kitchen (lots and lots of condiments consumed) and the memories related to them. Behold the two most prized collections and my personal favourites. 🥳
Like any Indian household, we probably gain more lifetime value from jars than from the contents of them. If you can relate to the pure joy of acquiring a *good* jar, you know what I'm talking about.
This tradition dates back across generations, but only recently have I come to fully appreciate the simple beauty of it.
♻️ Firstly, big yes to recycling. (Bag of bags sits on the throne here)
💗 Second, just look at how cute they look! All cousins - big and small and young and old.
🏡 Third, it's like your own private collection you can be proud of it. Call it vintage cottagecore chic. (I am especially fond of the minis 🥰)
If I had to choose my favourite, it would be the Bon Maman jars. Apart from the heavenly preserves, the iconic glass jars with the checkered lids are an aesthetic dream.
Here's a refreshing glass of milk tea on a hot summer's day in a BM jar of course.
The company's website has an entire page dedicated to DIY inspirations using the jars, browsing through which gave me a lot of joy.
Not-so fluffy pancakes
My cooking to-do for the weekend was to try out souffle pancakes - you know those Japanse style pancakes that look like clouds ☁️ and jiggle like a baby's butt 👶🏻? - those.
I set out to make these ones from NYT Cooking.
It started out all motivation on a Saturday morning by measuring out ingredients, making the batter and even whisking the egg whites *by hand*. If that's not dedication I don't know what is.
Sad to report that the end result was not at all floofy ☹️, but still pretty delicious. I skipped the primary memo of using metal rings to cook the batter (which I didn't bother using - stupid). Also, my eggs were probably not whipped to the right stage. So I guess I had this coming 🤷🏻♀️
The thing with eggs, which still keeps me fascinated, is that there are just so many ways in which they behave. Pancakes like these essentially call for a stable meringue - which is egg whites and sugar, whisked skillfully to resemble whipped cream. Make any level of error in that process and your end result is doomed.
Meringue-based desserts (like Japanese cheesecake, chiffon cake, macarons, these pancakes) continue to make me anxious because there's always something that might just go wrong. One day I am going to conquer that demon. ✊🏼
In the meantime, if you'd actually like to make some decent pancakes here's my recipe for Buttermilk Pancakes 🥞
If you love cooking, you need this podcast in your life.
Recommendations are something I take very seriously and please believe me when I say that this podcast is something you need in your life if you love cooking. 💛
Home Cooking, as the name suggests is a podcast about home cooking (wow), hosted by chef & food writer Samin Nosrat and musician & podcaster Hrishikesh Hirway.
What started out as a limited edition we're-in-a-pandemic-so-let's-do-something-fun kind of thing has now evolved into a 10+ episode podcast. No idea how much longer it'll go on for but I'm taking what I'm getting because it's just too good. 🥺
Allow me to sell this recommendation to you.
Close your eyes and imagine the heartwarming feeling of sitting at your dinner table with your loved ones after a good meal. Feel the warmth? That's basically what this podcast feels like.
It's wholesome and full of useful cooking tips and funny anecdotes. Listening to Samin & Hrishi discuss food will have you feel like you're in a cooking club with long-time goofy pals. If that hasn't convinced you yet, just take a leap of faith and listen to an episode. You won't be disappointed.
This podcast has come to be one of my most cherished memories during this year and I am so grateful for it. Good food and good people make the world go round, friends.
Some cute things on Instagram
Ending off this blog with some *cute cute* buns and other cute things that popped up on my feed this week.
That's all from me for this week. See you next Sunday (hopefully) with more food stories! 🌼
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