an unconventional weekend

image source:bing

as soon as friday says hello we start dreaming of the weekend. plans start cooking; where to party on saturday? which movie to catch? what chore to complete on sunday?and then where to have that evening coffee?. i swear planning weekends are fun (it is another thing that weekend plans always come with last minute amendments before the final execution).

unlike every  saturday and sunday when we party out or sit and chill at some friend's place(saturday plan) and stay and relax at home and probably go out for coffee the next day(sunday plan) this weekend brought saturday and sunday with a role reversal. surprisingly, there was no plan with friends this saturday. my husband was startled to the extent that he ended up asking if it really was saturday (LOL). if we did not go out anywhere, we did not sit idle either. soon we were informed that some guests would be coming over for tea. we quickly made preparations for tea leaving the decision on the dinner menu to be made later.

now, tea conversations can get extensive(i love them :p). it got prolonged to the extent that when we took a quick glimpse of our watches we realized that it was dinner time already. obviously we had cooked no dinner since we were so engrossed in our conversation. the youngsters wanted to eat out but looking at the windy weather the elders thought it would be wise to eat at home(generally a sunday plan). it was finally decided to stick to the latter idea. i had paneer bhurji (fresh cheese dish)on my mind for the longest time now so i volunteered to make it for everyone. me and my sister-in-law went to the kitchen and started working on it. we quickly chopped the blushing pink onions, plump red tomatoes,playful red and green bell peppers and  beautiful long green chillies.  my mother-in-law extended her help for the paranthas(flatbread) and there we had our dinner for the evening. paneer bhurji (picture at the bottom) and paranthas(now i know fried paranthas aren't too healthy but  a little indulgence once in a while is allowed). the food was highly praised. one of the guests complimented us saying "who needs to go to haldirams or other fast food joints when one can get such delicious treat at home"(:p). after the ideal summer dessert(mangoes) we all called it a night. that is how our unconventional saturday came to an end.

now the sunday was slightly planned with the ICC champions trophy 2013 finals (india vs england) scheduled for the same day. a close friend had arranged for a projector screen at his home and had invited us over. he had informed me that it would be a gathering of around fifteen people. he had plans of making the sandwiches himself to fix a quick bite for everyone and asked me if i could get some cake. i did not make any promise keeping the electricity woes in mind.

fortunately i did not face a power cut and so my sunday morning started with the aroma of some freshly baked banana chocolate marble cake and choco almond muffins(pictures at the bottom). with missi roti for lunch it seemed like a weekend high on food. the lazy bone being super active on sunday caused us to  reach our friend's place an hour late. like i mentioned earlier the plans always come with last minute changes some voluntary and others involuntary. the match got delayed due to a rain shower. everyone got disappointed. however, now that we all were there together we thought of turning it into a party. some people started playing cards while another group started a game of darts. and then there were others watching television on the projector screen. it would be unfair to not mention the gala time we had playing with our friend's new pet, romeo(a cocker spaniel). sandwiches, nachos and chips were being devoured. my friend had saved the cake for dessert. but looking at the dismal condition of the cricket enthusiasts i was wondering if anyone would stay till dinner. after all that procrastination the match finally started around 8:30p.m bringing a twinkle in everyone's eyes.

now, i confess that i am not really a cricket fanatic, but i did enjoy the match last night. it got so interesting. not just because of the game but also because of the reactions and changing expressions on everyone's faces with every six shot by the other team to a catch being taken by our boys. it was hilarious yet cute. men will be men:p.

since it was dinner time,we ordered in food.  finally it was time was dessert. i was apprehensively looking at everyone who was picking up a piece. and then the compliments started pouring in. obviously, it made me happy. cooking has always been therapeutic(provided it is not an obligation) and if it ends up making the evening sweeter, it cannot get any better.

the sunday evening ended perfectly with india winning the match. it was 1:30 a.m. when me and my husnabd entered home(usually that happens on a saturday). with no energy left we dozed off in no time hoping for a quieter monday. 

P.S.: A quieter monday it was :)

paneer bhurji

banana chocolate marble cake

choco almond muffins

romeo and i