The Tamarind Hotel, Goa

the entrance

 My first trip to Goa (technically the second, I first visited Goa when I was just 8 and so I do not count it :p) was made all the more special because of the hotel we stayed at. It is called "The Tamarind" and is located opposite St. Michael’s Church near Anjuna beach. 

Eggless Strawberry Cupcakes

When a special day is approaching (read: birthday, anniversary or Valentine’s Day) and it comes to doing things for my dear husband my mind gets to work like a week prior to the main day. Since Valentine’s Day just went by allow me to talk about that.

I have often heard people excusing themselves from Valentine’s Day saying “oh we don’t believe in this stupid day, after all every day should be celebrated like Valentine’s Day and one should make his/her partner feel special every single day”.  And my husband is one of those people (eyes rolling!) But really who are we fooling? You tell me, with all the life’s madness do you really get time to shower your partner with love, adoration and little gestures every day (if you are one of those then I would like to tell your partner how lucky he/she is)? Even a cheesy romantic like me who surprises her husband with his favourite cookies and his favourite dish or breakfast on random days fail to make everyday special and exclusive.

home-made strawberry crush

There is something about a strawberry crush or jam. It takes me back to a trip I made to Mahabaleshwar as a kid with my family. We had visited the Mapro (manufacturer of fruit jams and fruit concentrates) plant where they manufacture fresh jams and crushes. One could taste these products and had the option to choose the one of their choice and buy it accordingly. I remember they had a small café that served shakes and ice-cream made from fresh strawberries. It was one of the best childhood trips and the memories of the plant visit and the aroma of fresh strawberries experienced then somehow stayed with me.

Now in a city like Delhi we do not get fresh strawberries throughout the year. Come winters and only then can one spot boxes full of beautiful blushing strawberries with the fruit vendors. So, the other day when I made a brief trip to the market my eyes fell on one such box of strawberries and an imaginary cloud popped over my head visualising strawberry crush and strawberry shake. The mundane toast topped with a layer of fresh strawberry crush…aaahhhh!! Pure bliss! 

Saraswati Puja 2014

The last time I remember celebrating Vasant Panchami was when I was in school. This day is dedicated for the worship of Saraswati Maa (Goddess of knowledge, music, arts, science and technology). During the school days, everybody used to look forward to the festival to get out of the monotonous school uniform and dress up in colourful clothes with yellow obviously dominating the colour palette. 

Yes, ideally one is supposed to wear white or yellow clothes on this day. Saraswati puja (ritual) was conducted and Saraswati vandana(prayer) was sung by the school choir followed by  lunch in the school garden. It used to be amazing.

After all these years (and I don’t mean half a century LOL but yes after ALMOST a decade) all those school memories were refreshed when I attended a Saraswati puja this year.