Lillies for Mom

Of all the relationships that exist, the only one that is full of unconditional and uncompromising love is that of a mother.  Period.  No questions asked.  There is no one on this planet who can take her place.  Regardless of what we call her and how we call for her, it is the best balm that brings relief to all our problems.  We are symbolically attached to her at birth and although the cord is cut right after, the bond is eternal.  Our entire physical, mental, spiritual and social well being circles around her existence from birth till death. 

The thought of her soft kisses, loving hugs, caring concern, melodious songs and the aroma of her cooking can send most of us to a happy place anytime.  It is funny how the noise of her bangles from a distance that was once a sign of warning for my sister and me to scoot out of the kitchen before we got caught, has now transformed into the most comforting notion when she is around.  Despite the gripes we hold or the constant generation gap we try to bridge, the safest and best place on earth is none other than a mother's abode.  

Mothers are simply incredible.  They guide us, bless us and forgive us over and over again even as we get it all wrong.  They are selfless in their acts and have a heart larger than the universe.  They would stop at nothing to protect us and keep us from harm.  Being a mother now, I realize the significance of the sacrifices she has made for me, the importance of carrying smiles even when times are tough and the unbelievable strength that must be shown to succeed in this job.  The best way to honor a mother's debt is to carry it forward and strive to be a mom to our children and occasionally to even those who don't have one. 

Here's to mothers everywhere and wishing the two moms in my life a very happy birthday this year.  May I continue to learn from you and be worthy of the most important designation of my life.  Sugar paste lillies with granulated-sugar pollen adorn the dark chocolate brownie cake.

Saffron and Gold

It has been a primitive practice to associate colors  with a significant emotion or trait. 

Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love. 

Brown suggests stability (earth).

Yellow is the color of sunshine. It's associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy.

Orange or dark saffron combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation.  In the Hinduism culture it symbolizes auspiciousness.

Green is the color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility.

My favorite color, blue is pretty versatile: It is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence and intelligence. Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body. It slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect (hence the medical suits in a hospital operating room). Dark blue is associated with depth of knowledge, expertise, power, integrity and stability; it is a preferred color for many advanced nations in the world today.  However one must avoid using blue when promoting food, because blue suppresses appetite! Light blue is associated with health, healing, tranquility, understanding and softness.

White stands for peace, purity and cleanliness. 

Black is associated with power, elegance, formality, death, evil, and mystery. In heraldry, black is the symbol of grief. 

And the list continues... Just remember that life is full of colors and the picture each one of us paints depends on the hues and colors we choose to use.

Coming back to this brownie creation, I chose a symbol of Lord Ganesha (the God of all encompassing virtues in Hinduism) in dark saffron and gold atop a medallion coin made of white chocolate.  Gold evokes the feeling of pride and prestige. It means illumination, wisdom, and wealth and often symbolizes quality par excellence.   Our heartfelt colorful good wishes go to a wonderful couple with a new home. 

Sweet Hearts

There is a notion that some things get better with age.  The top items on my list are wine, wisdom and friendship. Having grown up in different parts of the world, I have had the chance to make many friends. Some by choice and others by destiny.  In this arena I have learnt that those with whom you can just be yourself with little or no pretense are the friends that matter in the end.  Thanks to the invention of the online social networks, I recently had the opportunity to connect with and meet one such friend almost two decades later. There wasn't enough time to travel the gap of all those years in a few hours but the hugs were warm and the smiles genuine. What warmed my heart even more was meeting her little sweethearts (children) and watching them play with mine.

Cheers to the next generation kids. I hope that despite the busy lifestyles they will have they have the opportunity to make some great friends along the way. Just like aged wine, there is something intoxicating about having some 'good old friends'. With Valentine's day just around the corner I chose to celebrate our friendship with this year's treat of dark chocolate brownie hearts glazed with pink chocolate ganache.

Love

I am not talking about the commercial aspect comprising of red hearts, pink balloons and chocolate truffles.  Those are great too if you happen to come by them occasionally in life but what I am writing about here goes deeper than that.  Deep enough that it touched my soul.  I am referring to the short story by the French writer Guy de Maupassant entitled, 'Love'. If you have never read this story then I implore you to do so, just once.  I read the story during my school days as part of my English class.  What I took away from the story in its last few paragraphs has left a lasting impression on my heart.  The author describes love through the story of two game birds in a manner that can only be described as sheer genius.  Unfortunately, I do not possess the writing skills that could do justice in elaborating this emotion any further.

What I could do was the next best thing: incorporate a couple of modern day symbols of love into one brownie treat to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary.   Swans are soul mates for life, a dark chocolate bed of ganache and brownie are your ultimate guilty pleasures and the few crystals of snow/ice completed the happy heart in me.  I think it was the big slice, spoon, bowl and dollop of ice cream on top that did it for my significant other!

Fall Colors

Leaves in the Fall come tumbling down; 

scarlet and yellow, orange and brown

They light the woods afire with color 

and prepare the trees for a winter allure. 

Fall is a gorgeous time in many parts of North America and Canada.  It's a time when nature takes a final bow before the curtain-call of cold, white winter. It's also the time when schools start a new session in many parts of the world. My daughter starts a new phase in her life this week (aka Kindergarten). A potluck picnic party was organized to celebrate the start of all things good. Our contribution, this chewy dark chocolate fudge brownie, was drizzled with colored white chocolate to mimic the season around us.  

Here's wishing every student a great year ahead.  May their minds be allowed to explore freely and may their hearts rejoice in the knowledge they gain in the process.

The Blues...

From raindrops on roses/whiskers on kittens to girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes/snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes , there are so many things to cheer me up when I feel the blues... A favorite tune, a warm hug, a silent smile that says more than words and ultimately small bites of heavenly delight that I call brownie-bites.  When the day is going bad and life throws many twists my way, I have to indulge - not in eating but in creating edible works of art.  It calms my soul and always bring a smile on the lips of the recipients.  And there's no emotion more contagious in this world than a smile...and soon enough I forgo the blues.

Batik Brownie

 

It is said the we eat with our eyes and nose first.  If something looks or smells good, we are tempted to indulge our third sense- that of taste.  Food can truly be a form of art and a piece of art can be food.  Sounds twisted?  Not if you believe the above photo.  This was a dark chocolate brownie.  The art work was 'dyed' into the batter and baked with the dish creating the historic 'batik' or 'tie and dye' look.  Moist and gooey fudge like consistency of the brownie was balanced with the crunch of crushed pecans to make a simple treat truly gourmet.

Brownie Favors

Tiny eyes, tiny nose, little fingers and little toes.  These are the cooing delights of a baby.  These mini brownie balls were designed and created to welcome baby during a friend's baby shower.  The brownie balls were drizzled with white chocolate and decorated to mark the special occasion.

Fluttering Hearts! (Fudge Brownie)

This request came from my significant other.  I found him rummaging through my pantry one evening.  I chose to ignore the signs but out "it" came along with a gleeful smile- a box of brownie mix.  Continuing in my "February is the month for brown and pink" I made this fudge brownie topped with cranberry cream cheese swirls in shapes of hearts and butterflies.   It brought a lot of love in the house and to some lucky few the next day (I had to get rid of the leftovers, else he would have eaten the whole treat!)