Lovely Desserts You Can Make by Yourself

Any Indian festival, including Raksha Bandhan, which is celebrated without eating delicious sweets is unheard of. Sweets with their mouth-watering taste, makes the occasion more grand. Raksha Bandhan, commonly known as Rakhi is a festival which is celebrated to honour the eternal bond between brothers and sisters. Apart from the ritual of tying a Rakhi thread on the brother’s wrist by sisters, exchanged gifts is also an indispensable part of this festival. Once all these customs are completed, siblings feed sweets to each other to celebrate this joyous event.

Thus, on Rakhi 2011, surprise your brother by making him some delicious sweets. Here are some simple dessert recipes which you can prepare yourself at home.

Badam Phirini (Almond Pudding)

badam phirnisIngredients:

2 tbsp rice
2 cups milk
3 tbsp sugar
1/4th cup blanched almonds (sliced)
1/2 tsp kewra essence
1 tsp green cardamom (crushed)

silver or gold foil paper (varak)

How to make badam phirni:

1. Soak rice in water for few hours, then drain water and grind rice into a smooth paste.

2. In a non-stick saucepan bring milk. Over a moderately low heat add rice, sugar and cardamom and stir constantly till milk turns thick.

3. Remove from heat and add almonds

4. Put in serving bowl and chill.

5. Garnish the badam phirni with silver or gold foil paper (varak) and serve.

Doodh Pak

doodh pakIngredients:

1/2 cup Almonds
1 litre Milk 250 grams Sugar
1 teaspoon Saffron
1 teaspoon Cardamom powder
1 1/2 tablespoon Raisins
1 tablespoon Pistachios

Preparation:

1. Soak the almonds in warm water for 1 hour. Peel and grind to a fine paste. Dissolve the saffron in 1 tablespoon of warm milk and keep aside.

2. Boil the milk in a heavy bottomed pan, stirring constantly. Add the almond paste and simmer for 30-35 minutes, stirring regularly.

3. Add the saffron, sugar, pista and raisins. Cook on a very low flame till thick. Sprinkle cardamom powder.

4. Serve doodh pak hot or chilled.

These lip-smaking delicacies will surely make your brother savour its taste for several days.

But, if you are miles away from home, it will not be possible for you to prepare these mouth-watering dishes for your brother. Instead of this, you can make his day special by sending an attractive Rakhi to India along with gifts with the help of GiftstoIndia24x7.com. From men’s wear, accessories, watches to men’s personal care, watches, perfumes, etc, you will find these all here. But, before you send Rakhi to India with gifts, keep your brother’s preference in mind, if you want him to appreciate your gift. You do not want to gift him something which will be ultimately end up in the basement.

If your brother is a teenager, then along with an attractive Rakhi to India, you can send him a latest mobile phone, watch or some stylish men’s jewellery. We offer you mobile phones from popular brands such as Nokia and Samsung so you need not worry about their quality and durability. Hence, send Rakhi to India along with a latest hand-set from our site and make your brother’s day truly memorable. For your working professional brother, you can opt for a pair of cuff-links, neck-ties or some formal wear as Rakhi gifts.

Pubs vs. Bars vs. Clubs vs. Taverns

It should come as no surprise to anyone that I am found of drinking establishments. It would be odd, as a writer of a book covering whisky, if I did not have at least some affection for these sorts of locations.
What's striking to me is how distinctive my needs are for these sorts of places. Or rather, how many places out there cannot meet these needs. Because, when I examine them, these characteristics that I am looking for in a watering hole are, while distinctive, are still quite easy to meet. They are, in no particular order:

• The establishment must create a sense of community. I'm not saying that the drinking place must be an upstanding member of the chamber of commerce or members of the local Fraternal Order of Moose. Instead, these places need to illicit a feeling within the customer that they are part of something special. And by customers, I mean all customers, regardless of age, gender, or social status.
• The place in question must not be intimidating. It must be warm and inviting.
• Finally, it must be a place of celebration, or of laughter. Typically if the other two items are met, this third one will happen by default. But sometimes not, so it is worth mentioning.

What amazes me when it comes to bars, pubs, clubs, and taverns, is how many fail to meet these three items. This suggests to me, as a simple observer, and one who has routinely dismissed any idea of running such an establishment, that either it's quite difficult to hit these marks, or that owners have no idea that these are desirable traits in their business, or that they simply do not care to cater to those who want that out of their social drinking experience.

We see this last point demonstrated in many places. Clubs ( who, almost by definition, seek to exclude) are typically the worst offenders of this, seeking to market themselves to a select clientele, be they under-25 supermodels and celebrities, or white males over the age of 65 who hide out in their Eagles, Elks or other similar social clubs . I'm not stating that such exclusion is improper, only that such exclusions exist and should be noted.
And let's not kid ourselves. There are some places out there who accomplish their exclusivity through sheer intimidation. This can be and is still done intentionally, in many locations. One need to only be of the wrong race, or gender, or have the wrong sexual preference to see this up front, and at times, in your face. In a great majority of the drinking establishments throughout the United States, the straight male rules the roost.
But intimidation comes in other forms as well, sometimes without the owners even realizing. Everything from liquor and beer selection to where the bar is located is enough to get a place labeled as "snobby" or "elite". There are times when nothing will run out a customer faster than to not have their beer selection available to them, be it Guinness, Duvel, or Budweiser.
As I get older, bolder, and wiser, I find myself no longer willing to settle for places that seek to exclude, even if I meet whatever unspoken requirement needed to stay at these locations. And in my travels, I have found that, for the most part, those places that call themselves "pubs" rather than bars or clubs, meet my needs.
I find this peculiar for a variety of reasons, with the first being that this is not a hard and fast rule. There are bad pubs in America, just as there are cozy bars and taverns. Secondly, Pubs, at least from a legal definition, are bars. Let's make no mistake here. The fact that owners of these "pubs" have called them as such demonstrates to me how important it was to differentiate these places from the bars, clubs, and taverns. Yet many of these self proclaimed pubs are often based, not on actual British or Irish pubs, but rather on the American idea of what a British or Irish pub is or should be. In essence, many of these pub owners have taken the traditional pub ideal, and have created places that are similar, yet they are distinctive enough to be their own entity.
And now that I reflect upon it, the taverns here in Washington State (where 'tavern' has a definitive legal meaning that marks them differently that bars and clubs) seem to have more in common with British and Irish Pubs in terms of substance and feel than the British and Irish pubs that dot our American landscape. Note to self: research this for a later post.
That aside, there seems to be a concerted effort on "pub" owners here in the States to create a sense of community amongst its patrons. Some bars do this as well, and they need to be commended for this as much as anyone else. But in my experience, if one is looking for those three items listed above, the odds of finding them in a self-proclaimed "pub" seem higher than finding them at any other drinking establishment.

The Illusion of Taste Make You Feel Great

I love articles such as this one, as they tend to affirm my own experiences and world-view. Its basic thesis is this:

A survey of hundreds of drinkers found that on average people could tell good wine from plonk no more often than if they had simply guessed.
In the blind taste test, 578 people commented on a variety of red and white wines ranging from a ?3.49 bottle of Claret to a ?29.99 bottle of champagne. The researchers categorised inexpensive wines as costing ?5 and less, while expensive bottles were ?10 and more.
The study found that people correctly distinguished between cheap and expensive white wines only 53% of the time, and only 47% of the time for red wines. The overall result suggests a 50:50 chance of identifying a wine as expensive or cheap based on taste alone ? the same odds as flipping a coin.

If there's one I've pulled from this, it is as follows - Taste, as always, is subjective.
Yes, yes. there's a vast difference between poorly made foods and those that have been made adequately. But that line between good and great? First off, trying to define that line is difficult unto itself. After all, there's a reason why there are hundreds of recipes for bolognese out there; there's more than one, proper way to do things. How do you or I or anyone else state emphatically that there's only one way to make wine, whiskey, or any number of other of the hundreds of thousands of recipes out there?


So, if we can't determine the one and only way to make something, then there will be variations introduced. Variations of technique, variations of ingredients, and variations of portion size. Hell, even presentation matters when it comes to how we interact with our food. And once variation is introduced, all bets are off as to what can claim to be "better than" good enough. One variation is introduced, what matters to taste can be boiled down to the two words that are a bane to marketers and publicists everywhere - personal preference.


Why does personal preference create even more turbulence when trying to define taste? Because it is influenced by things far out of control of the food producer. Things such as country of origin, or which socio-economic class one was born into all play their part in determining what a person likes and doesn't like.

So when a person drinks a glass from a ?3.49 bottle of Claret, and goes "That's delicious!", it's as valid of an opinion as someone who can taste the nuances in a $100 bottle of Grand Cru Burgandy.
I'm not trying to diminish those who have a refined palate, and can tell the differences between good wines and great ones. Life is made grander by those who seek out the best and have the skill to do so.


Ultimately it doesn't matter that much when it comes to putting the glass to the lips. Most people haven't put in the time and effort to refine their palate to make such distinctions in their food or wine, and will rely upon others to tell them what is "great". But remove those influences, be they experts in the field, or advertisers on the television, and your typical consumer is left to their own devices. And what we find out, time and time again, is that refinement of the palate cannot be bought. Remove the price tags and we find that most people cannot tell the difference between what is simply good and what is a work of utmost craftsmanship.

Food can make you make many good friends

I've broached this topic before, but it is worth repeating.
For all of the talk surrounding local food movements, or the kitchen chops of the chef du jour; For all of the e-mails sent to us by marketing firms extolling the virtue of yogurt or the commercials that praise the glory of cheese; a fair majority of the food media seems to forget the critical ingredient involved in every food consumed. The food is secondary to your relationship to yourself and the friends you break bread with.


If you hate yourself, the wine will taste less sweet, and eating alone becomes something to avoid rather than something to relish. Sharing a moment with friends over food or drink makes those items taste that much better. Remove positive relationships from the equation, and suddenly dinner becomes dull, and drinking becomes more of an exercise of avoidance than one of celebration.
This has been made extra-clear to me of late, as Tara and I go through two very stressful situations. The first is a move from Seattle to Redmond*. The second is a legal issue that I can't yet go into full detail here. The results of these issues have brought forth the following:

• Friends offering to help us move - with pizza as payment.
• Friends offering to go out to eat with us in our new city, for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.
• Nights out at a local pub to let off some steam.
• Friends offering us dinners out to give us a medium to talk about our stresses.
• Friends listening to me vent about our current situation over coffee.

And, not to paint my world as completely bleak, there are the good times we are celebrating. We've given out gifts of spirits of late in order to celebrate successes, and plans to Europe are being made with trips to distilleries, restaurants, pubs, bistros, and beer halls all on the agenda, with the intent of us sharing in the experiences of these places.


I have been thinking a lot about food and friends of late. For everyone trying to sell me on something, be it a healthy life style or a bottle of tequila, through television commercials or the self-important ramblings of a food blogger, the question that I wish to have answered by these folks is simply this - would either me or my loved ones care?


You would be surprised on just how much white noise this question filters out.Yes, it's interesting to know the good from the mediocre. But all of the events that I've mentioned above would have the same value to them, regardless of the food or drink. Sure if the wine or beer was bad, we would bitch about it, or if the pizza was amazing we would be sure to order from them again. But the food items involved here don't add or subtract from the quality of the relationships. They are little more than window dressing.


As I go through my RSS feeds of a few of my favorite food blogs (and some that I love to hate), it amazes me how often this aspect of our relationship to food and friends is glossed over, if mentioned at all. Go to eater.com or slashfood and review a sampling of posts, and apply the question I have mentioned above to them. I'd love to hear the answers you come up with.