Saturday, November 27, 2010

Daring Baker Challenge - Pasta Frolla Crostatas


Aren't I crazy..... take up so much more than I can chew..... Challenge says make a crostata.... I must experiment with flavours.... I make 2 sweet and a savoury one, Pineapple topped with Black Grapes,Dates n Walnuts and Spinach Crostata.
All this started at 9.30am, I have the DB challenge to complete, A train to catch for Lucknow at 9pm[still haven't packed] to attend Bhaskar's wedding[Colleague at work], Sugarfree, walnut n black current brownies to bake/cool/pack for Bhaskar's parents, Pack my bags for Lucknow and to top it all.... I decide to do 3 mini tarts with different flavours instead of making 1 tart n being done with it........
Certified Crazy...

The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.
Pasta Frolla [Download the printable .pdf of the challenge HERE!]
By Simona of briciole [I halved this quantity to make a savoury n another sweet dough]
Ingredients:
* 1/2 c. minus 1 tablespoon [105 ml, 100 g, 3 ½ oz] superfine sugar (see Note 1) or a scant 3/4 cup [180ml, 90g, 3 oz] of powdered sugar
* 1 and 3/4 cup [420 ml, 235 g, 8 1/4 oz.] unbleached all-purpose flour
* a pinch of salt
* 1 stick [8 tablespoons / 4 oz. / 115 g] cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
* grated zest of half a lemon (you could also use vanilla sugar as an option, see Note 2)
* 1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten in a small bowl

Note 1: Superfine sugar is often also referred to as ultrafine, baker’s sugar or caster sugar. It’s available in most supermarkets. If you cannot find “superfine” sugar, you can make your own by putting some regular granulated sugar in a food processor or blender and letting it run until the sugar is finely ground.

Note 2: There are different ways of making vanilla sugar. I keep vanilla beans in a jar half-filled with sugar until I need to use them, for example, to make vanilla ice cream. After I remove the split bean from the custard that will go into the ice cream maker, I rinse it, dry it and put it back in the jar with sugar.

Making pasta frolla by hand:
1. Whisk together sugar, flour and salt in a bowl.
2. Rub or cut the butter into the flour until the mixture has the consistency of coarse crumbs. You can do this in the bowl or on your work surface, using your fingertips or an implement of choice.
3. Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten eggs into it (reserve about a teaspoon of the egg mixture for glazing purposes later on – place in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to use).
4. Add the lemon zest to your flour/butter/egg mixture.
5. Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients, and then use your fingertips.
6. Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball.
7. Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. You can refrigerate the dough overnight.

Making pasta frolla with a food processor:
1. Put sugar, flour, salt, and lemon zest in the food processor and pulse a few times to mix.
2. Add butter and pulse a few times, until the mixture has the consistency of coarse meal.
3. Empty food processor's bowl onto your work surface
4. See step 3 above and continue as explained in the following steps (minus the lemon zest, which you have already added).

Some tips from Audax, which really helped:
How to make sweet short crust pastry
The least handled dough is the best made dough.
The most important points while making pastry by hand is to
1. keep everything as cold as possible – I place the mixing bowl, the boards, the cutting utensils, the sifted flour/sugar/salt, the grated cold butter, whole egg and egg yolk for 15 minutes in the freezer to get all ingredients the same very cold temperature.
2. be quick it should only take about 2-3 minutes at most. I prefer to make the crust dough by hand so I can control the final consistency, I find using a machine is a little hit and miss.
3. use your fingertips (and only your fingertips) as little as possible (I place my fingertips into ice cold water and dry them with paper towels so they will be cold and won't melt the fat)
4. use as little liquid as possible
5. don't be delicate just quick when rubbing in the butter and you don't need a smooth dough at the end
Sift together flour, sugar and salt and place into the freezer (15 minutes) make sure you sift from a height this allows air to be incorporated into the mixture and trapped air is what makes pastry light.

Using your fingertips only (I used a pastry blender (or you can use a fork with a knife) for most of the process only using my fingertips near the end), and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles pea-sized lumps. As you lightly rub the fat into the flour, lift it up high and let it fall back down into the bowl, which again means that air is being incorporated all the time, and air is what makes pastry light, make sure all the flour is coated with fat. Set aside in the fridge.
You want small pieces of butter coated with flour showing.
Do not keep cutting and tossing the butter so that the butter chunks all become pea sized. The butter chunks should mostly remain a bit larger than peas and vary in size, ranging from lima bean size to pea size. This is where most people go wrong and 'rub' the butter too long until it starts to melt into the flour – the idea is to have separate particles of butter coating the flour this produces the flakiest pastry.

How can you tell if you are doing right – smell your fingers if they smell of butter you have melted the butter into the flour and not rubbed it in – this was the “test” that I had to pass by the person who taught me to make pastry I had to make pastry and not have buttery fingers. Try it.

Assembling and baking the crostata di marmellata:
1. Heat the oven to 375ºF [190ºC/gas mark 5].
2. Take the pasta frolla out of the fridge, unwrap it and cut away ¼ of the dough. Reserve this dough to make the lattice top of the crostata. Refrigerate this dough while you work on the tart base.
3. To help roll the crostata dough, keep the dough on top of the plastic wrap that you had it wrapped in. This can help rolling the dough and can also help when transferring the dough to your pan. You can also use parchment paper for this. However, you can also roll the dough directly on a work surface if you prefer.
4. Lightly dust the top of the dough and your work surface (if you’re rolling directly on a work surface) with flour. Keep some flour handy to dust the dough as you go along.
5. If the dough is very firm, start by pressing the dough with the rolling pin from the middle to each end, moving the rolling pin by a pin's width each time; turn the dough 180 degrees and repeat; when it softens, start rolling.
6. Roll the dough into a circle about 1/8th inch (3 mm) thick.
7. If you used the plastic wrap or parchment paper as rolling surface, flip dough over the pan, centering it, and delicately press it all around so the corners are well covered. Peel away the plastic wrap.
8. Trim the excess dough hanging over the edges of the pan. Press the remaining dough around the border into the sides of the pan making sure the border is an even thickness all the way around.
9. Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork in several places.
10. Take out of the fridge the reserved pasta frolla you had cut away earlier. Roll it with your pin and cut into strips or use cookie cutters to make small shapes (this is not traditional, but it looks cute); or roll with your hands into ropes.
11. Spread the jam or fruit preserves evenly over the bottom of the crostata.
12. Use the prepared strips or rolls of dough to make a lattice over the surface, or decorate with the cut shapes. (Note: You can use dough scraps to make cookies: see the Additional Information section for some pointers)
13. Brush the border and strips of dough with the reserved beaten eggs. You can add a drop or two of water to the beaten eggs if you don’t have enough liquid.
14. Put the tart in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.
15. After 25 minutes, check the tart and continue baking until the tart is of a nice golden hue. (Note: Every oven is different. In my oven it took 34 minutes to bake the tart until golden.)
16. When done, remove the tart from the oven and let cool. If you have used a tart pan with a removable bottom, then release the tart base from the fluted tart ring. Make sure the tart is completely cool before slicing and serving.

Blind-baking is a process often used in baking. To blind-bake a tart shell, you line the unbaked tart (once you’ve placed it in the tart pan) with parchment paper or aluminum foil. You then fill the tart with pie weights. If you don’t have pie weights, you can use dried beans. You pour these on top of the parchment paper or aluminum foil to weigh the paper down. You then bake the tart for a period of time to ensure that it is at least partially cooked. The weights help to ensure that the tart base does not bubble up during baking and that it bakes evenly. The blind-baked tart is then cooled and filled according to the recipe instructions. (Note that in the video, the dough is rolled to 1 cm [3/8th inch] thickness, thicker than than what I do.)

My Salted Spinach Crostata was made with Garlic, Onions, Spinach, Cheese and lightly beaten eggs.

After making sauteing Garlic, Onions, Spinach, cool the mixture. In another bowl beat cheese, 2 spoons of scream and eggs. Stir in the 2 mixtures and adjust seasoning to taste[had used Vibha's seasoning in the dough too along with grated nutmeg]. Fill this mixture in chilled salted tart cases. Bake in preheated oven till golden brown.

This is my fruit Crostata with sweet pastry[had added cinnamon to the pastry for the extra punch :) ], sliced Pineapples topped with Black Grapes. The citrus flavour was very well balanced by the sweet grapes... wish I had the time to make some vanilla pastry cream or custard to go with this one...

This is my mom's favourite Crostata.... Dates and Walnuts. Chop up soaked/softened seedless dates, fill in blind baked pastry shell, generously sprinkle with chopped walnuts.

My mamu[Mom's brother] came over to visit us as he was in town.... The timing was perfect..... The crostatas were just rolling out of the oven.....

They were polished off straight out of the oven..... After the pictures, even the crumbs were gone...

Thank you of Simona for this lovely challenge :)

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Fruit in Baking ~ Monthly Mingle Hosted By Deeba


The minute I read Deeba's post where she's guest hosting Meeta's Monthly Mingle with the theme Fruits in Baking.... I just had to get cracking....... Also this month's her birthday.... So what better than making her something with fruits in it.... Brain Ticking... What is it that I make well with fruits? What fruits are easily available in the market.... Apples n Bananas... She's already done so much Apple that my Apple Crumble and Apple Pie was not a patch on the awesome stuff she does......

Ok so I could do Banana Upside down cake... I love it and so do others... But Deeba likes COFFEE
or maybe a Banoffee Pie which I haven't made for some time with a twist, will add coffee to it.....

Come 14th November....called her up to wish her n check what's a good time to drop by as her sister's in town n wish her with a surprise..... n guess what she pried out of me what the surprise was... and thank God she did.... She doesn't like Bananas....... WHACK...... idea smacked out...
Back to Square 1....... with hardly any time left till the evening....... Any good cake needs time....

Racked my brains again..... She likes COFFEE[Since it's Tiramisu month, it fits the coffee bill perfectly.... Then alarm bells ring to remind me that's what I made for her last year too... can't make the same thing again] Back to Square 1....... Yet Again......
Hmmmm so now I start thinking Cake... So there's COFFEE again[that's permanent on the Ingredient Checklist] n in spices she uses Cinnamon fairly regularly[brings out the flavour of coffee with brilliance, works well for me... added to Ingredient Checklist] and there is loads of Chocolate[added to Ingredient Checklist] always which her kids love.....
Hey!!!! where's the Fruit element??? I add Rum soaked raisins to the Ingredient Checklist cause they are my favourite.... and yes... Raisins are fruit cause they are dried grapes.....
So off I go to put together her cake with COFFEE, Cinnanon, Chocolate n Raisins.

Raisins are often known as nature's candy, they are counted amongst the most nutritious dried fruits in the whole world. They are cholesterol-free, low in sodium, high in fiber and totally fat-free. Apart from that, they contain a lot of vitamins and minerals, making their nutritional value very high. Raisins are the best source of quick energy, as they contain 70 percent pure fructose, which gets digested by the body easily and gives instant energy.[Source]

Nutritional Value of Raisins- [Source]
Given below is the amount of nutrients in 100 gm of raisins:
Total Carbohydrates - 79 gm
Dietary Fiber - 4 gm
Sugars - 59 gm
Protein - 3 gm
Vitamin C - 2.3 mg
Vitamin E - 0.12 mg
Vitamin K - 3.5 mcg
Thiamin - 0.106 mg
Riboflavin - 0.125 mg
Niacin - 0.766 mg
Vitamin B6 - 0.174 mg
Folate - 5 mcg
Calcium - 50 mg
Iron - 1.88 mg
Magnesium - 32 mg
Phosphorus - 101 mg
Potassium - 749 mg
Sodium - 11 mg
Zinc - 0.22 mg
Copper - 0.318 mg
Manganese - 0.299 mg
Selenium - 0.6 mcg

Health & Nutrition Benefits of Eating Raisins
1. Having antioxidant properties, raisins help keep the blood clean and flowing, by getting rid of all the impurities.
2. Raisins are believed to be good for bone density and have been associated with lower risk of osteoporosis in women.
3. The phytonutrients and olenolic acid present in raisins makes them beneficial for the health of teeth and gums.
4. Raisins are good for eyes and have been found to be helpful in prevention of macular degeneration.
5. Being high in calories, but not fats, raisins are a very good source of energy, especially for children and athlete.
6. Raisins are a good source of fiber and can help cure constipation. For the purpose, boil raisins in a saucepan of water, strain the liquid and drink it.
7. Studies claim that raisins contain additional nutritive compounds that can protect against heart disease and colon cancer.

So now I'm all ready and packed up to be delivered......

Coffee Chocolate Raisin Cake
Ingredients:
Eggs - 4
Sugar - 1 1/2 cup
Oil - 1/2 cup
Flour - 1 1/2 cups
Vanilla Essence - 1/2 Teaspoon
Baking powder - 1/2 Teaspoon
Dark cocoa powder - 2 Tablespoon
Coffee Powder - 3 Tablespoon
Cinnamon - 1 Teaspoon freshly ground [2 teaspoons if used a packaged variety]

For Ganache
Cooking Chocolate - 200gms
Cream - 200 gms [I use amul cream]
White chocolate shavings
confetti for the topping

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Sift the dry ingredients and just mix together with a spoon to get an even mix.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar beat until creamy and light in colour.
4. Add vanilla extract and oil to the mixture.Mix to incorporate without loosing the fluff from the mixture.
5. Add the Flour, Baking powder, cocoa powder, coffee and cinnamon and incorporate with a light circular movement without losing the fluff. The color of the cocoa batter should be quite dark.
6. Pour in greased and floured the sides of the cake tin. Mid way sprinkle soaked raisins[I'm very generous with them ;)] Pour in the rest of the batter evenly.
7. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes till the tester comes out clean

Decoration with Chocolate Ganache:
1. While the cake is baking, put 200ml cream with the dark chocolate on simmer & continue to stir till the chocolate has melted. Take off from heat & allow to cool completely,[NEVER the freezer]. Give it a few stirs, this will thicken as it cools.
2. Spread the ganache over the top and sides of the cooled cake evenly. Refrigerate.
3. Use the white chocolate shavings to neaten the edges of the cake.
Tip: To moisten the cake you could pour come of the warm icing so that cake absorbs it and is moist without having resting time in the refrigerator.

This Coffee, Chocolate Raisin Cake is my entry for the Monthly Mingle that Deeba is guest hosting for Meeta. If you are BAKING WITH FRUIT this month, do send it in to Monthly Mingle posted HERE. You have until the 22nd of November to get the entries in!

Daksayani was so excited about Deeba's Birthday that she sat down and made quite an elaborate garden on her card....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEEBA.... WISHING YOU 48 HAPPY HOURS IN A DAY, EVERYDAY......
:)

Sharing some more love....
Sending Deeba's birthday Coffee Chocolate Raisin Cake to 'The Chocolate Fest' Hosted by Madhuri at Cook Curry Nook.
‘The Chocolate Fest’ – Celebrating CCN’s 1st Anniversary


Be a part of 'The Chocolate Fest'. Let's levitate together in Chocolate Nirvana!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Happy Anniversary to my Sweetest Grandparents with Sweet Banoffee Pie


Wishing my grandparents a very very Happy Anniversary..... [It's virtual, but am sure they feel it's sweetness] in the midst of all this Tiramisu madness... I needed a break and just had to do something fruit...... So Sweet Sweet Banoffee for the sweetest Grandparents in the whole wide world....... who by the way email me their party/event/baby bird pictures.... are on facebook... want to choose their cellphone n are just so with-it..... :)

My grandparents have already celebrated their 50th anniversary a few years ago..... People these days don't last 5 years... n here they've got over 50 wonderful years under their belt.....
Those are some of my wonderfullllleeeeeest moments with them in the last year.... Nani's Warm New Kitchen... Warm Hugs with Nana.... Chinking glasses on surprise visits to Hyderabad.... The social activity they have is 100 times more than mine... :) n endless shopping n lunch n dinner at friend's places...

Banoffee Pie
Ingredients
2 Ripe Bananas
1 Tin Sweetened Condensed Milk
250 ml Double Cream[Whipped]
Coffee Powder or Chocolate Chips for decoration.

For the Base:
1/2 packet Glucose Biscuits [abt 100gms]
60 gm Butter [softened, not melted]
20gm Grain Sugar

Method:
For the base:
1. Crush the glucose biscuits finely [not to powder], mix in the granular sugar.
2. Bind them together with the softened butter till the mixture is course. [i use the back of a spoon, you could use ure hands if you like]
3. Place this on the base of the dish in which you want to make the pie and serve.
4. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

For the Toffee:
1. Put the condensed milk in a heavy bottom pan and gently bring to the boil stirring continuously so mixture does not burn.
2. Boil till it is a light caramel [3].
3. Don't over do it as it will make the toffee too hard.

Assembly:
1. Slice the bananas over the biscuit base.
2. Pour cooled toffee over sliced bananas.
You may want to do a double layer aswell for the love of the banoffee.. :-)
3. Beat the cream until stiff and cover the toffee
4. chill
5. Just before serving sprinkle Coffee powder or chocolate chips for decoration.

So this surprise post for them, with pictures of Nani's surprise birthday party earlier in the year....

Wishing you both a healthy n love filled looooooonnnnngggggggggggg life......

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Flying Tiramisu Cupcakes


Coffee...... The world's love affair with the divine brew has spanned centuries. Its rich aroma and fine flavor have inspired musicians and captivated kings, influenced a pope, and helped to liberate prisoners of war. So who am I to resist it's charms???

Tiramisu has me dancing to the pied pipers tune.... It plays, I follow.....
Traditional Tiramisu is a pudding-like dessert that normally consists of sponge cake or ladyfingers dipped in liqueur, then layered with grated chocolate and rich custard.

But, then again... me being me.... how can I follow any orders.... I want Strong coffee, Soaked cupcakes, Luxurious pastry cream and Rich chocolate.... My craving grow by the minute..... Off I go to make the aaahhhh so very feathery light, blissfully dreamy and huge explosion of chocolate on my tongue that disappears in a flash cause I gobble up the cupcake.....
My poor baby sis says "You eat the chocolate didi and give me the cake"....... I gladly share it with her.....

Hmmmmm...... We are floating....... Mmmmmmm....... The White winged angel is flying with us........ The cupcake is over...POP.... Thud.... Land back in the garden.......

Ingredients
Make the plain vanilla cupcakes.
Make the luscious pastry using any of these recipes You Know.... It's For YOU, Tiramisu..., Chocolate Tiramisu ~ Amrita's Birthday, Cappuccino Tiramisu Cheesecake for Baking Queen ~ Deeba's Birthday.
Make Chocolate Ganache.


Assembly:
1. Remove the centers of the cupcakes, like you could core and apple but not all the way down, saving the tops. Cut the tops off of the cores and set them aside. You'll need them in a minute.

2. Splash a little of the coffee mixture (about 1/2 tsp-1 tsp) in the hole, i used a brush as i wanted an even coating n didn't want to drip the liquid with a teaspoon.[Call me finicky if you want, but I won't have a leaky tiramisu cupcake to deal with in my kitchen, well mom's kitchen really ;) ]

3. Fill the hole with the whipped cream filling (I used a good old piping bag)

4. Put the "cap" back over the hole and press down a bit for the cake to get soaked with the pastry.

5. Refrigerate [This is the most difficult step...... I just couldn't wait for the time to go by... semed like a lifetime]

Tip 1: Tiramisu has to be damp and moist... So ensure you're generous with the soaking syrup, yet careful to not make it Squishy, else it'll fall apart as a mush.
Tip 2: Use aluminum cupcake holders if you can find them, paper ones may get soggy if left for too long.
Tip 3: Let these refrigerate atleast overnight or even upto 2-3 days before consumption in an air tight box or use cling wrap so that they don't lose their moisture in the refrigerator ..... They taste amazing after giving it a longer resting time for the the flavours to marry.
Tip 4: Frost shorty before consumption with the Pastry Cream or Chocolate Ganache.....


These Tiramisu Cupcakes are a cool, refreshing Italian dessert/cake that once tasted, leaves an incredible, indelible impression on you.

It’s sweet and creamy, yet it doesn't taste too sugary, and it doesn't stay in your mouth long enough and just make you crave for another bite. It tastes just absolutely delicious.

Sending these Flying Tiramisu Cupcakes to 'The Chocolate Fest' Hosted by Madhuri at Cook Curry Nook.
‘The Chocolate Fest’ – Celebrating CCN’s 1st Anniversary


Be a part of 'The Chocolate Fest'. Let's levitate together in Chocolate Nirvana!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Chocolate Tiramisu, the dessert of Decadence

Ahhhhhh..... these glasses of G-O-O-D-N-E-S-S..... The heady Coffee, gooey Chocolate, creamy Mascarpone, soaked Sponge........ Drooolllllll.... Get the drift.......

Tiramisu (tih-ruh-mee-SOO)-The Italian translation for tiramisu is "Pick me up." Also known by names such as Tuscan Trifle and Zuppa Inglese, this heavenly dessert was initially created in Siena, in the northwestern Italian province of Tuscany.
Traditional tiramisu is a pudding-like dessert that normally consists of sponge cake or ladyfingers dipped in liqueur, then layered with grated chocolate and rich custard.

In fact, "pick-me-up", is bit of an understatement. Tiramisu is a desert worthy of a special occasion: neither making nor eating it may be rushed, which is why.... This has been Tiramisu month for me.... served everyone who came home for Diwali..... Took then to Vibha n Vivekji's party, Pushpanjali and Vivek sir's card party..... and loads more......

The feeling while eating these glasses of goodness....... You've spouted delicate white wings and are sitting on a fluffy cloud, with these glasses of G-O-O-D-N-E-S-S. You are in Heaven, and Heaven is in your mouth!

My earlier trysts with this dessert..... You Know.... It's For YOU, Tiramisu..., Chocolate Tiramisu ~ Amrita's Birthday, Cappuccino Tiramisu Cheesecake for Baking Queen ~ Deeba's Birthday. You can use any of these recipes.... they all worked like magic for me..... :) *really smug grin*

There are some more Tiramisu posts coming up too... How can 1 post to justice to the month of Tiramisu..... coming up is Chocolate Tiramisu Cupcakes......

Go on Dig in.....

Sending this Chocolate Tiramisu, Dessert of Decadence to 'The Chocolate Fest' Hosted by Madhuri at Cook Curry Nook.
‘The Chocolate Fest’ – Celebrating CCN’s 1st Anniversary


Be a part of 'The Chocolate Fest'. Let's levitate together in Chocolate Nirvana!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

All of Diyas, Mithai, Parties, Friends n Family at Diwali


Diwali is always special...... We meet up with friends relative and most of all.... do loads of fun stuff with Daksayani.... :)

We made this really colourful rangoli outside the house......

Soon we were joined by the neighbour's kids, Simran and Armaan...... We did both the traditional hard work way and the easy short cut way of using stencils....

Then in the evening we went for puja to Mall rd.... it was such a sublime atmosphere.....

My totally fav person in the WWW....... whole wide world......

That's Poser INC at Mall rd.... Sadhika, Neha Didi, Nikhil, Veena didi, Ciona, Mini Didi and Mala Chachi.

The kids had a total blast Ciona and Gunjan.....

The parshad for Diwali was made by my soul partner for desserts, Vibha, we even dream the same stufffffffff..... Cooking for over 300+ people..... It was just so so so so yummy that I still can't stop droolllllling over the yummy pasta......

There was fusilli pasta[loaded with Olived n Mushrooms..... my absolute favs.....],The sauce was smooth, tangy and had just the right amt of spice..... Chocolate Eclair from Modern Bazzar and chips....... her spice mix was the show stealer.... yeah I did sneak some for later.... .

The Hyderabad Diwali was brighter this time with chetan arround in India after so long..... Grandparents had lovely time with Nivritti and Chetan.

Partied with the office gang aswell...... The party's theme was 'Tauba Tera Jalwa'.... and what 'J-A-L-W-A' there was.... so much that it's censored on my blog..... what happens at the party, stays at the party..... ;)

The rangoli's made by both teams in office were fantastic..... so much hard work... all made worthwhile by the twinkled eyes which were full of wonder looking at these......

That's Rozy[part of the 99acres sales team] getting the 'We Value You' award at work.... Then there's Amit n Bhaskar [My Product team], n Gunjan our energetic party animal n Amrita[Amit's wife]

We got back Diya shaped mithai as parshad from babaji in Mall rd...... They looked so pretty and were totally d-e-l-i-s-h.... Am not a great fan of mithai but these..... They were out of the world......

Diwali, The festival of lights.......