Mundane Musings

This cake didn't even have a name, in fact I made up that name just now. But this sparked the fire to bake in me. Baking this cake is a trip down memory lane for me. Every single special occasion had this one gracing the table. I remember mum baking this cake the day before Eid, so that on the special day it was ready to be shared with neighbours and friends. Usually the youngest is in charge of delivering the goodies in a decorative plate to neighbours in our building. Since I was the youngest, I was entrusted this task and I took it up with elan. :) Now Anakutti is getting trained to do this bit.  For every one of our birthdays too this cake was made. The same, when mum took a fancy to bake a simple, tea cake. This cake has had plenty of fans over the years. It's attraction was its simplicity in taste and looks - there was no need for icing at all and the caramel sauce that was added to it gave the cake a nice sharp flavour and colour that is quite unlike any other...

Lessons learned from the 2020 Covid 19 lockdown 2020 certainly didn't start off well, and it doesn't look like the year will turn pink and dewy later on. On the contrary it might be a while into 2021 that we might all start feeling normal again. So this year is a write off. It definitely sucked when meticulous travel plans had to be cancelled, birthday parties and celebrations had to be limited to virtual ones and Zoom calls; with schools closing up children had to be entertained and taken care of at home, and basically living on edge due to fear of infection. But with the lockdown almost coming to an end, I keep thinking of the lessons learned in the past 40 odd days. Here are my top six: 1. That Maslow's theory of Hierarchy is true. Food, Water, Shelter and rest were priorities this lockdown. As long as those needs were fulfilled, lounging around in PJs and old, old T-shirts didn't feel like such a bad thing. I mean, do malls need to even open? (Okay, don...