Dusting the cobwebs off my blog

©HeyThereSpaceman Flicker Creative Commons

Goodness gracious, it has been almost a year since I wrote anything on my blog. Some of you must have thought that I have forgotten all about it. A few people, like Stax, went a step further and found ways to contact me which was really very sweet. Others, like my friend S in Miami and D in Dallas, got on the phone and hollered at me for just stopping without at the very least a be-right-back post or a fare-thee-well.

The thing is I never really intended to stop blogging. Life just got in my way. First, my mom with an ongoing medical issue which became critical around the same time that we were involved with a home renovation. All of this together with the usual demands of being a working mom, taking care of a family and I hope you can understand that something had to give. I was unhappy that the something which had to be sacrificed, was my blog. Yet the idea of writing a blog interrupted post in my mind would have validated something that I really did not wish to be true. I was well and truly in denial. Of course by the time I reached the stage of acceptance it just seemed like there was little point to do so anymore.

So what's going on? Well my life just seems to move from one colossal crises after another. This is not strictly true. Of course, there has been just about as much good mixed in with the bad. Yet it's the bad that always seems to make the most noise and take up most headspace. Two weeks ago I was in a fairly serious car accident. It was just one of those freak things, but I am thankful that everyone involved escaped without injury. I'd like to say that it has made me ponder my life (it has )but the truth is also that, for now, I am stuck at home with little more to do than cook and supervise the kids who are on school holiday. Fun as that may be, I find myself needing an occasional break from mummy duty, even if that means hanging out here doing what essentially amounts to me talking to myself:-) Hopefully being back will help clear my head so that I can focus more on all the other good that is happening in my life on a daily basis.

So there you have it, although I have been away, I have still been surrounded by food, recipes and photography - all good things.

So this was me last month at a food photoshoot surrounded by lots of good things, delicious cupcakes and friends with awesome cameras. I did not take my camera but I did take my appetite and thus I helped with the uhhh..... cleanup. Tough job I know but chocolate-mint and ginger-carrot cake cupcakes just don't pick up after themselves you know! Wow, I needed help getting up out of that chair afterwards. In the end though you know I could not stay away from getting behind the lens.

Anyone who wants to get these delectable cupcakes you can visit the Just Bites FB page here. I taste tested them for you and they come with my stamp of approval!

Burfi (Indian Milk Fudge)

Divali (Diwali) is one of the most eagerly anticipated holidays of my country. Yesterday my son came home from his Catholic School with his painted clay deya (a small, clay, lamp) eager to light it right away. Great was his disappointment when I explained that he needed to wait until the the next day.

Divali is a Hindu festival but in Trinidad and Tobago it is embraced and enjoyed by everyone. Indeed there is universal appeal in Divali's central theme which is light over darkness, or good conquering evil.

Luckily for me, my father-in-law is Hindu so Divali also means that I get a day off from the kitchen. On this day, I defer to my mother-in-law's expertise in the preparation of a fabulous, vegetarian, buffet of traditional dishes. Yet another reason for me to love this holiday. By the way, my mother-in-law is Catholic and anyone other that a Trinidadian would probably find it strange to be in a home where a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus hangs next to a picture of Lakshmi Mata (the four armed Hindu Goddess of material and spiritual wealth). Just wait until we get to Christmas and the Muslim cousins start putting up their Christmas tree:-) All perfectly normal for a Trinidadian.

Aside from the food, the other highlight of Divali is the lighting of deyas. After sundown people often take walks or drive to the various villages to see the fantastic lighted bamboo displays and to partake of the food and sweets prepared by their Hindu family and friends. Barfi is a milk fudge that is a popular Diwali sweet. It is fairly easy to prepare.

Burfi 
Makes 30

Ingredients

• 4 cups full cream milk powder 
• 1 cup double cream
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 tsp rose water
• 2 pieces fresh ginger (each about 1/2" x 1/2")
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom 
• coloured sprinkles
• butter for greasing dish.

Method
Mix the powdered milk and cream until it forms fine crumbs.
Sift the mixture through a seive.
Prepare a pyrex dish by greasing it and lightly cover bottom of dish with sprinkles.
Boil sugar, water rose water and ginger approx 10 minutes just before the sugar spins a thread. Remove the ginger.
Stir syrup into the milk mixture and combine well.
Press mixtue firmly into greased dish. Decorate the top with more sprinkles and cut into squares when cool.