Beautiful Regardless of the Beholder

What is female beauty?

Time and again, I have been told I'm the opposite of the Indian concept of Beauty  which is " fair skinned, slim and docile".

But as a young girl in my childhood home my mother taught me the sum total of the rest of me : my intelligence, my talent, my personality, my ability to love and care were far greater than my looks so I never had the low self esteem and lack of confidence others with my looks are plagued by.

It was only after I left my home did I realise that there were ignorant and shallow people in the world who placed a very high value on physical attributes. The television and magazines told me I wasn't good enough either. Too dark, too fat, too bold to be accepted, loved or successful.

Today, I'm entrusted with molding the minds of two little girls who will no doubt find things about their body that do not " fit into society's and  someone else's idea of beauty" and it's my job to teach them what my mother taught me.

Show our daughters they're so much more than their looks...Don't let their inner beauty be trapped inside this bag of flesh which will wrinkle, stretch and age regardless!

Don't force our girls to fit any moulds.

For you see there is no mould or template for beauty through the centuries! 

For eons we have been desperately playing catch up to meet the beauty standards and trends of the times. Being objectified as Art, or purveyed as an object of lust on the screen be it on mainstream media or porn and in recent times filtering and obssessing over the perfect picture on social media to garner those "likes"

We need to call out on the this "Beauty Business" all together!

Beauty is as beauty does is all our little girls need to hear.

In all it's forms, shapes and colours the feminine is divine and our daughters need to know that!

Video courtesy CNN

Recipe File: Arroz con Leche or Mexican Rice Pudding

I thought of making an Arroz Con Leche for Hope's birthday because I was looking for a simple and time saving dessert since was cooking by myself for a crowd of 40. While we're no strangers to rice puddings in India with our Phirni, this creamy,delicious comfort food had a distinct Mexican touch with it's use of Cinnamon.

While it can eaten warm, I chose to serve it chilled. It was generally appreciated by everyone. Give it a try!

ARROZ CON LECHE

Ingredients:

1 litre of full fat milk

1 -2 cinnamon sticks

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 strips of Orange zest
100 gms sugar
1 pinch of salt
150 gm uncooked rice
400 gm can of condensed milk 
1 tbsp butter
ground cinnamon to serve

Method:

Reserve 1 cup of milk and keep asideHeat the remainder of the milk,cinnamon sticks, ground cinnamon, Orange zest,sugar and salt. Bring to a boil, uncovered. When it starts to boil reduce the heat to low, add rice and cook for 10 - 15 more minutes or until milk is almost evaporated.

Add another half cup of the reserved milk and stir constantly till almost absorbed. 

With the last ½ cup of milk also add the condensed milk; cook for 2 -3 minutes, or until it thickens to desired consistency. Be aware that as the rice cools it thickens. Turn off the heat.

Add in the butter and stir to incorporate.

Serve hot, warm, or cold sprinkled with ground cinnamon to taste. Enjoy!

Recipe File: Beef Empanadas

Empanadas, are a Mexican snack. They're little turnovers or hand pies.

 They’re very versatile and be fried or baked. The best part is you can be as creative as you want with Empanada fillings.There are no specifics and in fact I would say Empanadas are the perfect way to use leftovers. Make the dough and use anything you have on hand to fill and fry! 

For Hope's Mexican Fiesta, I made the Empanadas with a beef filling. I also modified rather added Goan touched to it to suit my guests taste buds. You can substitute it with Chicken or mutton mince. One can even add some chopped boiled eggs to it. Here is our version of these tasty morsels.

FRIED BEEF EMPANADAS

Ingredients

Dough:
350 gms all purpose flour
1 tsp powdered sugar
100 gms  butter, chilled and cubed
100 gms margarine (I used Nutralite), chilled and cubed
120 mls (about 1/2 cup)ice cold water

Seive the flour and sugar into a large bowl. Add the butter and shortening cubes t
to the flour mix. Using a pastry cutter or a fork quickly cut the fat in the flour till it looks like coarse meal or fat breadcrumbs. There should be tiny peices of the fat throughout  the flour.
Add the ice cold water in tiny increments stirring it into the flour mix with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Once the dough comes together in large lumps,stop
Flour a cool kitchen surface and transfer dough onto it.The dough should come together easily and should not feel overly sticky. Using floured hands, fold the dough into itself until the flour is fully incorporated into the fats. Form it into a ball. Divide dough into two. Wrap tightly with cling film and keep in the fridge till filling is ready and cool.

Filling:
500 gms ground Beef/ chicken/mutton mince
1 heaped tbsp Goan Green Masala* 
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 large onions, chopped fine
1 large tomato, chopped
3 tbsp tomato puree
5-6 large cloves of garlic peeled and chopped 
1 heaped tbsp chilli powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp sugar
salt
Oil
water

Put the ground meat into a large bowl. Add the Green Masala,vinegar and salt to taste. Let it sit for a bit.
Heat oil in a large pan. Add chopped onions and fry till pale. Throw in the chopped tomato and season with salt. Fry till both are soft and cooked through. Add the chopped garlic and fry till fragrant. Add the ground beef at this point and fry off. Once the meat has browned and released water add the tomato puree, spices, herbs and sugar. Season with salt.Add a couple of tablespoons of water. Stir well and cook till meat is cooked through and the mixture is dry. Cool completely.

Assembly:
Take out one ball of the dough and on a floured surface roll out the dough thinly. Use a round cutter or a large glass overturned to cut out round shapes.Spoon a bit of the filling in and wet the edge of the dough circle.
Press together to join. You can fold the edges or press a fork along the edge to seal and make it pretty. Repeat this process till all dough or filling is over. You can refrigerate the uncooked empanadas for up to 3 hours.
Heat the oil in a deep fryer to 350 degrees F. Fry the empanadas until golden brown, about 5-6 minutes. Serve and Enjoy!

Hope's "Coco" inspired Mexican Fiesta 2nd Birthday!

My little Leo turned two this month and we threw her a Mexican Fiesta because she's so fascinated by Disney Pixar's Coco.

Coco is such a beautiful touching movie set in Mexico, steeped in tradition and tells a heart rending story of family, living your dreams and sometimes having to chose between the two. I absolutely adore it myself and my girls have watched it so often we all know the lines in it by heart!haha

As usual,( I love planning my girls' birthdays!) I started by making my planing lists and designing the invites.

A Simple invite that I designed

Unlike last year for her first when we had a little Kitty themed party for her (I'll share those pictures and ideas one of these days as well) I was very short on time and busy at work. So I had to make sure my ideas were doable with minimal effort and in the shortest amount of time!

I decided to make the Papel Picado or coloured paper flags which are cut out to make pretty designs  as the main design element and went about using it everywhere. I used them on the Invites, Food Tags and on other paper decorations. Papel Picado are also easily available in Goa as well and used for festivals and feasts. I suppose its the Latin Influence. So I just had my husband Felix pick up a pack from the Panjim Market. Shop No. 9 inside the Municipality Market stock them besides other stationery and party supplies.

Our Front door outside

The Living Room

Coco playing on the Screen!

Inside the Front door- Dante the Spirit Guide Dog guards the door

The fun (and exhausting) part was making the food! I wanted it to be Mexican themed but have our guests be confused by it either so I adjusted it suit everyone's taste as best as I could. I tried to create an Ofrenda to mimic the one in the movie and had all the snacks and desserts arranged on it. We had the whole place strewn with orange marigolds that appear everywhere in movie as well.

The Ofrenda laden with Snacks

Mini Empanadas!

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A Nacho Bar! with home made dips- Cheese, Salsa and Guacamole

I made a couple of Non-Alcoholic concoctions to drink but forgot to name them! Too many balls juggling in the air..

The Dessert Table had Churros made by my brother Len(Also my partner at CAKED). These he had pre-dipped in White chocolate with sprinkles and Dark chocolate. I made Arroz con Leche aka Rice Pudding. Len also baked a Chocolate Fudge Cake which I decorated with buttercream, edible gold and fresh flowers!

I also cooked dinner and we set up a simple buffet for our guests.

I wanted to do favours/ give-aways that were easy to put together and inexpensive. A quick search on the internet pointed me in the direction, I quickly made up a Thank you Tag and a large batch of Hot Chocolate Mix giving it a bit of a Mexican twist with cinnamon and chilli! And we were good to go!

Favour Tag I designed 

But the pièce de résistance was definitely the large Pinata my husband Felix made for the kids. I suggested we make it look like Ernesto De La Cruz, the villain in the movie so we could give him a well deserved whacking in the end! This, for obvious reasons, was a hit with the kids..haha

Our little "Frida Kahlo" enjoyed her  Fiesta with her familia tremendously as did we enjoy planning it for her!

And guess what? I will be sharing my recipes for the Beef  Empanadas and the Arroz con Leche with you soon blog familia! Salud!!

OOTD- Shifts and Suede

I've always been a curvy girl. Even at my thinnest I've been amply blessed.

But with every pregnancy and life changing event,these "blessings" have grown. And before I could say "corset" my previously proportionate curves have gotten a little too generous. I'm officially a plus size now.

What hasn't changed however is my confidence( it was never tied to my size) or my love of putting together an outfit.

However, it's not the same for a lot of my ladies. The constant pressure to be skinny (but with abnormally large and magically perky breasts and bum) in the present times can be disheartening and ultimately detrimental to our mental health.

A lot of my plus sized sisters just stop caring about what they put on and end up having defeatist thoughts like " What use is it anyway?"

Just STOP.

You, whoever you are,You are worthy and deserving of looking good and feeling good about yourself.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no fashionista. My personal style is more classic and sedate. If you open my wardrobe you'll find tons of black, navy blue, grey, white and beige. There will be a few flashes and dashes of bright solid colours like Aqua, hot pink or a chirpy yellow but nothing too out there.

I believe in appropriate wear and dressing to an occasion and mostly, that less is more.I also love quietly quirky accessories.So, you will not find me following every micro-trend or putting together madly "creative" outfits. 

What I do hope to share with you though is resources for shopping Plus Size clothing.

Like for example, this lovely navy blue shift with scalloped sequin detailing that gives it a bit of Gatsby-ish dazzle. It has a a key hole back, sheer bishop sleeves and a relaxed fit.

Windy Day!

It's made by the brand DOROTHY PERKINS. 

DOROTHY PERKINS caters to plus sizes and has lovely dresses, tops and bottoms that come in sizes 18-28.

DOROTHY PERKINS also does pretty shoes and bags. The suede envelope clutch I'm carrying and my Black suede T-strap peep toe shoes with the block heel is also from them.

curled toes! haha

Light make up in Peach and Brown-Grey Tones

Bling rings and simple hoop earrings completed my Outfit Of The Day!

DOROTHY PERKINS retails on Online Shopping Site Jabong.Com and I can't sing more praises about Jabong! The shopping experience is superb there. Great customer service, Fast delivery, Constant updates and Easy returns.You can't ask for more.

This is what the Dress looked like on the site.

Of Course I've still got to learn to pose like that! haha

Recipe File: Goan Patoleos - a Bite of Harmony!

In the tiny state of Goa, the Indian Independence Day coincides with two local celebrations: the Feast of Our Lady Of Assumption and Naag Panchami which usually occurs around these dates.

The feast of Assumption which marks the death and "assumption" of Mary, mother of Jesus, into Heaven is celebrated by the large population of  Latin Catholics in the state while the majority Hindu community will revere the naag or snake/serpent because they hold great significance to Hindu belief and mythology.

 Both the communities will mark these festivities by the making of a unique sweet called the Patoleo( also referred to as Patolyo/ Patoyo/Patoeio)!

Such religious and communal syncretism is evident in a lot of ways in Goa when sections of the local Hindu population coverted to Catholicism under four hundred years of Portuguese Rule.

Today Patolyos will be exchanged between Goan homes all over, from Hindu homes and Catholic ones. A poignant sign of the communal harmony that prevails between the peace loving populace of my beloved state and a hopeful celebration of the Independence Day.

This year Faith, my older one assisted me to make our Patolyos along with my dad. As always making something with family makes it that much fun and special.

And now I'm sharing it with you!

The coconut and jaggery filling has variations from region to region and house to house. Some use cane sugar jaggery which is lighter and sweeter, others add boiled chana dal ( split grams). Ours is a simpler version with the rich dark coconut jaggery.

GOAN PATOLEOS

Ingredients:

For the dough
3 cups parboiled Goan Rice
Salt

For the filling
2 medium coconuts
2 large pyramids of Goan coconut Jaggery
2 tspns cardamom powder

35-40 Turmeric Leaves
Water as required

Method:
Wash the rice and soak it in sufficient water overnight ( atleast a minimum of 4-5 hours)

Drain Rice and grind to a thick, almost dough like paste in your blender using minimum water and salt to your taste. I had to put it in 2 batches and used about a 1/2 cup of water each time. You can adjust as it suits you but be cautious as you don't want a runny paste.

Now cover this and set aside in a cool place.

It's time to make the filling. Prep the coconuts and grate finely. Use a large thick bottomed pot or pan to grate your coconut jaggery into it. Add the grated coconut to the pan along with the ground cardamom and a 1/4 cup of water.

Put the pan over a medium flame and cook through till the water evaporates and you have a rich molasses like sticky and dry filling. Keep aside to cool completely.

While filling cools, prep your turmeric leaves.  Or have a lovely assistant do it! Here's Faith trimming the leaves to size. Then after I washed them, she carefully wiped them dry on a clean kitchen cloth.

Next, set up your assembly line! It's time for the fun part!

Also keep a bowl of clean water handy.Place a scoop of the rice dough on the centre of your prepped leaf. 

Now dip your clean fingers in the bowl of water and gently pat away at dough till it neatly covers the leaf in a mostly even manner. Keep the edges free and keep replacing the water it as it gets murky!

.

Now neatly spoon the filling down the centre in a straight line. Then fold in half gently and press down lightly at the edges so that its seals.

Continue repeating the above process till your batter or filling or leaves get over!

Start up your steamer and gently place the patoleo in a single layer without too much overlapping. Cover firmly and let steam for about 20 mins. You'll know they're done when the leaves will change colour to a dull green and your whole house will start smelling of the familiar wonderful patoleo aroma!

Take out carefully, peel open and enjoy these delicious steaming bites of nostalgia!

Bon Festa!Happy Naag Panchami!