Good Omens

Author: Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett

 I had so much fun reading this book! It reminded me of Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. So if you liked that book, I think you will like this too. It is full humor and the kind of humor that I only saw in HHGG!

Crowley is a demon and Aziraphale is an angel. While at odds because of their profession, they do get along well because they are the only two from their world on this earth who have been living on the earth for so long. They have not only adjusted to the lifestyle on Earth but also understand humans. 

There is a book of prophecies, The nice and accurate prophecies of Agnes Nutter, written 100s of years ago. However, all it's prophecies have come true in one way or another. It says that the world is going to end this Saturday. So the armies of Good and Evil start preparation to come out as winner when the apocalypse happens. Crowley and Aziraphale are not very happy about it because they like to live on Earth. There is something or rather somebody who can prevent this from happening. They can prevent it from happening and they can also make it happen. The armies of Good and Evil search for him, each for their own benefit.

After reading this book I'm tempted to read more from this author. It was sheer joy reading this book!

Silent patient

 Author: Alex Michaelides

This was a good thriller! If you are looking for one then consider adding it to your list! I could not guess till almost the end what was happening (well it could just be me :))!

The book is about Alicia Berenson, a famous painter and Theo Faber, a criminal psychologist. Alicia leading a happy married life, is all of a sudden accused of shooting her husband. Not once, not twice but five times. From then on she refuses to talk, her paintings become sought after and highly valued and at the same time casts bad light on Alicia. 

Theo Faber, is intrigued by Alicia's refusal to talk and wants to take up the challenge of getting her out of this state. Towards that end, he gets a job at the center where Alicia is moved to and gets assigned to her case. His journey with her has less ups and more downs. He gets some breaks where he thinks he's having success and that pumps him up. Only later to find out he has had a setback. Be it Alicia causing self-harm or harming another inmate at the center. His treatment for Alicia consumes his personal and professional life. At the end, he does have success but that changes everything.

It was quite a thrilling book for me and kept me on the edge. One of those books which given time I would have liked to finish in one sitting :)

(Vegan) Chocolate cake - the best ever!

 I've baked a vegan chocolate cake before and while it was good - it felt like a compromise. For my kids birthday I was looking for a recipe which would be as close to a non-vegan chocolate cake as possible. Since I've tried a few recipes from Nora Cooks, I thought I would give her chocolate cake recipe a shot. Sure enough it was the best ever chocolate cake (vegan or not)! I know that because DH who doesn't like chocolate cakes that much loved it and said he wouldn't know it was vegan! The cake was moist, chocolatey and just the right amount of sweet!

I followed the recipe to the T - for the cake as well as the frosting, except for a few replacements like replacing the almond milk with soy milk because that is what we have.

Ingredients

Chocolate cake

• 1 cup soy milk (we use the WestSoy soy milk which is just water and soybeans)
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Chocolate buttercream frosting

• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups earth balance vegan butter, softened, baking sticks preferred
• 4-5 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/4-1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk

FOR THE CHOCOLATE CAKE

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a 9X13 inch pan with parchment paper. I grease the sides with some oil.
  
• Add the vinegar to the soy milk, set it aside and let it curdle. Don't worry when you see it all curdled - that's how it's supposed to be.
  
• In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.
  
• Now add the oil, applesauce, vanilla and soy milk/vinegar mixture. Mix on medium speed with a hand mixer  until well combined. 
  
• Add the boiling water. I first boiled the water on stove and then measured 1 cup. Continue mixing till the mixture is well blended. The batter will be runny.
  
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 
  
• If you want to frost the cake, let it cool first.

FOR THE CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

• In a large bowl, add the softened vegan butter and mix with a hand mixer until creamed.
  
• Now add the cocoa and continue mixing until well combined. If you add the cocoa first and then add the butter, the cocoa blows off due to all the air. Creaming the butter first helps.
• Add half of the powdered sugar and half of the soy milk, and mix until combined. Add the rest of the powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Mix starting on low, and turn to high. Mix until fluffy and combined.
• If the frosting seems too dry, add more milk, a tablespoon or two at a time. If the frosting seems too wet and doesn't hold it's shape, add more powdered sugar until it thickens up. 

(Vegan) Badam burfi (almond fudge)

 I was looking for vegan sweets to make for Diwali and found this recipe for badam burfi. It looked straight forward to make and also didn't require too many ingredients. Let me tell you - it turned out so delicious! Heavenly! And you wouldn't even know it was vegan! In fact after eating it I was wondering why do even need to make it otherwise??

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/8 cup water
• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
• 1.5 tsp vegan butter
• 1.5 cup almond flour

Method

1. In a pan (I used a cast iron dutch oven) sugar, water and cardamom powder on medium heat.
2. Let the sugar dissolve and mixture come to a boil.
3. Add the almond flour and turn the heat to low.
4. Add butter and mix everything with a whisk so that there are no lumps.
5. Keep cooking till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and you can form a non-sticky ball.
6. If you can't form a non-sticky ball then the burfi will not set.
7. Once done, take it off the heat and put the mixture on a silicone mat (or parchment paper)
8. Knead the dough a little with greased hands. If the mixture is too dry, add a little water (just a little).
9. Put a parchment paper on top and roll the dough flat to 1/8 inch thickness.
10. Then cut into diamonds or squares of your choice.
11. Let it set. Burfi is ready!

(Vegan) Pumkin cupcakes

 We've been trying to switch to being vegan. Baking was one of those things which I thought would be so hard to do as a vegan. But I'm amazed at the weather of vegan recipes be it through blogs or through books. I found the recipe for these cupcakes at Nora Cooks. We've tried a couple of vegan recipes from her blog and they all turned out so delicious!

These cupcakes with maple frosting were so moist, fluffy and just delicious! Even DH who's not so fond of cupcakes, loved them! They were just right - be it texture or taste! We baked them with the kids so all four of us pitched in!

Yields: 12 cupcakes

CUPCAKE

Ingredients

• 7.5 oz pumpkin puree (we used homemade)
• 1/8 cup unsweetened applesauce (homemade as well)
• 1/2 cup oil
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• tiny pinch of cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit and line a cupcake pan with liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk puree, applesauce, oil and sugar together until well blended.
3. Add rest of the ingredients.
4. Fill the cupcake molds half-full and bake for 18-22 minutes. Do the knife test - insert a knife into one of the cupcakes and it should come out clean.
5. Let them cool on a cooling rack.

FROSTING

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup vegan butter
• 1-2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp maple syrup (this does add a lovely hint so try not to skip it)

Method

1. In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy.
2. Add sugar gradually (keep beating) till you get the consistency you want.
3. Add the maple syrup and mix it as well.

Once the cupcakes are cooled, frost them and enjoy them!

English muffin toasting bread

 

Just like the name says - it is a perfect bread for toasting and spreading with jam and butter! The coarse texture makes for a crispy toasted bread! So delicious!

Ingredients

• 3 cups (361g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tablespoon (14g) sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• 1 cup (227g) milk
• 1/4 cup (57g) water
• 2 tablespoons (25g) vegetable oil or olive oil

Method

• Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and instant yeast in a large mixing bowl.
• Combine the milk, water, and oil in a separate, microwave-safe bowl, and heat. It should be hot, not lukewarm, but not scalding hot either.
• Pour the hot liquid over the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl and mix until thoroughly combined. 
• Using an electric beater, beat at high speed for 1 minute; the dough will be smooth and very soft. If you don't have an electric mixer, beat by hand for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and starting to become elastic.
• Lightly grease an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan.
• Scoop the soft dough into the pan, leveling it in the pan as much as possible.
• Cover the pan, and let the dough rise till it's just barely crowned over the rim of the pan. When you look at the rim of the pan from eye level, you should see the dough, but it shouldn't be more than, say, 1/4" over the rim. This will take about 45 minutes to 1 hour, if you heated the liquid to the correct temperature and your kitchen isn't very cold. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Remove the cover, and bake the bread for 22 to 27 minutes, till it's golden brown.
• Remove the bread from the oven, and after 5 minutes turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool. Let the bread cool completely before slicing.

Know my name

 Author: Chanel Miller

A memoir by Chanel Miller, earlier known as Emily Doe to the world. She was a victim of sexual assault at Stanford, California. She is neither the first nor the last such victim. However, she is one of the few who opened herself to the world. Many victims don't even report their cases. She reported it and then made her statement public and now has written the full story. 

One must read the book, to see the story from the perspective of the victim. Right from when the attack happened to how her life changes for not just next few months but for years to come; and her struggles in the court. It is not just her but everybody around her as well who is impacted. Slowly and gradually as she reveals what happened to some of her close friends she finds out how many of them have gone through it in the past but never told anybody. What happened to her was a fact and yet she had to fight a battle in the court. How the media talked about what would happen to the sports career of the attacker but nobody talked about how it had ruined the life of the victim. 

In cases of sexual assault while people do always pity the victim, they also almost always find ways to point finger at the victim. Things like she was wearing clothes that expose her body or she was drunk or she was out in the middle of the night. I always thought it was wrong to think like that and when reading Chanel's story I felt even more strongly for it. There is no excuse for such a crime - just like there's no excuse for any other crime.