India's 62nd Independence Day dawned nice and bright in the moggie household.
Well, I am not entirely sure if I should use the word 'dawned' because it was well past lunch time when the three moggies bestirred themselves from their warm bed. In our defence, it was one of those rare days when the three of us were at home with nothing much to do other than entertain each other and since we had no particular plans for the day, catching up on sleep obviously took precedence over everything else.
I guess most others, in their senses, would have hit the beach or the mall for the day but hey, we are just 3 unambitious little crabs who are quite content with food, drink, our home and hearth...and of course, moolah in the bank.
* Big broad grin*
The three of us eventually woke up and as we were lazily stretching ourselves, we decided to stop mourning the lacks in this country we call home and get into the spirit of things. Over Cinnamon french toast and steaming mugs of coffee, we debated plans for the day.
" I wonder why they ran Jodha Akbar in the morning!!!...We could have watched it if it was telecast in the afternoon..All the movie theaters will be running full, so there is no point trying for any movie...Do you want to go the the mall?"
Dsk is not exactly the epitome of enthusiasm. An evening at the mall tailing his shopaholic wife is not exactly his idea of a celebration but then, the jam packed theaters and auditoriums leave us with very few options. Ging, who is lounging about on the sofa, faking sleep, twitches her tail to indicate her displeasure.
" Well, I don't have much shopping to do....And I really want to cook because I am tired of all the eating out I have been doing these past few weeks"
The two moggies perk up a wee bit, as Dsk plaintively adds " Even I don't want to eat out.......I haven't had a decent meal in such a long time....Its been ages and ages since I ate rice and your delicious curries"
The way to a woman's heart is indeed through her spices and saucepans as the wily Dsk knows all too well.
" Hmmm...maybe we can eat dinner early and go out for a drive...actually I feel like making something nice...let me fry some nethili (anchovy, I think) for dinner and perhaps make some parippu (lentils) to go with the rice"
The sheer joy on my martian moggy's face is a sight to behold.
As I get about clattering my pots and pans, Dsk's cell rings...Its mommy dearest commandeering his services to go refrigerator shopping. Driven by my greed, I am now up to my ears in dinner preparations and send Dsk off to fulfil his filial obligations.
In no time, the parippu, rice and nethilis are taken care of...And kitty and I are back on the couch, T.V guide in hand to check for interesting programmes to watch. There is nothing the two of us can agree on and since Ging stubbornly refuses to allow me to watch what I want, I have to rack my brains for an alternative.
" Let's make ice cream" I purr to Ging , who has absolutely no clue as to what ice cream is, but signals her willingness to try something new.
We race over to the fridge to check for ingredients, only to discover that most of our carb and fat rich food ended up in the trash can long long back....When the house was declared as a Low Fat Zone!!!...
But did that deter us? Oh no, it didn't!!!
Out came the low fat milk...and a few mini bars of toblerone... and some reaaaalllllly awful chocolate my husband's brother gave us over a year ago. Don't ask me why the awful chocolate didn't find its way in the trash can. If I remember correctly, our traumatised taste buds demanded that the offending chocolate be put out of sight immediately and so it got stashed it away at the back of the refrigerator. Anyway, I was hoping that the toblerone and the milk would redeem it now because we seemed to have nothing else to add to our ice cream. Or so I thought, but as I melted the chocolate in the milk in a hot water bath, my eyes fell on a bunch of overripe bananas and decided to blend them with the chocolate milk mixture!.
" Now, what goes in?' I ask my moggy assistant, who's eyes are gleaming in unholy glee. Talk about qualitative bonding!!!
We hit the fridge again and this time, Ging flicks the Amarula bottle with her tail. Hmmmm...Amarula with chocolate and bananas? If it had been Bailey's or Kelley's, I wouldn't have thought twice about it.... Amarula, I am not so sure about. But Ging is rather insistent and nose butts me into submission. And in goes a generous dose of Amarula.
By now Ging is on a roll...She heads for our liquor box and comes up with a bottle of Ballantyne's whiskey. I think she wanted Rum but had to settle for whiskey instead but hey, I wasn't complaining and so, in went a splash of rather fine whiskey. And that was the end of my assistant's inputs. The liquor fumes must have got to Ging because kitty now staggered to the sofa and collapsed into a limp form. I add a dash of cinnamon to the mixture and blend it one last time before putting it in to freeze.
Even with the freezer set at the coldest, we need to wait a couple of hours to see if our ice cream even sets!!! I cross my fingers and say a little prayer to the Kitchen Gods above, because I hadn't the faintest idea as to how our creation would turn out. Ging is obviously a lot more confident. She plonks herself on my lap and licks me comfortingly
" Not to worry mommy. If it sets, we'll call it ice cream. If its wobbly, then it's going to be a souffle...And if it is God awful unpalatable, we will blame it on the horrid chocolate"
*kitty winks* Now that is what I call moggie sense!!!
A few hours later, sporting an expression of absolute contentment after his scrumptious dinner, Dsk dug his spoon into the choco-banana-liquor ice cream under our watchful eyes..Yes, ice cream it was because the concoction set pretty well indeed!!!..And we needed no words of praise..The ecstatic look on his face said it all.....SIMBLY KICK-ASS!!!
Mini bars of toblerone in a Low Fat Zone?? Hmm... How did they escape the trash can?? :P
ReplyDeleteYou can patent your choco-banana kickass ice cream! Sounds just divine!!
LOLs...
ReplyDeleteIts a low fat & not a zero fat zone as yet...Which is why its only mini bars you will find in our fridge and not the jumbo family pack!!!
:D :D :D
Did I fool you with that???
The truth is that we, moggies, got a little tardy in maintaining the Low Fat Zone...And the mini bars are mementos from Dsk's most recent London Trip...
:P :P :P
god! we are culinary maestros, aren't we!!
ReplyDeletenow i know how you get such wonderful ideas as crushed cashew fudge topping for ice-cream :)!
lol!
ReplyDeletethat what i call true creation!
loved the name too...
do you like cartoons..
me have one
do visit..
smile
MIP
hmmm...the bug seems to have bit both the bloggers now ;)
ReplyDeletehe he he Ganga, I was born a foodie and will remain one till the day I die....Flab be damned!!!
ReplyDelete:) :) :)
There is nothing I enjoy more than whipping up a good meal and finishing it too...LOLS
Roopa, Did you try the Cashew Fudge on the icecream? Even Peanut brittle works wonderfully....:P :P:P