#GoCheeseTastingEvent

The #GoCheeseTastingEvent in association with Femina, at The Blue Frog,  was surely an afternoon to rejoice and remember.

I was super excited to meet my foodie friends, Mayuri, Priyadarshini and the masterchef Geetha Sridhar and a bunch of fellow bloggers, who were there sharing an equal amount of enthusiasm and where all arrived before time, waiting for the event to begin.

The event kicked off on a lighter note, with a comedy act by Angad Singh Ranyal, a well known Stand up comedian. Angad, made sure to regale the guests with his humorous dialogues and act about the new age generation.

The belly laugh, was followed by an insightful talk by the Chief Marketing Officer at Parag Milk Foods (Gowardhan), Mahesh Israni. He began by sharing a story on, how cheese was invented, where a set of travellers were travelling with milk and how that milk due to bacterial formation got converted into cheese. He also shared that there are over 2200 kind of cheese across the globe and we are yet to explore those. Also, sharing the potential for the growth of a market for cheese, he added, that the per capita consumption of cheese in India is 200 gms, per year, whereas in other countries like France, per capita consumption in an year is 25 kgs. Only, 9% of our population is exposed to cheese, there is still scope of introducing cheese to the other 91% of the population.To increase the usage of cheese, we need to start using it, at our homes first and then think of consuming it, with outside food.

The last talk was by Chef Ranveer Brar on pairing the right wine with various kind of cheese. As the chef started talking about the varieties of cheese and his role at #GoCheese as  a brand ambassador, the audience were served, the cheese platter along with a Red &White Wine. The platter consisted of 4 kind of flavoured #GoCheese, the Gouda Cheese, Mozarella Cheese and few more condiments.




 

Ranveer not only talked about the kind of cheese to go with the kind of wine but giving little tips on how to consume cheese in several ways during all courses of a meal from starters till the desserts.
One tip that I really liked and will surely try is to marinate the cheese cubes in Darjeeling tea concentrate and serve as a snack. Another point that he mentioned was to mix the kind of cheese, which I always do and found worth mentioning.
After a hearty cheese tasting, along with wine, the snack platter was served with dishes made out of cheese, eg. Quesadillas, Rice balls, Fried Mozarella cheese, tacos and an open cheese sandwich. As soon as we finished the snacks, we were served a dessert platter, which consisted of a fruit tart and a mousse.

The stage was left open for the audience to ask questions and interact with the chef. The question answer session was followed by a #selfie session with the chef.

 Here is another tip to use cheese in your homes- To break the monotony of daily stuffed paranthas, try mixing some #GoCheese cheddar with the filling and see your family drooling over it.

Last but not the least, we were given a wine and cheese hamper to take home, out of which, I have started experimenting on new dishes, one by one :)



  

My Review of the #SoftestForBabySkin Pampers Premium Care Pants

If I have to rate these new pants in numbers, I would give it full marks. There was a need of diapers, which were more comfortable, more absorbent and most importantly soft to prevent rashes for the toddlers.

1. I found the diapers to fit on my child's waist perfectly to prevent any leakage or make any uncomfortable marks. She can play and run around in the house without any worry.
2. The skin being so sensitive, she used to get a rash every now and then because of the diaper but those seem to have disappeared now.
3. I often have to stay out for the whole day, for work, leaving behind the little one with parents and the maid. The wetness indicator has made their and my life much simpler. I have to no longer give reminders to the help on when to change the wet diaper
4. The capacity of the diaper to stay on for a longer time is a brilliant feature. In India, all the washrooms are not baby friendly and often it is difficult to find a diaper change table. I, also being a very finicky mom used to keep changing the diaper every 2 hours. Now I am more relaxed, whie taking her out and also patient to find a washroom with a  diaper change table.

#SoftestForBabySkin Pampers Premium Care Pants are definitely a boon to the parents. The only downside to the diaper is the cost, which was actually put across by a friend, when I was talking to her about all the great features of the new pants. However, my vote still stays for the new premium care pants and I would not mind paying a higher price for the comfort of my baby.

This blog post is written for the Pampers #SoftestForBabySkin activity in association with BlogAdda.

Pampers #SoftestForBabySkin

We were privileged to be a part of an awesome event, the preview of the new Pampers Premium Care Pants. The event was hosted by the entrancing Mandira Bedi, in conversation with the charismatic Tara Sharma, a very experienced child sleep consultant Ajita Gopal Seethepalli  and the Pampers R&D expert Dr. Wei Sing Long.

Dr. Wei Sing Long took us through the features of the new Pampers Premium Care diapers, which included the wetness indicator and baby lotion. The wetness indicator was a great relief as many a times, the new age moms have to leave their kids with maids and other family members, who need an indication to change the diapers and the baby lotion to prevent rashes, if there is a delay in changing the diaper.

With Tara and Mandira sharing their motherhood experience, we realised that motherhood is not only about doing things for the children, its also about rejoicing that age, which will never come back. Of course, with other mom bloggers around, it was some solace that we are not the only ones deprived of sleep :)

Another good news was the capacity of the diaper to keep the baby dry for 12 hours, which ensures good sleep for the little one and in return a peaceful night for the parents. Thinking about the previous generations, when there were no diapers, I have all the regards for the mothers who used to take their kids out without diapers and washing and drying the nappies all the time. Diaper is a boon to the new age moms, where they can enjoy and exchange memories, instead of washing and wiping the floor and the sheets. These diapers are a step ahead than the regular diapers.

When a child is born, it is never so rosy as it is portrayed everywhere. There is pain, sleepless nights, at times helplessness and the never ending mood swings. I consider the new pants as a gift not only to the babies but also to the mothers, where they are relieved of a few challenges, if not all. 

I can vouch for the new pants by my personal experience. We received a goodie bag and the samples for the new diapers. We were scheduled to go on a vacation soon after the event and without second thoughts, I kept the sample packet with me while travelling. It was by far the most comfortable journey for my 1 and a half year old daughter, which I could make out with the level of her activities. Also, during the entire flight and the road journey, I did not had to change her diaper. 

I have always used Pampers  for my daughter, since she was born, also, tried a few other brands but always got back to Pampers. Now I guess the only diapers I would buy and recommend will be the new Pampers Premium Care #Softestforbabyskin

This blog post is written for the Pampers #SoftestForBabySkin activity in association with BlogAdda

The Maggi Meetup

The Maggi Meetup

One morning Moksh called me from office and asked if we should do a Maggi meet up. I loved the idea but another thing that also crossed my mind, is this what he is thinking about early morning at office? Did he not have his breakfast properly or is he really missing Maggi? Whatever, the reason was, I was totally game for it.

Even though I’m not a big Maggi fan but can imagine the number of people who survive on it. The bachelors, ‘n’ number of Maggi points on the hill stations, the only food kids can cook, while their mothers are away and of course a midnight snack for most of us.

As soon as I floated the idea of doing this meet up on twitter, people started bombarding me with negative comments and were ready to slaughter me. These were the same people who had a stock of Maggi lying in their houses but not consuming it because it suddenly became toxic after the news spread.

We still went ahead with our idea and created a Facebook invite and invited all our friends to our place for a Maggi party. Now another challenge was to find Maggi, as it had been removed from all the stores. One day while walking, Moksh and I saw Maggi hanging in a basket at a very small shop in one corner. On asking the lady there, how she still managed to have it, she replied that her shop was closed the day Nestle guys came to remove the stock. This turned out good for us though and we picked it up from there in bulk.

I am glad I have people on my friend list who support Maggi like we do and they turned up with all the enthusiasm on a Saturday evening. Nobody had a clue about the agenda of this meet up, however, we had planned an activity for them. We made 10 chits with names of different kind of Maggis like Tom Yum, Soupy Maggi, Gujju Maggi, Mix it up etc. We were 14 people in total and made 7 teams, each team picked up one chit and created the Maggi, which was written there.

There were all the possible chopped vegetables, sauces and spices on the table along with boiled Maggi and an induction with a pan. Everybody cheered each team as they came up with their innovation and enjoyed whatever was cooked.

Along side, was the Xbox and the tasting session, to keep everybody engaged. The tasting session after each innovative Maggi, made everybody so full and left no space for dinner. This was the first time, when people were invited to our house and I was not cooking J

The other thing that I found really sweet was that everybody participated whole-heartedly, in true spirits and made it an evening to remember. When we posted pictures on Facebook of the event, many people called us and said that they too would have liked to be a part of it.

I would like to Thank everybody to make this event a success and we look forward to more such evenings.

Teaching Experience in Kanpur

My trip to Kanpur was an awesome experience as it was my love for food and travel combined together! I was offered a 4 days workshop at the GD Goenka school, which was primarily for the mothers of the kids attending summer camp there and of course the teachers, who were present in the school at that time.

I arrived in Kanpur, in the early evening hours and my parents arrived a little before dinner time, to look after Vedika (my daughter) when I would have gone for my sessions in school.

I had an agenda for 4 days of the workshop, which we did not follow keeping the demands of the students in mind. However, the dishes that were taught were simple, less time consuming and could be made by ingredients that were easily available. I could sense the curiosity and eagerness to learn in each one of the parents sitting there to learn more about healthy food for kids. At this time I realised that I am not the only one struggling to feed my daughter. All kids avoid food. 

On Day 1, being the first day, all of us struggled with collating the ingredients, utensils and setting up the kitchen in a classroom. The efforts were successful and we made a Hawaiian Sandwich, Fruit Punch and Oats Kathi Roll. Everybody was really impressed with the way Oats were used, instead of the regular Oats and milk, upama and poha. This evening, we all went out to have chaat, which was not that great but filling enough for us to skip dinner.

Day 2, the audience was more comfortable and much more participative. On this day, we made Sprouty Peanut Tomato Rice, Tikka Parantha Sandwich and Broccoli and Apple salad, which again was enjoyed by each one present there. On this evening the Chairman of the school was kind enough to request one of his friends to show us around the city. He picked us up from the hotel and being a native, he took us to all the non tourist streets of the city. We started our evening with some shopping of artificial leather bags and chikan kurtas at the New Market in Kanpur. Followed by the famous 'Ramswaroop Chaat' at Birhana road, which is surely not to be missed. I do not remember having a better chaat than this one ever. People there also told us that this chaat guy was invited by Ambani for one of his house functions in Mumbai. After this we picked up the famous 'Thaggu Ke Laddu' and had it's 'Badnam Kulfi'. Honestly, I did not like either of it much. We ended our city tour with a visit to the 'Cawnpore Club', which was huge with several dining places, disco, bar, gaming, gym, swimimg pool, play area for kids, coffee shop, huge lawns and majorly all sports. After the club, we were dropped at a friend's place for dinner and then back to the hotel.

Day 3- Healthy Paneer Burger, Nutri Nugget Kebab and The Rose Kulfi was the menu. I had to wind up my session early on this day as the other trainer had to leave on this day and her session was immediately after mine. This evening, we had nothing much planned as the previous day we had covered most of the things to do in Kanpur, we chose to skip the regular tourist places there and visited the JK temple close to the hotel and a local fair, which was too much fun, picking up liitle things at dearth cheap rate.

Day 4- The farewell day. on this day all the dishes were made on demand, including 2 kind of pastas, salsa, sour cream, cheese corn balls, stir fried greens etc. Since, on this day we had a little more time to ourselves, we ended with a small cooking contest for participants and gave out little goodies. After the session, my parents and my daughter joined the principal, chairman and me for lunch at the school and we were bid farewell with loads of gifts. Not to forget another brilliant sweet that we picked up from Kanpur was 'Banarasi Ke Laddoo', the best boondi laddu, one could have.

Overall, a great experience and awesome food :)

Travelling with an Infant

Motherhood is as you take it, for some it can be rosy while a few others just count days to school. I have an 11 months old daughter and I partially fall in both these categories. Apart from the daily challenges, I must say, both my husband (Moksh) and I have had some great times with our daughter. Both of us are extremely fond of food and travel, so is our daughter. At this age too, she senses the outside food and loves to eat. About travelling, she is always happy to go on a drive at any hour. An important part of our family is our little dog 'Milo', who has been a part of most of our travel.
We have experienced travelling by road, ship and flight with the little one Vedika and are yet to experience the train travel. Here are some handy tips to travel with your little one-

1. If travelling by car, try getting your child to sit in the car seat for sometime if not the whole journey. This is important for you too, to stretch your legs and enjoy the drive. A little tip to make your child sit in the car seat is to keep her busy, with music or conversations. Also, give her a biscuit or a toy in her hand to play with.

2. Clothes- Please please do not overburden the child with fancy clothing. The diaper is enough to make the child feel hot. Make her wear clothes, where her body movement is not hindered. A body suit is recommended and if it is winters team it up with Pyjamas and socks. Keep changing the diaper too.

3. Baby essentials- Always remember 'You will have a successful trip, only if your child is comfortable'. Each child's requirements are different, cater to them first. Carry medicines, snacks and little toys to keep her busy.

4. Baby Gear- A pram and a carrier comes really handy. It is difficult to pick the kids up and roam everywhere. A pram lets your baby sleep anywhere, anytime. If you as a couple, want your own time, give the baby her time as well. Also, the airlines allow you to take the stroller till the aircraft, which makes it very convenient. The best part is that, it is not counted as a part of your baggage but carrying it is free of cost :)

5. Choice of destination- Do not choose destinations that are very high on activity. Cover the laid back ones till they turn 5, so that both you and the child have time to relax and do not have to run around. Children are most cranky, when they are sleepy. Make sure they get enough rest.

6. Respect their schedule- I agree its difficult to follow the child's schedule when you are out. Try planning your day as much as possible according to her timings to avoid discomfort to everybody.

7. Travel Light- Most difficult part, but carry bare minimum stuff as its you, who has to pack, roam around with and then unpack. Restrict the number of bags to one or two. Chances of leaving things here and there are very high with the little one.

8. Some items not to be missed- A liquid soap for washing bottles. Even if you do not sterilise them for a few days, its completely Ok. Boil the water in the electric kettle and wash them with it after washing with the soap. A liquid detergent for clothes, do pack the dirty clothes but sometimes the clothes are really dirty to pack. Wash and dry them before putting them back in your suit case. Odomos or any mosquito repellent, for a peaceful sleep and a comfortable evening stroll. An electric kettle, if you are driving down and have no constraint for baggage.

9. Camera- Believe me the best family photos are captured when you are travelling. If you want the best photos of your baby and the family, do not forget to pick up the camera bag.

10. Advance bookings- Very important to have a well planned trip. Make all bookings in advance and check out the hotel websites and amenities before you land there. I have once had a horrible experience because I had not checked on the hotels my travel agent had allotted to us. When you have a child, you need decent places to stay. Home stay can also be taken as your child is bound to feel more comfortable there with company.

I hope you find these points helpful. Also, on another note, do not cut costs on your trip.
Memories of holidays stay forever. A good hotel might increase your budget by 20%-30% but can increase your joy by 100%.
Have a happy and a safe trip!

Together

Beautiful times and beautiful people make beautiful memories. Though, there are many memorable moments including our family holidays, birthdays and anniversaries. However, worth mentioning the memorable day is when I had put up a stall at #TheGreatFoodShow. It was a really  memorable day, because my entire family, including my husband and in laws and helped me put up a great show.
Being a mother of a 10 month old, I am always short on time and have my attention devided at all times. However, I must say that a week before we had started to make preparations and my husband took care of the little one single handedly and gave me enough time to prepare for the event.
The day was really special, firstly because all of us were together and secondly, it was a great weather day. Thanks to Housing.com  that I get to share the experience as a family here and just another cooking experience. We had an elaborate menu with the 'Delhi cuisine' theme. The menu included 'Chandni Chowk Ki Tikki', 'Fresh Rose Kulfi' and 'Refreshing Ginger Lemon Iced Tea'. The entire family got together to work on it. My aunt did the frying of the 'tikkis' and my cousins got busy making the iced tea. My husband and I spent time interacting with the visitors and making them taste the Kulfi, while our daughter was being taken care of by my father-in-law.
Along with being a hobby and passion being followed that day, I think it was a great family picnic. Even though it was not a perfect show put up, we all goofed up little but everybody's energy towards a common goal of making the event success was delightful and really heartening. Apart from the immediate family, great support was shown by our distant family and friends by coming over and appreciating the efforts. We missed our little dog, Milo there, who is a very important part of our lives. I wish all places allowed pets.
I always personally feel, that if we want to have success at work, we need to bring up a happy family too successfully. Most important resource is not money and our tangible assets but it is the peace of  mind and unconditional love and support from the near ones. After the birth of my daughter and her increasing dependence on me, I used to keep wondering, if I will ever be able to work again. However, looking at the family support, it gave me the strength and confidence to start work again and follow my passion of cooking.
Optimism is I guess the first step to a successful career and I am glad that I have already taken the first step. I would like to conclude by saying that we need to create a balance in our work and personal lives. None of the two is more important, rather both of them are equally important and interdependent. 

Start A New Life- Meet The New Housing

I believe in starting a new life everyday. However, I started my new life by moving out of my marriage and getting married to the person I was meant to be with. Apart from absolutely no interaction with my ex husband, I had no complaints with the marriage. I had a great house, two dogs and was running a bakery very successfully. One day I discovered that the man I was living with was at the last stage of a mental disorder called schizophrenia. Even though I did not give up on the marriage at once, after a lot of attempt to make him alright I quit the marriage, on being convinced that the disease was incurable.
Going back to our story, it is as colourful and inspirational as 'Meet the New Housing' and the brilliance further demonstrated through this video.



Moksh and I were supposed to get married in 2009, when he came to Delhi and refused to get married to me. No reasons asked and no reasons giving. It was not the marriage that pinched me but cancelling my admission in a foreign university and most of the marriage shopping already done, pinched me the most. That is when I got married to another man and got separate for obvious reasons.  Meanwhile, Moksh too got married to someone else and got separated as his marriage too did not work.
After I returned to my parents house, I was given full support emotionally and even monetarily. My comfort was taken care of well by them even though I can imagine how shattered they must be on this misadventure in life. This is when I decided to #StartANewLife. I joined an NGO and started working there. At this time, while I was already struggling with my emotions, the upset life and the court dates, I encountered a terrible boss too. I still managed to survive in the job for 3 months and quit the job too after being extremely fed up of it. The very next day Moksh came to our house, while travelling to Dehradun for his court hearings. At this time, my father came up with the idea of me setting up his office in Delhi. Very reluctantly I cam with my brother to Mumbai to understand his work and starting afresh in Delhi. During this course of time, he floated the idea of being together again. It did not come as a shock but as a surprise and the doubt of something being fishy, that why now? No decision was taken at this time, but after his several visits to Delhi and after our divorces came through we decided to ties the knot and start a new life.
Now we are together, with a lovely daughter and working towards owning our house. Hopefully through The New Housing

Look Up Stories- Housing and optimism

'Be optimistic' is what everybody has been telling us since childhood. Day in and day out, we live in hope of certain things changing, happening and somethings we adjust with. The most important of all is to have an optimistic outlook. 

Owning a house brings in the optimism, the reason being once we own the house, we are sorted on the major possesion and necessity in life. After owning the house we can concentrate on the other things in our life like family, work, friends and of course our hobbies. However, it may sound simple, but owning a house is not a days work, it might take years together. The New Housing.com promises to take care of the real estate and we do not have to wait for the next 10 years to fulfil our dreams. 

Remember the master card advertisement? "There are somethings money can't buy, but for everything else there is master card". I had seen this ad as a child but till today it has an impact.

Let us concentrate and make time for things that need our personal touch and not just the money. Our jobs define our job responsibility but we need to define our responsibilities towards our family ourselves.

We surely do not wish to gift only toys to our children while they grow up. We need to gift them a secure future. Owning a house is bound to bring a smile to your family's face today and after many years.

My story of optimism is the birth of my daughter. The day she was born, I made a promise to myself that my child will never have to worry about the basic necessities in life but concentrate on her studies and build a healthy life and relations for herself. Both me and my husband, have started working towards it. We buy gold coins and have even started saving for a house. Being optimistic is not just a term to be followed, working on the future automatically brings the feeling of optimism in our hearts. 

The way she responds to our conversations and the way she is growing by learning several things herself and showing signs of being independent brings joy to us. Gone are the days, when daughters were only supposed to be taught house work, given basic education and got her married. Today even the girls wish to own a house, be independent and at par with the men in the society.

I would urge everybody, to take up the initiative of owning a house seriously and bring a smile to your family's face. The feeling of being secure is the best gift we can give to anybody. Our family definitely deserves that gift. 

An evening to remember at #VikhroliCucina

Let me start by saying that #VikhroliCucina has been one of the best evenings spent over food, wine,conversations, celebrities and many other interesting people. Also, a big 'Thank You' to Sujit Patil, Director Communications, Godrej for inviting us at the event.

For the last two years, I have been making unsuccessful attempts to visit the Friday Fundas at Godrej and so was even more thrilled to visit this event.

I assume, children are usually not a part of the events at Godrej and I was a little apprehensive to attend the event with our 9 month old daughter Vedika. But the entire team welcomed us warmly and Vedika too greeted everybody with her ever beautiful smile. 

The very well planned event kicked off with a food game, where chef Vicky Ratnani picked up chits with the bloggers names and called out 5 of them to guess the names of the food ingredients while being blindfolded. Surely, one needed really puissant senses and a thorough knowledge of food. Guess what whose name was it first? It was my husband Moksh Juneja   who is a big foodie but limits his cooking to eggs and cocktails. We cannot expect a guy to guess the name of a leaf by touching and a powder by its smell, so I think he was quite a sport to participate in the game.

This was followed by various other activities like the cooking competition, vegetable cutting for bloggers and other guessing games. Godrej's wide range of household products were displayed for the guests to experience. Apart from the team at Godrej, we met the celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor along with his wife, Chef Michael Swamy and chef Harpal Singh Sokhi. All the chefs mingled around with guests and the bloggers and everybody was enjoying the special moments with them.

The Yummy console was a hit with all the guests, where they took their selfies and uploaded on twitter. Here is my #Yumfie

Coming to my best favourite part, the food was great. Did not take pictures in the pure excitement of tasting of over 20 kind of cheese and mouth watering starters. Being a vegetarian, did not taste all the dishes but the ones I did, were scrumptious. The well crafted desserts included crepes and Tiramisu, which were equally delectable.

Here are a few more pictures of the event and I wish the Godrej team Best of Luck and many more successful events like the #VikhroliCucina

Last but not the least the goodie bag