A Christmas cake..Bake it ot leave it!

I promised to bake a cake for Arnos school Christmas dinner...which is tomorrow..TOMORROW!!!

Since you have been my dear readers for a while and you know me....(Ok if not me, atleast my love for baking ), you have every right to ask,

WHAT ON EARTH were you  thinking when you made this promise?

I have the same question.

I started off by gathering "requirements" from my little customer..
Me:    Arno , what kind of cake do you want me to bake for school?
Arno: What CAN you bake?                    (Careful! Customer is small but highly focused!)
Me:    I can bake a Ricotta cheese cake (I feel proud of myself once again just by saying it)
Arno: nah....(Thinks for a minute).....Can you bake a Chocolate cake? 

This is serious. A whole chocolate cake. On my own.
I discussed this with some friends. One of them, B, kindly promised to send me a recipe. I got a mail within minutes..The subject said "Christmas cake recipe" . I was happy. This friend radiates confidence so I felt confident already...enough not to open the mail but keep it for later.Two days back, I thought its good to buy the ingredients and keep in store so that all I need to do on the day is open the recipe and get going..get baking, I mean.
So I opened the mail. Here is what it said:

Christmas Cake Recipe

You will require:
1 cup of water
1 cup of sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups of dried fruit
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of brown sugar
lemon juice
walnuts/almonds
1 bottle whisky

Method
Sample the whisky to check for quality.
Take a large bowl. Check the whisky again.
To be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink immediately.
Turn on the electric mixer, beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add one spoontea of sugar and beat again.
Make sure the whisky is still OK. Cry another tup.
Turn off the mixer. Break two leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.
Mix on the turner. If the fruit gets stuck in the beaters, pry it loose with a drewscriver.
Sample the whisky again to check for tonsisticity.
Next, sift two cups of salt, or something. Who cares?
Check the whisky.
Now sift the lemon juice and strain the nuts.
Add one babblespoon of drown sugar or whatever colour you can find. Wix mell. Grease the oven. Turn the cake pan to 350 gredees.
Don't forget to beat the turner.
Thrown the bowl out of the window.
Check the whisky again and go to bed.

$$%#$%%!%%!@$#!!!

B.....B.....B ..where are you? Yeah, yeah he is already on vacation ..........

I have to leave now .....get stuff for my real chocolate cake which I need to bake tonight...the dinner is tomorrow. If it turns out to be a chocolate cake or anything that might pass off with that name then I will come back with my recipe.
(B , you do not get a single slice!)
 

Meanwhile, 

Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New year to all of you.....

Have fun, enjoy and stay safe.

Note: The Husband kindly volunteered to try out this recipe.....

A Riddle .

Forty Bengalis are put together in a house for 2 days.  What do they do?

Scroll down for the answer.
;-)

Meanwhile I give you some hints. 

Hint 1:If you are a Bengali yourself then you should have answered even before I completed the question.

No?

Hint 2:Although we are known to be a race who believes in "torko" (debate and discussion)  over anything and everything..this is one such subject where all Bengalis are united like the "United" states of America.

Bad joke, I know. But could not help it.

Still no??? more hints..okok...the last one.
 Hint 3:

..our weakness.

..our passion.

..our culture

..our identity

..our love.

......correct! Full 10 points!

The answer is : They EAT.....Food is the correct answer!
We ate and ate and ate.......The reason that I have so much information is because I was one of the forty!!

The weekend break in Belgium was designed to celebrate the success of Durga puja. Absolutely fantastic concept, wonderful choice of location, perfect company, impeccable arrangements and ...and ...and LOADS OF FOOD.
There was no no-food moment in those 48 hours. We ate as we talked...we ate as we cooked..we ate as we sang..we ate as we danced..we ate continuously.We do have something to say in our defence, though. The weather was very bad...cold....gloomy..rainy.. So even though outdoors it was really beautiful landscape..we had to stay in...and EAT!

Room one: The kitchen. Evening.

The kitchen is always room number 1 for Bengalis. This is where all the action is.  Some are busy estimating the amount of food that needs to be cooked, some are busy counteracting their estimates with "nono, thats too much" or "last time we made more" or " I hate wasting food", some are silent listeners with a smile on their face saying "carry on, I know finally I have to do it", some are "hands on"--looking for knives to start chopping the onions...some are busy stimulating their brain cells by a whiff of smoke just outside the kitchen door...some are very serious in their job(they even have the chef cap on)...some are busy commenting from far....all men.

The women are pretty relaxed...they are not cooking...one mail I sent last time with this proposal (let the men cook) and it is now cast in stone. The men serve the wine...the women relax with a glass in hand. A round of antaksri starts...more people join in...someone serves the snacks from the oven...someone lights the gas to fry more...someone is looking for the "right" sauce..someone says something which no one hears.....
...perfect relaxation!!!

Room two: Dining hall-cum dance floor

This huge room though originally meant for dining served many purposes. On demand it got transformed to the dance floor complete with dim lights...or as the poetry recital room ...or to a quick ta-ichi classroom....or a random gossip corner.
When the music is ON....you HAVE to dance! Some are dancing with a variety of steps, some are using the same steps for a variety of songs...not caring whether it is "Munni badnaam" or a  "Senorita"..Some want to do belly dancing...for some their belly dance even if they dont want it to...some focus on music..some have no clue which music is playing...some cross manly borders as they perform to Umrao jaan, some show steps that no Saroj Khan can dream of..
A few are taking full advantage of the dim lights and dozing away to glory..
...amazing entertainment!!!

Room three: Family room.

This room is occupied by the children. Some are running around (off course aimlessly)...some are planning to play hide and seek(the house is too big)..some are busy watching movies on the laptop (the show never ends as long as parents are dancing)..some are engrossed in their nintendo gadgets (heads bent, face serious)...some are hungry...some sleepy..

...restless innocence!!!

Room one:Kitchen. Morning.

Some people just woke up..rummaging through supplies looking for tea....last nights dance-and-drink effect still lingering on.....someone wants to eat an omelette...that triggers a certain omellete-making-spree which ends only when there are no more eggs to break..the omelette-maker thinks he is Keanu Reeves in SPEED...if he stops the sky comes crashing down...the ready made omelettes vanish as soon as they touch the plate...some start talking about the lunch menu...others shut them up....more people wake up and wander into the kitchen...more tea...more omelletes....

...hungry madness!!!

My intention was to post the recipe of the wonderful mutton curry the chefs cooked that evening...but..the chefs themselves dont remember any more what they put in...actually they dont remember ANYTHING...
;-)

All this and more made it so interesting..... yearning for more.........



Note:Special thanks to photographers Ruby and Dhritiman