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Tuesday 26 January 2016

Barista style coffee at home ...

Australian's are some of the most passionate coffee drinkers or so I have heard. Even in a small café, you can be surprised by freshly poured latte decorated with amazing patterns. It would be a sin if I don't go to cafe's staying in Australia . wouldn't it ? .. And my husband Mr.S has always  so generously accompanied me although he doesn't drink coffee at all :P

Look who I caught loving coffee just like me.. Maria Sharapova. She said so after her match that Melbourne coffees are the best .. hahaha.. Isn't that nice to hear. I am yet to try coffee at different cafe's of Melbourne .. I am not far Melbourne - soon I shall come :P




Q. You run a company where flavors are a big deal. You gave a big shout out to Melbourne coffee. Talk about coffee houses around the world.
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I'm a big foody. I love to eat. I love to explore new restaurants. The food culture has always been an interest of mine. That's something whenever I go to a new city I like to kind of experience different foods, find different cafes.
The cafes here and coffee places are really up to par, they're really good.
 
 

My efforts to bring café standard coffees home ( without pinching your pocket ) has never diminished. I keep researching on how to bring the taste and texture of café coffees into your kitchen. Well, we keep discussing about the best coffee powders ( key ingredient ) every now and then . Apart from the coffee powder that you use , there is one other gadget that could bring café coffee home. It is a standalone milk frother. Remember, its all about getting there in a frugal way (atleast for me ..) . You don't have to invest in an expensive coffee machine.. A simple small gadget would do.


    



           
You get battery operated ones which are cheap and electric frother at different ranges. It is wise to invest in a good frother if you are going to drink more coffee ( like me ) .. It adds that famous froth of cappuccino into your cup of java.. If you love the lattes and cappuccino's , this gadget is a definite must..

I am sure a lot of you might say, " Oh, I was expecting some secret tip .. and you are telling the obvious" . Yeah, I am telling you this now because I recently stumbled on it and fell in love with it.. Like a child wanting to flaunt its new found talent, I was just waiting to tell you all.. That's all...

With the entry of this new boy ( a Lavazza milk frother ) in my kitchen, the amount of coffee that I drink at home has definitely increased .. Truly.. I mean , who wouldn't want to watch a movie or read a book with a creamy cappuccino in their hand .. I am off to watch " Spectre " with a freshly brewed home made café style coffee... I didn't like Daniel Craig as James Bond ( still don't like :P ) .. Hence  didn't watch any of his bond movies ...This is the first .. Hope I like it .. or whatever .. movie and coffee , what more do I want :P

So ok people , bye bye for now and meet you all soon with a book review ( been long time isn't it ..)
 

Thursday 21 January 2016

Lost in the Austen world ...

I am more than a month late for this post.. It was due on the 16th of December.. It was Jane Austen's birthday.. One of my all time favourite novelist.. Anybody who loves reading English classics or romantic fiction would never miss her novel.. Better late than never and there is no set time to celebrate her , specially because I absolutely adore her.. I read somewhere, Jane Austen would  have easily been the Aunty Acid of her era.. hahaha... isn't that so true because of her wonderfully witty one liners.. In fact , only after reading that I was inspired to do this post..



 
 
 
 
Pride and prejudice is my most favourite of hers ( who wouldn't like it yaar? ) .. Haven't we all fancied Darcy and his Pemberly estate ? I certainly did :P ..to the extent that I even have thought about decorating the sprawling English Manor houses.. Wealthy, emotionally stunted snob became ideal men ...Well, who can forget the rain soaked Darcy's proposal dialogue :P



Reading Jane Austen's is like living in a fantasy world in which everyone is polite and everything always ends well .. Her female lead characters are so crazy in a beautiful way that you instantly relate to them. Her novels are my first introductions to romantic novels .. Very posh and elegant..

This post made me feel nostalgic.. Alright, gonna grab a cup of coffee, some snacks and put my feet up to read Pride and Prejudice ... Thanks to Jane Austen for all the unending , dreamy and relaxed evenings that she created in my life :-)

Saturday 16 January 2016

Coffee is my muse !!!

Why do weekends finish faster than the weekdays ? ( Isn't that what everybody feels eh? ) .. Everybody needs their muse to keep them going .. My hubby Mr. S needs his dose of cricket ( any sport for that matter .. ) , some need entertainment like movies , music etc..My muse is my coffee. ( no doubt about it :D ) ..yes, the caffeine kicks in some lovely thoughts and I truly agree to Cafe Coffee Day's tag line " A lot can happen over a coffee ".. With coffee in my hand I am unstoppable.. ( hahah .. nonstop nonsense :P )


Image courtesy : http://www.zazzle.com
 
               
Something caught my attention last week and that was what I was musing over this weekend ..Did you read about Jennifer Lawrence's comment ( outburst) about smartphone use at the Golden Globes? Apparently The Hunger Games heroine J-Law had chided a reporter for using his smartphone at the Golden Globes press call.

 

I saw the entire video and it doesn't sound that bad after all but some feel J-Law was quite rude and some pointed out that the reporter sounded foreign and was may be using his phone to translate the question.  She has been criticised for this and this act of hers called for a lot of disagreement. The social media can sometimes be so unforgiving ..

I like J-Law .. Very spontaneous and humorous.. She could have put it in a different way even if it bothered her , considering she is a celebrity.. But for a person like me who speaks my heart out even before my head could process the thought , she was ok.. Both of them took it in a stride and they laughed and she answered the next question without any hesitation.. ( why trouble the 25 year old too much on her remark man !!! )

Whether she was right or wrong in saying that , rude or quirky ? I don't know . Sometimes I feel its ok and sometimes , it could have been better phrased.. I was just looking beyond the situation. What she said made more sense to me .. She said " You cant live your life behind your phone bro " .. That is so true.. That is my New Year Resolution and she kinda gave an apt one liner to it :P ( read the post about my resolution and you will know.. )

What is your muse and what was your weekend musing? Feel free to share with me :-) and btw whatever I said about Jennifer Lawrence and her comments were my personal opinion and you can have yours :)


This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.





 

Wednesday 13 January 2016

My Books to read list 2016 :-)

Books have always been my coffee companion. Sometimes it might be because the story or the content of the book was compelling or sometimes I had no choice but to read :P .. Ya, those are times when you have no friends around or no true listener .. Whatever may the case, books are lovely to be with..
 
I did not read enough books last year although my lovely understanding son did gimme some spare time.. I used all that time to watch movies .. I watched tonnes of movies ( good and bad ) with my movie buff husband.. I don't regret a minute of that lovely time spent watching stuff :D
 
Hence, I decide to read more this year .. A list always helps me .. I have a list for everything :P .. Here goes my list of books that I wish to read for 2016. The list is not complete and it doesn't mean that's what I am gonna read and nothing else .. It means these are what I intend to read along with a few other books that come my way..I shall definitely blog reviews of all the books I read. 

I was here by Gayle Foreman - After reading 2 of this American writer's book last year, I wouldn't mind reading another.
Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella - She is my favourite chic lit author. This British author has made me smile her books.
Memory Man by David Baldacci - Oh, this man has always one of the most important fiction hero. haha..I have not read his books for about 3 years now.. Time to start again :-)
See Me by Nicholas  Sparks - He was the one who taught me romance :P .. His novels have been full of love and passion. There is always time to read a good love story.
Yes Please - Amy Poehler - I started reading it after knowing Amy is the voice of Joy in Inside Out. Will soon let you know how it is .
God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson - I am not a fan of war movies / books . But this one is classed as one of 2015's best books. Hence will attempt it.
Sevennes by Neal Stephenson ..This is also told as one of the best of 2015.. Let me try to squeeze this in.
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt is a Pulitzer prize winner.
 
I am a sucker for self help books. Essentialism by Greg McKeown, etter than before by Gretchin Rubin and It was me all along by Andie Mitchell are in my list.

There are a few blogs that held my interest last year and I absolutely loved them . I will continue to follow them this year.
 
Andie Mitchell's  blog turned site http://www.andiemitchell.com/
Gina Homolks 's Skinny taste http://www.skinnytaste.com/
Parita's My Inner Shakthi http://www.myinnershakti.com/
Ali's gimme some oven after trying one of her succulent chicken recipe  http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/ 
Jenny's Urban poser for gluten free living http://theurbanposer.com/

I might be over ambitious in the list. Hope I atleast read half of what is on it.. I shall keep you posted. 

Wednesday 6 January 2016

New Year , New Things ...

Happy 2016 !!! With the new year comes new things and new ways of being, at least for me. I love starting afresh, new vision board, new journal, new goals. Everywhere you hear about resolutions and goals for 2016 ... I kinda like the idea of new year resolution as I strongly believe there is always room for improvement and achievement.. Isn't that true ?

 Last year had been a rude awakening in terms of health for me .. So the first thing I did this year is include exercise into my daily routine :-) .. Last year I concentrated so much on weightloss. I think I have managed to come in terms with it now.. ( not completely happy but yeah ok ... :P ) . This year I have shifted my focus from weightloss to healthy living. It is more like a change in life style rather than just dieting to reduce set number of kilos.. I will post more about this in future if it works for me :P

Resolutions are usually make-believe aspirations to be someone better than myself . Looking deeply within , I think I have loads to improve. Resolutions are just simple ways for me to focus on what needs to be improved :P ..oh ok ok .. Let me stop the gyan. am sure you will start feeling like your reading your newspaper article on resolutions :P


 


The above quote was by John C. Maxwell and he is so right.. When you really want to change something or achieve something , add it to your daily routine.. Works like a charm :-) . Some of the important learnings I want to do this year is car driving and swimming.. I swim but I am a pathetic swimmer. Those two are going to be the major focus this year .. Here we go, I said it .. I said it to you all and hence I have to achieve it ;-)

One other important resolution of mine this year is to reduce my social media time. Often at home we catch ourselves browsing Facebook or other social media sites simply out of boredom. Meanwhile, personal interactions, home chores, and other tasks are ignored as we succumb to endless news feeds. It could be informative and helpful at the same time be more of a distraction. So my resolution this year is to reduce my time on social media sites.. As a first step , I have removed twitter and facebook app on my smart phone.. Trust me , it has halved the time that I spend on them.. I am growing closer to my goal .. hahaha ( so soon ..)

I have a lot of small things that need to changed , need to be achieved .. all falling under constant improvement category ( like reading more books .. )  and needs to reviewed every now and then .. A planner would certainly help.. I don't like the usual ones with just month , dates, appointments .. I like it to have space to scribble down anything.. I usually turn a plain fancy decorated notebook into my diary.. Do you guys have any ideas of planners ? Have you found any good ones which are not pricey ? Please let me know .. I love them ..

Have fun choosing your goals and resolutions this year.. All the best to you all to achieve each and every one of them.. Are your goals similar to that of mine ?