Battle Hymns, Fundamentalism and other stories- 2015 Reading Challenge

Finished the Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother today. It's an interesting book, funny and poignant. I was definitely not shocked, outraged or anything else of that sort, that's probably cause I am "Asian" in a manner of speaking. It was more about the difficult relationships that mothers and daughters have with each other, especially during those angsty teenage years. I guess I am more like the younger daughter- I gave up on learning an instrument and on learning classical dance, which my mother would have liked. A refreshing tongue in cheek look at rebellion and control.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist- This was a book I went back to. The first time I read it, it did not go down well with me and I gave up on it. There is something about the cadence of this book. You need to be in a certain frame of mind to read this book. It puts forth the changes that the so called bourgeois undergo  when they move to a new country and how a disaster can make you take action in unforeseen ways, urging you to return to your roots. It is a confusing, cheeky and weirdly funny book.  

I have previously read only one book of Jostein Gaarder. I should thank a neighbor of mine for the introduction to Sophie' s World. Gripping bite sized chunks of philosophy suitable for consumption by all ages is the best descriptor I can apply to his writing. The Solitaire mystery explores destiny, family and all philosophy surrounding the dimensions in which we exist. With strong veins of Greek philosophy and ideas running through it, we follow Hans Thomas on a quest of self discovery and an understanding of the world around us and the mystery of our creation.

Now I am switching between three more books- Gora by Rabindranath Tagore, The Photograph by Penelope Lively and Running through the family by Ondaatje. 

A hard Sunday's work

What better to start a Sunday Morning than Truffles

The chocolates I like the best are Belgian Chocolates and the ones I can eat any number of are chocolate truffles. Truffles are the creamiest and most melt in the mouth chocolates I have ever had. Even when I was a cash strapped student on an exchange trip in Europe, I found money to bring back quite a few boxes of chocolate truffles from Belgium.

So last week when a chocolate craving occurred simultaneously with a cooking bug, I decided to make my own. When I went hunting for chocolate truffle recipes, I found a blog with a bunch of easy to use recipes with clear instructions. It's called ' How to Cook That' and has a bunch of recipes that I would like to try out later. However, the one which I used seemed idiot proof enough for me to follow without any disasters occurring. :). This one was from Simply Recipes.com.

So I went with standard flavoring that's vanilla, you can substitute with a bunch of alcoholic/ non alcoholic extracts or solids like mint and such.  The coating was with cocoa powder and grated nuts (walnuts, pista and almonds).

So you will need:

1/2 cup Cream ( you can use heavy cream if you get it, I just used fresh cream)

226 grams Chocolate chips ( I used the last of my Ghirardelli milk chocolate ones- you can use semi sweet or bitter sweet if you like ) 

1 tsp of vanilla extract 

Cocoa powder

Assorted nuts

How to make it:

Place the cream in a heavy bottomed pan and bring to the boil. 

If you plan to add solid flavoring like cinnamon or mint, add at this point. Once you bring the cream off the stove, strain it and take the cream. Bring to the boil again and proceed with the recipe. If adding extract, do so at the next step.

Place the chocolate chips into another bowl and pour the cream onto the chocolate. Mix gently to melt and combine the chocolate. If it does not melt and combine completely, use the double boiler method to create a smooth ganache.

Add the flavouring now and combine well.

Place the mixture in the refrigerator for 2 hours until it solidifies. 

Spoon out small quantities and roll into balls or other shapes. 

Allow to set again overnight this time in the refrigerator.

The next morning coat the truffles in grated nuts or cocoa powder thoroughly and consume or store up to a week in the fridge for later consumption.

Don't forget to take pictures to show off these deceptively professional looking and tasting yet amazingly easy to make truffles!

Let it go

Writer's Block- Then and Now