Deepavali Special: Chocolate Burfi

Yes, I know this post is coming in a bit late. I would have liked to publish this post on Friday but considering I only came around to making this sweet dish yesterday, that would have been out of the question 😀

So, you may know that me and traditional Indian sweets aren't the best of friends. In my more than 10 years of blogging, there are about 4 Indian/sort of Indian sweet dishes that have found their way to the blog. I probably eat them only 2-3 times a year and that is only because of a festival or special occasion that necessitates the action and definitely not driven by any kind of craving 😛

Every year when Ganesh Chaturthi and Deepavali rolls around the corner, my social media feed gets flooded with beautiful images of homemade Indian sweets. Beautiful burfis, luscious laddoos, pleasing puddings and dainty desserts.....it is a treat for sore eyes. Visuals and aromas of ghee, saffron, cardamom, pistachios, rose water and coconut start flooding my senses. Even though I am not a big fan of these sugary treats myself, the fear of missing out does push me to at least make an effort.

This Deepavali, I chose an easy (of course it HAS to be easy otherwise I wouldn't do it) sweet to celebrate the occasion. Whenever I start making an Indian dessert, I never sure if it is going to turn out decent or not. I have had a considerable share of failures that have made me weary of the whole exercise. So I told myself that if it turned out good, I would put it out there. If not for anyone else but my future self.

This chocolate burfi is easy to make, has only a handful of ingredients, tastes nice and is great for gifting.

If I can pull this off then literally anyone can.

Happy Deepavali folks. Let there be light 💥

Book review: The Wayward Pines Trilogy by Blake Crouch

I had heard about Wayward Pines several years ago (from the husband....no surprise there) so it had been on my reading list for a while. Before I read the books, I made the mistake of watching a few episodes of FOX’s TV adaptation (which in hindsight, hasn't stayed completely true to the books) so I had a basic idea about the premise. If you are a mystery buff or a lover of science fiction, I feel like you will be able to enjoy this series much more if you have no idea what it is about. Trust me, for the uninitiated, the shock value will be pretty high. Now, if you have never heard of Wayward Pines, that statement may deter you from reading this review but I promise not to ruin it (too much) for you.

This is the first book of Blake Crouch that I have read. Blake Crouch released the Wayward Pines trilogy over the course of three years.  Pines in 2012, Wayward in 2013, and The Last Town in 2014.

***Plot***

US Secret Service agent Ethan Burke wakes up with transient amnesia in a strange town after a near-fatal accident. He is injured, disoriented and has a sinister feeling about the bucolic town of Wayward Pines he finds himself in. It feels oddly familiar yet so disquieting. The idyllic town of Idaho has clear blue skies, pristine Victorian houses framed by white picket fences, quaint stores, picture-perfect mountains and verdant pine forests all of which scream paradise but it is impossible to ignore the gnawing feeling that in this quintessential small American town, something is very off. With no one to help him or answer his questions and his memory failing him, he is completely alone. Where is his ID and cell phone? Why hasn’t his wife and son come for him? Why do the residents of the town view him with such contempt? Why are there no cars on the road? Why does nobody ever leave? Why do the phones not work the way they are supposed to? Why does the main road that leads out of town loop back right into town? And most ominous of all, what is the purpose of the huge electrified fence circling the town? Is it to keep residents from leaving or to prevent someone or something from entering?

Once his memory comes back to him, the burning questions on Ethan’s mind - how has a mission that began with tracking down his missing colleagues ended up like this? And more importantly, how does he get out of this place? 

Ethan has to battle with the complexities of the human psyche, conflicting personal feelings, a hostile environment, the constant risk of death, a murderous psychopath and a controlling megalomaniac before he can arrive at some answers and uncover the frightening truth.

One that no one wants to hear.