Cooking experiments...

Being on a paid vacation has its advantages and disadvantages.. Sheer boredom, and a feeling of being a total waste are the disadvantages (how sad that we need work and lots of it to feel validated and happy and appreciated! :(), but to counter these feelings, you try to come up with things that can keep you busy.. And that can be an advantage, if not directly to you, at least to your family :)

These days, with so little work (almost nil), I have taken to cooking. I actually just keep looking for recipes that I can try at home.. And out of that need of validation / appreciation / ways of killing time / whatever it is, I have ended up making quite a few recipes that I had never tried before, although they are pretty simple in reality..

Gulachi Poli - Maharashtrian recipe: Jaggery stuffed inside wheat chapati
Nachni che ladoo
Veg puffs (with spinach stuffing and potato stuffing) - yummy recipe for a quick breakfast or snack
Parle G biscuits Cake - I was absolutely bowled over by the simplicity of its ingredients
Missi puri
Tilgul ladoo
Udeed daliche vade
Shankarpale
Karanji
Chivda
Pakatle chirote
Modak
Methiche parathe
Carrot + Lauki parathe
Ghavachi kheer (made out of Wheat Daliya)
....

Best 10 mins. of the day!

Don't get me wrong.. I absolutely adore my almost 2 year old son, and actually start missing him immediately after I have dropped him to his daycare. But still, the best 10 mins. of my day, these days, is that time - time spent in my son's daycare when dropping him off..

And why not? Cheerful, happy, smiling, excited, gorgeous faces! Happy just in the moment, no agenda, no reasons to be happy and to smile. Welcoming teachers, who seem to just love the job, seeing my son enter into the toddler room and look around for his favorite toys, his fish, give a warm hug to his teacher.. His fellow toddlers going "Raam, Raam, Raam", the minute they see my son.. Such a promising start of the day. It feels like there is absolutely nothing wrong with the world, and nothing can go wrong in the world..

I am truly blessed to have found a great daycare for my son, and it has made me wonder multiple times, what fun it would be to just be surrounded by kids this age all day long, I am almost tempted to give up my software desk job, and take the plunge into daycare / teaching business! Or at least I have wished multiple times what it would take for us adults to have that quality back again in our lives - to love whole-heartedly, to forget so quickly, and just be happy in the present!