Introduction

Well,as a beginning,I thought I should tell you all about how this passion for baking stirred in me.

I was about 8 yrs old then.There was a fair in our school and in one of the games,the prize was an exquisitely baked and decorated cake.

Now,this cake was made my Mrs.Prasanna Chandran,my biology teacher in class Tenth.She was known for her cakes in our school as well as the local community.

I was really impressed by that cake.It was decorated with white icing,with ribbons, sugar flowrers and small silver balls.How unfortunate that I donot have a picture of the cake that inspired me!But that day,my mother won the game and the prize cake came home with us.

Since then,I have always wanted to bake.I remember we used to have a round glass top oven sold by Paramount.It was electric,but in those days,with the frequent power cuts and low voltage problems,our cakes were not really perfect,but we liked them anyway!

When I was studying in secondary school,I started helping my sister make birthday cakes for us.We were three girls,so three cakes a year were a must.

In class 9th,I graduated to making the whole cake myself.It was a thrilling experience to see the cake rise and brown to a perfect golden colour.I baked biscuits too later on as the years passed by.

I would collect recipes wherever I could find them.Most were from the newspaper The Telegraph which would publish simple recipes in their sunday edtions.I wonder if they still do that,these days.

After I got married,I went to the US to join my husband.There I got a good opprtunity to try out new recipes.My husband was, (and still is)very forgiving,and never uttered a rude comment even if the recipes did not turn out perfect.I did have my share of failures and frustrations,but there you go,unless you experiment,how can you learn?

And as they say,experience is the best teacher.So,here I am today, having mastered a few recipes,still trying out new ones, and looking for more information on baking.

I do hope I have not saddled you down with my childhood memories.

I will be posting recipes soon,so don't forget to come back.