What embarrasses us today will probably make us laugh tomorrow. Probably. There's really no cure for foot in the mouth syndrome; otherwise all those socially awkward moments would just cease and the world would be less amusing in general!
I just read that perhaps humans are the only species which can blush and will blush and it's supposed to make some bizarre evolutionary sense; in "A Brief tour of Consciousness" Dr. V.S. Ramachandaran alludes to the fact that a woman blushes implying that she will not be able to hide anything from the man she loves! I'm still laughing about it! The people I've usually seen blush in semi-romantic situations (if I may use this word to describe the seeming crushes and half-crushes etc.); it's usually the teenagers who blush more! And we know that is definitely not what evolution planned!
I have been thinking about a lot of my embarrassing moments...why go through a painful exercise such as that! Simply for laughs! Whether it was school/junior college/ medical college; I have absolutely no dearth of those moments which really make me wonder what was I thinking or not! Well, I guess at least I can laugh at them but now the dilemma is how do I avoid them or should I? Since they are such a fantastic source of entertainment; why would I give up on them? :) Of course and everyone gets a good laugh out of them too but not at the same time as me; I just have the last laugh! :)
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Happily ever after; you've got to be kidding!
Why do movies and fair tales try to sell the whole happily ever after concept? It's a little unfair to all children and to people who refuse to grow up. First, you can be happy and then you can be happy but happily ever after? Ever after what? And isn't happiness a dynamic state? It's not a state achieved and kept. It is something you define to change as you change and as your circumstances change. So, it's happy now and again with some caveats. And it would be nice to let the naive in us know that sooner than later, right? Secondly, you can't just be happy. You have to work at it and for it. So, it would probably take away a little bit of the pain of growing up. It wouldn't be like a harsh reality if you were prepared for it but if you believe that fair tales exist as a child; then you have to suffer from the shock of their non-existence. And children are growing up faster than we would like them to and some of them are just born grown-ups. If we told things like they were, wouldn't life become simpler for all children growing up today? Does it make anyone jaded if they know that fair tales don't exist? Perhaps not. Believing in fair tales doesn't make you an optimist; it only hurts you to realize that it's not the truth. They need to get updated too! The Grimm Brothers did a great job "once upon a time" but not any more and there are no fairy tales which were meant to last forever! Time for some fresh change for sure.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Jana Gana Mana
As a little child,
Had to buy a paper flag or two;
Sing Jana Gana Mana standing very still;
Look at the flag unfurled and flying high
Not knowing what the lyrics meant;
And still feeling all that pride.
I knew that this freedom came with a price.
I knew many had lost their lives less than a century ago;
I knew I couldn't repay this debt.
And yet, I was happy to say-
Happy Independence day!
Then I'd hear the sordid tales
What has India come to?
Desh ka kya hoga...
We are so old and yet so young.
Is it fair to be so hard on ourselves?
Of course, we will make our mistakes
Of course, we will be stupid.
Being the world's largest democracy,
Being home to a third of humanity,
Being the birthplace of civilization,
of zero, of Sanskrit and Tamil,
Means so much responsibility.
Of course, we have our poverty, our diseases and pain,
Of course, we have our corruption, communal disharmony, consumerism and vanity
But we are growing up and there's too much insanity.
Let us be, world; let us understand our freedom.
You know, we will some day be that guiding force again
For now, we are trying to find our bearings.
As we celebrate yet another birthday today,
Let us taste the sweetness of our freedom
And the myriad flavours of our diversity.
Let us sing Jana, Gana, Mana again;
Feeling just as proud as we were; when we were younger;
But now knowing what the lyrics mean;
And knowing well that we have a long way to go.
English Translation of Jana Gana Mana:
O! Dispenser of India's destiny, thou art the ruler of the minds of all people[8]
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, the Maratha country,
in the Dravida, Utkala and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
it mingles in the rhapsodies of the pure waters of Yamuna and Ganga
They chant only thy name.
They seek only thy auspicious blessings.
They sing only the glory of thy victory.
The salvation of all people waits in thy hands,
O! Dispenser of India's destiny, thou art the ruler of the minds of all people
Victory to thee, Victory to thee, Victory to thee,
Victory, Victory, Victory, Victory to thee!
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jana_Gana_Mana)
This version of our National anthem gave me goosebumps and my eyes welled up:
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftD3gDA-5S0)
Had to buy a paper flag or two;
Sing Jana Gana Mana standing very still;
Look at the flag unfurled and flying high
Not knowing what the lyrics meant;
And still feeling all that pride.
I knew that this freedom came with a price.
I knew many had lost their lives less than a century ago;
I knew I couldn't repay this debt.
And yet, I was happy to say-
Happy Independence day!
Then I'd hear the sordid tales
What has India come to?
Desh ka kya hoga...
We are so old and yet so young.
Is it fair to be so hard on ourselves?
Of course, we will make our mistakes
Of course, we will be stupid.
Being the world's largest democracy,
Being home to a third of humanity,
Being the birthplace of civilization,
of zero, of Sanskrit and Tamil,
Means so much responsibility.
Of course, we have our poverty, our diseases and pain,
Of course, we have our corruption, communal disharmony, consumerism and vanity
But we are growing up and there's too much insanity.
Let us be, world; let us understand our freedom.
You know, we will some day be that guiding force again
For now, we are trying to find our bearings.
As we celebrate yet another birthday today,
Let us taste the sweetness of our freedom
And the myriad flavours of our diversity.
Let us sing Jana, Gana, Mana again;
Feeling just as proud as we were; when we were younger;
But now knowing what the lyrics mean;
And knowing well that we have a long way to go.
English Translation of Jana Gana Mana:
O! Dispenser of India's destiny, thou art the ruler of the minds of all people[8]
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, the Maratha country,
in the Dravida, Utkala and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
it mingles in the rhapsodies of the pure waters of Yamuna and Ganga
They chant only thy name.
They seek only thy auspicious blessings.
They sing only the glory of thy victory.
The salvation of all people waits in thy hands,
O! Dispenser of India's destiny, thou art the ruler of the minds of all people
Victory to thee, Victory to thee, Victory to thee,
Victory, Victory, Victory, Victory to thee!
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jana_Gana_Mana)
This version of our National anthem gave me goosebumps and my eyes welled up:
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftD3gDA-5S0)
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Anonymous Thank yous
We realize the importance of anything only when we lose it! Why does it take such an extreme to realize the value of something fundamental? How do we get so used to stuff we use everyday that we forget that we wouldn't be able to live life as comfortably, as smoothly as we do with the help of those simple things like running water, hot water showers, electricity...
I found myself in the middle of an outage, out of the blue all thanks to some storm I had no clue about. I waited for a few mins, then began to get restless. My laptop ran out of charge, I looked doubtfully at my cell phone, which was going to run out of charge pretty soon too. It was summer-time but my apt. remains sort of cool, so wasn't too worried about sweating it out. I couldn't heat anything up obviously since no microwave would come to my rescue. I couldn't cook anything because the range wouldn't get powered on. Hmm, So I picked up one torchlight, one Klondike bar form W algreens but couldn't pick up any groceries or more ice-cream because there would be no place to keep them in a warm refrigerator. As, I sipped on some Starbucks' iced double-shot mocha which was already beginning to warm up to the lack of electricity, I missed so many things which I don't bat an eyelid before using! Being forced into that 24-hour Sabbath wasn't so cool, as I took a chilling shower.
It’s amazing the more independent we’re striving to be, the more dependent we’re becoming! How many people out there make sure that the mundane stuff of my life gets taken care of , so I can be on my way every single day...People I will never see, people I can trust without even knowing them; to do their jobs so I can do mine! People I will never thank but if something goes wrong, will give a earful to somebody who isn't remotely connected to them or their jobs, who is; perhaps sitting in some other country and listening patiently to my complaints and apologizing profusely for no fault of his expect having the unfortunate privilege of answering phone calls. Somehow miraculously, some people will take care of my problems. Of course, I didn't suffer alone; there were others who again continue to remain faceless who are empathizing with each other and me! How things fall into place is nothing short of a miracle, a miracle which happens everyday; and because it happens everyday it ceases to amaze or even make anyone feel thankful! And if we started being thankful for every single thing, every single moment of our lives, it would just get a little overwhelming! So, I guess it's nice to stop once in a while and just say a big thank you, anonymous as it is will reach some of those miracle makers and who knows someone else's anonymous thank yous are probably coming your way as well!
I found myself in the middle of an outage, out of the blue all thanks to some storm I had no clue about. I waited for a few mins, then began to get restless. My laptop ran out of charge, I looked doubtfully at my cell phone, which was going to run out of charge pretty soon too. It was summer-time but my apt. remains sort of cool, so wasn't too worried about sweating it out. I couldn't heat anything up obviously since no microwave would come to my rescue. I couldn't cook anything because the range wouldn't get powered on. Hmm, So I picked up one torchlight, one Klondike bar form W algreens but couldn't pick up any groceries or more ice-cream because there would be no place to keep them in a warm refrigerator. As, I sipped on some Starbucks' iced double-shot mocha which was already beginning to warm up to the lack of electricity, I missed so many things which I don't bat an eyelid before using! Being forced into that 24-hour Sabbath wasn't so cool, as I took a chilling shower.
It’s amazing the more independent we’re striving to be, the more dependent we’re becoming! How many people out there make sure that the mundane stuff of my life gets taken care of , so I can be on my way every single day...People I will never see, people I can trust without even knowing them; to do their jobs so I can do mine! People I will never thank but if something goes wrong, will give a earful to somebody who isn't remotely connected to them or their jobs, who is; perhaps sitting in some other country and listening patiently to my complaints and apologizing profusely for no fault of his expect having the unfortunate privilege of answering phone calls. Somehow miraculously, some people will take care of my problems. Of course, I didn't suffer alone; there were others who again continue to remain faceless who are empathizing with each other and me! How things fall into place is nothing short of a miracle, a miracle which happens everyday; and because it happens everyday it ceases to amaze or even make anyone feel thankful! And if we started being thankful for every single thing, every single moment of our lives, it would just get a little overwhelming! So, I guess it's nice to stop once in a while and just say a big thank you, anonymous as it is will reach some of those miracle makers and who knows someone else's anonymous thank yous are probably coming your way as well!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Good ol' Bollywood gaane!
I used to really enjoy a lot of Bollywood music. I knew all the songs from all the A-list movies and knew all the associated artists- whether it was the music directors or the singers. Of course, when people much older than me would say that "Puraane gaano mein kuch baat thi! Kitni melody! You could keep listening to them over and over again..." I would defend my favourite songs and felt like I had the same opinion about the songs my generation would some day call "humaare zamaane ke gaane..." A sad little thing happened. I got too busy. I stopped listening to as much music as I used to. Then, my Bollywood music went into a time freeze! I have no idea about the "latest" Bollywood songs. In fact, I was the first day, last show person for every movie which would be even remotely promising and would read the previews and then the reviews and of course, have my own reviews for all those who wanted to hear my two cents! Now, I don't know which movies are running until my sister or parents mention there's something worth watching. I don't know any latest Hindi songs! I feel so dated, when I listen to "my songs" now. I miss listening over and over again to the creations of A.R. Rahman and Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy or songs from all Yash Chopra movies; or all those lounge versions of Emraan Hashmi's movies' numbers (I know how corny!) or Kailash Kher's music; till those songs grew on me and I would do my own off-key versions. I would love to know their music as well as I used to!
There are very few songs I now remember "by heart" and wonder what happened to all the other songs I used to know so well? I hate to admit but some of those older people were actually right about the short-lived memory of my generation's songs. I just saw Love Aaj Kal and am trying hard to remember the lyrics of at least some song I can hum now but can't; guess I have to listen over and over again till I can sing some latest Bollywood gaana!
There are very few songs I now remember "by heart" and wonder what happened to all the other songs I used to know so well? I hate to admit but some of those older people were actually right about the short-lived memory of my generation's songs. I just saw Love Aaj Kal and am trying hard to remember the lyrics of at least some song I can hum now but can't; guess I have to listen over and over again till I can sing some latest Bollywood gaana!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Reality T.V. encore!
Reality T.V. is instant drama, happiness, tears, skipping of heart beats, mind-numbing dumbness, awe-inspiring intelligence all at the same time! No wonder, our generation thrives on a staple diet of talent-based shows whether it's singing, dancing, cooking, designing, styling or even doing things which make you question the very definition of talent; then there are the shows which feast on emotional turmoil and almost dysfunctional people; shows which make celebrities out of regular people and shows which make conventional celebrities seem really, really ordinary. Reality T.V. has enough show-casing of a competitive spirit both inspiring and sickening! I feel that this duality of reality shows and the instant gratification and repulsion they bring keeps them economically and emotionally viable.
I saw a few episodes of Top Chef Masters-season 1 and it was a refreshing change when I saw a show not only replete with exceptionally talented and experienced chefs from all over America competing to win a 100,000 dollar prize for their favourite charities but with simple elegance! These are renowned chefs who are teachers, who run some of the country's best restaurants and who are visibly beyond conventional competition. It was quite heart-warming to see their camaraderie and how they were helping each other out to meet deadlines or sharing valuable pieces of advice with each other between artistically prepared courses. Being that good and being able to ask for help and listen to advice coming from your equals, makes you truly genius! And when each week one of them gets eliminated, their departure is so gracious; there's no name-calling, no tears, no drama! That is true competitive spirit, appreciating someone who did a job better than you at that time, during that competition and it takes nothing away from the brilliance of your talent but only adds to it! Right? :)
Check the show and its master chefs out:
http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef-masters/season-1/about
I saw a few episodes of Top Chef Masters-season 1 and it was a refreshing change when I saw a show not only replete with exceptionally talented and experienced chefs from all over America competing to win a 100,000 dollar prize for their favourite charities but with simple elegance! These are renowned chefs who are teachers, who run some of the country's best restaurants and who are visibly beyond conventional competition. It was quite heart-warming to see their camaraderie and how they were helping each other out to meet deadlines or sharing valuable pieces of advice with each other between artistically prepared courses. Being that good and being able to ask for help and listen to advice coming from your equals, makes you truly genius! And when each week one of them gets eliminated, their departure is so gracious; there's no name-calling, no tears, no drama! That is true competitive spirit, appreciating someone who did a job better than you at that time, during that competition and it takes nothing away from the brilliance of your talent but only adds to it! Right? :)
Check the show and its master chefs out:
http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef-masters/season-1/about
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Ghar ka khana and Bahar ka khana
I love eating out once in a while. Back home in Mumbai, I bought the Times Good Food guide (which was like an answer to any foodie's prayers) and was floored by the sheer number and the variety of palates our city's restaurants were ready to cater to. We enjoyed checking out some of the finest Chinese, Mughlai, Thai, Italian, Mediterranean, South Indian restaurants and more. We had our favourites, the places you go to and know what you're going to eat even before you reach there; places where the restaurant manager, the waiters know what you like and how you like it; places which will make sure you get a good table even if they don't take reservations on weekends; places which you keep revisiting because you want to celebrate your memories and create new unforgettable ones!
What I am really missing right now are the fast food restaurants; the quintessential "Udupis" which served everything right from the crispiest dosas to the spiciest paneer chillies, from the most mouth-watering pav bhajis to the most flavourful Punjabi food; serving versatility without burning holes in your pocket. Literally, the world of Udupi restaurants, road-side chaat, vada pavs, faloodas, grilled sandwiches, panner tikka pizzas had so much homeliness associated with it. There would be days when I would be craving some of these wonderful creations from the pots and pans of the cosmopolitan character of Mumbai and my mom and sister would willingly be my partners in crime. My dad would be happy to eat at home over eating out any day but would join the gourmands quite happily!
Food has an amazing quality to make you feel at home. There's ghar ka khana (home-cooked meals) and there's all the mouth-watering bahar ka khana (eating out)! No matter how much you enjoy eating out, you really cannot eat out all the time. What is it about eating out that it cannot become a routine or it becomes a repulsive routine? I feel, there's simplicity and love missing in that food. There's a certain wholesomeness which home cooked meals boast of and they satisfy your soul not just your craving!
Why don't home cooked meals ever taste like the food from your favourite restaurant even if you followed their recipes right down to the amount of salt; my simple explanation for that is, you can never find the right proportion of stale food and not so stale food and fresh food :) That's the best explanation I could come up with :) but I am sure there's a better one out there!
I miss mom's cooking so much everyday! For my next trip back home, I already have my list of what I want her to cook for me and which restaurants we "have" to go to. I keep asking her for her recipes and then do my best to re-create the magic. Although I think I cook well, my food never tastes like ma's! Wonder when that will happen, till then I'll keep trying and just making the most of my meals with family at home and out.
What I am really missing right now are the fast food restaurants; the quintessential "Udupis" which served everything right from the crispiest dosas to the spiciest paneer chillies, from the most mouth-watering pav bhajis to the most flavourful Punjabi food; serving versatility without burning holes in your pocket. Literally, the world of Udupi restaurants, road-side chaat, vada pavs, faloodas, grilled sandwiches, panner tikka pizzas had so much homeliness associated with it. There would be days when I would be craving some of these wonderful creations from the pots and pans of the cosmopolitan character of Mumbai and my mom and sister would willingly be my partners in crime. My dad would be happy to eat at home over eating out any day but would join the gourmands quite happily!
Food has an amazing quality to make you feel at home. There's ghar ka khana (home-cooked meals) and there's all the mouth-watering bahar ka khana (eating out)! No matter how much you enjoy eating out, you really cannot eat out all the time. What is it about eating out that it cannot become a routine or it becomes a repulsive routine? I feel, there's simplicity and love missing in that food. There's a certain wholesomeness which home cooked meals boast of and they satisfy your soul not just your craving!
Why don't home cooked meals ever taste like the food from your favourite restaurant even if you followed their recipes right down to the amount of salt; my simple explanation for that is, you can never find the right proportion of stale food and not so stale food and fresh food :) That's the best explanation I could come up with :) but I am sure there's a better one out there!
I miss mom's cooking so much everyday! For my next trip back home, I already have my list of what I want her to cook for me and which restaurants we "have" to go to. I keep asking her for her recipes and then do my best to re-create the magic. Although I think I cook well, my food never tastes like ma's! Wonder when that will happen, till then I'll keep trying and just making the most of my meals with family at home and out.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Cakes boss, seriously!
Who doesn't like cake? I've loved cake since I was a child. I used to really like those Monginis' slice cakes. Well, it was what you could call convenient vegetarianism to kinda say that eggs were ok in cakes/ chocolates! No complaints about that in hindsight. Cakes don't particularly have any nutrition value. They are full of butter, white flour, sugar... but their happiness value is amazingly high! The very sight of a cake can light up any child's face. I remember going to all those birthday parties as a child and waiting with baited breath for the arrival of the birthday cake/s; the bigger, the more colourful, the more specialized ones like the ones with cool Disney characters, or a house etc. would really make my eyes pop much to the embarrassment of my mom who would've already fore-warned me about containing my excitement and not behaving like I had never seen cake in my life before! Kids will be kids; I think my mom learned it the hard way!
My sister enjoyed fancy birthday cakes more so for her birthday parties! She loved all birthday parties and I never particularly enjoyed my own birthday parties but hers were different, I really looked forward to them and her excitement was only contagious! One of the most memorable cakes was the one she had for her (I think) 9th birthday which was a replica of a zoo with a big chocolate fence around! We kept sneaking more and more pieces of the fence in between all those party games and hoping nobody would discover who was being the glutton!
Then there was a weird phase in my life when I started falling sick every time I ate chocholate! I was heart-broken! My parents insisted I was allergic to chocolate and my family physician encouraged them :( So, it's not like I was going to give up cake. I gravitated towards pineapple pastries! Then there was junior college where a good bunch of friends would never forget to get me a pineapple pastry while they dug into some gooey Dutch truffle from Croissants etc. I also discovered strawberry pastries but I became a pineapple loyalist! Then I decided to become a little adventurous; I decided to desensitize myself. Whether it was the Australian chocolates or the fact that my immune system had become more mature and thoughtful , I am not so sure but I just loaded my system with chocolate and the chocolate cake and voila, I returned in style to the world of chocolate and my favourite cakes!
Yesterday, I saw Cake Boss, the most interesting cake-based show I have ever seen. Actually, I hadn't seen any show which revolved around having your cake and eating it too! I was amazed. So, this show is about this old-style family-run cake shop "Carlo's Bake Shop" in New Jersey. It's not just about specialty cakes but about "mia famiglia" and these amazing passionate people who you can't imagine would be able to do anything else but bring joy to the world with their artistic sweet creations! Of course, like any reality show worth its salt, there was enough drama to prevent an overdose of sweetness! Whether it was Buddy (the boss) playing pranks on his decorators, bakers, delivery guys or meeting impossible deadlines, or his mother throwing a fit about some erotic cakes or somebody dropping a very fancy multiple tiered sweet 16 cake and the whole team fixing that in a little over an hour, there’s enough to chew on! The show revolves around a couple of defy-your imagination designer cakes. Whether it was a cake in the honour of a newly discovered fossil of one of the oldest mammals on earth (now at the American museum of Natural history in New York city), or a real-life size roulette table for a local Italian social club, or the cake for the tenth anniversary of a local beach club celebrating the quintessential beach with beach bums; or a cake inspired by the Schwartz’s toy store for the birthday party of 4 year old twins; or the ultimate wedding cake with two doves seated between the tiers of a five-tiered elegant cake (which Buddy said was something his dad used to do, very traditional) or a box full of sweet surprises for an expecting mom filled with cannolis, lobster tails with pink cream or a 3-D replica of a local children's hospital logo for a charity event (which was supposed to be only a couple of sheet cakes at first) or a very repulsive zombie cake complete with dismembered limbs, rats and blood for a zombie fest....I could go on and on about the diversity and what can be made out of a pounds and pounds of cake besides love handles, dimples in the wrong places, unflattering derrieres to name a few! Then there are the special family- occasion cakes which just bring the whole big Italian family together and needless to say leave you with a sweet feeling towards the end of the show! It starts with a "cake consultation" and takes you through the fondant, dirty ice, edible flowers and figurines and people who bake together and eat together! A lot of couz (short for cousin), a lot of yelling and laughing! Man, the world of cakes has never been better! I am hooked :) and I am not even a baker, simply because I don't think I can be thaaat liberal with butter or sugar :)
Check the show out-http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/cake-boss/cake-boss.html
Whether it's to celebrate an occasion or just to pamper yourself, there's nothing like a slice of good cake or at least an episode of a good cake-based show (if you want to be just a little more/ less indulgent depending upon how much you end up whetting your appetite for some cake like now, now!).
My sister enjoyed fancy birthday cakes more so for her birthday parties! She loved all birthday parties and I never particularly enjoyed my own birthday parties but hers were different, I really looked forward to them and her excitement was only contagious! One of the most memorable cakes was the one she had for her (I think) 9th birthday which was a replica of a zoo with a big chocolate fence around! We kept sneaking more and more pieces of the fence in between all those party games and hoping nobody would discover who was being the glutton!
Then there was a weird phase in my life when I started falling sick every time I ate chocholate! I was heart-broken! My parents insisted I was allergic to chocolate and my family physician encouraged them :( So, it's not like I was going to give up cake. I gravitated towards pineapple pastries! Then there was junior college where a good bunch of friends would never forget to get me a pineapple pastry while they dug into some gooey Dutch truffle from Croissants etc. I also discovered strawberry pastries but I became a pineapple loyalist! Then I decided to become a little adventurous; I decided to desensitize myself. Whether it was the Australian chocolates or the fact that my immune system had become more mature and thoughtful , I am not so sure but I just loaded my system with chocolate and the chocolate cake and voila, I returned in style to the world of chocolate and my favourite cakes!
Yesterday, I saw Cake Boss, the most interesting cake-based show I have ever seen. Actually, I hadn't seen any show which revolved around having your cake and eating it too! I was amazed. So, this show is about this old-style family-run cake shop "Carlo's Bake Shop" in New Jersey. It's not just about specialty cakes but about "mia famiglia" and these amazing passionate people who you can't imagine would be able to do anything else but bring joy to the world with their artistic sweet creations! Of course, like any reality show worth its salt, there was enough drama to prevent an overdose of sweetness! Whether it was Buddy (the boss) playing pranks on his decorators, bakers, delivery guys or meeting impossible deadlines, or his mother throwing a fit about some erotic cakes or somebody dropping a very fancy multiple tiered sweet 16 cake and the whole team fixing that in a little over an hour, there’s enough to chew on! The show revolves around a couple of defy-your imagination designer cakes. Whether it was a cake in the honour of a newly discovered fossil of one of the oldest mammals on earth (now at the American museum of Natural history in New York city), or a real-life size roulette table for a local Italian social club, or the cake for the tenth anniversary of a local beach club celebrating the quintessential beach with beach bums; or a cake inspired by the Schwartz’s toy store for the birthday party of 4 year old twins; or the ultimate wedding cake with two doves seated between the tiers of a five-tiered elegant cake (which Buddy said was something his dad used to do, very traditional) or a box full of sweet surprises for an expecting mom filled with cannolis, lobster tails with pink cream or a 3-D replica of a local children's hospital logo for a charity event (which was supposed to be only a couple of sheet cakes at first) or a very repulsive zombie cake complete with dismembered limbs, rats and blood for a zombie fest....I could go on and on about the diversity and what can be made out of a pounds and pounds of cake besides love handles, dimples in the wrong places, unflattering derrieres to name a few! Then there are the special family- occasion cakes which just bring the whole big Italian family together and needless to say leave you with a sweet feeling towards the end of the show! It starts with a "cake consultation" and takes you through the fondant, dirty ice, edible flowers and figurines and people who bake together and eat together! A lot of couz (short for cousin), a lot of yelling and laughing! Man, the world of cakes has never been better! I am hooked :) and I am not even a baker, simply because I don't think I can be thaaat liberal with butter or sugar :)
Check the show out-http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/cake-boss/cake-boss.html
Whether it's to celebrate an occasion or just to pamper yourself, there's nothing like a slice of good cake or at least an episode of a good cake-based show (if you want to be just a little more/ less indulgent depending upon how much you end up whetting your appetite for some cake like now, now!).
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