I finally have something exciting to report – something out of the ordinary that has given me a breather from the much ordinary life that I have had to put up with in these past few months.
A fully grown, rather round pigeon in all its wild flapping and squaking glory was discovered in a hole in my house. The said location of this discovery has an exhaust fan on the one end and a mosquito wire mesh on the other end. And this marvellous pigeon seemed to have materialized out of nowhere in the long cylindrical hole between the exhaust and the wire mesh!!! Imagine you woke up one fine day and found you were in a cage that has no opening!!! Obviously the pigeon was very traumatized. We managed to get the pigeon out by taking down the exhaust fan – it was more than glad to be escorted out of our apartment.
Not wanting to subject my readers to the sight of pigeon poop on my bathroom walls, I skipped taking a photograph of the scene. I honestly have no clue how the pigeon managed to get in such an improbable place – and I am not kidding. I do have some theories though.
- The pigeon is a novice magician. It was practising the “apparate” trick from the magic in Harry Potter series. It forgot all magic as soon as it realized that it was inside what seemed like a cage with no opening.
- The pigeon is a superhero that can turn into melted state at a whim. It melted its way through the wire mesh into the hole. Unfortunately its not in complete control of its powers especially when its under pressure.
- Its actually a phoenix disguised as a pigeon. Thanks to the wind, the ashes of its previous birth ended up in the hole.
- I have my own innovative theory, that is sure to beat the socks off your silly ones! Hmpf.
Which one do you support? Let me know through your comments.
Getting back to talking about food, the real reason I sat to blog today was because I am compelled to post for the Recipe Marathon everyday till the end of this month.
This English Muffin Recipe has been adapted from Arundathi’s version (which in turn has been adapted from Bellini Valli at More than Burnt Toast). I have hiked up the moisture content a little bit by using less flour than her recipe and added raisins and cinnamon.
Ingredients
- All Purpose Flour – 1 1/2 cups
- Whole Wheat Atta – 1 cup
- Milk – 1 cup
- Water – 1/4 cup
- Raisins – 1/2 cup
- Yeast – 2 tsp
- Sugar – 2 tsp
- Salt – 1 tsp
- Cinnamon (powdered) – 1/2 tsp
- Baking Soda – 1/8 tsp
- Oil or Butter for greasing tin
Method
- Warm the water. You should be able to dip your finger in the water. Dissolve the honey. Add active dry yeast and let it stand for 5-10 minutes until yeast frothes. Dissolve yeast.
- Combine milk and salt. Heat over a low flame until milk is lukewarm.
- Combine the All Purpose flour, Whole wheat atta, baking soda, raisins and cinnamon and add this to the milk and mix well until smooth.
- Grease a loaf pan. Transfer dough to loaf pan, cover and let it rise for 45 minutes to an hour.
- Bake at 200 C for 25 minutes. Cool before cutting into slices. Serve slices with butter slathered on one side.
Check my fellow recipe marathoners:
DK, Siri, Srivalli, Ranji, PJ, Curry Leaf, Medha, Priya, Bhawna, Raaji, Ruchii
Anu, Kamala, Roopa, Divya Kudua, Rekha, Divya M, Raaga, Lakshmi Venkatesh, Sripriya, Viji, , Kamalika,Pavani
YUMMM laks….u and anu are sure inspiring me to bake breads :)..i may just do that…bake 2-3 varieties this week and post them this month!!!
a super idea to add raisins! looks great. and thanks so so so much for not showing us a picture of the pigeon. i actually cringed when i read that!!
Lovely,Raisin is very good in baked goodies
Lakshmi i really fell in lovely with ur pic and bread too……i wish i was there to finish it…..
wow thats very interesting report you have lak!!..:)…bread looks so moist..btw you and anu, you both are creating a storm.
Bread looks so soft, like the raisains you added. Nice pic Lakshmi.
Muffins sound delicious Laks! i would vote for the harry potter theory!!:)
Delicious English Muffins. And the story of the pigeon, paavam. but a happy ending. I think it is the 1st option for it come inside the cage.
now u have to send me this for sure. lovely muffins. u r expert really 🙂
Love the addition of raisins! Perfect for breakfast or a snack! Which reminds me… I haven’t baked bread in a while. I should try this out! 🙂
Hey Lakshmi:) Loved the look of that eggless dessert, mmm it looks so much like the fruit cake we make with eggs, I wish I could grab a slice:)
Wow delicious muffines…wish i could have a loaf of those fabulous muffins..
Delicious muffins Lak..Happy Anniversary Lathamma..
I like the third option…pheonix
Lovethe english muffin sounds delicious
Delicious looking muffin laks..sad to hear about the pigeon and happy to know that it escaped after all..
Delicious looking muffin laks..sad to hear about the pigeon and happy to know that it escaped after all..