My cooking escapades

This time when my holidays started, my mother was very sure about one thing she wanted to accomplish over the hols - get me to learn some cooking!So it was decided (by mutual convenience) that I should take the "responsibility" for dinner, every night. (Breakfast, which she suggested before dinner, was out of question - I can't wake up that early, everyday in the hols!)

There is always that novelty factor in everything we do - and so it was, for me, before i embarked on this journey! The first day, I was super-enthusiastic, envisioning how I would prepare something novel everyday, make all the preparations, right from the shopping stage, all by myself, etc. etc. :P

That first day, I did act on the above - I prepared anda bhurji, and it turned out awesome. (That's one of those few things I've been preparing for a few years now, so it seemed like a reliable thing to begin with!) Here, I should mention that while I'm not exactly about to starve when it comes to surviving on my self-prepared food, I'm not a cooking enthusiast either. I can just about prepare basic stuff - batatyachi bhaji, pohe, chapatya, dal, bhat, and of course , if you count it in this list, omelette and maggi!

So it started well enough on day one, but here is how i have progressed, over the past 8 days or so -

Day 2: There was leftover flower-batata bhaji from the morning, so I converted it into prepared pavbhaji, making use of it! To my credit, I had to add potatoes, tomatoes, onion, etc (which basically means I did do some work :P ), not to mention, preparing chapatis.

Day 3: I got bored, so we ate out!

Day 4: There was matki usal, again leftover from lunch. So I followed the easiest way out - bought farsan, shev, etc, cut some onions and tomatoes, and we had misal ready!

Day 5: I was busy cutting watermelon for a long time(read- watching tv), so we had some food delivered, and watermelon, for dessert!

Day 6: Prepared sandwhiches from lunch ki remaining bhaji - cant really let that go waste, can I? (Think my mum had started preparing extra bhaji everyday, with the hope that I would atleast prepare chapatis, if nothing else!)

Day 7: I had amazing plans for dinner (mhanayla kay jatay :P ) but we'd all gone out, and we decided to eat out n come home!

Day 8: I decided enough of slacking, and with great foresight, bought paneer, masala, the mixed cut sabji packets that we get nowadays, etc. Prepared awesome paneer bhurji, something I love preparing! Also prepared chapatis, as usual (Thats one thing I'm getting lots of practice for - so this whole charade will help in some way, atleast!) .

That day 8, was today. Lets see how this thing comes along, later this month, when I start getting really bored of it!

Another thing I learned was how mom must be feeling, when we eat half-heartedly, after her calling us n number of times, when we are busy doing something else - like talking on the phone, reading books, etc. - It's so irritating! I ended up shouting at my sis twice when she did that :P

It's also amazing how mom can stand being the last one to eat, all the time, while she prepares hot chapatis for us. I had to exercise all my will power today to not let mom take over the chapatis, and start eating myself, when I was very hungry and I could smell the paneer bhurji! Maybe it gets easier (and a routine thing :| ) with time!