Recipes | Two Easy Mocktails, A Fun Filled Event and A Few Clicks Through Food & Art Recipe
“If more of us valued food and cheer above hoarded gold, it would be a much merrier world.” ~ J.R.R. Tolkien. 27th October 2012 Saturday, quite afternoon, beautiful place, passionate bloggers and a perfect set up for a cheerful evening filled with good food and fun. The grand event is organized by Indi Blogger at ITC Grand Chola in Chennai, India.
“Mom do you know about Chola dynasty?” My son asked me when I was getting ready for the meet. “The dynasty was one of the longest ruling dynasties in Southern India during 13th century and it has gifted India some of the best bronze and stone sculptures” he stated as a matter of fact. These are times I feel I had read my history lessons thoroughly Anyways, these pointers were enough for me to appreciate the architect and designs of the property.
The meet started at 2 PM with a small preview session, blogger introduction, some games accompanied with good refreshments after which we were grouped into batches and taken for a virtual tour of the ITC Chola property. I soon found myself lost in the medieval period with the silence echoing from the intricately designed marbled walls and the colossal Atrium as I walked through.
Magnificent pillar free banquet hall with beautiful table settings for all the bloggers and a cheerful me
The whole bunch of bloggers standing tall.
After shooting most of my pictures in natural light with macro frames I was feeling lost trying to click large structures in artificial and very dim lights. I almost gave up hopes after I saw the first 20 pictures were nothing but just a few bright dots of light, till a friend asked me to change a few settings on my camera.
Moreover it was quite difficult to take pictures following my group which was moving quickly from one wing to another while listening to the appointed guide.
(This blog post is not a restaurant review or any kind of paid article).
I spent most of my time clicking around the food and the artifacts. Below are a few pictures I clicked as I perceived the structure through the eyes of art and food.
Its close to eight in night, I took almost 10 shots of this place with maximum ISO and found nothing in the frame but a few bright spots. Got upset, sat down trying to find out a way and finally clicked this shot from the steps.
I like these huge flower pots at the entrance.
These intricately carved marbled stones reminded me of the many temples and building I have seen in my hometown Rajasthan.
Simple yet sophisticated structure.
Like the sombre settings here.
That bronze peacock handle took my breadth away.
Like the twist and turn in this flower arrangement.
Clicked the picture for those dried lemons and tall jars filled with nutmeg.
This cute Olive bottle looked like a demure sitting pretty on a chair.
Looks like a large family of big Daddy French loaf and small baby soup sticks.
Freshly made multi grain Pastas hanging pretty.
The contrasting colors of Bell peppers and the beautiful bowl is mesmerizing.
Steamy hot kitchen and the chefs at work.
A picture of kitchen from the eyes of food.
Wish I have stock of all of these Olive oils and those lovely bottles.
The cute barperson took no time to make two moctails for me in a jiffy.
1. Orange Punch
I could not resist myself and asked the cute barperson to make a quick moctail I could make at my home. He asked my favorite flavors, shake-shake and two quick pineapple and orange mocktails were ready before I could set my camera to click.
Mocktails are a wonderful way to pep up a party or serve during any festive occasion. Mocktails are non-alcoholic beverages normally made with fizzy soda water and fresh or canned fruit juices. You can easily adapt these recipes to suit your palate by adding ingredients you like.
Orange Punch
Ingredients;
(3 servings)
1 cups Orange juice
1 cup Pineapple juice
1 cup soda/Sprite
1 tbsp. lemon juice
A dash of grenadine (optional)
Ice cubes as required
Method; Add all the ingredients except the soda water or any colorless fizzy drink (sprite/7 up) fizzy in a cocktail shaker or blender and shake or blend for a few minutes.
Pour 3/4 of this fruity concoction in a chilled serving glass, fill the rest with the fizzy drink and add the grenadine (if using in the recipe, Grenadine is a syrup which gives reddish or pink color to the drink). Garnish with lemon wedge or orange segment and serve chilled.
- 2. Pineapple Punch
- Pineapple Punch
- Ingredients;
- 1 cup Pineapple juice
- 1 can ginger Ale (optional)
- 1 cup soda water
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
Ice cubes as required
Method; Add all the ingredients except the soda water or any colorless fizzy drink (sprite/7 up) fizzy in a cocktail shaker or blender and shake or blend for a few minutes.
Pour 3/4 of this fruity concoction in a chilled serving glass, fill the rest with the fizzy drink. Garnish with a lemon wedge and serve chilled.
me framed…
I was enthralled by the extensive use of marble and bronze metal, large pillar free hall, majestic lobbies, gorgeous chandeliers, subtle paintings and the architect most of which are inspired from Chola period. True to its name the property is built to relive the grandeur of a golden era in Indian history.
An evening worth spent, meeting old friends, greeting new bloggers and I returned home with these golden words of Mahatma Gandhi echoing in my mind “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”