Ah, Maze

Every summer holiday, I'd go to Essel World, the only Amusement Park worth its salt back in the 90s, besides Appu Ghar in New Delhi. After frolicking about the whole day in the stomach-churning rides, our gang of cousins would go to the Mirror House, Haunted Hotel & Hedge Maze. A group of over 12 kids of varying ages, we'd split into groups of 2s & 3s, and keep bumping into each other, as we tried to find our way out. Eventually, a bored adult would come and frisk us out from the Entrance; so this time we'd enter from the 'Exit' so we could weave our way back. Cupping my palm over on the cheek, I smile reliving those 'care-free' days.
Those annual bizes fixed me with an attraction for labyrinths. With this reasoning, even though playing with your food is not genteel behavior, I make exception in this case.

Saucer's have long become redundant since we all upgraded to drinking coffee from mugs or travel-cups with cozies. Bestowing fun back to the cherub saucers is Fred & Friend's Maze Cafe. Essentially, your boring white cup, with a not-so-boring dish, so you can fill your cup till it 'runneth over', and play about with the spillage.
I can picture myself easily spending an entire afternoon watching the liquid swish about until it runs dry and sticks the cup to the saucer.
Aaah, I love lazy weekends.

Dessert in a Cup

After the weeks of toothful drama, which included visit to the Emergency Room, and extraction of all my wisdom (I had only 2), I am thankful for every mouthful of food I eat. Sweet things are still off limits since they shiver me timbers in all the wrong parts of the jaw.

Image Courtesy 123rf.com

As an impro, I decided to treat myself with a luscious dessert coffee. A quondam sampler pack of Gourmet Coffee from David & Harry was beaked. I percolated a Tiramisu flavored double espresso shot into a frothy mug of steaming cocoa milk leaving out the saccharinity of conventional treats.
It was still delectable, as I sipped it while staring at my unopened pack of M&Ms.

Back to Tradition

Early in the morning today, my doctor told me that I have SAD, which stands for Seasonal Affective Disorder. This was an unexpected discovery for me, but I'm quite pleased with her theory, since I can't keep blaming PMS all the time. To celebrate this newly-chanced Western-world malady, I decided to brew myself a desi-cup of  kapi.

Courtesy Uma's Kitchen

My coffee teapot

Out came the coffee beans from Philips Coffee & Co, my preferred choice in Bombay. Instead of my modern coffee machine which jets out 4 shots of espresso at the click of a button, I fetched my drip coffee filter. While regular assemblies look like a tube, my mom found me this cute unit which looks like a tiny teapot, with a convenient spout, suited for my earlier custom of one cup on Saturday afternoons. The Sainsbury's coffee filter paper cones my brother had bought for me during a visit to UK also made it to the front line.
While most directions on making this South Indian style coffee state that after the water reaches boiling point, you let it cool for 30 seconds, and then pour it into the drip coffee filter canister, and let it stand for 3-5 minutes to get a stiff shot of steaming coffee which requires merely 2 tablespoons of milk, and a heap of sugar.
Except I prefer to place my coffee, or should I call it a teapot?! on a hot plate even as the brew slowly drips into the container below. This ensures that I see swirls of steam coming from my cup even if I forget about it for more than 5 minutes. I also substituted whole milk with flavored Vanilla creamer, and smack! It was de.li.cous.