Homemade Strawberry Daiquiri - Mocktail

A lot of times, you feel like having something cool to drink. But do not want to buy the beaten stuff like Coke or Pepsi or Fanta etc.  But still want something no-fuss and quick.

I have got just the thing for you.

1) Nesquik Strwberry Syrup - yes the same one  you use for strawberry milkshakes.

2) Club Soda - something like Schweppes .

3) Some lime/ lemon.

Or alternatively for 2 and 3, just use the limeflavored club soda that you getin walmart.

To a glass, add a little quantity of Nesquik strawberry syrup, and a dash of lime.

Pour the club soda, and stir till homogeneous.

Enjoy this rapid fire mocktail !

If you wish to carry it further than a mocktail, adding a little vodka would work wonders.

'Chakna' for the Evening.. :-) ...

Your friends are coming over. Drinks are to ensue. And you do not want to pile on the same fare of chips and peanuts or doritos or the like.

Whaddya do?

Here is a simple fare which everybody enjoys, made with minimum fuss.

What you need :

One medium sized onion.
A pack of Murmura, or something like Haldiram's Navratan Mix, or light Chivda Mix.
Salsa sauce. The hotter the better.

- Dice the onion small.
- Add it to the pack of Murmura or whatever you have chosen as your base.
- Add two tablespoons of salsa sauce. 
- You could, if you have handy, also add a little quantity tamarind sweet chutney.
- Mix it up well.

You are good to go.

If someone is too conscious of the intake of fats, I suggest you could have a bowl of Special K cereal, or Cheerios to go with.  They at times serve as a good replacement to chips etc. I feel they go well as an accompaniment to wine sometimes.  It works especially if you are staying for a while in a bednbreakfast hotel like the Hampton or the like. You could keep aside a bowl of cereal from the morning in your room for 'emergencies' like this :-) ...

Another good tip : The modern day version of 'chikvadya' or 'ready to fry' fryums respond really well to the microwave. So, instead of frying things up, you could try to check how well they do in your microwave. So as required, you can keep on creating batches of these microwaved fryums without much fuss, or without any sort of frying required.

The Potato Salad Roll

Sri Hanumate Namah

What can be a bachelor's best friend, but a potato. What better way to start this blog than bonding with this perennial friend of ours.

I'm pretty sure a bachelor has a steady stock of potatoes and eggs at hand in his studio/apartment. Both of these constitute the ingredients for this potato salad roll.

I was always a fan of fresh breads. As a kid, I used to like 35-ps 'paav's that were avaialble fresh and hot in the bakery near my home. The warm inviting, fresh-from-the-oven smell of these breads meant I could hardly wait to take morsels off it which would dissolve in my all-to-eager mouth as soon as it landed there.

When visiting the Food Maxx, or Walmart, or HyVee, or Clements, or Aldi, or Handelshof, depending on where you are, I frequently buy a few rolls of fresh bread. I like them best from Food-Maxx as they very frequently are oven fresh - the wafting scent effortlessly reeled me in every time.

With these rolls and potato, you could make a sumptous sandwich to please yourself.

There are multiple ways you could go about making this sandwich, or potato roll as you may choose to call it.

You would invariable of course need to knife the bread into two, so that you can slide the fillings in.

To create the fillings, I list the following approaches. You could use any of them to create equally mouth-watering sandwiches.

Ingredients for the fillings : Potatoes, Eggs.

1) Boil the potato\es. For a single person having a single sandwich, I would use 1 medium sized potato. Once the potato is boiled, I hold container under cold water so the potato cools, and the sking can be easily peeled off. I then, either mash the potato, or cut it into small pieces. I then add some mayonnaise, and mix them by hand. This would create a sort of potato salad. Sprinkle some pepper powder if handy.

I parallelly boil an egg. And then cut the boiled egg into thin slices.

Add the above potato salad inside the cut bread roll. And then top the filling with the egg slices.

Your sandwichis ready. Relish this sandwich. Two of these, and I am done for the night.

2) You could get ready-made potato salad from the superstore. This works well too. And I do that nowadays. This saves time without costing too much, and is very convenient. However, more thifty bachelors can use approach one above. Note that the ready potato salad and some bread is very convenient when you are going out for day trips.

You could still add the egg-slices to this roll, as mentioned in approach one.

Relish the sandwich.

You could add some cabbage leaves if you like them. Also tastes good with some ketcup and spicy mustard sauce, whether inside, or as a dip.

P.S. I'm sure these rolls are rapid things to make when your gf / bf is coming over. No wasting time over cooking, and easy eating too. Can get right to the point... And don't the rolls themselves look inviting too :-) ? Take a look at the image again. What a sensuous start to the evening...