Christmas cookies available in Santa tins

     Wishing all my readers a very Merry Christmas! May this new year bring a lot of joy, good health and success your way :) As I was thinking about how I should begin this post for you I heard a very loud "Ho, Ho, Ho" coming from outside (I kid you not) (this happened late last night while I was writing this post). I guess tis that season that brings out the inner Santa of everyone ;) Well for me I actually hope that it was the real deal and hopefully I can see some of my wishes coming true soon....a girl can dream...But whether I can mange to spot the real Santa or not I sure got an eyeful of his workshop, elves and reindeer at Mrs. Magpie's window display :D If you read my earlier post on their Durga Puja menu you will know that they are the only cafe in town which does the whole window dressing thing and with aplomb. This time was no different with a beautiful winter wonderland laid out :)

Kokobites November Box

     I was a total subscription box addict at one point and still give in to the temptation from time to time. I think that I have mentioned this before that the biggest draw for me when it comes to getting one of these is the whole surprise factor. There is just something about the whole anticipation thing...what kind of products will I get my hands on...what surprises are in store for me...that just drives one giddy with excitement (yes I have the mentality of a 5 year old :P ). I recently came across someone posting about a new subscription box from Korea in one of the groups on Facebook that I'm a part off and I decided to take a quick look. They had a couple of options available but what really drew me in was the Kokobites box aka the snack box :D I have so been wanting to lay my hands on some Korean snacks that this one was a no brainer for me...I actually had my "shut up and take my money" moment ;)

Cold Pressed Juices, Inspirit Cleanse, Kolkata

      You know my biggest problem with dieting, apart from being able to stick to it, is the whole process you have to go through of acquiring the produce. Whether it is some specialized diet that you want to do or even the current trend of juicing/detoxing that is doing the rounds...getting the raw materials, prepping, processing and finally consumption...and then to keep repeating it over and over! Such a pain and a half!!! I know it sounds absolutely moronic but hear me out. Even though I work from home my considerable time goes into it simply for the fact that I can put in more hours = more money. After that what time I do get I like to relax and enjoy myself. Really dont feel like putting any effort in anything else so I end up taking the easy way out. The thing that is most common with most diets is the complete rehaul of your fridge which is usually stocked with the more convenient albeit fattening food options. I'm such a huge fan of the whole on-delivery-diet-meal concept...too bad we don't have such options out here yet. 

Dry Skin range from Janssen Cosmetics

     After the horrible dry skin phase I went through last year during winters I wanted to get an early head start year this time around. I have been on the lookout for something that can act as a preventive measure before the winter sets in. Luckily I came across some samples from Janssen Cosmetics. I have tried one product from their range earlier on and was very happy with its results. So it goes without saying that I had high hopes from my recent acquisitions. You can check out the review of what I had tried out earlier here. This time I around I tried out their Melafadin Cleansing Powder, Day Vitalizer and Night Replenisher (last two belong to their dry skin range).

Awadhi Food Festival, K19 Restaurant, Park Plaza Hotel, Kolkata

     When Mr. Ashish Chopra, Culinary Historian, asked me what my fondest memories of food were I remembered all the times when I was traveling with my folks when I was a kid and the strange experiences that I had which I remember cause they were not very pleasant. But I think my fondest memories come from my school days. We had this tiny canteen aka store that would sell things like chowmein, fried rice, moghlai parantha with aloo or lucchi and channa dal (only one of this dish per day) with the omnipresent veg chop. All the girls from the senior and junior block would crowd around and literally fight tooth and nail to buy food worth 10 bucks! But I haven't had food that tastes like that even remotely. Not that it was anything exceptional but I guess the memories make it special...or was it the "survival of the fittest' appeal of it :P Isn't it strange how many memories/emotions food can evoke?