Brother Trouble, Sister names, and other things

The Zverev brothers obviously had a tough one yesterday. A 5-setter and a loss. I personally think it was quite unfortunate that Alexander lost. But it sounds like it was a tough game and Coric managed to make the most of tie breaks.

Also, does anyone else get completely stunned every time they see K. Plíšková has lost, only to realise a few blinks later that it is the other sister, not Karolina, who has lost? Not that I want the twin to loose, but seriously it kind of gets traumatising...

And how dull was the Bouchard game? I don't know whether I should be annoyed with the Canadian or just overly sympathetic. There are days when she just doesn't show up - perhaps a withered out ghost takes her place?

Tsonga also seems to have left the US open in a hurry...

Moving away from the loses, there were a number of easy peasy wins - Muguruza, Sharapova, Del potro, Thiem... to mention a few

To be honest, I cant wait now for the second week - and hope I can get a glimpse of the 5-setters etc!

My match of the day (If they both show up): Donald Young vs Gael Monfils. I think this could be full of frills...

Osaka's win, and trying to catch up

Well then, Osaka vs Kerber; What a match! And what a contradictory scoreline. This match played out only half as I imagined it. I expected it to be a cracker if Osaka showed up all guns blazing. Boy, did she do that. I think she will make it far in the future of tennis. Her winners made you grin ear to ear. The bit that didn't happen as I had expected was Angelique Kerber playing a non attacking, defence only game. While it is true that she plays a great defensive game, she can make some amazing shots - very few of which showed up on court yesterday. So, once again - the women's game gets more and more open, competitive and intense - the world number one and two are out of contention, with that the defending champion is out as well. What more drama will be served up? I suppose like the rest of the world, I must wait and watch.

As I write this, I am busy trying to catch up on the other scores & results. As hoped for Ostapenko got through to the second round in her usual topsy-turvy way. Nadal pulled off a rapid 2nd and 3rd set to see of his opponent with style. Whoa, wait a second - a 5 setter first round for Fed? I cant believe sleep deprived me of watching that match. It looks like it was fun, fun fun! At the end though - Fed is through, and the excitement levels are obviously getting higher.

Thinking about it - seems to me that in the men's draw the top 10 seeds make everything more exciting - I mean the fact that Djo, Murray, Wawrinka are out does dull things a bit - if Nadal or Fed were to lose in the early stages, something would be off. In the women's game, as the high seeds fall everything seems to get more exciting...

On that note, cant wait for some of the games today: Babos vs Sharapova, Wozniaki vs Makarova, Millman vs Kyrgios, Baroni vs Navarro, Verdasco vs Pospisil are just a few of the interesting match ups....

Happy tennis day, y'all

Sugar or honey, honey...

Sugar it is! Sugarpova had an incredible return to competitive tennis, and grand slam tennis with her US open first round game. The win came against the backdrop of controversies (including Sharapova's wild card entry and her regular long bathroom break before the third set), nonetheless it was a stunner of a game. Halep's elusive grand slam search continues, and it does feel that luck isn't on her side.

Most of the other games played out as expected with a few surprises - Sock is out of contention losing in 5 sets in a topsy turvy encounter. Johanna Konta bowed out in the first round after her magical Wimbledon run. In the opposite side of the spectrum, Muller kept up his incredible form and beat Tomic in 4 sets. Mischa Zverev had a tough encounter to make it through in 5 sets and Venus too had a battle on her hands before safely going through to the second round.

The time difference between Nairobi and Flushing Meadows always makes it such a challenge to catch the action at the US open, and I am always playing catch up with all that is happening. However, there is still plenty of tennis that I do get to watch and guess who is on my what to watch list today? Yep, Ostapenko starts off her US open with a match on court 17. Nadal & Federer both have their first games today, but here is the potential cracker of a match: Naomi Osaka vs Angelique Kerber. There are a couple of interesting match ups today including the Belluci vs Brown game.

Well, then will play time get here already!

All eyes on Flushing Meadows

Gear up folks, its the last grand slam of the year and there is plenty to look forward to.

Without Djo and Murray, the men's game certainly has a lot of potential. Of course Fed and Rafa always remain favourites, but the absence of the two above sure gives a whole host of others a grand chance at a grand slam - the Zverev brothers, Cilic, Querrey, Muller, Del Potro & Thiem. To me these nine are going to be the most exciting players to watch: In action today - Cilic, A Zverev, Querrey & Muller.

The women's draw is equally (if not more) competitive. Sharapova makes her come back - can't wait to see how that goes, and then there are the rest of the challengers, all looking to capitalise on their recent form and capture a first, or second, or third grand slam. Will Muguruza maintain her from at Wimbledon, or crumble as she did at the French? How far will Konta go? All the top 15 seeds in the women's game could make it to the latter part of the tournament, and each game they play has the potential to be exciting especially because the players seeded 16 - 25 are pushing hard to get to the top slots. I am personally looking forward to following Ostapenko and hoping she maintains her style of attacking play. So many players and games to look forward to on this side of the draw. In action today: Mugurza, V Williams, Sharapova vs Halep (which is going to be interesting), Kvitova, Konta, Wozniaki, Cibulkova, Makarova amongst others...

Let the games begin!

Of Breads, Cakes, & Macarons - 2

Fun, Exhaustion, Tears, Sore disappointment, Determination, Persistence, Success - All from macarons!

Covent Garden, London, 2012

An excited, young (at the time) girl sat with friends outside a cute patisserie with a grand, reputable name: Ladurée. As we chatted away, our order arrived at the table. Some hot drinks, and a couple of brightly coloured macarons.

The macarons were beautiful to look at. Those days, the great macaron baking craze was still in inception, and I had only vaguely heard of them, and had never tasted them. Shalini had talked of them and described how yummy they were, but we hadn't had them in Nairobi - I don't think anyone baked them commercially at the time.

The macaron shells at Ladurée were bright and the various fillings looked smooth and shiny. The famous macaron feet (macaron taxanomy) were perfectly formed, and delightfully honey-combed. I picked one delicately and bit into it - Pistachio. The next one I bit into spoke of raspberry and lemon. And then there was chocolate. It was official, I was in love. Who wouldn't be?!

My House, Nairobi, the following years

My second taste of macarons came a while later when Shalini bought some from 

Pierre Hermé in Dubai. It was impossible after that to sit back and not try to make these. 

We decided to look up a few recipes... after reading a few deceptively simple ones, I decided it was time to forge ahead and work with those egg whites, and sugar. I watched a video on you tube and gathered up the ingredients - almond powder, and icing sugar, castor sugar, and egg white. I plunged on. What came out was a bloody disaster; I should say a icky, gooey mess. The next 100 or so trials also resulted in similar outcomes. 

But I refused to budge, we had macaron baking sessions in the house at least once a week. And then I landed on a recipe that was not only great, it was also very clear about the tricky nature of macaron baking. We finally had a passable batch of macarons. And then they got better, and better, and better, until finally I had a tray of macarons that looked like they should, and tasted as they should - good colour, nicely formed feet, soft and chewy when we bit into them. From here on, the possibilities were endless - colours, decorations, shapes, flavours - to date we continue to experiment with these, making one little bold step at every bake. 

But there is nothing as humbling as making macarons - I just never know when they might flop. One thing is for sure, I avoid making them when it is humid: The disappointment of a bad batch is heart wrenching, but the delight of a perfect set is satiating beyond compare....

Maybe macaron? (The early disasters)

Macaron V1: an improvement

The real macarons: colour, flavour, design

The next level: Themed macarons

Of Breads, Cakes, & Macarons - 1

My love for time in the kitchen almost seems, "like a case of predestination," as Anne would say. Amma was phenomenal with her culinary skills, and as a family, appa included, we spend many happy hours in the kitchen. 

Baking, of course, is distinctively enticing. I find it particularly alluring to accurately weigh out basic ingredients, and then mix them up using various techniques resulting in an aromatic and delicious end product: yum on the taste buds and yum for the mind. 

Growing up, Amma would learn and make the most amazing baked goodies for us: buns, pizza, amazing cakes, cookies, to name a few. Those years, access to ingredients was scarce, and instructional material was nowhere as simple to find as it is today. And yet, how divine everything tasted as it hit our tongues. Sometimes cheesy, sometimes chocolatey - how could I resist emulating Amma's magical cooking talent? I can't begin to describe the delights of learning the art of baking from her - beautiful memories!

As we were growing up, I used to watch Shalini cook - not glance, but watch and I would taste every dish from inception to finish - a spoon here, a sip there, savouring the transition of flavour, texture and colour. And to date, this scenario continues to play out in the kitchen;She'll cook, I'll taste, and then as with most other things, I will copy her. As we have grown up, an additional dynamic has surfaced - cooking together. We spend hours cooking a myriad of dishes together. Desserts, obviously, have a special artistic appeal where cakes take the cake!

One of the most interesting cakes we've made in the recent past is the Battenberg cake. A few years ago, we came across this cake with it's distinct checker-board look, and marzipan covering. While this wasn't our first meeting with a checker-board cake, working on it, and putting it all together was such fun, especially since the end result on our first attempt was impressive - taste, texture and visual appeal (If I may so so myself). 

Since then we have found ourselves baking for pleasure a variety of cakes - rum and brandy infused fruit cakes, a recent hit being am Anna Olsen inspired coffee cake - to be fair this was a bit of a trip back memory lane where I contributed more to tasting than baking. Last week we went back to the basics and churned up this divine chocolate cake that my inspirational sister decorated: simple but stunning

Moving away from cakes, my love affair with baking bread has returned with a bang. The last few weeks has seen me obsessed with bread making, and I blame these pictures of bread that he's baked that keep popping up on my Whatsapp conversation with Harish for this: 

So, Harish makes the most divine pizzas and I keep telling him that his pizza dough is phenomenal - it has that perfect rise, and texture.

Other breads obviously follow suit. Off and on, I have privately been envious over photos of his baguettes, but it is only recently that I have decided to pick his brains about bread recipes, and then try to replicate his bread making skills. I am currently working on the baguette, Milk & Honey bread loaves, and my addition to the list - A fennel & pecan bread. 

Essentially, I see a picture of a perfect loaf on my phone and I then spend the next few hours waiting to go home and try baking. I have spent more than a few hours, Whatsapp conversations and dialogues getting tips and tricks across continents in order to get these scrumptious, crispy crust, delectable soft-inside loaves. And how much fun has it been discussing bread with Harish: from planning, to kneading, to proofing, to shaping, to tasting, all the way to troubleshooting (Our current primary concern - analysing why my brown bread won't rise much?)

Sigh, I think it's time to try and perfect another loaf, and save my macaron stories for another day...