not fair!

apps like GymPact and RunKeeper make me wish I had a phone with a data plan :(

ahh.. coffee...

Love coffee.. Cannot live without it.. Have to absolutely have it in the morning every day.. Tried to wean myself off it once.. Was successful.. Then came back on it again.. Cuz i still love coffee n what's wrong with having a cuppa joe once a day?

Recently got gifted a coffee percolator (from coffee day - though i'm not able to find a picture of the one i have online).. Very useful.. Tried it first with dunkin donuts (original blend) ground coffee beans.. Was used to nescafe classic instant powder, so took a while to adjust to the dunkin donuts flavor..

Once accustomed, it wasn't too bad.. 

Cons

• The percolator only seems to give coffee (decoction) strong enough for one person.. They suggest using another table spoon of coffee powder on top of the lift-able lid, but doesn't work and results in the coffee having a burnt taste..
• Gives watery coffee.. So not good for people who need a strong decoction so they can mix it with lots of milk/cream.. 
• Takes a while.. U have to let it sit on the stove for like 5 minutes before it starts coming on to the chamber at top.. 

Pros

• Tasty coffee-shop coffee
• Watery consistency liked by black-coffee lovers..  :)

Haven't tried it with less water.. It might give the strong decoction like by madras coffee lovers, so they can add lots of cream.. 

Another thing i've stumbled upon is that coffee beans need to be ground coarsely for use in percolator, as opposed to the ones used in coffee machines - apparently.. So i'm thinking of may be buying a coffee bean grinder to get that right.. :) results if possible later..

Though i have to admit, i like the nescafe classic freeze-dried instant coffee powder a lot :d

baking!

have had a lot more time than usual on my hands.. and took to a lot of cooking.. and baking.. :)

until now, i've ended up using eggs or egg whites (in cartons) for baking a cake.. i did try once or twice with oil instead of egg - but didn't quite get the consistency that i usually get.. being a vegetarian (the no-omlette kind) i had trouble getting used to the 'ickiness' of eggs..

so here's all the stuff i tried till now..

Trial 1:Oil instead of egg
made a german chocolate cake (from mix of-course) with oil.. the equation is:

1 egg = 1/4 cup oil

oil preferred is vegetable oil.. but i've tried canola too
conclusion:
works. but the cake doesn't rise as it does for eggs

Trial 2: Applesauce instead of egg
made a double chocolate brownie with applesauce

1 egg = 1/4 cup applesauce

made the applesauce myself (from leftover apples). was very easy to make and tasted great. i think applesauce is more suited to brownies than cake.
conclusion:
works very well actually. didn't miss the egg

Trial 3: Applesauce instead of egg & oil!
now i tried to get real healthy (sugar apparently doesn't count as bad to me).. i tried to avoid oil too..
and applesauce was one of the alternatives!
tried carrot cake this time.. the equation remains the same as before.. so..

1 egg = 1/4 cup applesauce
1 cup oil = 1 cup applesauce

conclusion:
bombed.. tasted ok n everything.. but didn't rise at all.. came out half the size of usual.. but i coated it with frosting n was edible..

so trying to find the best way to make fat-free eggless cakes that rise.. found an alternative.. am gonna try it out before i make the suggestion..