Strawberry banana muffins for the birthday girl

And the birthday girl is me. Well, I have two more days to go for the special day. But who cares, its my birthday week!!! :-)

My childhood birthdays were so memorable. A bright smile will pass through my lips and my eyes would glow in excitement when I think about those days. My mom would organize a small party at home and the meals would be elaborate, ofcourse every dish on the table will be my most favorite ones; gulab jamun, samosas, channa bhatura, vegetable brinji, gobi paneer curry, potato finger chips from Hotchips and ice cream. There were no streamers, no party hats, no pony pinatas but the living room will be decorated with colorful balloons for sure and a candle with my age on it will be perched on top of a homemade cake made by the most adorable people on earth - S chechi and her mom. I was their favorite kid on the block (Guess I am still their favorite) and every year on my birthday they would bake a cake for me. It followed like a tradition for many years.  It was a simple looking cake with no fancy icing or frosting but it meant a lot to me that day and also today. Chech - Are you hearing me out?  If you are reading this, I am craving to taste that cake again; soft vanilla cake decorated with my name written with colorful Cadbury's gems. The taste that would transport me to the life that was taken so playful. I wouldn't mind if you would send me a package for this birthday :-) :-) :-)

I will have a long guest list but my dad would narrow down the final number to 40.  I can imagine how difficult it would have been for them to entertain and accommodate so many of them in our small two bedroom apartment. Gosh, I didn't think about all that at age 10.

Birthdays were celebrated that way until 10 or 12 years of age and slowly as I entered teenage, there was no party. No surprises. No special gifts. Birthdays got simple with a morning prayer at the nearby temple and evening dinner at my favorite restaurant.

But the last two years had been different - except that my parents and cousins were not with me, I had  lovely birthdays here. S would surprise me with my favorite black forest cake and red roses at 12.00 am and the following day he would rave about red roses being so expensive and complains that they wilt and die in a week's time. Well, men are men!!! But he is real sweetheart. Know why? I was gifted with a DSLR for this birthday. He has also generously gifted my blog with something special this month. Will keep you all posted about that real soon. So isn't he a sweetheart?

My birthdays with S: First year we spent the entire day shopping and eating in San Francisco; second year, I was pregnant with my little prince and had a beautiful picnic with spicy Indian food along the coast of Halfmoon Bay beach and this year I am having Junior S in hand and what more can I ask for?

Instead of cake I am celebrating my birthday with muffins. Who will not fall in love with voluptuous strawberries? I purchased five baskets from the farmer's market last week, half of them were eaten as such, little bit went for the morning SBD granola and I saved the rest for the Sweet punch August dish  - Strawberry banana muffins.  Recipe can be found here.

I kicked off my birthday week last Sunday by baking them. I drizzled hot chocolate syrup and roasted nuts to add an extra zing to the warm muffin. "Forget the diet and indulge without zilch guilt. It's your birthday gorgeous" - is my mood for this week. Come on over and join the celebration.