"Sour" childhood friends!!!

Good morning blogdosts!!! Oh, what a beautiful Saturday morning it is here, in VA. Feels like Spring. I know, it's been a long time. I missed this spot too! The shop has not been able to repair my computer. I am waiting for an answer from them to buy a new one. It was my elder son's B'day yesterday. Baked a chocolate cake for him. (the kid can eat anything made of chocolate!). The cake was edible. For a non baker this is an achievement! I was not planning to share this on the blog. So, please ignore the poor presentation. This is not a fancy cake either. He loved it and that's what matters. Correct? Posting a pic.

He wrote something on the cake. It was his idea. If you can read it and tell me what he wrote and what he  used to write it, then please leave me a comment. Even if you get 1 out of the 2 questions correct, it's good enough:). I will mention you in my next blog. Consider it my motivation to write again! Thanks in advance!!!
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Mention Tamarind (imli) and I am sure you start to salivate. Such is the power of sour taste! As kids it was fun to eat things like imli (pic. 1), bimbul (don't know the English name for it. See pic. 2 below), gooseberry (pic 3), lemons, raw mangoes, (you all know what lemons and mangoes look like, so no pics.) etc.

Aah! the title of this post misled you. Didn't it? Anyway, these fruits were all easily available, as people grew them in their gardens. Most naughty kids would jump compounds and go into their neighbor's house to steal these sour beauties. Little did we know then, that these fruits are a good source of Vitamin C and have great health benefits. It was easier on the teeth then. But now, the mere thought of sour things, is a stimulus that brings pain to my teeth. In addition, these foods are highly acidic and react negatively with stomach acids causing pain in the stomach. Sure shot sign of aging he he. The kids of today, know only about sour candies wrapped in fancy paper. So sad. It is believed that girls like to eat sour things more than boys. Not sure how much truth is in that statement. Women do crave for sour things during pregnancy and I can vouch for that. I craved raw mango "pachhadi" when I was pregnant with my second son. The sour fruits like tamarind and bimbul have culinary uses too! My Mom uses these sour fruits in her daily cooking. Somehow, it makes all her dishes just right. I think the sour balances all the strong flavors of all the other spices in the dish. It is very useful if you are having gastric or digestive problems. These days we can find ready made pulp of most of these fruits sealed nicely into very attractive jars. The preservative in them is not so attractive. Of course, it can be discounted when you compare the convenience. The fruit pulp of imli, is used to polish brass pots that have collected mold. Wonder what life would have been without the sour taste. At this age, I do not miss it.   Do you?