The week started with questions about Thanksgiving plans, with all of us seriously missing our American friends and wondering ‘who’s going to feed us Turkey?’. Visions of stuffing, mashed potato and pumpkin pie floated in front of my eyes, as I hoped for someone to not just ‘make a plan’ but invite me over. As the week progressed and the skies got cloudier, festive thoughts were replaced by more worrying ones as a special dinner guest called ‘Nivar’ threatened to visit. So instead of stuffing our faces, we battened down the hatches, stocked up our pantries and turned once again to our good old friend, Netflix. And kudos to all the Chennai folks like the team at Surf Turf who were ready to offer their help, during the bad weather, for anyone in need.
Before all the doom and gloom, the week started off on quite a pleasant note at JK Cheese N More for the launch of ‘Honey Box’ a DIY bread making kit. Home cooking has gone to the next level post lockdown and the home and hobby chefs had gathered to glean expert tips from Chef Shereen Perez. It was bread-making 101, with Shereen assuring everyone that you could keep it simple or fancy it up, depending on your skill level, with this foolproof, tried-and-tested format. There’s nothing like the aroma of freshly-baked bread and the mini versions of focaccia, country loaf and multigrain that were arriving hot out of the oven, were to die for. Guests were also free to mix and match them with a variety of meats and cheeses for some killer combos.
Later in the week, it was a glam gathering at Dank restobar, for the pageant auditions of Mr, Ms and Mrs Thamizhagam. Judging the proceedings were Gopinath, finalist for Mr India and Akshara Reddy, Ms Super Globe, along with fashion choreographer Karun Raman. We saw talent from all over the state, with performances ranging from singing and dancing to the delivery of iconic movie dialogues. A special mention to the ‘Mrs’ category who in Karun’s own words saw some “hot and sizzling” participants. The highlight of the event was and Akshara hit the ramp, to rally the troops and get the crowd going.