When life gives you lemons...

Who doesn't like home-grown produce? Every morning, I pick a basket and scissors and make a leisurely round in my kitchen garden. The sight of all greens in there excites me like a baby. I pick and fill my basket with a handful of mint leaves, baby spinach, green onions, and curry leaves and then head to the kitchen to make a yummy omelet for breakfast.

I might have mentioned more than once that I take my breakfast way too seriously; for this reason, I don't like morning commitments that don't involve good food, and it is also one of the many reasons I never did a 9-5 job. I like my morning ritual of preparing a hearty breakfast (only for myself) in the quiet and calm of the early morning. Sips of hot tea accompanied by a book, a show, or simply browsing through the Internet is my favorite part of the day. I'm not chatty, particularly in those hours, and like to shut the world for a little longer until the regular mayhem of the day starts.

^{I will probably never make this again as it took me an hour but it was one of the best breakfasts I ever made.}

Where were we earlier? Yes. Kitchen garden. Alongside the herbs and root vegetables, we have a couple of citrus trees too; one of them is a lemon tree. Last week, we picked roughly 5 kilos of lemons. Gave away 6 baskets to some friends and acquaintances, and still, there were some left.

Amidst this lemon frenzy, Maan called me one day to inform me about (yet another) culinary competition in our ladies' club. She suggested I make a cheesecake, and I thought to make a lemon cheesecake because why not... life had given me loads of lemons just in time. 🤣

These competitions are not just about the flavors; the judges take the presentation of the dish and table decor equally into account. But it's impossible to handle everything alone, so I asked for help from Maan and some other friends to which they kindly agreed.

This time, I went with a jungle theme and opted for browns, greens, and yellows as the main colors. A day before the event, we had a decor meeting at my place. I presented my idea and we gathered props and crockery accordingly from our homes.

^Prototype

I didn't take pictures of the process of making a cheesecake because I have recorded it in the past several times. It turned out well taste-wise but unlike Banoffee pie, the presentation wasn't good. I knew what I was doing wrong but sometimes you prefer taking a chance than doing the right thing. 🤷‍♀️

^{The red drinks and shimmery stuff is from the other participant's table. We had small designated areas.}

My table looked beautiful, the cake wasn't perfect but it didn't look bad either. Although I didn't win this time, I was happy and satisfied and learned a thing or two that would surely come in handy in the future. That's one of the purposes of a competition, right?

I wish I had taken more pictures of the pretty recipe card and the poem which Maan kindly wrote but she wouldn't let us go near out tables once the time was up. 😛