Fluffy Marshmallows

Marshmallows... A different textured sweet. Soft and fluffy like a cloud. My brother and me...we used to have these a lot when the Nilgiris Super store came to Pondicherry...during our school days at the end of 90's. Especially, my brother loved it. Now, my brother's son too loves marshmallows. Those days we could get only 2 flavors : Strawberry and Pineapple. We preferred the latter a lot. Hmmm...Nostalgic 😊 

Recently I have started experimenting with gelatin, yeast etc. Thus, my first choice was to try making my brother's favorite Marshmallows. 

I was excited with the successful outcome... It had the perfect taste and texture. And more than that I was so delighted seeing  my brother and his son munching away all the pieces 😊.  Now my brother's son demands me to make flavors of his choice when he comes to my place. I readily hop, skip n jump to my kitchen to make the cute ones for my cutie pie. 

Recipe adapted from Manju's cooking class

INGREDIENTS:
Gelatin - 3 tbsp (soaked in 1/2 cup of cold water for 10 mins) 
Sugar - 2 Cups
Corn flour - 2 tsp
Water - 1 Cup
Salt - a pinch
Strawberry essence - 1 Tbsp
Pink color - a few pinches

METHOD:
1. Mix sugar, corn flour, salt, essence, color and water. Bring to boil to a thick syrup consistency. Switch off fire.
2. Pour this mixture to the soaked gelatin and beat with an electric mixer at high speed for about 10 minutes. 
3. Pour this into a greased tray. And let it set overnight at room temperature. 
4.Cut into squares and dust with corn flour.
5. Store it in air tight containers. Stays well for 2-3 days in room temperature. 

NOTE:
1. My 1 cup measures 250 ml.
2. You can add any essence and the corresponding color to make different flavoured Marshmallows. 

Nobitaaaaattoooooo!!!

Got more than a dozen of free Nobita and friends tattoos for some candies. I've seen kids buying candies just to get their favorite characters' tattoos. But my son differs from this.  Don't know why... He does not like them.

Now, what to do with these??? So, in order to encourage him, I decided to go for a tattoo 😜. Done👍,  I bear a tattoo on my left wrist 😆...

I kept showing my tattoo to him, now and then, thinking that he would ask for one...But nothing motivated him.

Whatever,  I'm with a "Nobita" tattoo, in my mid-thirties😂... It's fun. 

Little Angels

Cute little Angels from my Mom's garden 🏡 

I'm at my Mom's place for my son's mid-term vacation. Yesterday morning, these cute ones waved at me, dancing to the tune 🎶 of a gentle cold breeze. Awww!!! 

And so... here are my clicks 📷 ... 

This was planted by my brother-like  "V".  He takes care of everything at my Mom's absence and sometimes takes care of my Mom too. He's family😊.

Location: My Mom's garden, Pondicherry. 

Camera: Samsung Galaxy S5 

Another cake disaster😜

Wanted to bake a marble cake with swirl pattern, so browsed and browsed for a recipe to work my idea. Finally, I was so confident as I chose a recipe from a blogger 🌍 who takes baking class. 

Last night, I mixed the batter, poured it into the baking tray, made the swirl pattern and put it into my oven. All set. 

The cake raised, raised and raised😰, flooded all over my oven😕, the crust darkened,  and then suddenly the cake went flat. 😣 It took more than an hour to bake.

The cake was so oily... And soggy... Not firm. 

.  It was a mess. 😥

I was about to discard it, But my mom came to rescue. She asked me to layer the broken cake pieces with tissue papers to absorb the oil. I did as she told and left it overnight. 

This morning, I tasted the cake. To my surprise, the taste was manageable, it was not that bad as I thought😆. My mom's trick worked. 😅😊

Again a cake wreck -  rescue operation was a success 😄

Saviour, cast away the darkness...

It's Christmas season, but my title holds a different feeling ... 

My city, Chennai, was shattered last week by the cyclone, 'Vardah', which was quite devastating. In the recent years, Chennai has become a soft target or magnet of Nature's violent behavior. Like the Tsunami in December '04, Heavy heavy rainfall in November '15 and this year... 'Vardah'. The cyclone uprooted a lot of trees, electric poles n transformers. Its so sad to see a dry Chennai in a week's time.  

During this cyclone hit, we were left with powet-cut and no-water condition, as we require the electric motor to pump the water up to the tank. Water... people managed by using the old traditional way... Yes, using a bucket and a rope to get the water from the tank directly (our very own "Well" technology). So that was a relief. But, power... Yes, the name is apt for electricity... No Electricity, no power. 

The nights were drained in darkness. People had UPS but that too went off in a couple of days as there was no electricity to recharge... Some places are still experiencing power-cuts as I'm blogging this. Rented Gensets... again scarcity... So darkness...darkness...darkness.

I... neither have UPS nor rented genset. But my nights were lit brightly with minimal effort and almost at no-cost. Guess what?!  SOLAR LAMP, yes... a simple but powerful solution.

Solar Lamp

Solar Panel

 My father bought her almost more than 15 years back. Comparing the re-chargable electric lamps to my solar lamp, I've bought around 4-5 of the former.  They tend to stop working after sometime.  But, all these years, she keeps working fine with just a couple of minor repairs. She travelled with me to Bangalore after my marriage. And now to Chennai 3 years back. She became my husband's favorite emergency lamp. He keeps insisting to take care of her.  

Having an 8 year old boy (my son) and experiencing the power-cuts and darkness, trust me, it's very difficult.
My Solar Lamp with a shape of a light-house, sits in a corner of my sitting room so humbly and the solar panel on the terrace... She brightened my nights.  She was there working perfectly, when I needed her the most. She didn't let me down. This experience was an eye opener. Now, I have an extra dose of respect for my dear Saviour... Yes... She did cast the Darkness, away. 

Get a solar lamp, it's an one-time investment, a promising long n strong bond. Go for it and experience the difference. 

Quilling - Ganesha 🙏

My Mom has a huge collection of Lord Ganesha's figurines. I must say...Quite a lot. 

Each one of them, unique in its own kind... Be it with what it is made of or the posture.

It has become a habit for us, like wherever we go, either my brother or my sis-in-law or me,  

We shop for her a Ganesha. 

So, how can I miss to make her a Quilling Ganesha!!! 

As I'm a beginner in quilling, I was browsing a lot for a simple method. Finally, this creation caught my eyes. 

And, here I am with my "Oh... So cute Ganesha" 

Materials required and method :

7 to 8 - 5mm for body
2 -  3mm for head
2 - 3mm for crown

*Stick head to the crown.

1 - 3mm  for each ear, slightly loosened and shaped into traingle

*Stick to the sides of the head.

1 - 3mm for left hand
1 - 3mm for right hand
1 - 3mm for trunk

*All 3 loosened to 2cm circle and shaped appropriately.

1 - 3mm for left palm
1 - 3mm for right palm

*Stick palm to hands.
*Stick the head and hands to the body.
*Decorate as u wish.

Mini Apple Pies (Eggless)

Mini Apple Pies 

Recipe adapted from Padhuskitchen

Ingredients:

For short crust pastry:

Maida - 1/2 cup 

Unsalted butter (ice cold and cubed) - 45 grams

Ice water - 2 tablespoons

Salt - a pinch 

Sugar - 1/2 tsp

For the Filling:

Apples - 1 (small, firm textured apple)

Lemon juice - 1/4 tsp (a few drops) 

Brown Sugar - 1/4 cup

Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp

Nutmeg powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt - a pinch

Maida -1/2 tbsp

Butter - 1/2 tsp

Method:

For the short crust pastry:

1. In a chilled bowl add maida, salt and sugar and whisk well. 2. Add chilled butter cubes to the flour mixture. Using your finger tips, rub or squash each cube of butter into the flour. Take a butter cube and a little flour and squash it. Repeat the same until all the butter is broken into fine pieces and the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

3. Make a well in the center, add 1 tbsp of ice cold water. Use your hand as a whisk and mix the flour. Add another tbsp of cold water and mix well. Stop adding water if the dough clumps together. The dough should just hold together. 

4. Dust the working space with a little flour and knead the dough gently to make it smooth. Do not overdo.

5. Divide the dough into two portions (3/4 and 1/4), flatten it a bit and wrap it in a cling film and refrigerate it for few minutes.

The basic short crust pastry dough for the pie is ready. 

For the Filling:

1. Peel, core and cut the apples to small cubes. 

2. Add 1/2 tsp of lemon juice and mix well. 

3. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, flour to the chopped apples and mix until well combined. Let it sit for 15 minutes.

4. Strain and collect the juice oozed out of the apple mixture.

5. Heat butter and add the juice. Stir on medium flame until it gets caramelized and slightly thick. 

6. Add it to the apple mixture and mix it well.

Our pie filling is ready.

For Apple pies:
1.Grease 2 small pie moulds well. 
Take 3/4 of the dough from the refrigerator.
Dust the working space with little flour and slightly Knead the dough. 
***Method 1
--Divide it into 2 equal balls. 
--In one pie mould, press one ball gently to the bottom and sides evenly to form the tart shape. The base should be 1/2 cm thick. Repeat the same for the other pie mould.
***Method 2
--After taking the dough from the fridge and kneading it, gently roll it to 1/2 cm thick slab using a rolling pin. 
--Using a cup larger than the size of the pie mould, cut out circles from the dough.
--Place it in the mould and press it gently with your fingers so that it sits well inside the cup. Remove any excess dough on the top edges neatly. Repeat the same for the other pie mould.
2. Then fill each mould with 3 - 4 tspns of apple pie filling. 
3. Preheat the oven at 180 C.
4. Take the remaining 1/4 of the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out thinly (1/4 cm thick).
5. Cut 1/2 cm width strips and length of the pie mould's diameter. Use the strips to create a hash pattern like weave. (2-3 strips horizontally and cross it with 2-3 strips vertically)
6. Tuck the ends neatly with the the bottom crust.  Instead of the hash pattern, you can also cover the pie with a smaller circle (with a cross slit in the center for the steam to escape) and tuck it with a fork joining the edges with the bottom crust. Repeat the same process for second mould. 
7. Brush the top with milk and butter mixture. 
8. Bake the pies for 30-35 minutes or until the crust is light brown. 
9. Remove the moulds from the oven, leave it to cool for 10-15 mins.
10. Finally remove the pies from the moulds. Cute Mini apple Pies are ready. 

Choco-licious Cake (Eggless)

Choco-licious Cake (Eggless) 

This is a sinful Choco-licious cake.😈 A recipe for all the choco-addicts out there... Like me. 😊

It's an easy-peasy cake with not so expensive ingredients but the best ever chocolate cake👌. 

My brother is a crazy fan of the movie 🎥 "Premam" and he always wanted me to try the 'rosettes' that appear on Cafè Agapè Cakes 😊

So here it is... Tried out the Rosettes for my one n only sweet brother👫. 

My dear brother... This is for u😊. Hope I did a decent job😉😜... “Doubt undengil parayanam!”😆😉

Ingredients:

For cake:

Maida – 1 cup

Baking Powder – ½ tsp

Baking Soda – 1 tsp

Cocoa Powder – 6 tbsp

Powdered Sugar – ¾ cup

Vegetable oil – ½ cup

Hot Coffee – ¼ cup (1 tsp of coffee in ¼ cup hot water)

Milk – ¼ cup

Yogurt – ¼ cup

Vanilla essence – 1 tsp

Sugar syrup - 1/2 cup

For chocolate ganache (recipe adapted from Yummytummyaarthi ):

Dark Chocolate – 250 grams 

Unsalted Butter –  4.5 tbsp

Milk – 90 ml

Vanilla / rum essence - 1/2 tsp

Icing sugar (optional) - 3 tbsp

Method:

For ganache:

Take milk and butter in a sauce pan and heat it up. 

Bring this to a boil so that the butter melts.

Once the butter is melted switch off the flame. 

Add in chocolate, icing sugar and the essence. 

Using a whisk mix this slowly so that the chocolate melts.

Let the mix cool down. Use as desired.

For cake:

Preheat the oven to 180 C. 

Grease a 6 inch round cake tin and line with parchment paper.

In a bowl sift together all the dry ingredients. 

Then add all the wet ingredients one by one.

Whisk the mixture gently until the dry and wet ingredients are well combined. 

Pour the batter in the prepared cake tin. 

Bake for about 30 min or until done.

Remove from oven and let it cool for few minutes. 

Then remove the cake from the pan and let it cool completely before Frosting. 

For Frosting:

Trim the top and sides of the cake. 

Slice the cake into 2 layers horizontally. 

Sprinkle sugar syrup on top of one layer. Top it with chocolate ganache. 

Then place the second later on top and sprinkle sugar syrup. 

Smear and smooth the ganache on top and sides of the cake and decorate it as u like.

Note:

For this recipe, my 1 cup measures 240 ml. 

Modern Avvaiyaar

My son has been so obsessed with Avvaiyaar and her Aathichudi since he's been taught that in school. 

One day, I was sitting on the floor watching TV. He started dragging and pulling me saying "Mummy... Avvai pannu... Mummy... Avvai pannu". I didn't get what he was trying to say.  I just stood up so as to see what he was up to. Immediately he took my rajasthani-hand embroidered jhola bag and hung it on my left shoulder and stuffed a pen in my right hand. And jumped in joy, crying out "Avvaiyaar... Avvaiyaar" 

And there.... I was standing as Modern Avvaiyaar...  amazed by my son's gesture. 

Pretty Ladies from my Mom's garden 😊

Spent my son's vacation at Pondicherry, during the last week of September🚃. 

Now... How can I return without capturing the beauties from my Mom's garden🏡? ... That would definitely be an incomplete vacation... 😊 

So here comes the pretty ladies... 

They were all so cute 😍... Couldn't let it go with just one pic...  😊

All so lovely 😙... Aren't they?! 😊

Location: My Mom's garden, Pondicherry. 

Camera: Samsung Galaxy s5 

Blogger Vs Grammar

Frankly, I'm not a master in English language and at the same time... not bad too.  I try my best to give all my posts with proper grammar. I take it seriously. 😇.  "Perfection is not a skill; it's a compulsion." 

It has become a habit that even after days of publishing, I go back and read my old posts and find out something odd. Again, I try to correct or add in some more and update. 😓
Is this experience same with all other bloggers or only me?😯

English grammar... Fine😞... But Tehnology Grammar is a bit complicated😨...like is it 'in my blog' or 'on my blog'? Recently learnt that it's 'on my blog'. Still a lot more to learn. As I've mentioned in my first post, I am new to the blog world. Taking baby steps... 😊 👍