Of Families, vacations, birthdays and stitching

Hola dear stitchy, bakey, crafty friends!! Am back after being MIA, from the blogger world, for 2 months. That's because life has been crazy busy in a good way. July/August is always like that when cousins and families, brother and family all come from several parts of the World and hence the busiest months of the year for us. By the end of August, they all return to their worlds and we to ours hungover from the holidays holding on to the energy till the next year

This year we all went on a very short trip and almost all of us cousins were there, making it even more special. We travelled to Pollachi, a short drive from Coimbatore. The resort where we stayed was a quaint little one and we had the resort almost to ourselves, so we could make all the noise without fear of disturbing other guests. 

There was beautiful river flowing right behind the resort and we had full access to it. A very scenic place and so many peacocks around

It was a very nostalgic trip - recollecting childhood memories, catching up with the new members in the family, getting to know them all better. Our kids enjoyed themselves too, with so much open space to run around and no fear of traffic etc

We celebrated a few birthdays too in August and September

August is V's birthday. I baked a pinacolada cake this time with fresh cream frosting

Dad turned 76 last week. As his birthday coincided with Ganesh Chathurthi this year, we decided to bake a Kozhakattai cake

Amidst all this I did manage to stitch some the last 2 months

That's the progress on project Amma. I have progressed 2 more pages since my last post and can say that I am a little more than half way through

..and here's the ORTS for the last 2 months

That's all that's been happening in my part of the world the last 2 months dear friends. Till next time.. take care.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir!

A Sweet post

BAKING - yes, looks like that's what I've been doing of late!! So, this post is going to be a "sweet" one :)

The first one is Choco-peppermint choco-chunk cookies. I know it was a mouthful of chocolate.

I got this recipe from my Williams Sonoma book. I used chunks of chocolate rather than chocolate chips and for the first time got real bites of the chunks. Was sooo gooey, just loved it

Next - of course it has to be something with mango

A very simple Mango and dark chocolate mousse. So simple yet yummy. All we need is melted dark chocolate, mango pulp and whipped cream. The original recipe called for blending in all the 3. But I thought it would be better to layer them out. I also folded in some of the mango pulp into the dark chocolate

And finally - Whole wheat custard almond cake

This has no butter and just 2tbsp of oil. And it's whole wheat too. The recipe can be found here. It is best served warm and if you wish a dollop of butter

I picked up seashells again, after months I think, only yesterday!! Absolutely no stitching has been happening. But I am determined not to allow this to become a UFO. Well, there are 6 more months to this year and I am determined to catch up on all the stitching I missed the first 6 months

That's it from me today friends. Till next time.. Take care.. Be Happy.. Keep Crafting.. Au Revoir

Banana Choco-chunk cup cakes

As you are aware, I have been experimenting with egg replacers. So far I have got best results with curd and flax seed powder

I tried a recipe for Banana-choco chunk cup cakes from my Baking book

Here's the recipe I used:

1 1/2c flour (i used whole wheat), 3/4c sugar, 1 1/2tsp bkg soda, 1/4tsp salt, 2 ripe bananas, 1/2c melted butter (I used same qty oil), 1 egg (for eggless use 1tbsp flaxseed mixed in 3tbsp warm water), 3tbsp buttermilk, choc chunks

Method - sift flour,bkng soda and salt. Whisk together mashed banana, oil/butter, flaxseed mix/egg and buttermilk until well blended. Add flour mixture and fold in gently. Stir in choc chunks. Bake

V and her friend just loved it. The hubby is not a man of many words. But I was floored when he actually said "Those cakes you made yesterday are too good". And I was not surprised that he wolfed down 4 in one go!!!

So, I am one big delighted home baker ggrrriiinnn

Ok friends that's all I have from me today. Till next time - Take care, Be happy, Keep crafting, Au Revoir

Back..

..After a short vacation. We had gone to Mysore for a few days. The day we left Chennai, there was a bomb blast at the Chennai central station about an hour after our train departed, killing a girl!! Wow, what a start to a vacation. Other than this shock, we had a great 3 days.
Even the weather was very kind to us and cooled down the temperature by sending down mild showers. We visited the Mysore zoo, palace, bird sanctuary, the temple atop Chamundi hills. My favorite was the sand sculpture museum. Here are a few pictures taken during in and around Mysore

Of course, no trip is complete without shopping. But I did not go on a spree, and did only sensible shopping (if there's something called that).

Summer is here, and with that MANGOES!!! Here's my first mango bake for the season - a mango cake.

As my experiment with various egg replacements continue, I used only curd this time. I am happy with the result, but thought it was slightly dense.

No stitchy updates this time friends. I have been in and out of the house the last few months and no time to put in any X's.

Till next time.. Take care.. Be happy.. Keep Stitching.. Au Revoir

TUSAL and progress

Oh what hectic days these are!! With more stress I should say that I have been on a crafting detox. But I have diligently tried to contribute atleast one ORT to my TUSAL jar the last month. So, here it is

And here's the progress on Seashells

I am now trying to finish atleast a row in a day. Hope I keep up the pace and make considerable progress

On the baking front, I tried a new recipe - Lemon clove loaf with lemon drizzle

This time I let go of all my inhibitions and decided to experiment. The original recipe called for 3 eggs. As a first attempt, I used 3 tbsp of flax seed powder to replace the eggs. As there was no other leavening in the recipe, I added some baking powder. Later I found the batter was not of the right consistency, so added milk till I felt it looked right. Just out of some "inner voice" added a tsp of vinegar. The result was an amazingly soft and moist loaf. I was really pleased with the outcome.
I plan to try this recipe with a few other egg replacers and find the best.

That's the updates from me now friends. Till next time.. Take care.. Be happy.. Keep stitching.. Au Revoir

Oops..

..I missed the first TUSAL of the year!! As it is almost time for the next TUSAL to be posted, I am making up with a TUSAL compare
I had saved up all my orts from 2012, just so at the end of year 2013 I could do a self evaluation and see which year I stitched the most

I think they are more or less the same, maybe 2013 was marginally better what with the finish of all the cottages!!!

And from Sep 2013 my stitching graph went on an all-time low almost hitting 0 sometimes.

I have been busy baking though
One of them is an orange, dry fruit cup cake.

Got the recipe from one of Nita Mehta's books that I borrowed from my library

Tried my hand at a baked cheese cake

Again, the recipe is from the same book. Used cream cheese and orange marmalade as topping

Well, that's about it from me today dear friends. Till my next post.. Take care.. Be happy.. Keep stitching.. Au Revoir

Tusal

Dear Friends, let me first apologize for being away for so long. The last few months have been totally crazy. So many changes happening at home, first with DH's travel to Germany, then his falling sick. Lot of anxiety, stress and work not being any easier either. Now that DH is back and is getting back his health, hope my old routine would set in soon

My stitching has been zilch the last 2 months, thanks to so much going on. Add in the most important festivals of Navrathri and Diwali happening during this period too. I am yearning for some calm and some me time

Here's the Tusal - nothing new there, just a few orts from seashells

Oops, wonder why it's rotated :(

Through all this, baking is what has been keeping me sane.

I have been wanting to bake red velvet cupcakes for a very long time and I finally got down to it

Got the recipe from Goodhousekeeping magazine. I replaced the eggs with flax seed powder. It turned out so soft and moist. Topped with cream cheese frosting, perfect combination indeed

Tried another recipe from my new Baking book - currant muffins

Again replaced egg with flax seed powder

I managed to put together November cottage and up for display

Well friends, that's all from me today. Hope to share lot more interesting updates next time. Till then.. Take care.. Be happy.. Keep stitching.. Au Revoir

Diwali..and TUSAL

Wow, time sure has flown by and Diwali's gone, the most awaited festival of the year. Now all the festivals are over with that.

As new moon fell on Diwali day, I missed out on posting my Tusal for the month (well, I do have a valid excuse this month, hehe)

As I have hardly been stitching, all the inputs are from July Cottage.

As always, lot of preparation and planning went into Diwali celebrations.. what sweets/savories to make, what clothes to buy, what crackers to buy and for how much...
My MIL usually spends diwali with us every year and she takes pleasure in preparing some sweets for all of us. But then, I have to make a contribution as well right?? So, I wanted to try my hands at something(s) new this year. Well, all of them are new.

I made Mawa Kachori and jalebi for sweets and cornflakes chiwda for savory.

The only flop side was with the chiwda, which was a bit too salty. I had to then fry some more cornflakes, raisins etc and toss them in. This really balanced out the taste and turned out quite well.

The hubby and I decided to not buy any new clothes for ourselves and wisely use up one of the new ones from the stash. So, we just bought dresses for V.

We also bought a good amount of crackers, but decided to stick to the "fancy fireworks" kind and not the noisy ones.


In the evening of diwali, we all gathered at my aunt's house to burst the remaining crackers and share more stories. It was absolute fun

On the crafty side:
I made this necklace for my cousin for the upcoming wedding

The beads are all my cousin's, I just helped with the idea and the putting together.

I did some baking as well. Baked this yummy dates and walnut bread for breakfast

and served it warm with a littllee dollop of butter. Boy was it yumm... The recipe is from here. The only variation I made was use flax seed instead of the egg. It turned out very moist and fluffy. I also skipped the prunes as I did not have any.

And guess what V received all the way from the US..

..more stickers from aunty Meari. Isn't it sweet of her. Thank you soo very much Meari. V send you her hugs and a whole lot of thanks. She counted all her sticker to a total of 998 (individual stickers) :d :d

I do have some progress on July as well. But I have decided that I would post a picture of it only after I finish it.
That my friends is all the update from me for today. Till the next one.. Take care.. Be happy.. Keep stitching.. Au Revoir