A Trip down New York..

That's right.. V and I visited my brother's family who live in New Jersey and spent our vacation with them

When the trip was finalized, I had already fixed my agenda of the few specific places I wanted to see and specific things that I wanted to buy. Top of my list was to visit NYC at least twice and visit the largest Macy's store there

We spent at least half a day and did not cover even a quarter of the store. I actually just realized that we did not even visit the children's section!! Wonder how V did not bother me about it at all

This picture below has a funny story behind it. While walking along times square we came across so many 'characters'. My brother did warn us not to click any pictures with them, else we would get rounded up and asked for money (and none of us had any small change). Apparently V did not gulp this down her throat (we realized this much later).

When she saw these characters she screamed 'Hey angry birds, minions' and rushed to them even before any of us had time to react. When we came out of the shock she was happily shaking hands with all  of them and was posing proudly in the middle for a picture to be taken. And I, like a robot just clicked while looking on in horror. After the picture all these characters were on me demanding 'mommy we need money'!! My brother and family had gone on a few steps ahead of us. When they turned around they saw this commotion and did not know what was going on. Finally they gave the smallest of notes they had and said bye to our dear friends!! Still when we look at this picture we shudder and then laugh at V!!

Next on my agenda was to buy all the berries I could as we do not get fresh berries (other than strawberries) in Chennai

Boy was I happy when I found all these berries. 

I had decided that I will not buy any more stitchy stash and that my next purchase will be only after I finish seashells and start off on the next project

Speaking of which, here's where I am with seashells

All I have now is to finish the sand and all of that is half cross stitch. And the back stitch. 

That's about it from me today friends. Till next time.. Take care.. Be happy.. Keep stitching.. Au Revoir

Water water everywhere...

Yes, Chennai is flooded everywhere. It has been raining everyday ever since 6th November, and it's not mild showers!! Schools have been closed for over 15 days now.. all lakes full and overflowing.
On one of the days when there was a dry spell, V and I were so bored that we drove down to the marina beach to see how it looked.. there was water till the road.. here's a snapshot

We took this picture from the footpath!! We could not make out the beginning of the sea or end of sand!!

Thanks to being stuck at home, I tried my hand at some of the recipes that have been on my to-do list for quite a while

Egg-less quiche. I could not believe how simple it is to make. I substituted spinach with corn. Here's the recipe

V's bestie had come down to visit from Mumbai and it happened that her birthday is just a week later. V and I baked this cranberries-cherry cake to celebrate her birthday in advance

Thanks to all the time I got at home, I made quite some progress on seashells

This is a picture taken last week, I made little more progress since this was taken. As I get closer to the end am just unable to put it down!!

So friends, that's the story from my end today. Till next time.. Take care.. Be happy.. Keep stitching.. Au Revoir

Diwali!!!

Yes.. the festival that everybody looks forward to the most all through the year is over!! Some parts of India celebrate Diwali today. Wishing all my friends here a very Happy, prosperous Diwali

I do not know how many do this, but as soon as the annual holiday calendar is released, first thing I check for is Diwali. This is one festival that I look forward to each year from the beginning of the year. Even thinking about Diwali brings so much joy and happiness. And just like each year, Diwali is over in the blink of an eye.. sigh!!

I tried a new sweet this year - Maalpua. It's a north Indian sweet dish. These are basically crisp pancakes made out of refined flour and milk, soaked in sugar syrup. I wanted to make this a diabetic friendly sweet as majority of my family members are diabetic - the husband, dad and mil. I got the basic recipe for Maalpuas from here. For the sugar syrup I used Sugar Free Natura and used the recipe from here. It was a big hit with everybody - except me :( I did not like the taste of sugarfree, but the hubby, mil and my dad just loved it!! I thought it left some kind of a bitter after-taste

On the stitchy front, I have a picture to share my progress.

With only a month a half more to the year, I am sure I cannot finish this project in 2015. But I am pretty sure that the day is not very far when I share a 'completed' post!!

So, till next time.. Take care.. Be Happy.. Keep Stitching.. Au Revoir

Feb Tusal

Yeah yeah I know it's March and the subject says Feb.. but in my defense, new moon was in Feb ;)

So here goes the TUSAL

 For those who are wondering what a TUSAL is, you can find the details here

And here's my progress on seashells

Doesn't she look pretty.. Love the chubby little arms

I have been trying to bake healthy. So, using jaggery instead of sugar in most of my bakes. Here's a Feta cheese and apple muffin I baked

This is a little low on sweet, so tastes absolutely yum with a li'l bit of cheese spread. The mildness of the muffins and the slightly salty cheese spread compliment each other beautifully.
Here's the recipe:
1.5cup flour - I used 50-50 whole wheat and plain flour, 1/4cup oats, 2tbsp sugar - I used jaggery instead, 1 large Apple, 2tsp bkng pwdr, 1/2tsp bkng soda, 1/2tsp salt, 3/4cup milk, 2 eggs - used flaxseed substitute, 1/4cup butter- used oil here, 3/4 cup cheese. 
Method is the same as for any cake

V has been quilling away. She made a pair of jhumkas, which I simply love

Love the colors she has used

That's all from me today friends. Till next time.. Take care.. Be happy.. Craft away to glory.. Au Revoir

Good Bye 2014.. Welcome 2015

What, the year is over already?!! It's like we just wished each other a happy new year 2014 and it's already over.

Going back to see the year that was - it has been a year of changes for me. Changes within and without, changes personally and professionally, changes in my outlook and  how I see things, changes in how I handle things.. the list is endless. Though it was not a very easy year, I have enjoyed each and every moment of it - the challenges that were thrown my way and how we emerged out of it, only stronger. It has been a year of loving and understanding the people around me.

On the crafting front - I learnt quite a few recipes, some of them keepers. Zilch on the beading front, hoping to catch up with that too this year. Though I was not able to stitch much in the first half of the year, I caught up from August and the progress has been good ever since.

I baked a Christmas fruit cake this year - my first attempt. My cousin and her children visited us last weekend. I baked 2 mini loaves to give them as return gifts, and a bigger one for us. 

The pan I used was not of the right size, so it looks kind of flat. 

Here's a link to the recipe I used. Mine is an alcohol free, eggless version. I am definitely going to be baking this one again, it's a keeper

V learnt a new craft this year - quilling. Guess what, she now has her own craft box. Bad part is, some of the things from my craft kid suddenly just 'disappear'!! 

V made a few cards, here are 2 of the best 

And as we walk into 2015, here's where seashells stands

Dear friends, looking forward to more and more interactions this year with you all. I am hoping to learn atleast the basics of sewing this year, focus on the family's health and bring more discipline into our daily routine. Don't they sound simple, hope these are as simple to keep up.

Wishing one and all a very happy, healthy, prosperous 2015

See you in the New year. Till then.. take care.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir!!!

New Recipes and progress...

I have been quite irregular in the blogger world this year - updates wise and also on catching up on other blogs. I definitely intend to mend that and be more regular from now

There are a few new recipes I tried during the last few weeks, out of which 2 stand out.

A whole wheat pizza made from scratch. The base is so simple and does not require yeast.

I used 2 kinds of toppings - the classic tomato and minty toppings. I found the recipe in Nita Mehta's book - Italian cooking for Indian kitchen.

I have been wanting to bake something using pumpkin for a long time and here's what I made

It's an eggless pumpkin streusel bread. The basic recipe can be found here. I skipped the chocolate chip and used a streusel topping instead

The husband passed a comment - "Every Sunday if I open the oven there's something smelling great and looking yummy"!!! Yyaaayyy, now need I anything more motivating to keep baking

Now, best for the last - my progress on the seashells

I am really happy with the way things are shaping up here. The last few months I have been stitching every night and the results are obvious. I definitely intend to keep this up

Well, that's from me today folks. Till next time.. Take care.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir

Trials 'n' Errors

I have been trying to get out of my comfort zone and try my hand at new things. Top most in my list is to make a perfect swiss roll. My best friend from college is an expert and she baked me a chocolate swiss roll for my birthday. Ever since then I have had this in my list, though I was not a very active baker then.

So, when I decided to break the shell, it had to be the swiss roll first. Of course, it was not a very successful attempt. The 'roll' broke, but fortunately into 4 symmetric logs

I made a faux roll out of it. I filled it with dulce de leche and topped with chocolate ganache. It turned out absolutely yummy. The cake was probably not moist enough causing it to crack. I am not giving up yet for sure

Next I tried a new recipe from my Eggless Cakes and muffins book by Nita Mehta - a spiced apple crumb cake.

My aunt visited us last weekend and she had requested me to bake something for her. I was extremely nervous baking for her, as she is an excellent baker. She is not one to flatter us with false praises, and gives very frank feedback too. I am happy to say that she just loved the taste and the texture of the cake. This is a whole wheat, no butter cake - so adds to the health factor too

Finally, dear friends, I have a picture to show you of my seashells progress

Do you see the little girl's bow shaping up? Isn't it a pleasure to watch things take shape as we progress

That's all from me today. Till next time.. Take care.. Be Happy.. Keep crafting.. 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