Crafting About

About 2 years ago I bought V a long stitch kit for her summer vacations. But she did not show much interest and I did not want to force her into something that she's not really interested in.
But on seeing sea shells completed and all framed up, she is very motivated to try her hand at a stitchy project again. So we went shopping for long stitch kits again (my mother threw away the old one thinking V would never get back to it). To our utter disappointment, there was not stock in any of the craft stores and we learnt that they had stopped supplying to the stores. Finally amazon to the rescue and we found a beautiful kit there called 'Returning'

Here's a picture of her progress.

She has been going steady at it every day. School starts in a week.. wonder how she is going to manage

Here's a picture of my progress on 'The Bookshelf'

This is coming up very quickly.. but I am not able to stitch as often as I'd like to

Pictures of some beading we did last weekend

That's about it from me today friends. Till next time.. Take care.. Be happy.. Craft Away.. Au Revoir!!

Mother's Day

Hope all the lovely mothers had a wonderful day!

I have been wanting to maintain a stitchy journal - if not for anything, just for my own memories. And look what V made for me this Mother's day

She made a journal for me!! I was so touched. She did not have any hand made paper, so used plain A4 sheets. And a very cute card

She also baked this lovely Mango Semolina cake

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
Semolina - 1 cup
Mango puree - 1¼ cup ( 1 large mango) 
Sugar - ½ cup (you can add upto ¾-1 cup depending upon the sweetness of the mango and your tastebuds) 
Oil - ¼ cup
Baking Soda - 1 tsp 
Baking powder - ½ tsp 
Milk - 2-3 tbsp 
Vanilla Essence few drops (optional) 
Some chopped nuts of your choice for garnish ( I used almond, pistachios and cashewnuts)

Method

Peel the mango skin, cut them into cubes. Add the mango and sugar in a blender cup and blend them into a fine puree.

In a bowl take the milk, baking soda, baking powder, Semolina, mango puree and gently mix them well. Let it stand for 10-15 mins.

Add the oil and the vanilla essence and gently fold them.

Preheat oven to 180° for 10 mins. Pour the batter into a greased pan. Garnish with chopped nuts and bake for 30 mins.

A toothpick inserted should come out clean.

Let it stand for about 5 mins. Remove from oven, let it cool down completely. Demould, cut and serve.

Totally made my day!!

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

New Recipes

V and I have been experimenting with new recipes.. of late we are leaning towards healthy recipes and using lesser sugar, mainly because the hubby is diabetic

First in the list is an Oats, Fig and nuts cake

Recipe

Ingredients:
Oats - ½ cup
Whole Wheat flour - ¼ cup
Maida /All Purpose Flour - ¼ cup
Fig - 5 nos chopped
Honey - 3 tbsp
Almond - 2 tbsp chopped
Brown Sugar - ¼ cup
Baking Soda - 1 tsp
Curd - ¼ cup
Oil - ¼ cup
Vanilla Essence - ½ tsp
Milk - ⅓ cup
Cinnamon powder - ¼ tsp

Grease a cake pan and set aside. Preheat the oven at 180 ° for 10 mins

In a small bowl add little milk and soak the chopped first while you make ready the other ingredients.

Seive the flour, baking soda, cinnamon powder in a mixing bowl. Add the oats, mix well and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, take curd and sugar and whisk till smooth and sugar is dissolved. Add milk, vanilla essence, oil and stir well.

Add in the flour mix, chopped figs, chopped almond (both reserving some for topping) and fold gently and make a smooth batter without lumps.

Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake for 35-40 mins. Start checking from 35 mins. A tooth pick inserted should come out clean.

Remove it from the oven, let it stand for 5-10 mins. Invert it and let it cool down completely, cut and serve.

Next is a Ragi, Dates Cake

I was so tired on this day and allowed V to just handle the baking. She did everything here.. and the cake turned out absolutely delicious

Here's the link to the recipe - http://www.quichentell.com/gluten-free-ragi-finger-millet-date-cake/

Being summer, how could we not make ice cream.

Here's our Mango Cheesecake Icecream

This is a very simple recipe. Here's the link to the recipe - http://cookclickndevour.com/mango-cheesecake-ice-cream-recipe

So, that's all from me today friends. Till next time.. Take Care.. Be Happy.. Keep crafting.. Au Revoir