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 more

Firstly, thank you dear friends for all your encouraging words. Each time I slow down, all I have to do is login to our blog world and take a look everybody's progress. Lo and behold.. I am all charged up to continue and not to give up

Ok now for my Tusal of the month

All ORTs are from seashells

Over the weekend I tried 2 new recipes. The first one is a dessert - a faux cheese cake.

V wanted something for dessert. I had craving for cheesecake, but no patience to whip up a proper cheesecake. So, I combined whipped cream with cream cheese, used ginger cookies as the base and strawberry oreo for topping

The second is choco-peppermint cookies

I replaced the egg with flaxseed powder. Also, I varied the baking time for each lot - baked one slightly longer for crispy cookies, one lot shorter for chewy center and in the last lot added some caramel in the center.

I don't have any picture to show you on seashells this time. So, that's all from me today dear friends.

Till my next update.. 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

2013 - In Retrospect

Dear friends, it's now time to bid farewell to yet another year. This year has been a very eventful one for us in many ways.

On the family front, there were quite a few anxieties causing stress in more than one way.

 

Well, what's life without all of this right. As we face each challenge we learn something new, which in turn makes us much stronger and a much better person. While we are right in the middle of a situation we might think "why me". But if we try to take a step back and look at the situation, we can see that God has His own ways and everything happens for a reason. It's just that when we are right in the middle we do not know why all this is happening. Once this phase passes and maybe a year or 2 later when we look back we would think "wow, now I know why that happened. What would have happened had that situation not occurred".

As a result, I finally took a step towards a healthier me and have started yoga classes. So, end of the day (err year) all's well and this too shall pass

The year saw me take a step forward towards becoming a small time entrepreneur. After a lot of cajoling from friends and family, I gathered courage to post some of my jewellery in a group called "Chennai Shopping" on FaceBook. And the response was not at all disappointing. This has motivated me now to start my own page to display my jewellery.

Thanks to the lovely Homebaker's Guild, the year saw me explore new recipes and move out of my comfort zone. Baking anything with yeast was once very intimidating. I got over that fear. I also moved out of baking only sweet cakes/muffins and tried a whole lot of savoury recipes.

That's a collage of all the new recipes I tried this year

On the stitchy front, the year saw me finish the Cottage series from CCN. I thoroughly enjoyed working on the whole project

Now, that's alllll about the year that was. Going forward, I hope/plan to finish seashells this year.

That's where I am with seashells right now. I have not been stitching much the last 2-3 months. But I think I have got back the mojo and have been stitching daily the last few days.

What are my resolutions for the coming year you ask? Well, I think I'm going to keep that for my next post.

With that my dear friends, let's bid farewell to the year 2013 (it's just past midnight 31st Dec) and welcome a whole New Year with an all New perspective. Wishing you all a brilliant, very happy, very prosperous Year in 2014. Hope this year brings everyone all that you wish for

Till my next post.. Take care.. Be Happy.. Keep stitching.. Au Revoir