Happy Diwali!

Wish you all a very happy diwali and prosperous new year.

Back after a long time..its been a good break, came back to India, met family, friends..very happy :)

Made this rangoli along with my SIL on the D-day. By far this is the best rangoli I have ever made, since I am no rangoli expert..

Swastik

Baby book belongs to...chocolaty Saachi :)

Wanted to quill the name page of my baby's book for a long time..but was not very confident with the quilled alphabets (never done before). Then saw the beautiful multicolor design at dear Suganthi's blog. Loved the design, I felt using multiple strips would give better result for the alphabets.

I used 4 strips of dark brown and light brown alternatively to quill the name (they make such a yummy chocolaty combo..want to eat it up like a chocolate ice-cream!! ;))

Embelished with quilled roses and fringed flowers..

Love the outcome, hope my baby likes it too when she grows up..what do you think?

Images in the making -

Half way through..

I like this simple chocolaty Saachi..and was not sure I really should embelish it..

Sending it to Piyu's anniversary challenge

Nippattu - Baked Savories

Recently I tried this snack called Nippattu. It is a famous cracker from the state of karnataka.

It is quiet similar to the north indian savory - mathari. The taste was yummy..inclusion of onion makes it a healthy cousin of bhajiye

I came to know about this wonderful savory only when I browsing through the diary of Sayantani, my dear blog friend. I love her space with all the wonderful dishes she whips up, the lovely drool worthy photographs and most importantly her beautiful write ups!

The first timeI made it, I felt wow, what a lovely and healthy way of munching. They tasted quiet a lot like onion bhajiye/pakoras to me.

The best part of this recipe is it is made up of wholewheat + it is baked! so no guilt :)

Here is the original recipe.

Sending it to Flavors of South India hosted by Nayna

Birthday wishes for me

Got this handmade beauty on my birthday from my brother and bhabhi. Though it is not hand delivered yet...it made my day!!

It has got such a cute message..love every bit of it and the sentiments behind :)))

Thank you, Love you both..

Jam drop cookies

One of my first baking experiences!! They reminded me of the yummy cream biscuits we used to have as kids- oval shaped with strawberry cream and sugar frost..yummm

Saw these wonderful cookies in my co-sisters Sonal bhahi's blog..could not resist myself from trying these. Not getting enough time for making these, I was thinking of taking a day off from office! But finally did manage to bake them over a weekend..they came out well for the first timer..here is the original recipe.

Oil on canvas - Calling it done!

I had to call this painting done, else I can take years to complete, do and undo the painting (dont believe it? I completed my Radha Krishna painting in four years!! do check it out on my insistence :)) also with kiddo around I dont want to use oil colors for some time, may be toxic for her. So here we go...

My first try with oil paint on canvas. Also for the first time I used actual photographs as a inspiration.This is a scene captured when I was in US. Me and 3 friends had gone to NY over a weekend. My friend and me wanted to ride bicycle for a long time. This was a wonderful opportunity!! It being summer, nature was yet again at its best... greenery and beautiful flowers all around...The four of us hired a bicycle each and off we started for the bike adventure in central park (for those who dont know, Central park is a biiiiig park, all the karan johar shoots are done here! remember KANK and the fountain! :)) We thought we'll cover half of it and reach the fountain, as we had to return the bikes in 2 hr, however we missed the turn for half and ended up making a complete parikrama of the park!! We were damm tired, later we started riding in the slope and getting down from the bike during uphills!! Enjoying in between.This was one such small lake in the garden, were we got down (obviously for a photo shoot!!! ;)) There was this little kid with the elder, feeding the swan. It was a very beautiful picture in front of us, and could not stop ourselves from clicking them. Can never forget our bike adventure, it was worth every effort.

Origami - Paper Bow

Wanted to share the cute little paper bow I made recently. Helen of Lets create shares a wonderful origami tutorial. This cutie bow is fun to create and can be used in cards, scrapbooks etc. Try it yourself..enjoy!

Broccoli Parathe

Had prepared this on 15th august morning and was lucky to catch a glimpse of Indian Independence celebration on melbourne skies from our kitchen backyard! I knew independence day is celebrated in counsulate and some offices here, but didnt expect the tricolor hot air balloons to adorn the skies in the wee hours of morning. (hope i had a dslr to catch the colors!! on my wishlist for long)

"Me jahan rahoo..me kahi bhi rahoo, teri yaad saath hai" Love india with all its problems, imperfections... hope the good Samaritans like Anna would be able to remove the layer of dirth which has covered our country... at least to some extent along with support from all sections of society. The beautiful, incredible India is waiting to bloom again with young vigor and old traditions.Looking at the humongous support which the mission lokpal bill got, it is definitely clear that the people of India are waiting to get the freedom again..freedom from all the vices of the society. Strong leadership and proper guidance with public interest in mind is the call of the hour. The ray of hope is still there to make the country a better place for our children.

"Hum honge kamyab ek din. Jai Hind"

Like most Indian kitchen, Broccoli is not a very regular veggie in our kitchen. For my MIL it is "hari gobi"(green cauliflower) with not so appealing a taste! With very few takers in the form of salad(including me ;)), I was thinking how can I make everyone have this healthy veggie. Then one of my hubby's friends visited us. She suggested this recipe, I quickly made a note of it. then I had to try it!! The parathas came out well and tastes best when served right from the stove!!

ingredients:

1 cup wheat flour/aatta ( regular chapati dough )

3/4 cup grated broccoli

salt to taste

1tsp red chilli powder

1tsp garam masala

finely chopped green chillies (optional)

ginger garlic paste (optional)

1 tbsp ghee

method :

Knead the above ingredients except ghee into dough. Take a lemon size ball of dough. Roll it out and roast on the hot girdle applying ghee on both sides.

Serve hot with any side dish or pickle.

Sending this to Tickling Palates's Scrumptious Breakfast and Taste of Pearl City's Any One can cook

Let’s Cook ~ Scrumptious Breakfasts

My first blog award!

wow! Iam soo happy and feel honoured to receive my first blog award. Thank you so much Dr Sonia

Dr Sonia is a profound blogger who has a beautiful space containing the lovely creations by her and her little angel, also some amazing tutorials which are of great help for beginners like me..do visit her space at

http://cardsandschoolprojects.blogspot.com/

and indulge!!

Thanking you always Sonia and love u soo much...

To accept the award link back to the person who gave you the award-answer these questions and pass it onto 10 bloggers.
Name your favorite color? Brown
Name your favorite song? All songs of Abhimaan
Name your favorite dessert? Gajar ka halwa (carrot pudding)
What worries you off at the moment? Nothing
Your favorite pet? Dogs
Black or White? White
Your biggest fear? Dont know
Best feature? My baby
Everyday attitude? Life is good!
What is perfection? Time well spent with family
Guilty pleasure? Yummy desserts
When you're upset you? Talk to mom!!

I would love to share this award to these talented bloggers:

- Sayantani of http://ahomemakersdiary.blogspot.com/

- Sonal bhabhi of http://sonu-palatecorner.blogspot.com/

- Karan of http://www.foodforthoughtbykaran.com/

- Jyoti bhabhi of http://jyoticraftwork.blogspot.com/

- Sudha of http://sudha-kalra.blogspot.com/

- Aipi of http://usmasala.blogspot.com/

- Santoshji of http://santoshbangar.blogspot.com/

- Shobha of http://foodmazaa.blogspot.com/

- Suganthi of http://papercraftss.blogspot.com/

- Priya of http://mharorajasthanrecipes.blogspot.com/

Dear friends, do accept this award as a small gesture of appreciation for your amazing skills..

love

happy bday nanaji!!

Prepared this card on behalf of my 4 month old for her nanaji (maternal grand father). Everybody back home is waiting eagerly to meet her. In the mean time the little princes is becoming more demanding and expressive..she would be one pampered dolly, I am sure!!

This is a very quick n easy card. The shirt and tie are prepared using origami. The paper used are quilling strips and color printout. My dad is very fond of light color shirts(cream) with fine strips. The shirt here has fine stripts(not very visible is the photos :( )..in reality it looks like one of his shirts!

The original card can be found at the etsy store of Navanka Creations. They have beautiful stuff, do check it out..thanks Amrita, Nimisha for the beautiful idea.

Happy birthday in advance papa (cud not wait till his bday to post this! ;) )