Crafternoons - little joys of life

Art is very therapeutic for me. I can spend hours in shaping up a soft ball of clay and see how beautifully it takes up a shape or can spend an  entire on-flight time to embroider on a wrap-around skirt!

Art is kind of like story telling, the imagery evolves slowly, but distinct yet.
Art is also kind of cathartic, helps me to forget the stress.
Art is fun.

Doing fun art with Lil S is another thing. I have to be quick and have to keep an eye on everything. Lil S has the tendency of putting everything to his mouth. ( But off course when it comes to eat his regular lunch/dinner, he refuses it vehemently!).

We did few "art n craft" sessions and I can tell you from my experience, doing a craft project on a carpeted floor definitely makes your reflexes go faster!

I never knew before that hand prints can be turned into so much fun objects. But if you take a look into Pinterest boards, there are lot of ideas floating around. Apart from hand/foot print,we added other things like twigs, dry leaves to add more interesting texture. Once you start creating there is no looking back, you can draw inspiration from every thing around you!

None of these projects were completed in a single session. Getting one decent foot/hand print is enough for the day! While he napped, I added embellishments and tried to give a complete look. Did I tell you that I figured out getting footprint out of Lil S was easier than getting his hand prints? And did I tell you keeping a wet sponge ready or be close to the sink also helped in the aftermath of the "art session"!

 Here is a  list of the art projects we did together!

Meet Mr. Toucan and Lil Sparrow ( made with Rose leaves and some other dry leaf)

Meet the Mamma owl and baby owl duo

Meet Goldie and her buddies

Meet Mr. Minion , a bit confused about everything

Meet Mr. Sniff and Mr. Scurry

Meet Mr. Jelly Belly!

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Our projects may not turn out perfect always, but nevertheless, we had fun in dabbing colours together.

And before I end, here is one of my favorite quote

"To practice any art,

no matter how well or badly, 

is a way to make your soul grow

So, do it"

~ Kurt Vonnegut

Turning kitchen leftovers into something else

It's summer time.

Am getting ready for my kitchen garden. As I sow seeds or young saplings, I also like the fun of turning kitchen scrap to something more meaningful!

Almost every summer I grow Pui Shaak ( Malabar Spinach). They are easy to propagate from stem cuttings. Cut below one of the leaf node and pot them in moist soil. Once you pot them , it might take two - three weeks for the first set of leaves to appear. While they are getting ready, I keep them in a slightly shaded area and then there is no turning back! Malabar Spinach is quite a hardy plant.
Give them ample sun, ample water and love! They will definitely make you happier!
So, next time while you are chopping the Malabar Spinach for making your veggie medley, don't put everything in the wok, you can save a part of it put back into the soil, wait for few weeks and let Nature do the job!

Young leaves have started to appear. This almost took around 3 weeks. Be gentle while watering; roots might take another couple of weeks to penetrate deep enough in the soil

As we are talking about kitchen leftovers, that reminds me to share another good idea. Save the egg shells, pulverize them to coarse powder and use it as a Calcium supplement.

Somewhat coarsely grinded egg shells

Go green and happy gardening everybody!

Saturday morning

Saturday mornings are like new promises unfolding slowly.

I can hold the cup of tea a bit longer. Can have a long gaze at my balcony garden and carry on a silent conversation with my greeny winnies.

Saturday mornings are a happy start. The kitchen seems a lot slower on Saturday and it should be!

I had not baked anything for a long time. A kind of inertia effect you may say! I was feeling a bit nervous about the proportions. But still the thought of a room filled up the smell of Carrot cake was a strong motivation to start the process of baking a cake.

While I sometimes hesitate on baking, on the other hand ,  my Maa has strong interest in baking. She bakes good cake and Nankhattai ( semolina cookies). Her cakes are simple, yet tad more delicious from the ones baked from stores. Back in 1980's when she started baking, microwave ovens had not make an appearance in the market. Maa had a simple electrical cake oven. It was probably Murphy brand. Sometimes the coil used to wear out and we had to get it fixed.
It didn't had any temperature control, but still the baked cakes were yummy.

Her ingredients were also simple - Vanilla essence and dried fruits. I have memories of helping her during the baking process. Sometimes she would ask me to whip the eggs or sometimes I would cut the butter paper in circles which would be used as a liner in the baking tray.

I looked into few Carrot cake recipes from the web and did little changes. The end results were very gratifying!

There is nothing better to me than sitting on the balcony with a huge coffee mug and savor a slice of Carrot cake!

Recipe for Carrot cake :

All purpose flour : 2 cups ( sieved)

Oil : 1.5 cups

Eggs: 4

Baking powder: 2 tea spoon

Cinnamon powder : 2 tea spoon

Ground Sugar : 2 cups

Salt : 1 tea spoon

Grated Carrot : 1.5 cups

Grated Coconut: Half cup

Sliced almonds : Half cup

Sieve the flour. Whisk the eggs thoroughly. Now mix together the flour, sugar, oil, eggs, salt and baking powder. You may do it manually or use the electrical cake beater.  Fold in the grated Carrot, Coconut, Almonds, Cinnamon powder as well.

In the meanwhile grease the pan, and dust it with flour lightly. I used a 9 by 13 inch pan. Preheat the oven at 325 degree C.
Once it is ready pour the batter and let it bake at 350 degree C. I baked for 35 mins and had to use another 15 mins of standing time.
It is not that difficult. Once you have the ingredients in your pantry, it is really easy!

Lil S trying to get his share as I try to capture an image

Clouds are lovely!

The breaking waves dashed against the rocky coast

I sat by the sea and she whispered where do you come from?
A spring day weekend at Galveston.