Homemade Playdough

With a baby in tow and undeterred confidence that is so indicative of a new mom ready to rear a child, I plunged into the unknown world of motherly act. I did lay hands on possibly all the books that caught my attention on child rearing in the hopes of attaining some  parental enlightenment. I could see at least a recipe for playdough in most of the books that claims to leave moms with a bounty of time as the teeny weeny hands go about mixing and rolling the dough to a disastrous mass. Desire of mine to get a chunk of undisturbed time made me run to the grocery for food coloring to create Abbey’s first homemade playdough. It sure worked and left me with some undisturbed time all to myself as Abbey was busy muddling with the first batch of dough.  As I was busy in the kitchen stewing my meat, reached my hands for the spice box, only to know that spices were missing from the smaller compartments of the box. Rushed to my living room to see a dictionary of spices all stuck to the dough. See the picture downward when she is caught in the act.

So without any doubt, I worked as a spice sorter for 2 days to straighten the mess.

Abbey's snowman with lots of teeth

And caught in the act ....... as the beer glass turned to a spice glass

Maddur Vadas to pep up my tidying work

Ingredients

All purpose flour - 1 cup
Salt - 1 cup
Food coloring of your choice

Method
Mix flour and salt with hands. Now add food coloring and water as needed. Make a smooth dough. Playdough is ready.

Happy Independence Day

Always proud to be an Indian.

Here are some quick facts my Emirati friend once shared with me and why she thinks I should be proud of being an Indian:

1. Indians are a colorful lot.

2. Diversity that exists throughout India.

3. Aishwarya Rai and Shah Rukh Khan are Indians.

4. Easiness with which we adapt to any situations.

and last but not the least

5. Our copyrighted butter chicken.


On this occasion, remembering all beautiful people who struggled hard to give us INDEPENDENCE.

Happy Independence Day to all Indians.

Devil's Food Cake

Abbey’s ever evolving palate is taking sudden twists and turns with my baby trying to be more of a sophisticated mallu in terms of what she eats.  One morning, she popped out of her own zone giving mamma shock of a lifetime by giving 3 choices for breakfast –  PICCHA (pizza), Cake, and I-CHEAM (ice cream).  For now Mamma takes pride knowing that even though her daughter finds refinement in these things, she is satisfied with spoonfuls of congee.

This fudgy cake was supposed to be my b’day cake, but was converted to Christmas cake for obvious reasons like the author was born just a few days ahead of Christmas and my clean disinterest for cakes.

So far this is Abbey’s favourite cake. She enjoyed it very much leaving our not so spotless sofa a nice smudge of chocolate.  

On a truly emotional note, Devil’s cake reminds me of how devilish part of a human being coexist with the good things in life and how we have to embrace both to lead a peaceful yet challenging life. Do you believe that beholding others the way they are is the best bet for your success?

Ingredients
Unsalted butter - 100 g
Caster sugar - 275 g
Eggs - 2 large
Self raising flour - 200 g
Cocoa powder - 75 g
Baking powder - 1 tsp
1 tbsp coffee powder mixed with 125 ml boiling water
Milk - 125 ml
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

For the frosting
Unsalted butter, diced - 125 g
Cocoa powder - 25 g
Icing sugar - 125 g
Milk - 2-3 tbsp
Dark or milk chocolate shavings

Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degree celsius. Grease the cake tins and line the bases with baking parchment. Uising an electric whisk, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition, until well mixed. in a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. In another bowl, mix together the cooled coffee, milk, and vanilla extract. Beat alternate spoonfuls of the dry and liquid ingredients into the cake batter. Once the mixture is well blended, divide it between the tins. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the cakes are springy to the touch and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Remove the baking parchment.

For the frosting, melt the butter in a pan over low heat. Add the cocoa powder and continue to cook for a minute or two, stirring frequently. Allow to cool slightly. Sift in the icing sugar, beating thoroughly to combine. Blend in the milk 1 tbsp at a time, until smooth and glossy. Allow to cool (it will thicken) and then use half to sandwich the cakes together, and the remainder to decorate the top and sides of the cake. Finally use a vegetable peeler to create chocolate shavings and scatter them evenly over the top of the cake.

Chronicles of a Mom - My little stargazer

My Dear Gail,

You are 2 and love gazing at the stars. After some time, you may wish to reach for the same, and then you may hold one in your hand. 

On your 2nd B'day, Mommie can see only the naughty workshop girl who is ever ready to explore and who takes immense pleasure in simple things life has to offer. Let it be the same. 

Your thick pals for now are Dora and Diego and I can see your growing interest for Micky Mouse (called by you as Mickey Sous). You have started being artistic and the result is a scribbled wall. Yet, I love the beauty of it all. You are promoted from a toddler tag to a child tag. Now you have a seat of your own while flying. Isn't it amazing? 


Love
Mommie

Chronicles of a Mom - October 27, 2012

Happy Eid to all my readers.

I am somehow terrified by Abbey's WWF moves. My workshop girl loves to experiment, push, and pull objects. The eating habits have waned considerably, so are the sleep patterns. She is struggling to be a 2-year-old. I believe the terrible 2's have already kicked in. Looking forward to celebrating her second b'day and the adventures following it as she take off from age 2.   

Cheera parippu thoran/Spinach stir fry with dal

How many of you love all things organic? Do you believe that we should embrace nature more to lead a simple life? Do you love a return to Mother Nature?

The world is moving at a shockingly fast pace. People have started to realize the dangers associated with it. How much ever maddening life you are leading, the utmost urge to be one with nature exists in every human being. We all crave for simplicity, back to nature days, and to hum along with nature like a child. 

Now more than ever the need to conserve our planet has risen. Have you done your bit? If not yet, a wake up call for you to conserve and preserve some for our future generations to come. Start at home. Educate your child when they are young. Old habits die hard. So it will stick with them for years. Encourage them to use little water to bathe. Let no more plastics and planting a home garden be on your top agenda.

Your kids will thank you for inculcating these habits in later years. Start feeding your soil with good things.

I know a complete go back to nature will be difficult for most of us, but we can do our bit to make world a better place.

I was browsing through channels the other day, when I came to know about Daya Bhai aka Mercy Mathew.  She hails from a wealthy family in Kerala. She lives like a tribal to be one among them and is a classic example of adaptation. If you believe you have adapted well to your environment, helllooo take a break, read the links toward the end of the post. You will be completely moved by her acts of kindness towards nature and its inhabitants. Please watch the youtube video (Malayalam) and an article about her (English).  I am sure it will inspire you to do more for our own earth.

Should I believe you have decided to SAY YES to Earth Hours?

BTW, don’t forget to feed your kids Popeye style with my spinach thoran.

Ingredients
Spinach - 1 small bunch, chopped finely
Toor dal - 1/4 cup
Green chillies - 2 nos
Pearl onions - 6 nos
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Garlic - 2 cloves
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Oil

Directions
Cook toor dal along with water till half done. Water should not remain. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds. Saute pearl onions, green chillies, and garlic. Add turmeric powder and chilli powder to this. Now add chopped spinach and salt to this. Cover the lid and cook in low flame. When spinach is half cooked, add toor dal and grated coconut to this. Cover the lid and cook again, stirring occasionally. When spinach is cooked well, switch off the stove and transfer to a serving bowl.

Serve spinach thoran with rice, rasam, and fish fry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wk5aqCm9Ys

http://www.yentha.com/news/view/features/interview-of-the-week-merciful-dayabhai

Life as a Blogger Mom - August 22, 2012

Life for a blogger mom is not easy. It is definitely not nerve wracking  to say the least. It kinds of shake you from the slow motion frame of life you are going through, energizing you to do more, become a more creative person, and of course hands you with a huge incentive "FRIENDS."  You all are one bunch of beautiful self-motivated people. Love you all.

Reva so sweet of you for leaving such a nice comment. It made me sit here and key in all of the above. 

Chronicles of a Mom - July 27, 2012

A letter to my Dearest God,

My little Abbey can say at this time of the year

Sun - "Shun"

Moon - "Moo"

Cabbage - "Kaa-baj"

Mango - "Man oo"

Peas - "Peece"

Grapes - "Gapes"

Tea - "chaya"

Coffee - "kappi"

Can dance and sing to some of the tunes in ejunior, can put together the building blocks.

Sad thing is - She cannot forget Chutki from Chhota Bheem, which she used to watch while we were in India. For her all big eyed girls from cartoons are Chutki.

For her Daddy has become Immi (She says Immi for Mommy), although she makes a constant effort of calling him Daddu. Appappa has become Chabbaba, ammamma has become Chammamma.

I wonder if she is a tea drinker. She makes it a point to sip and enjoy cold tea or coffee leftovers.

I feel so proud and happy that I reached this stage of motherhood along with her learning, teaching, and growing with her.

Thank you so very much God for the time given to discover my baby, time to be with her. You stand so true to the saying "God provides." I never thought life will be so very beautiful. God provides all our needs. God, once I wished for more time in my life and you are giving it abundantly when I need it the most. There were times in the past when I wondered even if I will get some time to say my own, to be with whom I love. It was all a mad rush for work and more work. When you handed me what I wished for, I am having plenty of time to call my own.

Thanks for who you are and Love you even more.


Sebz

Chronicles of a mom - July 17, 2012

I am in a la la land of teletubbies, cats and dogs, to name a few. Woke up this morning with a rhyme playing in my head, kinda stuck to it, swaying and singing to it. My rhythm of life has changed from keying in the words and numbers to the rhythm of rhymes. 


My baby taking me to my childhood. Is that Wonderful? 


It's so good to be childlike. 

Am I learning something from her? Of course, the big word INNOCENCE.  

Chronicles of a Mom - July 10, 2012

When going gets tough ...what do you do? As a rule of thumb, I go easy on myself, hitting the days as it comes, no more predetermined rules, but with a vivid vision everything is changing for the better and this phase of life is going to move on really faster than a blink of an eye.

Chronicles of a mom - July 6, 2012

Oh! I didn't know it is July 6, 2012. Guess what?..... mommyhood is taking a toll on me. That doesn't mean I am enjoying any less. Yes, I have my fair share of frustrations and joys of bringing up a hyperactive toddler. It amazes me how evolved I have been over the years. There is no doubt motherhood calls you to stretch your limits and boundaries.