Articulating Thoughts

Ingredients for Shrikhand: Yogurt  - 400 grams Sugar - as required Powdered Cardamom - suit to taste Saffron - a pinch Warm Milk - 2 tbs Blanched Pistachios - handful   Method: Drain the excess water from the yogurt. To do that you can by hang the yogurt in a muslin cloth or use a sieve with the tiniest holes.  Dissolve saffron in warm milk and set aside. When the yogurt is drained of excess water add sugar little by little while stirring the yogurt. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add saffron, pistachios and powdered cardamom to the mixture. Cool in a refrigerator for a couple of hours and serve cold with hot Puries.

Here are two Daddy Day cards. This was a request from a friend and I made these for her. I enjoyed making these and hope she likes it.  I made thiscard for a 11 year old boy to give to his daddy on Daddy's Day. I embossed the starts on a patterned paper and highlighted them with enamel ink.  While the following card is for an older dad. I made a pocket on the card and an insert with a tab that reads # 1.

A quick and simple Mother's Day card.

Ingredients: 1 medium sized grated bottle gourd 1/2 cup Atta 1/2 cup semolina (rava) 1/2 cup besan 1-2 tbsp ginger - garlic-green chilli paste 1/2 tsp turmeric powder (for colour) 1/2 tsp cumin seeds 1/2 tsp mustard seeds 1/2 tsp sesame seeds 1 tsp sugar 1 tsp lemon juice 1/2 tsp of Hing (asafoetida) Oil salt to taste chopped coriander for garnishing Method: In a big enough bowl combine the Atta, Rava, Besan, bottle gourd, ginger-garlic and green chilli paste, turmeric powder, cumin seeds, lemon juice, sugar, salt and 1 tsp of oil.  Mix well and knead into dough - adding water is not required as the bottle gourd contains good amount of water. Apply a bit of oil on your palm and shape a certain amount of dough into a cylindrical shape. Steam the shaped dough for about 15-20 mins (poke in a knife to check if the dough is thoroughly cooked- if it is cooked the knife should not have any residue- if it does let it steam for another 5-10 mins) Once steamed, le...

I have been craving for some real indian snack - road side - thella type food. Specifically craving for Kachori - we call it Petis in Gujarat. But as per my knowledge there are no Petis available in Penang nor in KL. So well, after much research and thinking I decided to make my own. I got the recipe from youtube, but I didn't have enough ingredients. But who cares. I still got my Kachories - I mean Petis.

Doraemon's favorite food known as Dorayaki is not a fictional snack. It actually exists. For those of us who do not know about Dorayaki - it's red bean sandwiched between pancake like stuff. And of course it is Japanese. Well, we found one outlet here at Northam Beach Cafe in Penang who makes Dorayaki. The good thing about this is for those who do not like red beans can order the other types. They have both sweet and savory flavors.

Every year I usually send out Easter greeting cards. But this year along with Easter cards I also made this simple bookmarks too. I used the masking technique and a stamp and some colour. That's it.

My sister tried this when Airasia introduced it few years ago. And she was going all crazy for it. She told my entire family and friends to try Bukhara Chicken Briyani. I have traveled frequently with Airasia but just that time was never right to order a meal, until this CNY when we were flying back to Penang we decided to have in-flight lunch. So DH ordered Pak Nasser's Nasi Lemak (our favorite) while I got a chance to order Bukhara Chicken Biryani. It was so delicious and so authentic - I enjoyed each and every grain of that Biryani. If you ever get to try this go for it. You will never regret that. A taste of authentic Indian food (even though it says Bukhara).

It was Valentine's Day and since it was CNY I had no time to get anything for my dear hubby. So on the eve of Valentine's Day while we were in the mall, I had to run this errand. I asked Oliver if we could go for a drink, he agreed. We went to Manna Cafe and I ordered the usual. I excused myself for 15 minutes saying that it was "baby's bonding time with daddy" and left Oliver alone with Lukas at the Cafe (It's so good to have Lukas around), ran to Parkson - I knew what I wanted to get him. Bought the stuff - got it wrapped at the counter and got back to the Cafe. I guess when he saw the package - wrapped - he could tell what I was up to. Due to the shape of the box he could tell what it was - but not really. For he wasn't sure if it was Soundwave or Soundblaster and the curiosity was killing him. He had to wait until mid night to find out what it was. I had fun.

We took some time off from the hustle and bustle of life - and together with some friends we had a retreat at the Brother's Bungalow at Penang Hill. Now while this retreat was being planned I thought to "google" the Brother's Bungalow. I had heard so much about this place and I just wanted to check out this place before we get there. But to my surprise I couldn't find much. So now here are some pictures for you to get a glimpse of how the Brother's Bungalow looks like. I do not have any information on how and who to contact for the reservations but I must say the facilities are wonderful. They have rooms and dormitories. The place is cooling so you don't need an air-conditioner but you do have fans. They have a dining room and the care taker would provide food upon request. This is a very neat and clean place. The sign boards to Brother's Bungalow If you prefer to walk and would want to enjoy God's creation it takes about 45 mins from the Pe...

Recently Oliver and I together with Lukas went out for dinner at a nearby mall. Lukas was in the stroller most of the time. Since the mall was air-conditioned, I was afraid that Lukas might be cold (it was cold in fact!). I covered Lukas with his little baby blanket - he immediately kicked it off. I put it back on him again and again he kicked it off. This went on for a few times - I would put the blanket on him and he would giggle and cheer and get excited and kick off the blanket. To this Oliver commented, "Aiya, let him be la...may he is not cold". I directed my attention to my dinner and Oliver and I got on with our chit-chatting. A couple of minutes later Lukas had started complaining in his baby talk and when I paid no attention he burst out crying. After some thoughts I felt, "doesn't God want us to be like Lukas (in this case)? To get excited and giggle with joy in His presence? To coo and baby talk for His constant attention?  To cry and demand to be held,...

India will be celebrating her 63rd Republic Day this year on the 26th January.  Here's a card to commemorate the day. I used the Indian flag colours on these doilies and assembled them to reflect the Indian flag. Since I didn't have a stamp that would go with the theme so I just used one of Mahatma Gandhi's quotes, "Where there is love there is life". (Please excuse my hand writing).  Entering this card into the Catchy Challenges - January Season II

Entering this card into two of the following challenges. CFC84: Create a Clean And Simple Thank You card Challenge #123 Ribbon & Bows and Blog Hop~GDT Spots

My classes resumed today. Oliver starts work with the HCD department today as well. So both of us were preparing for our respective first days. We were also preparing for Lukas' first day with his babysitter. I packed his bag last night: 8 pairs of clothing 8 handkerchiefs a pack of wet wipes a pack of diapers some cotton balls a tin of milk powder and a towel These were the required things. I stuffed in a blanket, few bibs, his teether and a pair of socks. While packing his bag it felt as if I was sending him away... sob...sob...!!! Oliver sent me to the seminary first as my classes start at 8AM. The babysitter only starts at 830AM. So Oliver had to drive back to the town to drop off Lukas. When Oliver dropped off Lukas he was still asleep. He just woke up in time to say "bye-bye" to his dad. I was concerned about Oliver dropping him off - was afraid he might forget to relay some instructions to the babysitter. But I am glad I wasn't there - it would have...

Well this happened a couple of weeks ago. A dear friend of mine emailed me - sharing that she was going to host a Challenge Blog starting from 2013. I was excited for her. I have known her for sometime now and I regularly follow her craft blog and videos. I know her to be an inspiring and talented crafter. After sometime she emailed me again and asked me to be her Guest Designer . Well, I was excited and but December being the busiest month with Christmas, travelling and family around I told her I can be her February. Can't make it to be her January. To cut the long story short she insisted and I agreed.  I was leaving Penang (where all my craft stuff lay) on the 12th  so I thought to finish this project before that and send it to her. But it didn't happen. I totally forgot about it. When I got to Sibu I had nothing with me. I didn't know what to use. I prayed and asked God to help. Well he is our creator he created us and every thing around us. So he got to help me crea...

First time ever tried some Taiwanese Tea and Dessert. Together with some youths we went to this place called BlackBall in Sibu (I am sure they are in KL too). I was expecting to see some cakes and pies..., but well this is what we got. How do I like it? My taste buds don't fancy it much but maybe after a few tried I might end up liking it. The jelly kinda have some after taste - while sweet potato and yam are my least favourite. BlackBall Signature  Grass Jelly, Yam Balls, Sweet Potato Balls, Taro Q, Pearls, Red Bean.

A very dear friend of mine has taken flight into a new direction - part of her 2013 resolution as well. And am all out to get her started. Check out her Challenge Blog  . She is one of those people who can turn things into treasure. A very creative, innovative and lovely individual. I am sure you will love her challenges too.