My manni's Kolam design

It's been created by my sis-in-law .... isn't it beautiful? :)
Check this out....

Kolam, yet again!

The basket

A frilly frock with a beautiful pink lace; A glistening pair of baby-sized anklets. A small box of kohl and a little doll house. They lay quietly; in the deep abyss of the fluffy pink basket.

Ma, Hope you and dad will be here this week? The doctor says the baby may come in earlier than we expected.

The cupboard was all set and ready with the best wardrobe a baby girl could ever want. It was a zoo theme for the nursery ~ cute elephants and giraffes danced together on the mellow yellow walls.
Rattle toys, sqawking toy parrots - this little princess would have it all.

Push gently sweetheart.. push.. push.. yes breathe breathe.. push.. .... ooooh the baby girl's here !!!

The tinkling of the wind chimes awakened Ruki. The baby lay snuggling against her, fast asleep. She watched, as sleep enveloped her precious granddaughter Deah.

And then, she shed a tear. For her little pink princess born 30 years ago, who didn't get a chance at life. The life which was now Deah's to live. She'd be grandma's precious angel; the keeper of her joys and unfulfilled dreams.


The fluffy pink basket came to life :)

Kids are just the cutest :)

Tots are the cutest, aren't they?

Samarth was lounging around today evening; and attempting to cuddle with me. He takes my palm in his and says 'Amma kaii soft-aa irruku' [Amma's palms are so soft :P] and then snuggles in..

My child made my day with his compliment :D

Pongal Vaazhthukkal :)

Samarth's quiet musings..

Last evening, Samarth was sitting next to me and watching me paint a clay pot [I was using acrylic paints]. He then announced that he would also like to paint with me.

I knew that if I had given the brush to him at that moment, he'd have created a mess by insisting that he would paint on the same pot. So for the moment I told him that when he grows to be a big boy, I will buy him paints and then he can also paint with me.
He was quiet for some time... and then said: 'Amma big.... ; Samu small !' :)

My little baby is growing up; in more ways than one :)

Festive Kolams :)

This one and the below done by me for Samarth's birthday poojai








This one was done by my periamma [aunt]

And this one by me :)

Pookalams

Rangolis Done over the years

Yummy Yum Mysorepak [My first attempt!!]

Hi Everyone !! :-)

Here are the images of my first attempt at making MysorePak..... turned out super yum !! :-)

The mysore pak is ready to be set into pieces. I couldn't take pics of the stages of production; if I had tried to, I'd have ended up burning the mixture :-))

Mysorepak !! 

 Do pardon the shapes in this pic ... cos all the nice square pieces have been packed for Samarth's cute n adorable greatgrandmas to relish in India !!

So here goes the recipe:

Besan - 1.5 cups

Ghee - 2 cups [I used Amul]

Sugar - 1.5 cups [powder it so that the mysorepak is smooth to taste and not crunchy]

Water - 1.5 cups

Before you begin, grease a steel thali with ghee and set aside.

Take a heavy bottomed wok and put 2 tbsp ghee in it. When the ghee gets warm, add the besan to it slowly and roast nicely till the you get the nice fried aroma.  Keep stirring and the gas should be really really low, because besan can burn easily. Set aside. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, set the water to boil.

Once it begins to boil, add the powdered sugar and keep stirring till it reaches a single thread consistency [You'll know if you touch it between your thumb and index finger]. Immediately add the besan in parts and keep stirring so that it does not form any lumps. Once the besan has mixed well in the sugar syrup, start adding the ghee. You have to work really fast at this stage, else it will not blend in well. Add half a cup of ghee first and then keep adding in the same proportions until the mixture drinks up the ghee, begins to turn brown and starts to form a non-gooey mass and it will leave the sides of the saucepan.  Immediately pour into the greased thali and cut into the square / diamond shapes before it begins to cool.

It will take about 10-15 mins to set well and cool. Enjoy the Mysorepak - and whoever is trying this recipe, do let me know how it turned out !!!

Happy Deepavali !!

I hope all of you enjoyed Deepavali yesterday and I pray that this year brings cheer and prosperity in your lives. We had a nice celebration with yummy eats and good quality family time.

My piece of art !! I made it with shimmer rangoli colours and it looked just magical :-)