Just another lazy Sunday…

I hate Sundays. The feeling of having to face another 5 days of mayhem kind of takes away the charm of Sundays...Had a simple breakfast of bread, eggs and sausages (simple??) and walked out of the kitchen to park myself on the sofa. My husband was watching TV, my son was watching Ra.One movie yet again on the little portable DVD player that he carries around and I just dint feel like joining them both at the time..

I realised that I wanted to be alone for a while. I dragged a chair to the balcony and sat there looking at my plants for a while and then outside, at nothing in particular. ‘No’, I don’t have the luxury of having a 'view'. But still it’s green enough considering the city standards. I sat there for a pretty long time...looking into nothingness…the very attractive blankness or emptiness or void.

I kind of like this feeling of blankness. Each person responds to this blankness in different ways though…some people enjoy it…some run away from it…some seek company to take away the void…I cherish it..You just cannot compare this feeling to 'boredom'. This is a boredom which you tend to appreciate and welcome once in a while as it doesn't come by often..

I was glad that even the lunch was all prepared and ready in the fridge. Thanks to microwave. Take food out of the fridge, heat it up and it’s ready to eat. After lunch, it was back to square one. You know what I did….went back to the same old chair in the balcony, sat back and enjoyed a book, 'Santa Cruise' by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark. I had company this time though...a familiar friend in Mary Higgins Clark and a green bowl with 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream. Yeah, 3!! You got me right. It was drizzling the whole day and I was enjoying an ice cream….. Hmmm…What more can u ask on a Sunday afternoon..
I don't hate Sundays always!!!

A movie we watched..

We love our kids so much that we are ready to do anything for them…Isn’t it? 

Yesterday we proved to our little one that we love him loads. 

We watched Ra One with him just because he was all in awe of G One and Ra One (Hero and Villain of the movie). By far the worst movie we ever watched. We somehow managed to sit through the movie without dozing off. Am just not able to understand how each actor in the movie agreed to play the role after listening to the story. In this case, I don’t know how the director sold the idea to the actors if there wasn't any story to tell them. Probably the absence of a story would have helped?? ; ) 

Thank god, we dint agree to take him to the movies.  He was so excited about the plan and quickly got ready to watch the DVD. At least we got to save Rs.600 on 3 tickets. But the way my son watched the movie with full of excitement just proved the fact that there might be people who actually enjoyed it, who looks for few other things in a movie other than a story line or some pure common sense.  

 This morning before he headed out for his class, I was trying to dress him up and he wouldn’t let me put the top 3 buttons on his t shirt. He says its stylish to leave them open the way Ra.One does in the movie. He has been jumping and climbing and running all around the whole time carrying a gun just like Ra.One and G.One and we know its going to continue for the next one week at least. Such is the influence of the movie.

 Just like any other parents, we were worried that our son, our little one, was in the process of choosing the bad villain over the good hero. So the moment we got the chance, we were trying to instil the fact that good always wins over evil, even when the evil is stronger, just like in the movie. We knew he was weighing  both the hero and the villain, confused over the reality of who is better or stronger rather than who is good or bad.

Choosing the bad villain doesn’t make my son bad or choosing the good doesn’t make him good. Does it?? Why am I being paranoid like this...I wonder...

Gardening, another passion...

I have become a complete garden freak.. Just adore looking at the plants in my balconies. Recently added a few pots to my kitchen window sill too..Its awesome..I keep looking outside the window while am cooking, always with a big smile on my face..its so pleasing..and to top it all, have painted the pots a bamboo green and white..

The way we change as we grow older..Its amazing, isn't it..All we can do is hope that it is always for the  good. One such good change that happened in my life is 'the green touch in my little life' now. 

This was not how I used to be once upon a time. Still remember the days when Amma, my mother used to be literally behind me to water the plants in our tiny garden. Its possible I never knew we had a garden in our home. And ofcourse at that 'age', you obviously have way too many 'important' things to do..anyways..now my mother just cannot believe the amount of time I fuss over our plants..

My husband is also passionate about our 'little' garden..an interest that we share..Almost all the Saturdays we try and go to this horticulture place close to where we stay..Its a 5 acre property with all kinds of plants and trees you can think of. They have these lovely gazebos in every nook and corner with wind chimes hanging all around..Right now, if I sit with my eyes closed, oblivious of the loud TV in the living room, the shouts and screams of my son and his friends in the next room,  I can actually imagine sitting right in the middle of that gazebo with colours all around...

How I wish I come across a lot more such positive changes in my little life..

cute little photo frames..

A little craft this time...

I love doing these simple  little crafts which keeps me busy and also help me keep our little home pretty pretty..This is something you can sit and do with your children. They would love to make these and would proudly paste them in their rooms. ..I did these with my son (helped me choose the photos and also put glue almost everywhere) and pasted them around the big mirror in his room.He said it should be just the pictures of his best buddies.So thats what he got.
Its quite simple and needs only a few things which is easily available.

Crazy Wall Art

The things you need to make this crazy wall art are:
Cardboard Rolls or toilet paper rolls
Brightly coloured paper (you can also use sunday newspapers which are almost always colourful)
Small sized photographs or cut out the faces from the prints you have.

Method
Cut rings out of cardboard rolls or toilet paper rolls.

Cover the rings with brightly coloured paper.
Paste the photos on the outer or inner edges. Alternate between the two so that you have rings with photos in both the outer and inner edges.

When you paste the photos at the outer edge, the photo would not have the colourful rim around. 
Now paste these bright circles anywhere in your home or office. It can be pasted randomly and it looks quite cute and colourful.

I try to  believe in recycling. So used the kitchen roll which I had and old newspapers (looked for colouful ones).

Hope you liked it and would definitely make them. Let it be the next Saturday project with your little one..

Came across this idea in 'Better Photography' magazine'sNovember 2011 issue. Thanks!

My first post...a simple moist chocolate cake..

Hooray!!

This is my first post ever... I never had a blog before, though I have been following 'n' number of blogs all relating to cooking, baking, photography, etc..I love foood and I love to cook.Am ofcourse an amatuer cook who just love trying any kind of recipes which I come across, for my little family and my friends..

I baked a chocolate cake this morning and it was so so easy...its eggLESS and butterLESS..Can you beat that?? Oh no!! Am not conscious about the calories. I had this baking pang and was out of eggs and butter and had very little oil. Was just searching for a recipe without these ingredients and came across this one. This recipe called for just 1/4 cup of oil.Yeah, this is a situation I come across ever so often. Am sure you might have gotten a fair idea about my house keeping skills.

I had to share this recipe with my friends..I had opened an account in blogger long back, but never got to actually start posting. Better late than never, isn't it. So here we are.. my easy chocolate cake recipe...

I came across this recipe in sharmispassions   Thanks Sharmi!

Please go through the link above. It will give you a fair idea as its a step by step picture presentation. I tweaked the recipe here and there and halved the measurements as it was my first trial. 

The ingredients for the easiest chocolate cake ever are:  

Simple Moist Chocolate Cake

 

 

Flour - 1 1/2 cups

Cocoa - 3 Tbsp

Baking soda 3/4 tsp 

Baking powder - 1/4 t sp

Granulated sugar - 1 cup

chocolate chips - 2 tb sp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Water - 1 cup

Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp 

Lemon juice / Vinegar - 1 tbsp (I used vinegar)

Oil - 1/4 cup (I used a mix of Rice Bran Oil and Olive oil). Can use any Vegetable oil.

Method:

In a bowl, mix water, essence, sugar, vinegar/lemon juice and oil. Mix well till sugar dissolves completely. Keep aside.

Preheat oven to 180 degree C.

Line the cake tin with butter paper. Grease and dust with flour.   

Sieve flour, baking soda, baking powder, coco powder and salt 3 times.

Once its sieved, add one half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients .

Gently mix in one direction. Now add the rest of the flour mixture  and mix very gently in one direction until no lumps are formed.

Add half  the chocolate chips and gently mix it. The batter will be runny. Do not panic.

Now the batter is ready to be poured into the cake tin. Top it with the remaining choco chips.

Bake the cake at 180 deg C for 25-40 minutes. My cake was ready in 25 minutes (I used a loaf tin and had halved the mixture). Check with a tooth pick to see if it comes out clean. 

Cool the cake completely before taking it out of the pan. It took around 15 minutes. Take the cake out carefully and cut into pieces. 

Impression

It tastes really awesome for a cake which does not have egg, butter and a lot of oil in it. 

Its a tasty chocolaty moist cake and its easy on the tummy too..Just give it a go..