Look Who Is Cooking!

A casual discussion for a meet up with blogger friends turned into an awesome opportunity when lovely Rushina threw open her heart and the doors of her cooking studio for us. I couldn’t have been happier. I have picked up cooking as a hobby only recently and I had wanted to learn from experts. I knew Rushina as this fabulous food blogger with an awesome space to cook APB Cook Studio. So I lapped up on the opportunity. It can’t get better than this! (Or so I thought)

But it did get better; we were going to not only meet Rushina, we were going to cook Italian food with her. Italian food is my recent obsession; me and my 7 year old love to work on Italian recipes. (What we finally come up with is a different question altogether). I wanted to learn! I had to learn for the poor souls I experimented on.

So I crossed my fingers and left for APB studio with a lot of hope and zest in my heart and some emergency chocolates in my bag (We were going to eat only what we would cook and I don’t have a perfect track record you see)

As soon as I reached the place I knew I had reached the right place. The place was a perfect blend of kitchen warmth and restaurant finesse. Rushina and her team led us, taught us, tolerated us (Well, we were a group of giggly women bloggers who were high on life :P) to some really yummy food.

From the lovely Aglio Olio to focaccia, from loud chatters to loud thumps of kneading bread, from yours truly mixing up sugar for salt to some crazy selfie taking students in the middle of the session, everything was handled beautifully. Everything that we made turned out beautiful. The session ended on a beautiful sweet note with Tiramisu. What more could a girl ask for? Learn and cook her favorite food, from one of the masters, in the company of friends.

This wonderful session was courtesy of JAMMs. It is a wonderful group led by Ritu Gorai. Did you ask what the group is about? Well, wait and watch out this space for a detailed insider review of this rocking group. It’s a secret and sacred space. I will be back soon with a detailed account. Till then here’s a glimpse of all the fun we had!

Being Me

"Being me is being crazy in love with life"

"Tiny steps

Little dreams

Being me

Is being a teen

Forever

Kodak moments

Shouts and hurrays

Being me

Is being lost in a holiday

Forever"

Written for "Being ME-the HERstory montage" hosted by Indiblogeshwari. To know more and participate click here

7X7X7X7

Grab the 7th book from your bookshelf.
Open it up to page 7.
Pinpoint the 7th sentence on the page.
Begin a poem/a piece of prose that begins with that sentence
Limit it in length to 7 lines/7 sentences.

The 7th book on my shelf is...Nectar in a sieve by Kamala Markandaya

"My heart sang and my feet were light" when I remembered you were coming after 10 long years, coming to me, to my arms where you belong. 

Your room is sparkling and bare and I am at the door gazing at the clock , wiping my tears waiting for you.

I look at you from a distance, my heart jumps at your voice, my hands quiver to take you in my arms.

Your face has a few wrinkled lines, some grey strands and a chin under the chin singing of your blessings galore 

I stand there and wonder if you will recognise my touch, if you will still fit in my lap, If I could once, just once carry you in my arms again 

You hug me tight, sweep me off my feet, and carry me in your arms, spinning the world around me, making me believe everything is still the same. 

Arms and laps, hugs and holds, laps and spins, all are same but the baton is passed on to the younger set of hands.

This is in response to the WriteTribe prompt.

Tips to maintain a good sleep routine for kids

I struggled a lot with my elder one and his sleep. He was a very irregular sleeper, would not go to bed till wee hours and would sleep only about 3-4 hours at a time. It completely changed when he turned around two years and one of my friends suggested me to follow a routine. Since then, through a lot of trial and error I have devised my own routine and a check list which has helped me immensely. Now both my sons sleep around 8:30pm and sleep at a stretch for about 11-12 hours.

Following is a list of things that I consider are important to maintain a good sleep routine (Relevant to age 2 years and above):

Follow a schedule: Plan a schedule for your child. If you want your child to sleep by 9pm (Ideally yes) the process for bedtime should start by 8pm. I recommend the following steps for creating a schedule:

• Dinner at 8pm 
• Hot water bath and some fun play time in the tub at 8:30 pm (I know in India a lot of mothers don’t give a bath at night, I also tried it hesitantly but now I can vouch for it) Not only it is good for hygiene, a hot water bath tends to have a relaxing effect and water play will for sure tire them down.
• In the bed by 9 pm

In order for the schedule to work, two things are very important:

• The child should be mentally prepared that he/she has to sleep in next 1 hr. Keep telling him/her during the dinner that Bath time is in 30 minutes and sleep time after that.
• Consistency: If you have never followed a schedule with your child, this is going to be very very difficult. But don’t lose heart, continue the effort and be consistent. It doesn't matter how unsuccessful initial days are, if you keep the consistency your child will gradually pick up the routine.

Avoid late evening naps: If you want your child to sleep by 9pm, avoid a nap after 5pm strictly. Even a half and hour nap in the evening will freshen the body up completely and give them enough energy to be up till 12.

Avoid sugar content an hr before sleep time: In India a dinner is usually followed by sweets. Please avoid this tradition. Sugar in their system will give them enough energy to be up for next 2-3 hours. Avoid

Physical activity: Make sure their evening is packed with lots of physical activity. This is not only important for a good night’s sleep for also for their overall physical and mental development. If you are not able to take them out daily to a play area, plan in advance clear your schedule for the evening and device games to keep them and you physically active for 1-2 hours in the evening. (I normally plan my meals a day in advance and prepare dinner before 5 pm)

Use rewards in the starting: If your kids are late sleepers, it will be very difficult to induce them to sleep early; one of the thing that can support you for some time is cooking up a reward system. In our house we follow a weekly reward system (based on stars), each start represents a good habit/good deed (including good sleep habit) and by end of the week if the total is 10 or more my Kid gets the bigger reward (In his case its mostly 1 hr of television, because otherwise through the week he is not allowed to watch it).

Train them to sleep on their own: The reward system will work for sometime but generally after a few days/months in the routine, they should be able to sleep on their own. Their body will adjust and will start getting tired by the fixed hour of sleep. When this happens, you child should be able to sleep on his/her own. I do not recommend bed time stories/poems etc because kids associate with them for a very long time and it becomes a daily cycle which is very difficult to break. I use to just sit next to my 2 year old when he started sleeping on his own, even breaking this habit became a issue.

Always put them to bed happy: Following a routine for the first time can be difficult and will result in a lot of tantrums however try to make them sleep with a happy face as much as possible. I always always tell my elder one that I love him a lot and I am there in the house with him, so he doesn't need to worry about anything.

Bedroom environment: Though I read a lot about creating a special environment in the bedroom, I strongly suggest to NOT follow it. Reason is, if the child gets use to of sleeping only in a typical environment like only with lights on, soft music playing, with a favorite toy etc etc, he/she will become dependent on it for sleep. The child will find it very difficult to sleep in any alien environment, or with/without light, with noise. This is why we see a lot of cranky kids on trains. My goal is to maintain a good routine with basic things, that i can replicate anywhere even during travel (A bath can be replaced with a hot sponge)

And I strongly suggest avoiding TV in the bedroom. It will tempt them.

These points have helped me a lot and I sincerely hope that it is useful for each and everyone who reads it however do note that each child is different hence not everything I discussed can be applied to every child. The key is to realize the importance of a routine and discipline and take it forward from there. 

Best of luck, lets build beautiful memories

Image courtesy peasap

Ripples

We sail on ripples

Of a thought

In a quest to grab its shadow

This Haiku is shared with Haiku Heights - Ripple.

Image courtsey Jason Nahrung

Everything has beauty but no one ever sees it -Confucius

Did you ever notice?

The green of the washed leaves just after rains

The pink of smiles and brown of stains

The small mud foot prints on the floor

Stained postcards in the store

The pit pat of rain drops on your window

The smear of hands on your pillow

Smell of a new book

Rush of blood at that first look

The dance of joy on the street

The chuckle of Grand Ma when you meet

Blackened window by the kitchen

With smoked patterns that are hidden

The dark green circles on her wrist

Peace of night and morning mist

The crackling of veggies in the pan

The red of December and yellow of Jan

Ring of glass on the table

Mr. Thumpkin and game of pebbles

Smell of rains and rustle of leaves 

Footsteps on the door and shuffle of keys

Did you ever notice?

Everything has poetry but not everyone can write it

Everything has music but who can sing it ?

Everything has beauty but no one ever sees it -  Confucius

A special thanks to my dear friend and blogger Leo for inspiring the theme

Image source:commons.wikimedia.org

High heels unlimited

My dream gourmet party is a grand bachelorette party in honor of my best friend. Lets start with the Invite!!

A grand bachelorette party for my best friend Jodha (Calling her this because of her fascination for Drama, Mughlai food and huge neck pieces) with the theme “High heels unlimited”. The theme is in accordance with Jodha's love affair with high heels since she started walking. No one has seen her wear anything but a high heel (this includes all outings...Spa, shopping, camps, college, office, home etc etc).Jodha aka J is stepping into marital bliss in a few days and like any good friend I want to make sure that she makes the most of last few free days left in singlehood. Hence “I am throwing the biggest-baddest” party for her.

Now let’s get to the nitty gritty of the party

Number of guests: Just our core group of 15 uber cool divas.

Ambiance: Miss B (A dear friend of J) who is famous for throwing the most outrageous and fun parties is helping me with the arrangements. Her farm house on the outskirts of Mumbai has been converted into a Diva place and we are re-christening it as “Club Gorgeous”

The overall feel of our party is chic and trendy and going with the theme of party except for the black cocktail dress nothing black is allowed in the party room.

The floor will be donned with different colors of balloons; the room will be branded with high heels all around: 

• High heel standees placed at entrance and few other spots. 
• High heels cut outs hanging from the ceiling 
• High heel styled chairs will be used for seating arrangements 
• Special care has been given on a lot of branding like cutlery, Glasses, decoration around the room like lights etc have been styled as high heels 

Food: J' loves Mughlai food hence I have tried to blend Mughlai with our chic theme. 

We took help of J’s one of her best friend  

J' is an avid cook and loves her food but like all working women she has little time at hand. I remember her struggling in the kitchen for hours to dish up yummy Mughlai dishes....but it use to be so much work that we would have the pleasure of tasting it very rarely....but one day one of her colleague introduced her to ITC's Kitchens of India and cooking changed for J' after that.

Not only she regularly uses ITC's Kitchens of India masala mixes but whenever we broke into her house uninvited and demand delicious mughlai food...ready to dine options from ITC's Kitchens of India have rescued her. 

So in a way ITC's Kitchens of India has become an integral part of our friends group and all our get togethers. So for one of the most important party for J' I decided to blend her two best friends High heels and ITC's Kitchens of India!!

We used different vegetarian products (Because J' is strictly vegetarian) which are J’s favorites and blended them with our chic theme. The result is the food and drinks menu shown below:

Cocktails/Mocktails 

Orange bolds

Orange juice,shredded mango and fresh mint

Red Stiletto

 Vodka/Sprite with strawberry and mint conserve

Hot heels

Vodka/Sprite, orange juice and tomato and chilly chutney

Sling back

Vodka/Sprite, Pineapple & pepper and hint of lime

                                                                Sandals

Gin/Sprite with Pineapple juice and Mango jeera

Boots

Vodka/Sprite with Mango & saffron conserve & chocolate syrup

Starters

Spicy triangles  

A variation to our friend Samosas. These triangles will be baked and we will have two kind of fillings ( We will use two of J's favorite from ITC's Kitchens of India's Ready to dine options and the gravy will be dried off a bit to use as filling for triangles)

For spice lovers like me Mirch Salan fillos 

And for Panner lovers, Mughlai Paneer triangles

Vegi wedges

Crisp carrots, bell peppers, potato, mushrooms baked after coating with yoghurt mixed with Vegetable Biryani Mix, roasted in oven and served hot n fresh

Dal fritters 

Yummy dal fritters...deep fried for calorie lovers. We will mix ready to dine ready to eat Dal Bukhara with chickpea flour and basic spices and deep fry the culprit!!!! 

These starters will be served hot and fresh with two special chutneys from ITC's Kitchens of India

 and

Main course

Makhmali kofte

Paneer Malai mixed with chichkpea flour and basic spices. Shaped into koftas and deep fried. Served with a gravy prepared with Paneer Makhani Mix and fresh cream

Baked mushroom and vegetables 

Marinated paneer stuffed in pepper

Kashmiri khatte baigan

Brown rice pilaf 

Twist to the traditional biryani with brown rice. Will be cooked with Vegetable Biryani Mix to enhance the flavors.

Roti/Naan/Wheat bread 

Desserts 

White chocolate, cardamom and Moong Dal Halwa pannacotta

       

Almond fudge with chocolate icecream made with Awadhi Badam Halwa

And last but not the least Shoe styled “Bachelorette cake”

Entertainment: I have planned numerous fun games for the party. Since the theme is High heels most of the games are styled around heels

1. First and foremost entry to the party zone will be allowed only after getting branded by the "High heel Unlimited" stamp at the entrance.

2. Awards” Best heel”: Ofcourse we will have the biggest award of the night "The best heels". This will be judged by J. And the winner will get a sachet specially printed for the occasion "Miss best heels".

3. Whoz heel is it anyway: Snaps of each pair taken at entrance. All the girls will be provided with cue cards and the snaps of heels will be projected. We will have to match the heel with the face. One with highest correct guess will win 

4. Dress up the heel: All the extra ugly heels will be thrown together in a basket. Girls will be blindfolded and they will pick up one random pair without looking. Each will have to provide a makeover to the heels with the decoration material they are carrying in next 10 min........turn the ugly ducking into cindrella, the one with most creativity will win. 

5. The Shoe quiz? Not a serious but funky shoe facts quiz and the winner will receive a specially designed sachet "I know the heels".

And last but not the least we would groove to J's favorite Rock bands Pink floyd and Metallica till wee hours in the morning..

This shall conclude one of the most happening parties of this year of our group!!

These are the nitty gritty of my grand party......Got to run, have to post invites, shop and order from ITC's Kitchens of India....

"I ran towards you"

Got up from my sleep and

I ran towards you,ran like a crazy man

World had stopped..

Years and years I waited to be with you

Chained by your thoughts, drawn towards you
I ran!!

I lived like dead

I lived with dead!!

Eating your memories, eating through roses, 

Eating through pains...through thrones of your memories

Smoking the smoke, breathing the ashes...waiting for centuries

Waiting for the clock...waiting for the cloud

Waiting for the sun...waiting for THE hour

Waiting for you

The hour is here,
You are here,

Waiting for me amongst the crowd, in the sea

Waiting for me,waiting to be us

Drowning in brown, Mourning in black...waiting for me

Burning in gold, gazing in blank..waiting for me

Looking through crowd
Looking through sky

Looking through lenses

Waiting for me

We survived the death, we survived the births, 

We survived the world, 

No one can stop us now

To become one

  

I will scratch those eyes, I will swim through the fiends 

I will cut all the strings, I will wade through the pains

I will snap all the fingers, I will eat all the chains

You are in my arms, after years of wait

We killed the foes, we changed the fate

Let me carry you away from here,

Here life is dead

Let's run away to deads

Let's unite in death!!

For Out of Standard: Film School Drop Out Edition by Isadora Gruye for an out of the box theme

THE CHALLENGE:Watch the clip.Write a poem inspired by it..

THE SCENE: Clip comes from the film Holy Motors.

Link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ_BucxvkK8

Wild Daisy

Early in the morning I saw you there

Standing tall, standing pretty with a beauty rare

Standing white amongst the sea of green

Standing white with a yellow flair



Smile dwelling on your lips..

White blossoms and grips

Welcoming the early sunrays, reflecting the purity of pure

Petals curled and demure

Just standing there absorbing the morning dew

Colored butterflies creating rainbow around you



I stand there stunned and glued....

Chained to your beauty

Amazed at your glow

Wondering in my heart how are you so pure?

Why are you so happy?

I wonder how you look at the world?

Do you wonder how the world looks at you?

May be not now, may be never

Is that why you are so happy?

Linked with : http://poetryjaam.blogspot.in/2013/06/its-all-about-flowers.html//

Photo a day experiment PADE!

“A picture is a secret about a secret, the more it tells you the less you know.”-Diane A

A fellow blogger and friend Ritu KT and I, thought it would be fun to challenge ourselves by capturing special moments of each day for a month. But as we are bloggers at heart, we decided to share our journey with our readers. And what's the better way to do so than to co-host a 31-day Photo Challenge?!

PADE (Photo A Day Experiment)!

It is a 31 day photo challenge wherein each participant will post an image according to the theme of the day

What are the points to remember?

• Have a valid blog
• Grab the participant (I'm part of PADE) badge shared above and display on your blog
• A banner with all 31 themes will be available on this post shortly
• Check out the themes for each day and make sure to click a photo related to the theme (an archived image also can be used)
• There are no rules on interpretation of themes, you can be creative and interpret the theme as per your understanding
• You can select any theme of the 31 themes and use it but doing it in order per day will ensure that hosts will visit your blog and you stand a chance to be the Shutterbug of the Day and at the end of the month - Ace Shutterbug!
• Share the photograph on your blog
• Submit your blog entry link through the linky tool embedded below this post so that we can evaluate all the entries once the day is over. Multiple entries on same day are not allowed. (The link will be visible only during the month of July)
• Each entry should have a line at the end of the post saying – "This post is my entry for the PADE conducted by “Just a mom” or “ Things to rave about”
• Help PADE by spreading the word on your blogs, facebook and twitter pages so that more and more bloggers can share this experience 

Where are the themes?

Click here for the themes

We will be doing themes in the order 1 -31. You are welcome to do it with us and leave your post links in the linky tool below each post for the challenge starting 1st July.

We’ll announce the “Shutterbug of the day” everyday from the entries we receive through the linky tool each day. From those 31 Shutterbugs, we’ll select one “Ace Shutterbug” in the end of July.

You also have the option to do the challenge in any order.

What’s In It For Me?

A chance to connect with fellow bloggers, click new photos, get new readers to your blog and win awesome badges to showcase on your blog! Shutterbug badges for host’s favorite entry per theme and Ace Shutterbug for the best of all entries throughout the challenge.

You also have a chance to be featured in the hosts' theme post the next day!

Cool. When does it start?

July 1st !!!

I hope you’ll come and join us in this journey. Thank you for taking out the time to read this, hoping to see you with your camera from July 1st to 31st!

Let’s start clicking!!

Please leave a link to your contest entries below.
(Link visible only in July)


Image courtsey:moonik9.deviantart.com

Candid moments with Ar

My elder one Ar is growing really fast and is daily coming up with new antics. I needed a place to journal these candid moments with him, hence I am starting a new section " Candid Moments with Ar"...(which I cross my heart and promise I will use to embarrass him when I am old and I have nothing better to do :D)

A really cute episode from last week

"Ar: Mumma see I made Hulladho car (From lego)

Me: Hulladho?? (thinking hard...really hard!)

Me: Aah its alladin beta not Hulladho (Impressed that he remembered the story after months) A big kiss on the cheeks

Ar: Arey no no tell me name of both uncle and aunty

Me: Aunty..who aunty in Alladin??

Me: Alladin and 40 chor right?

Ar: No that song on TV with “No pants aunty”

"Hulladho ee hai,..fir bepui hai..tere pyar main”(Song from the movie Race: Allah duhai hai..) 

Me: Jaw on the floor!!!!

Party planner for your kid's birthday at home

Image by http://farm5.staticflickr.com

Not all birthday parties for your kids can be lavish but each birthday is special and each party should be special.How do we make sure that the child feels same amount of love and efforts at each birthday party?

This is a write up to help organize a simple, homely but special birthday party. (Relevant to age group 3-6 years)

One of the easiest ways to plan a good and hassle free party is to come up with a theme. I use very simple and uncomplicated themes (obviously post discussing it with my 4 year old). I am not suggesting anything complicated like a costume/fancy dress party but a generic theme that would be a part of your decorations and cake.

For e.g. Spiderman, Chota bheem, Winnie the poh or Barbie etc

After you have finalized a theme, it’s time to work on the details of the party only within the theme.

Following is a list of things that are a part of my planning:

Invitations

There is a lot of variety in terms of invitations available in market. Generally I am a big fan of DIY for kids but there are so many options at good price available in market that I avoid the effort of doing it myself. (They are as cheap as 1 rs per invite and go up-to around 7-8 rs). They are not very expensive and yet give a special feel.

There are a lot of options available on line also like Chhota bheem invites, Pooh invites etc. These can be bought at much lesser price also if you become a member and keep a tab on the online sales which keeps happening through out the year.

Make sure to order atleast 7-10 days in advance.

List of Invitees

Prepare a masterlist of invitees and save it. This list can be used as reference for coming years. (I have illustrated my master list towards the end)

Decorations 

Decorations can be as per the theme selected. So for example if the theme I selected was Chhota bheem, following items will be as per theme:

1. Banners: There are a lot of banners available for birthdays. Some of them that I use are:

· Birthday banner saying Happy b’day (Is available in different themes like Chhota bheem etc) (around Rs 75 for one banner)

· Banners for age: There are number banners that I used for my son’s 4th b’day and was a big hit. (These come with the age number printed on the design, nice and colorful. "Age banners")

You can be more creative and add more banners and wall posters if your budget permits. A lot of options are available like Its a party banner, Party zone banner etc.

2. Ribbons and balloons: 

· We use the traditional twist ribbon decoration across the party room. Very cheap and looks very pretty.

· For balloons a lot of options are available like Metallic finish, heart shaped, spotted etc. We use a mix of color that goes with the theme for e.g For a spiderman theme you would ideally want lots of red and black balloons.

· Stick the balloons on the walls but do not forget to throw lots and lots of balloons on the floor for the kids to play and fool around

· Center balloon. Do not forget the center balloon (Big balloon to be placed just above the cake)....fill it with goodies, I avoid filling it with decoration items like thermacol balls etc, instead I use small candies and toffees.

3. Candles:

You can get theme candles also and if not than age candles are a lot of fun. (Price between Rs 50-Rs 100)

4. Noise makers:

This is a kid’s party and hence noise pollution is most welcome. There are a lot of options available like whistles and blow horns. Again same are available as per themes also. (Price is around 7-10 Rs per item)

5. Party accessories:

You can buy caps, masks etc matching with your themes like this Chhota bheem mask (Price between Rs 6-10 item)

Cutlery:

It depends on the type and quantity of food you are serving at the party. I am an advocate of take away parcels and may graduate to proper party food in few years when my kids are little older but right now take aways work best for me (less mess and headaches)

I would normally serve cake, wafers and a tetra pack of any fruit juice.Below is a list of basic requirement:

· Paper plates

· Spoons

· Napkins

· Cups

· Straws 

These are also available as per themes like Chhota bheem paper plates (price between 7-10 per plate), Chhota bheem cups (price between 4-5 per item), Chhota bheem napkins (price between Rs 2-4 per item)

Entertainment:

First and foremost be aware of the latest fad of music amongst your kid’s agegroup. And arrange for the same. No better entertainment then some great music, fun dancing and loud cheering from your side.

Beyond this I do not recommend any party games for this age group because I don’t think they have the patience to sit and play games even at parties....just let them be....

Don’t forget to announce the best dancer after the party and handover a special gift (you can be innovative, can come up with a sachet “Best dancer”)

Cake:

For cake, ideally order one that will go with your theme but themed cakes are more expensive than normal ones (anywhere between Rs 1000-2000 for a two kg cake). If you do not want to spend this much, you can order a normal cake but use a themed candle, with a themed table cover to make it more special.

Return gift:

No party today is complete without return gifts. Some of the good, relevant and inexpensive ideas that I recommend are:

· A goody bag: A gift bag full of small interesting items related to the theme like Spiderman tattoos, stickers, badges, colors, bottles etc (Can customize for girls and boys, can add fashion accessories etc for girls)

· Coloring books

· Story books

· Crayons

· Watches

· Mugs

· Cars

· Bubble guns

· Goggles

· Wallets

· Bags etc

If you have different age groups of kids attending the party, then make sure that you buy age appropriate return gifts.

I do not recommend buying return gifts online, there would be a lot of cheaper and better options available at your local vendor.

Other then these, I have been buying products from Firstcry and Babyoye.com (To go with my theme). These keep going on sale on and off. Take the free membership of the sites and you will be regularly updated of the ongoing sales and buy them anytime of the year.

Prepare a master check list:

Prepare a master check list incorporating all the above points. A copy of my check lists for planning and invitations is illustrated below:

Master Checklist

Invites checklist