
So be sure to stop by and check on what we're upto. Visit April's blog Abby Sweets for more details if you'd like to join in.
We had a crazy weekend. It started out with the regular weekend chores like laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning - you know how it works, right? and before we knew it, we found ourselves scrambling to save some trees in our area from being cut. We did manage to put a halt to the original plan of chopping down 13 great, big trees that are atleast 30 years old. I say this with so much authority because the trees have been in their spots as far back as I can remember. I'm pretty sure they are much older than me. We had a local newspaper report the incident and are hoping that this will help us preserve the remaining tree cover in the area. You can check out the article here.
Anyway, things got better from there. We spent Sunday with family at my brother-in-law's place. The guys had a blast. They played carrom after years and played for quite a few hours, while I spent time with my sister-in-law and neices (you remember them - Faith & Shania - from my second post). After a delightful morning and lunch with them, we headed home.
I was exhausted but I still wanted to make something for dinner that night.At first, I wanted to make some Moussaka. I've made that a couple of times before, and my husband and I simply love it. Then I started having second thoughts as the recipe calls for a lot of frying and with the temperatures and humidity levels being sky-high in Mumbai at the moment, I didn't think I could endure all that frying. So as I was sifting through my collection of recipes, I stumbled upon a recipe for Shepherd's Pie that I'd bookmarked some time ago and decided to give it a go. The original recipe calls for lamb mince but since I only had beef mince in the house, I made the switch. Well some folks say that Shepherd's Pie is strictly made using lamb mince and if you do happen u switch the meat like I did, then what you've made is some Cottage Pie. Either way, I must say, this recipe did not disappoint. I used the recipe found in Nita Mehta's - The Best of Mutton. All you do is make some mashed potato and a simple mince, arrange it in a casserole dish and bake for about 20 minutes. In less than an hour, we sat down to a hearty, warm and scrumptious dinner. This, served with a lovely fresh salad, is really yummy.
Give it a go and you won't be disappointed.
Note to Self: Next time, get pictures before wolfing down delicious food. :)
Truth be told, I am yet to meet someone who doesn't like cupcakes. Sure, some prefer vanilla, others chocolates while a few feel adventurous and don't mind trying out other flavors.
Recently, I had to make 4 doz. cupcakes to order for a young man's birthday party. Yes, you heard me right, I said a young man, whoever said that cupcakes were a girly thing had no idea what they were talking about. You can pretty much use any cake and frosting recipe and make cupcakes with it but this time around, I used one of Nigella Lawson's. They were an absolute hit and everybody loved them. I made them in two sizes. The larger ones for the party and some bite sized ones for us at home.
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I've been in awe of people who can knit and crochet, ever since I was a little child. I had always wanted to learn to do this amazing stuff too. I remember on one birthday, my dads sister presented me with a crochet kit. I must've been about 8 or 9 and as much as I wanted to get started with it I couldn't figure it out. No one in my household could crochet. My mum knew some basic knitting but hadn't done too much of it. So the most I could do was long swatches of knit and purl.
A few years ago, I was on a trip with my husband (who was then my fiance) and his sister. She has a good hand at crochet. So I took this as a sign and decided to learn crochet. She was in the middle of a project but was kind enough to take the time to demonstrate the basic stitches. I had a go and tried them out myself and it was ok. But as luck would have it when I returned from the trip and tried it out again it was a harried attempt. So I put that on the back burner yet again.
Then a couple of months ago, a very dear friend told me that she and the family was moving to Canada for good. I was determined to give wool work another go and make it a success. Since knitting was familiar territory I decided to try my hand at a scarf. I was very pleased with the outcome. You can find the pattern here.
Welcome to My Hobbie Lobbie. Baking, cooking and crafting and some of the things that I've enjoyed doing for a while now. I've also spent many hours admiring the wonderful world of blogs and have always wanted to start one of my own. Today I've finally taken the plunge and decided to get going with it. Over the next few months I'm hoping to test out as many new recipes as I possibly can and document the process and the end result. Its seems a little overwhelming right now but looks like its going to be a whole lot of fun too!