Summer Vacations and ice creams.

It is time to begin the most important countdown of the year. The countdown for summer vacations.

July stands for summer vacations and vacations mean a lot of happy things for my little chefling. Grandparents, staying up late, multiple trips to the library, splashing around in the pool, making presents for everyone, meeting old friends, movie marathons, endless rounds of dobble and scrabble and eating icecreams!

Yes, that last bit is her favourite.

Sometimes sitting alone in the balcony licking the ice lolly looking at the cars pass by, sometimes sharing a large bowl with us; three spoons clanging against each other and sometimes with all her friends; attacking the ice-cream bar and adorning the good old vanilla and chocolate ice cream with sprinkles.

Ice cream is so much more than milk and cream and sugar, isn’t it? For me it means travelling back in time to my childhood.

Growing up, mum would always make sure we had enough in the freezer. It helped that dad too wanted it all the time! He still does. My mum’s freezer can put an ice cream parlour to shame. Such was and is the quantity and variety.

There would always be the good old vanilla. In May when the markets were loaded with mangoes, it had to be mango kulfis. Watermelon ice lollies too, a big favourite with the entire family. She would always add a hint of “roohafza” to make it sweeter and give it that rose flavor. I still do the same, but like to add some mint, lime and rock salt to it as well.

I remember the day, when we got home the ice cream maker that marked the end of the “partially freeze-whisk and breakup-refreeze” rigmarole era.

This ice cream maker required a combination of ice and rock salt in a certain predefined ratio. It had a metallic canister. Once the motor was switched on, you had to keep lining the canister with both the ice and rock salt. The motor would then turn the canister. The part time help who came to our house those days would get the rock salt from a local shop only she knew about.

My sister and I would make endless rounds to the kitchen to see if more salt was needed and bring that to my mum’s attention. After the entire operation was over, we would be given some right away. Right out of the machine; semi frozen and soft.

The ice cream didn’t last very long which meant the process was repeated every other day. Mum would also buy cones for us. Ice cream in a cone was what summer vacations were made up of. Sometimes there would be very little left and mum and dad would say but hey this is for both of you, we don’t feel like having it today. It never struck us that they may have wanted it as much as we wanted to. We would start licking the scoop with mum telling us to keep rotating the cone and keep licking it from all sides. Then would be the moment when the icecream would began to melt and make the cone go all soggy and limp. The mad rush to quickly bite into it would begin. All this while our parents would be watching us with this crushing joy in their heart for seeing us happy made them happy. Seeing us have ice cream took them back to their childhood.

Summers also equal visiting grandparents for Sara and as kids it meant the same for my sister and me. Early mornings meant laid back breakfasts, climbing the mango trees, jumping up high in an attempt to reach the grape vine for fresh grapes (grape leaves too, they taste divine!) and threading the frangipani into garlands while sitting on the frangipani tree. 

Hot and lazy afternoons were spent looking through old albums that were neatly stacked in my grandfather’s study. Those albums carried within them millions of stories. The noise made by the air cooler, the smell of the “khus” he would add to the water and cold lemonade for company.

Early evenings meant kulfis! Every evening at 4 p.m. we would start looking out of the tiny window from our grandparents room; the one that faced the road. Since the noisy cooler would be on, we didn’t want to take the risk of missing the tring tring of the kulfi wala. He too was aware that May meant that the grandchildren were here and each evening without fail he would come and stop at the main gate. He would be greeted with grand children from all the neighbouring houses queuing up rather rather impatiently for their kulfis. Two not one. One in each hand and always the same, malai kulfi. There was both a certain sense of excitement and comfort in getting the familiar. I miss those days of not having any variety, sometimes.

In that mayhem there would always be one child who would accidentally drop her/his kulfi on the road. Trust me those five minutes are the worst minutes of your life. Ask any child and she/he will nod in agreement. That kulfi you waited for all day is now on the dirty road melting into this creamy puddle that you can’t save. That feeling! Two big fat tears are forming in your eyes, the world has come to an end and at that moment your grandfather comes around and buys you another one. Happiness restored. You want to hug him tight. He is your hero.

I miss those ice cream days. Do you? What are your childhood ice-cream memories?

Sara loves to have her friends over for ice cream playdates. Once the children have played enough and are really tired, they all sit down for ice-cream.

There is always vanilla and dark chocolate. With tons of toppings. Their eyes light up.

Confetti sprinkles. Chocolate swirls. Marshmallows. Toasted Walnuts. Silvered pistachios. Dried Cranberries. Dried Papaya. Sweetened Coconut. Dry Mango Slices and more.

The children get busy “decorating” their scoops. Soon the ice cream disappears under an avalanche of sprinkles and fruits.

Then I start reminding them to eat it before it melts. 

Like my mum did.

I go back to the kitchen and watch them giggling over some stories from school, licking the ice-cream, dropping some on the floor, wiping off their cream moustaches with the sleeves of their shirts and I feel this sense of crushing joy in my heart. 

Like my mum did. 

To set up an Ice cream bar:

Ingredients:

• Several naughty little children
• Two or three ice-creams of your choice (store bought or I like to follow the recipes of the Ice cream God. With children the basics seem to work each time; vanilla, chocolate and strawberry)
• Nuts for some crunch; walnuts, pistachios, almonds, peanuts, pecans
• Fruits; fresh and/or dry (papayas, mango, coconut, cherries, berries, bananas)
• Cookies, candies, marshmallows
• Sauces if your kids like (chocolate, berries, caramel)
• Ice cream cones or bowls and spoons
• Tons of napkins to wipe their little faces

Instructions:

1. Set out everything on the table. Scoop, sprinkle and slurp. 

 Images: If you like any of the pictures on the blog and would like to use those please write to me. I put in hours of work behind each post and would love to share it with you but it would hurt me if  use those without my permission.Just ask! 

Chocolate Fondue and Christmas.

'Tis The Season to Be Jolly and that means my little chefling will have her friends over for an evening of fondue and Christmas card making. There will be Christmas carols in the background, sparkling fairy lights, the Christmas tree standing tall and proud with ornaments both store bought and handmade, warmth of the vanilla candles, cider simmering on the stove and big smiles and fuzzy hearts.

She and her tiny friends will together “make” the fondue and then share it. Fondue is such a communal way to eat. The children will eat from a common bowl of chocolate, picking their favourite things to dip but taking care that they leave enough of everything for their friends. They will learn  that they need to be fair and equal and will go back home with the kind of happiness that only sharing can give them.

Plus the abundance of lots of tiny platters make it just the Christmassy thing to do.

Chocolate Fondue

Ingredients:

For the sauce:

100 grams of dark chocolate broken into pieces

100 ml thick cream

50 ml milk

For dipping & coating use whatever you have on hand. Here are some ideas:

• Fruits of your choice: apples, grapes, pears, bananas, strawberries, raspberries, etc
• Sprinkles
• Chocolate curls
• Pretzels
• Marshmallows
• Dessicated Coconut
• Edible glitter

Instructions:

1. In a double boiler or heat-safe bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt chocolate with cream and milk stirring, until smooth. Transfer to a fondue pot and light a candle (If your children are old enough this task too can be given to them, under your supervision). Teach them if it gets too runny, simply put more chocolate.
2. Depending on the age of the kids ask them to help you peel the banana, wash the rest of the fruits, separate the grapes from the stem.
3. Give them a child friendly knife and ask them to slice the bananas, chop/slice the apples and the pears and cut off the strawberry tops
4. Next ask them to fill all the little plates/bowls with the rest of the fondue accompaniments.
5. Pick up the skewers and dunk everything into the warm chocolate and enjoy. 
6. Little children with chocolate all over their faces and sticky fingers come free with this recipe.

Add some zing to the sauce by adding a splash of vanilla, a bit of orange juice, grated lemon /orange zest or mint extract.

Do you have more ideas on things that would be fun to dip?

Merry Christmas everyone.

Before I end this post, I wanted to share that a couple of us have gotten together for a Christmas Festival of sorts on our blogs. One post a day to inspire you to make Christmas cards, decorations, read Christmas  books, try out Christmas  recipes and make Christmas goodies with your little ones (Yes, that would be me:))

Hope to see you guys drop by everyone's blogs and share the love.

Images: If you like any of the pictures on the blog and would like to use those please write to me. I put in hours of work behind each post and would love to share it with you but it would hurt me if  use those without my permission. Just ask!

Come join a set of fabulous bloggers sharing their Christmas moments - Easy Holiday Crafts, DIY ideas, Recipes , Decor ideas and book recommendations with you .

Starting from today till Christmas and beyond, each one of us will be writing a post related to Christmas.
Participating blogs
ArtsyCraftsyMom - munniofalltrades - hfareensspace - roohiscollections - hellomommyhood - attachedmoms - totschooltotallyawesome - Themomviews - bumpsnbaby.com -
rugsoflife - oneandahalfminutes - shishuworld - ruskandtea - aspoonfullofideas - orangekitchens - obsessivemom - rachnaparmar - parentingmantras -
onboardthemommyship - kwikdekoblog - thekeybunch - momzspace - whatscookingmom - coloursdekor - happypeopleevents - fantastic-feathers - beingzoesmom

So sit back, relax and check out all the fabulous Christmas Bonanza posts from our participating blogs in the linky. Support us by sharing our posts using the hash tag #ChristmasBonanza


This Linky is for participating blogs only, but We would love to see your Christmas Crafts too. Come and link up your Christmas post at ArtsyCraftsyMom.com

An InLinkz Link-up

Diwali memories and eating fire crackers.

Three days to go and it will be Diwali. Diwali always evokes beautiful and cherished memories of childhood and home (especially now that we are far away from both home and loved ones).

Clay Diyas, mithais, strings of marigolds and mango leaves, rangolis, torans and more. Walking down the memory lane this Diwali (If you’ve grown up in India some of these will definitely take you back to your childhood).

• Helping dad fix the electric “ladis” (fairy lights) a day before “Dhanteras”.
• Going out with mum and dad to get a silver coin on the day of Dhanteras.
• Polishing the brass lamps and candle stands with “Brasso” till they begin to shine like gold.  
• Buying new traditional clothes way in advance for the big day. Silk saree for mum, a kurta for dad and lehengas or churidar kurtis for us. Matching bangles too.
• Going to the local potters to buy clay diyas (smaller ones for the whole house and one large one that mum would fill up with ghee to last the whole night long).
• While at the potter picking up a clay urli to float flowers and a few terracotta lanterns too.
• Debating on which Ganesh-Lakshmi clay idol was the prettiest and choosing that with mum and dad.
• Picking up mithai dabbas for all the loved ones and wrapping them up in shimmery silver and gold gift wraps those that flew and were so difficult to handle if the fan was on. Switch off the fan someone would say and that helped.
• Gifts too. Thoughtful ones. Ones that our parents knew would make our loved ones happy. Sarees and shirts for the help at home.
• Spending hours making detailed grocery lists with mum for all the mithai to be made; laddoos, barfis, namak pare and more. She made the list and we just hung around dreaming about the mithai.
• Waking up on Diwali morning and jumping out of bed to make a rangoli. Sometimes floral, sometimes geometric.
• Making tiny feet (“S” with five tiny dots for toes) at the entrance of the house and all the way inside (representing Goddess Lakshmi’s feet) just in case the Goddess lost her way.
• Visiting the phoolwali mandi to buy ladis of gendas and aam patte by the kilos. Some loose flowers and two garlands for the pooja too, mum would always say.
• Filling up all the vases and nooks and corners with flowers of all sorts and getting that sense of pride looking at how festive and gorgeous “our” home looked and felt.
• Filling up the plates with mithai and bowls with almonds, cashews, raisins and pistachios in anticipation of all the guests and relatives who would visit us during the day and in the evening.
• Setting up the pooja place. Cleaning that white marble slab in our living room till it began to gleam. Placing the Idols (but wash your hands first, we would be gently reminded). Thali full of diyas , kacha doodh in a silver katori, tikka with grains of rice and a few drops of water, sandalwood agarbattis in the silver agarbatti stand, dhoop shaped into a cone, khulle phool, mala and the prasad.
• Carefully filling up all the clay diyas with ghee and oil and putting in cotton wicks way before the pooja.
• Singing the aarti together while waiting eagerly for the pooja to get over so that we could run out and light diyas and burn fire crackers.
• Making sure each and every corner of the house, balcony, verandah, even the window sills were lined up with the diyas.
• Dad bending down with us to light them all after the pooja with candles that were lit from the bada diya in the pooja thali.
• Melting the rear end of the candle with a lighted one and then sticking it on the window sills.
• Getting disappointed and frustrated when the lit candle would die because of the strong breeze.
• Writing my name in the air with the phooljhadis.
• Jumping over the chakris.
• Feeling mesmerized by the gorgeous streaks of fireworks from the anars.
• Cautiously bending over to light a bomb and running away from it at the first sight of spark.
• Covering my ears with my hands as someone lighted up the red ladi of bijli bombs.
• Filling up those obnoxious toy guns with dot bombs and irritating the hell out of my parents with its high pitched sound.
• Lighting up those “saanp” tablets and strategizing on how to throw them in one over the other to make the longest snake. Oh it was so gross but we seemed to enjoy it back then.
• Awestruck at the sight in the sky. Glimmer, glitter, sparkle everywhere.
• Walking down the road with mum and dad and looking at all the houses sparkling due to the brightness lent by string lights and the gentle flicker of the diyas.
• Wishing it could look this festive all year round.
• Coming back home to mum’s scrumptious and traditional dinner of kali daal, allu gobhi, shahi paneer, lauki ke kofte, dahi bhalle and more.
• Eating countless mithais till our tummies began to hurt. Then popping in one more for it was Diwali after all.
• Tired. Happy. Content. Finally getting into our beds with a prayer on our lips asking for blessings and thanking someone up there for illuminating our lives with love and togetherness.

Did these take you back to your childhood and your home? What are some of your much loved Diwali memories?

As we grew up we became aware how children our age and younger were being forced to make fire crackers since demand for fire crackers swelled during Diwali and ofcourse the pollution it caused and slowly fire crackers went away from our lives. Strangely we didn't miss them. For Diwali was always much more than burning a cracker.

One sparkler for “shagun” remained.

From observing my parents, celebrating in the house that I grew up in, learning traditions that my parents passed on I started making traditions of my own with my partner. Sara joined us a couple of years later. Now I make mithais and plan our dinner, he fixes the lights and she makes the rangolis and the cards. Just like that the roles have changed.

This Diwali my little girl will wear her pretty lehenga with a tikka on her head. Sparkly bangles are a must she says. We will get that one sparkler for shagun and watch her write “Sara” with it and celebrate this festival of lights.

Wishing you all a very happy Diwali. Sparkle. Glitter. Shine.

Oh and just because we are saying no to firecrackers doesn't mean we won’t be having any. We just ate some “Firecrackers” and they were delicious and made my little chefling squeal with delight. 

Fruit crackers 

Ingredients

For the fire crackers:

• Water
• Sugar
• Cinnamon sticks
• Cloves
• Star anise
• Vanilla extract
• A squeeze of lemon
• One peach, peeled but stem intact
• One plum
• One apple
• One clove
• Squeeze of a lemon or any juice
• Chocolate ganache to dip (I make mine with 70% dark chocolate, cream and vanilla extract)
• Golden star sprinkles (or any other glittery ones if you have on hand)
• Piping bag

For the matchbox:

• Pretzel sticks
• Chocolate ganache to dip
• An old and clean matchbox

Instructions:

1. For the anar (flower pot sparkler): Peel the pear and poach it with some sugar, cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves, vanilla and a squeeze of lemon. Remember it to turn it around midways. Allow it to cool and dip it in chocolate sauce and sprinkle gold stars.
2. For the gola bomb(Round bomb): Poach the plum with some sugar, cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves, vanilla and a squeeze of lemon. Remember it to turn it around midways. Allow it to cool and dip it in chocolate sauce and sprinkle gold stars. Add the clove on top for the wick.
3. For the chakri (spiral sparkler): Cut round slices of apple and coat it with any juice you have on hand. This will prevent discolouration. Fill the piping bag with the chocolate sauce and make spirals on it.
4. For the matchbox: Dip several small pretzel sticks chocolate sauce and let the chocolate set. Line the inside of the matchbox with foil or butterpaper and transfer the “matchsticks” to the matchbox.

Boom.Boom .Boom. Enjoy your firecrackers. I can assure you these will light up any little girl/boy’s Diwali day.

p.s. If you’d like to make an edible gift with your little one then you might enjoy this post, here.

Images: If you like any of the pictures on the blog and would like to use those please write to me. I put in hours of work behind each post and would love to share it with you but it would hurt me if  use those without my permission. Just ask!

Because she loves tea parties.

Sara likes tea parties. She loves “hosting” them. Most afternoons after school she likes to make tea for me. Sometimes her dolls join us too.

Often there are sandwiches, cookies and a pastry or two. I get directions on how to hold the cup, “with your pinkie out because a princess ought to behave like a princess”.

While “drinking” our tea I ask her how was school? There are days when she has a lot to tell. There are days when she doesn't. "It was good", she says. Then there are days like yesterday when she said, "Oh! it was very exciting". "Wow! Tell me all about it Sara", I said.

“I can’t remember what we did. But I remember it was very exciting!”

Umm. Alright.

But I digress.

I can’t remember if as a kid I loved tea parties as much as she does. Perhaps it has got to do with overdose of all the princess books she has been reading. Alice in Wonderland too.

A couple of weeks back she got back from school and asked if she could have her friends over for a tea party. "Tomorrow evening mamma. Like real tea, mamma. Wearing princess gowns".

"I will need to make invitations", she added. "They need to go out today. I will give it to them at the park this evening".

With very little time on hand we downloaded this free printable and she wrote out her friends' and her own name in a “Royal” font no less (Read: curly plus wiggly handwriting equals royal)

"But what will we serve Sara"? 

"It is my tea party, can I cook"?, she asked. "There has to be tea and cookies and those tomato squares that we made the other day".

We agreed. I did a little prep work the next morning so that she could “cook” after school.

Chocolate milk for tea in “royal” cups: Years back I was gifted these dainty china cups which I always ended up using for dips and desserts. We took them out and she helped me fill each one with some “tea”.

Teabag cookies: Because to make tea we need teabags and we also need cookies to go with it. I had been waiting for a chance to make these ridiculously cute teabag cookies ever since I saw them everywhere and now was my chance :) I prepared the dough in the morning and kept a teabag stencil ready for her to cut them out. From there on it was easy. While she dipped each teabag into the warm chocolate ganache I tried very hard to be okay with it not being “perfect” and not dipping it back in. For my little chefling's cookies were more than perfect in every way. I attached the tea bag labels (free printable) and she squealed with excitement.

Tomato, basil and goat cheese squares: These happen to be Sara’s favorite and I feel they are a nice change from the usual pizza/pasta for a kid’s party. Since they have both the tomato and the cheese the children are willing to try. Plus they look like “grown up” food which was perfect for her “grown up tea party”.  

I prepared the dough and sliced the tomatoes before she got back from school. We then cut them into squares and she adorned each square with tomatoes slices, a generous sprinkle of  basil and goat cheese. We painted them with egg wash and they went into the oven.

We also had some gooey brownies which were a surprise for the chef who had spent all afternoon cooking for her friends.

The girls had so much fun that evening. They sat on the chairs wearing their pretty dresses and dipped their teabags into their tiny cups. They drew teacups and kettles and milk pots and sugar pots and played some more pretend tea. They talked. They laughed.

My little girl was exhausted by the end of it all. "Was I good hostess mamma"?, she asked.

"The best", said her proud mum.

Does your little one like playing “tea party”?

For us this party was much more than just a game. See for yourself.

Sara learnt:

• It is nice to invite friends over and it is even nicer when the invitation is handwritten. It makes our friends feel special.
• There is a lot of work that goes into cooking for friends and family. It is exhausting but there is no greater joy than feeding your loved ones.
• Toys when shared with friends multiply your happiness.
• When you take care of your little guests you go on to become a great little hostess and get many many hugs from all of them.
• Lastly, when we pour too much of chocolate milk into a tiny cup we get a chocolate puddle on the kitchen slab which then trickles down to the floor and that means lots of cleaning :)

I learnt:

• All get togethers needn’t be planned. Yes, I am Monica types. Sara taught me a great lesson. Sometimes impromptu plans are way more fun than planned ones.
• What they make doesn't have to look "perfect". What is important is leading them to the kitchen and allowing them to touch, feel and see where their food come from. Trust me whatever they make with their two little paws will be beautiful and will leave you teary eyed. 
• You don’t have to necessarily DIY each little element of your party. Didn't I already mention I am Monica with a DIY obsession? It is okay to take help from others. These two ladies helped us with invitations and tea bag labels and tons of you inspired us to try out your super creative tea bag cookies.
• I love having her with me in the kitchen. The questions that she asks, the advice she gives me, the talks we have, the mistakes she makes and the mess she makes, All of this and more makes my day brighter.

Would you like to have a cup of tea?

Tomato, basil and goat cheese squares.

Ingredients

• 450 grams puff pastry (readymade is fine) I use this recipe
• One egg, beaten
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 1 tsp of dry basil plus more for sprinkling later
• 2 tsp olive oil
• Salt
• 4 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 100 grams goat cheese, cut into tiny wedges

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and prepare a baking sheet with some parchment paper.
2. Roll out the puff pastry thin and cut it into squares or any shape that you like. We made ten medium squares.
3. Put them on the baking sheet and fold the sides of each of the squares to make a sort of slightly raised border (about 1 cm). Brush these borders with the egg wash.
4. Mix the garlic paste, olive oil, basil and salt together and brush all the squares with it.
5. Arrange the sliced tomatoes on the squares, overlapping a bit. About two to three slices per square. Bake for about 15 minutes. The tomatoes will be tender and light brown.
6. Take the baking sheet out and add a wedge or two of the goat cheese and sprinkle some basil on to each square. Return to the oven for another 7-8 minutes. The cheese will  be melty but will still hold shape.
7. You can serve it both hot or at room temperature.

Images : Personal Album. All images belong to orangekitchens and are subject to copyright. 

Play Kitchen :DIY Inspiration

I mentioned in my last post that one of Sara's favourite game is playing kitchen. On weekends after she has had her breakfast she likes to "cook" me one. She gets me a cappuccino and a sunny side up with a waffle. An espresso for her dad. Always. If she is feeling a little generous then she throws in some "fresh fruit".

On other days she walks into the kitchen to check what is being made for dinner and then proceeds to recreate the same in her kitchen.

There are days when she likes to cook with pretend toys,play dough or anything that she can make look like real food. 

This one time she made me a chapati with paper with allu matar (potato & peas). Isn't this the prettiest chapati ever? 

Sara adores her play kitchen and spends countless hours standing at her kitchen counter. I promise to share the contents of her kitchen one of these days.
If any of you mommies and daddies are planning to make a play kitchen for your budding chef or chefette I came across some very creative & inspiring DIY play kitchens which I'd like to share with you today.

From old media cabinets to nightstands.

From coffee tables to a chairs.

From Ikea hacks to the rustic charm of a wooden crate.

Tons of inspiration for you if you are in the mood for some DIY. Does your little one have a play kitchen? I'd love to hear about it.

Images : 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12, 13 and 14