My little chefling turns six : The Little Mermaid.

I clearly remember the day when my little chefling decided to come into our lives. Two weeks early. I called up DH in the middle of the night warning I would disown him if he didn't make it in time for the birth of our little monkey (He was travelling that night).

That day and last Saturday, 31st of January 2015.  Six beautiful years.

• From being a part of my right arm where you spent hours sleeping to moving into your own bed
• From not even being able to keep your head straight to becoming this young confident girl standing on the stage to recite a poem
• From teaching you ABCs to you teaching me alif, be, te
• From slipping your little fingers into mine to be able to walk to mastering the violin strings
• From me picking up the hundreds of toys strewn all over your room to you asking me to sit down while you set the dinner table
• From me feeding you apple puree to you making me a sandwich 
• From me planning your birthday parties to you announcing the theme for your next
• From pinafores and baby rompers to princess gowns and jeans
• From pink soft booties to silver ballerinas
• From soft baby hair pony tails complete with ribbon to long glossy untamed hair you wanting to always leave open
• From not leaving my hand for even a second to running away without looking back when seeing friends
• From mamma surprising you with lunch box notes to you leaving me a card for all of my special days
• From me tying your shoe laces to you asking me to change my heels for the other ones looked prettier
• From scribbling on papers to painting a canvas for our room
• From me asking you what you did at school to you coming back and inquiring how was my day
• From ten page board books to eighty pages stories
• From having tea parties with dolls to hosting your own real ones 
• From being a pint size to now reaching my waist and very proudly so
• From being my little baby to being my partner in crime
• From Dora and Barney to princesses and mermaids

To happy and tearful memories of the past, to precious moments of today and to all the unseens of tomorrow.

Happy Happy Birthday to you. My little chefling. You'll always be my little girl.

Always be your funny, mad, curious self. Always leave some room in your heart for the unimaginable. Always believe in mermaids and secrets that come in a bottle.

The girl has moved from pink to blue. From butterflies fluttering in the sky to mermaids swimming in the sea. 

It had to be a mermaid party. 

I was happy to oblige. Enough pink for the last five years. Bring on the blue.

Like each year we kept it small. She was surrounded by the the friends she loves, in the company of her family and we hosted it at home.

Whats a mermaid party without treasure bottles with secret messages inside.

So the invitations were mermaid treasure bottles. With tricoloured sand, a scroll carrying the invitation, a tiny blue star for every mermaid needs some sparkle and a name tag with a ribbon to complete it.

Tons of blue balloons and paper flowers that I handcrafted were decor. 

I also put together this shadow box with one of my favourite quotes that I just mentioned above. A bottle similar to the invitation, some shells and loads of sparkly white and blue stars. A shadow box is such a great and versatile medium to personalize any wall and makes for a pretty centerpiece too, Isn't it?

We welcomed the tiny mermaids and the pirates with this rubber tube on our front door or the "mermaid wreath" as Sara likes to call it.

Once everyone settled down a bit the mermaids and the pirates played three games. 

The first one was a take on pin the tail. Pin the fin. The little guests were blindfolded and were handed a fin each and then asked to pin the fin. I did cheat a little to ensure that each one did it correctly and won themselves a sea creature note pad. Can't have disappointed upset faces on such a happy day, can we? We can keep fairness aside for today :)

For this I used a free printable of a mermaid and added a personal touch to it by adding glitter to her tail, a tiara on her head and a moon for the night sky. A rock made with some white sand and some starfishes completed the picture.

The second game was take on the very popular limbo. We played under the sea limbo. I printed and cut out pictures of several sea organisms and the kids were asked to pick one from the lot. They then had to enact like the sea organism on their chit and go under the sea waves. We played the song "Under the sea" from the movie The Little Mermaid. 

This was such a happy game to play. The children were in giggles seeing their friends become jellyfish, octopus, dolphin and more. 

For this game I saved a brown paper tube the one that comes with giftwrap rolls and covered it with a white crepe streamer. On that were added several white and blue "waves" made from white and blue streamers. I twisted each of the streamers after every two inches so that the final thing looked twirly and wavey. This can take time but trust me it looked really pretty.

The mermaids got mermaid artprints to colour as prizes.

The third and final game was treasure hunt in the sand pit. Since we had the party at home, the sandpit was this container. Each mermaid/pirate had to find one fish eraser, one glitter box and a pair of blue rubber bands ( replaced with little dinosaurs for the boys).

After three games and some free play the kids were hungry. So we brought out the cake and served some kid friendly party nibbles.

Cake is one thing that I never even attempt to make for Sara's Birthday. My cakes can be best described as "rustic" :) not acceptable by little children who want pretty mermaids.

Elna from Cake Witch made this beauty. Multiple shades of blue, ruffles for waves and my little girl sitting there on the top as the little mermaid. Thank you Elna you made our day truly special.

The menu for the party was:

• Star fishes (star fish shaped sandwiches with grated carrot, cucumber and cream cheese filling)
• Conch shells (shell shape pasta with red sauce made with tomatoes, carrots, celery and leeks)
• Mermaid rocks (puff pastry vol au vents with a corn pesto filling)
• Seaweed (green grape mini skewers)
• Oysters with pearls (homemade butter cookies with a light blue frosting and white buttons for pearls)
• Shark's teeth (Mini cheese triangles)
• Seawaves (Store bought  multigrain waves with homemade yoghurt dip)
• Goldfish (well..just because and the kids didn't touch these..don't know whether to be happy or sad :)))
• Mermaid magic potion (orange and mango juice)
• Seawater (water)

We had quite a splash that day and Sara thanked her little guests with these blue beach buckets.

Each bucket carried a little thank you note that read "May you always have a shell in your pocket and sand in your toes".

The last activity of the day was the pinata for which I took a paper lantern and added white and blue crepe steamers (pinched every two inches) to resemble the tentacles of the jelly fish. We filled it up lots of little goodies.

The party could not have been complete without the yearly ritual of asking the guests to write down a little something for Sara for us and her to look at and smile years later. Each year right from her first birthday this is something that I always look forward to.

With that the FIN-tastic evening came to an end and like each year my little girl has already started the countdown for her next one :))

Before I bring this super long post to an end a quote Sebastian from The Little Mermaid is a must.

"You've got your own style, 

now let it shine through 

and remember no matter what, 

you got to be you". 

Birthdays from the past: First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth

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! 

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!

50 things I've told Sara to persuade her to eat her food.

Whenever I meet other members of my family,friends or readers who follow my blog most begin by saying, "Oh, so that is your little chefling!" “Yes she is”, grins her mother. This is followed by, “We read your blog. You are such a lucky mum. Your girl eats everything and our children...sigh!”

“No! I am NOT”, I want to shout out loud.

Hmm…I understand that this little blog gives you an impression that my little girl ALWAYS wipes her plate clean. Each and every time. From the steamed broccoli to the stir fried mushrooms (Okay, broccoli she does but hey she doesn’t even touch those mushrooms). 

It is time to show you that a child who eats everything is work of fiction. Mine definitely doesn’t. I always try my best to practice my three commandments and a lot of times I fail. I pick myself up and restart.

• Convince her to at least try. She may or may not like it but that is not important. What is important is that she is open to tasting.
• Try and not offer desserts/TV/ playtime as a reward for finishing the meal. Ahem. I am lying. Guilty as hell. I am a mum after all.
• In this house we don’t waste food. If we don’t finish our food. We get leftovers. May be sometimes dressed up as bestovers but we eat them. Period.

The times I fail are often. These are just some of the lines that I have "used" in the past to persuade her to eat and to finish her meals on time. Don't you judge me? :) I am a mum, okay? Mums are allowed these kinds of things.

1. If you eat this walnut you will become really smart. Do you see the shape of this walnut? It resembles our brain. Walnuts are good for your brain.
2. If you eat this carrot your eyes will sparkle. Do you know it has this thing called vitamin A, something like a magic potion for eyes?
3. If you eat this tomato, your cheeks will become all red. You will look so cute and mamma will get red and juicy cheeks to kiss.
4. If you don’t eat carrots then you will have to wear specs like mamma. Then how will you read more books? If you don’t read more books, then how will you become smarter? But I am already eating walnuts to become smart, mamma? Gulp.
5. But this morning you didn’t eat your walnut. If you don’t eat that walnut then you will become silly. Do you want to be silly? Yes, I want to be silly. Silly is fun.
6. Fish is so good for the brain. Look at papa he quizzes. He quizzes because his mum fed him fish. Don’t you want to quiz? No, I want to do ballet and become a fairy.
7. Then you must finish your fish. Children who finish their fish can fly. Really, if I finish this fish I will be able to fly? No, not now. When you eat a thousand fishes that will make your magical wings stronger and then you can fly. At the age of 18, okay? Okay mamma.
8. Dinner? What dinner? I never gave you dinner. That was snack. This is dinner. Sometimes when she has had a really early dinner and I know she is getting going to get hungry come midnight or she has had inadequate dinner according to her mother, her mother fools her into thinking she never ate dinner. The poor little thing believes her mum. Totally mean. But that is okay. She can do the same to her kids. I swear I won’t stop her.
9. You can watch another episode of Charlie and Lola ONLY if you finish this entire bowl of dal.
10. You need to taste this and then decide if you like it or not? All chefs need to. They must. Else they are fake chefs.
11. Almonds help you remember things. Do you want to forget that Sofia song or what? Here, eat these.
12. Come on finish your food quickly. We also need to eat those brownies, right?
13. I want EVERYTHING on that plate finished. Do you hear me?
14. If you don’t finish your food then God will get very upset. So many kids don’t have food to eat and look at your plate, it is full. We are so lucky and we must appreciate that.
15. If you eat this cabbage your hair will grow longer than even Rapunzel’s.
16. Alright, this is the last bite. Okay, one last bite. This time I really really promise last bite.
17. If you want to go down and play, you have to finish that glass of milk.
18. Oh my goodness look how tall you’ve become after drinking all that Horlicks (Read: 5 ml)
19. If you don’t eat then that kitty who is hiding somewhere in our house, she will. Here, my eyes are shut now. Kitty Kitty come and finish off Sara’s food. Oh kitty ate? Surprise!
20. Can you roar like a lion? She opens her mouth. Quicky shove food inside. Can you roar like a tiger now? Cheetah?
21. Oh for God’s sake put on that obnoxious Barbie song on your phone so that I can force feed her while she is busy watching that mindless video.
22. We have all finished our food.
23. Don’t you want to go for that party or not?
24. What do you mean you don’t like eating a banana? You have always loved bananas.  Now I don’t. What do you mean by now you don’t? Mamma, people change.
25. But you loved it when masi made it.
26. But you loved it when nani made it.
27. Because I said so.
28. Because my mamma told me it is good for health and mammas are always correct.
29. God told me. How can God tell you mamma? God doesn’t talk to people. Sssh…he does, only to mammas. I don’t believe you. Then I don’t believe that you can talk to fairies. Mouth shut. Food in.
30. Oooooh but you can’t call any food “bad”. God gets very upset. Ok, mamma I dislike this. Now ok?
31. You are not getting up from your chair till you finish that porridge.
32. This is khicdhi. It is yum. It is good for your tummy and will make your fever go away. But it is yukh. No problem, don’t eat.  We can get a suppository from Dr.Menon instead.
33. Should I put Nutella on it?
34. More Nutella?
35. Should I sprinkle some chaat masala on it? With lemon.
36. Don’t keep that food in your mouth. You are supposed to chew it.
37. Chew faster.
38. Faster Sara. Faster.
39. No, you give me THAT spoon. I don’t have all day to watch you sit and eat.
40. Fine you are still on your first bite let me call your friend’s mum and tell her we won’t be able to come for the playdate because Sara is still eating.
41. Come let’s see who comes first? Papa, you or me? Mamma, this is not a competition. Please let me enjoy my food.
42. Zucchini is good for you. Pumpkin is good for you. Brussels sprouts are good for you. Asparagus is good for you. If they are all so good for me then how come none of them taste good?
43. How is it possible that you like to eat coconut pieces but don’t like coconut milk in a curry? I don’t.
44. Do you want to faint while doing PE at school? Finish your breakfast now.
45. You will miss your school bus if you don’t eat quickly. Don’t you want to meet your friends?
46. Okay let me call your teacher.
47. Fine. You don’t want to be a real princess. That is fine by me. Real princesses eat everything.
48. I am counting till ten.
49. Now I am going to take away that plate from you and won’t give you food even if you are hungry.
50. Sara last warning and I mean it.

Mussels and Orzo One Pot Meal.

She tried. Made a horrible face and then ate her “plain” orzo stir fried in some olive oil with sun dried tomatoes, olives and oregano.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion
• ½ tsp garlic paste
• 4 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
• About a litre of any homemade stock (store bought is also fine)
• 150 grams of orzo or any tiny pasta you like
• 200 gms of mussels
• Fresh herbs like parsley, basil
• Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Take the olive oil and stir fry the onions till they are soft and pink.
2. Add the garlic paste and sauté the onion-garlic for 2-3 minutes on low heat.
3. Add the tomatoes and cook till they leave oil.
4. Allow the contents of the pan to cool down and then blitz to make it into a smooth paste.
5. Put the smooth mixture back into the pan.
6. Add the homemade/store bought stock and salt and bring it to a boil.
7. Add the orzo and cook till it is almost done. About 10-12 minutes.
8. In the last five minutes add the cleaned mussels and leave it to simmer.
9. Add the herbs. Check for salt and add some pepper.

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. 

Lunch boxes, little hands & lovely memories.

Those School Days. Whenever I sit down and reminisce about them I am transported back into the world of polishing shoes at night, biology dissection lessons that I for some vague reason loved, that one time a really good looking young professor came to teach in an all girls’ school, running around the corridors, that annual day for which we practiced for months, those much dreaded quizzes and all of us waiting for the recess bell to strike so that we could take out those lunch boxes and finally get some much deserved rest. Most days the goodies in the lunch box were consumed much before the lunch hour.

Each year when the time came to progress to the next grade mum would take me to choose a new lunch box. Getting to choose that one box made me feel very grown up, very adult. My name and grade were written on it with a permanent marker and the lunch box was shown off to all on the first day of the class. Next came what would go into it. There were of course the favourites like the grated cucumber and carrot sandwich, parantha (Indian flatbread) with jam and vegetable poha (beaten rice with veggies) amongst many others that weren't rated that high. But to be honest I don’t remember a single lunch that I disliked. Perhaps it was to do with the fact that back then we had limited choices. There was also an occasional slice of homemade cake that was given as a special treat. And yes, noodles, which were a favourite with all of us.

Sharing our lunchboxes was what lunch breaks were made of. A dear friend’s lunch box was my favourite for her mum always sent homemade dosas with spicy red chutney. Food was what brought us all together at school. Food was how we understood our differences and similarities.

Move to April, when Sara began taking lunch to school. After we got past the challenge of getting all of the princess lunch boxes and water bottles ever manufactured the bigger challenge was staring me in my face; what to put in her lunchbox (she takes two snack boxes; a lighter one for the 15 minute break and a heavier one for the 30 minute break) so that it comes back empty like mine always did and also so that she remembers her lunch time as fondly as I do and makes beautiful memories around it.

Interestingly, what has helped me the most is getting her into the kitchen and letting her make “important decisions” like choosing what she’d like and letting her “make” her lunch every day. And now she loves it and helps me “cook” all her meals. Letting her take this decision has helped reducing her anxiety of what will be there in her lunch box the next day and become less resistant to new foods. It is usually something really small like choosing which vegetable or fruit would she like in her box or letting her choose between two fillings or wanting to take her carrots sliced or cubed. She once “made her own recipe” for a sandwich filling and that till date is her favorite. She is obviously very proud of her creation and makes it a point to remind me that the recipe is hers each time I make it for her lunchbox.

Helping me make her favourite whole wheat pasta salad with broccoli & feta for her lunch box

Of course it doesn't mean that I give her only what she decides to like! Each time I want to introduce her to a new food (Read: food she instantly said no to without even tasting) I pack it along with a current favorite. Makes me one happy mamma when I see a “new food” doing the vanishing act.

I also noticed that ever since we started planning and making the lunch boxes together it is helping her to make better choices. We've been talking about where her fruits and veggies come from, how brown bread is better for her tummy and fresh juice is so much tastier than the packed one (the difference between good food and the not so good food) When she is helping me decide the options she also learns (without me being preachy) what she needs to put into her body to be able to study/run/swim/do ballet/paint and build houses for fairies (With a third of a child's food intake for the day being consumed at school it is important that food in your child's lunch box provides the much needed vitamins and minerals for energy and growth).

Need to add:  That occasional store bought chocolate custard or pretzels are still very much part of our lunches and a little indulgence/ cheating is and should be part of childhood, agree? Us parents too). Along the way she is also learning that a lot of work and love goes into preparing each meal and did I mention her lunchboxes comes empty each day and leaves me beaming?

We also like to shop for her lunch together. Sara loves grocery shopping so much so that on our recent vacation she asked me if the grocery store guy was missing her & me! Yes, that is the kind of love I am talking about. It just makes her so much more willing to eat what she “bought” from her very own grocery list.

Do you ask your little one to “help” you fix her/his lunch? I’d love to hear your views on this and if you don’t then give it a try and let me know how it went.

Tiny Tasks

Here are some ideas to get you and your kids into making lunches together (All done under supervision & with assistance).

Age group	Tasks that they can do	Making it easy
3-6 years	Choosing between two fruits/veggies/sandwich or wrap fillings Deciding the shape they would like their food cut into or the lunchbox they’d like to carry the next day Oiling baking trays or sprinkling crumble toppings Rolling truffle balls/shaping cutlets Lending a hand with spreading jams or whisking a muffin batter	A pictorial checklist with items under each head like whole grain, dairy, fruits, veggies and snack will encourage them to ascertain their independence and also understand that they need one thing from each of the above groups in their lunch box.
6-9 years	Filling their own water bottle or a thermos for soup Washing and drying salad leaves, etc. Chopping ingredients with a child safe knife. Wrapping their food	Make good nutrition convenient for them by having snacks, fruits, veggies, proteins in designated boxes in the fridge. That is all they need to put together their lunch and you could take charge of the one big carbohydrate and the hot items that they will need to refuel their minds at school.
9 years and above	Encouraging them to come up with ideas to turn their leftovers from last night into a creative lunch.  Drawing up a weekly lunch plan with your help and chopping & semi preparing ingredients for the same Emptying and cleaning their lunch boxes and bottles	Setup a lunch making area where they can find everything they are going to need (lunch boxes, bottles, cutlery, napkins, zip-lock bags, foil, chopping board, knives, etc.). Also helps them learn the value of being organized.

Please note: A part of this story was originally written for BBC Good Food by moi.