A lil' green for my vase... :)

One of the best things about being in Vizag is the fresh veggie market, twice a week. Yup- thatz how interesting things get around here! ;)
Itz a haze of colors - all bright & fresh - green, orange, green, purple, green, white, red, green.. well, i just meant that the greens top them all ;) And all this being amazingly low priced. The 'amma' selling spring onions yelled out an offer of 3 fresh bundles for Rs.10. I didn't really need 3 bulky bundles & tried asking for 1 - but got a stiff response of 3 or none! Guess we screwed up with our confident local dialect. ;) To cut things short, the fresh green stalks & me fell in love & had to be brought home.. couldn't really bear the thought of crushing & suffocating them in the fridge & T suggested popping them into a vase - which is where they are resting & being sacrificed, as & when craved for by the flavor sucking kitchen. Uh-huh.. not a pretty thought.. but - don't they look pretty?... :)

Dream 'oracles'?.. ;)

Ever had one of these?...
A recurring dream from which u awaken tired & wasted! My frequent ones are falling into a dung-ditch at my gran's place. Though this has never happened in reality, (i did cross check with my gran if i'd fallen into it during my tot-years - which BTW was a no;) ), i seem to have the same dream again-n-again & wake up with the same alarming 'dhud' every time i fall in! But now, I'm like WTH & go right back to sleep, comforted that i don't have to wash off the stench. Though it does leave me a little hazed, it doesn't get anywhere near my sleep-runs or the sleep-fights. I have these never ending dream runs after which i wake up in the morning, tired. The fights are one-on-many. Me being the 'one'. Well, i obviously am the good guy & i still wonder what i fight for! ;) They have never reached completion though frequent fight haunts are some dark attic with great wood work. Sashes, swords & high ceiling jumps in fight robes. No bullets whizzing past! These dreams leave me frazzled & drained n ofcourse confused - though later during the day i have a faint smile building up!
T found all this amusing & wacky till one fine day, i woke up in the midst of a 'fight' and found my hands wrapped tightly around his neck. Guess who had the last laugh? ;)
P.S.: left me paranoid too.. but guess T felt worse! ;)
Do i wish for a dream-catcher?.. Naaaah...occasionally, these adrenaline-dream-rushes are way too much fun to be traded for a good night's sleep i guess! ;)
In the pik: a multi-exposure collage of some clothes on a drying line & an early morning click at Gopalswamy hills, Mysore.

Snack Time ~ Rice & Chana dal crispies...

'T' called them 'snacky-doodle-doo's...;) an easy snack & addictive too!
You need:
2 cups rice flour
1 cup chana dal - powdered
1 tsp carom seeds (ajwain)
2-3 tsp ghee/butter
salt to taste
chilly powder to taste
turmeric - a big pinch (optional)
water to mix in all the above
oil for frying
How to:
Mix all the dry ingredients. Add in the ghee & mix. Now add enough water for the ingredients to come together and form a soft dough.
Heat oil in a deep vessel. Pass the dough through a string-hopper maker and drop them directly into the oil. Fry them till golden, turning over to make sure they are cooked evenly. Drain on a paper towel. Crunch-munch & save the rest in air-tight containers. :)
Recipe source: Sonali.. :)

Honey roasted nuts...

A super nutritious & yummy munch! Plus, gets done in a jiffy! What else could one as for in a snack, eh?.. ;)
You need:
a handful of almonds*
a handful of cashews*
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp chilly flakes**
salt to taste
Note:
*U could use any nuts - cashews, almonds, pistachios, peanuts - take ur pick! :)
**Skip the chilly flakes or add more according to taste
How to:
Roast the nuts(plain) in the oven/in a wok till crunchy. Take care to ensure that it does not burn. Stir constantly if you are using the wok. Keep aside.
In a wok, add the butter, honey, flakes on a low flame. Once this starts to bubble, add in the nuts and turn the flame on to high. Stir well to coat evenly till the syrup is absorbed. I added only a small pinch of salt since i used salted-butter.
Once the syrup is absorbed completely, transfer the nuts onto a plate, spreading evenly so that they do not stick together in a lump as they cool. You could store this in an air-tight container or gobble up right away! ;)

Cauliflower in a creamy sauce...

You need:
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp all purpose flour (maida)
1 cup milk
2-3 tsp cheese spread - heaped
2 cups of cauliflower florets
2 tsp powdered pepper
salt to taste
How to:
Microwave the cauliflower florets in salted water till they are done but crunchy (about 6-8 minutes should do). Meanwhile, heat the butter on a low flame in a wok. Once it melts down, add the flour and keep stirring till it cooks. Ensure that it does not form lumps or burn. On a low flame, add the milk slowly - stirring continuously. Add the pepper & stir in. Drain the cauliflower & throw it in the white sauce, mixing so that they are coated well. Let this bubble for a bit till you get a thick sauce. Adjust seasoning accordingly. I use salted butter & since the cheese spread is salted, it needs only a tiny pinch of salt. NjOy!! :)

Stocking-ed flowers...

Made these flowers using stocking cloth. A colleague taught me the yellow ones & i experimented with the red ones the day i saw something similar at a fair... ;)
Taped a stick from a coconut frond & used it as the stem for the red flowers.

Coconut / Palm sepals décor... ;)

Coconut sepals have always fascinated me...From the time we were little & rolled baby coconuts beneath our feet lightly till the sepal came off as a bowl and were used to serve soup(ahem.. muddy water ;)) when we played guests...the removed coconut, with a stick poked through wound up as tender-coconuts being served... :D

I always thought that they would make amazing decorative pieces. But got to really using them only recently. Dried open sepals from a coconut can be varnished and stuck up in a vase. You could paint them too!
Palms trees have similar sepals - much larger - thatz what i have used here. Herez what i used them for - candle holders! :)Pick up the dried ones (u'll find a lot of these beneath coconut/palm trees) - clean with a dry brush/cloth and splash on some paint. I used enamel paint that you use on gates, windows etc - works out real cheap & has a glossy finish. For the bigger 'flowers', i used broader scented candles & tealight candles for the smaller ones. Works great for any festival or a cozy candle-light dinner too!... Reuse as many times as you like, changing colors if you need to match up your surroundings.
Need some change? Splash some color at the core, paste this 'flower' to a stick & pop it in a vase. I used the aerial roots of a Banyan tree to mount the 'flowers'. :)