Wishing everyone a very Happy MMXII!
Friday, January 06, 2012
The year 2011 went by without any posts from me. I wish to make 2012 a lot different. Here's hoping I have lots of good things to share in this year.
Rose petal lantern
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
I first learnt about this lantern here. Ever since, I've wanted to make one .. and I ended up making two and they served as perfect Valentines Day decor.
To make this: |  |
You need :
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- A string/thread and hooks/pins to hang
- 1 bag of artificial rose petals (contains 300 petals. I bought this at a dollar store)
- 2 round paper lanterns
The lanterns were for $1 each from Michaels craft store. It is seasonally available in a dollar store too. Michaels carries 2 kinds in an assortment of colors. Mine was an 8 inch diameter lantern. There's another one that's slightly bigger. At the time, I knew the bigger one would be a better choice yet I stuck to the smaller one coz I had to make 2 of them and bigger means more petals => more work=>more time.. and I'm all about making it simple :)
Step 1: Assemble the lantern
The paper lantern comes packaged along with an expander. This is to make the flat lantern unfold, expand and retain the round shape.
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The paper lantern has 2 circular openings - one slightly bigger than the other. The bigger end would be the top of the lantern. The metal expander provided is slightly narrow at one end. It helps to slightly pull the expander at its sides to shorten its length. Insert the narrow end through the larger opening of the lantern till it touches the base. Pull up the paper lantern towards you and once it is fully expanded, hook the round metal hooks to the expander (as shown). Be gentle while you do this, as you might rip the paper. You have now given the flat lantern its natural globe shape. You could also follow the steps mentioned here: http://collectorspottery.com/assembling-your-paper-lantern/
Step 2: Prepare the petals
It needs about 140 petals to cover the now "global" lantern. The package comes with 300, so it is sufficient to fully cover 2 8-inch lanterns. It is now a matter of taking each petal and sticking it to the lantern with some liquid glue - that's all! :D
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I found that the glue I had on hand was not of a good quality as the petals kept falling off the lantern at the slightest touch. So I used tape instead.
To make it easy for yourself, start by separating your 140 petals into smaller groups. Lay out all the petals from a group and attach the tape to the top tip (LOL) of each petal. After you have taped the petals, take one by one and stick 'em to the lantern. You might want to follow a circular order of attaching them instead of random.
Step 3: Repeat Step2 for 2nd lantern
Step 4: Attach the string to the lantern
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OR do as I did:
buy a pair of LED lights like these from the dollar store, turn them on and drop them into the lanterns.
It took me exactly 5 hours to finish this project. Just some patience and good music in the background and a lazy Sunday afternoon to kill would be perfect to create these inexpensive yet glamorous beauties. Enjoy!
Simple Pineapple
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
I'd like to introduce this easy breezy dessert you can put together in a matter of minutes. If you give this a try, you are sure to make it again 'n' again. I tried this recipe the same day I saw it on Siri's Corner blog and liked it so much that I made it again within a week. The ingredients and procedure suggested by her and me are the same, but the proportions are different. She suggests a 1.5 : 1 : 1 ratio of pineapple : condensed milk : whipped cream whereas I prefer a 2 : 1 : 1 ratio.
Total calories for this dessert : 670. Total Fat Calories : 180
Ingredients : Very few
Effort : minimal
Verdict : tasty!
Simple Pineapple (Serves 2)
You need :
A small can of crushed pineapple : 8 ounces/225 grams/1 cup
ready-to-use Whipped cream : half a cup/120 ml
Condensed milk : half a cup/120 ml
saffron : 5 strands
warm water : 1 tablespoon
A container with a lid
Prepare:
Heat the tablespoon of water for 5-10 seconds in a microwave. Put the saffron strands in it and set aside.
Procedure:
Take the container and empty the can of crushed pineapple into it. Measure and pour the condensed milk into the pineapple. Add the whipped cream. Give this mixture a nice stir for half a minute. Pour the saffron+water into the above mixture. Stir for another half minute.
Close the container with the lid and leave it in the refrigerator for atleast 2 hours.
Serve:
Serves 2. Serving size should be a little less than 1/2 cup. This way, you'll have more to serve when they come back for a second serving :)
Notes:
The first time you make this, try it with the above proportions. If you find it too sweet for your palette, you can use a little less condensed milk the next time.
Do get a small, cute pack of saffron ~ it costs about $5 and lasts forever.
Any brand of "crushed pineapple in juice" will do.
I use Reddi Whip brand whipped cream which you can directly spray onto your dessert.
I used Kroger/Nestle Carnation brand of condensed milk. Any brand is fine. I *heart* Condensed milk. Nestle Milkmaid was my favorite dessert as a kid :)
Calorie-count:
| Ingredients | Size | Calories | Fat Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crushed Pineapple | 1 Cup | 70 | 0 |
| Whipped cream | half cup | 80 | 60 |
| Condensed milk | half cup | 520 | 120 |
Milk-carton Wallet
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
The best way to beat hunger and laziness is to eat what you want and eat as much of it as you can. Well, when pies are what you want and you dont have one or want to make one, what do you do? DIY Pie?! Ofcourse, if you have pie shells in your freezer and fruits in your basket - both of which were missing, in my case. Now that the idea of DIY had lodged itself, why not make something with whatever I had on hand? Take for instance, the milk carton I emptied today. Sometime back, I had seen this blog that made cutesy things out of stuff that would have otherwise hit the trash bin or the recycle bin (in my case). They had written instructions and also a video (yay!) to make a small wallet out of empty-ed (and clean-ed) juice/milk carton. 
Instructions can be found here :
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/carton-wallet-675068/
Video is demonstrated here :
http://familyfun.go.com/how-to-videos/familyfun-milk-money-wallet-793127-v/
From trash : to Treasure :
Instructions can be found here :
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/carton-wallet-675068/
Video is demonstrated here :
http://familyfun.go.com/how-to-videos/familyfun-milk-money-wallet-793127-v/
My wallet :
Portland : Places to eat
Monday, June 15, 2009
Food is one sure way to anyone's heart. A hearty meal leaves you happy and gets you ready to focus on other things. A scant, unappetizing meal makes your mind linger on food, wishing for something (better) else. I'm an amateur in the kitchen, and I find myself scouring the internet for easy, tasty recipes and trying them out. I'm lucky that my better half also loves food as much as I do. We both like to eat out, and tend to like similar dishes/cuisines.
The following is a list of eat-outs in Portland that interest me and I have either visited/will soon visit. I will edit this same post and include my opinion after any such indulgence.
Be informed that the dishes I eat are all vegetarian (no meat), and sometimes vegan (no eggs and no milk product).
Restaurants
An upscale Thai restaurant located at 6 places in and around Portland. We went to the one in Beaverton, right beside the MAX station. Though I do not like their interior decor (with giant organic squid hanging from the ceiling), I do like the service and the menu choices. You do have the choice of being seated outside.. where you can see the train loading and unloading passengers (if that's what you like to see!). The Spring rolls stuffed with glass noodles and other greens is good to begin with, followed by Drunken noodles and Green curry with vegetables with a side order of Jasmine rice. The Raspberry iced tea had a mild refreshing taste. Their Thai Iced Tea was all right - I've tasted better ones. To finish off, we had coconut icecream - they prepare it in-house and serve 2 scoops per portion. Every item in our meal had a unique taste and was gentle on the tastebuds.. except the Drunken noodles, which came with a *spicy* warning.
Our meal~$50 incl gratuity
Bakeries
Fast food
This salad bar has 3 locations in Portland. We had our Sunday brunch at the Beaverton location. The all-you-can-eat Soup-Salad-Breads buffet had loads of veggies to choose from. The Strawberry salad was the best. The soups were a meal in themselves. Then come the breads - oh the muffins! Signed off with flavored frozen yogurt and lots of fun toppings to choose from.
Our meal $7.99 per person. Tell the cashier its your first visit and they'll give you coupons for your next visit!
The drinks (teas/juices) are a separate buffet costing $3.99
Garlic Jim's
Gotta love garlic! For those on the West coast (and a few folks in Florida), this is gourmet pizza delivered to your door. We picked it up at their CedarHills store on Walker Rd in Beaverton. The "Jim's Gourmet Garlic" pizza we had was filled with tasty artichoke hearts and tangy sun-dried tomatoes. Priced on the higher side at $16 for a Medium size, it was worth every dollar spent as it gave us the restaurant taste and quality. You could score a discount sometimes in your clipper coupon booklet. Our only grouse was that the pizza was smattered with roasted garlic (about 3-4 cloves per slice) and it was a little too much for our taste. It was easy to pick those off of our slices though. Ideal for those Friday night dinners.. and yes, dont forget to get yourself and your sweetie a mint :D
Gotta love garlic! For those on the West coast (and a few folks in Florida), this is gourmet pizza delivered to your door. We picked it up at their CedarHills store on Walker Rd in Beaverton. The "Jim's Gourmet Garlic" pizza we had was filled with tasty artichoke hearts and tangy sun-dried tomatoes. Priced on the higher side at $16 for a Medium size, it was worth every dollar spent as it gave us the restaurant taste and quality. You could score a discount sometimes in your clipper coupon booklet. Our only grouse was that the pizza was smattered with roasted garlic (about 3-4 cloves per slice) and it was a little too much for our taste. It was easy to pick those off of our slices though. Ideal for those Friday night dinners.. and yes, dont forget to get yourself and your sweetie a mint :D
Creativity
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The definition of Creativity is "generation of new ideas".
Innovation is the application of creative ideas in a specific context. Creativity is a necessary but not sufficient condition for Innovation.
I like to be different.. whether the difference translates to creativity is what I wanted to know. As I was reading about it, I noted that the products of creativity are expected to have originality and appropriateness. Since one or the other is absent in my ideas, I'm content to assume that I'm just different, not creative.
In this world where differences are celebrated, there is a place for everyone. This is my place and you are welcome.