A special message from Stranger

This morning I got a special email from our dear friend, Stranger-in-my-heart. This is what Stranger has written to all of you. "- Hi from me to all our blog friends through your blog. Ramadan Kareem to all our friends who celebrate Ramadan..."
Currently busy with personal life, Stranger promises to be back soon. Stranger sends lots of love to you all!! 

A round ripple baby afghan

This one is for the new MAN in my life...my lil NEPHEW!!! Trying my hand at a baby afghan for the very first time.....hope it keeps the little fella warm and cozy....

Happy Janmashtami!

Today is Krishna Janmashtami or the celebration of Lord Krishna's birth.  We had a small pooja at home today.

Prepared Panchakayi or Panchakajjaya which is a sweet offering made of five ingredients. Here's the recipe:

Coconut gratings - 1/2 cup
Jaggery - 1/2 cup
Moongdal - one fistful
Chanadal - One fistful
Black til - 1 tbsp

Wash the dals separately as well as the til. Heat a pan and dry roast the dals separately until they turn reddish or brown. Take care not to burn them. Keep aside. Once cooled, coarsely grind both the dals. Dry roast the til too until it starts popping. Keep aside. In the same pan, add the jaggery and allow it to melt and cook on a medium flame. When the liquid jaggery becomes slightly thick, add coconut and fry until it mixes well. Remove and cool. Add the dals and the roasted til. This is offered to Lord Krishna.   

Happy Independence Day and moist chocolate cake!

Wishing all Indians around the world, a very Happy Independence Day! As they say, you can take an Indian out of India, but never India out of an Indian, so we are all proud to be Indians! To celebrate this day, I decided to bake an egg-less chocolate cake using this recipe of a moist cake which uses no butter or eggs.

Ingredients:
All purpose flour/maida - 3/4 cup
Cocoa powder - 1 &1/2 tbsp
Baking soda -1/2 tsp
Water- 1/2 cup
Oil - 1/8 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Salt- 1/4 tsp
Lime juice 1/2 tbsp
Vanilla essence - 1/2 tbsp
(I halved the original recipe)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
Sift together the flour, soda, and cocoa. In a bowl whisk together oil, water, salt, sugar, vanilla essence, and lime juice. Add the sifted flour mixture a little at a time. Mix well to avoid lumps. The dough will be a little thinner consistency than the normal cake batter. Pour in a greased baking dish  and bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake .

 The cake turned out amazingly soft and moist though the pictures aren't that good. Do give this recipe a try. It is easy to make and needs the most common ingredients.

Tips: When closing the oven door, try not to bang the door. Try to close the door as gently as possible. This prevents the air from the oven rushing out. The cake should be baked as soon as possible after preparing the batter. Do not let the batter sit for too long. 

I have been featured!

Recently a friend asked me to be a guest blogger on his travel blog. He wanted me to write about the places I had been to, and so I wrote my first post for him on Udaipur. Please check this out. http://justbackpack.wordpress.com. More posts to follow.....

My 10th Japanese bag!

This is my 10th Japanese bag in less than 10 months!! Phew! This one's for another young lady in the Gulf...hope she likes it!

Its a BOY!!

Our family has just had a new addition, a baby BOY!! Before you people jump the gun, my sister delivered a baby boy this morning. The fella arrived five weeks early!!! Too eager to see the world, I guess! Its been a happy day, a joyous welcome to the newborn....May the little one be blessed with a life full of health, wealth, and happiness. 

First birthday and 100th post!!

This is my second post today. As I was done publishing my previous post, I suddenly realized, today, 28th July is the first birthday of  "The World's My Oyster"!!! Exactly one year ago on this day, I took a nervous first step into the world of blogging and I must say, my journey has been wonderful!!! I take this opportunity to thank all my followers for having been with me, following me, and encouraging me to give my best.  Survived through 100 posts...and I AM NOT DONE YET!!!

Ninth Japanese bag!!!

Of all my crochet creations, the Japanese flower bag has been loved by most. Till date, over the last few months, I have made nine such bags at least. I am so familiar with the design now, that my sister jokes I will be able to make it in my sleep, one bag each night!! I wont be surprised myself if I manage to do that!!

Anyways, each bag is as loved as the others and each has been made with  love and dedication.  This one's for a young girl, S, in UAE whose favourite colour is PINK.

New bags!

Its been three months since my last post on crochet and my creations. Lots of obstacles in the last few months, like lack of new yarn, lack of time, lack of interest at times, lack of strength at times...so on and so forth....
Finally after three months, some more bags are ready.

This one is for my former classmate who ordered my bag through Facebook.

This one was ordered by Mak. Sorry Mak for the delay in the bags. Hope the lady likes it!

Today, I am proud that my bags have been bought and appreciated by many people and these bags have now reached US, UAE, Saudi, Thailand, and many cities in India. Thanks everyone!