Thursday Treats – Crocheted Halloween Decorations

Image October 30, 2014 jcisnowjs 2 Comments

Do you know that ‘ Samhainophobia’ is fear of Halloween?
Do you know that Ireland is typically believed to be the birthplace of Halloween?
Do you know that Scottish girls believed they could see images of their future husband if they hung wet sheets in front of the fire on Halloween?
Do you know that According to tradition, if a person wears his or her clothes inside out and then walks backwards on Halloween, he or she will see a witch at midnight?

Halloween is more weird than I have thought. 😈

Wednesday Words – To Teach Kids Independence or Logic?

Image October 29, 2014 jcisnowjs 2 Comments

We are always telling our kids, right from wrong, but at some point you want to let them decide what they want to do, and also let them do that, even if that means, that they are doing it wrong.

My kids are independent more or less in completing their daily chores. They actually exceed my expectations. They dress themselves be it pants, shirts or dresses. They put their socks and shoes by themselves. They are potty trained. They brush themselves, except Renne because he prefers eating paste. 😛

My life is easy, right? Well, pretty much. Except when this teaching them to be independent results in them doing thing illogically and me trying to explain why their way is the wrong way. Don’t get me? Well, to give you an example, I taught my boys how to put on the pants. Yippee!!!

They learned it pretty fast. Then Renne my youngest boy realized it would be better if he wore his pants wrong side. That means zipper on the bum side. Technically it’s safer; he won’t suffer with ‘stuck in zippie’ moments. 😎 I did tried to explain to him that it’s the wrong way to wear a pant. But, you know when a kid accomplish something as big like this, they rarely would agree to undermine their accomplishment.

So, he declined. Just refused to put his pants front facing. NO.

After, a big NO, I realized let it be. He will learn on his own. So, I took him outside in his same fashion debacle. I did get many heads turned, not at me but at him, and then me, as if saying, your kid is wearing his pants backwards, didn’t you noticed? 😛

Their Gym nanny pointed it out too, and when I explained the situation, she was laughing too. Well, this independence brigade didn’t end there, they put their shoes wrong; left in right and vice versa. Tisha, my daughter do change her way when I point it out but boys are too adamant to change anything that they have done on their own.

What should I do? Shall I return to old ways, where I was putting on their clothes or shall I just let them enjoy their little accomplishments, even though they look foolish to the world? 😐

Movies

Tuesday Talkies – Happy New Year

Image October 28, 2014 jcisnowjs 3 Comments

One thing that I admire most after watching Farah and Sajid Khan‘s movies now is the time when we used to have David Dhawan and Govinda’s duo. Somehow they look more sensible and intelligent filmmakers than this younger lot. Thanks Farah, if it was not for you I could have never understood the talent of David Dhawan.

‘Happy New Year‘ is the recent blockbuster Bollywood movie which is a joint venture of Farah Khan and Shah Rukh Khan.

It stars Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani, Sonu Sood and Jackie Shroff. Phew!!! List of all A star celebrities wasted in this pakao movie.

Interesting thing about this movie is that it’s not a crap movie. It should have been, but it’s not totally crap and some of this credit goes to Abhishek Bachchan for his comic timing and ease of character playing. His role is not etched out perfectly but still he manages to bring out few laughs out of you, specially in his somewhat full monty scene. 😛

Other than him, everyone is damn disappointed by this predictable melodrama movie. What surprised me more is that story is based on a dance comepetion and movie is directed by a dance director, still you will not witness single dance sequence which you can remember after watching this movie. What Farah?? 😦

One more thing, if you are looking for a story, first go and watch previous movies of SRK and Farah and also some random 100 Bollywood movies, and you will have all the dialogues and infact whole screenplay of this film. 😛 This is the originality of Farah Khan.

I do not want to bore you by writing the obvious, instead I would like to share a funny and bang on review of ‘Happy New Year’ with you, that is written by Sahil Rizwan. Read Here.

Food

Mouthwatering Monday – Jalebi

Image October 27, 2014 jcisnowjs 2 Comments

Yumm Jalebi.

My childhood was full of Jalebi vali memory, as it was the sweet that every member of our family can agree on. Actually I was the only one who was a picky eater 😛

Seeing a Halwai (sweets maker) creating those round and overlapping circles in hot oil and then rushing to eat that hot juicy Jalebi, that was my favorite part.

So, this Diwali I thought of making Jalebi. It was my first time. So after much practice finally I got a batch that looked like this. 😎 Turned out pretty good, right?

Ingredients for Jalebi –

1 Cup All Purpose Flour
2 tbsp Corn Flour
¾ Cup Yogurt
1 tbsp Baking Powder
pinch of turmeric powder for color

Ingredients for Jalebi Syrup –

1 Cup Sugar
1.5 Cup Water

Method for Syrup –

Boil sugar with water on medium heat for 15-17 minutes.
Check for one thread consistency.
Remove from heat and cool for a bit.

Method for Jalebi –

Mix all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Add yogurt and mix well.
Use water to achieve desired consistency.
Let it sit overnight, if possible. Otherwise you can use this recipe to make instant Jalebi too.
Pour batter into a ketchup bottle or some squeezable bottle with a nozzle.
Heat oil in a deep fry pan and start piping the batter in concentric but connected circle.
Turn and fry well Jalebi till they are crispy.
Put them in Sugar syrup for 1-2 minutes and then Serve.

Jalebi is served hot. But cold ones are delicious too. I love the combination of hot Jalebi with cool vanilla Ice cream. Weird, right? :O

Enjoy!!!

P.S. My cooking is experimental. You will find many similar and different recipes, but the idea is to explore your food and do experiments with it. Enjoy Cooking Experiments and Experiences 🙂

Food

Mouthwatering Monday – Chicken Tandoori in Oven

Image October 20, 2014 jcisnowjs 1 Comment

Chicken!! Chicken!!! Chicken!!!!

This is my kids scream every time they are hungry. How much chicken can you want? Well, when it comes to kids, they have their own preferences.

This Tandoori Chicken is first time tried recipe, which turn out quite satisfactory, considering first time. 🙂

Ingredients –

10 Piece Chicken (Wings, Thighs and Breasts)
1 Cup Yogurt
2 tbsp Meat Masala
1 tbsp Black Pepper Powder
1 tbsp Ginger Powder
1 tbsp Garlic Powder
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
1 tbsp Cinnamon Powder
1 tbsp Cumin Powder
½ tbsp Chilli Powder
Green Chili and Onion for Garnishing

Method –

Mix Yogurt with lemon juice and rest of the spices to make a thick paste.
Use this paste to Marinate Chicken for 6-12 hours or overnight in refrigerator. You can marinate chicken with the ingredients of your choice. Like if you don’t prefer having red chili you can totally avoid that.
Before cooking, let the chicken rest out of fridge for half hour.
Pre heat oven to 425.
Lay down chicken pieces on Rack over a pan.
Cook them for 30 minutes then turn them over. Cook again for 15-20 minutes and then put off the oven.
Let the chicken rest for 30 minutes.
Garnish with ingredients of your choice, like Onions, green chili, lemon or cilantro.
Serve. 🙂

Enjoy!!!

P.S. My cooking is experimental. You will find many similar and different recipes, but the idea is to explore your food and do experiments with it. Enjoy Cooking Experiments and Experiences 🙂