Tiny little things that make one happy ~

As a beautiful long weekend passed by and another one comes to close - I was trying to spend some quiet time sipping my coffee and reflecting on the past years (which right now is a real luxury) - things have moved so quickly that I hardly got time for myself and my blog. I did not stop quilling all this while but haven't got enough time to do as many projects I would do and to post it here. As I was going through the old pictures, I found these among them.
These are the pictures of the card ,I made for a friend of  mine in 2013,that I never got to post here. So now they are here....

This is quiet a simple design. I  used 1.5 mm paper strips ,cut all by myself using my handy-dandy paper cutter.I wish I had  a thin glittery ribbon either silver or golden which could have given this simple motif a bling.
 

Trying a healthy snack idea

Yeah! it is as healthy as it could get. Its a snack loaded with all the good stuffs like the calcium , vitamins (mostly C),antioxidants and so on. It also has a supply of  little amount of fructose which in my opinion is not always the bad guy. After all you gotta provide the body some substrates to use to perform all the daily chores and hard works, to cut short to get some energy. No I am not going to babble on  the terms and technicalities. But most important thing that we need to know is it has all the goodness but minus the heaping calories and easy-peasy to prepare.

As far as the ingredients are concerned ,it has only three of them,
plain low fat yogurt,
couple of blueberries thrown into the yogurt base,
and one tbsp. of pure honey.
Mix these together and you are ready to have it.

This is that easy yet delicious. 

A lacy frock for the little one

Isn't this  baby dress adorable?I got this pattern from an old crochet book,that I had with me for quite a long time.Though these days finding some time of my own to pursue with my crochet or anything crafty has become quite a challenge.During the winters I knew I wanted to make something for my baby,with the yarns that I bought sometime back.I have been eyeing this pattern for a long time to give it a shot.Finally,I managed to give it a try ,working during the nap times and finish it within a few weeks.Yes this  is a post about something that I made during the early days of winters,and its summer now.Actually I wanted to post this  since Dec when I finished this but had no luck.So here it goes .
I  enjoyed so much crocheting this dress. For me it is always something very special and touching about making something on my own for the little one.

I always kinda wanted a red dress for my cutie so, red became the highlight of the dress.
I am both pleased and disappointed with it. I’m pleased because it looks cute and the pattern is not complicated, but I’m disappointed because my baby dress didn’t come out its intended size. I made a mistake by choosing worsted weight thicker yarn while I should have used something lighter. The intended size was 0-3 months, but the finished size is about 6 months. What is more, the dress came out somewhat heavy and bulky,still looked pretty on my baby.

Next time, whenever I am going to make a baby dress,I will use a lighter and softer yarn,like those meant specifically for babies.

Wordless wednessday #3

Wordless wednessday #2

       Eagerly waiting for the full bloom of this spring

Dreamy - Creamy - Rich Parfaits for a weekend of rediscovery !

Weekends are meant to unwind.. yeah ... time for mostly relaxing and a bit of shopping maybe. Well, last Saturday I realized, weekends have also become more like a routine... and oh no !! it is has become too predictable!!!
So I decided, its time for some change..., and rather than wasting time doing laundry, going out, Saturday evening should spent chatting and reminiscing our years and the fun time we have been having as a couple !
But a good chat(we call it "adda" back in India) is always incomplete without some fast-food and so I planned to make some burgers and rich-dreamy-creamy parfaits !!
well, parfaits are one of my favorite dishes, as its tasty, easy to make ,  simple ...and most importantly, leaves a signature of happiness and cheerfulness in the heart !
My plan was to make about 6 servings in 6 ounce glasses( so that we feel we had plenty of them !) . It could also be served as 4 servings in 10 ounce glasses ! So I scanned through my kitchen, and a smile rang from ear to ear !! yeah!! all the right ingredients were perfectly sitting in the shelves  !

I took about :
16 fl oz whipping cream, cold,
2 tablespoons sugar
1 box of jello chocolate pudding for , divided use
24 all natural chocolate-vanilla oreos and crushed them into chunky consistency,
1 (1ounce) square semi-sweet chocolate, to shave for garnish

However, I am not going to say how much I kept eating from the jars though. :D While my husband kept reminding me the first meal I cooked for him, I was busy preparing the dish.. Yet, I could spare enough attention to talk to him! that's the beauty of this dish !

Preparation:
In the bowl of a mixer (or using a hand-held) I added  the incredibly tasty cold cream and began whipping. Once it thickened slightly, the sugar was sprinkled in and finished whipping just until stiff peaks formed, and then set it aside for a moment.

-In medium bowl, 2 cups of the chocolate pudding was added (reserving the remaining pudding).Then i began adding the whipped cream to it in several dollops, gently folding in to maintain a fluffy and light consistency.

This is the “chocolate mousse” part of the dessert-the heart of the dish. Once all whipped cream was, incorporated, I set it aside and prepared glasses.

  To Assemble (for 6 servings in 6 ounce glasses):
-Began by placing equal amounts of the wonderful crushed cookies to the bottom of each glass (about 3 tablespoons),
-Then added next the yummy chocolate pudding layer(about 3 tablespoons),
 -next layer had the dollops of “chocolate mousse” (about 3 tablespoons);
-repeat this process again for each glass, by adding the mouth-watering layers of crushed cookies, then the pudding, then the “chocolate mousse”.
-finally finished the assembly with a sprinkling of crushed cookies and a decorative dollop of “chocolate mousse”;
By the time I had started garnishing, yes! I could hardly wait to start trying the delicious parfaits! But a cook has some duties after all :D
The parfaits were garnished by shaving a little of the semi-sweet chocolate square with a vegetable peeler over the tops of each glass  (improvisation- the mantra of success in kitchen ;) and  refrigerated the beauties until ready to serve. Well, these folks can be serve immediately too, depending on your taste and craving !

To Assemble (for 4 servings in 10 ounce glasses):

-Follow assembly instructions above only increase the quantity of each layer to about 5 tablespoons in order to fill each glass.

Once the rich parfaits were chilled enough, we took them out for eating...and yes, we talked our hearts out... and the cute little parfaits were the perfect companions

Wordless Wednesday !!

primroses in full bloom at home

Shrimp scampi with angel hair pasta

Though the name goes a little bit fancy ,this dish can easily get incorporated into your 5 week night dinner menus list .heck ya ! this is that easy to make.don't go by its fancy name.you will know when I give you the recipe .I first came across this dish on food network then there is google to help you out,though I altered it according to my convenience.So here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 pound angel hair pasta
4 tbsp olive oil
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined(I got the frozen ones)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 lemon, juiced, plus 1/2 lemon, zested
5 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup dried parsley leaves


Directions
Add the pasta to a large pot of boiling salted water, over medium heat, and cook until al dente.

In a separate bowl marinate the thawed shrimps with a pinch of salt and pepper and a pinch of turmeric (especially to suite the taste of Bengali's,one can easily omit that).
Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil.
Once hot, add the shrimp and saute until just cooked through, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove to a plate and reserve. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes to the skillet, then saute for until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the lemon juice and raise the heat to high. Let the liquid reduce for 2 to 3 minutes. Whisk in the butter, add a ladleful of the pasta cooking water and return the shrimp. Remove from the heat.

Drain the pasta, and add it to the skillet along with the dried parsley as a part of seasoning and toss. Add the lemon zest and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer to a serving platter