Indiblogger ranks are out..and mine went up from 50 to 71!! soo I am kicked.
I am so tired today,I opened the new post page,twice,but closed it.I didn’t want to think what to write.I was bloghopping,and saw Maverickshree’s post about her Indirank..and just out of curiosity checked mine..and I was excited and so had to post.
Today,was school day.This was the second week and I see Aadi settling in.Last week,she was mostly on her own.Her interaction with other kids,was if she needed a toy or if she didnt want to share it.She wasnt interested in any of the activities..like conversations on the mat,craft and painting(which surprised me!) the only thing that she was interested in was the sand-pit and the singing and dancing.This time,the change was remarkable.
She was sitting on the mat,right in the front,instead of on the side,from where she could run away.The poor teacher had a tough time,bringing her back to the mat.Today,she sat there and actually contributed to the conversation.Ms.Cherie’,the teacher asked everyone,”what their mum was doing today?” some answered shopping,some said,sleeping,while others said working.My little princess,said,”My mummy is helping today!”I was excited..I was the mom-helper today..and it was interesting that she made the connection.
I loved volunteering in her class.Three years of being a SAHM,had me convinced,that I didnt want to do,anything remotely child-related..but,these last two weeks,that I spent in Aadi’s class,have refreshed my memories and I think,I would like to go back to teaching.
I will be announcing the giveaway,soon…now,its monster-story time..and Ms.Aadya is making up stories..I have to go and listen in!
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I have been out of sorts..I didn’t feel like writing,or reading..I did lurk around but,just didn’t have the heart to comment.I did write a few private posts..but thats all.
I was feeling quite sick over the last couple of weeks..and I guess that took away whatever energy was left in me.Today,I am just making a conscious effort to write something:)
So,first let me tell you about Aadya’s first day of school.She was so excited about it for the last so many months.When the day arrived,I think she was a little edgy..she refused to eat and wanted to just sit in the car and go.I gave her a new napkin,with one of her favorite characters,Miffy,the bunny and she had her Ben10 bag.She was soo excited.
We got to the school and she just wanted to run inside.We were about 15 minutes early and that made her so upset.Finally,the doors to the classroom opened and she entered excitedly.
The classroom is divided in various activity zones- the kitchen,the mason’s corner,the blocks mat,the story mat and the craft center.Aadi loved the kitchen and mason’s corner.I stayed for an hour or so before stepping out.She seemed alright on her own.This week,I signed up to be the mom-helper..lets see how this week goes.
My blog stats show me that the visitor count is few hundreds short of 15K visitors..I am thinking of a give-away..so,watch this space.
Winter is here and so are winter-blues..I am a little down..depressed even and I dunno how to shake it off.When I was planning the party,atleast momentarily,I was happy…but now back to square one.
I am back in the weight-loss game-I have managed to keep the weight I lost,OFF..and I am happy about it.But those measly 5kgs,don’t even make a dent in my big FORM and I want to make a big dent!!That will make me happy.GM,thanks for making me hang up,today…I worked out with my excercise video.Its a little hard,because the video is really fast paced and moving my bulk is sync is not easy and to add to that,Aadi thinks,I am playing by myself and wants to join in,pulling my hand,pushing me…So much Fun!NOT!
Anyway ,hope aal izz well with you:) -
Last year,when we organised a party to celebrate my daughter’s birthday,we were very disappointed by the choice of cakes offered. Either the cake was too dry,or the design wasnt nice..or we didn’t want the frosting that they offered or they didn’t agree to do a frosting of our choice..OR..it was just TOOOOOO expensive.
We still ended up paying $$ and getting a cake that we didn’t like..Ok make that I didn’t like..DH doesnt care much anyway.That day,I decided that come what may,I will bake the cake for her b’day hence forth.
The cake in the picture is the one that I baked for her 3 rd birthday party,2 days back.
Its the first time I baked a sponge cake..and I can tell you,this recipe is a KEEPER!The recipe is a hand-me-down from my brother,who is an HM graduate.He made me try out a sample 1-egg cake..and I was hooked.I baked it in the nite,iced it.DH and Aadi loved the taste and I was happy with the result.
And my scientist brain works better,in stress!So,baking that one egg cake was a great help and made for easy calculations.
To make this cake,you need-
Ingredients-
For the Sponge Cake:
Self Raising flour- 200 gms
Corn Flour-1 tablespoon
Sugar- 200 gms( Sugar- can vary depending on your taste)
Eggs- 4
Baking Powder – 1 1/2 tspn
Vanilla extract- 1 tspnFor the filling-
400 gms whipped cream- thick and fluffy
1/2 can pineapple pieces(Do Not throw away the syrup,keep it aside.For the final finishing-
700 gms whipped cream,thick and fluffy(I used ready to serve whipped cream,which came in 400 gms tub)-chilled
Pineapple rings
Halved strawberries.Preparation:
Line and grease two 9″ round cake tins.Pre-heat the oven to 180 deg C(160-fan forced).
Sift the flour,corn flour and baking powder and keep aside.
Separate the yolks and egg-whites.
Gradually add sugar,to the egg yolks and mix using a whisk.Add the vanilla extract and continue whisking,till the mixture turns to cream color and gets a buttery consistency.
Divide the flour mix in three part and slowly fold into the egg-sugar mix,using a spatula.
When the mix gets too dry and it gets difficult to move the spatula,then beat the egg white,till its frothy and add it to the mixture,little at a time.
The final batter shud be creamy and smooth and should fall in ribbons,when you lift the spatula..
Put the batter in the greased tins and bake for 15-20 mins.When you insert a knife in the cake and it comes out clean,turn off the oven immediately and remove the cake from the oven after 5-10 minutes.
Let it cool.Puttin the cake together :
Put the cakes upside down.Prick the surface with a fork and spoon some pineapple syrup on to the cake,till all the surface is wet.Let the cake absorb the syrup.Repeat again after 10-15 mins.Let the syrup be absorbed once again.
Spread a thick layer of whipped cream on the base cake.
Put a layer of pineapple pieces on that and then,spread another thick layer of whipped cream.Keep the other cake on this,like a sandwich.
Cover the top of the cake with whipped cream.Cover the sides of the cake with whipped cream.Cover with cling wrap and let it sit overnight or atleast a couple of hours.
When the base coat is set,spread a fresh layer of whipped cream on top.Smooth out the top and sides.Garnish with pineapple rings and strawberry halves.
Let it chill for a few hours,before serving.Here’s what my final cake looked like.My daughter wanted a Scooby Doo cake and so,I propped a Scooby Doo figurine in the middle.
I can’t wait to try it with other fruits…The cake was super soft and super moist-totally melt-in-your-mouth.When my brother suggested pineapple cake..the first one that popped in my mind was Monginis pineapple cake..and I so wanted to re-create that..And I am glad,this is the closest thing to it,that I have tasted in all the years that I have been away.
BTW,when I decided to bake this cake,I searched the blogs for Pineapple cream cake and stumbled upon Soma’s recipe..it is slightly different..but,her pics are very detailed.
Hope you enjoy baking it,as much as I did..:)
Happy Baking. -
We finally had a party for Aadi’s 3rd birthday, this Sunday.The birthday was on March 30th,so,the party was way over-due..isn’t it?
This year the Princess wanted a Scooby-Doo cake..and she kept insisting..she wanted a Scooby cake,everytime I asked her..and not even once in the last 3 months,did she change her mind.Occasionally,she wanted a Cars cake like the BB got..and then she would change her mind and say..she wanted Scooby and the Cars! ..and so on.So,Mumma promised her a Scooby cake.
A Scooby-doo invite was made using Evite.com..I used her pic and Scooby images and this message(Please don’t laugh at my lame attempt)-
Scooby Dooby Doo,Scooby Dooby Dee,
Guess who is Three?
It is….Aadya Doo..
Won’t you come too?
Come for Scooby snacks and treats..
Lets have a party,that can’t be beat!I had been planning the party for more than three months.I asked her what cake she wanted and decided to have a general theme floating.But,last two-three weeks have been terrible ,health-wise so,I didn’t do everything that I had planned. But,there was one thing that I was not prepared to compromise on and that was the cake.And I didn’t.More on that when I post the recipe..this post is about the party.
So,the cake was mommy-made Cream and Pineapple cake.
It was light sponge cake with whipped cream and pineapple filling,with whipped cream frosting(?) and pineapple and strawberry for garnish.I looked in all the party shops for the scooby cake topper and didn’t find anything.Finally,found a set of 5 Scooby doo characters in Big W,toys aisle.So,I used that as the cake topper.
I was very happy with the finished cake and it was a big hit with the guests and most importantly the Birthday Girl.
It was a tea-time party and most people arrived by 4.30-5.00.I had planned some craft activities for the kids,if it was cold.But,luckily,it was a beautiful day and all the kids were outside,running and playing and sharing OR fighting for the ride-ons.
When it was time to cut the cake,Aadi was more excited about blowing the blow-out than cutting the cake.Her little friend,S,took a step closer to the cake and that was all the push,she needed to blow out the candles.And she blew off half the candles even before DH or I could take our positions besides her..and called us,only when she needed help to blow out the ones far from her.
Then,it was chow-time..I had planned on making bone shaped sandwiches for kids..but,didn’t find a bone shaped cookie-cutter..(and I didn’t look enough!),so,it had to be mini-triangles..
The Menu was-
Sandwiches– We had three kind of sandwiches
*Mini Bread-butter-jam sandwich-I used the chunky strawberry jam and threw in a few fresh strawberries in the sandwich tin.
* Veg-Chutney Sandwich-The Sandwich Wala kind.
*Egg Salad-Chutney Sandwich
Aalu-Chole Chaat
Veg Noodles
Samosa from the Indian sweet shop
Fresh Watermelonand Pop corn,chips,cheetos,coke,fanta,juice..
And there was Tomato Soup..that I forgot to serve till the very end.
Some people forgot to tell us that they won’t make it and some others had to bail out at the last minute and so,we were left with a lot of food.So,everyone got to take some food home.
And now the most important part of a kiddie party-The loot bags.I fell in love with these bags that Patricia used for her daughter’s party and I knew..this is what I was looking for.Before I saw Patricia’s bags,I was planning on making some bags with newspaper and stamping them with some cute stamps.But,in the end,I decided to go with the brown paper bags-
The bags were embellished with ribbons on a corner and each child’s name was stamped on it.And then a handwritten Thankyou note was tagged to it.There was one for Aadi too and her note said-Happy Birthday.
The loot bag this time contained- My little Pony toy sets for girls(because all the girls on the guest list are crazy about My little Pony),water rings video game set for boys(you know the kinds we used to get when we were kids-sort of like a handheld video game),balloons,blow-outs,mini easter eggs(come on-her birthday falls before easter-almost all the candy available is easter themed!),and Marshmallow lollypop shaped like bugs and butterflies(so cute!)
We didn’t take a lot of pictures this year..but that’s because we were sooo busy having fun!Hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I had fun planning the party.
More about party planning in another post…For now,I will leave you with a picture of the birthday girl and her loot…
