Crochet Rolls

Finished sewing these crochet rolls for a great bunch of gals from my Ravelry group, Bangalore.....and wait till you see what they got for me!!! .... that will be another post as soon as I click pictures of them....

Another look.....

One more....

The open ones on the left (top) are small pouches for the non-crocheting lot...I thought they could use it as a knitting-notions bag.....

A view with the hooks in.....

There was a young member who I thought needed something brighter than this sombre brown, so I made her an orange gingham drawstring project bag....

Hope she finds it useful .......(sorry for the bad picture)...

And these......(didn't make these boxes, of course...)

Happy hooking!!! I enjoyed making these gifts immensely!!!!

Sneak Peek!!!

A secret project going on on my sewing machine...!!

Am in the middle of something for a bunch of friends ....

How's this???....

Details shall be posted later....bye bye!!!
You can check the details here , now that the secret is out....:) 

Gone in 60 Seconds!!!!

The cake I baked for my son's farewell dinner when he was leaving for college......

How to: 

I used this simple one-step recipe ......find it here..... for this cake.

For the icing I whipped up 200gms (about 1 cup) cream till it formed soft peaks, then added 3-4 tbsp of icing sugar. I used tinned cherries in sugar syrup. Had to de-seed the cherries before using.

I mixed 3 tsp of rum in the syrup and drizzled it over the cakes before icing to moisten them and add to the flavours. Then sandwiched the two layers with one-thirds of the cream and cherries. Used the rest to slather on top and finished with cherry halves. I then let it chill for an hour or so to set the cream.

The flavours develop better if you can keep the cake for a few hours.

That's it!!!

ps: adding the rum is optional....:)

The demolition begins.....

the pacman slice....

going.....

 going...

 almost gone!

 60 seconds - literally!!!!!!

Fudge Nut Pie

 "STATUTORY DECLARATION: NO CHILDREN WERE HARMED DURING THE MAKING OF THIS DISH"

The most deelish pie ever!!!! You just have to try this one..crunchy walnuts and a gooey center....to die for!!!

...once again the recipe is from 'The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook'..

Ingredients 

1                     9-inch unbaked pie crust (recipe below)..or find it here...

2 squares          unsweetened chocolate

1/4th cup          butter or margarine

3/4th cup          sugar

1/2 cup             packed brown sugar

1/2 cup             milk

1/4th cup          corn syrup

1 tsp                 vanilla extract

1/4th tsp           salt

03                     eggs

1 cup                 finely chopped California walnuts

fresh cream or vanilla, coffee or chocolate ice-cream to garnish (optional)

Note:

 - you can substitute one square (25 gms) unsweetened chocolate with 1 tbsp butter and 3 tbsp cocoa powder.

 - 'packed brown sugar' means that rather than lightly scooping the sugar in the cup, you pack it into the cup and press down with a spoon and add some more sugar if needed.

 - in case you use salted butter then omit the additional 1/4th tsp called for in the recipe.

- I often substitute honey for corn syrup.

Method

1. Prepare pie-crust (read recipe given below).

2. Preheat oven to 350 F.

3. Mix chocolate with butter or margarine over low heat until just melted, turn off the heat.

4. Add both sugars, milk, corn syrup, vanilla, salt and eggs; with hand beater or wire whisk, beat until well mixed . stir in the chopped walnuts.

5. Pour mixture into pie-crust. bake 45 to 55 minutes until filling is puffed.

6. Let cool. 

Serve topped with fresh cream or a scoop of ice-cream.

For unbaked pie crust:

1 cup                             all purpose flour

pinch                             salt

1/4th cup + 2 tbsp          butter or shortening

2 to 3 tbsp water

sift together flour and salt. Mix in the butter till mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Sprinkle in cold water mixing in lightly till pastry just holds together. Shape it into a ball and refrigerate for 1/2 an hour if pastry is too soft or if weather is too warm. Roll out and line the pan.

Go ahead....try it - you'll love it.