DIY Diwali Bandhanwaar

Bandhanwaar is such an integral part of Diwali decoration and finding a good one here is really hard. I have been making my very own bandhanwaars every year for Diwali ever since I moved to Melbourne. The very first year I made it I handpainted a very intricate pattern on a cardstock paper and then used some large silver sequins in the centre. My Italian neighbour loved it so much that he asked me not to take it down, atleast till it doesn't fall off on its own, such a great compliment! This year I used felt and sequins to create my bandhanwaar. Felt is one of my favourite craft materials, it is not only easy to work with it doesn't need finishing on the edges. It's not that I don't like the traditonal bandhanwaars, I just wanted to make something simple, yet beautiful. I used very basic traditional Indian colours and combined with some sequins in gold, silver and copper.

I was so happy with how the first one turned out that I made another one with paisley motifs. I used more green than red on the second one and probably more copper sequins.

All you will need:

Felt in some contrasting colours
Sequins or any embellishment of your choice
Fabric scissors
Craft glue
Lace or fabric tape to hang the bandhanwaar

 Cut the base colour felt to the length that fits your front door. Leave the top end straight and give the bottom end a scalloped edge. Add the contrasting colour felt in different shapes like paisley, heart, circle or triangles. You can play around with the pattern and design as you like before pasting them with craft glue on the felt base. 

Add the sequins and keep up the creativity and fill in the negative spaces on the bandhanwaar. Add the fabric tape on the top side of the bandhanwaar, I used a gold colour tape as shown in the picture below.

You can play around with the design and come up with something completely different to the one I made and add pearls or kundans instead of sequins and decorate your bandhanwaar.

DIY Diwali Paper Lantern (Kandeel)

Diwali is just a few days away and I am still not organised for the biggest festival of the year! Still I managed to make a few decorations and get into the mood which is pretty hard to explain to a toddler when we live out of India. There are no decorations in the markets or crackers on the street or aroma of delicious food coming out of every door in the neighbourhood. Oh how I miss home during Diwali! It is just not the same but H and I are determined that E would enjoy Diwali just as much as we did as kids so here I am starting with the very first craft for this year's Diwali, the Kandeel and it hangs beautifully outside my main door!

This shape of the Kandeel is very popular in recent years. The Kandeel would be made of tissue paper or plastic sheets so that it illuminates when the light passes through. I have used much thicker paper and didn't even punch any holes in mine so it is not very "functional" but it solves the purpose nevertheless!

I like bright traditional Indian colours for the Diwali decorations, so I've selected a Yellow sheet with glitter spots for the base and orange and red origami paper for the rest.

what you need:

You need to decide how big you want your kandeel first.
I have used a rectangular (22inch by 10 inch) card stock paper strip for the base. 
5 inch Red and orange origami paper squares
Red tissue paper for fringes
sequins or any embellishments
double sided sticky tape
sticky tape
a string for hanging
pinking shears
scissors

Here is how to make this:

Roll the card stock paper into a cylinder of any diameter you like your kandeel to be. Use sticky tape to hold the ends of the cylinder in place. Now cut the red colour origami paper into four with a pinking shears. Stick these in the centre of the orange origami square papers. 

Now stick together two diagonal ends of the origami square paper using a sticky tape. Make roughly 10-12 of these shapes. Use double sided tape to stick this on the yellow paper cylinder. 

Make sure to add some double sided tape on the sides as well as shown in the picture below.

 Add some sequins or stones or any embellishments you like to decorate your kandeel and then add some tissue paper strips as fringes on the bottom edge of the kandeel using a sticky tape on the inside.

                     

All done! It is very simple to make and can have as many variations as you like. Add different shapes or use different edged scissors or make it multicoloured, get creative!

Dark "Heavenly" Chocolate Fudge Recipe

My dark chocolate fudge has been a total sellout at any gathering and I can personally guarantee that this is truly addictive! So unless you are willing to share don't make this fudge for just yourself. I enjoy cooking with condensed milk as I get to lick the spoon afterwards. The best part of this recipe is that it is gluten and egg free. I've added pistachio but you can add almonds or walnuts they will taste just as good although pistachio makes it taste and look very gourmet! I know a few friends who would be very happy that I finally managed to post this recipe. Apologies as I haven't been able to take any pictures of the cooking process, it just is so simple that you really would not need any more pictures than these lipsmacking tempting pictures below!

What you need:

1 can sweetened condensed milk

80 gms unsalted butter

400 gms really good dark chocolate

handful of crushed pistachio 

How to make this sinful treat:

Before you start cooking, it would be ideal to line a slice tray or a cake pan with some baking paper. Chop the chocolate in a bowl in small pieces. I usually combine two different brands of chocolate. Now add condensed milk and butter to a pan and heat it on medium heat. Once the condensed milk starts to boil pour it over the chocolate and stir it. If the chocolate doesn't melt completely it would be best to put the bowl over a pot of boiling water and stir until it melts completely. Now pour the chocolate mixture in the lined tray and sprinkle crushed pistachio over it. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for two hours. Slice into small pieces and enjoy! You can store in an air tight container for upto 5 days.

This recipe really is very simple, the only care you need to take is don't let the fudge set before you transfer in the lined tray. Just keep stirring and transfer as soon as the chocolate melts. It really doesn't matter if the top of the fudge doesn't look very smooth trust me the taste makes up for everything else! Enjoy xx

Pumpkin Soup Recipe; very child friendly!

I have worked really hard on getting E to like soup and accept it as a delicious meal but with little success, until now. My very own version of the classic soup is not only delicious but is also not so sweet which makes it child friendly especially for those who are not very fond of sweet meals like E. My little toddler is not really a fussy eater, she just doesn't find it interesting to waste time on eating when she can be doing so much more fun. It is the age of exploration and I don't mind it a bit it is part of the growing process but still wouldn't it be nice if she would finish her meal before getting distracted, hmmm! I love soups just the idea of all that good nutrition going down my throat is so very satisfying. I think if the pumpkin is roasted it would add to the flavour of this soup but I just wanted a recipe which is no fuss and tastes delicious.

 I like this soup with some crumbled feta cheese but E enjoyed it just plain and simple with some butter on top. Pepper gives it a bit of a punch for me.

Ingredients

one big or two small carrots

one medium onion

one medium washed potato

around 2-3 cups of kent pumpkin

1 inch piece of ginger

1 glass of water or vegetable stock if you prefer

1 tbsp full fat cream

1tbsp salted butter

salt  and pepper to taste

crumbled feta cheese to serve

coriander leaves optional

How to make the soup:

Roughly chop all the vegetables and add water to the pressure cooker. I prefer the pressure cooker as it is faster if you would like to boil them in a pot that should be alright as well, just keep an eye on the water level add more if required. I usually add some salt while cooking the vegetables. Pressure cook for 10 mins or 2-3 whistles.

Blend the vegetables once they are cooked, ginger might be the hard one to grind completely so look for the pieces before serving. Now boil the soup again add some more water if the consistency is not as you like it. 

Add the cream and butter to the soup at this stage.

Crumble the feta on top of your soup before serving and some chopped coriander leaves. Crack some pepper and serve hot with bread of your choice!

Hope you and your little one enjoy this version of pumpkin soup just as much as we did. I'm not sure if E would continue enjoying it but at least for now she allows me to serve her some!

Miss Mary Mack Themed Birthday Cake

Since E's second Birthday cake took me three days to put together I think it is appropriate that I dedicate a special post for it. I am just getting a hang of making figurines in fondant and with every birthday cake I make I hope to get better but it doesn't always turn out that way! The cake topper is Miss Mary Mack which looks a lot like E, like I intended but this came out well in the second attempt. The first one that I made looked more like a very plump baby dressed in black with unusually big head! I dare not post that picture here so just the description should do for now. E saw it and she recognised that it is Miss Mary Mack (well I may have mentioned it a couple of times that it is Miss Mary mack cake) either ways E loved her birthday cake and she enjoyed chewing the elephant's heads off!

Since the elephants in the rhyme preferred to jump over the fence they landed up in the carnival. I wanted to create a cake inspired by the nursery rhyme Miss Mary Mack as well as the carnival.  I made a taller top tier to resemble a top hat (not very obvious though but thought process counts!) This nursery rhyme says "she asked her mother mother mother, for fifty cents cents cents" I couldn't find a chocolate coin for fifty cents so I used two 20 cents and one 10 cents chocolate coin instead.

 There has to be a lion and a clown if it is a carnival and elephants all dressed up for their magnificent jump over the fence. Gold painted stars and bright red stripes along with yellow diamonds just brought everything together.

The cake was chocolate and vanilla flavoured with strawberry buttercream icing and chocolate ganache in between the layers. I don't have a picture of the inside of the cake to show you but it was quite soft as compared to the dense cakes that I usually make to cover with fondant. It did make the lower tier to sink a bit with the weight of the top tier but not by much so the cake managed to stay standing all through the party. All in all I was content with the cake and managed to finish it just in time for E's birthday party!