Cricket Trophy Cake

I don't get to make big cakes like this now. When kids were kids, they enjoyed the cakes I made. Some times, the designs were suggested by them and when I couldn't make it exactly the way they wanted, I would try a design that has some connection to their taste.

My son turns 28 today. This cake was made for him on his 23rd birthday. It served two purposes. I took step by step photos so I could get it published in the Tamil website - arusuvai.com

Even though the instructions are in Tamil, I hope the step-by-step photos in this link will help you understand how the cake was made.

Malaysian Stir-fried Greens

The recipe was originally posted in arusuvai in the 'kootanchoru' section by Deva without illustrations. http://www.arusuvai.com/tamil/node/8208

I tried this dish so I could take part in the 'Kitchen Queen' competition. The step by step instructions along with the photos at http://www.arusuvai.com/tamil/node/30263 - in Tamil. The English translation of the recipe can be found at Malaysian Stir-fried Greens 

This is my type of cooking  - fewer ingredients, less preparation time, crunchy, yummy, easy to cook and very healthy; most of all.... is perfect for the days when I have to cook only for myself.

Thanks a lot Deva.

A Throw with tussles

May - 2004

Made this when I had a fracture in my right pinky. Couldn't do any of my usual chores. So decided to try this.

Undoing the material was the hardest part. It got tangled quite a lot. Once that was done - I got started with the knots. They were just ordinary knots at equal intervals. Then... I halved each section, knotted it together with the closest half of the next section. I had to work out a way to keep the two ends of the tussles neat. It wasn't hard.

I still have them after thirteen years, with some damages done to them. The tussles will lose their shape in the washing machine. One of our friends just kept unpicking them every time he was home. ;-) 

Lint Rose!

Lint from my old clothes dryer. 
It had a circular mesh lint catcher. Found a lot of lint after a wash. :-)

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFtJJQn_OYGIjbWGX-69vS87_kubfXuDYZU2109mOgHmG3eeJ95bOmGsMs1MeeNe1i9XzHH7BnAprmAMiq_SQqJt_GZmErBgFIbjffxkJ31-rpu5OC5RA_JkZBXv7Jkmv1WvTiYJnnbw/s400/100_4355.JPG

A Ladybug pincushion

The first sewing machine I bought here in New Zealand was a second hand. May have even been a fourth or fifth hand . :-) It was quite old but reasonably a good one. I didn't have much difficulty with it since I knew how to fix simple problems. I always unscrewed the case and turned this and that and it worked. :-) 

I always lost the pins in the carpet and they ended up in the vacuum cleaner. That didn't matter. I wasn't the one emptying the bags of the vacuum cleaner. Chris always complained. He once was going to chuck all my pins in the bin. :-) I needed to do something then. That is when I decided to make a pincushion. 

To find the step by step instructions on how to make these bugs, click - http://www.arusuvai.com/crafts/how-make-ladybird-pincushion