Rain musings

Sanja had been to a wedding yesterday with her maternal grandparents. She had a great time playing my father's friend 's grandkids.  She behaved like a very good girl and ate without much fuss. The curds were served in Matkas (small earthern cups). Sanja at once declared that she will take her cup back home for her mother. She made granny clean it up and took hold of it as priced possession. When everyone asked her why she is taking it with her , her reply  Amma paint panuva, papa amma ku kuduka poren. (Amma will paint it, Iam going to give it to her) . The background , she saw me painting the Diyas for Karthigai deepam this wednesday. She kept asking me Amma , painting pannare ya ma (Amma are you painting). and remembered to get that earthern pot fo me . Ahhh, gal, I learnt from you today, though the gifts can be small, they will be priceless when given with sooooo much of love.  Hugs to you Darling !! PS: Iam gushing with joy and pride that my daughter is so ver...

INGREDIENTS:- 1 (250/500g) of Amulya Milk powder. Cocoa powder. Powdered sugar. Ghee. Cup of warn milk. Procedure:  Pour the milk powder to a bowl /vessel which is broad and has depth. Add the cocoa powder till you get a light brown colour mixing the milk powder with cocoa powder.  Mix the two so that there are no lumps. Add the powdered sugar,mix well, add till desired sweetness is reached. Mix the contents well, add the warm milk little by little. Knead the content into a dough. Use ghee to get the glaze effect.  Roll it up like chappati and cut it to desired shapes. Alternatively, we can make small balls. If needed you can add dry fruits to the chocolate.

Pretext: Sanja's paternal grandmom is leaving for US to stay with her younger son( S being the elder one). We have been telling Sanja that her Patti is going by plane to Chittappa and preparing her for the changes in our lifestyle. The following conversation took place when we ( MIL, S, sanja and myself) were in the room, packing her things. G: Sanja, I will take S also with me to the US. Sanja : Illa patti,  Patti will go by plane, thatha will go by plane. Appa nee po venam (Appa , you dont go). Sanja to  S:  Appa , namba naale polam, Nalle saapithu polam !! ( Appa, we will go tomo ok va , tomo after eating our food). She is consoling her father , since his mother is leaving him and going :P

A little girl and her group of friends , in a village near Tanjore are busy  collecting rations for preparing the snacks and sweets on eve of Deepavalli. They get oil , pans , wood for fire , flours , salt , sugar and under adult supervision(I hope so) prepare delicacies for their cooking game. Before day break, they have the auspicious oil bath and set out bursting crackers with no care for anyone passing by. They have a reputation for maintaining the person who burst max crackers.   She then moved to the city, but her zeal for bursting crackers didnt fade away. She used to fight with her brother in order to safegaurd her share. Breathing trouble would set in after all the bursting, but she was least worried.    The girl met her soulmate right across , married him and  were blessed with baby girl. The little one had the same passion for crackers like her mom. But the amount of crackers that were burst reduced. She used to spend weeks bursting the bijilis( sma...

Sanja has a great liking to fishes. Her outings regularly feature a visit to the aquarium shop near my parents' place. With eyes sparkling and mouth crying out in exclamation she lights up the place. She likes the blue fish( which is actually the orange fish). On seeing the small ones - she says " tutti thutti fish ma". black, white , red thutti thutti fish. the lady in hcarge is now her friend. The little madam gives her advice to the shoppers saying "Akka this black fish is good ka, idha vangiko". The lady has an excellent saleswoman in my little kutty. Some months back, she was glued to the book Finding Nemo. Well you ask what is anything special about mentioning it ? Here it is. Sanja does vegetable fishing. Here grandma cuts up the vegetables, Sanja takes a bowl of water, puts all the veggies into it and uses the tea strainer to fish them out. At our home when I am done washing the dishes, and the drain is clogged, the kothamallis , curry leaves that...