Paper Embossing

Although there are several posts on paper embossing online, I really liked one by Greg Mathews. It was very simple to follow without using any fancy tools. I tried it on golden filmed paper and it worked out like a charm for me. Check out the original post here.

Photo Canvas

Supplies:

• Photo print
• Pre-stretched Canvas
• Mod Podge in Gloss
• Brush
• Acrylic paint – in white
• Rag
• Paper Knife
• Sandpaper / Scrub pad

  Step by Step Instruction:

Apply a thick layer of Mod Podge to the back of your photo and press it onto the canvas.

Use rag to smoothen the photo starting from center moving towards the edges.

Press the canvas upside down for a minute. Wait for Mod Podge to dry for half an hour.

Trim photo edges around the canvas using sharp paper knife.

Sand the edges using sandpaper. Utensil scrub pad works fine if you don’t have sandpaper.

Paint the edges of the canvas using white acrylic paint. You can skip this step if edges are already white.

Paint Mod Podge over the top of the picture and let it to dry completely.

Mod Podge dries clear and gives your photo a very nice canvas paint finish.

Display your work of art J

Chettinad Chicken

Last Friday I decided to make Chicken Chettinad. This cuisine is from Chettinad region of Tamil Nadu, India which is famous for its culinary delicacies. Chettinad cuisine has distinct flavors and strong aroma favored by freshly grounded spices.

After scoring several recipes online I found this one. It was extremely simple to make and without a long list of ingredients. However the result was nowhere close to simple. It was fabulous!

It is definitely worth trying and easy to make.

Thanks to Greenhouse Cuisine for uploading the recipe. The original recipe is here.

My version goes as below...

Ingredients
Chicken	800 grams
Onion	2 large, thinly sliced
Tomato	2 medium chopped
Ginger-garlic paste	2 Tbsp
Oil	4 Tbsp
Turmeric	1/2 tsp
Coriander powder	4 tsp
Salt	to taste
Red chilli powder	1 Tbsp
Coriander leaves	for garnish
Sambhar or pearl onion	20
Curry leaves	4 Sprigs
Cinnamon stick	2 inch
Cloves	4
Cumin seeds	2 tsp
Whole pepper	4 tsp

*Original recipe calls for all the spices freshly grounded

Heat a pan and add 2 tbsp of oil to it. Add curry leaves and pearl onions and stir fry for 30 seconds. Now add cinnamon, clove, cumin and whole pepper and sauté well. Cool and make a fine paste using little water.

Use same pan to sauté thinly sliced large onions in 2 tbsp of oil until golden brown. 

Add ginger-garlic paste and sauté for 2 mins. 

Add chopped tomatoes, chicken pieces, turmeric and salt. Mix well and cook covered for 5 mins.

Add coriander powder, chilli powder and prepared masala paste and mix well. Add 2 cups of water. 

Bring it boil. Then cook covered on low flame until chicken is done and gravy comes to the desired consistency. Check for seasoning. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with steamed rice and ghee.

Spice Drawer

While grocery shopping in Hypercity, I saw this cute little glass jar with a transparent lid and immediately hit the idea of having my own spice drawer. Rest everything just fell into the place.

Spice Jar @ INR 35

Besides the jar, I needed a base to hold the jars in place. Thermocol sheet from local stationary shop fit the bill perfectly. I have traced the jar base on paper and transferred the same on thermocol. Now came the painful part - Carving the 36 circles using hot skewer. This was definitely the most lengthy part and required complete focus.  

Once all the circles were smoothly carved, I covered thermocol with aluminium sheet using fevicol.

Small holes were poked in the center to prevent any long tear when sliding jar in the circle to widen the hole.

Once all the holes were widened and loose ends of foil were tucked in, I labeled the spices and stick it in the preferred order.

Prepared base went into the drawer and filled jars were placed as per the label. Voila! Spice drawer complete and ready to serve at the beck of my hand.

Spice Drawer

Introduction

First post under geek housewife...

No planning.. No gathered thoughts.. Simply taking plunge in sea of blogging with the excitement of starting a new one again.

Yes. Again because I have already tried my whims on blogging. And the fire of writing fizzled out with time. After long time it is kicking back again. 

So here I am.