I am right here, alive ... !!!!

Hi all,
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Its been some time since I have made any new post...was literally afraid if my blog would just die down!!!

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Honestly, was not in the least of mind frame to be typing out anything. I am running 2.5 months now. Had two rounds of "vaaal" today(in malayalam..hee hee)..or vomiting, that is....
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I am very much depending on the tablet "Navidoxine"..to help me through....takes it almost daily...missed it yesterday night, and hence the vaaaalll during office timings tooo..... Luckly, for me, things are always the other way round. Usually, pregnant women tend to have morning sickness, while me..here is fine in the mornings, provided I dont take even a drop of water, till I reach my office.
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I am very much into "Evening Sickness!!!...and its getting really cold too here, so am very much on my couch, all cuddled up in my comforter...and with a bad bad cough, to make things worse.
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As was with my first child, I have started having this "no no" towards drinking water. GOing more for watermelons as substitute. And hey, I need your advice. Is it mut that I should drink milk????
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I know its silly to ask,...but honestly, I have been a dairy hater from scratch (I dislike milk, never even bother to look at yougurt, butter, cream, cheese...except for ice creams). Previously, for my first pregnancy,I was with my mother, so had no way but to have milk, with some added powders to camouflage the smell..but now, it me alone here, ...so...just cant set myself to take a glass of this white thinghy and have it by myself!!!.
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I told mummy that I vomitted each time I drank milk, and she suggested..moleae, atleast eat some milk powder!!! (was she jokin???).
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I keep a pouch of flakes, the healthier variety... in my bag, and keeps munching it in between, and that too without milk. Just like that. I have got my excuse anyway..I say I will drink milk, after 3-4 months, once my vomitting and stuff subsides..(hopefully!!!!).
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As for other happenings, well....we had a cooking event, which by no other choice, I had to host, for my husbands college Allumini Ladies Forum. Had just very less time prepare, so went for very very simple cooking....and in the end, I came up with 10 different foodies...
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1. Palak thoran, prepared in MW,
2. Purle Jam in MW, courtesy Viji of VCuisine
3. Pasta Coleslaw, original version from Ashajee
4. Pickled eggs
5. Potato wedges in MW
6. Todd in a hole, something I had posted sometime back
7. Corn flaked mixture, also from Viji
8. Fruit - cake Kebaks
9. Assorted bun pizzas
10. Mint and fruit ices...phew!!!, wasnt I flattttt tired after all these!

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Thats me, and my spread....I have already started to blot up !!! (As if, I was slim, before!)..

Well folks, bye for now..happy Christmas, Happy New Year....

We are going to Indian by mid of Jan so, most probably, my next post will be after that....Catch ya all later....

Lov lov and lov,

Sona

My favourite side dish, my favourite snack....

and the reason why they are my favourites??..coz they are most easiest of recipies i have ever come across...

Super fast Ginger-Tamarind Chutney:

All you need is chopped ginger, onions, green chillie, a tsp of chilliepowder, jaggery syrup, curry leaves, salt to taste and thick tamarind pulp.

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Scoop all of them into a mixing bowl, and mix wellllll....thats it....no power, no gas !!!, all manuall....

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Not going in for th exact quantity of the stuffs, as its truly upto our own descretion. Need it more hot, add more chillie, more "tinghy", add the tamarind, want it more sweet, addmore of the jaggery syrup. All up to you...

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(Jaggery syrup is prepared by melting it in water, over the stove and stirring in between. Prepare more and can be kept for long in closed bottles in the freezer)

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Moong-Dal Treat:

This is something that I learned from my MIL. A superfast snack, u can have with tea, and its healthy too !!

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Take cooked Moong dal in a bowl, add jaggery syrup, fresh coconut, and a pinch of salt . Mix well, and off to serve...pretty easy isnt it?

Both my favourites go straight to the Powerless Cooking Event
by An Easy Cooking Blog.

The Ginger - Tamarind Chutney goes off the Think Spice, Think Ginger Event hosted by Sunitha of Sunitha's World.

Fantastic Four, and What's in a Name MEME...and an update : I am pregnant....yuppie!!!

Bharathy of Spicychilly has tagged me for the Fantastic Four, and ever known Asha-jee of Foodie's Hope for What's in a name MEME.....and its been sometime now, so better not to keep it for long. So, here it is....

4 Places I've lived:

Suprisingly, these four places starts with the same word...."K"

1. Kochi : Where I was born and brought up

2. Kothamangalam : 4 years there doing my Engineering

3. Kottayam : Couple of months after my wedding (that's where my husband hails from)

and finally, my present K

4. Kuwait....where next, Kenya ????...naaeeehhhh

4 Job's I've done:

1. Interior Designer. Honestly, felt like having a break after 4 long techi years...so went straight and enrolled for this diploma course. Our job training was after our final exams for one month..but I just liked what I was doing, so much..gave a special request to my institution to start my training right from my study hols..and was I not really glad, that when all my other batchmates got one month training under any reputed architect, i had it for 3 months..and a permanent posting later on too!!

Some clippings of my work at that time:

2. Civil Engineer with my usual site visits and inspections under the false name of a Marine Engineer. (Let the client just never happen to know, when they showed me a huge pile of drawings, and a hell-lotta techi names falling from their mouths, and the only thing I cud remember was "My my..I have heard all these names somewhere......". Nothing more than that. But surviving on very cooly with the grateful assistance of the supervisor there who is also from Kerala, so which drawing he says is fine and can be approved, is approved by me too ..!!!!..

Thats me at work....Posing among things, which you just dont even know what its called, but calling yourself a specialist in it ....its exciting, anyways !!!

3. Aakri- (Junk ) Collector:

Something, which is way too associated with me...junk stuff!!! Find something interesting, and it goes straight into my Aakri-box. Might stay there for years, but God alone knows when it would come handy, and in what form.

This is my latest addition....found these curtain samplers dumped near a garbage bin, while on our way after shopping, walking to where our car was parked....Passed by it with my eyes fully glued to it, and with some eye contact, Santho knew exactly what I meant! Turned right back, and brought home, as much we could carry. (It was late night at that time, glad no Bengali's saw me, collecting things which are their default properties). Am I not the least ashamed to write about it!!!

These are some roles they do now for me...a bow or a fabric base for my flower vases, pin up tie for the curtains, cushion back for our bedroom couch....

4. Photographer (at heart..nothing professioanl). Learned about Macro and stuff through various communities in orkut, while was free in office about a year back, and thats how it all started. I usually carry my camera with me always in my bag, and click click click...then and there, a file on my desk, plaant nearby, rubberbands, ...

...and these below are may ever favourites....
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still feel like laughing at the wordings.....
. ...and this, especially because, I found it at Santho's worksite, who was showing me around the whole stretch of the desert where they are laying underground pilelines for oil, and was sooo boasting all the way to glory of the works they were doing, their equipment .... but my eyes stayed on this particular one...

I silently asked him..."Santho, do you provide the road markers and signages too ?

"EEEVERYY SINGLE THING!!!"...came the proud reply.

"So, this is urs too ?....Excellent!!!!"..I pointed this to him, and trust me, u had to see the look on his face!!

4 Favourite Places I 've holidayed

1. Ooty

2. Munnar

3. Kodai

4. Thekkadi

4 Favourite Foods:

I remember while were on our family trip to Velankanni, with my parents and brother, the waiter came in to get the order for dinner..my father, didnt even have a look at the Menu, but just straight at him and said

"Ome MB, one CB, one EB, one VB"..thats it!!

The waiter just couldn't make head or tail of what my father was saying....and my dad laughingly answered..

"One Mutton Biriyani, one chicken biriyani, one egg biriyani and one Veg biriyani!!!

My my, biriyani,...under whatever be the head, they are my ever fav's...

4 Places I'd rather be...

1. Naturally, back home after a long days work...esp when its real busy busy in the office

2. Right in this water above..thats my fav. beach..trust me its sooo shallow, u go even 20-25 mts into the sea, the water is just till your waist. Thats where we spend our friday mornings, me and my kid learning to swim...and our flat is right behind the yellow buildings in the snap.

3. My husband's place in Kottayam with all the lush greenaries and rubber treea around. For a person born and bought up in a huzzle buzzle busy city, this is always a refreshment!

View from the balcony, during the rain....

Shayne, amongst the rubber trees...

4. Any land of buddhist architecture...china, bhutan, nepal..so sooo....

..and finally, 4 bloggers, I'd like to tag...

1. Viji of VCuisine

2. Shn of Mishmash

3. Jeena of Jeena's Kitchen

4. Happy Cook of My Kitchen Treasures

What's in a Name MEME

I have no middle name, so just going for S-O-N-A, that's me!

S - Silly,...I can come with the silliest of excuses for a work not done on time, an errend forgotten, and hubs baptised me as "Silly Excus-O-mani"

O - Optimistic. Always. Trusts to the core, that whatever happens in life, will in one form or the other, one day or the other, will be always for our good.

N - Nostalgic. Can spent hours thinking about past events, old friends, school n college lives.....hummmm

A - Ambitious. Else not, I just wouldnt exist in this blog sphere. Cooking was something which was just not something to do with me, and look what I am doing now......

And the best part again..tagging....

S - Shella, of Kitchen Art

O - One Hot Stove author, Nupur (no much blogs and names with O, here)

N - Nags, of For the Cook in Me

A - A Cook @ Heart, Manasi.

Happy MEME, pretty ladies......

Heard so much about Egg Roast, what about Egg in a Roast ???

You got what I meant, isnt it ??? Give a break dearies...not goin in for too much words.

Wanna have a peep into the green room, look right below.....

Pop mustard seeds in oil, saut onions, green chillies, ginger, garlic and curry leaves till golden brown. Add in little of the powder variety - chillie, turmeric, coriander, and egg/chicken masala powder. Add just a little bit of water, keep closed for a couple of minutes...and just follow the images above. That's it. Do not forget the tastemaker - salt, folks.

(I added some tomato puree too, as it was a bit too hot !!!).

Off it goes to the WBB Omlette event by Kanchana of Married to a Desi. The mastermind behind the WBB's is none other than Dr. Nanditha, of Saffron Trail. Looking forward to the next ...

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Triple Nut Sweet

Have been seeing all the various types of sweets overflowing in various blogsites, especially in regard to the events and festivals....and was like.."Ooh my... shouldnt me too be a part of all the fun??....But I have never made any sweet of any kind myself. So, for a long time now..had been raiding various blogistes for something which I thought is possible my me too...and finally, well settled in for the Butternut Squash Halwa by Viji of Vcuisine. (Click here for the recipie) . Trust me, she is a real specialist in jams, halwa's..sweets...infact anything. I dedicate these flowers to you Viji...happy journey !!!

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honestly, I was soo thrilled to see the halwa take its form in the Microwave, but the quantity was very less to be served to about 7-8 craving mouths (ourselves and our relatives who live in the rearby flat), so had to think of something to increase its volume..

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So, this was how the final presentation looked like....

Triple Nut Flowers....Crushed CashewNUT Stigma, ButterNUT Squash Style and PeaNUT Petals !!!.

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Other shapes : Halwa Cresents: Took a small ball of the halwa, flattened it with the fingures, placed few cashew crushes in the centre, and folded close, to get the cresent shape.


Halwa Roll : made into cylindrical shapes, and rolled in cashew crush.

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This entry goes to the JFS : Diwali. Happy Diwali, Dassera and Halloween. Ofcourse, the sweet doesnt have anything to do with halloween, but being the month of october, thought better put up something relative to pumpkins too.

Rice sticks (served upside down??) and weekend in the sea...

Rice - Sticks ....it was the first time I was trying this out, and the first question that came to my mind seeing the perfectly white colour of the cooked sticks was....."Oh, my have these sticks been bleeched or tossed in Ujala (the common brand of Super-white, fabric whitener.... available in India) . The colour was way too bright!

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Cooked the sticks in water, adding salt and for an Indian touch, added cumin seeds too..it did give a distinct flavour and taste to the sticks, believe me ....

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Usually, pasta's are served with the toppings on top....but what if you start thinking the other way round ???

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Large serving of veggies below, and the noodle on top .... life is boring without variety, u agree...???

UPDATE : This image goes straight to the Click Event by Bee with this month's theme being noodles.

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My ever handy veg-mix :

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This particluar veg mix of mine, has been a great time saver for me, and the best, last weekend.

All those on the right is sauted in oil, with ginger, garlic, soya sauce(the thicker variety, lest the mix gets soggy after a while) , tomato sauce, chillie sauce, dashed with salt, pinch of sugar and pepper . Thats all its about.

But, its applications are really various.

Mix it with cooked basmathi rice, u have your instant fried-rice

Mix with Noodles...ur mixed noodles..(addition of non is at your discretion)

Stuff inside a bun, make a sandwich....go on, and play with your own ideas ....

Each time i prepare my veg mix, I usually make it in large quantity, and go with any other variation the next day......and wasn't I really glad that I did !!!

The noodles was had for Thursday dinner. Fridays, Santho goes to play cricket in the mornings (God alone know what time he leaves...I will be way too asleep to keep track)

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And on his way back, he gave me call and said "Sona we are going to beach today..get ready, Sandeep and family will be there too !!!)

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I was like ..."Oh my God, what do I prepare ???..going to the beach without my contribution of food is the least think I can think off. Rest was all ?><)*^$##@@%)@#%%.

Arabic Sandwich:

Took Kuboos bread, applied a layer of light-mayo, layered the mix, topped with chopped chicken meat slightly fried in oil, with pepper and salt (boneless chicken meat is also an ever present thingy in my freezer... u never know when, what comes in hand!) . Top it with ketchup, roll over and in a foil. Khallaasss .

Fresh Salad

Thankfully, had my maid this weekend so off she was with the chopping of the veggies for the salad plate.

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Well done Anita, u did a good job, and quite fast too !!!
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Potato Wedge :

.Chopped as shown without removing the skin, dashed some salt, pepper and chillie powder onto it..straight to the MW till tender, and deep fried.

Shrimp Curry:

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Sorry, I dont have a good snap of it, just managed a closeup, as and way it was packed hot in the casserol.

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U find a really class recipie and snap of shrimps here, by dear Mishmash. I didnt have the time to wait that long to get the roasted effect, neither coconut chunks.

...and finally, this was my contibution to our this weekend beach-day out.
Marinated fish, and Kappa (Mallu's all time fav...sponsored by Anu...Sandeep's better half)

Thought I would share some of our personal moments with my co-bloggers....

This one is from our last weekend break with family n friends....

Below is one such, during last month, also with Sandeep, Anu and our cousin Ajo..not to forget our littleman Shayne !
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The one below was a couple of month back, after we relocating our flat to this place called Mahboula, which gives us the greatest luxury of a peaceful beach just at walkng distance, and a sea view from our balcony!.. So every friday morning, is learning time...for me..Swimming !!!..Now, trust me, late 20's is not that late to start to learn..better late than never. Myself and my 2 and a half year old Shayne are learning swimming together...and Eureka!!..last week I floated by myself !!...yuppieeee!!!

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From yours to mine, the modified versions, and a Salad Dinner.

My husband informed me that we will be having the parents of one of his friend coming over for dinner, and it was his closest collegue from college, so I need to serve them well. Condition was "No experimenting on them, please..they are in their late 50's, one of them is diabetic, and the other is having cholesterol..so you have to careful with the ingredients, Sona".

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So, as a proof to him that I will not make this couple my white-rats, next day showed the blogged links of these dishes below. They are tried and tested, so are fool proof. My first thought was to go the Diet Food Event, see if any posts had come up, but couldnt find what I was looking for then..(will wait for the roundup). So, gave a try , and could very well serve them, a Salad Dinner !!!

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Prepared this Mushroom Noodle soup, by replacing chicken with mushrooms from this recipe, by The happy cook, of My Kitchen Treasures, all the way from Belgium. I used vegetable stock cube for my soup.

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Pasta- Coleslaw, from Foodie's Hope, of dear Asha. Click here for recipe. I made the addition of cooked macroni, and raisins to it, to make it similar to the ones servred by Pizza Hut (forget KFC for a while!), used low fat milk, and Light Mayo. Did not add vinegar to this, as it was in hand for the ones below.
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Simple cucumber salad: Cucumber sliced very thin, mixed with white vinegar, garlic powder, dry parsley , sesame seeds and salt to taste.
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Tabbouleh, an Arabic Salad, with finely chopped parsley, onions, tomatoes, and baked to crips, arabic pita bread (kubos), mixed with extra virgin olive oil, white vinegar and salt to taste.

Warning : Add the bread pieces just before serving, lest it gets sogged by the moisture of the veggies. (Learned from my own experience. Prepared it few hours before my guests arrived, and by the time it got served, it was all soggy...hummmmmm)

The salad tastes best when the bread is really crisp.

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Mixed Raita : Low fat curd (shop bought), mixed with chopped onions, tomatoes, cucumber, baby corn, pomogranade seeds (a few), finely chopped dates, and cilantro leaves.
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Saffron Rice: Fry various spices...cardamom, pepper pods, cinnamon, cloves, cumin seeds, mace in butter, fry the rice too, and cook with exactly double quantity water with salt to taste. Add saffron strands to low fat milk, and mix with the rice, to get the required colour. Serve by decorating it with with fried raisins, cashewnuts and onions.

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Naadan Kozhi curry, the Kerala Style Chicken....from Seena of Simple and Delicious, except that I added tomato as puree instead of pieces, and added a 4-5 table spoons of cashewnut paste too, to make the gravey really thick. You find the recipie here.

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Easy custard, which even a policeman can make. Tapioca custard powder, mixed with low fat milk, and few strands of saffron added to the milk, to get a mild yellow colour. Boiled, cooled and off to set.

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At first glance, it looks very much similar to custard prepared by the regular shop bought powders. Yet, in taste, this was different.

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Didnt have the time to play around much with it, so decorated the same way, as you would have seen earlier in one of my posts...

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Cut the set custard in triangles, laid a slice of mixed fruit jam over it, and what you see above on top, are my "flopp" choco-curls !
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Hope you all enjoyed my spread. The guests enjoyed too !....Happy cooking...

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Usually, the cookery events in the blogsphere merrily decides, what we need to cook. That was exactly the case, which made to use saffron for the rice and custard, so off it goes to the Think Saffron Event., hosted by Sunitha.

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But, as far as diet food is concerned, it was just the other way round. Had the meal prepared, and later did I realize..well..i can sent it off to Hima of SnackORama too !!!

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Two birds in a shot!

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Ceyaa..catch you later !!!

Easy Pancake, and assorted Bread variations !!!

My mom used to make this easy pancake, to feed our hungry stomach's after school...mixing Maida (flour), one egg, sugar amd milk to form a loose batter, and make them as dosa's on a flat tava. Sorry, no snaps of it..but there's something very similar done by Jeena here..
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This still remains a fav. of mine to date, so had it made for an evening snack. As usual the story, the batter bowl still remaind unfinished, so the next day..its variations begin to take form.
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Type I : Bread Toast :
Cover the bread in the batter, and off to a non-stick pan to toast, lightly spraying the pan with cooking oil. Cut as triangles.
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Type II : Bread Sticks :
Added seasame to the pancake mix, coated it over...and thats where my slim slim vermicilli came to action!
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Broke it down as tiny pieces and cover the bread with it. Off to shallow fry, with crushed sugar on top.

Type III : Bread Kunaffa :

Cut the bread as squares, to the panckae mix, added some instant coffee (didnt have cocoa powder, or anything related to chocolate at that time, but wanted to give it a choco-touch..so settled in for coffee, something similar atleast...)

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...that's it....my Bread Kunaffa !!!...trust me, you see all those delicious looking sweets in the market...go wondering how in the world are they done....but, a little bit of observation, interest and creativity...you can come up with something entirely new by urselves, even with the simplest of ingredients..with the least effort too !!!!

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Hope you all liked my extra simple snack...great way to fool your kids n hubby !!, and guests too!!!

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