A Few Tips & Facts - Interesting!

A few days back I had recieved a forwarded mail from my friend G. It had a list of interesting tips and facts. So, today I am sharing those in my post here. I found this information useful and I think readers might benefit from this post. If you try any of these in your day to day life, let me know how it worked for you as I haven't tried all of these myself. Many thanks to the anoynomous person who had compiled it. Hope you find it as interesting as I found them.

Read on!

~Ants Problem:
Ants hate cucumbers. Keep the skin of cucumbers near the place or ant hole.
~To get clear Ice cubes:
Boil water  first before freezing.

~To  make the mirror shine:
Clean with  sprite. (Wonder what happens to the enamel of our teeth).

~To  remove chewing gum from clothes:
Keep the cloth  in the freezer for an hour.
~ To whiten white clothes:
Soak white clothes in hot water with a slice of lemon for 10 minutes.
~To  give a shine to hair :
Add one teaspoon of vinegar to hair, then wash hair.

~To  get maximum juice out of lemons :
Soak lemons in hot water for one hour, and then juice them.

~To  avoid smell of cabbage while cooking:
Keep a piece of bread on the cabbage in the vessel while cooking.
~To  avoid tears while cutting onions:
Chew gum.

~To  boil potatoes quickly:
Skin one  potato from one side only before boiling.

~To  remove ink from clothes :
Put toothpaste on the ink spots generously and let it dry completely, then wash.

~To skin sweet potatoes quickly :
Soak in cold  water immediately after boiling.
~To get rid of mice or rats :
Sprinkle black pepper in places where you find mice or rats. They will run away.

This space has been silent for a few days now and I am also not being able to visit other blogs. The reason being my Parent in Laws are here to visit us and I am having a lovely time with them. Reading has taken a back seat but cooking is in the forefront. I will be back soon with some tried and tested recipes and hopefully a book review in coming weeks.

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Pineapple Chunk & Cardamom Cake (Eggless)

The recipe for today's post comes from my drafts. I had made it quite sometimes back and since then it had just been sitting in my drafts. I have made this one quite many times, mainly when I have some left over canned pineapples. If you love pineapples it will surely appeal to you. Adding cardamom adds an Indian flavour to it but if you do not like it, you can leave it out all together and you will have a pineapple chunk cake.

This recipe is adapted from Manjulas Kitchen. I have just tweaked the amount of butter and juice. It worked well and the cake was rich and moist. Instead of butter you can use equal amount of oil plus a little more pineapple juice.These pictures have not been able to capture the moistness and texture. I will update the post with better pictures next time I bake it. As for now, hop off to the recipe!

Ingredients:

1 1/4cup AP Flour.
1/4 cup butter,soft at room temperature.
3/4 cup condensed milk.
5 rings of canned pineapple cut into chunks.
3/4 cup of pineapple juice (from the pineapple can).
1 tsp baking powder.
1/2 tsp baking soda.
3 cardamom pod seeds powdered finely.

Process:

1.Take a deep bowl or container and put soft butter in it. Add condensed milk to it and whip it nicely with a wooden spoon or a hand mixer till it is light and well incorporated.

2. In a separate bowl add AP flour, baking powder, baking soda and powdered cardamom and shift.

3. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture little by little stirring all the time.Add the pineapple juice little by little and whisk for another 5 minutes till it is mixed properly. Add a little more if needed. Add the pineapple chunks and fold it in the mixture.

4.Keep a cake tin greased with butter and dusted with flour ready before starting to make the cake batter. Pour the cake batter into it. Insert the cake pan into an oven preheated at 180 degree C. Bake the cake at 170 degree C for 40mins.

5. Using a skewer or knife check if the cake is done. Prick the skewer into the cake, if it comes out clear then the cake is ready.

6. Take the container out of the oven and let it cool for 10 mins. Take the cake out on a plate by turning the container upside down.

This pineapple cake is very moist and it tastes best when served cold.

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Wordless Wednesday - Sorrounded

#12 Teaser Tuesday ~ Mistress by Anita Nair

'Suddenly I know who he is. Like everybody else seeking parallels,I sought him among heroes and villains. I should have looked, instead, into the shadowed zones of the stage, at the minor characters whose doing let men live or die.'
Page: 30


Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Share the title & author, too, so that others can add the book to their TBR Lists!

Six Graves to Munich by Mario Puzo (Cleri)

I do not really read crime fiction very often. Although I do tend to pick up some of them often and they sit on my book shelf for quite a long time before they are picked up to be read. Same goes with this book, Six Graves to Munich by Mario Puzo. It had been sitting quite a while waiting to be opened and read. I had picked up from the library only because of the author's name. I have not read the author's other more known work like 'The Godfather' or 'Sicilian' but they have always been on my TBR list. So, for a start I picked up this book.

The blrub from back cover of the book gives an idea of what the story is about.

Seven Men

Seven Gestapo officers tortured Captain Michael Rogan, murdered his pregnant wife, and left him for dead. After the end of the second World War they escaped to new lives and identities.

Ten Years

Rogan has spent the last ten years recovering from his horrific injuries and planning his revenge. Now he is back, and on the hunt for the Nazis who ruined his life.

One Woman

But ther is one problem, he has met and fallen in love with the beautiful Rosalie. Should he listen to his heart or continue to pursue his quest for vengeance, whatever it takes?

That seems like the perfect recipe for an interesting novel. But, as the readers get on with the book, they realise that the story does not keep the momentum of thrill and suspense alive, which I think is the most important thing to look forward to in such a story. To me it seemed too straight forward with out neccesary twists and turns. However, it was an easy and sort of 'light' read. Even though murders and planning for murders were taking place throughout the novel, it was not particularly disturbing. Another way to say it is ~ it failed to make any impact on the reader.

'Six Graves to Munich' was written by the author under the name Mario Cleri. It was written before 'The Godfather'.