Dalkey To Killiney ~ A Beautiful Coastal Walk on a Sunny Day ~ A Picture Post To Feed My Blog

 I have been away from this space for a while. It has not been that long, still I feel guilty for not having updated it for the past few days. I hope, all of you who celebrates Valentine's day had a great time. With Valentine's day around the corner, the big debate on the importance of this day was everywhere, from TV to Newspapers, Twitter, Facebook et al and now that the day is gone, the debate is behind closed doors, only to make an appearance next year.

I belong to the type who doesn't fuss over the day too much, although I wouldn't mind an exchange of a few gifts and a good dinner at home or outside wouldn't hurt. Still, I didn't plan anything big for that day. Even if I had planned it wouldn't have materialized. You would ask why? Well, I fell down a couple of stairs and sprained my ankle on the day and had a real bad head ache after wards, and later DH had to settle for food from a takeaway joint! My only face saver was that, I had baked a special cake over the weekend and DH got to eat some left overs of it as dessert. We had a great time last weekend though. Sunday was a sunny day and we went for a coastal walk from Dalkey to Killiney.

Dalkey and Killiney are two suburban areas in South Dublin. It is best to take such walks on a sunny day, the sea looks stunningly beautiful and all in all it is a refreshing and memorable experience.

I will let the pictures do rest of the talking! The day was bright, cheerful and sunny at the start as you can see in the first picture.

The sky and the sea were a different shades of blue. It was serene and very soothing for the eyes and mind. It was great to have a good bright day in the month of February. It was a rare privilege to have bright blue day after so many grey, overcast days!

There was a narrow lane in between that lead to the sea. We went down and sat in a clearing. The sound of the sea was mesmerizing.

Yes that's me! Time for ice cream :-)!

There was a small beach downhill by the name of white rock and we spent some time there. But, by that time the sun was playing hide and seek and grey clouding were crowding the sky from all directions!

I took the picture on my way up from the White Rock Beach. It was over cast by the time we left as you can see in the picture below. But, it was great day, refreshing and memorable!

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Eggless Molten Lava Chocolate Cake Recipe | How to Bake Eggless Molten Lava Chocolate Cake | Valentine Day Recipes

Eggless Molten Lava Chocolate Cake #Recipe

Eggless Molten Lava Chocolate Cake is a perfect dessert to please your valentine. A warm chocolate cake that oozes chocolate lava - ah, pure bliss.

February is associated with love often and why not when Valentine's day falls in this month. We are not valentines-day-kind-couple and do not fuss over it too much. The only thing I like to do on this day is to bake a special cake. When it comes to cakes, DH, who is otherwise an ardent chocoholic, loves vanilla flavoured ones and I prefer chocolate! So, I am still in a dilemma what to make but I have my eyes on this one, maybe I can combine vanilla and chocolate in one!

I made this molten lava cake a few days back when I was craving for a chocolatey dessert. Paired with a scoop of vanilla, it was awesome. If you want to make something simple yet delicious, try this simple recipe this Valentine's Day.

I first came across this recipe while watching Master Chef India. I didn't make a note of it at that time but later found the video on you-tube. I have tweaked the recipe a bit and have halved the recipe to yield 2 servings.

Eggless Molten Lava Chocolate Cake 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup All Purpose Flour / Maida
2 tbsp cocoa flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4cup yoghurt
1/4 sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup milk
3 tbsp chocolate chopped.
1/2 tsp vanilla extract.

Process:
1. Grease 2 ramekins and dust it with flour.
2. Sieve the flour. baking powder, baking soda and cocoa powder together and set aside.
3. Mix butter, sugar, yoghurt and vanilla extract, till well incorporated.
4. Now add the flour mixture into the butter mixture half at a time. Add milk and whisk to get a smooth batter.
5. Fill the ramekins a little less than half and place the chopped chocolates in the middle of the batter equally. Now cover it with the remaining batter, filling it a little lower than the brim. I still had some batter left and I poured it into a small greased ramekin.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 13-15 minutes.
7. After removing it from oven, wait for 10 minutes and let it cool, run a knife around the edges of the ramekins and invert it on a plate. Chocolate lava will ooze out! Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Note: 

Do not be too generous with chocolate, otherwise, you will end up with too much of lava and the cake will not come out of the ramekin. I had done that when I had baked it for the first time :-)!

 

Linking it to Srivalli's Chocolate Mela,  Vardhini's Sweet Love, Sizzling Tastebuds' Valentine Fest Served with love, Valentine day special at Annzcafe and Radhika's Lets Cook - Sweet Something

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Lucky Library Picks # 7

Today is Lucky Library Picks Friday and I am up with my Lucky Picks. As I already have a number of books to be read from the library, I didn't want to pick too many books again, even though I was very much tempted to.  So, I have picked up only one book, The Help by Katherine Stockett.

 Visit any book store these day, this book is promptly displayed everywhere. I have heard great reviews about it and hence couldn't help picking it up. I didn't see the movie only because, I wanted to read this book. I am really looking forward to it.

You can see other posts of this series here.

Forgetfulness Episodes

Yes, I do tend to forget a lot these days. And mind you, I am not really that OLD when you can start associating forgetfulness with age. Let me tell you a few of my forgetfulness episodes and do tell me if you have faced similar situations.

The other day I came home and switched on my bedroom light and realized that the bulb has fused. I made a mental note to go downstairs and buy one immediately (We live in an area where the supermarkets are just walking distance). Then I went to the living room, read a book for a while and then headed to the kitchen. I was so engrossed in cooking that I forgot all about the bulb. It was only when DH came home (quite late), I realized I had forgotten about the bulb. Anyway, I thought I would buy one first thing in the morning. That didn't happen. The day passed and towards the evening, I went to the supermarket ONLY to buy the BULB. I browsed stuff, checked what is on offer and bought a number of things. I came back home and when I entered the bedroom, I realized I didn't buy the BULB but had bought a number of things I didn't need immediately. Yeah! that's me! I went to buy something but came back with a set of things but NOT the thing I went for in first place.

Needless to say, I went again to buy THAT bulb and I made a point to make a list of things to buy on paper before heading  out to the store.

Well, these episodes didn't end here. One fine day, the bulb in my kitchen gave away. I don't know what it is with bulbs in my house these days. But, this time I made a list of things to buy and jotted them in my little diary. I went to the supermarket and bought things, but I FORGOT to check my diary and came back without the BULB. Now that is heights of forgetfulness! Well, the bulb episodes, for now, have ended here as no other BULB has given away after that. But, my forgetfulness episodes doesn't end here. I keep forgetting what DH asks me to do every now and then. And of course, he accuses me, that I forget things he asks me to do but not the ones I want to do, like reading a book. 

Sometimes back, he asked me to fill in a bank slip for rent payment. He had been very busy with his office work at that time and so I was more than happy to do my bit, to help him manage time. I usually keep a some extra bank slips at home, but that day I couldn't find where I had kept them. I decided I would pick one from the bank on my way to work (I work voluntarily for a charity) and since the day was bright and sunny, I decided not to take a bus, but to have a nice walk to my workplace.

The day was bright and the air was cool and I was happy because of the nice weather. I loved the soothing breeze and walked briskly towards my destination. I walked past the church, the canal, the BANK, grafton street and reached my workplace well in time. The day passed and it was by 3.30 in the afternoon, I realized I didn't take the slip from the bank. I promptly called it a day and headed for the bank. On the way, I remembered that I didn't have fresh coriander at home and decided to buy it from the Desi shop opposite the bank, after picking up the slip. The banks here on particular days closes as early as 4 pm, so, I had to hurry. Well, I reached in time, just 5 minutes before the closing time and did my little work. Relief washed over me and happily I headed for home.

Only when I reached home, I realized I didn't stop by the Desi shop. I have a crazy habit of adding coriander leaves to everything I cook. I cringed at the thought of heading out again and almost shouted - Stop Forgetting, but not with a happy face as below!

For all who would advise me to have almonds in the morning, I must tell you, I have already started!

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers

Creamy Mint Dip for Blog Hop Wednesdays and Forgetfulness Episodes

Yesterday started with a bang and I realized it was Wednesday and not just any other Wednesday but a Blog Hop Wednesday. Usually, I compose the blog hop post well in advance, but today I was almost caught off guard. Really, for no reason I can fathom, I suddenly realized that I have not been keeping a track of what day it is? Even after I had scheduled this post for Tuesday! Well the forgetfulness episodes is not just about this but about all the other 101 things I keep forgetting everyday and particularly those things DH categorically asks me to do. 

First thing first. So, when I realized it was blog hop Wednesday, I headed off to my assigned blog (which I have visited a couple of time the past week and have read almost all her posts). But, now I was looking for something that can be prepared in a jiffy. I had already bookmarked this, this and this. Then I had thought of this, but then I didn't have the said biscuit at home. So, finally I zeroed on this recipe as it was the quickest thing possible. I whipped it up, clicked a few pics, kept the dip in the fridge and headed straight to the already appointed engagements of the day. I came back home a little late than planned and was literally starving. This dip and the tortilla chips came to my rescue and in no time, I finished off the bowl clean.

Recipe Source: Pink's Recipe Diary

Ingredients:

Greek Yogurt 150 ml

3-4 Mint leaves finely chopped

Salt and sugar to taste

Chili flakes to taste

Note: I have used Greek Yogurt here which is thick and creamy. Instead, you can use hung curd, prepared by spreading the yogurt over muslin cloth lined over a sieve and letting the whey from the yogurt drain away.

Process: 

Add everything in bowl and mix well. The dip is ready to serve. 

I had it with lightly salted Tortilla Chips. 

As Pinky puts it, It is a very versatile dip and can be used to spread it on sandwich and I am going to try that soon.  

Do check what other blog hoppers are up with.

I will chronicle my forgetfulness episodes in the next post as it I have ranted a lot here already. Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!