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Saturday 18 August 2012

Powerscourt Gardens Pictures ~ For Saturday Snapshot

This week for Saturday Snapshot I am sharing a few pictures from our visit to Powerscourt Gardens last week. I will elaborate about the trip later, for now enjoy the pictures. I had shared a few pictures of Roses from the Rose Garden there for Wordless Wednesday. Do check them as well!

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books. It’s easy to participate – just post a picture that was taken by you, a friend, or a family member and add your link on Alyce’s site.


 On the way..
 Lake at the Italian Garden..
 Dolphin pond..
 Lovely Lotus!
Italian Garden

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!


Wednesday 15 August 2012

Wordless Wednesday ~ Roses!





Linking it to Wordless Wednesday

[From the Rose Garden at Powerscourt Gardens, Wicklow, Ireland]

Monday 13 August 2012

Growing Spring Onions On Your Window Sill - Easy and Economic



Growing Spring Onions on window sill is one of the many things I have got to know because of Pinterest.   
If you are not on Pinterest yet then you are missing quite a lot of fun ideas and things. Do join in.

Growing spring onions at home is easy, economical and the best part is you don't need anything fancy. Just a glass jar and water and good amount of sunshine.

I use spring onions quite often, be it for garnishing or in Indo Chinese dishes or in stir fries, I need it often. So, when I saw this simple trick of growing it at home, I decided to try it straight away. I am growing my own spring onion for quite some months now and I am absolutely delighted to see them grow. It comes in real handy when you need just a sprig for garnish dishes.
 
 Next time you buy spring onions make sure you do not throw the white root part away. All you have to do it take a glass, add half a cup of water, take the spring onion roots (snip off the green part completely, we just need the white part with the roots) and put them in the water.

 Make sure the water doesn't submerge it completely, the top ends need to get some air! Keep it on your window sill that gets good sunshine and watch it grow to its fully glory in just a week.
Add and change water is 2-3 days. Snip off the greens and keep the whites in water and it will grow again.

Note: I have realized that after 5-6 growth, the greens come out very thin. So, I usually discard them after 5-6 times and start over again with new roots.

Isn't that easy?

Do try it yourself and let me know how it works for you.

Do you have any other such tips? Will love to hear.

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!

Thursday 9 August 2012

Homemade Blueberry Jam


I am not really a jam person. There are only a few times when I actually had jam on toasted bread. I specially don't like the store bought jelly like set jams. No, they are not for me. The first time I actually liked having jam was when I bought a bottle of blueberry jam from IKEA. Since then I started enjoying it with Crepes, Scones and on Crispbreads.. But, I really never thought of making it at home.

Recently when I saw these berries on sale, I thought to try making jam at home. I have seen many fellow bloggers swearing how homemade jam is so much better and that one would never buy a bottle again, once they have tasted the homemade jam. I know now what they mean.


Home made jams are so much more flavorful and it is so easy to make them at home. But, one should be always cautious while storing them. Properly sterilized jars can increase their life and you can enjoy them longer. The lemon juice used in the recipe gives it a bit of tanginess in addition to helping it set. Lemon juice had a high pectin content which helps jams in setting.


Ingredients:

1 cup Blueberries, rinsed and dried
1/2 cup sugar (if you like your jam sweeter add more, up to another 1/2 cup)
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon rind

Process:

1. In a large deep pan, add the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest. Bring it to a boil.
2. In 5 minutes or so, the berries will burst and give out it juice and the mixture will become liquid. Turn the heat to medium.
3. Continue heating for another 10-12 minutes. The mixture will thicken. Heat for another 5 minutes if you like it thicker. It will get thicker as it cools.
4. Take it off heat and let it cool completely before storing it in a sterilized jar. It should keep well for month in refrigerator.


Enjoy it on toasts, pancakes, crepes, scones etc

Note: Using the same recipe you can make jam of any berries or mixed berry jam.

Linking it to Jagruti's Super Food~Super Power Event

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Tuesday 7 August 2012

Event Round Up ~ Cool Summer Sips


It has been quite a while since I announced the 'Cool Summer Sips' event and finally today I am up with the round up. I must admit that I didn't give this event the due attention. I was more prone to cough and cold this summer and hence didn't try out as many cool drinks I would have liked. My board for Cool Drinks on Pinterest is full of beautiful summer drinks that need to be tried. I guess there is still time for those.


Coming back to the round up, I have arranged the drinks mostly in chronological order. My event was all about cool drinks, so I have excluded the entries of ice creams. Enjoy this virtual display of cool drinks. Thank you very much for sending in your entries. 






















  


My contributions: Sweet Lime Soda 

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!