A Scary Detour Transformed To A Jaunt

Now a day it has become a necessity to go for a quotidian outing in every Saturday. And why not!! This time we are staying in such a place, if you buckle up yourself and drive for few miles east, west, south or north, you will be in some jaunty places. We have the Disney Parks in 20mnts driving distance, the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park, Sea world and Los Angeles in an hour or so driving distance. One could certainly imagine that when so many magnificent places are located around why one should not indulge him/herself to get spoilt in every weekend. So it is an indeterminate excogitation that every Saturday is the One-day tour day. Even it’s my pleasure to wake up early in the morning, prepare and pack the breakfast, lunch and snacks for the sashay. Our 3 year old would get ready in no time, pack her bag and prove her the most obedient girl of the world only for that day. And my hubby, who loves to sleep for late hours in the non-working days, would never get irritated to wake up early when a long drive or a tour is concerned. We spend the whole week deciding which place we are going to visit the coming Saturday and that gives us a great alleviation from our tiring days. Whether we go or not, plans are always geared up. Anyway now let me come to the fact for why I am here today.

Last Saturday we decided to visit San Diego Wild Animal Park, which is an hour driving distance from Irvine, where we stay right now. That day we started our journey little bit late when the sun was almost in the middle of the sky. When we reached the highway I-5 South, we got stuck in the sphere of huge traffic. The traffic was moving very slow. We were moving at 10-20ml/hr where the speed limit was 70ml/hr. It is rarely seen a traffic jam in the highways unless and until some mishap has taken place. But this time by god’s grace nothing ominous has happened. It’s just a rush of huge traffic. Everybody had come out in the same hour to take the advantage of the magnificent weather. None to blame. My daughter started growling as she never likes from her birth, the car moves slow. We were just wishing the traffic should get clear soon, our GPS indicated to take a detour due the severe traffic ahead. We got energised to get a way out from this traffic maze. We decided to detour, though we have to drive 30mints more than an hour. So we have taken HWY 74 (Ortega Hwy) towards Grand Avenue.

From the plain land we suddenly got in to the hilly road. There were only two lanes one for each direction. And in between the two lanes there were hardly a gap of a foot. The hilly curves were too sheer and made me scream in every turn. All the menacing thoughts started to crawl down my mind and I kept on muttering to my husband “Go Slow” just like the holy words. I was promising myself from the next time onwards I am not going to take any detour. We almost crossed two hills and suddenly we confronted to this majestic site.

We parked our car in a view point. We were not able to believe our eyes what we were watching. The heavenly beauty of the place filled out mind with a queer tranquilization. Our heart tried to inhale all the invigorated fresh air of the place. The spellbinding view whipped away all the fear and scare I was nurturing till of the route. We were feeling like to stand there for eternity. But our daughter’s call, who felt asleep when the car started to gear the speed, woke up us from this mesmerising horizon.

We again started our journey through the hilly road for 15mnts or so. But this time I forgot to panic. Both my husband and I kept on discussing about the unforgettable site we witnessed just before and thanking the GPS. That day we spent our whole day with an amazing beam of energy. The detour surely proved to us a bliss.

Information on Lake Elsinore:-

The lake we cherished from the hill top is Lake Elsinore. Little bit information is provided below.

“Lake Elsinore, originally Laguna Grande, is the largest natural freshwater lake in Southern California and is situated at the lowest point within the 750 square mile San Jacinto Watershed at the terminus of the San Jacinto River, where its headwaters are found on the western slopes of San Jacinto Peak with its North Fork, and Lake Hemet with its South Fork. Lake levels are healthy at 1,244 feet (above sea level) with a volume of 30,000 acre•ft (37,000 dam³)[3] that often fluctuate, although much has been done recently to prevent the lake from drying up, flooding, or becoming stagnant. At 1,255 feet, the lake would spill into the outflow channel on its northeastern shore, known properly as Temescal Wash, flowing northwest along I-15, which feeds Temescal Creek, which dumps into the Santa Ana River just northwest of the City of Corona. It then flows to Orange County, out to the Pacific Ocean just south of Huntington State Beach.

Lake Elsinore is bordered by the Elsinore Mountains to the west, which are a part of the larger Santa Ana Mountain Range, and receive snowfall a few days each year. Included in the Santa Ana Mountains is the Cleveland National Forest and El Cariso. Lake Elsinore is a part of the Temecula Valley and northern portions are also considered part of Temescal Canyon.”

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Elsinore,_California)

Lake Attraction:

“Lake Elsinore is ideal for motor boating, jet skiiing, waterskiing, wake boarding, kayaking and fishing. It boasts public beaches with picnic and shade features, plenty of safe easy-access parking, a three mile levee for hiking, nature watching and fishing (some areas restricted), and a tournament channel for professional ski instruction and club and pro competitions.”

Get more information HERE.

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Chocolate Marshmallow Slices

I bought a package of marshmallow since a long time. Though it’s not so long, I felt it had been a decade, as I almost forgot about the existence of the packet. Thanks to god that while cleaning my cupboard in the recent weeks, I found the untouched package and noticed the date about to expire. I bought it in thought of making homemade fondant roll. But somehow it didn’t turn out. This weekend I spent almost an hour in search of some nice recipes on marshmallow after my mind to save it from trashing off. I didn’t have the plan or energy to make fondant roll anymore, so I wanted some different and easy recipe to devour it. And then I found this Site and the recipe of Chocolate Marshmallow Slices. It is too easy to make and just tastes heaven. Each bite will give you a soft gooey chocolaty crunchy taste. The amalgamated combination of the chocolate, marshmallow and the nuts incorporated in a savoury sweet treat. Both my husband and my daughter (and me too) gobbled up it like crazy little children, same as our daughter. THis recipe is borrowed from Sheknows' Food & Recipes. Following is the recipe.

Chocolate Marshmallow Slices

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)
1 package miniature marshmallows (10&1/2 ounces)
1 cup finely chopped nuts

Method:

1. Melt butter and chocolate chips in a medium saucepan over low heat.

2. Stir constantly until both are well mixed.

3. Remove from heat; cool for five minutes. Stir in marshmallows and nuts. Do not allow marshmallows to melt.

4. Take a tray and spread a wax paper. On wax paper, pour the mixture and flatten. Gently roll the mixture using the wax paper but be careful not to roll the wax paper along with the mixture. Every time you roll take out the wax paper.

5. Refrigerate overnight. Cut the roll into slices. Though it is told to store in airtight container in cool, dry place, I reserved it in the refrigerator only.

Updating the post and sending it to the ongoing event of Kolkata Food Bloggers...

Information on Scallop

In my last post I shared the recipe of Spicy Baby Scallop. After that I realised that I should have mention few information about scallop. As many of us are hearing about scallop for the first time. I never knew what a scallop was, until I found many recipes on scallop in the restaurants and in the blogosphere, searched about it what exactly it was and then tried and tasted it in my kitchen. Here in USA, I am lucky enough to get the shelled and cleaned scallops in the seafood section. That is a blessing in other sense. If anyone browses the internet, he/she will get a bunch of information regarding Scallop. Here I tried to accumulate the illuminating parts of scallop in hope to help my readers a little bit to save their energy.  Mostly the information is taken from the net and the sources are attached below. All the photographs are taken from Googleimages.com.

History of Scallop:- 

“The great scallop gained great prestige during the medieval era. Pilgrims visiting the shrine of St. James in Spain began to use empty scallop shells for both eating and begging. The scallop and its shell quickly became a symbol of this magnificent shrine with people using them to decorate their doorways as well as their coats of arms. In honour of the shrine, they were called the shell of St. James, now best known by their translated French name of Coquille St. Jacques.”

(Source:http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=105)

What is a Scallop?

Ans: A scallop is a mollusk (Invertebrate having a soft unsegmented body usually enclosed in a shell), same as clams and oysters. They are found both in bay waters and in the sea. They do not attach themselves to a permanent anchorage, but move themselves through the water by opening and closing their shells. As a result, the muscle that controls the 'hinge' of the shell is much larger than that of oysters or clams.

Many scallops are highly prized as a food source. The brightly colored, fan-shaped shells of some scallops with their radiating fluted pattern are valued by shell collectors. The name ‘scallop’ is derived from the Old French escalope, which means ‘shell’.

“Like the true oysters (family Ostreidae), scallops have a central adductor muscle, and thus the inside of their shells has a characteristic central scar, marking the point of attachment for this muscle. The adductor muscle of scallops is larger and more developed than that of oysters, because they are active swimmers; scallops are in fact the only migratory bivalve. Their shell shape tends to be highly regular, recalling one archetypal form of a seashell, and because of this pleasing geometric shape, the scallop shell is a common decorative motif. They also possess eyes with a lens and retina, which are more complex compared to other bivalves. Scallops cannot resolve shapes, but can detect light and motion.”
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scallop)

What are the food values?

Ans: “ Scallops are actually a very good source of a very important nutrient for cardiovascular health, vitamin B12. In addition to their B12, scallops are a very good source of omega-3 fatty acids and a good source of magnesium and potassium, three other nutrients that provide significant benefits for the cardiovascular system. Omega-3 fats keep your blood flowing smoothly by preventing the formation of blood clots. Magnesium helps out by causing blood vessels to relax, thus helping to lower blood pressure while improving blood flow. Potassium helps to maintain normal blood pressure levels.”

The other benefits of in taking scallops are:-

i) A Nutrient Team for Better Cardiovascular Health.
ii) Increases Heart Rate Variability-A Measure of Heart Muscle Function.
iii) Protection against Fatal Heart Arrhythmia.
iv) Help Prevent and Control High Blood Pressure.
v) Protection against Stroke.
vi) Eating Fish Daily Provides Substantially More Protection against Heart Attack.
vi) Choose Broiled or Baked, but Not Fried Scallops to Reduce Risk of Atrial Fibrillation (Heart Arrhythmia).
vii) Protection Against Cancer and Protective against Colorectal Cancer.
viii) Highly Protective against Childhood Asthma.
ix) Protection against Alzheimer's and Age-related Cognitive Decline.

(Source:http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=105)

How to clean a scallop?

1.Open up the shell. Begin the shucking process by inserting a knife into the side of the shell to pry it open. Set one side of the shell aside.

2. Release the scallop from the shell. Carefully slide the knife under the meat of the scallop to remove it from the shell. The meat should slide out easily.
3. Transfer the scallop meat to the plate. Carefully move the scallop meat from the shell and set it on the plate.
4. Remove the dark meat. Discard the dark meat from the scallop, leaving the white flesh intact.
 5. Remove the muscle from the scallop. This small piece of flesh can be found near the edge of the scallop; carefully remove it from the main section before preparing your recipe.
6. Rinse the scallop. Gently rinse the scallop under cold water and set on small plate. Now the scallop is clean and ready for cooking .

(Source: http://www.ehow.com/how_2287427_clean-scallops.html)
Read more: HERE & HERE

How it can be prepared?

Scallops are a popular type of shellfish in both Eastern and Western cooking. They are characterized by having two types of meat in one shell: the adductor muscle, called "scallop" which is white and meaty, and the roe, called "coral", which is red or white and soft. Scallops are edible bivalves similar to oysters and clams. Thousands of recipes on scallops can be found in the net.

Tips for Preparing Scallops:

1. Wash thoroughly the scallops under cold water .

2. Scallops have a strong wild smell. To avoid it marinate and cook with flavoured spices.
 3. Scallops should only be cooked for a few minutes since exposure to too much heat will cause them to become tough and fibrous.

All pictures are taken from Googleimages.com.

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Spicy Baby Scallops

Being totally fagged out cooking of Catfish, Salmon, Prawns, Tilapia and Chicken I thought of trying out a new taste. Bought scallops for the first time and cooked in stir fried-Chinese style along with all the veggies and sauces. But it didn’t turn up that much tasty as the wild smell of the scallops somehow prevailed in to the whole dish and made us chuck down the food. Both my hubby and I decided not to try scallops for the second time. But again I bought scallops to take a last chance to give it a re-entry in my kitchen. I rendered it an indianised version and as I thought when I cooked the Spicy Baby Scallops, the plate was emptied in no time. It came out so tasty that now scallops are always welcome whenever we visit the fish market. Here is the recipe as follows:

Spicy Baby Scallops Ingredients:- Baby Scallops - 1 cup Potato - 1 medium size Onion - 1 medium size Garlic cloves- 2 - 3 Ginger – ½ inch long Tomato -1 medium size Green Chilli -1 Cumin seeds - ½ tea spoon Turmeric Powder - ½ tea spoon Coriander Powder - ½ tea spoon Cumin Powder - ½ tea spoon Chilli Powder- ¼ tea spoon Salt - As per your taste Sugar - As per your taste Oil - 3-4 table spoon Water - ½ cup Method:- Cut the Potato in to small cubes. Reserve. Paste the onion, tomato, ginger, garlic and the green chilli all together. Heat the oil and temper with the cumin seeds. Add the onion paste when the seeds start to splatter. Keep on frying till the oil starts to separate and the whole paste turns deep brown. Add all the other ingredients except the scallops and the potato. Add water sauté all together nicely in to a smooth, colourful paste. Add the potatoes and cook with a lid on till the potatoes get half tender. Add the scallops then and cook till the potatoes get fully cooked and the juice evaporates. (NB: if you feel more water is needed while cooking you can add as per your measurement.) Serve hot with Rice or Roti or bread.

Find out more information on Scallop- HERE ....

How to get rid of a Burning Yellow Stain from your Microwave

Last Sunday when my day started in exultation, it gleamed off to a galling fortuity. That Sunday morning was too lustrous for me as I resumed my blog again. My Husband was occupied in his prolonged last hours nap. My daughter woke up early, had her breakfast and we both were about to start our dance practice. Before that, to come down my hungry appetite I put the Ready-to-eat Chow-Mein to the microwave and joined my daughter to tap the floor. The music was on, my heart was floating in a kind of glee and my daughter was as usual in her gaiety mood. Suddenly my great redolent power froze me and the fume from the microwave made me stuck dumb for few seconds. I gathered all my intelligence and in a quick jump turn off the microwave. A burning smell almost clogged my breath. I locked my daughter in the bedroom with my husband. Opened all the possible way outs to get rid of the reek and to avoid the smoke alarm on. Covered my face with a towel and with a pounding heart opened the door of the microwave and found the charred plastic container. It didn’t take a second more to reveal what bungled mistake I had done. I had forgotten to add water to the Chow-Mein. Hapless I was just got the final shock when I stared into the Microwave. Somebody had just changed the white body into a yellow tarnish. We live in a rented house along with a furnished kitchen and the rental clauses say to leave the house before departure just as same we found while entering. The first dismaying thought crashed my mind with an outlay of around $300-400. The second thought came of getting a berating about my carelessness form my husband. Just on the verge of a sinking soul and ready to flow tears I started to scrub the yellow stain. All my efforts just went in vein when the firm stain didn’t lighten up a little. Without wasting more time and effort I sat down with my Laptop and started searching for the solution in the net. I felt relaxed that I was not the only execrable lady to bawl out. I found almost a handful of posting about burning plastic in the microwave and there were a handful of angels too who gave different solutions to get rid of the burning yellow stain from the microwave. So I started experimenting the solutions one by one.

Solution No 1:-

Scrub the stain with vinegar and water.

Result:-

Didn’t work.

Solution No 2:-

Scrub the stain with vinegar and baking soda.

Result:-

Didn’t work.

Solution No 3:-

Clean the stain with 100% bleach.

Result:-

I didn’t have Bleach at home. So not sure about the fact. But majority voted for the best result.

Solution No 4:-

Use Nail polish remover to scrub the stain. Always use white napkin each time you scrub.

Result:-

It did work. The stain just got vanished like a magic.

There were many more but I stopped my search here.

I am not so much fond of cosmetics. I hardly apply nail polishes and use removers. I bought one nail polish remover a year back in India and it did travel with me in this far away land, kept itself settled in a corner of a shelf without any notice all these months. But now it came like a saviour and emptied itself to save my poor soul from the dismay. Forgot to mention, while I was busy in staining off the parchedness, I felt a pat in my back and found my husband with an impish smile and a question mark in his face. I explained what happened in tears and to my surprise he just smiled and told me not to take too much tension, we would find out some solution. At that moment I just thought that I got the best husband of the world. Any way the little bottle of my nail polish remover saved me and showed me the path of the solution. It would be a great mistake if I would not praise my daughter. During this skirmish she didn’t disturb me for a second. She obeyed my each and every single word to my surprise.

5 days passed but still I can nose the burning smell. I got a solution to obviate the burning smell from the microwave. Put some Orange skin in water and microwave it for 5-6 minutes. It really worked well.
 

My husband arranged that day a delectable lunch in one of my favourite restaurants to celebrate my win over the tarnish. Whatever happened in between, the day started good and ended good. Truly said - All is well that ends well.

Checkerboard Cake

In my last post before I “Vanished”, I stated of sharing the Checkerboard Cake recipe. Now after almost three months I was able to share it with you all. Truly good that I kept a nexus to intertwine this big gap. Checkerboard Cake is very easy to make, only the trick is, you have to have the checkerboard cake baking set. I bought the set from Joann Store in a sell price of $7.00.The original price of it varies from $12-$16. I blindly followed the instructions as well as the recipe just given in the back of the package. The checkers of my cake didn’t come out that neat as in the picture it’s shown. I consider it OK for a first time experimenter.

Here is the instruction and recipe on the back of the package:

A piece of the Cake:-

The whole Cake:-

I decorated my Checkerboard cake with the Fondant roll. Here I am giving few designing tips about how to make Leaf, big and mini Rose flower.Only few things you have to keep in mind:

1. Always keep butter or shortening handy while decorating your cake with Fondant roll.

2. Keep the surface platform on which you will be working greased with butter or shortening for easy handling Fondant roll.

3. Always work with the approx amount of fondant what you exactly need. Fondant gets hard very soon. Therefore always keep the extra roll in an air tight container or a zip lock.

4. If you feel your Fondant has become hard, put it in to Kitchen Towel tissue and microwave it for 5-6 seconds. It you want more softness then heat it for a minute or so. Don’t over heat and be careful of burning your hands as fondant gets too hot if you over heat it.

5. To Colour your Fondant, always use toothpicks and add colour starting with a tip ting each at a time till you get the colour after your mind. In every colour addition make sure that you have mixed the colour well in the fondant. Use individual tooth pick for each colour.

How to make a leaf:-

Step 1:-

Make a ball.

Step 2:-

Flat it in a shape of a leaf.

Step 3 & 4:-

Take a tooth pick and give the impression of the veins.

Step 5:-

With a swift hand give the leaf a twist to look more lively.

 How to make a big Rose:-

Step 1:-

Make a ball.

Step 2:-

Flat it in a round shape .

Step 3:-

Fold it in half very softly, don't press it.

Step 4:-

Then from one side start roll it towards the other end. Do it very softly with out any press.

Step 5:-

Your Rose is ready.

How to make a mini Rose:-

Step 1:-

Make a small ball.

Step 2:-

Flat it in a round shape .

Step 3:-

Fold it in half very softly, don't press it.

Step 4:-

Then from one side start roll it towards the other end. Do it very softly with out any press.

Step 5:-

Your mini Rose is ready.

Once you start to play with the fondant you will feel that your creativity and different designing ideas are driving you crazy to give them a form. You can make different shapes of flowers, leaves, different shapes etc just using intelligence and the mere equipments. The cookie cutters work very well. You can also get lots of Fondant designing tools in the stores. You will also get a handful of designing tips on the net too.

Check out my other Fondant Cake HERE.

 

Back Again

Ah, a long gap......Last three months almost without any post is really a great gap. This is how time flies. You never know how time swings so fast and you keep on grudging that time is not moving. Every day before I retired to bed I used to visit my blog and my other fellow bloggers but I didn’t have enough time to leave a comment on each and everybody’s new post. Sometimes I like to enjoy this kind of hibernating state. Though I know there are hardly a few people who will look for me or think of me. But still this gives my heart a kind of peace to become inactive for a long time from the world which I cherish so much. On the other hand when you get a disruption it’s very difficult to set your mind to resume it again. That’s what happened to me. The first month I was really too busy to blog. The following next month I enjoyed my dormant state and this last month went by boosting myself to blog again. Today in this Sunday morning, when the regular weekend wakeup times are usually late, my sleep left me at 5.30am in the morning and made me too irritated to lay down with the opened eyes. It was too early to go for a walk, so I took my second love on my lap (my laptop), a frozen yoghurt and my mind automatically switched to engender my blog alive again. So friends, here I am once again. May be my comments missed your posts but I didn’t missed your posts. So please help me again with all your inspirational and encouraging feedbacks to walk with you all and your talents with my small world.

Happy Blogging!!!!

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Celebrated Daughter's Birthday with my Second Fondant and First Check Board Cake

From last few days I was so busy that I was not getting any time to sit and blog. Lot of personal stuffs have suddenly loaded me so much that all my free times are just been swiped to unavoidable assignments. Right now here are some snaps of my daughter's Birthday Cake which I made by my hand and also a gift from my part, to share with you all. The detail- how I made it will be following in the next post. Hopefully I would be able to post it soon. Just to keep by blog alive enjoy the post and don't forget to give your precious feedbacks. Happy Blogging.