Christmas fruit cupcake

Easiest Christmas cupcakes ever!

I remember the first time I ever made a fruitcake for Christmas. I started it in the second week of November (I chopped all the dry fruits and let them steep in the alcohol for fifteen days) and baked it in the first week of December and I continued to cure it with alcohol twice a week until the day of Christmas.

Then came the Domestic Goddess Nigella Lawson herself with a super cheats recipe and I must tell you that, that was the cake I made for the past few years as it eliminated all the weeks of steeping and maturing the cake with alcohol. Now this meant I could bake this cake in the second week of December and get away with it without the fuss and the palaver of long elaborate steps and procedures.

Ah! But then I accidently stumbled upon this recipe on pintrest the other day and it claimed to do a lot more with so few ingredients and much lesser time. I got extremely intrigued and after much trial and error devised my own recipe that works every single time like a charm.

Looks so pretty! Makes great Christmas presents too

Now, this cake batter can be either baked into a traditional Christmas cake in a seven inch cake mold  or (if you are pressed for time and patience) into cupcakes. All you need to do to make this cake look pretty is some festive cupcake paper cases and a snowy dusting of icing sugar on top.

Don't forget the snowy icing sugar dusting!

This recipe calls for a kilogram bag of mixed and chopped dried fruits but if you can't find them then you can make your own by chopping and mixing some dried prunes, apricots, dates, cranberries, currants, sultanas, figs, raisins, blueberries, cherries and any other dried fruit you can find.

Also the stronger the espresso you use to make this coffee the better it tastes and the best I can find is the dark Italian roast espresso powder from Starbucks. If you wanted to incorporate booze element into your cake then instead of using two cups of espresso you can use a cup or espresso and a cup of rum or brandy.

Lastly, if you loved my cupcake paper cases and wondered where I bought mine from, I bought mine from Nilgiry's. My paper cases have stars and bells and holly berries and I think by using a festive paper case you are halfway through gift wrapping it if you decide to give these away as gifts - just place them in a transparent plastic bag and tie the open end with a gold ribbon.

Yes, these do make excellent Christmas gifts. If you are a vegetarian or vegan or non-alcoholic or diabetic or have friends who are vegetarians or vegans or non-alcoholics or diabetics then these make great Christmas gifts to give away or to have yourself for Christmas tea.

Finally, if you think you don't want to make this cake into cupcakes and want it to look traditional then you can pour the batter into greased and lined seven inch cake mold and bake in the pre-heated oven at 160C for about 40 minutes or till a cake tester inserted comes out clean.

Using a festive cupcake paper case makes it look extra special

Ingredients:
1 Kg mixed, chopped, dry fruits
2 cups (500ml) strong espresso
2 cups (250g) self-rising flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 bar (100g) dark chocolate
2 tablespoon icing sugar (optional)

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven at 160C and prepare the cupcake molds by placing the cupcake paper cases in each of them and set aside.
2. Place a heavy-bottom pan on low heat and tumble in the dry fruits and the espresso.
3. Stir till the mixture begins to smoke and take it off the heat. Stir once in a while so the dried fruits absorb some of the liquid and the mixture looks sludgy. Set aside to cool for a bit.
4. Add in the ground cinnamon and the self-rising flour and stir to incorporate and make a smooth batter. If you feel your cake batter is too thick, then add in a splash more of the espresso or milk and stir. 
5. Finally add in the chopped chocolate and stir to combine.
6. Spoon in the cake batter in to the cupcake cases almost to the top and bake in the middle rack for 20 minutes or till a cake tester inserted comes out clean.
7. Set aside till the cakes come to room temperature and just before serving, dust it with icing sugar for a festive indulgence.

A thing of beauty does for Christmas tea time.

If  you want to watch me bake the cupcakes then you can watch them on my YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQQyoEkIE3o

We can also be friends on Instagram @sriranjani_n

and also on twitter @Iamsriranjani

Make sure to tweet me the images of your Christmas cakes because I would love to look at them and drool.

Hot chocolate mix, White hot chocolate mix and spiced Darjeeling tea mix.

Ok the other day I had pulled to out my duvet in the middle of the night to stop my fingers and toes from freezing over. Bangalore is currently in a weather spell where it is cloudy and rainy because of the cyclones from Chennai and also chilly and cold as it is turning winter.

The city is slowly coming into itself. - Starbucks have brought out their Christmas seasonal drinks, Brigade road is getting its seasonal fairy lights and the malls are setting up their giant Christmas trees. Even though Christmas is nearly 5 weeks away I can't help feeling super excited for it.

I guess it is the cold that gets me in the good mood. I have always come across people complaining if it gets cloudy and rainy but I thrive in this weather. I am found pulling out my favourite sweatshirts, Christmas jumpers, my reindeer socks and my numerous scarves.

But I am also found with one other thing. Its always a large mug-full of my favourite warming, soothing, hot cuppa.

Hot chocolate

There can be nothing better than a cup of hot chocolate when you feel like your fingers have gone numb. And if you are the person who finds rain and cold irksome and depressing then the chocolate will help your mood. 

I agree you can buy perfectly good hot cocoa mix in the supermarkets today but my hot chocolate mix is pretty phenomenal and greatly festive. Considering it is the festival season I think it is ok to indulge too.

Ingredients:

Unsweetened cocoa powder

Sugar

70% Dark chocolate

Vanilla custard/ pudding mix

Mini marshmallows

Procedure:

Into a glass jar of your choice, add the cocoa powder till about a fifth of the jar is filled. Now add the sugar and Vanilla custard mix powder in the same quantity as the cocoa powder. Now break the dark chocolate into tiny pieces or cut it into shards and add till yet another fifth of the jar is covered. Finally add the marshmallows till the very top and seal with the lid.

To make the hot chocolate:

To serve one person, add about two tablespoons of the hot chocolate mixture into a pan (set aside the marshmallows for later) and add a small splash of milk at room temperature. Stir with a fork till there are no lumps and add about a cup full of milk. Set this on a low flame and stir till the chocolate has dissolved and the liquid is smoking and thickened.

Pour this into a mug of your choice and tumble in the marshmallows. If you are in the mood for it then add a swirl of whipped cream, more marshmallows and a sprinkling of chocolate chips on top.

White hot chocolate 

If you love dark hot chocolate or if you feel like you have had enough to last you a lifetime (which happens to me after I have had a large mug everyday for a week) then this is a delicious alternative. This pale, creamy white hot chocolate is nothing short of magnificence and equally delicious and flavourful as the dark hot chocolate above.

This too is just as simple and easy to make as the above recipe but with a small alteration in the ingredients.

Ingredients:

Sugar

Vanilla custard/ pudding mix

White chocolate

Mini marshmallows

Procedure:

Into a glass jar of your choice add a fourth of each of the above ingredients. Break the chocolate into tiny pieces or shards and seal with the lid.

To make the white hot chocolate:

To serve one person, add about two tablespoons of the white hot chocolate mixture into a pan (set aside the marshmallows for later) and add a small splash of milk at room temperature. Stir with a fork till there are no lumps and add about a cup full of milk. Set this on a low flame and stir till the chocolate has dissolved and the liquid is smoking and thickened.

Pour this into a mug of your choice and tumble in the marshmallows. If you are in the mood for it then add a swirl of whipped cream, more marshmallows and a fresh grating of nutmeg on top.

Spiced Darjeeling tea mix

If you are a tea addict like most of us Indians are, then you will be so glad this came into your life. It is spicy and so warming that it is almost like mulled wine. If you do want a splash of alcohol then you can add a generous slosh of rum into this drink and in the above ones as well to keep you going. I absolutely love this and this makes waking up in the morning so much easier.

Ingredients:

Darjeeling tea leaves (or chai leaves)

Sugar

4 tablespoons black pepper

4 tablespoons cumin seeds

1 long dried lemon grass

1 dried ginger root

6 green cardamom pods

1 stick of cinnamon

Procedure:

Into a glass jar of your choice add the tea leaves till a third of the jar is filled and add the sugar till another third of the jar is filled. Now add in the black peppercorns, the cumin seeds and the green cardamom pods. Break the cinnamon stick, dried lemon grass and dried ginger root into tiny pieces and add on top. Seal with the lid to store.

To make the spiced Darjeeling tea

To serve one person, add about two tablespoons of the tea mixture into a pan and add a small splash of water. Place this on medium flame and let it come to a boil. Now add a cup of milk, stir with a fork and simmer for about a minute or two till the milk has taken on the color and flavour of the tea and the spices. Strain the tea and pour it into a mug of your choice. 

If you are in the mood for it then add a swirl of whipped cream for a bit of an indulgence.

That being said you can watch me make these on YouTube and while you are at it subscribe to my channel and give the video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxFkjJVDG9w

If you try this you can take pictures and tag me in Instagram @sriranjani_n

We can also be friends on twitter @Iamsriranjani

Let me know in the comments if you try this and how you liked it because I am so curious.

October favorites

October has swiftly passed and it is now November! So for this blog post I thought I will talk about a few of the beauty products that I have used joyfully throughout last month and favored a lot over other products. But before I begin I want to apologia to you guys because I couldn't post this any sooner And I will tell you why in my next post.

Firstly I want to talk about this Original source shower gel.

Oh my god...! the fragrance of this product is beyond words to me. It reminds me of the lavender plant that I grew a couple of years ago. The fragrance is exactly so and makes me want to believe what is written on the bottle - "157 relaxing lavender flowers are packed." I just drizzle a bit of this product on my loofah to lather up and it does not make my skin dry. So considering how cold it is getting these days this is my essential shower product now.

This next product is amazing. It is the Body Shop's Vitamin E cream exfoliator

This product is in my favourite color baby pink and the exfoliating granules are so fine that frankly no matter what force and vigour you use it on your face your skin is safe. also this exfoliator is so moisturising that it is definitely my winter pick for the month.

The second product I have been enjoying throughout October is this tube of L'Oreal True Match BB Cream.

To begin with I am not a person who likes to put on a lot of makeup everyday. I like to keep it simple because I think I will loose my mind if I have to keep stressing about my make-up and touching it up everyday. Since we are finally able to get hold of BB creams in India now I must have tried many many varieties and found most of them super disappointing. Finally I found this in Health and Glow and boy I am so glad to have stumbled upon it. This product is definitely is not cakey and comes with SPF 30 so this product is a win-win for me.

The third product that I have been using above all others is my Playboy perfume.

Now I am not a person with playboy fetish or even the kind that dresses sexy and want to come across sultry and I am definitely not looking for a perfume that does that for me. But this perfume was on sale in the website I bought it from and it smells so great. Everytime I wear it my friends are always complimenting me and always asking what perfume I am wearing. There are a few varieties available in this range but mine is in the fragrance Play it lovely and it truly is lovely.

The next produce is my TIGI Bed Head Foxy Curls Hi Def Curls Spray.

This product is my absolute favorite for curly hair. This product and only this product seems to manage my frizzy curly mane. I have written a full review on this product in my previous post and if you want to read more about it you can definitely check that out here.

My last and definitely not the least pick is the Cotton Flower scented candle from Living Essence.

I want to tell you first of all that I have never seen of even sniffed cotton flower so I don't really know if the scent of this candle truly matches that of the cotton flower but I do know that this candle has the most unique and the most pleasant floral smell. I lit it throughout Diwali to keep the gunpowder smell off the crackers off my room and it worked. Also this candle burns so slow that it truly lasts for such a long time. And also look at the airtight bottle it comes in; so pretty...! I bought mine from Central and I highly recommend that you give it a sniff at the very least if not buy it next time you are there.

Let me know if you enjoyed the post and also comment below and let me know what you have been enjoying throughout this month because I want to go buy them and use them too.

I also happen to have a YouTube channel and you can click below if you want to check that out

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHciM8wE8UYy0tTiRWI9bTA

Also, we can be friends on Instagram @sriranjani_n 

You can also follow me on twitter: https://twitter.com/AtRanjus 

TIGI Bed Head Foxy Curls Hi-Def Curl Spray Review

If you are a girl with curly, frizz prone, dry hair then the TIGI Bed Head Foxy Curls Hi-Def curl spray is God sent for you.

The best hairspray for curly hair

I bought this from purplle.com (no... neither purplle.com nor TIGI are paying me for writing this review. Although, If anybody from purplle.com or TIGI is reading this then feel free to pay me.)

Packaging and appearance:
The product comes in a leak-proof plastic container with a spritzer attachment and hence I find it travel friendly. Also the bottle is such a pretty purple as you can see in the image above.

Product description behind the bottle:
Upgrade your curls to HD! Get highly defined frizz-free, separated curls. Spray in wet hair and style or in dry hair to touch up your curls. (This product definitely delivers what it says. It does make my hair frizz-free and also keeps it from tangling. And as promised this product does not make my curls clumpy and really does make my curls look bouncy and beautiful.)

Ingredients:
Water, Alcohol Denat (SD alcohol 40-B), Polyacrylate-22, Methacryloyl Ethyl Betane/Acrylates Copolymer, Parfum (fragrance), Quaternium-52, Methyl Gluceth-20, Polysorbate 20, Oleth-20, Isopropyl C12-15-Pareth-9 Carboxylate, Tetrasodium Edta, Panthenol, Citral, Citronellol, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool. (Wow... did not understand a word there even though I typed it for 15min now).

Price: Rs. 915 (as sold by purplle.com)

Quantity : 200ml/ 6.76fl. oz.

Before I give you a detailed explanation of how good this product feels on my hair let me first tell you about my hair. I have frizz prone curly hair myself and before this product came into my life I have faced some serious ridicule from friends and family about how bushy my mane was. If you ever had hair like this then you have probably experienced too that managing and maintaining any proper hairstyle is next to impossible. While all of my friends had beautiful shiny hair I used to feel like I constantly had bad-hair days throughout the year every year. (Ah....! I only just realized - this is probably why I keep blocking out most of my teenage memories.) But those days are behind me now.

When I first decided to buy this product I thought it was a bit pricy but I had chopped off all of the chemically straightened hair and was desperately looking for something to bring my hair back to health which could also tame my hair so I shelled the money out. Well, do I regret or still think it is pricy...? Absolutely not! I have been using this product since 3 months now and I wash my hair at least twice a week and you can see from the picture above how much is used up. The thing about this product is that a little goes a long way. I have mid length hair and just 4 spritz is all it takes. Even though on the bottle they say you can use it on both wet and dry hair I have only ever used it on wet hair. I spritz it on towel dry hair and work my fingers through to disperse the product throughout the length of my hair. Finally I scrunch my hair a bit to enhance my curls and I let my hair dry naturally and the curls into soft, light, silky, shiny curls.

And unlike most hair sprays this does not spray like a deodorant but spritzes small quantities like an expensive perfume which is perfect because you will not get it on your face or run the danger of spraying a bit too much. And speaking of perfume this product smells sweet (actually a bit too sweet) like Skittles (omg... if you haven't eaten skittles ever then please go buy it here as it is the best thing ever....!) I am personally not a fan of sweet scents but since I use only small amount of this product I find it is not too overwhelming.

There are a few other thing I want to mention about this product - firstly, the spray does not make my hair sticky or greasy, secondly, it does not weigh my hair down and make it feel like it is made of wires, thirdly, my curly are now shiny and healthier looking than they ever looked in my entire life.

Also if you are not a person with curly hair and want to curl your hair to make it more lively then this product is fantastic. My sister who has fairly straight hair tried this on her hair and tried to curl the lower half of her hair and she absolutely loved it. It gives a good hold on your curls and if you have long hair and sometimes feel that your curls are getting limp because of the weight of the hair then this is perfect for you as it keeps your curls lively, perky and bouncy.

So overall this product gets double thumbs up from me and I highly recommend that you buy it if you have curly hair looking to curl your hair.

Also if you want to check out my curls in action you can go through my Youtube channel and subscribe https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHciM8wE8UYy0tTiRWI9bTA/feed

Please share this review with any curly haired sister you might know so they can have great hair days too.

Finally guys this is my first product review and I hope you find it useful, If there is anything that I have forgotten to mention about then please ask for it in the comments section below
and I will definitely answer them all.

3 healthy snacks

I am a person who cannot hold with strict diets. In fact the very day I put myself into a diet I break it - absolutely no self-restraint at all. I must have tried just about all the different kinds of diet plans out there in an attempt to lose weight or stay healthy and I am sure I have failed to keep up with them all.

Now the only way I can eat healthy is by eating junk food in moderation and also I have managed to convert healthy fruits and vegetables into delicious snacks so that way I am not being over indulgent and I feel like I am eating almost right. 

Having said that, these days I find myself so busy that I hardly have time to hit the kitchen perky. So I tend to opt for food that can me made within moments and also the ingredients for which are almost always there in my pantry.

Yum yum

Cinnamon dusted apples

So without wasting much time I am going to talk about snack number 1 - I don't think you can ever come across an easier snack. It has two ingredients and takes less than two minutes to put together. Yeah... thats right!

There is nothing quite like crisp apples

Ingredients:

1 unwaxed apple

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method:

1. Chop the apple into quarters and chop each quarter into three wedges. Cut the core out and tumble the pieces onto a plate.
2. Sprinkle over the ground cinnamon and toss to mix.

I like to eat this when I am catching the re-run of Big Boss in the evening but you can eat it anytime you crave for something crispy (apples can be crispy when they are fresh) or if you want to jazz up boring fruits. 

Apple and cinnamon... Best Friends Forever!

Also you can replace the apples with ripe bananas or pears or peeled and chopped pineapples.

Toasted and flavored nuts

Nut are good for you. I always have a small packet of almonds in my bag to munch on to satisfy hunger pangs when I am on the go. Also the oil in the nuts is good for your skin, it is great for you hair and I find this particularly useful now that winter is kicking in and every part of your body needs hydration.

Flavored nuts=healthy snacks

Ingredients:

2 cups mixed nuts (I use equal quantities of cashew nuts, almonds, peanuts, walnuts and pistachios) 

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon muscovado sugar

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon dried mango powder

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Method:

1. Into a pan set over medium-low flame tumble in the nuts and dry roast them till they are just beginning to take on color. 
2. Now add in the rest of the ingredients and stir till the sugar and the butter have melted and each and every nut is coated evenly.
3. Take this off the heat and tumble into bowl.

Let this cool for a bit and you are ready to enjoy straight away or store in airtight containers. I used to take this to work to snack in the bus on my way back home.

What more can you ask for when the end result is sweet, spicy, tangy and salty?

Strawberry and chocolate popcorn

The smell of popcorn being made in your neighbors house is enough to make you crave for them. As a snack these are very easy and quick to make and also so healthy for you. But when they come in strawberry and chocolate flavor you have no excuse at all really.

Clever popcorn; fulfils your chocolate craving along with any craving you might have for salty crispy morsels

Ingredients:

4 tablespoon sunflower oil

1 teaspoon salt

A handful of popcorn  kernels

1 bar good white chocolate

1 bar good dark chocolate

1 teaspoon strawberry jello mix

Method:

1. Into a high-sided, heavy-bottom pan set over medium-low flame add in the oil, the salt and the popcorn kernels. Cover with a lid making sure there is a small steam escape and let the kernels pop. When the popping has almost subsided you know you are done. Take this off the heat and uncover.
2. Meanwhile, break the dark chocolate into a bowl and melt either in your microwave oven or on double boiler. Give the same treatment to the white chocolates as well.
3. Add the strawberry jello mix into the melted white chocolate and stir to dissolve. Pour this over the popcorn. Pour over too the melted dark chocolate and stir so that the pale white of the popcorn is speckled with the pink and brown of the chocolates.

A mountain of popcorn

Pour this into individual bowls and enjoy movie hour at home.

Comment down below and let me know what you think about this particular blog and do not forget to follow to be known about my next blogpost.

Now, you can also watch me make these snacks on my YouTube channel

http://youtu.be/x7zXGSmQ7ws

Also, when you make these snacks take pictures and tag me on instagram @sriranjani_n because I would love to watch you do them.

You can also follow me on twitter: https://twitter.com/AtRanjus 

Pesto Trapenese

This is my go to pasta sauce. I return to it from time to time because I almost always have all the ingredients needed for the pesto.

Is it too bad that I prefer this pesto over the green basil one?

You can use any pasta shape you want but I had a packet of fettuccine so thats what I went with.

Quick and easy pesto

Ingredients:
Half a packet pasta or your choice
3 ripe tomatoes
1/4 cup almonds
2 clove or garlic
A small handful of fresh basil
3 dried red chillies
50g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
125ml (1/2 cup) extra virgin olive oil
Salt to season the pasta cooking water
Half a loaf of baguette (optional)

Procedure:

1. Place a large pot of water on high flame and let the water boil vigorously. Season this water with plenty of salt and drop in the pasta. Stir once in a while and cook according to packet instructions or till the pasta is al-dente (cooked on the outside but the inside is a tiny bit uncooked; you need your pasta to be slightly undercooked because the pasta will continue to cook in its residual heat.)
2. Meanwhile, roughly chop the tomatoes and add it to the blender jar. Peel the garlic cloves and add them in too. Now break the red chilies and bung in along with the almonds and fresh basil. Cover and blitz till smooth.
3. Now hive off a small amount of the pasta cooking water and add a tiny splash of it into the tomato sauce. Pour over the olive oil too and blend again to emulsify the sauce.
4. Now drain the pasta and give it a toss or two. Tumble the pasta into a pan and add the sauce. Stir to coat each strand of pasta and add a splash more of the pasta cooking water if you pasta begins to get clumpy.
5. Strew more fresh basil and grate over as much cheese as you want. 

Always love a pasta dish when it is raining outside

Serve a generous amount of pasta onto each plate, grate over more cheese if you want and to mop up any bits of sauce from the place serve a few bits of bread on the side (this is optional) and eat.

I so enjoyed this. Truly yummy

Serves 4 greedy people.

You can also watch me cook the same on my youtube channel. Don't forget to subscribe and give the video a thumbs up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX9gGhCHoJc

You can also follow me on twitter
https://twitter.com/AtRanjus

Or on instagram
http://instagram.com/sriranjani_n

DIY gift wrapping idea (Starbucks mug)

I love gifts - giving them, receiving them, shopping for them, wrapping them, you name it....!

What with the birthday season (most of my family and friends are born between September to January so I refer to the colder months of the year as the Birthday season,) Halloween, Christmas and even New year just a few weeks away I thought this will be a neat idea. 

Have you ever experienced when you go out and buy an expensive gift for your loved ones and you spend just as much on wrappers, labels, tags and ribbons to make it look special? Well the idea I am proposing here will keep all of your pennys inside your pocket and give a great sense of achievement and pride when you are done. And also if the person hacks through the wrapper to get to the gift you will not feel as bad as you would otherwise feel because you have not shelled down any money at all.

It is my brother's birthday this month and he has been longing for a Starbuck mug since I was given a free tumbler by the store people (for being such a loyal customer and coffeeholic.) So I thought it would be a fun idea to gift him one.

Aw.. Just look at my brother in the centre... He is so pleased with his gift

Begin by purchasing a good size Starbucks mug and they will give the mug in a sturdy cardboard box. And when you are in the store deciding on which mug you should buy, get yourself a good pour over espresso (do not throw away the paper cup - bring it home with you.) Finally take advantage of the kindness of the staff of Starbucks and ask them if you can have few of their brown paper sheets. 

You will also need scissors, cellophane tape, a pen, a brown string and a couple of long golden strings.

Please forgive me.. I forgot to include the Starbucks brown paper (typical me...)

Step 1 : Finish you espresso in peace and cut the sleeve into two. Pry it off the mug gently; write a cute coffee quote on both and make a hole in a corner from the tip of your pen - keep it rustic.

The quote on the second half of the sleeve is from Justina Chen

Step 2 : Place the mug in the centre of the wrapping paper and stuff the ends in its mouth snugly.

I love this mug.. it gives such justice to the Starbucks logo

Step 3 : Tie the brown string around the wrapped mug and thread through one of the tags (I went with the second one) and tie again like you would tie your shoelace. Place this gently in the cardboard box. 

Look how the brown string is so shiny

Step 4 : Place the cardboard box on yet another Starbucks brown paper and wrap and secure with a cellophane tape.

I love the texture  and the print on the Starbucks brown paper 

Step 5 : Take a few long golden threads and twist them about to increase the thickness. Tie this golden string around the wrapped box and thread through the other half of the sleeve. Finally, tie the remaining bit of string like you would tie your shoelace and you are done.

Has brown on brown ever looked so pretty?

Give this to your favorite coffee lover and watch them unwrap and enjoy the smile on their face.

It was so satisfying to watch my brother try to carefully unwrap the present 

Go through the whole thing in black and white?

This effect came out so good - I couldn't resist it.

If you ever try this leave a comment below and let me know how yours came out and you can post a picture of you wrapped gift on my twitter account (#diywithranju). Also comment below and let me know if you eve did a similar DIY project.

You can also follow me on twitter at: https://twitter.com/AtRanjus
Also you can follow me on Instagram and Pinterest

The beginning and Tomato and Basil bruschetta

I have been thinking about starting this blog for a long while now and finally today I strictly told myself that I will not take my bum off my chair till I am done. So here goes...!

Ok to begin with, if you are not my friend already then you need to know this about me... I totally, totally, totally love cooking, eating, shopping (both for food and for my wardrobe,) make up, shoes, hairstyle, travelling and books...! And that is what you will get to read about in this blog - all of my favorite recipes, reviews of new and exciting restaurants and books, my seasonal beauty and clothing haul, look-book, travel-log and more.

I thought and thought about what my first blog should be about and finally decided that it should be this tomato and basil bruschetta because it screams about my love for all things Italian and also shows just how easy cooking and entertaining friends can be.

Tomato and basil bruschetta

This one right here is the first ever Italian dish I ever made. I absolutely love the ruby red of the tomatoes studded with the bright green of the fresh basil sitting on a golden bed of salty sourdough baguette.

I love the way you can even see tiny salt grains on the board

I love sourdough bread and it is definitely the healthier option. I bought all the Ingredients from www.foodesto.com and this is a website I highly recomend to any of you looking for online kitchen and pantry shopping (plus their customer service is excellent) but if you have a French loaf or Daily bread outlet nearby then you are sorted for bread and you should get fresh basil in any good supermarket. If you can't find fresh basil then you can go ahead and use the dried stuff but I can't promise you that it will be quite the same.

Tip - give the warm bread a rub with a piece of garlic to give it a garlic-y hum

Also this is awesome in the sense that you can do it ahead of time and set aside and season with salt and pepper just before serving to your guests. Also considering the fact that this is vegetarian and absolute low calorie food it makes an ideal food to serve to any guests you may have invited or any hunger or snack pangs you might get in between meals.

My favorite thing to eat and serve to friends

   

Well... below is the list of ingredients and procedure. Enjoy...!

What you will need:

1 sourdough baguette

1 clove garlic

4 ripe plum tomatoes (or any tomatoes that are not too sour but have a lot of flesh)

A small handful of fresh basil

100ml extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly cracked black pepper for seasoning

How to make it:

1. Cut the baguette diagonally into 1 inch slices and toast till golden on a griddle pan or a toaster.
2. Chop a clove of garlic in half and give each piece of toast with it to impart a warm garlic-y flavor.
3. Drizzle generously the extra-virgin olive oil to douze the bread in peppery flavor and set aside.
4. In the meantime, chop the tomatoes in half and using a spoon, scoop out the seeds within to avoid a soggy mess.
5. Chop the tomatoes roughly tear over some fresh basil. Give it a good toss to mix.
6. Pile the tomato and basil mixture as generously as possible onto the toast. 
7. Finally, season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper to season and serve away.

Serves 4 greedy people

Try this at home and please comment below to tell me how yours turned out.

Also you can see me make this recipe on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WqXhBgJSTg&feature=youtu.be

You can also follow me on twitter at: https://twitter.com/AtRanjus

Also you can follow me on Instagram and Pinterest

P.S. This post could never look as beautiful as it does without Nikita Suresh who clicked all these lovely pictures.