decorating with letters

It all started with a drill…

It was, I assume, like a new toy to my husband. Any excuse was good enough to make yet another hole. As a result we ended up with nails protruding from the walls in weirdest places. Surprisingly enough, it inspired my search for DIY garlands. After all, hanging decorations are far better than spiky walls!

Plus, I couldn't wait to lay my hands on new crafty supplies I ordered from few online stores...

What I used:

Mdf letters

Pattern paper

Scissors

Mod Podge

Brush

3d liner

I traced letters onto the paper, cut it out and glued it carefully, adding top coat of Mod Podge

I finished each letter with 3d outline, for a neater look. 

In the end, I joined the letters with beaded thread (hot gluing to the back sides) and tassels at the bottom.

Easy, fast and pretty!

way around the cookie tin

Today Cat decided to ruthlessly wake me up, at the crack of dawn. When I first sat at my desk, the sun was just sleepily coming out. It turned out to be a great time to finish up some pending projects, and though my day will be punctuated by nap times (thank you Goa for your siestas!), I’m extremely glad to be back on my crafting horse…  

Unfortunately, for all the good things I can say about Goa, shopping for artsy supplies, even in capital of the state, is more of a sad joke than anything else. That’s why I often have to get creative and find my way around this problem. 

I’ve been wanting to give our cookie tin a little makeover. In one of the tutorials, someone suggested using acrylic paint. All I can say – you may, if you don’t intend to touch the can afterwards. Paint will just peel off nicely from the metal surface, as soon as it dries. Believe me, I know, I have tried and I have learned.

Spray paint is and obvious choice, but in the whole city I found only few, rather unappealing colors. Finally I managed to get hold of the black one, and, in my excitement, got a little carried away - spraying everything I could lay my hands on. 

Second problem was Mod Podge, or lack thereof. I read somewhere, that mixing Fevicol with water gives good results.
Yes and no. Diluting the glue makes it easy to spread evenly, it does dry transparent and even gives paper a bit of gloss. It also mixes nicely with paints. From the other hand, drying takes forever so paper or fabric may become wavy in the process, plus the finish isn’t perfect. It dulls plastic and metal surfaces and even on paper is a little rough. Overall, it’s good to know but even better when you don’t have to use it.

With that said, I decided to give it a go while decorating my tin (and few other boxes). It worked well on smaller surfaces, which I could cover with few strokes of brush, on the bigger one it started to dull the colors slightly. Keeping in mind approaching monsoon, and all the humidity it brings along, I decided to give my creations an extra coat of liquid wood polish – another ingenious invention. Dries for hours, but it made my paper decorations waterproof, or so I hope.

All in all, though it’s not as easy, it can be done without proper equipment!

P.S.

I used printouts from Fifi Lapin , Marina Dieul and Gil Elvgren

tackling the macaroon

I don’t know what I’ve been thinking when I decided to conquer macaroons. Considering the humidity and stupid, tiny oven with descriptive temperature settings (bake, keep warm etc…) this mission was destined to fail.  With that said, I’m rather pleased with the results.

But let’s start from the beginning…

Apparently macaroons are incredibly temperamental and full of attitude; and need careful preparation. 

 

Funnily enough, recipe is very easy:

100 grams of icing sugar

100 grams of caster sugar

100 grams of ground almonds

3 egg whites

Pinch of salt

And then the fun begins… Internet is overflowing with tips for foolproof macaroons. First of all, the ingredients have to be measured accurately. The icing sugar and ground almonds should be sieved to avoid lumps and egg whites are best when few days old – no idea why? Maybe they are less moody when they get older? Oh and the food coloring should be in paste or powdered form, liquid will make batter too runny.

Preparation, though seemingly easy, is full of traps.  

Almonds and icing sugar have to be well mixed together and set aside – that’s pretty straight forward.

Egg whites should be bitten with salt to soft picks. Then we add caster sugar, a little at the time, while whisking till the mass is nice and stiff. Then again, if it is over beaten, macaroons shells will be hollow.

In the end, almond mixture needs to be folded energetically into the egg whites – towards the inside. It should be thick and sticky. Over mixing will result in too runny batter, which creates all sorts of problems like cracked shells or absence of “crown” (little frill at the base of macaroon).

When the batter is ready, we pack it nicely into piping bag with round nozzle. Apparently the best surface to bake macaroons on is a silicon mat. After squeezing pretty little circles onto it, we tap it sharply onto kitchen counter to remove excess air and “fold in” sharp picks. Now macaroons have to rest, I’ve read, anywhere from 15-45 minutes, to create non sticky shell. 

Again, not letting them rest may create almost any macaroon problem you can imagine. Unfortunately humidity and high temperatures will do that too and I’m not sure if there is a way to work around it…

Finally it’s baking time. The temperature is crucial here. Mostly suggested is 12-18 minute baking in 120-160 (Celsius), but since every oven is different, you have to watch them closely. Macaroons should rise and spread slightly, while creating “crown” at the base, but shouldn’t brown. It is good to turn the baking tray half way through, to bake them evenly.

Oh and one more thing, they shouldn’t be removed from baking sheet before they cool down completely.

Now to the assembling… luckily that is much simpler task to tackle as they will taste and look great with nearly any filling. Unfortunately that's not the end. They have to  have few hours or whole night sleep in the fridge – this is the part making then chewy and full of flavor. 

I have to admit, I didn’t really follow most of these advices. I figured, since the climate is so macaroon unfriendly, its best to just mix and dump them in the oven. My last note on the subject is: what they lack in appearance, they make up in taste!

… and just in time for valentines too…

P.S.
I almost forgot... the filling!
I kind of improvised, but it turned out great. Its not too sweet so it balances macaroons nicely.

3 eggyokes
3 teaspoons of sugar
mascarpone (100-150g)
powdered coconut milk

Whisk egg yokes with sugar until creamy, mix in mascarpone and powdered coconut milk till nice and fluffy; and voilà!

coffee and croissant

Is there a better way to start a day than with coffee and croissant? Well yes, there is: with coffee, croissant and long forgotten book… and maybe Cat.

My obsession with inferior Indian tea resulted in long search for a perfect book explaining the phenomenon. I found one, shortly before the wedding, but soon the preparations and general hysteria took over, and my tea bible landed on a coffee table. I stumbled upon it during yet another organization fit, and here it is: waiting to be finished. 

So far I enjoyed it immensely, discovering many surprising facts, though I’m still waiting to learn about origin of milk tea! There was one anecdote about French aristocrat, who started this trend, worrying about tea’s influence on her precious china. But from what I’ve read so far, the habit died together with tea drinking, when France switched to coffee… The suspense is building up and I can’t wait to see how the story ends!

In the meantime I’m making macaroons – first time in my life! All I can say at this stage: macaroon makers don’t lie – these nasty little bastards are impossible!

to weekend or not to weekend...?

When we first moved to Goa, I was a little afraid that life will change into permanent holidays… and who would want that!
Surprisingly I manage to keep myself so busy that every weekend comes as a real reward. To make sure we are making a good use of our free time I even bought a book on this very subject – The wonderful weekend book – old British countryside type, quaint and charming.
While trying to learn how to “reclaim life’s simple pleasures” I came to the conclusion that we’ve mastered the concept already and have no problem indulging in everything Goa has to offer. 

Last weekend we even made and excursion towards Nasik, to attend festival held in one of the vineyards. While wine wasn’t the biggest attraction, though I enjoyed getting tipsy on sparkly Rosé, we had tons of fun with some friends and exceptional selection of music. I was never a fan of all these psychedelic transy music but I have to say Shpongle really made and impression. Of course Gypsy Allstars was everybody’s favorite - bunch of French guys, playing flamenco fusions with Rajasthani musicians. The idea might not be new, I remember similar concert in Delhi, not to mention Latcho drom – music documentary by Tony Gatlif, but it was, nonetheless, absolutely fantastic.

And so I’m sitting at my desk, remembering all the good weekend times, immersed in tedious job of internet flat hunting. I swear, I’m nearly crossed eyed from all the tiny floor plans and weird fonts… 

I do love our place, but unfortunately in this case “our” means rented. We got it into our heads that it’s time to have “our – our” place, and the search begun… It seemed exciting at first. All the ads sounded so dreamy! Old Portuguese villa in excellent condition… stuck behind village store, with no parking space or driveway; 3 bedroom apartment with valley view… with two bedrooms being converted balconies without proper roof; penthouse with a terrace… in a building nearly falling apart. Let’s just say that we’ve seen enough to understand what we got ourselves into. Plus there is one thing I simply can’t understand – even in the biggest apartments bathrooms are always the size of broom closet… why? Doesn’t anyone understand the importance of long bubble bath?
Long story short: this is how our, once wonderful, weekends are full of disappointments, dread and uncertainty, and I can’t help but wonder… are you there, somewhere…my dream house?