Bite Sized Candy Corn Biscuits

What I used:

All purpose flour : 1 1/2 cups
Unsalted butter : 1/2 cup
Sugar : 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract : 1 tsp
Salt : 1/8 tsp
Orange and yellow food colors : as needed

How I did:

• Heat oven tot 350 degrees F. 
• In large bowl beat butter with an electric or hand mixer on medium until smooth. Add sugar and beat until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Add vanilla and beat until combined.
• Sift flour and salt into the creamed butter and beat until combined, scraping down side of bowl occasionally.
• Divide the dough into three equal parts.  Fold in a few drops of orange color into one portion and knead the dough thoroughly until combined properly.  Repeat the same by adding yellow color to another portion of the dough. Leave one portion as it is.
• Take a small loaf pan or a small square bowl and line it up with plastic wrap.  The wrap should be extra sized than the bowl you are using which helps in taking out the dough from the bowl.  Take yellow colored dough and press and spread it evenly at the bottom of the bowl. Layer on the top with white colored and followed with orange colored dough.  Cover with the plastic wrap and refrigerate for about half an hour.
• Take out the dough from the bowl carefully, unwrap it and place it on the cutting board.  Cut the dough from the top into 1 cm slices.  Cut each slice into small triangles.  
• Arrange on a parchment paper covered baking sheet spacing evenly and bake for 15 to 20 minutes,depending on the size of the cookies, or until the edges are lightly browned.
• Remove from oven and cool on cookie sheet 5 minutes. Let the biscuits cool completely before storing.

Kharbooja Payasam (Cantaloupe Kheer)

What I used:

Cantaloupe : 1/2 (Peel the skin, cut into half, remove the seeds and grate)

Whole milk : 2 cups

Non fat milk powder : 1/2 cup

Sugar : as required

Cashews : a few for garnishing

How I did:

• Mix milk powder in milk in a saucepan and bring to boil stirring in bestween.
• Add sugar to the boiling milk and cook until all the sugar is melted and it comes to a boil stirring continuously.
• You can completely avoid milk powder and add 1 or 2 more tablespoons of sugar for the sweetness which it gives but the milk has to be boiled for quite a long time to thicken.
• Add grated cantaloupe and let boil for 2 more minuts.
• Switch off the stove and transfer to the serving dish.
• In a pan heat a little ghee and toss the cashews in it for a while.
• Sprinkle these cashews on to the payasam.
• Serve as a dessert.

Parsley Cumin Rice

What I used:

Cooked rice : 5 cups
Fresh parsley : 1 bunch (finely chopped)
Onion : 1/2 (slice thinly)
Cumin seeds : 2 tbsp
Cardamom : 6
Cloves : 6
Cinnamon : 1" stick
Black pepper seeds : 1/4 tsp
Ginger garlic paste : 1 tbsp
Green chillies : 7 to 8 (slit lengthwise)
Salt : as required
Oil : 2 to3 tbsp

How I did:

• Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan on medium high flame and add cloves, cinnamon, black pepper seeds, cardamom and cumin seeds.
• When the spices splutter, add green chillies and toss for a few seconds.
• Add chopped onions and ginger garlic paste and saute till the onions are nicely caramelized.
• Add finely chopped parsley and saute for two minutes.  Parsley takes very minimum time to cook.  
• When the parsley is cooked add rice and combine till all the ingredients are mixed well. 
• Sprinkle salt and stir till combined.  Cook for two minutes or so for the rice to absorb the flavours.
• Transfer the contents to a serving dish and serve hot with raita. 

Macaroni Fritters

What I used:

Any small shaped pasta : 1 cup (I used Estrellas - a star shaped)

Medium sized Potatoes : 2

Green chillies : 4 to 5 (finely chopped)

Onions : 1/2 (Chopped)

Bread crumbs : 1/2 cup
Grated cheese : 4 tbsp (Used for kids recipe. Picture below)

Chopped Coriander :  2 tbsp

Salt : as required

Coriander powder : 1 tsp

Oil : for deep frying

How I did:

• Boil pasta in water until soft.  Drain in a colander and run under cold water.
• Boil the potatoes, peel off the skin when cooled and mash them.
• Combine both pasta and mashed potatoes in a bowl.  Add chopped green chillies, chopped onions, chopped coriander, coriander powder and salt.  When preparing for kids just add grated cheese. Mix thoroughly until all the ingredients are combined properly. 
• Take bread crumbs in a bowl and keep ready.
• On a medium flame heat oil in a kadai.  Take a lemon sized mixture and using your palms make patties, roll them in the bread crumbs and drop one by one in the oil when it is sizzling hot.  At a time, you could fry about 5 to 7 fritters, depending on the size of the kadai used.
• Fry till they are turned golden brown color on the lower side then flip over the fritters to fry on the other sides.
• Best when served hot.  For a more healthier version, try shallow frying like cutlets instead of deep frying.

Torview and Harini of Tamalapaku passed on this beautiful award to me and I'm very thankful to them for choosing me.

I would like to pass on this award to the following blogger friends.

1. Sangi of Simply Delicious
2. Sandhya of Sandhya's Kitchen
3. Deesha of Vegetable Platter
4. Deepa of Cooking Blog Indexer
5. Gayathri of Gayathri's Cook Spot
6. Reshmi of Rookie Qookie
7. Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes
8. Aipi of US Masala
9. Satya of Super Yummy Recipes
10. Sailaja of Sailaja's Kitchen
11. Rachana of Veggie Fare
12. Padhu ofo Padhu's Kitchen
13. Paaka Shaale
14. Sarah Naveen of Vazhayila
15. Ramya of Veg Delicacies

Hey friends, grab this award and pass on to other blogger friends.

Oats Rawa Dosa

What I used:

Quick cooking oats : 2 cups
All purpose flour / Maida : 1 cup
Rice flour : 1 cup
Sooji : 1 cup
Salt : as required
Green chillies :  4 to 5 (Chopped finely)
Cumin seeds : 1 tbs
Water : 6 1/2 cups (approximately)
Oil : as required

How I did:

• Take maida, rice flour, sooji and quick cooking oats in a mixing bowl and mix water little by little without forming any lumps until you get the consistency of normal dosa batter. You could use a hand blender to mix the batter without any lumps. Let the batter rest for 15 mins to half hour.
• Add salt, chopped green chillies and cumin seeds and combine well. 
• Heat a non stick pan on medium high flame, grease some cooking oil to it.
• Reduce the flame to medium. Using a ladle or a cupe, pour the batter starting from the outer edge of the pan, covering the entire circumference in the form of a circle.  Fill the gaps in between, quickly and evenly.  Every time you pour the dosas, mix the batter thoroughly.
• Pour a tsp of oil or two on and around the dosa.
• Let cook for a minute and when it turns to golden color flip over.
• Cook for few more seconds and serve with any chutney.

Chocolate chip muffins with cake mix

I had this Pillsbury cake mix for quite a long time.  For some reason, I bought two packages of this and when I baked a cake with one of them, I felt the sugar content is very high in these cakes.  The second package was sitting in my pantry from then on.  Nowadays my elder son is in fond of chocolate muffins and very often he's been asking me to bake them.  I decided to use this cake mix to make some chocolate muffins and you know what, they turned out just yummilicious.

What I used:

Pillsbury Classic Yellow Cake mix : 1 package
Hershey's chocolate syrup : 2 tbs
Cocoa powder : 1/4 cup
All purpose flour : 4 tbs
Milk : 1 cup
Oil : 1/3 c
Eggs : 3
Baking powder : 1 tsp
Semisweet chocolate chips : 1/3 cup

How I did:

• Preheat your conventional oven to 350 deg F and prepare the muffin pan with liners or grease with some butter.
• In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients (cake mix, cocoa powder, baking powder and flour).
• In another mixing bowl beat eggs and add oil, milk, chocolate syrup.  Beat for a while just till blended.
• Incorporate the dry ingredients into this wet mixture and beat for two minutes.
• Fold in the chocolate chips and fill the mixture into the muffin pan until 2/3 level.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Serve warm.

French Vanilla Frappe

What I used:

French Vanilla Ice cream : 3 to 4 scoops
French Vanilla Cafe Coffee Powder : 4 to 5 tsps
Ice cubes : 1 cup
Milk : 1 to 1/2 cup
Sugar : 3 tsps or as required
Whipped cream : as required
Caramel syrup : as required

How I did:

• In a blender take ice cubes, ice cream, milk, sugar and french vanilla coffee powder and blend together until the ice cubes are crushed.
• Pour into serving glasses and top up with whipped cream and caramel syrup.

Cranberry Pickle

What I used:

Fresh Cranberries : 1 cup
Tamarind : 1 big marble sized (soak in a very little amount of water)
Red chilli powder :  tbsp
Salt : 1 tbsp
Mustard Powder : 1/2 tbsp
Oil : 3 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste : 1 tsp
Mustard seeds : 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds : 1/2 tsp
Urad dal : 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves : a few
Red chillies : 1 or 2 broken into bits
Fenugreek seeds : 1/2 tsp

How I did:

• Wash cranberries and pat them dry with a paper towel.
• Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a saucepan or kadai, add ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute.
• Add cranberries and soaked tamarind and cook for about 2 minutes.  They cook real fast.
• Switch off the stove and let cool for a while.  Mix in the red chilli powder, salt and mustard powder.
• Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan, do the tadka (fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, red chillies and curry leaves)
• When the seeds splutter, switch off and pour into the pickle.
• Mix thoroughly and let cool completely before storing in an air tight container. 

Almond Cookies

What I used:

All purpose flour (Maida) : 2 1/4 cup
Unsalted butter : 1 cup 
Sugar : 3/4 cup
Light brown sugar : 3/4 (firmly packed)
Eggs : 2
Almond extract : 1 1/2 tsp
Baking soda : 1 tsp
salt : 1/2 tsp
Sliced Almonds: : 1 cup or as required

Makes approx 40 cookies

How I did:

• Preheat oven to 350 deg F with rack in center of oven.  
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Alternatively you can grease with butter.
• In a mixing bowl, beat the butter until smooth and creamy with a hand mixer or an electric mixer.
• Add the white sugar and brown sugar and beat for atleast 2 minutes or till fluffy.
• Break the eggs and pour in.  Beat well and add the Almond extract.
• When combines, sieve in the flour along with baking soda and salt.
• Beat till all the ingredients are combined properly.
• Scoop a tablespoonful of batter and drop onto the baking sheet leaving about two inch space between each cookie.  Sprinkle almond slices on the cookie drops.
• Bake for about 10 to 11 minutes or until the edges turn to golden brown.
• Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 more minutes on the same baking sheet.  Remove and let cool completely before storing.
  

Jeedipappu Payasam (Kaju Kheer)

What I used:

Milk : 1 1/4 cup
Unsalted Cashews : 1/2 cup
Sugar : 1/3 cup
Non fat milk powder : 3 tbs
Water : 1 to 2 tbs
Sliced almonds : few
Ghee : 1 tsp

How I did:

• Soak cashews in water for an hour or more. Drain and grind them into smooth paste.
• Combine cashew paste and milk in a saucepan and bring it to boil stirring in between.
• Make a paste by dissolve milk powder in 1 or 2 tbs of water. Add sugar and milk powder paste to the boiling milk and cook until all the sugar is melted and it comes to a boil stirring continuously.
• You can completely avoid milk powder and add 1 or 2 more tablespoons of sugar for the sweetness which it gives but the milk has to be boiled for quite a long time to thicken.
• Switch off the stove and transfer to the serving dish.
• In a pan heat a little ghee and toss the almond slices in it for a while.
• Sprinkle these almond slices on to the payasam.
• Serve as a dessert.

Sending this recipe to "Celebrate Sweets - Kheer" event hosted by Ayeesha of Taste of Pearl City started by Nivedita.

Tomato Nilava Pachadi (Tomato Pickle)

What I used:

Tomatoes : 3 lbs
Tamarind : 1 lemon sized
Ginger garlic paste : 1 tbsp
Red Chilli Powder : 1/2 cup or as required
Salt : as required : 1/3 cup or as required
Mustard seeds powder : 1 tsp
Mustard seeds : 1 tsp
Cumin seeds : 1 tsp
Oil : 3/4 cup
Curry leaves : a few
Red chillies : 2  to 3 broken into bits
Asafoetida : a big pinch
Turmeric powder : 1/4 tsp

How I did:

• Wash tomatoes and wipe them dry. Chop them into medium sized cubes.
• Heat 4 tbs of oil in a kadai on medium flame, add chopped tomatoes, tamarind and turmeric powder to it.
• Cook covered until the tomatoes are completely cooked.  Add some salt and cook uncovered until all the water is evaporated and mixture starts leaving the kadai.  Switch off the stove.
• In a pan heat the rest of the oil and add the tadka (asafoetida, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, ginger garlic paste, curry leaves and red chillies)
• When the seeds splutter switch off the stove and pour into the tomato mixture.
• Mix thoroughly.  When the mixture is completely cooled, add red chilli powder, mustard powder and any salt if required.
• Store in an air tight container. Refrigerate for longer shelf life.

Sending this recipe to Nivedita's  "Complete My Thali( CMT ) - PICKLE" event started by Jagruti

Pesara Sunnundalu (Moong dal laddoo)

What I used:

Split green gram dal : 1 cup
Sugar : 3/4 cup
Ghee : 4 1/2 to 5 tbsp

How I did:

• Heat a heavy bottomed pan or any non-stick pan on medium flame and roast green gram dal till golden brown.
• When cooled grind them in a mixer grinder into a coarse powder.  Not too coarse, should resemble a fine powder but when you touch it, you must still feel the grain.
• Grind the sugar too into a fine powder.
• Sieve both the powders together into a large mixing bowl.  
• Fold in the ghee and with the help of your hands roll them into small lemon sized balls.  The gram and sugar powder mix can be made ahead and preserved.  Make laddoos whenever you want by adding ghee to it.
• Serve as a dessert or a snack.

Sending this recipe to "Only" Festive event started by Pari of Foodelicious and now hosted by Preeti of Khaugiri and also to "Celebrate Sweets - Laddoo" event started by Nivedita of Nivedita's Kitchen and hosted by Nithu of Nithu's Kitchen .  They all have a lovely space, do check their blogs.