Night and Day

So here's the finished bottle!
It's titled 'Night and Day'
Done with acrylic paints.

An unfinished project that I'd restarted about 2 months back (it's actually a really old project, started more than a year ago). Finally and very determinedly, got down to finishing it, so that it can sit downstairs, all pretty now.

 

The best way to get something done is to begin

On a daily basis, there are at least five things I feel I must start doing. Begin illustrating. Finish the bottle painting I'm doing at home. Make posters for home ( we even bought the frame). Make Tshirts for S. Sell vectors online. Make bags. Read more. So this is what I've decided to do.

Make a list.
Make a deadline.
Publish it online.
Follow it. (hmmm...)

Sounds simple enough, so here I go.

1) Make the three posters for home

frame sizes are as follows -
62 x 47.4 cm
60 x 45.5 cm
31.5 x 44.5 cm

Deadline - March 29 2013

2) Finish the bottle painting

 

it's just work in progress now, but it's gonna look fantastic when I'm done :D

Deadline - March 24 2013

3) Make T shirts

Make at least eight of them.
start by making one a day. On anything at all.

Deadline - 31st March 2013, because I don't know when it is needed by.

4) Illustrate a children's book

Themes to start with -
the owl and the pussycat
night and day
why vegetables are good for you
dog meet cat

Deadline - 30th April 2013

5) Saraswati painting

It's started.
It's been sketched.
It needs to be painted.

Deadline - 16th April 2013

That's enough proactive work for now I guess.
Progress of pending jobs will be updated ( with pictures hopefully)
till then! ta!

Felt!

Mommy got me felt sheets from her holiday :) so happy, because it's been something I've been looking for since more than TWO YEARS!!!! so here's what i started to make with it

That's some pink felt with some of the buttons and accessories I had picked when I was in Delhi (sigh...!)

Ribbons, threads and glittery string all out. (Ammo stocked)

The owl cut-out ready.

The owl with my precious intricate buttons

Finally done - An owl and a happy pinkola. Yay! more felt to come

Mushroom in white sauce with garlic basil rice

So, S requests me to make my famous vegetables in white sauce ( It's very popular with both of us, my cat however prefers her food) and I'm more that happy to make it. I'm not a great one to follow recipes to the T, I usually end up changing it on will/ weather/ powercuts/ pets/ hunger pangs... well, I think you get the idea. So here's what i do - check and see what vegetables I have at home + some white button mushrooms( because i bought them yesterday)

 















*Saute-ed vegetables:
Mushrooms( each chopped into 8 pieces like a pie) 
Garlic(chopped super finely)
fresh Basil leaves (roughly chopped)
Salt - to taste
 
On a heated pan pour the olive oil. add chopped garlic and saute till it turns golden brown.

Add the mushrooms.

Cook till the water it leaves starts to evaporate.

Set aside to add to the white sauce.

My basic white sauce recipe:

Ingredients

Flour (maida) - 1 tsp

Butter cube - 1x1 inch 

Milk - 1/2 liter 

Pepper 1/2 - 3/4th ground (I add it only because I'm not a huge fan of a bland white sauce)

Salt - to taste.

(optional - fresh cream about 3-4 tbsp)

Directions

Put a non-stick pan on a medium flame on the stove. Melt the butter on it.

Add the flour. Stir and mix so that there are no lumps

Add milk while stirring continuously (so that it doesn't get lumpy, though if it does you can squash the lumpy bits with a fork)

Add the salt and pepper. keep simmering the sauce on a low flame to get a well cooked creamy tasting sauce.

Finally add the *sauteed vegetables and cook for about 5 minutes.

(A personal peeve- I NEED to colour balance food - so added some chopped red peppers to brighten the sauce :) )

Here's for the Basil Garlic Rice:
(BTW, Its 'Basil Garlic' because that is what i had at home. You can feel free to experiment with other fresh herbs. Because butter and garlic does the trick)

Basil fresh (chopped)
Garlic (chopped finely)
Olive oil ( 2 Tbsp)
Butter ( 1 x 1 inch cube)
Yellow Pepper (chopped into half inch squares)
Rice (cooked)
Salt (to taste)

saute the chopped garlic in the heated pan with butter and olive oil 
When garlic is brownish add basil and chopped peppers

Saute well and add the rice + salt.

Voila! All done! yay!
Have a nice meal. If you try making it, do let me know how it turns out

Meeting Deadlines

Finally done. For once putting up a deadline has worked. By the end of October 2012 HAD to get the blog going. 31st October and here it is. My blog. :) Cheers! ( well, just another excuse to uncork the wine)