Smile is the ones greatest asset, it costs you nothing and yet it increases your face value. It helps you feel better about your own self, it builds your confidence, thus making other believe in your better side. The person who smiles is better than the person who frowns.
[ Me with my candy smile ]
Smile is Hope
Smile is Joy
Smile is the reason of sparkle in our eyes
Smile spreads Love
Smile shows Peace
Smile gives us Courage
Smile fades away our blues
I instantly came up with this idea (of having this picture) when I saw three colorful lolly-pops over my kitchen's counter. The focus was on lolly-pops so to make my face look blurry in the back ground 'Aperture' was kept large.
I recently joined a summer course of digital photography for beginners. I wanted to have an experience that would help me know my camera well. The course is divided into six different sessions and with each session hand outs (related to respective topic i.e; still life, portrait, outdoor, indoor) are given. The most interesting part is the assignments that I have to prepare and show in the next class to my instructor Jill Pipkin She has been exhibiting her work since 1989 and currently she is teaching photography in santa clara. Each assignment has 5-8 snap shots that I arrange over a board, that is checked by Jill (my instructor) and she thoroughly critiques it. Its a knowledgeable experience and I am enjoying it a lot.
[ Me in my photography class ]
This is again the picture at "Mono Lake", which I described in my previous post. I am not familiar with this beautiful bird sitting on a "tufa" but this view certainly made my day :)
EXIF:
ISO: 100
Shutter speed: 0.002760 sec
Aperture: 6
This portrait was done at "Mono Lake in Mono County", California. The lake is famous for its strange looking tower like structures of limestone known as "tufas" (you can see few in the picture) and its extremely salty water.
The thick cumulus clouds in the blue sky and the dry place was making a perfect contrast. So, I asked my husband to pose for me this way (as shown in the pic) and I clicked it :)
EXIF:
ISO: 100
Shutter speed: 1/1000 sec
Aperture: 3.625
This weekend I visited "Yosemite". It's in California, USA. The place is well known for its natural beauty, granite cliffs (that shine in the moon light), water falls, streams and gigantic sequoia groves (humongous trees believed to be thousands of years old). I took this picture ,of my brother in law, on "Glacier point" on a granite cliff when sun was setting down. Lightening is all natural.
EXIF:
ISO: 200
F-number: 8
Shutter speed: 1/125 sec
It gets interesting when your husband enjoys a little bit of cooking and sometimes contributes too :D
I did the fritters;
Joined an oil painting course which promises to improve ones control over the brush. These days my instructor Tom Sparacino has assigned me to work on this painting. Scenery is a simple and easy start for the beginner and oil painting is easier to learn than water painting or acrylic, he told me. It's a fun place and a fun thing to do. It still needs lot of paint on it. See the out come of my only 2-3 classes. :)
Can't wait to see how it comes out. :)
This one happens to be my first ever oil painting in my whole life. I was in mood of making some design this way, using black color on red background. i did not have any proper control over the brush but i thought to give it a try. It's still incomplete but my husband liked it so much that he hung it over the wall in our room :D
i love it anyway :)
Its been many days that I posted nothing. So here's the recipe of my Lasagna. There are a total of 4 stages in making Lasagna. I'll explain them one by one :)
Stage 1 ingredients:
1. Lasagna strips
Stage 2 ingredients:
2. Mince (i used beef mince)
3.spring onions
4. Olive oil
5. Salt
6. Black pepper
7. White pepper
8. Chinese salt (Ajino motto)
9. Cumin seeds (its optional)
10. Garlic paste
Stage 3 ingredients:
11. All purpose flour (plain white flour)
12. Butter (unsalted)
13. Olive oil
14. Milk
15. Cheese (optional)
16. Salt
17. Black pepper
18: Red chilli flakes (optional)
Stage 4 ingredients:
19. Lots of grated Mozzarella cheese
20. Oregano seeds
21. Dry basil (optional)
22. Dry marjoram (optional)
23. Dry gran garlic (optional)
I used last three because it gives lasagna an authentic Italian taste. If you don't have it, never mind, oregano seeds are always a best option :)
Procedure:
1. We start with boiling Lasagna strips. Don't forget to put some drops of olive oil in it. Olive oil will not let the strips get stick to one another. You have to be a bit patient here because it take a little time while the strips completely boiled. :)
2. Starting with stage two ingredients, cook the mince in pan having warm olive oil and garlic paste in it. Cook it well n add the rest of the ingredients and in the end season it :) [ your filling is ready]
3. Take another pan. Pour some oil in it. when the oil is warm add butter in it. Let the butter melt. After it melts add 2-3 table spoons of white flour in. keep stirring. Pour milk in it (about a cup). Do not stop stirring. If you see the lumps in it then try to dissolve them. (Your flame should b slower at this point, because flour thickens the milk really quickly and if u notice your milk has thickened enough you can always add more milk in it). Add seasoning in it and the cheese in it. Its consistency should be like thick gravy/ sauce like. [ your white sauce is ready] :)
4. Take out the baking dish. Grease it. Spread lasagna strips in it one by one, until the base of the dish is covered. Now give a layer of mince then grated mozzarella cheese then white sauce then sprinkle oregano seeds. Keep on making as many layers as you can until the dish is loaded with the stuff. On the top sprinkle some more oregano seeds and grated cheese as well.
5. Bake it in 375 degrees (pre- heated oven) for 30-45 minutes.
NOTE:
When you are done baking, take the dish out and let it cool for half an hour before serving. If you serve it right away the melted cheese n white sauce will be all over the dish ruining the layers of lasagna strips. It gets really messy then.
When you allow your self to experience different things in your life, the results are amazing.Trust me, not for once you're disappointed in your self . You learn as you move on and you learn from everything.
Ever wondered of catching stars n galaxies??? I have and I did too but only with my camera :) It was fun to do. I tried to practice a technique, called "shutter zoom", over my night lamp and here's what I got
I honestly never thought of a galaxy in my own reach. Isn't it beautiful??!! :) My camera now happens to be my magic wand. yayyy :)
Yea yea it's life WITH kitchen :)))
Today was another blessed Saturday. So i thought of making something instant that should be delicious and tasteful. I came up with an idea of making my very own "ChicVeg Spagettiz". Take a look at my "ChicVeg Spagettiz" ... isn't it deeeelicioussss ??!! :)
INGREDIENTS:
1: Boiled spaghetti: Half a pack
2: Chicken boneless (cubes): 2 pounds/ 1 kg
3: Green bell peppers/ Capsicums: 1 mid sized (Julienne cut)
4: Spring Onion: 3-4 (sliced)
5: Garlic: 2-3 cloves (chopped)
6: Tomatoes: 1 1/2 (diced or julienne cut)7: Salt: 1 tea spoon (or whatever you like)
8: White pepper: pinch
9: Chinese salt/ Ajino motto: 1/2 teaspoon
10: Chili flakes: 1 teaspoon11: Black pepper: 1/2 tea spoon
12: Green chili: 1/2 of it
13: Soya sauce: 1 table spoon
14: White vinegar: 1 table spoon
15: Olive oil: 5-6 table spoon
PROCEDURE:
1: Take the oil in the pan, heat it a little then add the chopped garlic in it, just fry it fr seconds.
2: Add cubes of chicken in it (after a while chicken cubes will leave its water) let the chicken cook in its water n cover it for a while... when you uncover it, let the water dry.
3: Sprinkle black pepper n stir a little
4: Add veggies in the pan and mix them all well by stirring (note: veggies will leave its water too so cover the pan and let them soften a little)
5: Sprinkle all spices one by one n keep on stirring
6: After that add soya sauce n vinegar then mix once more
7: Add boiled spaghetti in the pan and mix everything very well (it takes a little time)
8: Dish them out n do the garnishing with green chili
HAPPY POINTS:
1: Chicken boneless cooks really quickly :)
2: You can add as many veggies in it as you love :)
3: There can be as many variations of it as you want :)
4: Try leaving Capsicums half cooked, you would love its crunchiness :)
BE CAREFUL:
Its a very HOT dish so handle the spices with your own choice.
ENJOY!!!
PICTURE EXIF:
Lens: 50mm
Focusing: Manual
Shutter speed: 1/8 sec.
Aperture: F/2.8
ISO: 100
Being a house wife gets boring sometimes. Round the clock, everyday, over n over again you're going through a same circle. you wake up in the morning, fix a breakfast, then (the toughest question of the day) "what to cook for the lunch???", after lunch (being a wife) you think about the dinner (automatically) "should i serve the same meal?? or should i serve this meal with some other side dish?? naww i think it wont be enough how about cooking another one??" while ideas are wildly roaming in your mind then suddenly you think "i should first do the dishes" then, "OK im done, now what???" you do the laundry (if needed), do vacuuming (if required), watch TV, spend some time on internet (chatting/surfing or whatever), making a list of things that you need to get on weekends ( i mean grocery n stuff), in short you do the things randomly without enumerating them.... whatever you think of doing. you start your day with an enthusiasm n by the end of the day its all gone because everything reminds you of the coming day (i said "remind" because you actually know what its gonna be like tomorrow ALREADY... today) when things keep on going this way... emergence of "boredom" comes n then this "boredom" changes into "indifference" n "indifference" changes into "numbness" n combining all of these feelings make you as "I DON'T CARE ANYMORE". you stay up late n if you sleep... you sleep for at least 12 hours a day, you care less for home chores, if you go out you don't want to come back(to your own home) n if u think of escaping from this routine nothing comes in you mind to do so. I was totally clueless of all these feelings till i, myself went through them. I don't want this "ANYMORE". I don't say being a house keeper is bad in any respect, NO!!! its a blessing... it really IS. what i say is... you should have some other stuff to color your own life with... something that may not make you feel that you went through the same circle again TODAY... something different and interesting... that when at night you're on your way to bed there is some inner satisfaction for what you did today... n for tomorrow when you wake up...you have your heart filled with complete zeal and zest. You are only given THIS life once, either you enjoy it or spend it like any other ordinary person whose life went into dark oblivion. you can be extraordinary in a very ordinary way. Nobody needs to be ANYBODY...all you need is to be YOURSELF.
Here i will be posting my activities that will make my day special or different InshaALLAH. There are many things i enjoy doing, some of em are:
CAMERA: I love doing photography (im new at it) , me n my husband share our love for this common hobby.
PAINT BRUSH: I used to fantasize myself as a good painter, though im not yet good (just a beginner) at it but i am doing it to be good.
PEN: I enjoy writing, this is exactly why I am here. I did a little poetry lately. It was good enough to make my husband really happy (as it was dedicated to him). It takes a little time to start as I don't usually do it on a regular basis and I am very possessive about the stuff I write. I may not share exactly what I wrote or I will write but i would love to share the theme/ subject of it.
KITCHEN: Ahhhhhhhhh !!! From kitchen comes the food, so i would love to share my kitchen activities :). yes, I feel im good at cooking. That is exactly my cup of tea ;) i do bake sometimes too (cakes / pizzas / cookies etc). "what to cook today" is kind of hardest question for me to answer but i hope once i start blogging over this subject it wont be boring n ambiguous anymore. InshaALLAH.
Other than this, I enjoy reading books. I have read Paulo Coelho, John Grisham, Stephen King, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Dan Brown, Nora Roberts, Agatha Christie, Emily Bronte, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Dr.John Gray, Dale Carnegie, Stephen R Covey . I know its astonishing to know that I haven't read any of Sidney Sheldon's or Danielle Steel's or J K Rowling's books. * grins *
I love traveling and i certainly enjoy it more along my husband. Im a big movie buff, I have watched uncountable movies. I don't mind if its a black n white movie or if its a latest release, what matters for me is story/ subject, direction, dialogues n sometimes cast of the movie.
So if you like cameras, paint brush, pen or kitchen, then follow my blog :)
DISCLAIMER: The conception of starting this blog is totally my own. If anybody, anywhere is following this tradition in the same pattern THAT IS MERELY A COINCIDENCE :)
[ Me with my candy smile ]
[ Me in my photography class ]
This is again the picture at "Mono Lake", which I described in my previous post. I am not familiar with this beautiful bird sitting on a "tufa" but this view certainly made my day :)
This weekend I visited "Yosemite". It's in California, USA. The place is well known for its natural beauty, granite cliffs (that shine in the moon light), water falls, streams and gigantic sequoia groves (humongous trees believed to be thousands of years old). I took this picture ,of my brother in law, on "Glacier point" on a granite cliff when sun was setting down. Lightening is all natural.
the rest of the ingredients were served separately: 
its pani whose main ingredient is tamarind;
and the filling off course; 
Can't wait to see how it comes out. :)
I honestly never thought of a galaxy in my own reach. Isn't it beautiful??!! :) My camera now happens to be my magic wand. yayyy :)
