Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Mission Mars ...


~ India's First Mars Mission~

Today is the red letter day or Red planet day  for India. 
India's Mars Orbitter Mission (MOM) successfully entered 
the Mars orbit this morning at 7:41am IST ,making my country
 become the first Asian nation to reach the red planet. The 
special orbiter craft called Mangalyaan (the Sanskrit word for
 Mars vehicle) is till date the cheapest interplanetary ever 
at about $75 million. Our Prime Minster Mr Narendra Modi 
congratulated the space research ISRO scientists stating that
 he had complete confidence over their hard work after all 
"MOM would never disappoint". Today is surely a moment 
of pride of all of us !! 

MOM enters Martian Orbit 



Since morning my daughter and I had been over excited, we 
switched on the television set right at dawn. Her eyes and attention
 were glued to the screen even while getting ready for school , I'm glad 
I had been following the MOM updates quite keenly owing to which 
I was able to answer  hundreds of questions pouring out off and 
on till shes was finally off to school. 



I decided to add some fun and celebrate the successful mission 
the Little Food Junction way........With watermelon , oranges ,
 a few seasonal veggies and some star shaped crisps in hand 
I loved playing with food !!! The fruit plate is all ready and set on 
the table, just waiting for my little pilot to be back from school 
and let the non nom begin !! 


"MOM "- we love you !! 


Watermelon, carrot , radish , orange, star crisps and tiny 
cheese circles



Back from school - daughter thoroughly enjoyed the fruit art !!  
I had to request her to pose for some pics before gulping down the 
 spaceship, sun , tiny planets and stars. Indeed a  day well spent !! 




Friday, September 19, 2014

Pirate day


~Pirate on my plate~

" Ahoy Matey , yer on a blog dedicated t' food art
T' mark this 'Talk like a pirate day' make a yummy
sandwich t' yer sprogs ...."

My little one and I have a deep affection towards sea, the
 lively underwater creatures, sparkling dusky sand and tides. 
We can spend hours and hours at the beach just watching the 
ebb and flow of the surging waves and collecting gorgeous
 sea shells or spending our day on the adventurous  rides of ferry 
and catamarans  ripping through  boisterous winds and waves .
Often the strong winds and the hustle bustle during these
 trips makes us think about the lives and adventures of 
the pirates !! 

 YO HO Lets GO !!!!!


Pirate- Bread topped with red pepper cap with cheese polkas
( use a piece of straw to make perfect tiny circles),organic radish 
green, olives, cucumber, carrot and capsicum . Parrot- Kiwi, olive 
and bell pepper. 


 Very few of us are aware that International  Talk like a pirate
 Day is celebrated on September 19th every year. Lil one
 is a great fan of Jack and the neverland pirates, a Disney 
animation series based on the famous book and play by British
author J.M. Barrie thus a pirate theme lunch was perfect 
to mark the occasion. With a big smile and acting like Jake,  she 
lifted the plated and said "Yo ho lets go"...and I in an equal happy
Cubby's tone just said "Oh Coconuts". 

  
Boat appetizers - scooped tomatoes filled with seasoned sprouts
 and some green chutney ,topped with tiny bell pepper  masts and placed
 on a bed of shredded purple cabbage. 
   





Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Preserve Ozone Day


~World Ozone Day ~

The International Day for the Preservation of Ozone layer
 is celebrated on 16th of September each year. This date has
 been designated by the United Nations General Assembly to 
commemorate the signing of the protocol on substances that
 deplete the ozone layer. Few days back my lil one and I 
were working on a Save the Ozone project for her school, while 
explaining her how the ozone layer protects us from the harmful
 UV radiation from the sun and how we can save our planet 
we thought about doing some weekend activities. We scribbled
out some ideas and finally lil one made an informative poster. 

Today on the Preservation of Ozone layer day I decided to 
transform her poster into an edible version. 

Save the Ozone layer 


Earth- Brown bread topped with mayo mixed with a drop 
of blue food color, greens ,cheese, olives ,carrot and bean. 
Sun - Orange with cheese, olive and cucumber.  



 We contribute to protect the ozone layer by keeping our 
air conditioner clean, walking for short distances, maintaining
 our shopping list to reduce the use  of vehicles,by buying energy
 saving bulbs and gadgets & taking care of our plants after all 
 each drop in an ocean counts 


Thursday, September 4, 2014

Red toadstools



~ The Little Red Toadstool  ~

Since my childhood days I had an unusual  fascination 
towards the bright red  toadstools with hovering butterflies .
The stories of toadstools  as goblin houses and butterflies as their
 guardian angels  always enchanted me, thus year after year during 
the rainy season when other kids were busy making origami paper boats
or catching dragonflies  I would quietly sneak out and wander all over 
my aunt's huge garden to find a glimpse of these red booties. 



Watermelon, cheese (use a bottle cap for circles), cucumber, 
lettuce & mung sprouts

During lunch break at school, my eyes would eagerly search for the same-
 in the school field, garden , the damp corners of the old pathways.....
..but the truth was that lady luck  never happened to be by my side during 
these toadstool hunts .I could spot dozens of butterflies but not even a single
colorful toadstool. 


For days and days I spent much of spare time in the
 library till I came to know that these red Fly Agarics are not found  in the 
plains. The rains on  plains are synonymous to just slender white capped 
delicate mushrooms or some smelly rugged medium sized toadstools which 
are absolutely incapable of attracting butterflies !!


My fascination towards these crimson beauties now knew its boundaries!! 
I couldn't find these in plains ,but being a creative addict I could always 
create some toadstool & butterfly charisma around me. Thus while
 working over fun ideas for my book Fun Food for Fussy Little Eaters
 an edible version was bound to happen. You can find a similar 
version of watermelon toadstool with a fruity butterfly in the book too. 


Few days back I made a tiny DIY recycled art toadstool for my 
balcony garden. Just cut a plastic ball in half, painted with some red and
 white waterproof  acrylic colors and glued it to a small piece of scrap 
hose pipe. Of course these fake goblin homes do not attract any butterflies,
but a hanging planter with a butterfly mini stake surely pampers
 my childhood memories !!


Tribute to Tricolor
(an excerpt from Child magazine) 
I love to play with recipes,patterns and colors. Do check out my 
tribute to the tricolor in  Aug '14 issue of Child magazine (India) 
(pg. 70-71) . Easy to make, these delicious recipes are perfect to try 
out with your kiddos too !! 




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