Rendezvous with Mystic Self & Stroll through Blossoms @ Washington DC !!!!!!!!

With the onset of spring, as cherry blossoms bloom to their fullest, let the inner Self bloom to what it is meant to be and live happily ever after... ! It's a time for Rendezvous with the mystic Self for New Beginnings in life when we learn to surf in the sea with the waves and believe in the will of God to celebrate Life once again!!!!!!!!
On the podium of life, there are times to get perturbed when relations and things don't go as per the expectations and deeds. The unconditional love and bonds are swapped with ego and pride. It hurts for sure... ! The moments of sweet and sour memories flashes before misty eyes. Tears roll down the cheeks and make you numb... The clouds of love and hatred rush through the mind, and you do pause and wander what life is meant to be.....???

Perplexed by the array of complexities in life, you ponder if you could be ever happy again...???

It's a time for Rendezvous with the Mystic Self...!
It's a time to take a break and a time to Introspect ! 
A time to Believe in yourself and a time for Faith in some!

It's a time for Rendezvous with the Mystic Self...!

A time to Love the precious and a time to Bless few !
A time to Forgive  somethings and forget about others !
A time for Rendezvous with the mystic Self !!!!!!!!

A time to reveal Self and a time to be Happy again !
A time for the Self to bloom !
Yeah, It's a time for Rendezvous with the mystic Self !!!

A stroll through the serene beauty of around 3000 cherry blossom trees on the banks of Tidal Basin in Washington DC in the spring of 2013 gave me an opportunity to streak the darker side of life with hues of pinks and whites, thereby making a blooming self and family by dusk, as it was a time for Rendezvous with the Mystic Self...!


Here is a glimpse of circle of life, beauty and bliss... !

Beauty Blooms @ National Cherry Blossoms Festival, Washington DC, April 10, 2013

Bright Blossoms in Springtime @Washington D.C.

Captivating Glamor of 3000 Cherry Blossom Trees !!!

Rendezvous with Nature!

Warming up Mystic Self with Nature 

Fascinating Blossoms at banks of Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park, DC

At this moment , Thank God for all the bright sunny days we've ever seen, for all the rainy and snowy days we've ever enjoyed, for all twinkling stars at night, for all the beautiful mountains and lakes, for all the lovely weekends with family and friends, and all the dishes and desserts we relish every night...!

Thank you so much guys for being here  and your continued support, likes and comments !

Love One Another and Hug a tree on Earth Day !

Cheers, Mycreativeflavors

Let It Snow 'n' Let's Bake Corn Bread !!!

It's snowing.......... !
It's raining.................. !!!
It's has been snowing and raining for quite a while now........ !!!!!!

It seems like soft, fluffy, granular sugar, resonating with white pearls dropping from the blue skies.  And for a food blogger like me, snow looks more with a cotton candy and making up for the white days and nights ! After having snowflake lights and decorations around, it is actually swirling and whirling snow flakes !!!!! Yesterday morning I woke up and got completely mesmerised with the view outside my window. The dry bushes and woods were looking so photogenic with 'white lacy trees' and teeny tiny hills of snow and snow covered rooftops. The sun was shinning bright and its golden rays were making everything look more beautiful. The scenic beauty was pure bliss to the eyes and soul ......!

These flurries and snow showers kept us indoors for a really long time. So one day we thought of watching 'Disney on Ice'. It was so much fun to see the uber talented Disney characters spinning, singing and dancing on Ice.  My lil' Dennis actually bought a sledge and went for a slide in a nearby park and came out fully messed up tossing himself in and out of slush, still smiling though :)

 There was a bright ray of hope.... As Punxsutawney Phil, the king of Groundhogs was awakened from his borrow at Gobblers knob for one hundred and twenty seventh year to give this delightful weather prediction, we all hoped with joy!!!!!!!!

"And so ye faithful, there is no shadow to see. An early spring for you and me." 

Got some tinkering in my ears and thought of baking corn bread for our Anniversary. Time flies and we came a long way relishing speciality cakes to a home baked version of sweet and simple cake.
Here is the recipe of Corn Bread !

Supplies required to make Corn Bread :

Corn meal:1/2 cup
APF: 1/2 cup
Baking Powder: 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda: 1/2 tsp
Salt: a pinch
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Honey: 2tsp
Milk: 1 cup, add a little more if required
Butter: 1/2 cup
Eggs: 2

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease the baking pan or cast iron skillet with cooking spray. My method of baking is simple. Mix all the dry ingredients and then gradually add wet/liquid ingredients. Blend well and bake. The step wise procedure is like this.
Sift corn meal and all purpose flour in a bowl few times.
Now add baking powder, baking soda and salt. Swirl all the ingredients with a spoon.
Bring the butter to a room temperature and add sugar plus honey.
Now add eggs to the butter and sugar mix.
Blend this mixture with the cornmeal + APF mix made above.
Add milk as required.
Stir all the ingredients once again to make a nice thick batter without any lumps.
Pour the batter into the greased pan/skillet.
Bake for atleast 25 to 30 minutes, till you get the nice golden color, a crack and a fragrance of a home baked cake !
Get yourself ready and grab supermoist countrystlye home baked corn bread.

This is BLISS, or should I say warm and sweet bliss.... !!!!!

This was my first attempt at baking cornmeal and making cornbread at home. The experience was quite satisfying. Earlier I had only made cornmeal flat bread Indian style on griddle with veggies but baking was so much fun and hope to make it more often. Hope you guys also like it and try it...!

Thanks for stopping by my space. Wish you all a wonderful Time !!!!

Blessings for the New Beginnings and Rose TeaCakes !!!

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep. 

But I have promises to keep. 

And miles to go before I sleep, 

And miles to go before I sleep."

As we herald into another beautiful and bright year, these lines by Robert Frost and a very popular quote often used by Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, the First Prime Minister of India always touch my soul to the core. It gives me a meaning to live and a mission to accomplish. From dawn to dusk, there is so much to do for own self, family, society, country and world...The list is endless and so are the wishes ever hoping for the Utopian world.... And here, I made a small wish too ! I prayed to the Great Almighty to bestow His Blessings on Each one of us and may we all get happiest times of the Millennium in 2013 !!!! Wish all my readers and friends a Blessed year from the team of Mycreativeflavors ! May this new year be a perfect year to dig in your potential and be your BEST ! May this year be a dream year to carve out a niche for yourself ! May this year be another beautiful year to make New beginnings in life, a time to unleash a 'New You' !!!! May this year we learn new things and create memories to cherish the joy of cooking and sharing!!!! Hope the healthy and nutritious recipes/posts from this site add flavor to your platter for all seasons and reasons !!!! 

Let's move a Mile and Treasure the Past... !!!!! 

The holidays just rolled over. We spent time at home while making Ginger bread house, doing Christmas Tree decorations with Lego's, Disney and Sesame toys, making marshmallows in warm Chocolate, marshmallow fudge and some s'mores (coming up in next post). It was great fun catching up with friends, reading and watching the classic holiday stories and just RELAXING... !!! 

In hindsight I think I did lot of cooking and baking, but couldn't do much shooting. Should i attribute it to chilly and cloudy days??? The dip in the temperature to below 20 degrees F...snowy evenings makes it never the less a difficult project to squeeze out of the warm and comfortable home and do even grocery. The only thing on your wish is for a hot cup of tea and some vegetable chips with a dip :))) But yesterday I mustered  the courage to go out a bit for a quick grocery and make something plus did my down jacket test :) This was followed by alternate cups of tea and coffee and I baked lil' teacakes in teacake pan I got on Christmas. The cakelets are looking like Lil angels in assorted shaped and I added rose flavor  to make it more flavorful! Check out the aromatic recipe  !

Supplies Required for Egg less Rose TeaCakes:

All purpose flour: 11/2 cupsSugar: 1/2 cup

Baking Powder: 1 tsp

Baking Soda: 1/2 tsp

Salt: a pinch

Yogurt: 1/2 cup

Sour cream: 1/2 cup

Butter: 1/2 stick (melted in microwave)

Rose Essence : 1/2 tsp

Milk: 1/2 cup 

Oil spray to grease the cake pan

Recipe for Rose TeaCakes :
Lightly spray the tea cake pan with oil and line the cupcake pan with liners.

Get the  butter to room temperature and micro it in a dish for ~ 30 seconds.

In a pan, sift all purpose flour for 2-3 times and add sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Sift all the dry ingredients again.

Beat butter, milk and add one egg at a time. Beat well after each egg with a mixer for about 2 minutes.

  Scrap the sides and finally churn the mixer in the bowl on all the sides. (I generally prefer to beat the mixture in one direction). 

If the mixture is too thick, then add little more milk to get thick yet running consistency.

Finally add rose essence and run the mixture for another 30 seconds.

Take 1/3 of a spoon and pour the mixture in the tea cake pan. 

Pour the remaining mixture in the cupcake pan or ramekins.

I baked it for approximately one hour at 350 degrees till you get a lovely aroma in the kitchen; a light golden brown color; and generally a crack on the top of the cake. It made the cake little dark brown rather than golden brown. 

If you want to add eggs, add 2 eggs to replace yogurt and sour cream and bake it for 25 -35 minutes to get golden cake.

Take the customary  bake test with a skewer.

Let it cool for 5 to 10 minutes, in the oven and if you cannot resist, it's absolutely okay.

Sprinkle the tea cakes with sugar. Just pick it and enjoy ! You deserve it !!!!!!!!

The assorted tea cakes in shapes of teeny tiny bundts, roses, hearts, chrysanthemums were looking lovely and tasted like soft cookies... !

There is nothing sweeter in this world than a fresh oven baked cake at home sweet home....!
 

A Rose cupcake draped in rose frill in pale pink.... ! A quick icing is made with 2tsp of sour cream, 2 tsp of sugar, 2 drops of rose essence. Decorate with silver balls... !
RELISH..... !!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you so much for stopping by my space and stay tuned for upcoming posts!

And Wish Each One of You and Your Loved One a Sweet and Warm Winters  filled with Loads of Comfort Foods, Happiness plus Blessings !!!!!

With Umpteen best wishes,

Editor in chief: Dr. K.K. Mangla; 

Photography & Technical Management: Ashish Gupta; 

Author : Dr. Sonia Mangla