Autumn love

Autumn! Ah Autumn is my favorite season and this is the season I love most of all. Yes, even more than summer. I love how Mother Nature blesses us with such beautiful, colorful landscapes as it begins to get a little chilly. Everywhere is a beautiful canvas with a pretty scenery and no matter how many pictures I click, it's never enough!

The scenic views, the beauty, the red, orange and yellow colors make everything a bit more lively, a bit more cheerful, a bit more amazing! So here's the best pictures of my (otherwise huge) collection of the fall pictures as I go crazy and can't stop taking pictures. Enjoy!

Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower.

"The trees are about to show us how lovely it is to let the dead things go!"

"Crisp air, pretty leaves, sweater and boots, pumpkins and coffee: I love Fall!"

Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile! 

"I love Autumn. The one season of the year that God seemed to have put there just for the beauty of it"

"Autumn paints in colors that summer has never seen"

"Every leaf speaks bliss to me; fluttering from the autumn tree!"

"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall."

"I hope I can be the autumn leaf

who looked at the sky and lived

And when it was time to leave, 

gracefully it knew life was a gift!"

"Autumn that year painted the countryside in vivid shades of scarlet, saffron and russet; and the days were clear and crisp under the harvest skies."

"Delicious Autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird, I would fly about the Earth, seeking the successive autumns!"

- George Eliot

"Fall is my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale."

"How beautifully the leaves grow old.

How full of light and color are their last days!"

"No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face"

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor; summer and oil painting; and autumn a mosaic of them all"

- Stanley Horowitz

"The tints of autumn.. a mighty flower garden blossoming under the spell of the enchanter, frost."

"Listen! The wind is rising and the air is wild with leaves. We have had our summer evenings, now it's time for autumn eves."

"Come, little leaves; said the winds one day. Come with me to the meadows and play. 

Put on your dresses of red and gold.. for the summer is past and the days grow cold!"

"There is something about autumn that wakes up our senses and reminds us to live!"

"Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons."

- Jim Bishop. 

"Light breeze, colorful leaves, bare trees.. It must be Autumn!"

 "Autumn wins you best by its mute appeal to sympathy for its decay."

- Robert Browning.

"Everyone must sit and take the time to watch the leaves turn."

- Elizabeth Lawrence. 

" Life fails to be perfect but never fails to be beautiful."

"My favorite color is autumn!"

"The name of it is "Autumn". The hue of it is blood. An artery upon the hill. A vein along the road."

"It was one of those perfect English autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life."

- P.D. James

"Autumn remembers the warming days of Summer. Today the sun shines."

"Falling leaves hide the path so quietly."

- John Bailey. 

"Soon as the leaves heard the wind's loud call

down they came fluttering, one and all..

over the brown field they danced and flew..

singing the soft little songs they knew.."

"and all at once.. summer collapsed into fall!"

-Oscar Wilde

"Now Autumn's fire burns slowly along the woods; and day by day the dead leaves fall and melt."

"Leaves of gold (their former green)..

the richest color briefly seen..

A canopy of purest light..

falls glittering down (into the night).

As winds of change draw ever near..

the trees - (they seem to have no fear).

They know it's time (they must transform)..

and with that something new is born.

And so it's been (since the dawn of time)..

all things must learn to bend with clime. 

"It is so strange that autumn looks so beautiful, yet everything is dying!"

"A fallen leaf is nothing than summer waving goodbye!

They remind us that goodbyes can be beautiful too."

Note: All the pictures posted in this article are subject to copyright and may not be copied or used in any other form without the consent from the author. 

Coffee Orange Muffins (Whole wheat)

Banana chocolate muffins are the most favorite in my household and is a mandatory preparation every weekend to prepare and stock for the week to be eaten as tea time snack. This time I was in an experiment mode and wanted to try a different flavor. But hubby wanted to keep the chocolate flavor intact. So made these coffee orange muffins using whole wheat flour. They turned out to be yummy and was a good change for our tea time!

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour: 1 cup
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Cocoa powder: 1 heaped tbsp.
Coffee: 1 heaped tbsp.
Baking soda: 1/2 tsp.
Orange juice from 2 large oranges
Eggs: 2
Oil: 1/4 cup
Yogurt: 2 tsp.
Orange essence: 1 tsp.

1. Pre-heat the oven at 200 C for about 20 minutes while you prepare the mix. 
2. Begin by sieving the whole wheat flour in a big mixing bowl. Sieve in cocoa powder, coffee and the baking soda. 
3. Mix everything slowly but really well so that there are no lumps remaining. Keep aside. 
4. In another big mixing bowl, add the sugar. Break the eggs in the bowl and beat it well. Do not over mix. I used a hand whisk. 
5. Now add the orange juice and mix well.  
6. Add the oil, yogurt and the orange essence. Mix everything nicely with the help of whisk. You can also use the electric mixer. 
7. Slowly begin to add the flour mix to this mix. Add a little at a time and keep on mixing but remember not to over mix. Just mix it until you see no lumps. The mix should be little flowy and not dense. 
8. Spray the muffin molds (I used paper molds) with very little oil. Fill in the mixture in all the molds up to half. 
9. Bake for 30 minutes at 200 C. Then do the toothpick test. Insert a toothpick in the middle of the muffin, it should not have the batter stuck to it, it should come out clean with little crumbles. If not done, bake for a little more time until the toothpick comes out clean. 
10. Remove and serve warm with tea. Let cool completely and it can be stored for up to a week in the refrigerator in air tight container. Enjoy! 

You might also like Whole wheat banana chocolate muffins. 

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Spinach Egg Curry

Ingredients:

Cooking oil: 2 tsp.
Boiled eggs: 4 (How to make perfect hard-boiled eggs)
Spinach: 500 gm
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp.
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp.
Onion (chopped finely)
Ginger-garlic paste: 3 tsp.
Coconut milk: 1 cup
Tomato (finely chopped): 2
Salt to taste
Red chili powder: 1 tsp.
Garam masala: 1 tsp.
Mango powder: 1 tsp.
Black pepper: 1/2 tsp.

1. Blanch the spinach and grind to a puree and keep aside.
2. Heat oil and add the cumin seeds and mustard seeds and let them splutter. 
3. Add the chopped onion and fry until it's transparent. 
4. Add the ginger-garlic paste and let cook until the raw smell goes away. 
5. Add the coconut milk and mix well. Let cook for about 5 minutes. 
6. After 5 minutes, add the tomatoes and sprinkle salt. Let cook until the tomatoes are soft and mushy. 
7. Add the dry spices: red chili powder, mango powder and garam masala. Mix everything, cover and let cook for another 5 minutes. 
8. Remove the cover and add the spinach puree. Mix well. We don't need to cook more at this stage as the spinach is already cooked in the process of blanching. 
9. Add the boiled eggs (whole or halved) and turn off the flame. Sprinkle black pepper and serve hot! 

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Rainbow walking for kids

We have chosen the topic "Rainbow" for our project this term in our pre-school class and that itself makes me happy: as it means a lot of colors and more colors and colorful activities all term round!
In the last days of summer, on a warm and sunny day, we decided to do this outdoor activity of rainbow walking with our kids.

Talking about the colors of rainbow was really nice, specially the kids were really interested in *Indigo* color as they had never before used it in any painting. We talked about what colors do rainbow has, and I got varied replies from brown, black to white, pink etc. and of course the colors actually in a rainbow like purple, green, red blue. It's even a great activity to talk about colors, and talk about number of colors with the pre-schoolers as they think it's fun to talk about so many colors; and it makes it more interesting as everyone had different answers.

This is how I carried out this super-fun rainbow walking activity:

1. I put out liquid paint of all the seven colors of the rainbow in dishes big enough for them to put their feet in. I first made indigo color by mixing blue and violet, and made orange color by mixing red and yellow. The children were pretty excited to make new colors as well. 
2. After that I poured out violet, blue, green, yellow and red in all different dishes. 
3. I took four large sheets of paper and taped them together and fixed the sheet on the outdoor floor with the help of clear tape so that it holds in place while children walk over and no accidents happen.  
4. Then I prepared how the children can wash their feet: I just took a bucket half filled with water and a towel so that they could wash their feet and dry themselves before putting on their shoes back. 
5. Then they dipped their feet in their favorite color and walked over the big sheet from one side to another. 
6. It was so wonderful to see the whole paper getting filled with rainbow colored footprints. Also overlapping colors made it even more attractive. 
7. The children loved doing this activity. This is a really good activity to learn about math and colors, develop the body coordination, and developing gross motor skills and balancing. 

Beetroot Soup

Fall has officially begun and the days have started to get cold. As we feel the little chill in the air, we do crave something warm, soothing and yummy which is filling as well. So this is the first soup I prepared to welcome the season of fall. I made this soup in my soup maker, wherein I just dump everything and get yummy, creamy soup in just 20 minutes. But this can also be prepared traditionally on a stove top.

Ingredients:

Beetroot: 2
Tomatoes: 4
Carrots: 2
Parsley leaves: a bunch or according to taste
Ginger: 1 inch
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Soup Spice Mix (Soup masala) : to taste

1. Wash and chop the beetroot, tomatoes, carrots, ginger and parsley nicely. Save some of the parsley for garnish. 
2. Add little water and grind all the vegetables to a coarse paste. 
3. Transfer this paste to a big boiling pot and add 4 cups of water. Add the salt and the soup spice mix and mix everything well. 
4. Simmer for about 30 minutes or until the soup reaches the desired consistency. 
5. Add to the serving bowl, garnish with fresh parsley, sprinkle black pepper and serve hot! Enjoy. 

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Winter care face pack

The summer is past and the cold days of winter will soon be knocking our doors. The weather outside is going to be unsightly, but your skin doesn't have to be! Rough, dry skin is often a result of the harsh winter against our skin, which is often very itchy and uncomfortable. Along with drinking lots of fluids in the cold weather, here's a winter skin care face pack to prevent rough and dry skin and keep it smooth and glowing throughout the winters!

Ingredients:

Daliya (oatmeal): 1 cup
Rice (basmati or any other): 1 cup
Besan (chickpea flour): 1/2 cup
Coffee powder: 1 heaped tbsp.
Cocoa powder: 1 heaped tbsp.
Mint powder: 2 tsp.
Desiccated coconut: 2 tsp.
Almonds: a handful (8-10)
Dried apple: 1
Dried rose petals (or any other flower, I used tulip)
Dried orange peels (according to preference)
Iced tea (lemon flavored): 1 tsp. (optional)
Saffron: 1/2 tsp.

1. Lightly toast the almonds and remove from the flame. Let cool. 
2. Add the oatmeal, rice, desiccated coconut, almonds, saffron, dried apples and dried orange peels to the mixer and grind it to a smooth powder. 
3. Transfer contents to a big bowl and one by one add and stir in chickpea flour, coffee powder, cocoa powder, mint powder, iced tea a crushed flower petals. 
4. Mix everything completely using your hands. This whole pack should be dried and no drop of water or moisture should be added. Transfer contents to an airtight box and store on room temperature. Use everyday. 
   
5. Instructions to use: Mix one tbsp. face pack to 1 tsp. yogurt and mix well. You can also add few drops of rose water. Apply on face and neck and let dry. Wash off with lukewarm water, don't use very hot water as it can make the skin further dry. Pat dry with a towel. 

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