Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The middle of the week......

Hello lovely readers, how are you? I'm a little distracted this week....since the season's changing, I need to organize our fall/winter wardrobes and have gone into full-on nesting mode. That means every spare minute of the day I'm either tyding up or sorting through the clothes/bedding, picking through the remains of my garden, making checklists of things that need to be done before winter gets here...... There are tasks that I still need to tackle from the summer (the weather's still perfect for outdoor stuff, there's a chill in the air, but not enough to freeze those ears!!) I'm still getting used to the weather and its vagaries in this neck of the woods---it seems that fall isn't going to be as pretty here (surprise , surprise) since the heat this summer essentially fried (or roasted if you want to get technical on me!!) all those beautiful green maple leaves outside my window. How sad, I was hoping to wake up to orange /red vistas--I have some crusty brown leaves instead! This weekend, I plan on picking up some mums and pumpkins, its finally cooled off enough that the pumpkins won't rot before their time. I'm thinking purple mums and orange pumpkins this year--I usually do the obvious colors, but I'm really feeling like adding a jolt of unexpected color!!  Here's my inspiration:



via. and via.









I've also been sprucing up my desktop, compressing older files I don't use, but might need and getting rid of stuff that I'm done with. (Be prepared for several posts from my inspiration folders; the only thing preventing me from using those is the lack of source info.) I came across a post I had drafted a couple of weeks back but never got round to posting, so this one's for all you lovely readers, enjoy!

It's been birthday season at P&P central: and that means cakes! presents!...we celebrate two birthdays in fall--the kid's in August and hubby's in September. This year we went with a pokemon theme for my son's sixth birthday --I don't seem to have any pictures worth posting up here, but the cake was something else altogether!!! This was the perfect party cake, perfect in texture and flavor, and appearance too-albeit with a huge pikachu face staring up (which means yellow-tinted frosting, and I used two oreos dipped in red-tinted white chocolate to make the cheeks--again, sadly I don't have pictures to share of the cake in toto, but I do have pictures of the leftover cake (I made a huge cake!), which we enjoyed for a couple of days after the party as well!

Playing with the filters!


The recipe was courtesy of the lovely and extremely talented Joyti who blogs over at "Darjeeling Dreams". Have you discovered her absolutely delectable blog yet? If not, go now! (Warning: go on a full tummy because I promise she will have you salivating over her luscious treats!! Each of her recipes is a delight to read and her pictures are to die for!).



Joyti, thanks for the recipe and all your help!(Dear readers, if I were you, I'd bookmark the recipe and use it for the next party that comes my way. Nothing needs to be changed, its perfect, as-is! I used her recipe for the frosting as well).




The other birthday was a grown-up's birthday: we had a quiet family celebration, replete with home made cards and gifts (did you know that you can buy paint pens for permanent, heat-setting ceramic paints and use them to customize plain ceramic mugs? The instructions are included on the packaging and you can always google it!-- I made one for my sweetheart. Can't share the contents due to copyright issues! ;) --I've bought a few paint-pots as well and a nice white ceramic dish...I'll post pictures once I'm done with it. But seriously, isn't that a really neat idea for a birthday gift? And the paint is dishwasher/microwave safe....tried and tested by moi.). On to the food! I'm posting pictures and the link to the original recipe. This cake didn't make it through the night, it was that good...yes, two adults and a six-year old went through it with an appetite to challenge the very hungry caterpillar! Delish.



Pistachio cake, adapted from here. I used regular canola oil instead of olive oil because I wasn't too sure of whether I'd like the flavor of canola oil in a dessert, and I omitted the fig compote, because no one in our family is too fond of figs (to put it mildly! :) ). The cake was moist (and rich!), but oh-so-good. I'll be making this one often! It's perfect for the approaching months of cooler weather. I don't like my desserts too sweet and this one was just right. (Note to self: pick up some pistachios on the next round of grocery shopping!)



Cream cheese-frosting + playing with the filters. :)


A closer look at the texture!

I hope I've given you some eye-candy to drool over and hopefully try out as well! There are a few more posts where I need to pass on some "thank you"s to my wonderful blogger friends. I hope to take a few pictures to share with you. Also, if you haven't weighed in on the Chicago post yet, please don't hold back---this blog is a more wonderful place because of you, my dear readers!! And I also have a fun announcement to make....It's going to be giveaway time at P&P soon, so stay tuned!! Till the next post, be good and don't do anything I wouldn't do (!!) 

;)


12 comments:

  1. yes enough eye candy and temptation to loose my patience and leave the diet regimen. too good Gagan...even we are also going to celebrate our birthdays soon.

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  2. Oh! I love the Lavender and Orange combination. Seems like a great idea. I love Jyoti's blog too ... I have been resisting make any cakes for over an year now. Between just two people cake is just hard to do portion control! :P

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  3. tht purple and orange is mindblowing not to mention purple is my current fav colour.

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  4. Lovely ideas and yummy cake. Seems like you are in for a busy time ahead. Thanks for the lovely comments on Dream Canvas.

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  5. Are you in the mood for Halloween yet (re-pumpkins in 1st pic)? Do you even celebrate Halloween? Most of us don't over here but at the S$2 shop, all the witchy stuff are coming out on the shelves. Spotlight too :). Halloween is more for the clubs here where they hold theme parties :).

    It's been raining every other day here. That spells fall for us. :)

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  6. well..need i say more i blog with a name that has purple in it :) i love the color and how certain shades make it all so rich & others so cool! those cakes look so yummy & with the festival season just beginning I can see the two adults & a six year old eating many more!

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  7. I love all your inspiration collages and pictures. And this cake looks amazing...the pictures have sold me on it. I love Jyoti's blog. She is incredibly talented and her recipes are to die for. You have convinced me to add this one to the recipe book and to give it a try.:)
    Naina

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  8. actually both cakes look amazing and I will need to bookmark both the pistachio cake and Jyoti's recipe.

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  9. The Pistachio Cake needs to be sent packing here. Now. Love the purple hues...so rich and classy.

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  10. I'm going to give the Pistachio cake a try too! And a belated happy b'day to your son and husband :)

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