Mix Nuts

This is wonderful for parties and as a snack for couch potatoes.

A Nut Mix
1 tsp vegetable oil
4 cups mixed nuts of your choice
1 and half cup of strawberry jam
2 tbsp paprika
2 tsp cumin

B To Coat
half cup brown sugar
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin


Coat Mixture
Mix the brown sugar, paprika and cumin in B together and set aside. On a stainless steel bowl, lightly oil it and place the mix nuts inside.

Nut Mix
In a small saucepan, pour the jam into it and let it cook over medium heat. Add paprika and cumin in A. Cook this until it is slightly sticky about the temperature of 230 deg F or called the softball stage.

Pour the nut mix on the nuts and stir to coat it evenly with a wooden spoon. When it is cool (about 5 minutes), sprinkle the nuts with the coat mixture. Stir to combine it.


Once this is done, you can pack them in your airtight tins. Great for gifts!



Softball stage for candy
A helpful test for this would be to scoop a teaspoon of this mixture and drop it into a glass of iced water. When you remove the ball from the water, it is soft, and should be able to flatten it like a pancake. Example of softball would be fudge and fondant)

Firmball stage for candy
When you cook the mixture to about 245 deg F, this is the firmball stage. The mixture when you remove from the iced water will be able to retain the shape of the ball but if you squeeze it will be flatten. Example of a firmball - Caramel)

My New Funky Scissors

I love to buy kitchen tools. I realized that my scissors is always misplaced. I put it just over the sinks and yet they get taken by the kids for some arts and crafts so often, they don't put it back. They lose them in the school which makes me scissorless then. So the other day I bought another pair of scissors. I didn't get the large type but a small one. They have it in nice funky colours and has a little cover. Guess what is so special about these scissors?

This is my funky scissors.

See... it can be attached to the fridge!

A magnet based scissors. Very good so I can just put it back on the fridge when I am done using it! Cool, eh.

Glazed Carrots

Carrots are a good source of Vitamin A. And it is a favourite vegetable of mine since I was a child. I use them in many dishes like stews, soup, stirfries and eat them with dips, raw. But too much of it can cause our skin to turn yellowish.

This is a nice side dish when you have visitors for dinner. Becauce the glaze shines so well, your meal looks like one from that restaurant. Presentable and glamourous. Add some other vege for a nice contrast colour if you like.

10 to 12 carrots (baby carrots are great)
1 tbs butter
Half cup of pineapple jam
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1/4 tsp of ginger, chopped very fine
Parseley or Peas for garnish


Peel carrots and cut them diagonally into 2" thickness.
Cook them till they are tender but not too soft in salted water. Drain.
Mix the butter, jam, lemon juice, zest, ginger in a saucepan. Add the carrots that have been cut, washed. Cook them in this mixture for 10 minutes in medium heat. Turn them to glaze it thoroughly. Garnish it with your choice of parseley or peas.