Tiranga Rice is one of my favourite recipes. It is unique in its own way. Best dish to be made during the Indian Independence Day. It has a patriotic touch. Infact, I read an article in The Times of India on Tiranga Rice as a way to salute Mother India. Besides it is a healthy dish to be eaten with dahi raitha and papad. So go on people and enjoy this wonderful recipe.

Ingredients

2 Cups Rice

1 Cup Cottage Cheese

1 Cup Grated Cheese (Optional)

1 Cup Ghee

4 Cardamoms

16 Peppercorns

8 Cloves

2” Piece Ginger

2 Bay Leaves

White Pepper to Taste

Salt to Taste

4 Cups Water

For Orange Rice

½ Tsp Saffron

2 Tbsp Water

1 Carrot (Grated)

Pinch of Edible Yellow colour

1 Portion of Cooked White Rice

For Green Rice

6-7 Stalks Coriander Leaves

2 Medium Green Chilies

750 Gms Peas

2 Cups Water

½ Tsp Salt

1 Portion Cooked Rice

Method

1. Wash and drain the rice. Keep aside for half an hour.
2. Heat ghee, fry the spices for a minute. Add rice and fry for another minute.
3. Add water and salt. Bring to a boil. Cook on slow flame till done. Divide into 3 portions.
4. For the White Rice: Heat one part of ghee in a pan, add chopped onions and fry till transparent add the grated paneer, salt and white pepper and saute for few minutes. Add one portion of the cooked rice and mix well.
5. For the Orange Rice: Heat little ghee in a pan and fry the grated carrots. Lightly heat saffron. Crush. Add 2 tbsp water and yellow colour. Mix well.  Mix one portion of rice with this colour mixture well. Steam for 2-3 mins..
6. For the Green Rice: Grind coriander leaves and green chilies to a fine paste. Add water and salt to peas and cook till done. Drain and mash well. Mix thoroughly other portion of the rice and the grounded spices and mashed peas. Steam for 1-2 mins.
7. To Serve: Place layers of the of the rice with green on the bottom, white in the centre, and orange on top in katoris or individual moulds and press well. Turn out straight on to the plates. You can also take a deep bowl place the green layer at the bottom, add the white layer next and top it with the yellow layer and sprinkle a layer of  the cheese. Bake in oven for sometime, till the cheese melts.

 (Hint: You can also use spinach instead of the coriander).

Splishy Splashy Pool Party is the best to have in the summers. The kids will surely enjoy it. The only thing you need to be careful about is to have a good check at all the kids.

Ideas for making the card

1. You can create Message-in-a-Bottle invitations. Fill plastic bottles with sand and seashells half full. Write your pool party details on colorful pieces of paper. Roll the paper into scrolls, and put invitations inside the bottles.
2. Blow up beach balls and write all the party information on them. Deflate and put the balls in envelopes. This will be a great surprise for the kids. Include the directions to blow up the balls to read the invitations.

Poems for the Birthday Card

"Summer is Hot - that's for sure. But guess what! (Your child's name) has a perfect cure! Come join us for splishy, splashy Pool Birthday Party full of fun, where you can cool off and soak up the sun!" 

Let’s make a splash at (name) Pool Party,

We’ll have food, drinks and sun-screen for everyone,

-don’t forget your towel and swimming trunks/costumes!!!

On (date) From (time) at (venue)

Gifting ideas

Fill a plastic poolside cup with a lip sun block, bright colored candy and plastic shaped ice cubes to use all through the summer!
A beach towel and sunglasses for each guest, will make a special party favor for smaller parties. However, it can be costly if your guest list is larger than a few children

Decoration
Drape fishnets along the fence and attach plastic fish as if they have been caught. Cut "palm leaves" out of green poster paper and hang them on the fence. Place real bananas on top of them for a cool look

Place pink flamingoes around the yard, if you can. Play "Ocean Sounds" or "Beach Boys" music in the background.
Set water toys around your pool birthday party area. Hang posters of tropical vacations on the fence or along the side of the house.
Fill the pool with inner tubes, beach balls, and other floating toys. Place toy lobsters, crabs, dolphins, turtles, and other creatures around the pool. Blow up and hang helium balloons in the area. Spread out beach chairs and umbrellas. Add an extra special touch by spreading blue and green paper streamers around the party space.
Cover your pool birthday party table with a theme cover. Place a rubber ducky on the table as a centerpiece. Hang personalized "Happy Birthday" banner in the area.

On the Arrival

As guests arrive, give each one an empty clear plastic water bottle. Have them fill their bottles three-quarters full with water, add several drops of food coloring, some glitter, and fill the rest of the way with cooking oil.
Seal the lid shut with super glue and let the kids enjoy their Ocean in a Bottle.

Fun Games

1. Rubber Duck Race: Using only their noses, players nudge a rubber duck from one end of the pool to the other.
   Fun Floating: Race the clock to see which team can gather the most floating objects
   from the pool; rubber ducks, bath toys, cut foam noodle pieces etc.
2. Flip Flop Fantastic: Every child gets one flip flop sandal and has to search the yard for it's match. The pair is a prize to take home! 
3. Relay Race: Divide the group into two teams
   Equipment: 2 pairs of XL board shorts, 2 pairs of sunglasses
   2 Straw Hats ,2 Beach bags, 2 Beach chairs
   Each team lines up in a row. Place chairs a reasonable running distance in front of each team or any distance your space will allow. The objects listed above are placed into the beach bags and located with each team. The first runners dress in ALL of the items, run to the chair, return and take all of the items off again. The next players continue until the entire team has had a turn. 
4. Water Basketball: Buy a water basketball hoop or make your own using a small ring of plastic (a little larger than the ball) that will float in the pool.
   Divide the players into two teams and have them play basketball in the water. Another option is to play volleyball by stringing a net or rope across the pool.
5. Cold Potato: You'll need a water balloon for this game.
   Have children sit in a circle. To get the game going, make a hole in the balloon with a safety pin. Get the players to toss the water balloon around the circle. The object of the game is to avoid being the last person left holding the balloon as it runs out of water.

Food Ideas for the Splish Splash Theme

Cake: Select a nice pool cake from the near-by cake shop.

Arctic Oranges: Cut the tops off the oranges in a zigzag pattern. Hollow out the insides, remove the seeds, and combine in a blender with the orange juice. Set the rinds in a muffin tin and fill with the mixture. Drop a cherry inside each orange. Freeze for 2 to 3 hours. Let the kids eat their way down to the cherry surprise.

Dessert Sushi: Create sushi pieces the kids will definitely love. Use fruit leather for seaweed, chopped marshmallows for rice, and little gummies inside for crab or veggie.
Cool Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches: Let the kids cool with their peanut butter sandwiches.
Fish & Chips: Fish and chips for a perfect water feel.
Gummy Fish: Let the kids enjoy their fishing….J
Ice Cream: Cool tutty fruity ice-cream would be the best.
Drinks: Virgin Blue Hawaii would go well. Also an ice-cream float will be good.




   

Beauty and the Beast Party Theme goes well with one boy one girl twins. However, you can have this theme if your daughter is fond of beauty too. The theme means a lot of books, roses, kitchen toys, etc….

Ideas for Making the Card

Mirror Invitation: You can paste the invitation on a mirror and slide it in a zip-lock bag filled with gold and silver glitter.

Rose in  Jar: You can make rose out of construction paper and write the details of the party on the back and place it in a jar. You can also use a real rose placed in the jar and write the party details on a card or chart paper and stick it on the stem of the real rose.

Poems For The Invitation

Little X is Turning (age) and is celebrating her birthday in the castle where beauty met the beast.  

So get ready to have a ball of a time with Lumiere,  Cogsworth,  Mrs.Potts and Chip as they all shall be there to congratulate on (date) at (venue) from(time).

Little X is turning one,

So join us for the fun,

She's a bundle of sweetness,
brightness & love,

The beauty of springtime,
the warmth of the sun

Fairies, castles and princes too,

We can’t wait to celebrate with you!!

Gifting Ideas

Beauty and the beast colouring books, jewelry items, beauty and beauty and the beast story

books, stickers, etc 

would go well with the theme.

Decoration

1. Tea-Pot Shaped Pinatas: Hang pinatas shaped like teapots from the ceiling.
2. Rose Décor: Use red silk roses in bud vases. Remove petals from some of them. Set one rose with only one petal left in a prominent place under a glass cloche.
3. Theme Characters: Kids tend to get fascinated by the characters of a story. Make sure you put up posters of the characters in the story all over the walls.
4. Balloons filled with rose petals: Fill yellow balloons with rose petals and hang them on the ceiling. You can burst these balloons at the time of cake-cutting or even during the ball dance. Kids will surely enjoy this.
5. Streamers: Streamers shall add colour to your decoration. Use more of reds and yellows as belle’s dress is yellow in colour.

On the Arrival

Red Rose Tattoo: Paint red roses on the guest cheeks or on the back of their palm. You can arrange for a painter or have a tattoo for them.

Make your Crown: You can make crowns for princes and the princesses and hand them over to the kids when they arrive. Provide decorative items like beads, glitter and jewels (sequins). Let the kids decorate their crowns while waiting for the other guests to arrive.

Fun Games

1. Pin the Rose Petal: You can draw a rose stem on a chart paper. Buy a rose petal from the market or make a rose petal from construction paper. Ask the guests to paste the petal on the stem. The pne whose petal is the closest wins.
2. Gaston Hit: You can fill a few water balloons with coloured water. Make a big poster of Gaston. Ask the kids to throw the water balloons on gaston. Give each child 3-4 balloons to throw.
3. Book Race: You can have a book race by making the kids place a book on their head and walk from the start line to the finish line. The one who finishes first wins. The one who drops the book down is disqualified.
4. Find the Roses: You can hide roses in different parts of the venue. Ask the kids to search for the roses. The child who is able to find the maximum number of roses wins.
5. Find your Princess: Prior to the party get pictures of princesses (Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cindrella, etc.) and stick them on the back of the prince’s. now let the prince’s guess their princes by asking questions which should be answered only with a yes/no like does my princess have brown hair?, does she live in water?, does she love cleaning? etc.
6. Ball Dance: Pair up the children and play beauty and the beast music and let the kids enjoy themselves.
7. Musical Chairs: Play the “Be Our Guest” cd and play musical chairs with the kids.

Food ideas for the Beauty Theme

1. Cake: Order a Beauty and the Beast Cake from a nearby cake-shop.
2. Red Pasta and French Fries: Stick look-a-like foods goes well with this theme.
3. Cup-Cakes: You can order for cup-cakes and have the characters of the theme on each cup-cake. If you cant find any characters just plain cup-cakes will work too.
4. Tea-Time Sandwiches: Make sandwiches of circle shape.
5. Small Burgers: Burger is usually liked by beasts. You can make burgers out of small sized burger breads.
6. Colourful Pudding: You can check the recipe for colourful pudding on this blog.
7. Fruit Salad: Make a fruit salad for the kids.
8. Mirror Punch: Take a plain coloured drink like sprite and make it mirror punch. You can also add a kool aid to water in front of the kids and make it feel like magic. This works well with younger kids. Decorate the glasses with golden and silver ribbons by making a bow.
9. Chocolate Milk: You can serve chocolate milk in a cup from a tea-pot along with the sandwiches.

Additional Tips: You can use golden and silver colour serving trays, plates and glasses to give a grand look.

I personally don’t like Kaleji. My mum always yelled at me for not eating it. She says it is good for our health. Neways this is a tried and tested recipe made by me and tried by my husband…;) hope you all like it….

Ingredients

½ Kg Liver

2 Tbsp Vinegar

1 medium onion

1” Ginger

2 Flakes Garlic

3 Medium Green Chillies

1 Tsp Turmeric Powder

½ Tsp Chilli Powder

½ Tsp Coriander Powder

4 Pepper-corns

2 Tsp Oil

¼ Tsp Garam Masala

Salt to Taste

A Few Mint Leaves for Garnishing

Method

1. Clean and wash the liver. Drain the water off completely. Cut into 1/2 “ pieces.
2. Grind all the ingredients from vinegar to salt to a fine paste.
3. Rub the liver pieces with the masala paste.
4. Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry the liver on low heat. When almost done, add garam masala, and continue to fry till the liver is well cooked.
5. Serve hot with mint leaves.