I think I have become a complete night owl now…..it’s half past one and I am still wide awake…..after refreshing facebook for 10th time….I thought I will sign out and do some quality work….as my to-do list on the right hand corner of the monitor had scrolled off the 24 inch screen….. now you know how many pending things I need to complete…On the top of the list I have written sort the pictures….There are zillion pictures on my PC….which needs to sort out….according to the folder names…..delete many, rearrange many and organize many….I thought I am already sleep deprived today…I will try to finish off this work…. So slowly started my work….organising pictures….Lil’M, Food and General were the three main categories I made….rest and all went to MISC….which I thought will arrange some other time….I was quite surprised to see the number of pictures…..I think I have gone crazy with my camera these years…..lots and lots of pictures keep flooding in….it looked as if it is a never ending pool….In the mean time…I refilled my glass with ‘watermelon juice’….just to keep the energy going…. 😉
When the sorting process was going on, I struck with so many photographs…where Lil’M is doing all the funny faces or furious stunts….In the process….I got struck with a picture which bought my school days alive….the nostalgic memories of school days started spinning in my head…. That white full sleeve shirt with blue skirt, red tie with two white stripes, red belt with white line in middle along with school emblem, white socks with black shoes and black ribbons to tie two beautifully braided hair….I never had long hair to braid and go to school….though I wish to have….but I was happy with my hair cut…as it was simple to comb, no fuss and no mess….I still remember how I use to try my hands on braiding hair of my lil sis before leaving to school…when my mom is still busy in the kitchen making breakfast….as my lil sis was always a huge fan of long hair….Even with boyish hair cut…my sis use to insist me to braid her hair….
There were very strict rules for ‘dress code’ at my school and mostly everyone use to follow them. I still remember I had a friend by name ‘A’…who had long, thick, curly, glossy and black hair….always neatly oiled and combed….She use to divide her hair into two portions and braid them along with ribbons in the end….she use to pull that ribbons up and tie at the starting of the hair…she use to do many patterns for tying up her hair ribbon…sometimes it would be like flower, sometimes like butterfly, sometimes single knot, etc. I loved her hair and every time use to ask her to tip me with some hair secrets….so that I too can get long hair like her…she use to smile and say….may be because she braids her hair with ribbons she had got long hair….and I can see her dimples coming….
Slowly when I entered the higher standard in school, my mom decided that I can take care of my hair on my own and left my hair uncut for sometime…this gave me beautiful ponytails….The day I got my first plaits while combing….I danced all over the house showing them to everyone at home…I was very happy….and I tied ribbons to it and went to school the next day….everyone at school welcomed my new look and my friend ‘A’ was very happy seeing me that way…Within no time I learnt to tie my own plaits and sometimes I use to do it to my lil sis too….I always believed oiling, shampooing and braiding the hair gives you neat, strong and shiny hair…but choosing the good shampoo when the market is flooding with so many options and ads showcasing the top models and actors….leaves you confusing…but I suggest you to know your hair type….read the instructions on the label carefully along with the ingredients used…and then try it on….I started on Dove long time back and when I received Dove hair therapy sample some weeks back…I tried it and I am loving my hair more ….I can feel my hair is soft, silky, smooth and with no split ends….and I still remember the ends of my hair use to be feathery soft and friends use to play with it by rubbing on their cheeks…
As I am drenched in the nostalgic memories of my fond school days….I thought of sharing with you one more memory which is till fresh in my mind…there use to be an icewala, who use to stand just opposite to the gate of my school….and who use to sell orange color, yellow color, violet color and white color ice creams…which are just colored sugar water candy to a ice cream stick where the colors used were fabric colors…..according to my dad and so I never dared to buy them…. But I always use to see the kids buying them and turning there lips, tongue and teeth…sometimes white shirt also to orange or violet….To satisfy this urge to lick a candy ice cream on a ice cream stick…I made strawberry-masala pops….
These strawberry pops were sweet, spicy, juicy and above all with no artificial color or preservative….make these fresh and enjoy the refreshing taste of strawberries….I make pops a lot during summers…and try out new varieties too…this time I added a dash of chat masala to give the pops a spicy taste…which was yum to indulge….
STRAWBERRY MASALA POPS:
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups fresh Strawberries, hulled and chopped
- ½ cup Honey
- ½ tbsp. Chat Masala
PREPARATION:
- In a blender combine chopped strawberries, honey and chat masala. Blend until smooth. Pour the puree into the desired moulds an give the moulds a gentle tap to set the pops evenly.
- Leave the mould in the freezer for 5-6 hours or until set.
- Last but not least add your ‘love’ to make the dish ‘YUMMY’.
I crushed and added strawberry flavoured ‘soulful‘ ragi flakes.
VARIATIONS:
STRAWBERRY LEMON POPS:
- Add dash of lemon juice to get that tangy taste in the pops.
STRAWBERRY MINT POPS:
- You can crushed mint leaves to the puree before pouring into the moulds.
STRAWBERRY ORANGE POPS:
- Add dash of orange juice to the strawberry puree before poring into the mould, to get new flavour.
WATERMELON-STRAWBERRY-MINT POPS:
- You can add fresh watermelon juice to the puree and then add crushed mint leaves to experience a new flavour of pops.
One thing which I don’t like about pops is the freezing time…I have to wait for 5-6 hours….but it took only 5-6 minutes to gulp these blushing berry pops….
For quick and easy access I designed this recipe card….hope you like it…. For the first time….I experimented with back light for the first time and loved it totally…..waiting for your reviews my dear yum readers….
deepasri says
I felt like I was with you during school days…..I could never grow my hair beyond shoulder length…awesome pops and beautifully presented…recipe card looks cool
Rita Bose says
Nostalgia!! Masala pops look really yuumy!! 🙂
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Veena Theagarajan says
yummy I want it now
Maayeka says
Delicious pops and beautiful clicks…loved the post!!!
Swathi Iyer says
Great post, rekindled childhood memories Lubna. Yummy strawberry pops.
Nagashree says
Long haired girls always wanted to cut them short and short haired girls always wanted to grow them long, so Universal. Loved reading about your school days.
Masala pops look super, I make tangy, lemony one. Chat masala sounds great.
Gauri says
Awww sheer nostalgia, school days were so much fun and carefree. When I look back I cannot believe how fast those years flew by!
Bright, healthy pops
Chandrani Banerjee says
Lovely time you spend in ur childhood. Masala pop looks drooling me. Just superb.
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Smita Srivastava says
These look absolutely gorgeous !!! What a co incidence I had made some strawberry sweet pops and was just relishing them after the photoshoot 🙂
Priti S says
Looks beautiful ..I want now ….nice recipe and its always good to remember school days isnt it
Priya Suresh says
Very nostalgic and beautiful post Lubna, you looks soo adorable and damn cute..
Those pops are very catchy ,cute and inviting.
Minu says
Reliving those good old days. Masala Pops – good innovation. I love your pictures
Jehanne says
yummy! Now tell us which one were u on the school pic?? My lil one is recovering from cold, so I want to make these delicious pops and hide them away!
Akhil Khatri says
Nice post! Keep blogging!
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Nazneen Hamilton says
I remember the ice wala on my holidays to India and Pakistan but my parents wouldn't never let me have one. They looked so good when other kids got them. Your masala pops look very beautiful and tasty too! I like the idea of the chaat masala with the strawberries.
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Raksha says
nice write up.
Pops looks beautiful and ur clicks are awesome.
Chitz says
Loved reading the post.. So happy are we when we reminisce childhood memories na?? And lovely looking masala pops 🙂
Fundoos says
Wow! It looks sooo yummy… God! Tempting me so badly…
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Kiran @ KiranTarun.com says
Wonderful childhood memories! And delish pops!