Nair Newsline December
How were your holidays?
Tell us what you did during your Christmas holiday and you’ll be featured in the Nair Newsline.
Veera Pusdekar: Veera went on a camp to Koyna Backwaters. She had a lot of fun there and did Valley Crossing, Mountain Biking, and Canoeing among others. You can ask her for the photos if you haven’t seen them. The camp was at a beautiful lake, and she apparently saw a lot of bugs!
Fantastic Food
Xmas Menu: Some of our recipes from this year along with new ones will give you a range of ideas for your Christmas meals!
Starter:
Cheesie Triangles
Filo Pastry
Butter
Filling:
Grated Fetta Cheese
Cheddar Cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup snipped chives
black pepper
Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. Grease 2 large baking trays. For the filling, crumble the fetta cheese into a bowl. Stir in the cheddar cheese, chives and nutmeg. season to taste with pepper. Place a sheet of filo pastry on a cold, dry work surface; brush with melted butter. Cut filo in half, lengthways, with kitchen scissors. Fold each half in half lengthways and brush with more butter. Cover remaining pastry with clear plastic wrap. Put 4 level teaspoons of the filling on the lower corner of each strip. Fold the filo over the filling to form a triangle. Continue folding over along the pastry strip to form a triangular package, completely encasing the filling. Put on a baking tray. Fold the other pastry strip in the same way. Repeat with the remaining filo pastry and filling. Brush the triangles all over with melted butter. Bake for 15 minutes, or until crisp and golden brown. Serve warm.
Main:
Penne with Asparagus and Smoked Salmon
Fresh asparagus spears
Unsalted butter
Garlic, peeled and minced
Black pepper
heavy cream
kosher salt
smoked salmon
Penne pasta (cooked according to instructions)
Toasted Pine Nuts
Grated Cheese
Bring a large stock pot of salted water to a boil.
Add the asparagus uncovered for about 2-3 minutes just until tender.
Drain asparagus and set aside. Over medium heat melt the butter.
Toss in the cooked asparagus, garlic, and pepper. Increase heat to high.
Stir constantly for 2 minutes. Reduce heat back to medium and add cream and salt.
Gently break up the smoked salmon into bite sized pieces and add to the asparagus, butter,etc.
Simmer for 3-4 minutes just until salmon is heated through, stirring occasionally being careful not to break up the salmon too much.
Toss in the cooked penne and stir until it’s evenly coated with the cream and asparagus mixture.
Serve garnished with toasted pine nuts and cheese.
Aloo Paratha
Potato filled parathas, delicious eaten hot with butter!
1.Boil a potato for
2.Mash the potato
3.Mix with atta and water so as to form a dough
4. You can add cheese to the dough if you wish
5.Break dough into balls
6.Roll out each ball like a normal paratha
7.Cook on the frying pan
8. Eat it while it's hot!
Drinks:
Chocolate orange milk
*Peel an orange
*Put the orange peels into boiling milk
*Mix Drinking chocolate or Cocoa powder into separate warm milk
*When the milk is boiled, mix in the chocolate milk
*Sieve the milk into a cup to get rid of the peels
*It will have a slight tinge of orange. Yummy!!
Lemonade
Lemons
Sugar
Cold Water
Juice your lemons. Mix the ingredients and serve over ice. Easy!
Iced Coffee
Same quantity of all ingredients:
Coffee, Milk, Ice, (Add sugar If you want…. I sure would!)
Blend all ingredients till frothy.
Blend all ingredients until frothy. Serve over ice.
Desserts:
Eggless chocolate Cupcakes with Butter cream
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup cold water
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon white vinegar
- Cupcake pan (Alter this recipe to make a chocolate cake)
Preheat oven to 325 F (162 C). Spray your cupcake pan with oil.
Combine the dry ingredients, then the wet ingredients, in a bowl.
Mix thoroughly and fill each cupcake pan ¾ full.
Bake for 15 min to 20 mins until firm
Icing Ideas
To top or fill a cake…
Butter Cream
Butter, Icing Sugar, Milk
Beat the butter till pale with an electric mixer. Slowly add in icing sugar and milk and keep mixing.
Check out http://www.recipes4cakes.com/frostings/ for lots more icing recipes and cake ideas.
Art and Craft
Christmas Decorations:
Some ideas for Christmas:
- Spray paint and put glitter on pine cones.
- Paint and glitter some seashells.
- Candy canes/cookies.
- Use old puzzle pieces. Just paint the backs and glue into shapes! A good one is a wreath- just stick green-painted puzzle pieces in a circle, and add little red beads for a holly wreath! You can also create a snowflake, Christmas tree, candy cane, etc.
- Create Christmas baubles by wrapping layers of tissues and glue into a nice round ball, and covering with a few layers of gold tissue paper. Add Sequins or craft mirrors for the finishing touch!
- Make snowmen with pom poms.
- Create Christmas earrings by: buying a pair of dangly earring hangers. (whatever they are called- basically the hook that you put in your ear.) Then put red and green beads onto a piece of string and not the end, or put them onto a safety pin. Tie your beaded string onto the hook and it’s finished!
Laugh a Lot
Knock Knock Jokes
Knock Knock
Who’s there!
A Fred!
A Fred who?
Who’s a Fred of the Big Bad Wolf?
Knock Knock
Who’s there!
Amory!
Amory who?
Amory Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Knock Knock
Who’s there?
Alison!
Alison who?
Alison to my radio in the mornings!
Knock Knock
Whos there!
Alda!
Alda who?
Alda time you knew who it was!
Knock Knock
Who’s there?
Ann!
Ann who?
Ann-onymous!
Knock Knock
Who’s there?
Cows!
Cows who?
Cows go moo not who!
The world of imagination:
Shelby's Story:
Chapter 2: New Life
Fingering my large case, I got ready to wave goodbye to my life. I had told my dearest teachers and best of friends, and I was now standing outside the school at the gate. The security guard unlocked the gate and I walked out. I thought maybe I’d shed a tear, you know, my whole life was about to change. Instead, my stomach was turning inside out and it felt like butterflies were in there. Not feeling good at all, I wanted to just ran back in and forget the whole thing. My conscience pushed those thoughts out of my mind and I walked across the road nervously. After what seemed like the world’s longest bus ride I reached the airport. I got safely on to the plane, which had uncomfortable white seats a few inches apart, and since they were white you could sea small bits of dirt. Of course no area of anywhere is going to be perfectly spotless, but aeroplane companies might at least make their planes attractive. On the plane journey I had nothing to do besides explore the contents of my hand baggage, which was just a handbag with two books, my tickets and spare cash, some eatables for the trip, and a few other close keepsakes. So to while time my brain killed me with possible worst-case scenarios, day dreams of my first moment with my Dad, or of me and my dad living together in a huge two storey mansion. After what seemed like the longest three or four journeys of my life via. Bus, Cheap and Dirty Plane, Taxi, Ferry, Ferry, I was finally on Stars Island.
“May I help you Miss?” said a tall man. I guessed he was a security guard.
“Uh yes thanks, I’m Shelby Stewart, here to look for my dad. Could you please… could you help me find somewhere to stay…?”
“Sure thing Shelby. Just take this slip and go down the road to Outside Inn. You’ll be able to stay for the night. Are you sure your dad is here? And you know what you’re doing?” he said, while giving me a bit of ripped paper.
“Yes, thanks.” But now that the Island’s guard, or entrance guy, or whoever he was, had pointed out that I didn’t know what I was doing, I felt scarily sure that I didn’t. I had kind of expected that the ride to the island would be the whole story, and then I’d live with my dad. Now it seemed like it was only just the beginning. I walked to the inn, where the innkeeper was a plump middle-aged woman, who was very nice to me. I felt glad when I could snuggle into a bed and sleep soundly- the last time I had done that, I’d been all the way up in Australia! Now I was down here, in the middle of nowhere, and I knew no one.
The next morning I woke up feeling much happier, though that wore off when realization hit me again- what was I doing? Anyhow, I liked it here, Mrs Walter, the innkeeper, was pleasant, and the whole inn was sort of happy. It was all painted very brightly with patterns on yellow and white walls. Even the bathrooms were pleasant. Each room smelt fresh and looked bright, and the people there were all nice too. Mrs Walter sat me at a table in the dining area and I was given a lovely breakfast of crumpets. I looked around at the people around me, a tall man sitting with a girl I guessed was his daughter, two bald men playing cards, a few young women who had just come in and ordered wines, and a family of four. Then suddenly the tall man and his daughter were coming over to my table like I was their long-lost friend, smiling at me cheerily.
“Why hello, what’s your name?” said the man.
“Shelby Stewart. Your name is…?”
“Albert. Albert Shauister. This here is my daughter Jenny. You are new to the island, right?”
““Um, yes. I’m here to meet my dad, Philip Stewart.”.”
“Philip?” He looked a little startled. “Actually, he is one of my best friends. We were in a partnership together. Are you sure he invited you?”
“Um, I wasn’t invited. I came here to look for him; I want to live with him.”
Albert smiled toothily. “We can help you with that, actually. We can help you find him. Is it a deal? I’ll help you.”
“That would be nice.”
I bit into a buttery crumpet, wondering if it was a good thing. The man looked nice, although his daughter had a snobby sort of air. She had her hand leaning towards the table- and on it were small, strange, little creatures. One was a tiny sort of dog, and the other was a small round piece of fur- pets, I guess, or toys?
But without help I don’t think I would get anywhere anyways, so I needed all the help I could get.
”So, where does my dad live?”
“Huh? Oh, your dad. Of course. He… I’m not sure. He hasn’t contacted me in a while. We’ll just need to search the island. I’m sure he wouldn’t have gone out. You see, your dad is the island founder. It’s all true. He arranged and founded this whole city. He did everything you will see here. True. Very true. Just, where exactly he is, I don’t know.”
“So…we’re searching a few spots?” I had no idea what he had just said.
“Yes. The spots he is most likely to be in. They are scattered all over the island, so you are getting a free tour really.”
“Thanks…”
“We’ll leave after breakfast.”
“What IS that?” I don’t normally talk much, but that was amazing. It was a huge, transparent sphere…Like a giant bubble.
“This is a bubble car. They are Stars Island invented, produced, and used.”
“Stars Island should sell them to other countries.”
“Tell that to the government,” Albert muttered, talking to himself.
“So how does it work?” I asked, pressing my finger against it. It was firm yet I couldn’t suss out what it was made of- it wasn’t plastic, glass or metal.
“A few gases are heated and shaped into a sphere. Inside is a glass floor. It is amazingly convenient.”
He slid open one of the sides, and we stepped in. Inside were two white leather couches and a small closet-table. Stuck to the sides were two curtain rails with pale blue cotton hanging off.
Jenny, who was slightly shorter that me with a whitish blonde hair style and pretty mouth, finally spoke up- “You can’t see through it from outside. It’s opaque.”
She turned away from my strong stare. Looking at her now, that strange expression didn’t really seem like a snobby air anymore. Instead, it sort of looked like misery, jealousy, or loneliness.
As we steered through the city, I could see a few white streets with small buildings and many bubbles floating by. We were too high up to get a close view.
“How old are you?” I asked her. She looked a bit younger than me.
“14,” she replied gently.
“I’m 13,” I told her. She must have been a short person.
Albert was leaning his hands against the white walls of the bubble, and steering a small wireless wheel.
“Where are we going?”
“To Jo Street. There are a few shops and things there. We can access the other roads too. He’s sure to be somewhere doing something.”
“What about his house?” I queried. That seemed the most obvious place to look.
“Philip…eh… he has been gone for a while now. Nobody has any idea why.”
Jenny opened her mouth as if she was about to say something, and then shut it again, like a goldfish.
Albert had just landed his bubble on the pavement against a long white road.
“The roads are white…weird?” I said.
“Yes of course! Oh wait… you are new to Stars Island… I looked at the buildings around us. They were short, squat cubes with snazzy signs hanging above their glass doors. There were a few different colours- yellow cubes, purple cubes, black cubes, white cubes… People were travelling the road in strange contraptions- a few were cute and colourful round cars, with solar panels stuck on. One person sat in a glossy black helicopter- except it had two legs, with wheels, that whizzed along at the same speed ad the cars and bubbles. Behind a few larger cubes stood a long silver track with a huge train steaming along it. Strangely it had only one carriage! I gazed at the wonderful things around me until Albert tapped me impatiently on the shoulder.
“The two places we shall check right now… are the library, and the airport. Philip hangs around those two places a lot. He is an avid reader and he works at the airport.”
Jenny again made the goldfish action with her tiny pink lips.
We walked to the library, which was next door to the airport. They were both cubes, the library a small pink one and the airport a larger white. A huge and spectacular fountain gushed out in the middle of both of them. It seemed to be a large stone dolphin carrying a star, from which soft blue water was splashing. It all wafted into a huge black bowl underneath
As soon as we walked into the library, a plump man with a white hat bearing the same pattern the fountain had, was sidling up to us. A tall teenage boy with messy brown hair followed him.
“Albert, I KNOW what you’re up to, you-” Looking at me, he paused and his forehead wrinkled in a confused manner.
“What are you talking about?” Albert said coolly.
“Who is the girl?” the man replied.
“Mr Cruz, Shelby Stewart. Shelby, Mr Cruz- he- he is an important part of the government.”
“You took his daughter too!”
“No, Cruz, I’m helping Shelby find her dad.” A flicker of a smile appeared on Albert’s face as he said it.
“Shelby, watch out for this man. And, whatever you do, keep looking for your dad alone as well…”
“Why don’t you and Jenny and Adam just sit down while we… talk?” Albert said.
“Hey. I’m Adam.”
I smiled and told him my name.
“Why are you with Shauister?”
“I’m… looking for my dad. Albert is helping me.”
Adam snorted. “Trust me, he ain’t helping. Shauister only wants money- if you’re staying with him, you better stay alert.”
Jenny remained silent.
“Jenny, is it true? Does your dad just want money?” I asked.
“I…I…I don’t know.”
“I’m leaving. I’ll see you two around.” Adam spoke before walking off out of the building.
Your Space:
Please send us any Christmas photos or Holiday photos!
Current Subscribers: Anita Menon
Birthdays:
Rajesh Menon- 24th December
Thank you to Aman Nair for doing the New! Video interview. It’s about Spiderman and will be available soon, either emailed on request or put up.
