Charlotte Fair 2015 - A fun filled Saturday Afternoon

 Charlotte Fair: 

        We recently went for "Charlotte Fair". It was a fun filled day for kids and adults. There were so many rides for kids and for us. There were few shows like circus,pirate shows and magic shows.I just captured those moments for my readers and wanted to write an article .It is also as a future reference for me. Intially, we were hesitant in buying a fun pass to take unlimited rides. But after entering the carnival, we felt very bad. Because ,there were many rides ,which we couldn't resist to ride. So we kept this in mind and planned to buy  fun pass next year. This was a 10 day fair. We went on the second day. The below picture shows the entrance to the fair.You can see the holiday spirit. While I was writing this post, the days, where I went to Fair in "Chennai " , came flashing in my mind. My dad used to take us to these exhibitions . Those were fun days.

Check my other articles about trips .

 * Chinese Lantern Festival

 * Trip to Canyon Lake

 * Golu at my friend's house.

Entry:

This is the ticket counter. All our kids are waiting eagerly to enter the fair. These tickets are for the rides. 

Shops:

This was next to the Statfarm booth. This shop is just a kids stop, which offers variety of balloons and toys. Statefarm booth gave all registered members, a lunch box,glasses and bags.There were snack shops, Souvenir shops,

Rides:

There were rides like these small elephants, monkeys, roller coaster ,scary monster rides,cute bug rides,mini train rides. There were also mega monster trucks, which you can rent and drive . Kids would love theserides. Initially Rohith was hesitant, but after some time, he started to explore the ries with Ashwath.Each ride had ticket system, where you have to give tickets not money. The tickets has to be bought at the entrance.

This was the mini train ride,I was talking about.The whole carriage was occupied by our friends. Rohith got a seat at the front.

This is a cute little caterpillar ride, where Rohith and Ashwath took a ride. Cute looking ride though :)

Here comes the monkey ride. Where the riders are seated inside the monkey and it rotates through a cycle and also rotates itself. There is a steering wheel, which the kids has to rotate to turn fast.

Here comes the most exciting water boat ride for kids. The water was not so deep. Kids should turn the wheel to steer the boat. There were help in every corner for the safety of the kids.Look ,who is driving through the water ? 

Helicopter ride :

             This was my unforgettable - first - helicopter ride in my life time.The helicopter was carrying me and Rohith to the sky. The take off was very smooth. Intereting thing bout this helicopter is ,they don't have doors.I asked the Cashier, she told me that "Its time consuming, for us to open and close the doors. So we took the doors off" . The view was spectcular. Charlotte was fully green ,from the aerial view.

Activities:

 There were so many activites, like water shooting. We need to aim to the centre of the board and spray water. Which will int turn, raise the lever to touch the monkey. This is actully a competition. The winner will get a stuffed animal. We didn't get any prize though :(

* This is balloon bursting game.,where we have to target a balloon. With three 3 arrows, if we burst all the 3 balloons, then "Ta - Da. we are gifted with these small gifts.

This is another intersting ride. We were given a basket full of balls. We need to throw the balls right into the cups, which are revolving.Its tricky to target the bowls ,as they were revolving.

Shows:

 Circus:

There were three shows, which we watched. The first one was the "Circus ". The mexican girls were flying in the sky .performing gymnastics.

*Next was this little girl, who performed hoola loops .She was able to rotate her body and balanced around 8 loops. That was spectacular. So talented too.

The third even was this girl, performing aome gymnastics. Watching this ,will bring you goose bumps. It was that incredible. You can see the posture of the girl.

In this picture, she is just balancing her head on a flower stand. This action is so dangerous also, challenging too. She ,surely need an standing ovation. So talented.

* At last, there were 4 bikers,who were just riding inside this ,without crashing each other. Such a daring act .

Pirates show:

 This enacted the story of pirates , in a comical way. These pirates performed some classy shoots too.

Mini Petting Zoo:

This is the petting zoo ,which had sheeps,goats,cows .There were food,which we can buy and feed those hungry animals.   There were sanitizers,everywhere,so we can clean our hands,after touching the animals.We decided to pet the animals,after finishing all the rides.

They were really fun to pet. There was a Texas ox, which was giant and scary.

Most important part, we witnessed the milking of the cow. Where we can use our hands and milk the cow. Both Rohith and Ashwath happy to milk the cows.This is normal in India, but here it was very new to the kids. The lady was very kind .

Here we all - to the end of the "Charlotte Fair ". Thank you all, who travelled with me, throught the fair. Hope you enjoyed viewing and reading. This rticle was pending for a week now. Since , I was down with fever and cold, couldn't write it. Now I am back with an interesting article. Share it with your friends and let them know what is there in "Charlotte Fair ".

Easy Mango Kulfi - Summer Special - Step by step

   Mangoes are in season now. We bought  case full of mangoes. Rohith and I would have anything with mangoes. Since I had excess, wanted to try this kulfi. In the recipe , the thickening agent is corn flour . Initially , I used  1 tbsp of corn flour. But that made my kulfi so stiff. So I reduced it to 2 tsp and then the consistancy was perfect. My mangoes were moderately sweet, so used 1 cup of sugar. If you are going to use canned mango puree, then reduce the sugar, as canned mango puree will be sweeter. Coming to an end of this "Summer Special Series".

                                Check my Kesar badam Kulfi recipe here

I took the pictures of kulfi easily, but couldn't capture my son with his kulfi properly. He started wandering with the kulfi. A blogger's life is not easy :) He is my future model . 

Preparation Time : 10 mins
Cooking time : 5 mins
Chilling time : 4 hrs
Serves : 7

Ingredients:
1.Whipping Cream - 1 cup
2.Mango pulp - 1 cup
3.Sugar- 1 cup or to taste
4.Corn flour - 3 tsp or 1 tbsp
5.Cardamom pwdr - a pinch
6.Pistachios - 1 tbsp
7.Water - 1 tsp

Method:

* We are going to puree the mango. You can also use store bought mango puree.  Scoop out the pulp from the mango and put it in the blender. I used 2 small mangoes. I got  about 1 cup of pulp. * Blend the mango puree finely without any lumps.  * Take whipping cream in a bowl. Take a small bowl, mix corn flour with water and mix. * Mix sugar with whipping cream and mix. If your mangoes are too sweet, we can alter the amount of sugar. * Now slowly add the corn flour mixture to the whipping cream and mix.  * Take the mixing bowl and cook it in medium flame. We are just heating mixture for the corn flour to mix with the whipping  cream. At one point, the mixture will become thick .Turn off the heat and leave it for 5 mins or untill it cools . * Add powdered cardamom powder and mix. * Now add blened mango puree to the whipping cream mixture. Use a whisk to blend the mango into the whipping cream mixture. * Add crushed pistachios to the mango mixture. We can add any nuts to the kulfi. But they have to be chopped finely. * Pour the kulfi mixture to the moulds and cover them with lids or a piece of aluminium foil. If you are going to pour the kulfi mixture to glasses, just insert a ice cream stick to the glass . This will help us to take the kulfi out easily. Alternatively, we can freeze the mixture in a bowl . While we are about to serve, un mould the kulfi and cut .Serve them with nut garnish. * Freeze them for atleast 4 hrs or overnight. When we are about to serve, just run the kulfi moulds in hot water . This will loosen it a bit.  Serve the kulfi with the stick.

Notes:
* We can use store bought mango puree for the kulfi.
* Don't add too much corn flour, then the kulfi will not have perfect consistancy.
* We can also grind the nuts and add it to the whipping cream mixture.
* Adjust the amount of sugar ,according to the sweetness of the mangoes.
* While taking the kulfi out, gently roll them with your hands and then dip in hot water.
* Blend the mangoes to the chipping cream, when it is cold.

Buttermilk Chillies - மோர் மிளகாய் - Side dish for curd rice - Step by step

           Buttermilk chillies are best condiment for curd rice. The sourness from the curd ans the spice from the chillies ,go well with each other. This is one of my mom's summer special condiments. For good mor milagai, the chillies has to be small and spicy. Since I couldn't get hold of those chillies,So used less spicier ones, for mor milagai.Thai green chillies , has been banned in our area. Don't know, when the ban is going to be taken.  They were also good, except for the spiceness. The process involves, soaking the green chillies in buttermilk during the night and drying them in hot sun during day time. This process will take place, till all the buttermilk is used up. Then they are dried for 3 more days for the chillies to become crisp. Totally it took about 7 -8 days for me. But it depends on, where you live and how much sun light you get . Totally happy , making this buttermilk chillies.

Preparation time : 10 mins

Drying time : 7 to 10 days

Yield : 100 gms (approx)

Ingredients :

1.Green Chillies - 200 gm

2.Buttermilk - 2 cups

3.Salt - to taste

Method:

*  Select small and spicy green chillies for mor milagai . I couldn't get Thai green chillies. So used slightly less spicy chillies. My green chillies were long ,so took time to dry .In the middle of the drying process,I cut the chillies into half, to dry them fast. But if you could find small spicy chillies, then go ahead and use it. Wash the chillies and dry them. * Take a tooth pick and make slits in the green chillies. My mom used to do this using blade. Don't remove the head of the chillies. These slits will make the buttermilk to enter the chillies easily. * Take a mixing bowl, big enough to hold the chillies. Pour the buttermilk into the bowl.Add salt and mix.  * Drop the chillies in the buttermilk and shake the bowl, so that they are immersed in the buttermilk. Let the chillies stay in the buttermilk for about a day. This will make the chillies absorb the buttermilk very much. * On day - 2 , take the chillies out and dry them on a plate. Let it dry under the sun till evening. In the evening, drop the green chillies in the buttermilk. Let the chillies gets soaked in the buttermilk  throught the night. The point here, is we are going to make the chilies absorb buttermilk as much as possible. When the green chillies are drying in the sun, the water content both in chillies and buttermilk will be evaporated. But the chillies will retain the sourness of the buttermilk.At night, the chillies will  again absorb the buttermilk. Day - 5  * There were 3 days of rain in my area, so it took much time for the chillies to dry. So I cut the chillies into two, to quicken the drying process.In the morning, dry the green chillies in the sun. Again in the night , drop the chillies in the buttermilk. You can see, the colour of the chillies are slowly turning to pale yellow. This is because of the buttermilk. * We have to carry on this process, till all the buttermilk in the bowl is absorbed by the chillies. Don't keep the buttermilk under the sun. It has to be inside. If your place is hot and humid, the green chillies will dry quickly than mine. Once the buttermilk is completely absorbed by these chillies, then dry the chillies in sun, till they are crisp, without any moisture. * If the chillies has moisture, then they may go stale soon. Once the chillies are ried completely, store them in air tight container. When needed, just fry them in oil.  * Serve them with curd rice or any rice. The sourness from the buttermilk and spice from the chillies will give you a very good taste to the chillies.

Notes:
* Select spicy chillies for mor milagai.
* Small size makes it to dry fast and quick.
* The buttermilk has to be sour ,for a good mor milagai.
* Soak the chillies in buttermilk, till the bowl becomes empty. Once the buttermilk is over, 
* If you are in tropical region, then these chillies will dry quickly.
* We can also add grinded methi seeds to the buttermilk to balance the sourness,
* Some will also add grinded urad dal, for the chillies to have a coating.
* If these chillies are dried properly, they can be stored till a year.

Linking this to "Friendship 5 Series ", started by "Savitha Ramesh" and "Geetha Achal"