#nahji

[desertdollranch]

Re-introducing Nahji! She's a Hearts for Hearts girl who comes from Assam, India.

I've had Nahji since 2019, but she was a thrift store rescue so I had nothing at all from her original outfit. Even her little nose stud had been pulled off. Her eyes had gone purple, so I had to replace them too. Looking at my other H4H dolls, one of my favorite things about them are their tiny details, like all the pretty jewelry Nahji wears. Just check out all of that bling.... a pearl headband, blue crystal drop earrings, a necklace, and gold bangle bracelets. All H4H dolls come with some kind of jewelry, but Nahji has the most. I also got her story booklet, and it's a good one.

Nahji is ten years old and is not hopeful about her future. Most girls her age earn a living doing hard labor for little money, like harvesting tea or cleaning houses. Many of them get married very young, like Nahji's mother, who married at age 13, and cannot read or write. So Nahji persuades her mother to let her get an education at the local school. Once Nahji learns to read and write, she reads about ways her family can be self-sufficient. She and her mother and sister start to grow vegetables and they raise Indian runner ducks, who lay eggs that can also be sold. Eventually, Nahji's sister Sutra quits her job cleaning houses in order to help sell vegetables and eggs, and their mother is able to stop harvesting tea leaves. Nahji and Sutra talk to other girls their ages who might feel hopeless, and share what they've learned in their journey to change their lives.

[doanchaoc]

Recipes: Miss Chu’s rice paper rolls

Nahji Chu, referred to as the ‘Queen of Rice Paper Rolls’ and the mastermind behind Miss Chu, has introduced Sydneysiders and Melburnians to rice paper rolls with a tasty twist. The fillings often deviate from the usual you would expect in the more traditional combinations. I recently attended a class hosted by Nahji Chu and Northland Shopping Centre, and the recipes covered during the class are shown below:

MISS CHU’S PEANUT AND HOISIN DIPPING SAUCE (250 ml)

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons hoisin sauce

3 tablespoons plum sauce

3 tablespoons satay sauce or crunchy peanut butter

½ cup white vinegar

2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice

Optional: 1 clove crushed garlic and 1 tablespoon Sriracha chilli sauce or fresh chilli.

Methods:

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl for immediate use or store in a jar, refrigerated, for later use.

TIGER PRAWN AND GREEN MANGO RICE PAPER ROLLS

(makes 12)

Ingredients:

1 bunch Vietnamese mint

1 bunch coriander

1 bunch shiso leaves

¼ iceberg lettuce, shredded

1 green mango, peeled and shredded

12 large round rice paper sheets

100 g vermicelli noodles, cooked and drained

12 large cooked tiger prawns, shelled and deveined

1 Lebanese cucumber, julienned

6 tablespoons roasted ground rice

Optional: crushed pork crackling

DIPPING SAUCE:

½ cup hoisin sauce

½ cup plum sauce

2 tablespoons hot chilli sauce

1 tablespoon tamarind puree

3 tablespoons satay sauce or crunchy peanut butter

Juice of 1 lime

Methods:

To prepare the dipping sauce, combine all the ingredient in a bowl and set aside.

Reserve 12 mint and 12 shiso leaves. Chop the remainder and combine with the lettuce.

Dip one sheet of rice paper into warm water for a few seconds, then place on a clean surface. Place a shiso and mint leaf in the centre of the rice paper and top with rice vermicelli, mint and lettuce mixture, a prawn, cucumber and mango. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of the ground rice (and crushed pork crackling).

Roll up neatly. Repeat with remaining rice paper sheets and filling.

Serve immediately with dipping sauce.

DILL EGG OMELETTE, BALSAMIC CARAMELISED ONION AND AVOCADO RICE PAPER ROLLS

(makes 12) Ingredients:

1 bunch Vietnamese mint

1 bunch coriander

1 bunch shiso leaves

¼ iceberg lettuce, shredded

1 large avocado, cut into 12 long strips

12 large round rice paper sheets

100 g vermicelli noodles, cooked and drained

1 Lebanese cucumber, julienned

6 teaspoons roasted ground rice

Optional: fried shallots

EGG OMELETTE:

6 eggs

½ small bunch dill

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon white pepper

BALSAMIC CARAMELISED ONION:

4 brown onions, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Methods:

To prepare the egg omelette:

On a flat non-stick crepe pan (the size of a dinner plate), make 3 egg omelettes, which should take 1 minute on each side to cook.

Cut the egg into 2 x 5 cm strips.

To prepare the balsamic caramelised onion:

Sweat the onions in a pan over medium heat before adding the sugar and balsamic vinegar. Keep stirring over low heat for about 30 minutes on until the onions reduce to a caramelised consistency.

To prepare the rice paper rolls:

Reserve 12 mint and 12 shiso leaves. Chop the remainder and combine with the lettuce.

Dip one sheet of rice paper into warm water for a few seconds and place on a clean surface. Place the mint leaf in the centre of the rice paper and top with a slice of avocado, omelette strip, a shiso leaf, 1 tablespoon caramelised onion, some rice vermicelli noodles, lettuce and mint mixture, cucumber and ½ teaspoon ground rice.

Roll up neatly and repeat with the remaining rice paper sheets and filling. Serve immediately with a dipping sauce of choice.

This post first appeared on (https://theycallmemaggie.tumblr.com/post/150438558832/recipes-miss-chus-rice-paper-rolls)

[dolls-and-cats]

May photo challenge, day 24: spring holidays

Nahji wishes you all a happy Holi! When she and her family celebrated at their temple a couple of months ago, she wanted to bring her doll. However, since part of the celebration is throwing colored powder on each other, her mother advised her to leave her doll at home and to change clothes into something ok to get stained. When they arrived, Nahji threw powder at her brothers and cousins and they all threw it back. She had a great time.

Nahji is from Assam, in the far eastern tip of India, north of Bangladesh.

About India...as we're all aware, people are really suffering from covid right now. Many of us have friends, neighbors, and coworkers who have parents and other family members who are in the middle of that. Some of y'all may yourselves have family and friends who are impacted. (I'm not aware of any mutuals on doll tumblr who live in South Asia, but feel free to speak up if you do).

A big reason that I have gotten so into doll tumblr over the past few months is for escapism from some genuinely awful stuff happening in my family in the U.S., not directly related to covid. I have a jar by my bed to write down notes about things I can't control so that I don't tear myself up ruminating about them.

So when a friend posted on her social media that we should all *do something* about the covid crisis in India, my first reaction was frustration and even anger. If I can't fix things for my brother who lives a few hours away, what on earth am I supposed to do about a failing healthcare system and pandemic in a country of a billion people?

My friend responded with a pbs article of vetted organizations we can all donate to who are doing work in India:

So I am passing that along. I never want to nudge people to take action I haven't taken myself, so I donated yesterday to Direct Relief, the first organization in the article. I can't personally fix all the horrible things happening in India and neither can any of us, but making a donation is a way to help a little. The covid vaccine has been created - a miraculous tool that wasn't around in the devastating 1918 influenza. It needs to get flown and driven and into people's arms; there is medical equipment that can help people breathe and survive covid; there are problems that money can fix.

If you're not in a place to be able to donate, then this nudge is not for you. Not everyone is. But if you are able to contribute something and want to help out, this looks like a tangible way to help.

Best wishes to you all.

[genievillain26]

I know I’m a day late on this. I went to a boisterous yet fun Halloween party last night and executive dysfunction got a hold of me today. Here is a selection of my American Girl, Wellie Wisher, and Hearts for Hearts dolls in their Halloween attire.

First photo: Rebecca is in one of her costumes from her costume chest, Ollyssa (TM #25) is in the Skeleton Outfit, Nahji is a mermaid, Willa is Merida from Brave, and Lea is a witch.

Second Photo: Mae (rewigged TM #29) is a genie, Melody is a wizard, Emerson is trying to be Miraculous Ladybug (she couldn’t get the body suit, so she is working out what ever ladybug stuff she can get to so she can pull off some degree of effort), Leeann (TM #23) is in the Spider Witch costume, and Allison is Alice in Wonderland.

Third Photo: Kanani isn’t really dressed as anything, but she did want to wear the Trick or Treat shirt in some way. Z is wearing extras from Rebecca's costume chest, however she is trying to go for more of an early 1920′s look since the 2020′s are quickly approaching. Ivory (Dell) is Elsa from Frozen, even though she was unable to get a wig to wear with this to look more convincing. She still insisted on being Elsa regardless. Jess is dressed as a kid from 50 years in the past, 1969.

After taking these pictures, I noticed the AG dolls used in the third set all have the Jess face mold. I did not intend for it to turn out that way, I didn’t even think about that when posing and grouping the dolls along.

[dollsofcolourheckyes]

oh hey Dolls, looks who's back on shelves! these were spotted at ye olde Tarzhay. 💖4💖

[americangirlmom]

Made some smaller dresses for the Wellies and our Hearts for Hearts girls! I plan on making a couple more to fit two of the dolls that aren't in the picture. I found a simple pattern that makes slip on dresses which works better with R (my youngest kiddo) so she can do quick changes on her dolls! She even picked out the fabric for Kendall and Willa's dresses. Nahji's dress is from a spare fabric in my stash and I love the simplicity of it with the dress design (although I could have centered the ribbon a bit better.🤣)

[thedollcafe]

(via Hearts For Hearts Girls (@heartsforheartsdolls) • Instagram photos and videos)

[kissfortheelves]

Nahji and Kohji.

Let me tell you about the time when these two dumbasses started to be known as the Two-headed Snake and they decided to cut their tongues and get tattoos to be more scary.

[lewisossokoh]

NO COMMENT 62 : Make Your Maker

We see a lone woman fastidiously prepare and distill human body parts, using her own body as a test bed, fusing gender and blending ego like a chef constitutes food. Her laboratory references the wet and somewhat grotty kitchens found in dimsum markets; the basement housing her inventions. We see her curiousity in process, operating an assembly line of kitchen appliances big enough to steam a body. Duplicates are cut precisely with facial cutters, dissected according to her mathematical matrix, sealed and then packaged for consumption.

Written and directed by Lucy McRae, MAKE YOUR MAKER responds to the idea that ‘Food and the body are inseparable’; a dialogue developed alongside Nahji Chu, the savant owner of Australian cult restaurant MissChu.

Watch No Comment 61 : HERE

[missyling]

I wanted to jump on the bandwagon because this seemed really fun!

I’ve made a ton of doll wishlists on this blog already and I don’t see that stopping but for 2022, I wanted to challenge myself to branch out more.

I’ve mentioned before that I’d love to bring Saila home one day but currently my collection stands at five 18 inch American Girl dolls, one Wellie Wisher, and one Magic Attic doll.

For this challenge, I wanted to only pick one doll from each brand, although they certainly don’t represent the only doll I want from each line.

1) Saila is a Maplelea doll. I think she might be the only doll on this list that is the only doll from her line that I’m interested in.

2) Elinor is a A Girl for All Time doll. Most of the AGFAT dolls are gorgeous. I settled on Elinor for my top choice as I realized I don’t have any redheads. I thought she could portray both a young Princess Elizabeth and a Sarah Bartlemy for my Grace. She may end up time traveling outside the Tudor/Elizabethan period as well. I’m also drawn to Clementine, Nisha, and Bex.

3) Rahel is a Hearts for Hearts doll. Technically, Nahji nudges her out for top spot but since Nahji was a late Christmas present to myself (via a giftcard), I decided to disqualify her. Other top contenders are Mosi, Tipi, Shola, Nyesha, and Consuelo.

4) Sage is an Our Generation doll. I’ve been considering using her for my Grace doll although I’m not completely sold on that idea. I think her hair is too blonde to really qualify as mousy. I do love the outfit and accessories she comes with and I’d pass them onto Marisol and maybe Blaire too if I ever got her. The fact that she’s taller than Elinor but looks younger would actually end up being fine as Grace is at least two years younger than Sarah but noted to be tall. It’s unfortunate that they can’t share clothes but what can you do. I also like Valeria and would love her; she seems to no longer be available though. Others of high interest are Catarina, May Lee, Ayeesha, Suyin, Abril, Suzee, Maricela, Gloria, Savannah (who maybe is a better fit for mousy hair, hard to tell without looking in person but I don’t picture Grace with blue eyes; she’s never mentioned with them so I feel it’s most likely her eyes are brown), Rosalind, Ambreal, Rashida, and Paloma.

5) Kendall is a Wellie Wisher. Pretty self-explanatory. I’ve made a huge list of AG dolls I’m interested in, elsewhere. Willa I think would be next after Kendall from the Wellies. Historically, I am hoping to get Kaya with my booster money, am picky and so don’t want the Beforever version of Rebecca, and have no interest in Courtney. Nanea and Melody are the only historical dolls still available from AG I want. I think I won’t end up getting Corinne, definitely not Gwynn since I have Melissa, my Emerson, and there’s virtually no difference between them, I like all the World By You girls but I’m not in any kind of rush to pay AG full price for them. I would get Blaire and Joss but not Kira, I think Blaire isn’t available anymore though.

6) Zoe is from Carpatina. I forget what I was looking for on the Carpatina website when I was struck by the thought that she would be great as Flavia Gemina of the Roman Mysteries, yet another middle-grade history fave. I also like Julia, Ana Ming, Emma, and Diya.

7) Karima is a Salaam Sisters doll. I find them all cute so I kind of picked Karima at random but looking at the picture of her hair uncovered on the website I thought that maybe she could sometimes portray Pam Crandal from the Pony Pals series, another childhood favorite series. I would also love to have Maryam, Layla, Nura, and Yasmina.

8) Kai is a Girlhood Journeys doll. I learned recently that they sort of rebooted the series and added some more characters but they only made dolls for the first four girls - Juliet, Kai, Marie, and Shannon - from what I understand. I would like to bring home all four Girlhood Journeys girls someday but I really appreciate Kai’s story as the other three not only have stories I’m more familiar with but also stories that tend to get more coverage.

9) Rose is a Magic Attic Club doll. I currently have Heather and it’s truly a toss up as to whether I want Rose or Keisha more. It’ll probably just depend on which I can find for a reasonable price in good condition first. (Alison and Megan are characters I like but somehow there’s something that gets lost in translation and their dolls don’t speak to me. I feel the way about Samantha in that I quite like her character but something about AG constantly manufacturing fancy expensive clothes for her and I can’t quite see that character in the doll. 😔) 

[desertdollranch]

All of my Hearts for Hearts Girls! I have almost a complete collection. Here they are in order that they came to me:

Mosi (USA), Consuelo (Mexico), Nahji, (India), Lauryce (USA), Rahel (Ethiopia), Dell (USA), Tipi (Laos), Shola (Afghanistan), Lilian (Belarus), Zelia (Brazil), and Nyesha (USA).

Hearts for Hearts Girls is a line of 14 inch dolls that represent girls from all over the world. They come dressed in clothes authentic to their culture, and each doll comes with a little storybook that talks about her life. These are such nice quality dolls in every aspect. Their backstories promote empowerment through education and making a difference. Each of these girls desires to change the world one heart at a time. She looks around herself to see a need, and she takes action to meet it.

These dolls were originally produced circa 2010 by the brand Playmates, but were discontinued after a few years. They were bought out by another company in 2017, who re-released the dolls with some minor improvements. But their social media and website went dead right around the first months of the pandemic, and so these dolls are once again discontinued.

I have 11 of the 12 dolls that were released. The one I'm missing is Surjan from Nepal, who was the only doll that was never re-released like the others before the company went dark. I've never ever seen her being sold, so it will likely take me a long time to find her. (But if you're selling one please hit me up!)

Close ups:

[sunkenshipsanddreams]

My SilMil Playlist

(Will be edited to include more songs periodically)

1: “Walking With The Ancestors” - Adrian von Ziegler

2: “Escaping The Kraken” - Peter Crowley

3: “Victorious” - Adrian von Ziegler

4: “Landsong” - Robert Russell

5: “Free as the Wind” - Robert Russell

6: “Spirit of the Wild” - BrunuhVille

7: “Wolf Blood” - Adrian von Ziegler

8: “Legend” Adrian von Ziegler

9: “El Dorado” - Two Steps From Hell

10: “Adiemus” - Adiemus

11: “Toaru Ryu no Koi no Uta” - Itou Kanako

12: "Bardock Falls" - Norihito Sumitomo

13: "Part of the Pack" - Adrian von Ziegler

14: "Destiny" - Kenji Yamamoto

15: "Magie et Sorcellerie" - Shiro Sagisu

16: "Cast to Damnation" - Shiro Sagisu

17: "Dance of Curse" - Yoko Kanno

18: "Torushina" - Yoko Kanno

19: "Power of Four Dragons" - Kunihiko Ryo

20: "Life To Be Protected" - Norihito Sumitomo

21: "She Who Brings Destruction" - Yasuharu Takanashi

22: "First Vision" - Yoko Kanno

23: "Machine Soldier" - Yoko Kanno

24: "Last Stardust" - Aimer

25: "Adventure" - JDD

26: "Nahji no Uta" - Kenji Kawai

27: "Unmei no Yoru" - Kenji Kawai

28: “The Demon Clan’s Executioner” - KOHTA YAMAMOTO

29: “Majinzoku no Onnen” - KOHTA YAMAMOTO

30: “To the Bitter End” - Bruce Faulconer

31: “For Real” - Hidenori Tokuyama

32: “Omoi Haruka” - Kenji Kawai

33: “Vogel Im Kafig” - Hiroyuki Sawano

34: “To Destroy The Evil” - Yuki Kajiura

35: "Devil Trigger" - Casey & Ali Edwards

36: "Buwan (Kundiman)" - Juan Karlos Labajo

37: "Hello Mr. My Yesterday" - Hundred Percent Free

38: "Pilgrim" - B'z

39: “The High Drive” - Gordon Duncan 

40: “Elda’s Tavern” - Rei Nishiwaki

[dolls-and-cats]

Welcome to Hearts for Hearts Nahji, from Assam, India!

I love the henna decorations on her hands.

Since I agree with the concerns y'all have raised about AG's lack of racial diversity in the historical and GOTY lines, I bought a Hearts for Hearts doll instead of an AG doll for my young niece's upcoming birthday.

I bought her early and got her out of the box so I can sew her 2 or 3 outfits ahead of time. I plan to make at least a saalwaar khameez and a simplified makhela chador (similar to a saarii). Maybe some cute pajamas.

Thanks for introducing me to Nahji on your blog, @desertdollranch!!

Very cute and I think my niece will be very pleased with her.

[genievillain26]

I got Emerson today!!! Initially, I was going to get her at Toy R Us because of the liquidation sales, but the only Wellie Wisher they had was Willa. They had several boxes of her too, but I already have her. I drove to Kohl’s instead to get her. It turns out she was there and so was every other WW except for Willa ironically. I got $10 in Kohl’s cash for getting her too. She is such a precious doll. I wanted to get a group photo with Willa and my two Hearts for Hearts dolls since they are the same size as Wellies. I know they look a little scruffy now, but I just wanted to get the picture done quickly so I could get the post posted sooner. I am likely going to rewig Emmerson because I don’t like bangs. I might even get a wig that has longer hair. Anyways, I just wanted to share my new buy. Thanks for reading.

[fourlittletesters]

Tested: Heart Street Market

#Developer: Splashworks.com Inc.

#Website: http://www.splashworks.com/ http://www.hearts4heartsgirls.com/

#Purchase: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/heart-street-market/id1216701349?mt=8

#Version: 1.1.0

#Cost: $2.99 (at time of review)

#In-App Purchases

Costumes Pack $0.99

Angel Costumes $0.99

Please note that we received a donation to review this released app.

#Support: Requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

#Size: 272 MB

#Screenshots:

#Developers Description

Go on a global adventure with four girls! Herd runner ducks, play soccer, make music with a kitten, catch raindrops, dance in the street with mariachi skeletons—and more! Shop in an exotic market and bring the girls’ neighbourhoods to life!

Heart Street Market explores the lives of Nahji (India), Rahel (Africa), Dell (USA) and Consuelo (Mexico). They need your help to make their dreams come true! Can you find what they need in the marketplace?

Heart for Hearts Girls is partnered with World Vision®, for programs that support gender equality, education, infrastructure, and humanitarian aid.

Features

Hours of exploring, collecting, helping, and playing around the world.

Game play patterns that girls love: making friends, collecting, personalization, and helping others.

Vibrant, illustrated graphics with exciting animations.

Music from around the world.

Fashions that can be saved and shared with friends. 

No ads to interrupt game play.

In-App purchases are optional, not needed for complete game play. (IAPs require parental gate confirmation.)

#The Review

Heart Street Market was a pleasant surprise, full of multi-cultural educational content, and very much themed around your child paying it forward by playing games to earn coins to spend on enriching the lives of others. By accepting missions to buy essential products and supplies you help all of the featured girls and their communities (India, Africa, America and Mexico)

The app takes the child on a wonderful journey across the world, opening their eyes up to different cultures, foods, produce and traditions. Based on the Heart for Heart Girls dolls, the characters are extremely well defined, each with their own character, dress style, their own stories to tell, and environments to share.  The child gets a lot of joy from this game through playing games, earning coins and completing missions, all to help the girls grow their community. For each set of missions completed the Child gets to ‘Level up’ at the same time watching the communities flourish as the new buildings and structures go up.  With great little snippets of information and some great imagery, this app was really enjoyed by the both of us. 

#The Test

Poppy had great fun playing all aspects of Heart Street Market, she had lots of laughs playing all the mini-games, she enjoyed looking around the market, finding the food and supplies to buy and completing the missions to help girls and their communities.

The ‘Dress Up’ boutique was a popular favourite for Poppy where she spent plenty of time mix and matching outfits and accessories.

The games were all pretty straightforward and simple enough to allow for her to enjoy some repeat play and achieve high scores, earning coins and levelling up. Poppy’s favourite game was helping Rahel ‘Kick it’ in Ethiopia, this was a game that involved dodging and weaving with a ball and shooting to collect tokens.

Poppy found the general App controls and interactions really easy to work with, and Poppy found it easy to navigate between the games and the marketplace, as the icons were big and clear. It took her a few attempts to locate the right market stall that sold the required food items that she needed to complete the missions, as it wasn’t initially obvious that you could scroll left for many more items.

The app was very rewarding for both of us, and Poppy enjoyed playing the games over and over and was really quite motivated to collect the necessary amount of coins to complete the missions. She enjoyed seeing the buildings get built section by section.

Poppy rated the app 8/10 fingers, which is pretty good, and she is confident that she will play again and again.

#The Verdict

Heart Street Market, a rewarding app, so vibrant and enriching.

#The Rating

Overall: 5/5

Look & Feel: 5/5 - Wonderful, really captures the vibrant colours and styles from around the world.

Enjoyment: 5/5 - Great Mini-games, good gamification and plenty of shops to explore, the ‘Dress-up’ boutique was a big favourite for Poppy.

Playability: 5/5 - The progressive missions made the App really interesting and kept the child wanting to play more games to earn more coins to help the heart street girls.

Value for Money: 4/5 - Lots of Games, Levels, Missions with constant progression

[americangirlmom]

Yay, one of our Hearts For Hearts dolls came in! This one is Nahji. She came wearing another doll's outfit (Lilian from Belarus) and we had also ordered this dress we had found (turns out it's Mosi's dress.)

I am IN LOVE with how soft her hair is. She is so much prettier than the pictures can do justice! Her head seems a little loose but maybe that's normal and why she is so poseable? I'm not really sure.

No clue when our Conseulo doll will be here, which has got my oldest girl S pretty down in the dumps. It's the first time I've ordered something off Mercari and really had problems with it. I bought her on the 3rd and she still hasn't shipped out. It says the shipping label has been made but the item has not been received. I'm giving everything a bit more time (we are in a pandemic after all) but still.

Tomorrow is my little girl R's birthday and I'm super excited to show you all the Kendall doll she's getting! Hope you all are doing peachy keen!