I - day 2008 Roundup

I tried to make it possible to post it earlier but for one or more reason can't do it. And there was a time when I thought its too late to publish, so convincing my mind to do it at least , I recalled - Better late than never.
With my head over the heels, I was tightly busy with all possible things you can imagine. I am thankful to all of you who cared to inquired about my well being , well I was not sick except one virus attack- rather I was just busy doing other things for my professional life. A warm big hug to all of you sweet hearts there.
without much talks here is the round up of Independence day 2008.

Happy 61st Independence day to my Indian Buddies...

Have a very Happy 61st Independence day to all my Indian buddies .

Take some time to respect the nation and culture we belongs to. From the bottom of my heart I salute those who took steps to bring freedom to India and helped it to preserve the rich culture we belongs to.

(image source- Unknown)

Here are some more entry for Theme - Independence day.

Mango pulp - Theme of the week Saffron white n Orange

Although I am not a sweet lover, I always loved sweet mangoes, specially the one which we get in season , ripe and firm , not too sweet (yeah you heard it correct- not too sweet ) and full of flesh .

Theme of the Week is -

Once again I am back with Theme of the week - Independence day. With the sincere hope that it will bring peace and prosperity to India . May my beloved Martubhumi - India get all the things written in the national Song (not National Anthem) -"Vande Mataram" and God save her from all the man made and natural disasters.

Theme of the Week - Valentine's Day(2008) Round up

Lets first give a warm welcome to ,
Anu sriram , Alpa, Apu , Bhags, Chris, Deeba, Divya A,Divya K, Divya P (all 3 Divya(s) :D ) , Easy Crafts, Mansi , Home cooked, Lavanya raj, Miri , Namratha , Richa, Sig, Srivalli, Sandhya and Uma for participating for the first time with their entries on this blog. Thanks for all being a part of this blog and making it even richer with your lovely entries :).

(Click on this collage to see a larger image of it )

Here are the entries in alphabetical order by the sender's name :

1. Alpa - lychee pomogranate Martini ,
2. Anamika- Two tier Cupid cake
   
3. Anu shriram - Strawberry orange cookies
   
4. Anuzi - chocolate founde with fruits
   
5. Apu-Rose colored kalakand
   
6. Archy- Rose falooda
7. Asha - Heart shaped Sukhadi
   
8. Bee & Jai - Pouches of Potato Love
9. Bhags-Hash Browns
10. Cham -Brownie whipped with raspberry mousse
11. Chris- chocolate cups cakes
12. Deeba- Hearty Almond Shortbread
    
13. Divya A- Cinnabun roses
14. Divya K- Beans cutlets
15. Divya P-Lemony hearts
16. Easy Crafts- Whole mung cutlets
17. Home cooked - Valentine cookies
18. Kajal- Red chilli chutney and Raita Marcha
19. Kalai-Pomogrante Rice
    
20. Kaykat- Chocolate Mousse Tartlets with Greek yogurt
21. Lavanya-Carrot halwa
22. Maheshwari -Rava ladoo
    
23. Mansi- Liquer infused Heart shapaed Chocolate cake
    
24. Meera -Bhelpuri
    
25. Miri -French Vanilla Cake with Chocolate ganache
26. Mishmash -China grasspudding with praline toppings
27. Nags - Heart shaped shortbread cookies
28. Namratha -Lemon Tea Cakes with Lemon Satin Icing
29. Nanditha- Mung beans and chocolate
30. Pooja -Lemon rice , Strawberry slush, Tomato beans soup and saffron halwa
    
31. Richa - Avocado ,Mint & peas soup.
    
32. Sig - Steamed Asparagus with Star Anise infused Pomegranate Molasses
33. Srivalli - Mung dal halwa
34. Sandhya - Strawberry jelly heart shaped cheese cake
    
35. Uma - Orange gel Pie
36. Vijaya - Beet root burfi
37. Viji- Almond chocolate Brownie
    (As blog of Viji is accessible to members only , you can reach her to viji.jeyakumar@gmail.com and be a member to access a very nice healthy food blog . Here is the recipe for her entry.....
    

    Ingredients:

    All purpose flour ¾ cup ,Coco powder 1/3 cup,Semi-sweet chocolate chips ½ cup
    Baking powder and salt ¼ tsp each,Vanilla sugar ½ tsp,
    Butter 50 gms or ¼ cup (I don’t prefer oil which spoil the taste in cakes)
    Sugar ½ cup,Eggs 2
    Semi sweet chocolate squares 50 gms + 2 tbsp butter for extra flavor
    Slivered almonds ¼ cup,

    Preparation:

    Pre heat the oven to 175oC.Line a 8 inch square pan with foil and grease it well.Mix the first 5 dry ingredients and keep it aside.Melt the chcolate squares with butter in MW high for 1-2 minutes. Let it cool.Beat the sugar,butter and eggs well. Add the melted chocolate to this and mix well.Now fold the dry ingredients to this and mix gently.Spread this in 8 inch square pan and garnish with slivered almonds.Bake it for 35-40 minutes. Don’t over do it.Leave it cool before slicing.The leftovers can be reheated in MW for 30-60 seconds. )
    

Thank you all for your Loving entries with innocent memories and nice write up:) .

We will continue celebrations on this blog with my much loved Vegetable of the week from next week on. Check out its announcement and revised rules on Tuesday, I will be posting that soon.
Till then Have a nice long weekend. Stay tuned .... and think a little bit more about the puzzle , will post that answer soon along with the best given answer from you.

My Valentine's Day Entries, with some cute hearts, click click click..... :D

About two weeks ago , while recalling some nice memories of India, suddenly hubby remembered something ,and that brought smile to his face …

He : You know , when we were kids , in summer vacation when we used to travel back from south India to our home, Nani used to pack a lot of food stuffs with us, and along with that without missing one kind of Khatta chawal .
Me : Khatta chawal ??? I never heard of it .
He: It’s a south Indian dish. I like it a lot.
Me: Is that something made up with Lemon…………
He : Yes, it is. It has also lots of peanuts in it , and some more things , I don’t remember it now .But that tastes I still remember….

(Ahhhhhh, here I am- I was thinking, it must be the more seen on blogworld lemon rice ,which usually south Indian bloggers make often ).

Me: I think it is called Lemon rice.
He : Yes, perhaps, and he spoke some name which was a Tamil word for that dish I think.

And then , that day we continued our talk of summer vacations and literally we lost ourselves in the childhood memories of traveling in summer days , visiting cousins and all that masti and everything, The card games we used to play , eating ice Gola in noon times, teasing each others , playing cricket and braking neighbor’s window glass n and then running away and finally for the simplest one from all players is supposed to caught by them to speak all the truth in from of neighbor’s family, and then elders all time ready to scold us ,and then rushing to mom and hide under her pallu, mom being unaware of such things sometimes protects us so well…. both os us spend those days in almost opposite part of India , still memories were so similar... I think childhood is all like that ,no matter in which part of world you spent it. We shared many memories and laughed a lot, also missed those days very much …

Above all these talks, one thing that clicked to my mind that day, is surprising hubby with his favorite dish going to be easier this year. With many blogs around I find a nice recipe for it, and finally made it the way Indira makes : ) . Easy to make and quick too , Surprising Deepak was really easy ;) .

On one evening time , last week , when he was back to home….

Me : I made something special for you , guess what ?
He : Dhokla ?
Me : nope….
He: Pizza ?
Me : not this time ,

( He kept on guessing his much loved dishes which I make sometimes as a surprise to him…. )

Me :(trying to giving him some hint for guessing…. ) why don’t you guess something you like, but I didn’t made before ?
He : (tired of guessing , and eager to see what the surprise is…) Why don’t you tell me then ?
And then I presented on Table the dish filled with lemon rice. Pointless to say he was more than happy to see it.

Did I tell you ever ? He is little more color conscious for the color of the dish . For him there is a perfect color impression of each dish. And for this dish he find the one I made similar to that was in his mind since his days a kid, so that was another reason for me to be happy and for him too : ) My first take for making this was a grand success and so was for him .

Thank you Indira for your perfect recipe, you really made our day . Thank you many other bloggers too ,who posted this on their blog , as I went through many blogs around and that helped me to made my mind about how the dish should be .

Having this dish for the first time in our menu , I was little skeptical about if it will appease our hunger fully or not. So I made this not so light soup to accompany this nice lemony dish.

I named it tomato –beans soup. Yet searching for some nice name , all suggestions are welcome :D.

Ingredients :

1 Cup sprouts, any sprout will taste good, I used Green gram sprouts .
1 cup tomato pulp,
1 tsp black pepper powder,
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves for flavor.

Recipe :

Mix in tomato pulp, with 1.5 cup of water and place it on stove , let it boil till it is little thick OR boil it until it reaches the consistency you like , add sprouts and salt in it cook for 2-3 mins, add black pepper powder and washed and chopped coriander leaves. Turn off the heat and serve it hot.

Quick and healthy soup is ready in minutes to serve.
(Note : if no tomato pulp is ready, boil 2-3 the tomatoes , then remove skin and crush it to fine paste .) this goes now to Lisa for her event No croûtons required this month . Thank you Lisa for hosting lovely event.

Along with this ,Kuchh mitha ho jaye…. This was our dessert dish I gave tt a little twist making it with saffron flavored water and without using milk at all .

Here is the recipe for Kesar flavored Suji ka halwa (Kesari suji no shiro) .

Ingredients :
½ cup Semolina (suji ) ,
½ cup sugar ( I used little less ) ,
1 tsp cardamom powder
2 tsp ghee
Pinch of saffron treads soaked in 1.5 cup hot water for 1-2 hours.

Method:
Take a flat bottomed pan , heat ghee in it , add Semolina to it , parallely in a vessel heat the saffron flavored water without removing saffron from it.Roast semolina until it spread nice aroma of it and until it is little brown in color.

Now to this add sugar and mix well keep on stirring continuously
Add hot saffron water to it , keep on stirring continuously and stir it until it reach desired thickness for sheera.
Add cardamom powder to it and mix well, turn off the flame.

Serve it hot or cold.I love it when Hot.
To make this suitable to our theme of the week I made it in heart shapes . for that, let it cool and then use mold it in any desired shape. I used cookie cutter for heart shapes. You can cut it into diamond shapes and refrigerate any left over .

All the above goes to Theme of the week –Valentine’s day .

Along with this , these lovely hearts goes to Zorra’s Heart for your Valentine.

Unlike me hubby is a sweet lover , and loved this too. So finally this story of our third Valentine’s day together ended very well , just like a fairy tale :D,no more fights now, we already had enough ;) with many surprises hidden for him .

This two lovely hearts now reaching to Bee and Jai with lots of love for their Click -Flour this month. I hope this is suitable to the theme this month Bee ! :) .

Theme of the Week - Valentine's Day

Sometimes we really forget to express how important we are to each other. Days like Valentine's Day are for such reasons so that we spare some time ,think on that and grab opportunity to express our gratitudes to have our beloved person around :) .

Also these are the days when in college times we were full of our romantic thoughts , life is different now, life takes turns as we move ahead with time and responsibilities. But it is always nice to make some day really special.Isn't it ?

Somewhere once I read that " Spend your life such a way , so that when you get old you will have nice memories to cherish about ". Let us try to add one more such memorable day to our life and share here with others.

All the rules are same as it was last year, so kindly refer to here , to know the rules.
Cooking with pink or red color is truly optional, just make something special and worth sharing , along with that if you wish you can add share memories from past too :). Use the following logo in your post and link it back to this theme.


I remember many blog buddies last year shared their different loving , touching ,romantic and worth sharing stories , not only this , I also had a fun time keeping this idea secret from hubby to make his favorite brunch and lunch :)).
I think, I am surely going to have a nice old age with all these good memories around . Don't worry , I will be in touch with you all that time too, to remind you of all these stories and make you laugh too:)). Btw, who believes that they are old, non of us ha ha ha...and remember that the way to man's heart goes through his stomach It's a universal fact ;) .

So be a part of this fun event , share some ideas, recipe and your stories .
Send me your entries by 14th Feb 2008(better if you can do little earlier , but not late than that), along with URL and picture .
Non bloggers can send their entries with the write up and pictures, I will publish it with their name and email ids. Last year we had many non bloggers too were a part of this fun event . and that was really fun to be together ans share some lovely stories.
Lets celebrate our love together.
Reach me on - blogpooja@gmail.com with your entries/queries. And don't forget to link your post with this theme.

(P.S. - I am much better and all good with my health now. Thanks a lot for your concerns and good wishes, this blogosphere is full of lovely friends, thats what I love about it, a big warm hug to all of you there :) )

Theme of the week -Orange,White and Green Round Up...

This year it is little different than last year, I think blog world is having now many immersing and very talented food bloggers around now. Last year it was such a great round up with lovely entries… I couldn’t believe it that this year it is even greater than great :), and all of you have shown your creativity in many different ways, That’s exactly what I love about this Theme . All of you have come up with wonderful ideas to be a part of celebration and that itself is very admiring, Kudos to you all, Now let me start with entries…

It was simple rules followed by me that I love to introduce new participants each time before round up , this year I think it would be easier for me to introduce some old and very lovely buddies of this blog , who in time become my great friends to whom I am very much attached too ! They are

Asha from Foodies hopes- her name is enough to introduce her, right ?
Bee & Jai of Jugalbandi ( whom actually I welcomed as new participants in last year’s Valentine’s Day theme :D ) ,
Harekrishanji , whose tagline always makes me smile :D
Kajal From Recipe with Step by step pictures (she participated first time in Last year's Rday theme ).
Mythreyee, whose bog is now having a nice name – Paajaka.
Viji from Vcuisine , whose blog is full of nutritious recipes and healthy tips along with positive thoughts.

It is just a little change from the normal rule I followed each time ( its even easier too ;) , to list it then to list another 27 new participants ), as all others are the first time participant to any event of this blog :D. I appreciate your hard work in making this Theme successful, though really missing some old buddies who couldn’t make it this time, and very glad to get many new bloggers around too J .

An expert with spices and curries Jayashree is sharing here Matar paneer chanar dalna with a very creative way to depict tri colors with smily face .Thats really lovely Jaya.

Vijaya from Daily meals is sharing here with us Tiranga Salad which is perfectly made suitable to this theme :).

Spreading Aroma of her cooking in all foodies , Asha is sharing her unique recipe of Broccoli and cheese in cream sauce.

Meera from Enjoy Indian food is sharing her 3 wonderful and equally creative entries for this theme ,Narangi ni Basundi ( Basundi of Orange ) , Orange Sandesh & very inviting Mooli ke parathe with carrto and spinach (Indian flat bread made with white radish, carrot and spinach).

Archana is enthusiastic about sharing some really nice information with all of us. Also she created a nice Indian flag with spice drops.

Next here is Maya with here 2 enries for the theme .She created Bell pepper chutney ,
Along with that she wants to share a picture full with color of sacrifice (saffron/orange)

.

Mythreyee from Paajaka is here with a mothwatering Paneer Capsicum Tikka.

It looks so tempting , I bet no one can eat just one : P.

Next is Kalai from Samaithu Paarkalaam, sharing here her Carrot, coriander Uttapam .

Bhawana from Tastes of India brings us her tasty Aloo Palak recipe.

Richa who is as dear as salt to all of us :) , is sharing her highly creative idea to make Carrot and ginger appe to be a part of celebration wit hall of us .

Nanditha Prabhu, From Satvika ,is sharing not only the yummy sandwiches but also a loving article for nation with title – where the mind is without fear. I loved reading each line of it, you will love it too !

We have yet another smiley face created whole different way from Cham of Spice club.

Check out here , here recipe of curd rice and the dish she named – patriotism in plate , you are creative with naming dishes too , Cham ! I think if next time I make new dish and find it hard to get a name I should ask you: D, sometime I really do get confused naming dishes :( , check me here : -? .

Next is Click Bee , oops… :P , Jai and Bee of Jugalbandi sharing their fabulous picture apt to this theme . The first word I had seeing the pic was , simply superb !!! , what did u think when u saw this first time ? ??

Siri is sharing this information about India and our ancient achievement from her corner to this theme, that’s really worth knowing for all people around here.

Superchef Manju has rearranged her spice bottles to make that pic apt for the theme .

Describing her recipe with step by step pictures- Kajal is showing us raw papaya , carrot and greenchilli ‘s side dish along with her another entry tri colored sandwich .

The cook in Nags is sharing with us Beans-carrot thoran, who decided to make this after many thoughts of another tricolored dishes… :D.

Harekrishanji
has sent me few pictures suitable to this theme , to share with all of you . In spite of his busy personal routine with his mother’s hospitalization he thought that “ the show must go on “ .here is what he wrote –

“Sending Photographs for my entry . Pasta and Paneer Tikka Masala,
combination on tricolour.
This was prepared by me wife on 31/12/07. She could not prepared
anything special today. My mother is hospitalized and my wife and son
both are sick.
Still I thought the show must go on.
Hope this will satisfy the criteria”

Competing with my own made Juices here are one more picture from Harekrishnaji …it is Peach & Apricot Crush , Litchi Crush & Kiwi Crush. That is perfect with colors too !

A Special thanks to you Harekrishnaji.

Rajitha of Hunger Pangs made a very comfortable & Creamy Carrot and Leek soup.

Making me hungry all over again, even when I am sick and feeling low with appetite is -> Bharathy of Spicy chilly, with her yummy looking Tofu Sandwich .

Pooja of hunny patch ,clicked something too quick as she learned about this theme on the last day of submission , she is here with a lovely picture of tri colored silk along with a lotus candle votive .

While Cooking from A to Z Krishna has taken a pause to write something to be a part of this theme . there are some provoking thoughts she is sharing with all of us .check it here.

Here is a lovely picture she took to share with us, a fruit kebab with mandarin oranges, apples and kiwis . that’s really lovely Krishna.

Living life with a little bit of spice –Anuzi is here ti be a part with her dish Okra ,rasam and rice .

Last but not the least is Viji , who is sharing her Chutney rice recipe with us,

(Note: As her blog is private , those who are not listed with her blog, cant view this link , you can reach her on email id - viji.jeyakumar@gmail.com, and be a part of her blog too. ) .

Here is the recipe in here own words.

Ingredients:
Basmati rice 1 cup
Cubed veggies 1 – ½ cup (I added tender beans, carrot, fresh corn kernels, green peas)
Greens – fresh coriander and mint leaves (each one small bunch)
Grind into paste
Onion small 2, ginger 1 small wedge, green chili 1-2 (those who like garlic can add here)

To temper
Oil + Butter 1 tbsp
Cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamoms, bay leaves - each 2 pieces
Slit green chili 1
Spices
Cumin powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder 1 tsp each
Lemon juice 1 tbsp
Salt to taste (added in batches)

Preparation

Wash and cook the basmati rice with 3/4 water and 1 tsp butter in electric rice cooker for 10 minutes only till ¾ done. Add ¼ tsp salt to it. Once it is cooked, spread it on a plate so that grains are separate.
Steam cook the veggies with a pinch of sugar and ½ tsp salt. You can keep this on top of the rice in electric rice cooker.
Grind onion, ginger and green chili paste and keep it ready.
In a skillet, temper as given. Add the slit green chili and once done, keep it separately for garnishing.
Add the onion paste and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the spices and sauté for few more minutes.
While it is frying – grind both the leaves with a pinch of sugar and salt in mixie. Add little water only. Don’t grind it before hand and keep it ready. The color will go.
Now add this to onion and spice mix and sauté on low flame till the water evaporates. Add the steam cooked veggies now and sauté for few more minutes.
At the stage add the cooked rice and mix gently. Adjust the salt. Once it is mixed well, switch off the stove. I did this only for 1 minute. Be careful not to break the rice.Scoop this rice in a bake ware and drizzle the lemon juice on top. Tie it with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven (150oC) for 10 minutes.

Mix well before serving. Serve with any raita and some salads. Very delicious even when it is cold.

Anamika , is sharing her cake art having all some bits of all 3 colors inside .isn't it a lovely cake ? she decorates it within only 2 hours.... Wow !!!!

One more special entry we have from Krystyna who has shared many interesting health related information about our national fruit -Mango ... :).

Here are entries from me ....

Spinach and carrot falvored rice with plain rice.

Carrot ,White Radish and coriander salad.

Bell pepper Uttapam.

Sprouted Mung(Green beans) Dosa

Carrot , Spring onion and capsicum Spread

Steamed rice with spring onion and orange bell pepper

Kesar ilaichi( saffron & cardamom )Drink(We call it -Royal Drink), Buttermilk and Coriander sorbet.

A huge hug from me to all the participants for making this theme success and showing their creativity in various ways. Well there is one more theme to celebrate together before we actually start with our Vegetable of the week event.

UPCOMING:
Theme of the next week is Valentine's day Special . The rules are same as it was for last year.
I will publish a detailed post about that in a day or two with logo for the theme of the week - Valentine's Day , last date for submission will be 14th Feb 2008. Start preparing your dish now ,and stay tuned to this blog for more :)