Hello Fellow Bloggers! Happy 2010!

Hello All,

I am back to blogging after a prolonged gap! I guess this break was much needed for me:) I managed to get my life arranged and back on track after some months of grueling job search and erratic schedule. Nothing was going my way. Eventually, I took the decision of moving out of the comfort zone of my nice, sweet home and beloved Kolkata. These days I have a second home in Bangalore, working and staying there on my own. I knew I had to, having no alternative option. This is my second going away from home, after my stay in the US back in 2003. I am not used to staying alone...rather I cannot stay. I miss my family, my dear ones, but I had to go. The job scenario was bleak in Kolkata and I had to take the decision of moving to Bangalore. It's a nice city, but I miss the bustling life of Kolkata. Moving to a new city entails a whole lot of problems and adversities. I had to handle those and get things organized. I took a break from everything--including my favorite writing and blogging. I did not even listen to music or watch movies. My life became constricted and I was left with no time. Thankfully, things are becoming normal now and I am back to pursuing my creative interests once again. I hope to regain those wonderful moments that shared with my dear blog friends!

Wish you all a happy and prosperous 2010!

Again a Long Gap...Ilness and Break From Blogging

Hope you are all fine and doing great!

This month has been very monotonous for me. I didn't get time for my blogs...got bored and caught up with flu in the midst of all the problems going on. Today back to blogging again and felt refreshed checking all your comments. Anamika's sweet comment suddenly woke me up to the realization that today is indeed the last day of the month and Saraswati Puja/Vasant Panchami. This day we celebrate Saraswati Puja and have khichri for lunch, which is a must for the day. This has been going on for years now, however, on this particular day, khichri is especially delicious because it is prepared with the finest rice, with ghee added to it. Besides khichri, fruits, sweets and payesh are also offered to the Goddess.

These days, I am very focused looking for a job and relocation to a different city...so quite tensed because of that. Wish me luck!

Back to Blogging...New Year and Resolutions

I was away from blogging for quite a long time...short tours, several pending works, applying for jobs, etc. kept me busy, since I'm looking for a relocation. So here I am, back to my favorite pastime. Hope u r all enjoying winter. I am a winter person and love gorging on various types of food during this time. Soups are absolutely delectable any time of the year. Especially during winter, hot and creamy soups are my favorite lunch and dinner items.

What do you especially love to eat during winter? Share it with me.

Hope you all had a fabulous year end and new year! It was quite good for me too...saw good movies, dinners etc. I have stopped making resolutions now...I've seen them fail every time:) I just try to go with the flow and make the best of everything. That works.

Wishing all my friends a wonderful and prosperous 2009!! Happy blogging!!

Simple Christmas Fruit Cake

Now that Christmas is approaching near, cakes top the chart of preferred foods. Almost all confectioneries and shops store cakes of various sizes, flavors and colors. Fruit cakes are always a sought after variety during Christmas, for people of all ages. Here's a simple recipe for preparing fruit cake at home.
Baking time: approx 1 hr 30 mins.

Ingredients: Flour(200 grams), Mixed dried fruits(100 grams), Castor sugar(100 grams), 1 tsp lemon rind finely grated, 1 Egg, Butter(100 grams), Milk 1 cup.

Recipe: Prepare and preheat the oven for few seconds before pouring the batter. Grease the cake tin evenly with butter/cooking oil.
Preparing the batter: Take a hollow bowl and mix the butter with the flour. Add mixed fruits, sugar, lemon rinds and prepare a smooth and thick batter by adding the egg and milk. Pour the mixture in the preheated tin and bake at 180 degrees C or 350 degrees F, for about 1 hr 30 mins. Wait for some time till the cake cools and then turn it out on a flat tray or dish. Serve it with fresh cream.

It's Showering Awards!

Some more lovely awards from my friends...

Dear Uma of Essence of Andhra, Kitchen Flavors of Yummy Food, Arundhuti of Gourmet Affairs, Neema of Recipeswap, Vidhas of Appetizing Recipes, Malar Gandhi of Kitchen Tantra , Ramya of Ramya's Kitchen Corner , Adlak's Tiny World of Adlak's Kitchen and Andhra Flavors of For Spicy Lovers have showered me with a bunch of lovely awards..."Kreativ Blogger", "Great Buddy", "Hard Working Food Blogger", "360 Degree Foodie", "Inspiration", "Beautiful Site", "2008 Best Blog Darts Thinker" and "A Perfect Blend of Friendship" awards, along with the 7 interesting tags...Thanks a ton dear friends; you all really make me feel very happy and energized!!

Here are some facts about me:

7 Things I Say More Often: Are you sure? Thank you, Please, Bye, What? Arre baba, Take care.

7 Things I Did Before: Learnt music, Woke up early, Painted and sketched in leisure times, Believed and trusted almost everyone, Exercised regularly, Did postgraduation and secured good grades by putting in less effort, Studied for long hours.

7 Things I do now: Wake up late than before, Try to learn and cook tasty food, Blogging, Extensive writing(my passion now) in my job, newspaper and websites, Meditation and praying to God, Dreaming(whatever it may be), Listening to music and watching movies.

7 Things I Want to do: Traveling occasionally, Learn music again, Take up workouts seriously, Control my temper, Buy a car of my own, Stick to my resolutions(which somehow gets messed up), Learn a new language or something creative.

7 Things That Attract Me About Opposite Sex: Nice eyes and smile, Warmth, Generosity, Clean hygiene and habits, Sense of humor, Something done impromptu by him which will take me completely by surprise and make me smile, Sensitivity and care.

7 Favorite Foods: Biryani, Phuchka, Rolls, Chicken pakora, Spaghetti/Chowmein, Chicken kebabs, saucy/grilled fish preparations...(7 is too less for a foodie like me; how can I leave ice creams?)

I pass on these awards and tags to:

Swati, Vaishali, Happy Cook, Divya Vikram, Anamika, Lakshmi Venkatesh.

ENJOY FOLKS!!!

Awards Time!!

Some awards again! Shama of Easy2cookrecipes has passed me on the lovely Inspiration Award!


Kitchen Flavors of Yummy Food and Arundhuti of Gourmet Affair has been so sweet to pass me on an array of these wonderful awards...A Perfect Blend of Friendship Award, Butterfly Award, Chocoholic Award, Good Job Award and Inspiration Award!
Thanks a ton friends for thinking about me!! You all inspire and motivate me to work and achieve better!!






Vidhas of Appetizing Recipes thinks of me as great buddy and presented me with this lovely Great Buddy Award! Thanks dear and this feels great!!

Awards & A Special Sweetdish!

I love eating sweets, ice creams, desserts and interesting sweet dishes...but sadly these are oh-so-very sinful delights and I have to keep a watch on calories and weight:) Anyways, the festive season is still lingering...so here's a sweet dish which is my favorite(I guess for others too!). It is called Chhanar Payesh or Cottage Cheese Pudding. Try it and satisfy your taste buds!

You will need: Cottage cheese(100 grams), milk(500 ml), Condensed milk 1 tin, Sugar(2 tsp), 1 cup water, 2 tsp almonds(cut into pieces), Raisins(2 tsp), Pistachio( 2tsp).

Directions: Prepare a thin syrup with sugar and water. Add the cottage cheese in the syrup and mix it well. Boil the milk now for 2 minutes after adding the condensed milk to it. Now pour this milk into the cottage cheese in little quantities at a time. Stir and mix well. Add diced almonds, raisins and pistachio to the mix and keep in fridge. Serve cold.

Awards time!

My friend Shama of Easy2cookrecipes has presented me with this cute Good Job award.
Three of my other friends have honored me with these lovely awards! Kitchen Flavors was absolutely right when she passed me on this "I'm a Chocoholic" award...I have a passion for chocolates:)
PJ of Seduce Your Tastebuds and Adlaks' Tiny World has thought of my blog as one of the coolest ones and passed me on this Butterfly award. Thanks a ton all of you for thinking about me!!The rules of the award are:

Put the logo on your blog. Add a link to the person who awarded you. Nominate 10 other blogs. Add links to those blogs on yours, and leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

I would like to pass the Butterfly Award for the coolest blogs I know to:

Vegetable Platter
Andhra Flavors
Indian Khana
Essence of Andhra
Recipeswap
Plantain Leaf
Sweetbites
Holy Cow
Spice and Curry
Mom's Cooking