Gooseberry pickle

Gooseberry Pickle (Nellikai Achar)

An easy to make pickle. In Kerala, during gooseberry season, this pickle will surely find a place in any sadhya(feast). This pickle doesn't have a very long shelf life as it is with pickles as such. It stays fresh for more than a week on refrigeration.

You need

Gooseberry - 1/2 Kg

Salt - 3 tbspn

Water - 2 tblspn

Oil - 2 tblspn

Roast the below ingredients in a tablespoon of oil and powder when it cools to room temperature

Red chilly - 15 Nos. (Adjust accordingly)

Methi seeds- 2 tspn

Hing powder - 2 tspn.

First start roasting the chillies. When it is almost done, add methi seeds and hing powder.

Preparing the berries

Keep the g.berries in a vessel and pressure cook the g.berries for 3 whistles. No need to add water.

When cooled, slightly crush the berries and remove the seed. Take care that it doesnot turn mushy.

Take salt and water in a vessel and boil it for 2 minutes or more so that the salt is completely dissolved. Leave it to cool.

Add the boiled salt water, powdered chilly to the deseeded berries and mix well.

Heat 2 tblspn of oil and when cooled,pour over the pickled berries and transfer to airtight bottles.

This is the first time I am participating for any event in blogosphere. Being a Keralite, I am more than happy to sent in this entry to RCI-Cuisine of Kerala hosted by Jyothsna of CurryBazaar.

Builders = Remodelers...Or So the Story Goes

"Contractors Turn to Home Remodeling as New Construction Slows"
Associated Press (12/20/07)

In the Madison, Wis., area, some contractors are undertaking more remodeling jobs in the wake of sluggish home construction. Michael F. Simon Builders previously did roughly 60 percent new home construction and 40 percent remodeling. But that has now reversed, according to the firm's Phil Simon. The National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) says more Americans remodeled their kitchens in 2007 compared to last year, but spent less on each renovation. As a result, homeowners spent approximately $96.2 billion in 2007 compared to $127 billion in 2006, says the NKBA. But the overall number of bathroom renovations increased, as did the amount spent on them, according to the NKBA. Mike Sweeney of Sweeney Construction says projects are becoming smaller and people are spending money more carefully.

This story illustrates what happens when new home building goes "south".

Now let's take a look at what's really going on here:

Builders are seeing their livelihoods drying up, so they are now calling themselves remodelers.

This happens whenever there is a slow down in building...Nothing to worry about. Right?

WRONG!!!

Builders build houses for developers, working at arm's length with architects and engineers. They are NOT accustomed to working on a home with people LIVING IN IT! They are builders because they PREFER not to have homeowners looking over their shoulders.

At most they have to put up with visits from the buyers. Often there are no buyers yet; so they are simply pleasing themselves and the developer/architect/engineer.

Remodelers, on the other hand, work with homeowners on EVERY project. They are familiar with the post-it-notes routine of constant communication with their employers...YOU. They know that the lifeblood of their future business is referrals from happy past customers, architects and designers; and that communication and partnership with their customers is paramount to their success.

Builders build and remodelers remodel, and the twain only meets in times of stress in the industry...When builders are trying to figure out how to pay their next house payment or buy groceries.

These are the times that try a good remodeler's soul; as builders working out of the backs of pickup trucks descend on the built-out neighborhoods around San Francisco Bay and create low-ball estimates to muscle in on remodeling work.

Last time it happened was 1989-1995, when we had our last housing bust. Many well regarded and experienced remodelers retired during those years because the competition for jobs just got too ugly. I fully expect that things will be the same this time around.

Now I am not saying that '89-'95 didn't produce a few good remodelers from the thousands of builders who became remodeler wanna-be's; just that I don't want to see MY clients be the guinea pigs:

I had one client during that period who paid for her tile roof material twice because the roofing contractor her general contractor hired went bust and didn't pay the supplier. No, her contractor hadn't bothered to get a lien release before paying the roofer. He hadn't sent her a copy of the lien either.

This was the same whole house remodel where the contractor "overlooked" the fact that an addition built onto the back of the existing house was built right on the ground with no foundation. The first day on the job he hit her with a change order that was half again his original bid.

What you, as remodeling consumers, need to realize is that the price you get in a low-ball bid is not the price you will ultimately pay if the contractor overlooks obvious deficiencies in the plans and figures he/she will make it up in change orders. Believe me, you won't be in a position to negotiate when your home is torn apart.

These are the times to go over credentials with a fine tooth comb and check and double check licenses and insurance and references; and quality of work with your own eyeballs. And if all the work is not within easy driving distance, then beware the roving builder!

Pay attention to quality contractor referrals by professionals. Get FIXED PRICE BIDS on well planned and documented projects. Cross all your t's and dot all your i's.

Don't say I didn't tell you.

Peggy

Kitchens: Do them Right. Do them Once.

There is an article in the current issue of Kitchen & Bath Design News (December 2007) that details the findings of a survey of more than 800 consumers who have remodeled their kitchens.

One paragraph caught my eye and I would like to discuss it further here:

"Researchers also found that more than three out of 10 remodelers said they would spend more money on a kitchen remodel if they had to do it over, while only 7% said they would spend less. Of those who would spend more, the key things they would do differently next time are upgrading the cabinets and increasing the size of the kitchen."

Now cabinets are a big chunk of your outlay when putting together all the things you have to buy when remodeling a kitchen. They can easily amount to a quarter or half of the total budget.

So why do you think these (now) experienced remodeling consumers would spend more on the biggest part of their kitchen budgets? I think I can answer that question:

1. The cabinets are not as sturdy as they assumed, and are not holding up.

2. The shelves are not thick enough and are bending under the weight of their dinnerware.

3. The drawers are very shallow and items catch in them all the time.

4. They keep chipping plates trying to get around center dividers in two door cabinets.

5. The shelves in their cabinets are fixed and not adjustable, or the adjustments are drilled too far apart to give real adjustability.

6. The shelves in their base cabinets are 2/3 depth instead of full depth.

7. Their drawers are made of skimpy materials, like particleboard, and are breaking.

8. Their cabinets are unfinished on the insides and require shelf paper and drawer liners.

9. Their cabinet hardware items (hinges, drawer slides, etc.) are flimsy and not holding up.

10. The finish on their cabinets is lacquer, and is not holding up.

The fact is, these people assumed that the beautiful cabinets they saw in the showroom were all the same because they could not SEE any difference between the set that cost $8,000 and the set that cost $24,000. And now they have LEARNED the difference by living with their choices.

Now, I am not saying that you have to spend three times what you would like to spend to get a quality cabinet. But what I am saying is that you have to look at what you are buying with a critical eye. And you MUST do the research to know what features you absolutely must have in cabinets.

Then, you must spend whatever is needed to get a quality cabinet...Otherwise you will regret spending less, as those consumers in the study did.

They also regretted not expanding their kitchens, either by opening up the walls, or adding on...

Most people get only one shot at a kitchen remodel in their lifetimes, so these mistakes go on and on.

Don't regret. Do it right.

Peggy