About Food Blog Awards

First awards and two at the same time! Totally unexpected, and what joy! Chitra Amma was very thrilled too. Usha and Srimathi - Thank so much from both of us.

I have been seeing pictures of these awards on so many sites, and was wondering what they are all about. Now I know. These remind me of chain mails that we used to send during our school days ...remember those blue inland letters? Friends used to buy them in stacks, just for the chain mails. I was never a great fan of chain letters, and was always the spoil-sport who took great pleasure in breaking those chains. This time however, is different. Receiving these awards, has pushed me to look up as many blogs as I could between work and work! I did enjoy visiting so many varied sites that I had bookmarked earlier, and found some nice new ones too. I wish I could send these awards to many more sites, but have carefully followed the rules, and numbers specified! I am not going to list the rules here.You will have to track back sites on the chain to find out. That's fun, as you again get to see many more ! I would not mind if you did not have time, inclination or energy to pass these awards on... but I do guarantee that its good fun!

Thanks to Usha of Veg Inspirations for sending the Blogging Friends Forever award.
I am happy to send them to:
A & N of Delectably yours . Check her James Bond style Pitle.
Teresa of Mexican-American Border Cooking If you have kids you must see this.
Rashmi of En Vittu Virundhu . Try this unusual and yummy sweet!
Sireesha of Mom's Recipes . Ever heard Dahi Vada without oil?! The health conscious will cheer!
Sanhita of Taste Buds . Here is a nice 'seedha-saadha' ridge gourd.
Shreya of Mom's cooking .Check her Rasam exotic !

I've never met any of you, but you are my blogging friends forever - for sure! Maybe we will meet someday!

Thanks to Srimathi of Few Minute Wonders for sending me the Brilliant Weblog
award.
I would like to pass on these awards to:
Jenn - The Leftover Queen Jenn needs no introduction. She is the power behind Foodie BlogRoll widgets on so many sites! Thanks Jenn . Really appreciate all your good work in bringing foodies together.
Teresa of Mexican-American Border Cooking Teresa's site has wonderful recipes, and photos. Her writing style and sense of humour is great. Don't miss the Little Fat Girls post!
Lakshmi of Taste of Mysore. I could just stare at the images on her header forever. Mysore nostalgia ....sigh.
Drew of How to cook like your Granmother . Photos, photos, and more photos! Drew has wonderful presentation and very interesting recipes - even how to make garlic salt!
Ramki of One Page Cookbooks. Just check his site to know what's great about it!!
Asha of Foodies Hope . Whoa! Asha does everything in plenty. I dont know anybody who cooks so much, or blogs so much, or comments so much, or expresses so much! Waiting for you to come back soon Asha.
V K Narayanan of My Dhaba One can channelise all the postive energy of foodies for something so much meangingful. Kudos to you VKN, and all the very best!

Now I am off to make 'cooker bisibele bath' for lunch!

Puli Avil and An appeal to vote for my recipe

I am so happy that my entry - Cowpeas leaves stir fry for Sangeeth's Eat Health Protien Rich contest, is shortlisted among the top 15. The final winner is decided by polls. Please do vote for my recipe, its first among the list. Go here to vote.
Thank You.



Now coming to the recipe I intended to post. Its a simple recipe, which can be prepared in a jiffy. Its quite filling too. Its commonly referred to as puli avil in my home, due to its tangy taste and to differentiate the jaggery version which is called Vella avil. For the tangy taste, either lemon juice or tamarind extract can be used. Both the versions of avil usually features in the bommakolu bakshanam menu during navarathri.

You will need

Avil/Poha/Beaten rice (thick variety) - 2 cups

Turmeric - a pinch

Salt

Grated coconut - 2 tblspn

Lemon - 1


Seasoning

Oil- 2 tspn

Mustard seeds - 1 tspn

Chana dal - 1 tblspn

Red chilly - 2

Green chilly - 4

Ginger - a small wedge

few curry leaves

Choose avil of thick variety, preferably rose matta avil. If it is thin, there are chances that it will crumble easily when soaked. Wash avil in water and soak in 2 cups of water for 10 minutes. Squeeze the avil to drain out the water completely. Keep it aside.

Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a kadai. Add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add chana dal, red chilly broken into two, chopped green chillies & ginger and curry leaves. When chana dal turns slightly brown, add turmeric and salt. Tip off the drained avil and mix well. Cook for 3 minutes, till the flavors are well absorbed by the avil. Stir in the grated coconut and remove from fire. Add lemon juice when it is warm. Serve with a cup of coffee/tea.

This makes an ideal evening tiffin after school/office.

If tamarind is used in place of lemon, 1 tablespoon of thick extract can be used and added after seasoning. When the raw smell of tamarind goes, add the avil and follow the same steps as above.

I am sending this to EC who is the AFAM host for this month.

Puli avil has a lovely yellow color and this is off to EC again, for her WYF: Colour in Food event.

Green Remodeling Checklist

In my web-roaming today I came across Kitchen & Bath Design News' new green blog Kitchen & Bath Sustainable. There I found this handy checklist to help consumers decide how much commitment they want to make to sustainability in their planned kitchen remodel.

1. Are you willing to increase your upfront investment to include green aspects to your project, recognizing that this investment will offer long-term benefits in terms of energy efficiency, improved air quality, etc.?

__Yes
__No

2. If so, what is the highest percentage you are willing to build into our agreed-upon budget for environmentally sound materials and practices?

a. 1-5%
b. 5-10%
c. 10%+

Which of the following are most important to you for your project? (1 = most important; 10 = least important)

__Recycling components of the former kitchen or bath
__Using recycled/repurposed materials from the former kitchen or bath
__Using recycled/repurposed materials obtained elsewhere
__Using locally produced materials whenever/wherever possible
__Specifying low-VOC or no-VOC emitting products
__Using products that are certified green
__Using natural heat/light whenever/wherever possible
__Using products that promote water conservation
__Selecting energy efficient appliances
__Promoting overall energy-efficiency

I would add these:

__Choosing strategies which cost no more but increase energy efficiency and sustainability
__Choosing strategies which cost more but increase energy efficiency and sustainability


Such a checklist provides the designer and contractor executing the project with some concrete direction on how to specify and estimate costs and what areas are of prime concern to their clients.

Everybody is all for green remodeling and sustainability, especially when current and/or future costs can be reduced in the process.

ie. In our city it costs more to rent a dumpster than to call recyclers to come in and haul your recyclable building materials away. The only way to find this out is to do the research and get the costs yourself.

On the other hand, when costs increase as a result of sustainability choices, sometimes consumers balk at the idea of opening their wallets.

Peggy