Lasagne

This is always the best dish for serving my guests as it's so delicious especially the mince sauce could be ready in advance so that I can have a relaxing gathering with my guests while the lasagne is baking in the oven. I followed Jamie Oliver's recipe from the book of "Jamie's Dinner" (except adding the butternut squash but replaced with some fresh mushroom).

I get ready the minced sauce and white sauce in the fridge before the day my guests arrive. Then, reheat it when about to assemble the lasagne (it only took me few minutes). I found the sauce is much tasty after a day for sitting in the fridge. I packed a small piece of left over lasagne with cling wrap and aluminium foil then placed it into the freezer after it completely cool down. Reheat it in the oven for my next lunch, it's incredible tasty!

I found that the recipe is available at the Jamie's website. So I don't type it here. Please forgive my laziness :P

Tomato Peas Bath & Tagged again

I like making one dish meals for obvious reasons-they can be made quickly and they taste great with plain curd or pappad.

Ingredients:
Toamtoes-4
Small onions-a handful(you can use big ones also)
Garlic pods-1 or 2
Cloves-4
Cinnamon-2(each 1 inch)
Star anise-1
Bay leaf-2
Jeera-1 tsp
Turmeric powder-a pinch
Chilli powder-1/4 tsp
Green chilli-1
Coriander powder-1/2 tsp
Salt
Grated Coconut-1 tbsp
Coriander leaves- to garnish
Frozen peas-a handful
Frozen corn-a handful
Ghee-1 tbsp
Oil-1 tsp
Cooked rice-sufficient for 2 people

Method:
Cook rice(I used sona masuri) separately in rice cooker.
Heat ghee plus oil in a pan. Tamper with jeera, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf, garlic, star anise, green chilli, chopped onion. Fry till onions turn brown and soft.
Add chopped tomatoes, salt, coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder. Fry till tomatoes are cooked well. Add frozen corn and peas when tomatoes are half done.
When the paste becomes thick, add rice,grated coconut and mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve with plain yogurt/raitha/pappad.

I have been tagged again by Anudiya. The rules of the tag are:
(a) List these rules on your blog.
(b) Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.
(c) Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

So here are 7 more facts about me:

1. I love Larry David(co-creator of Seinfeld). I can't explain how much I love him. I am a huge fan of his serial-"Curb your Enthusiasm". I have watched all the episodes so many times and still haven't gotten tired of them. This is one such serial which I watch with my eyes wide OPEN without dozing off in the middle :)

2. I love buying stuff as well as trashing or donating(old)stuff. I feel happy when I do both.

3. I hate moving because there at at least 400 CD's that I have to pack in boxes(Thanks to my husband for accumulating them before our wedding).

4. I hate the smell of melting butter but love the end product :)

5. I never go to the electronic stores. It drives me up the wall.

6. I am scared of dogs/cats/spiders/lizards/anything, you name it....Dogs seem to love me. They like to chase me and see me run!

7. I like to spend my time reading books in Barnes and Noble with a cup of Chocolate Mocha frappuccino with whip cream all over it!

It's time to tag 7 people: Rekha, Sunshinemom, Ramya cooks, Sireesha, Ramya Vijaykumar, Anisheetu, Anjali

shopping; recessed lighting

As planned - we did some major shopping this past weekend. I love the big box stores. A lot. I assume everyone loves these stores. It's fun to shop there. It's even fun when you leave and realize you've spent twice as much as you hoped. Fortunately, we over estimated this trip and left the place under budget. The biggest problem - some of these big shopping trips involve as much manual labor as digging a canal. We considered having them deliver the drywall and lumber for $90.00 - because, one) we couldn't fit any of the items in our CR-V and, two) having someone else carry the stuff into the house would have been a welcome luxury. Instead, we rented a truck from the store for about $30, saved about $60 and our biceps are wondering how a day without the gym ended like this.

So it doesn't look like that much, but that's thirty sheets of heavy drywall.
Okay, on to the recessed lighting. We found out during the research and shopping that there are two basic differences in recessed lighting fixtures. One is for a remodel and one is for new construction (i.e. no drywall).

We had a need for both - the one the left is for new construction: see the long braces? Those allow you to brace the light fixture in between two ceiling joists. This is ideal and keeps the housing firmly in place. The fixture on the right is set up for a remodel - which is what I did today. The lack of braces lets you shove the fixture up through the ceiling and into place. Here you can see the fixture half way into the ceiling:

And now, into place:

This next step was upon suggestion from the home improvement store lighting guy. Apparently, if you follow the typical remodel instructions the light can eventually lean or become loose from the ceiling, but some Liquid Nails will keep everything in place:

Finish installing the trim, return the power and voila! ...one step closer