Happy Onam 2009

Wishing you all a very Happy ONAM 2009.

I am back home after a short vacation. Thanks to my maid who stocked up my fridge with the necessary veggies, I could prepare Onam Sadhya. In the morning, I thought rain will play the spoil sport, but it stopped by 9 A.M so that everyone could make pookalm without fearing of it getting washed away. I managed to make a small one with the flowers from my garden. Since we reached only yesterday late evening, could not buy flowers. And I prefer making pookalam with my garden flowers. Just finished our heavy lunch and I thought I will wish you all and say that I am back. For the time being, its just photos and no recipes.

Image of Bhagavathy drawn using flowers in our nearby temple

Pookalam at my home

Onasadhya - 2009

ഓണാശംസകള്‍

Re: Save the Light Bulb!

Came across this article in the WSJ, by a noted lighting designer, who rants on compact fluorescent lighting being foisted on the unsuspecting public by the big, bad, government. I simply MUST respond.

* The Wall Street Journal

* OPINION
* AUGUST 30, 2009, 7:19 P.M. ET

Save the Light Bulb!
Compact fluorescents don't produce good quality light.


By HOWARD M. BRANDSTON

"The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 will effectively phase out incandescent light bulbs by 2012-2014 in favor of compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs. Other countries around the world have passed similar legislation to ban most incandescents.

Will some energy be saved? Probably. The problem is this benefit will be more than offset by rampant dissatisfaction with lighting..."

I'm afraid Mr. Brandston is living in the past. A past where Edison lights cast a warm glow and the man of the house spent his evenings banking the coal furnace for a long winter's night.

One would think that a lighting designer who relit the Statue of Liberty would embrace new technology, especially when the world as we knew it is fast disappearing in a swirl of forest fires and hurricanes.

If everyone in the nation had been nudged into energy efficiency the way Californians have since the advent of Title 24 (California's energy code that has kept our energy usage at 1990 levels for decades), we would be well on our way to solving our energy conundrum, and less far down the road of global warming.

Fluorescent, and newly, LED lighting are revolutionizing the way residential spaces are lit. Designers who have embraced the technology and found creative new ways of lighting our homes and lives should not be intimidated by those who would take us back to the horse and buggy. Nor should those who still need to learn how to design with fluorescent lighting. We have blazed a path for you and the learning curve is not steep, nor the goal trivial.

Homeowners, don't fall for such drivel. You are the ones who are driving the expansion of demand for truly green homes with energy efficient lighting along with energy efficient appliances, solar, windows, HVAC, insulation, sealing, etc. Do not waver. The planet cannot wait any longer.

Peggy

U Pick and a Punch!

U PICK AND A PUNCH!

We’ve been thinking about doing posts and recipes beyond ‘Traditional South Indian’ for quite some time now. While we started this blog mainly to document our traditional dishes, being ardent foodies, we do eat numerous other dishes from different states, and all across the globe – as long as they are vegetarian! I have kept postponing posting other dishes – mainly thinking we’ll do it, when we make our own site, in our own domain with our own design – and then we can have several sections, videos ..blah.. blah…blah…

Well I haven’t yet been able to all that yet, and by the looks of it may not happen in a looooong looong time! And so … with Chitra Amma visiting my brother in Portland, and sharing all these exciting travelogues, food experiences – I decided not to wait for any ‘muhurtam’ (auspicious moment)!! We will of course continue with the traditional recipes as well!

And so we begin with our first in a new series of different tastes – called U Pick and a Punch …and a Smoothie as well.

Dibs
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On a Lazy Saturday Portland morning a friend of ours called up to say that they were in a ‘U PICK’ blueberry farm and asked us if we were interested to join them. A number of 'U PICK' sign boards on many intersecting highways have been attracting my attention all along and I was only too glad to grab this opportunity to get a first hand experience of this mysterious ‘U PICK’.

After a twenty-minute drive from home we reached a blueberry farm with the 'U PICK' signboard. We parked the car and walked towards a shack with a counter, where a number of plastic buckets were stacked up. We picked up a bucket and walked across the fence and entered the farm.

It was an expansive piece of land under the bright sun with rows and rows and rows of blue berry bushes, positioned like an army of disciplined soldiers wearing green and blue uniforms. We were amazed to see the bushes about four feet tall, weighed down with thousands of bunches of blueberries covering them from top to bottom. The surplus yield was a feast to the eye.

Picking the berries was great fun. With just one touch the ripe berries rolled down into our palms without any resistance. The two little tots of our friend toddled under the bushes and picked up the berries from the bottom, while we took care of the top most ones. We also ate some berries as we picked and they tasted juicy, pulpy and moderately sweet. Blue berries are anti cholesterol, antioxidant and anti carcinogenic fruits. No wonder there were a number of people hovering over the bushes to exploit the richness of the berries during the season.
The bucket was only half full, but when weighed at the counter we were delighted to note that we had picked up nearly five to six pounds of blueberries and we paid only one thirds of what we would pay at the stores.

After dinner as we sat on the deck, ruminating on U picking, my son surprised us with a luscious and nutritious blueberry smoothie which he had just prepared. And here is how he made it.

BLUEBERRY SMOOTHIE

INGREDIENTS:

Blueberries – 1 and 1/2 cups
Strawberries – 1 cup
Ripe banana – 1
Vanilla ice cream – 4 scoops
Fat free milk – 4 cups
Sugar – 1 tbsp
METHOD:
1. Blend blueberries, strawberries and peeled banana with sugar.
2. Add ice cream and blend.
3. Finally add milk and run the blender for one more minute until you get a thick frothy smoothie.

Each sip was a treat in itself and the taste buds yearned for more! The next day he prepared a PUNCH. There was a blueberry treat every day until all the berries we picked were exhausted!
To make FRUIT PUNCH blend ice, with blueberry, banana, strawberry and orange juice. Enjoy!