Wednesday, November 07, 2012

How to Get Your Furnace Ready for Winter

Here are some simple and basic tips for you:

1. Turn your furnace on now to make sure it is working. Better to know now if you need service.

2. Think about having your furnace professionally serviced prior to winter. Your furnace will operate more efficiently, saving you money.

3. Inspect your filter. The filter should be free of dust and debris. If the filter is dirty, replace it. Bring your old filter to the store so you purchase the right sized filter.


Here is a short video with more information: Prepare Your Furnace for Winter

Rasamalai / RasMalai




I prepared rasamalai for last Diwali potluck party and it tasted wonderful. but all them became hard after sometime as I made a small mistake while kneading and rolling the rasagullas. So when I prepared this time, I was taking extra care while kneading the chenna. As a result, all my rasamalais turned out good. Since we like rasamalai a lot, most of the time I prepare it instead of rasagullas.



Basic Information:

Preparation and Cooking Time: 45-1 hour

Makes: 10 rasamalais





Ingredients:



Rasagullas - 10 nos (Click to see how to prepare rasagullas)

Milk - 1 litre

Sugar Syrup from ragullas - 1 cup or 1/2 cup sugar

Cardamom powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Nuts(Cashew nuts, Almonds, Pistachios) - 3 tables spoons, roughly chopped

Saffron - 1 big pinch





Method:



1) Prepare rasagullas first. Save 1 cups of sugar syrup after preparing the rasagullas. Bring the rasagullas to room temperature. Slightly press it to form like a patties. You can even use rasagullas without pressing it. Keep aside.




 

2) Boil milk in a thick bottom pan.

3) Soak saffron in 2 tablespoons of warm milk.

4) Add sugar syrup from rasagullas to the boiling milk(Or add sugar) and continue boiling till the milk reduces in its quantity and became thick. It took 40-45 minutes for me to reduce.




 

5) Add the saffron to the reduced milk.


 

6) Add rasagulla patties to it.

7) Add cardamom powder followed by nuts.


 

8) Cook for 5-10 minutes in very low flame.

9) Turn the flame off and cool to room temperature and then refrigerate it.

10) Serve chill.





Note:

1) Take rasagullas from sugar syrup only when the milk is reduced to half. Slightly press it to form patties and squeeze out the excess water just before adding. This helps to get soft and spongy rasamalais.

2) Instead of a cup of  sugar syrup, you can directly add 1/2 cup of sugar to the milk.

Shaker Shaker!

One of our favourite on-line resources to use here at Braam's is houzz.com.  If you're planning a home renovation or new build this is about to become your new best friend.  There is endless inspiration for home design with access to designer and builder portfolio's from around the world.

We're very excited this morning because one of our projects has been featured in an article on houzz's homepage!  Gabrielle Di Stefano writes about the classic shaker style door, which has always been a popular choice for our clients.  You can read the article here!

Braam's also has a Professional Profile page on houzz.  Check out our most recent projects and information about our company.