Friday, July 27, 2007

Green Building Exchange

Here's a new resource right here in the Bay Area, Redwood City. A place for homeowners and industry pros to come together to collaborate on green building projects and research green building products in a hands-on way, with vendors displaying their wares in a home & garden show environment.

Peggy


Q - What does Green Building Exchange do?

A - Green Building Exchange (GBE) provides connections between people wanting to design, construct, remodel, landscape, or decorate sustainable buildings and the professionals that can help them. Green building is a relatively new field, and it requires specialized skills not broadly available from most designers, contractors, and vendors. Green Building Exchange saves time and resources for both the people wanting sustainable buildings and the professionals who want to locate customers.

GBE also provides informational and educational services to the public. These include online interviews with green building industry leaders, and events Tomorrow, 7/28/07, Grand Open House open to the public.

Q - How does Green Building Exchange work?

A - If you have a green building project that you need any kind of help with, simply fill out a form stating your requirements, available here . We will locate green building professionals who can help you with your project, and pass on your information on to them. The professionals will contact you directly, we will not be involved.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Foreclosures Go Through The Roof

This is a sad story. And doubly sad for folks like me.
Our economy has been built on the housing market for years.
Ever since the last housing recession in the early 90's in California.

No telling where this is going to end.
Oh dear.

Peggy

Maddur Vada

This popular snack of Karnataka is named after the town Maddur in Mandhya district. This vada is unique to the Karnataka state.
Here goes the recipe for mouthwatering, crispy vadas, which I learnt from a cookery show in a television channel

You need:
Raw rice powder – 1 cup
Wheat flour – ½ cup
Rava – ½ cup
Maida- ½ cup
Onion – 1
Curry leaves – 4 strands
Green chilly – 4 nos
Salt
Oil – for deep frying

How to make the vadas

Mix all the flours,salt, chopped onion, chillies and curry leaves. Mix well
Heat 3 tbspn of oil to smoking point. Pour the oil to the mix
Take a small portion of the mixture and mix water. Make a soft dough.
It is not advisable to mix the whole portion with water, since by the
time we prepare, the mixture will be soggy and it will absorb too
much of oil. Also you may not get crispy vadas.

Take a plastic sheet. Grease it with oil. Take a small ball of the mixture and keep it on the sheet.
Spread to thin vadas of small pappad size by your fingers.
Deep fry with medium flame.