Great New Kitchen Design Blog - Useful Spaces

I just discovered a great new blog (new to me) by Canadian kitchen designer Arne Salvesen, CKD.

He joins just a very few male kitchen and bath design bloggers. Most of us are of the female persuasion.

Arne has a lot of good posts already up since his launch in March 2009. I especially love his spelling of "colourful" and "centre".

Check him out at Useful Spaces. Welcome Arne!

I was especially taken by his post The "B" Word, about budgeting for your kitchen remodel.

This is a sore subject among kitchen and bath dealers and their clients - The dealers need to have a budget figure to design an appropriately priced project and the clients often like to keep the information close to the vest to avoid spending more than they want.

As an independent designer who represents and works only in the client's interest, I have found it quite remarkable how differently my clients react when I ask the "B" question. They are almost always very forthcoming about their budgets. It is one aspect of the transition I made in 1996, when I closed my showroom, that has made my task as a designer soooo much easier.

The remarkable thing is: I don't do anything any differently than I did before. I just stopped selling product to my clients. The difference is that they no longer SEE me as a salesperson.

Peggy

Casting Home Renovation Show

I ran across this notice on another forum and thought it might be of interest to some poor Do-It-Your-Selfer out there.

Peggy

CASTING NEW SHOW

The production company that brought you Wife Swap is currently casting unique families with plenty of personality to take part in a new show. We are looking for families who are in a Do-It Yourself Home Nightmare! Did your husband or wife start a Do-It-Yourself project on your home and now it’s impossible to live in? We are looking for families in the California area who are in need of professional help. The worse, the better…pipes leaking, walls exposed, ceiling crumbling, only living out of half of your house, etc, etc.
If you are a family with at least one child over the age of 5 living at home and you are in a Do-It-Yourself Home Nightmare, contact us to be a part of this groundbreaking show!

To apply or get information about the show
Please contact:
Sunny Foscue (Casting Producer)
Call: 310-309-3945
Email: sunnyhomeshow@gmail.com AND sunny.foscue@rdfusa.com

Tomato Tokku - Tomato relish or pickle

TOMATO TOKKU

A dark night, poor lighting, potholes, a false step, all got her leg in a cast! Chitra Amma was away from the kitchen for few weeks. She’s back in action now and it’s certainly good to get back to blogging – so here is her next recipe! ~ Dibs

My friend’s daughter had a craving for Tomato Tokku. She remembered the tokku which she had tasted long back at her guardian’s place when she was working away from her home. It is a custom to fulfill all the cravings of an expectant mother so that she delivers a healthy happy baby. Tomato tokku is new to me, but any way I decided to give it a try. My friend’s daughter relished the tokku very much and here I am happy to share my recipe with all of you.

Ingredients
Finely chopped tomatoes - 6 (In case you are particular, you can immerse the tomatoes, boiling hot water for few minutes and remove the skin, before chopping them)

Til Oil (Indian Sesame Oil) – 1 ladle (about 6 -8 tablespoons)
Asafoetida – ¼ tsp
Mustard Seeds – ¼ tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Salt – 1½ tsp
Sugar or jaggery - ½ tsp
Red chilly powder - 2 tsp (this gives a nice hot tokku. You can reduce the amount if you want it milder)
Dry roasted and powdered Fenugreek (Methi) seeds - 1tsp

Method
1. Heat til oil and add the asafoetida and mustard seeds.
2. When the seeds splutter, add tomato pieces, turmeric powder, salt and sugar.
3. Stir well and cook covered in low flame.
4. When the tomato becomes a pulp, add chilly powder, and cook without the lid.
5. Keep stirring now and then. Cook until the oil separates out from the pulp. This takes about 25 - 30 minutes.
6. Now, dry roast fenugreek seeds on a tava, and grind or pound into a fine powder.
7. Mix the fenugreek powder into the tokku. This step fills the kitchen with a lovely aroma!
8. Tokku is now ready. Store in a clean dry glass bottle.


Properly cooked tokku will stay for many days at room temperature – just like any other Indian pickle. If the oil is insufficient, or any moisture remains, the tokku will get spoiled. If you are unsure about your tokku, you can safely store it in the refrigerator, and use within a week.

This simple and zingy tokku livens up any meal. You can take it with rice and ghee, or along with chapattis, dosai, idli, or along with curd rice.