filming - HGTV

It’s official. Filming is complete. I imagine somewhere out there, somebody is busy editing and cutting out the numerous “um’s” and frequent direct eye contact with the camera.

First - we don’t have an air date yet. As soon as we get some more information, we’ll let you know! (I wonder how many of you will still ask in the comments, despite my clear, informative writing.)

The process was fun and everyone involved was great! It’s tough to walk around and talk about your house with cameras in your face, but the producer assured us we were doing great.

The designer was Taniya Nayak, who we’ve recognized from other HGTV programming. She was nice and had great things to say about the house.

Here are a few of the crew working in the house:

Makeup – of course:

As far as who had their best Bang for their Buck – we don’t know yet. I guess we’ll find out when they air!

Kozhukkatta - Steamed Rice balls - Guest Post

There are numerous food blogs in the Internet. There are zillion dishes cooked in the kitchen and are not blogged. Each one is a good cook on their own terms. Not everyone has the time/passion to blog about it. So I thought of inviting my friends/blog readers to contribute a recipe to my blog. I discussed this idea with few of my friends and they were happy to play along. I had told them any common dish they prepare is enough and need not prepare for the matter of posting it here. Some told me that they are not good at food photography and the like. And the recipes and photos may not be matched to an avid food blogger. All that matters to me , is showcasing their recipe, on my blog. And I plan to make this a monthly series.

My friend who calls herself Shivakami in her world (a Malayalam blog), sent me the following recipe. Now on to the recipe in her own words-

Ingredients :

Boiled rice – 1 cup

Salt to taste

Grated coconut – half portion of a coconut

Oil – 1 tablespoon

Seasoning
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon

Urad dal - 2 teaspoon

Small onions(cheriya ulli) - 8-10 nos, chopped

Curry leaves

Method
Soak rice for 3hrs. Grind it coarsely to a thick batter and mix salt. Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard, urad dal, curry leaves and chopped onions one after the other. Add the batter and stir well. Add grated coconut also and mix well.cook till the whole batter gets into a solid mass. Take out from stove. Keep idli cooker on stove. Make small balls of the rice mix. Place them on idli plates and steam cook for 5-10 minutes. This can be made using raw rice too. With boiled rice, kozhukkatais are more soft and has a nice texture.

Support This Proposed Legislation

Here's some proposed legislation I just heard about that would make enormous strides toward repairing the broken remodeling sector.

It's called the
Home Improvements Revitalize the Economy (HIRE) Act

About the Legislation

In bipartisan legislation, congressmen Henry Johnson (D-GA) and Nathan Deal (R-GA) are sponsoring the Home Improvements Revitalize the Economy (HIRE) Act to provide tax deductions and credits designed to stimulate the purchase of kitchen cabinets and other remodeling and home furnishing improvements. The products would have to be installed in the taxpayer's primary residence, and the credits would apply to existing homes, not new construction.

Cocooning homeowners saved the nation from the recession we are enduring right now after the Dot-Com Bust and 9/11. You can do the same again by making your homes more energy efficient and providing paychecks for a big industry.

Widespread spending on home improvement is a real economy booster.

This proposed legislation may be just the ticket to break the logjam and get our economy moving again now that we know we're not over the cliff.

I suggest you contact your Congressperson today and voice your support for this bill.

Peggy