Monthly Archives: November 2015

Gongura Chutney

This post is of one of my favorite chutneys. I cannot stop myself from buying this leafy vegetable whenever I see it on the leafy section of the supermarket. I love the way my mother cooks this particular greens. She adds a lot of oil and onions and makes it as a Sabzi, I use less oil in my cooking, but I still love her style of cooking this recipe. Here I am posting my adaptation of my mother’s recipe, I make a chutney of the sabzi by blending it all to fine paste in the mixer pot so that I can bottle it up and use whenever I wish. Initially after coming to this place, on couple of occasions I purchased the Gongura pickle of Priya brand, but not anymore. I like my chutney recipe the best, as I always add a healthy twist and try and make the recipe to my specification and liking.

One does not get to see this leafy bunch very regularly on the stands, but it is available, and hence I never let go of the opportunity when I see it in the market. I have seen bigger bundles of these greens sold in Indian markets, but here have to do with small bunches of leaf stems that make up the bundle. But something is always better than nothing, and hence the chutney version of cooking this greens.

As not all days of the week see us with pleasant moods, sometimes our moods do become sour on some pretext or other, in same context not all leafy greens are sweetish or pleasant to taste. This particular green is very sour in taste, and it is for this reason I like to make a chutney of this and eat along with rice and dal combinations whenever I wish to eat plain and simple food. It adds the necessary tang to the taste buds. Also, it goes well with some parathas too.

Kenaf or Gongura leaf
Kenaf or Gongura leaf

When my mother was visiting me, she gave me this tip of how to reduce the sourness from the leaves.

How to reduce the sourness from the Gongura leaves: Heat water in a bowl and put the Gongura leaves in this boiling water and cook just for a minute or so, and then drain away the water. The longer the leaves are boiled, the less the sour taste. Mother usually boils it for more than a minute, but as the leaves are few in the bundles sold here, I just give it a minute to boil and then drain. This reduces the extremely sour taste of the leaves.

INGREDIENTS:

Gongura leaves: 1 small bunch

Onion: 1 small

Green Chili: 2 no.

Garlic cloves: 2-3

Cumin: 1 Tsp

Flax seeds: 1 Tsp

Oil: 2 Tbsp

Salt: To taste

METHOD:

  1. Blanch the leaves to reduce the sourness. Chop the onion, garlic cloves and green chilli.
  2. Gongura Chutney ingredients
    Gongura Chutney ingredients

     

  3. Heat a pan on the gas stove and add 1 Tbsp oil in it. Add the cumin and flax seeds, then add the green chili, garlic and onion. Cook till the onion is pinkish, then add the blanched Gongura leaves and season with required amount of salt.
  4. Gongura sabzi
    Gongura sabzi

    Cook for few minutes so that the salt is mixed properly with the leaves and all the water, if any present,  is dried off, and then put off the flame. Remove the contents into a bowl. Once cooled, transfer to a mixer pot and  blend to get a fine paste.

  5. Empty the contents into a storing jar and add all the remain oil to it.
Gongura Chutney
Gongura Chutney

This is my version of making this simple and delectably tangy chutney.

I have yet to use these Gongura leaves to make any other vegetarian or non-vegetarian recipes in my kitchen. I have seen  and drooled over the Gongura prawn recipe pictures and hence I do have thoughts of trying to incorporate these leaves into one of my prawn recipes to find out how it would taste. May be I should also try and make a dal using these leaves. I will try some more recipes of Gongura in the coming New year and make posts, my New year plans, hence sharing my thoughts with you all here.

Lastly, just as we find tips and tricks of reducing the sourness in the vegetables, in the same way let us try and reduce or eliminate the sour moods that engulf us on some days and make each day a pleasant one. A herculean task to change ones bad mood, but one can always try, right? On this thought I end my last post for this November month. Wishing you all a great start to the new month of December from tomorrow.

ashu.

 

Dried Cranberry & Blueberry Loaf

    Slices of Cranberry & Blueberry LoafSlices of Cranberry & Blueberry Loaf

By now, you all are aware of my fondness for home-baked cakes. Every couple of days and I have the urge to bake cake, this time I wanted to use the dried cranberries and blueberries that I had purchased with thoughts of adding them to make a loaf cake. Also, couple days back, my niece had requested me to share my recipe for a simple cake , which I already gave. I had promised her that I will put a cake post for her, this is an easy and delish recipe baked especially for my dear niece. All my nephews and nieces love eating cakes, a few of them are good at baking too. I feel they are part of my chain that spreads the happiness through the cakes they bake.

Baking is a joy, you will not know of until you try and bake your own first cake.

For those who know how to bake a cake it is not a big task. But for all the new beginners who wish to try out baking their first homemade cake it sure becomes an anxious time until the baked good is out of the oven. I would like to point out here to all the new/first time bakers to go ahead, it is not something that cannot be done, even the first attempt at baking would make it clear to you how pleasurably simple baking a cake is.

Go ahead and give yourself these happy moments.

NOTE:

  • Please note to use all ingredients at room temperature.
  • Weighing the ingredient quantity is the most important step to follow to get the perfectly baked goods.
  • Use good quality ingredients and check for the expiry of the baking powder or baking soda used.
  • Line the baking tin with butter paper or grease the tin with butter and dust with flour and shake off the excess flour. In this way keep the cake tin ready for use.
  • The oven should be preheated to the set temperature before inserting the cake tin for baking.

DRIED CRANBERRY & BLUEBERRY LOAF

Dried Cranberry & Blueberry Loaf
Dried Cranberry & Blueberry Loaf

INGREDIENTS:

Refined Flour: 250 gm

Sugar: 200 gm

Unsalted Butter: 170 gm

Milk: 50 ml

Orange: 1/2 (I used the Valencia variety)

Eggs: 3

Orange Essence: 1 Tsp

Baking Powder: 1 Tsp

Baking Soda: 1/4 Tsp

Dried Cranberries & Blueberries: 150 gm (More can also be added)

METHOD:

  1. Prepare the cake tin as explained above in Note paragraph. Preheat the fan-assisted oven to 150 deg C. Mix the bake powder and baking soda with refined flour and sieve the flour. This allows even mix of the ingredients.
  2. Beat the unsalted butter until soft and light. Add the powdered sugar and beat, then add the milk and beat mixture till light and fluffy.
  3. Add the eggs, one at a time, beat till the mixture is smooth. Add the essence and juice of half orange and mix well.
  4. Taking a spoonful of the flour at a time, fold it into the cake batter. Folding the flour in cake is mixing flour using rubber spatula, moving hand in one direction, cut and fold, until flour disappears. Take care not to burst or make the air bubbles disappear from the batter, hence do not over mix.
  5. Finally add the dried berries into the cake batter and mix gently.  Pour the batter immediately into the prepared loaf tin and put it into the preheated oven to bake at 150 deg C for 45 min or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  6. Finally mix the dried berries into the cake batter.

    Finally mix the dried berries into the cake batter.

Adding of the milk and orange juice makes it a slightly thin batter, so the loaf slice is light and fluffy. I have used a mixer pot to beat and mix the wet ingredients to make the batter, and folded the dried ingredients into this batter.

TIP: For a more orangey flavor, one can add 1-2 tsp of orange zest.  (Scrap out the orange outer cover to get the zest).

Dried Cranberry & Blueberry Loaf
Dried Cranberry & Blueberry Loaf

With the winter almost upon us, warm tea or coffee mugs with a delicious cake slice would make a perfect start of the day. One could also make this cake and give as home-baked gifts during this season of sharing, adding a personal touch to gifting. You would also help me by becoming the part of my chain and spread happiness through your baked cakes. 

Wishing you all Happy Thanksgiving, enjoy the day with family and friends.

ashu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Olive Oil & Mint Dip

IMG_5779
Olive Oil & Mint Dip

This recipe was the invention of the day I made Vegetarian Dough Balls, recipe 2. I prefer to call it my Desi twist to the Videshi oil.

Olive oil is one of the favorite oils that I use in my cooking. It is added to most of the chutneys and freshly ground Pestos that I make. I loved the slight minty taste giving to the olive oil by adding freshly made Pudina chutney, brushing this oil or serving it as a dip with the Dough balls was loved by all.

Sharing with you all here a very simple, but a distinctively flavorful dip. We can prepare ahead and keep the Pudina Chutney ready in the refrigerator and mix it with Olive oil to make this quick dip and apply it over bread, parathas, or serve with any savory baked dishes or also apply to toast and grab a quick snack at any time. Mixing this with freshly cut salad vegetables and tossing it makes a quick yum vegetable salad. The choice is yours on how you can use it, give it a try.

INGREDIENTS:

Olive Oil: 100 gm

For Pudina Chutney:

Fresh Mint: 1/2 Bunch (100 gm)

Green Coriander: few springs (25 gm)

Green Chili: 1 or 2

Garlic: 1 Clove

Salt: To taste

METHOD:

  • Clean the mint and coriander bunches and wash the leaves.
  • Grind the garlic, green chili, mint and coriander leaves together in a mixer pot and get a smooth paste. Add salt as per taste.
  • Take the olive oil in a bowl.
  • Take 1 tbsp. of the mint and coriander chutney and mix it with the oil.
  • Our Olive oil with Pudina chutney dip is ready.
IMG_5777
Mix the Pudina Chutney with the Olive oil

I used this dip with the Dough Balls.

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Vegetarian Dough Balls with Olive oil & Mint Dip

 

IMG_5780
Vegetarian Dough Ball with the dip.

Have fun trying out the dip in your kitchen.

ashu

Vegetarian Dough Balls: Recipe 2

Yummy vegetarian Dough Balls
Yummy vegetarian Dough Balls

Thank you to all who have appreciated and liked my yesterdays post of Vegetarian Dough Balls: Recipe 1. (Click here for the recipe.)

Today I am posting another recipe of Dough Balls, but with a different filling inside. As mentioned in the previous post the choice of filling makes as many varieties of the Dough balls as we choose to experiment. Small changes in ingredients gives each recipe the necessary twist and makes it unique in its own way. It is sometimes the simple ingredients available in the refrigerator that are sufficient to give us a complete new dish, we just need to let our imagination led us to create. I believe this is true  in our day to day life too, one must not get into the routines of following the same pattern, we should always keep room for some change. To explain better giving an example, the same settings in the house over a long period makes it very dull and unappealing, and just a shift of position of the same furniture, and/or of the wall hangings, paintings, or even adding fresh indoor plants gives the same old room a complete makeover. For this one needs to make it happen, and unless we do not make the changes one would not know the difference it makes. Try it out for yourself and notice the change it brings. For me, adding lots of green indoor plants works the magic, makes the room more fresher and just makes the whole environment a more happy place.

The current recipe uses vegetables and cottage cheese. I was asked by my vegetarian friends to post vegetarian recipes too, this is for all those friends and my readers. I loved experimenting with these ingredients and the result was loved by all who ate, and sharing here I wish to spread this happiness to all of you who would give it a try.

Baking is a joy that needs to be experienced, I know how fast the baked dishes disappear from the plates, but the aroma that fills the house lingers on. These moments are the simple pleasures of life.

VEGETARIAN DOUGH BALLS:

INGREDIENTS:

Pizza Dough: 500gm (Please click here for the dough recipe).

Carrot: 1

French Beans: 100 gm

Green Peas: 50 gm

Onion: 1 Small

Cottage Cheese/Paneer: 150 gm

Oil: 1Tbsp (for cooking the vegetables)

SEASONING:

Salt: To taste

Chili Flakes: 2 Tsp

Black pepper powder: 1 Tsp

Dried Oregano: 1 Tsp

Mint Chutney: 1 Tbsp

METHOD:

Dice the Paneer and Carrot into small pieces. Finely chop the onion, and cut the French beans.

Heat a pan or Kadai over gas flame and add little oil and put the cut vegetables and peas and cook for 10 min. Add the seasonings and mix well. Add the grated/diced paneer and mix. Remove the pan from the gas stove and empty the contents into a bowl. As this cools add the mint chutney and mix well. (Recipe of the chutney to follow in the next post.) This is the filling for the dough balls.

Veg Dough Ball filling
Veg Dough Ball filling

Preheat the oven to 200 deg C.

Knead the pizza dough and make small balls of equal portion. Roll out each dough to form a circular shape puri and spoon 1-1/2 Tbsp filling in it.

Roll out the dough
Roll out the dough
Filling
Filling

Close the circular ends together giving it a ball shape. Let all the ends of the circular shaped dough meet, pressing firmly to join so that they do not open when getting baked and spill out the filling. Brush each dough ball with some olive oil or any cooking oil.

Dough Balls ready for Baking
Dough Balls ready for Baking

Keep all the dough balls on a greased baking tray or tray lined with butter paper and put in the oven that is preheated to 200 deg C and bake for about 30-45 min, or until they are baked to perfection. The baking time would depend upon the size of the dough balls made. One can apply Olive oil again after they are half baked, this ensures they do not look dry. I applied oil after the baking was complete.

Baking in process
Baking in process
Vegetarian Dough Balls with the dip.
Vegetarian Dough Balls with the dip.

I served these baked delights with an oil dip. Recipe of the dip will be my next post, do visit again and check it out and leave your thoughts about the posts.

Have fun baking and enjoy these warm comforting vegetarian snacks and spread the happiness to your family members.

ashu

Vegetarian Dough Balls-Recipe 1

Early November I had a get-together at my place with my girl friends coming over for a lunch meet, our monthly fun-time together. When it is party time at home, I always believe in making and/or serving food that is a bit different from the routines. This is one of the dish that was served as a starter or finger food. It is a tasty and much appreciated recipe and I am glad to share it here with you all.  As I started writing this post and was writing the title, I thought for a moment to decide on a different name, but I have always called these flavor filled yum bites by the name Dough Balls and hence I thought it was the most appropriate name and am going to stick to it. Dough Balls that I make are essentially made of pizza dough and are filled with filling of our choice. This gives us a lot of scope to experiment and we can have many varieties of the same dish but each bite becoming a different  eating experience.

Italian food is favorite food at home, and Pizza is something that is welcome at any given time of the day. Pizza is my weakness, something that is difficult for me to resist, yeah even on  days when I am consciously watching the calorie intake. It was a time before I started the blog that I had tried making something different of the left over pizza dough, and my familiarity with Indian tea-time snacks Samosa and Kachori had led me to try filling the pizza dough with a chicken filling and shape it like a ball that was later baked. The kids had absolutely loved it. Thus the new snack got added to the list of my homemade recipes. (Check out my Instagram for the pictures of the homemade recipes).

I make use of the pizza dough for making Pizza, Calzones and these yum Stuffed Dough Balls. You can check the Calzone recipe here.

Salads using bell peppers are a favorite and to make a filling for stuffing these dough balls using the different colored peppers gives it a very appealing and colorful appearance, not to forget the sweetish taste they add. It is healthy eating to incorporate colorful vegetables in our diet, and by using the different bell peppers we are adding color, taste and texture to the filling. Using the personal favorite cheeses and adding a dash of the seasoning of chilli flakes and dried herbs makes a very delectable bite of these yum baked goodies.

To make these we need the pizza dough.

CHEESE AND BELL PEPPERS STUFFED DOUGH BALLS:

INGREDIENTS:

Pizza Dough: 500 gm (Please click here for the dough recipe).

Bell Peppers: 1 small each (Red/Green/Yellow)

Onion: 1 small.

Cheddar Cheese: 100 gm

Paneer/Cottage Cheese: 50 gm

Parmesan Cheese: 50 gm (optional)

NOTE: As I love Parmesan cheese, I try to make use of it very often.

SEASONING:

Salt: To taste

Chili Flakes or black pepper powder: 1 Tsp

Dried Oregano: 1 Tsp

METHOD:

Grate the cheeses. Finely chop the Bell peppers and onion. Take a bowl and mix the cheeses and the chopped vegetables and add the seasoning. Season according to personal taste. Mix well. Our filling is ready for use.

Preheat the oven to 200 deg C.

Knead the pizza dough and make small balls of equal portion. Roll out each dough to form a circular shape puri and spoon 1-1/2 Tbsp filling in it. Close the circular ends together giving it a ball shape. Let all the ends of the circular shaped dough meet, pressing firmly to join so that they do not open when getting baked and spill out the filling. Brush each dough ball with some olive oil or any cooking oil.

Roll out the dough
Roll out the dough
Dough balls ready for baking.
Dough balls ready for baking.

Keep all the dough balls on a greased Aluminum foil or baking tray  and put in the oven that is preheated to 200 deg C and bake for about 30-45 min, or until they are baked to perfection. The baking time would depend upon the size of the dough balls made.

Cheese and Bell Pepper stuffed Dough Balls
Cheese and Bell Pepper stuffed Dough Balls

Serve these dough balls with sauce or dip of choice. I had made three dips/chutneys to serve for my house party: Mint Dip, Red Chili Chutney, and Plum Chutney.

Homemade dips/chutneys.
Homemade dips/chutneys.

I am not very happy with the picture quality of the snaps but when cooking for a party and trying to finish up the baking work, I could manage only with this quality. My friends appreciated the appetizers that I served them and loved eating these yummy cheesy bites of delight.

If you are a pizza lover and a foodie like me then I would strongly recommend giving this recipe a try in your kitchen, it is not a complicated recipe and worth all the efforts that goes in home cooking. I believe it is always a fruitful experience to eat something unusual occasionally, and one does not necessarily have to enter the restaurants for that. Cooking at home gives us the opportunity to eat right and make use of the best products and minimize or eliminate the artificial products and flavors used in packaged, frozen, or processed foods. When we have control over what we are feeding to the body, we are on the correct path by being more responsible for the welfare of our health. It is rightly said: Health is Wealth.

ashu

 

Diwali 2015

Last week we celebrated the festival of lights, Diwali. It is the big festival that brings with it an excitement all around with lot of preparations, lot of household work from cleaning to painting the walls, shopping for gifts, new clothes, some utensil or silverware and/or gold, lot of festive cooking of meals, as well as the traditionally associated snacks that one is so fond of eating. A Diwali without the traditional savory and sweet snacks and loads of Mithais and ladoos would be incomplete.

I grew up with fond Diwali memories of the customary rituals followed by my mother, her homemade snacks, the fire crackers, the new clothes, the visiting relatives and the good food being served to all. It was a time with lot of activities and family gatherings. I have tried to continue the rituals that I grew up following, and thus every year Diwali is a busy time, occasion that brings with it lot of festive mood and celebrations. The past week was thus family time, with diyas being lit, handmade rangolis done on the floor and colored, tried making first time a sweet that I like a lot but had never tried making in my kitchen. Yeah, this was my first try of making Anarsa, a sweet that is made of rice flour and sugar. I was under the impression that it involved a lengthy process and needed perfection to make and hence had never tried making it ever. But, this time I tried and they turned out just the way I like them.

Sharing here some snaps from my Diwali this year.

Anarsa: A sweet made from rice that is soaked for 3 days, then wiped dry and finely ground to flour. Sugar is added to the flour and a tight dough ball is made and Anarsa is made from this dough. It is deep-fried on slow flame. The frying takes a bit of patience and expertise and technique, but nothing that a beginner cannot follow. I was able to get the perfect shape, so anyone who knows how to fry them can do it. I have used fine Semolina coating, a change from the regular recipe ingredients.

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Ashu wishes you all Happy Diwali.
Ashu wishes you all Happy Diwali.
Homemade Diwali snacks.
Homemade Diwali snacks.

Traditional snacks for Diwali include Chakli, Chivda, Sweet and salty Sankerpala, Besan Sev,  Mathri, Anarsa, Karanji or Gujjia, Ladoos, and Barfis. Above are some of the snacks that I made this Diwali.

It is a different type of Chakli I made this Diwali, a family recipe that uses rice flour and sesame seeds and are shaped by hand. I have started making this type of Chakli since last two months, a never tried recipe before that is getting mastered with frequent attempts. This rice Chakli making is a bit tedious process, but a favorite of my daughter and hubby and hence the extra efforts to master it.

Rice Chakli, a family recipe that is being mastered with frequent attempts of making it, since September’15.

They are shaped by hand, made on cloth and later deep fried.
They are shaped by hand, made on cloth and later deep-fried.

The handmade décor of rangoli design at the door during the festival, a ritual followed by making this Rangoli. The design is inspired from internet images.

Handmade rangoli that is colored using colored rangoli.
Handmade rangoli that is colored using colored rangoli.

The Laxmi Puja day Prasad:

Diwali puja prasad
Diwali puja Prasad

Diwali festivities have now come to end. It was a week of food indulgence, lot of tasty snacks and yummy and rich food eaten, both at home and at parties. Now, with the end of the festival, it is time to start the fitness regimen and go for walks with friends. Yup, the weather is turning out perfect for outdoor activities and hence no excuses.

ashu

 

Blogging 101 Day#2 Title and Tagline

The second day task of Blogging 101 is to edit the Title and Tagline of our site.

When I started the blog, I gave it the Title as Ashstylegourmet. As this is my space, primarily for documenting my style of cooking and emphasizing that home cooking too can be classy, elaborate, and gourmet meals. With a little preparation, using the best ingredients, and creating a grand display of the dishes using the finest cutlery one can have the best eating experience in the comforts of our home. This is how I prefer to eat each meal at my home. Hence I choose to name it Ash style Gourmet, and I am happy with the title and hence wish to continue with it.

Tagline of my site is : Eat Well Stay Fit.

The Dietetics & Nutrition study has made me aware of the types of foods and the importance of food in our life. A healthy, balanced food intake with proper exercise goes a long way to achieve fitness goals and live a healthy life. I give importance to eating well and staying fit, and hence I find this the perfect tagline for my site. I wish to continue to use it without making any changes to it.

ashu

Blogging 101 Day #1 Introducing the person behind the blog-”Me”

I created this blog site in December of 2013, and wrote the ‘About‘ page, a small detail for the  world to know when folks knocked or stumbled on the site and clicked on the about page of the site. I have just recently given a face to the author of the site, until then it was a picture of a slice of cake or my name.

Starting today I am taking part in the Blogging 101 course, and task for Day#1 is Introduce yourself to the World. I am happy to write this post, the Ash who wrote the About page has since then traveled with the blog through many interesting food, photography, and travel destinations, met and connected with some like-minded folks, and I have enjoyed the journey so far. I find it is a good time to introduce the ”me”! The blog is the journey of that ”me” that lies within, who wants to explore, connect and experience her different interests-cuisines, countries,  nature, different landscapes, photography and read good writings and get a rich experience for this learner within.

As a child, summertime was when we would be sleeping outdoors in the courtyard of our bungalow, under the sky that would be illuminated with innumerable twinkling stars, with tales for the many stars being narrated by my grannies. I distinctly remember lying on the outdoor bed on those evenings and marveling at the wide blue sky above, the flocks of different birds returning home, the Aeroplanes that flew so high above leaving a trail of white line in the sky, and kites flying high, and I would imagine being with those lives zooming above me, be it the people sitting in the aircraft or the birds that flew past. I never had a camera with me then, but seeing the birds returning to their nests on the trees surrounding our house always made me happy and I always wished to click those snaps. This was the young ”me” then and her thoughts. Now it is the age of cell phones and SLR’s & DSLR cameras, and with the cell camera always handy one can capture images at the click of the button. I do still see myself clicking these pictures, some of them are used in the Weekly Photo Challenges.

Life zipped through schooling and college. The dreamer was always alive somewhere within. The end of college saw a different role of life. It was a new journey with new folks, new responsibilities, new vision, and new priorities. The new journey saw the ”me” in different roles, from being the daughter and younger sibling to becoming the wife of an awesome person my hubby, as the daughter-in-law  of the new family, as the mother of two most adorable kids, and also at the same time adjusting, growing and accommodating to all these different roles. This span of post marriage has seen me travel to different places within India and abroad. My love or hobby for trying out, learning, and cooking Indian food dishes of the different states of India that I have lived in was always with me all these years.

Having moved to the Middle East, away from family and siblings and relatives and with kids growing up, the need to inculcate the importance of home cooked food was always on the mind. I grew up eating home cooked food with restaurant outings as being rare occasions. Changing times and fast food craze of this generation requires a more balanced approach to eating, and the Dietitian in me do not approve of frequent junk food intake by my kids. I emphasize the home cooked healthy eating, and hence try to give the family a different variety of dishes that are healthily prepared using best ingredients and cooking methods. I like the meal times to be fun, sharing, and happy times for the whole family with the table displaying food that is appealing. As a mother I feel I am responsible for the good eating habits of my kids, and healthy eating starts at home with the right balance of all types of foods.

As I see it, today’s kids are global citizens, they too would move from one place to another be it for education or work related. The food habits too would evolve for them as they have happened for me. I strongly wished to keep a diary of all my best recipes for my kids, but somehow the seed of writing a blog had started growing in the mind. Sharing with others gives eminence happiness and gratification. I have experienced the joy of sharing my cakes and other dishes with friends and neighbors in each and every place that I have resided so far since marriage. Baking has always made me happy. Hence, I want to continue to spread this happiness to as many folks as I can, the blog is one of my medium for that, another of the reason I am blogging.

Technology keeps changing, new things are introduced regularly, and to keep on learning and growing with the change is another of the reason for blogging. Currently this vast network is mind-boggling for me, and to wade or swim through without proper know how becomes a bit hindrance and slows down the journey. My new year goals/wishes are to reach out to many folks and like-minded people who might like to connect and try out the recipes, to learn from other bloggers, travel to different lands through the writings and photographs and explore places and culture that are unknown to me. Life, its experiences and the people we meet along the life path make an impact or a change in our lives with their actions, thoughts, and deeds. It is a continuous walk that is molding or shaping our personality and thoughts, and inspiring us to keep moving on. I have met and connected with some wonderful people who have inspired me and each post of mine is my attempt to encourage, inspire my readers, friends and family to eat healthy, wholesome home cooked food and make each mealtime at home the happy time for the entire family.

ashu