A Glimpse at my Photo Gallery

Here's a collection of some of the food pictures in my blog. You may find the recipes by choosing the corresponding category under "Recipe Index".
There are a lot more than these pictures and recipes in my blog. Don't forget to check out these!

Hot and Cold Drinks



Soups and Salads



Snacks

Rice Varieties

Rotis and Side Dishes



South Indian Recipes



Desserts



International Cuisine

Happy Holidays and have a Fantastic Year Ahead!

Krishna-My first art work

Dear friends,

I am back from vacation! I had a great time with my folks in India! Had lots of sweets, visited temples, spent time with my family and did some shopping :). Overall the trip was relaxing and satisfying.

I have always admired my Grandpa's artistic works. While I was in India, I used that opportunity to learn how to decorate deities from him. I bought a black and white poster of Lord Krishna and tried my hand at adorning him with beads, velvet, pearl, stones and silk. The more I worked on this, the more involved and interested I became. Ain't he cute? :-)

OK. It's been a while since I blogged. I am still in the vacation mood. I promise I will get back to blogging and come up with nice recipes next week.

Hope you all had a blast on Diwali!!

Entry for Click-Stacks

Stacks of chips ahoy!

Hi friends,
Wondering why I am back so soon? Well, I miss blogging. I could not resist myself from participating in CLICK - Stacks photography event this month. I will be blogging on and off till next month(July) and will be on break till October.

Thank you so much for your comments on my 15 minute event round up. I hope you are trying those recipes one by one.

How about enjoying a cup of masala tea and some chips ahoy for afternoon snack? This is my entry to CLICK - Stacks event.

Art Gallery/Store

Today is Akshaya Tritiyai. It is one of the most auspicious days of the Hindu calendar which brings us luck and success. On this special day, I would like to introduce a deity maker and decorator to you all. He is none other than my Grandpa, Mr. Seshadrinath. He is a retired school principal and teacher. After his retirement, his passion for making idols turned into a full time job. Over the years he has made innumerable pieces that have been a sell out. Apart from adorning idols, he also writes wonderful poems. He is really gifted with so many talents!

He began with the figure of Lord Srinivasa. Initially he was carving out the figure from thermacole and used cloth, zari and beads to beautify the pieces. Now he has started using ceramic, papier mache, plaster of Paris and plastic which are long lasting. The process then involves pasting of beads of various colors, sparkling stones, jewellery, silk cloth(my grandpa shops for these materials himself) over the mould. The devotees are awed by Mr. Seshadrinath's intricate works and authentic representations of idols. A huge image(4 feet tall) of Sri Srinivasa and Goddess Ranganayaki that Mr.Seshadrinath made recently is a masterpiece! Many hotels and famous shops(like GRT, Vasantha Bavan) in Chennai have displayed idols made by my grandpa.

Sri Srinivasa and Goddess Ranganayaki(4 feet tall)

Not to forget scented and sandalwood soaps he uses for carving miniatures of elephants and the like.

Lord Rama

Lord Muruga

Goddess Saraswathi

Vajrakavacham

Each medium-sized deity takes a month to be completed and the time he gets between one order and another, Mr. Seshadrinath utilizes to get earrings, neckpieces and zari for the deities. The price starts from $250 and varies from one idol to another. If you are genuinely interested in buying any idol, please contact seshadrimay1[at]rediffmail[.]com

A few months back, an article about my grandpa was published on Hindu.
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2008/11/14/stories/2008111451330500.htm

All pictures are copyrighted. Please ask me first!

Magnificent Click Contest

These are some of my favorite pictures clicked by me so far. I am sending these to Magnificent Click Contest 2009 hosted by Gayathri of justurs.blogspot.com

Pomegranate and vegetable rice pilaf

Microwave Bittergourd Curry

Akki Roti dough

Masala Milk

Tropical Smoothie

Potato Curry

Sweet Coconut Rice



Malai Kofta-Low Fat

Channa dal kuthu vilaku(diya) for Kitchen Masterpiece event

I was asking amma for some creative ideas using edible items and she suggested this one. She puts this kolam(rangoli) using rice flour everyday in pooja room.



I am rushing to send my entry to Kitchen Masterpiece event hosted by chitra-ammas-kitchen.

I hope they consider my late post. If not, it's ok. I had fun doing this!

Meet my undergrad friend-Anu at http://anu-recipediary.blogspot.com/

She has been constantly following my blog for quite sometime and giving feedback through emails after trying my recipes. Please do check out her blog!

My first recipe published in Tamil Sudar newspaper (Friday supplement)

After winning the second place in Eat-healthy during pregnancy event, my father's colleague emailed me regarding publishing a recipe from my blog in Tamil Sudar (Daily News paper, Tamil Nadu, India) . I was thrilled about this prospect. I accepted the offer without having any second thoughts. I let him choose the recipe and picture and he chose dates and nuts cake as it was a winning recipe. I adapted the idea of making sugarless cake from Anudivya's Nutty energy power balls and prepared it according to my taste. I wish I was in Chennai to buy an issue and see my name printed on it. I hope I get more opportunities like this in the future.

I thank my parents and friends for all the support and encouragement!

You can access Tamil Sudar online here: www.tamilsudr.com

Click Red - Play Pool(Billiards) with Tomato Balls

I did not want to miss participating in "click" photography contest this time. After much thought, I came up with this idea of playing pool(billiards) with tomatoes. Anyone interested in joining me? :) It will be fun!

I also have some lemon balls in case the tomatoes break while playing.

Click here to see what red means to others.

This is my first entry to Click-RED photography contest hosted by Bee & Jai of Jugalbandi.

Happy Holloween

Face- Akki Roti
Ears-potato Chips
Horns-Red chillis
Eyes, nose and eyebrows - quite obvious from the picture
Lips-Apple and Teeth -peanuts(incorporated this idea from here)

Looks pathetic.. :) Well I didn't want to spend money buying stuff for halloween which I know I will not be using in the future. So I just used whatever I had in my fridge.