Morkali - In Memory of Jayasree

It was really a great shock to me when I read the news about a dear friend's sudden demise. I couldn't believe my eyes/ears, but that was the fact. I was reading blogs after quite a while, and found about this through fellow blogger's tributes to her. I felt so sad for losing a dear friend. I came to know Jayasree through blogger world she was so kind enough to post her sweet encouraging comments on my blog whenever I make a new post. And also whenever I change my blog header or template she was so sweet enough to notice the change and give her compliments or opinions. Even though I haven't known or met her personally, she became a good friend of mine through blogging. I really miss her in the blogger world. 

I made her Morkali recipe as a Tribute to her. Do visit her blog - Experiments in Kailas Kitchen and join in the tribute. 

Recipe Link: http://kailaskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/01/morkalikoozhu.html

R.I.P Jayasree!! My heartfelt condolences to her family!!

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100 Yummy Sweets & Desserts Recipes for Diwali - An E-book

IndusLadies has compiled an eBook for this Diwali consisting of "100 Yummy Sweets & Desserts recipes", contributed by various Food Bloggers! Go ahead and download it @ http://www.indusladies.com/100diwalisweet.

I am really happy to say that my COCONUT HALWA recipe got featured in the eBook!!

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On Vacation.....

Dear friends,

Hope you're all doing good. I know I haven't posted any recipe for a long time. Yes, I am on vacation and right now I am in India enjoying days with family. I will be back soon with many more yummy recipes. I'll try to post some recipes from here whenever I find time :) Keep visiting!! Thank you.

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My Blog Roll

Hi Friends,

Hope you're all doing fine. You might have felt my irregularity in visiting your blogs these days. The reason was: I've been busy compiling a comprehensive list of all the blogs I know. I hope I covered most of them. If I miss any please remind me to add. Here is the new blog I created for the purpose.

http://bloggerschamber.blogspot.com/

Please visit this blog and check if your blog is included. If not, leave a comment on that blog so that I can add your blog asap. Thank you. 

I created this blog so that I can keep in touch with all the blogs and be attentive to all the updates. :) Let me know your valuable opinion on this.

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Happy New Year with a New Blog Address

Hi Friends,

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR WISHES FOR THE NEW YEAR!!

Before I go further with my post:

A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR 2010! HOPE THE NEW YEAR FULFILLS ALL YOUR WISHES AND DREAMS.

I am so excited to share the new developments of my blog. From now on, my blog will be called as “TRENDY RELISH” and the new address will be http://www.trendyrelish.com/

But, you don’t have to worry about changing the links as the old address will redirect you to this new address without any difficulty (I believe). The only thing you might need to change is the blog title from “Essence of Andhra” to “Trendy Relish”. And also it won’t affect any of my readers and subscribers and they will continue to get all the updates from the new address to their inbox just like before.

You might see the change in the address in a day or two as it is still in transition process. You might see the address is still http://teluguruchi.blogspot.com/. But if you point the cursor to the header or Home button you will see the new address.

PLEASE DON’T GET CONFUSED WITH ALL THIS. YOU HAVEN’T COME TO ANY ALIEN SITE. THIS IS STILL ME “UMA” AND THIS IS STILL MY OLD RECIPE SITE. ONLY CHANGE IS THE TITLE AND ADDRESS. I ASSURE YOU ALL THAT I WOULD CONTINUE TO PROVIDE FULL FOOD ENTERTAINMENT IN FUTURE TOO!!

I thought the new address would come into effect from the first day of the New Year, but looks like it needs little more time :)

But as I wanted to give a makeover to my blog for the New Year, I changed the look and also the header with new address. So from now on, my blog will be called as “Trendy Relish”.

Btw, did I tell you my blog is going to celebrate its SECOND BIRTHDAY on the January 16th?

I take this opportunity to thank all my blogger friends, followers, readers and subscribers for their continued support and encouragement. I hope to get the same encouragement in future too. I assure that I will post more yummy and simple recipes in the New Year :)

Enjoy the New Year with full gusto. May the NEW YEAR brings you JOY, PEACE AND PROSPERITY!!

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I am Back!

Dear Friends,

How are you? I miss you all and my blog! As I wrote previously, we recently moved to a new house and I was so busy packing and unpacking stuff. It was so hectic and I couldn't find time to blog. Our internet connection was also gone as we were moving. Now we are settled and internet is also back. So I am also back with a bang and more yummy recipes. I will start posting recipes from tomorrow on a regular basis. Thank you for your wishes and emails. Thank you so much for your concern! Now it's time to hop into your blogs to catch up with all those wonderful creations I have missed!

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Best of 2008 - A Memory!

I can’t believe it’s already the end of the year and we are stepping into another new year! Let’s hope the New Year brings us loads of happiness and prosperity. I have started blogging in January this year and I am so glad I took that step into the wonderful blogging world! I have learned so much in cooking, made so many wonderful new friends. I even have improved my photography skills!

I felt so happy to get lovely comments for all my experimental recipes. This sweet appreciation from my blogger friends has given me lot of encouragement to go further in posting! I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my blogger friends and regular readers of my blog for the encouragement and support they have given me so far! I wouldn’t have come this far without your support dears! I also would like to say thanks to my family who stood by me all the time with their full support.

At the end of this memorable year 2008, let me bring back some memories of my best recipes so far! All these recipes are my new inventions and they tasted so great too!

1. Top 10 Recipes of the Year!

• Apple Laddu
• Asparagus Chutney
• Baked Onion Pakoda
• Bell Pepper Rings
• Dal Curry
• Instant Cucumber Pickle
• Lemony Fruit Shake
• Millet Dosa
• Pumpkin Seeds Powder
• Semolina – Vermicelli Kesari

2. Best Dish of the Month!

• January: Arati Kaya Podi (Plantain Powder)
• February: Mango Pickle
• March: Idli Fritters
• April: Apple Halwa
• May: Raisin-Stuffed Apples
• June: Basboosa
• July: Salubrious Smoothie (Cherry Berry Smoothie)
• August: Vegetarian Chili
• September: Gongura Pachadi
• October: Date Laddus
• November: Banana Bread
• December: Pumpkin Cupcakes

3. Best Recipe Prepared from Other Blogs!

So far I have tried 10 delicious recipes from other blogs. All of those are the best in my opinion. So here they are:

• Bread Rolls
• Garooda
• Carrot-Pear-Ginger Mocktail
• Goli Baje
• Kati Roll
• Mango Lassi
• Peanut Punch
• Peas and Capsicum Rice
• Tomato Bath
• Tomato Pasta

4. Best Meal of the Year!

Hmm. It is harder to choose one meal! Anyways, here is one of the best meals we enjoyed this year!

• Spicy Pesarattu

5. New things discovered this year!

As I told before, this year paved a beautiful path for me to make many new friends and sharpen my skills in cooking and in photography as well! I have learned different cooking techniques too!

6. New Blogs Discovered!

Oh My! I have discovered so many wonderful blogs and sites this year! Each and every one has its own style and beauty!

7. Cooking Resolutions for the year 2009!

Concentrate more on baking and cook more healthy foods to keep fit!

This is my contribution to Srivalli’s “Best of year 2008” event.

This is my last post for this year! So see you all in the New Year 2009 with more new recipes! Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous new year 2009!

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And the Winner of Riddle #5 is….

Dear friends, thank you for participating in the guessing game! I appreciate your enthusiasm. As I already expected, most of you guessed the answers right, though some of you got confused with the middle picture.

Here are the correct answers for the guesses: Check the Picture!

Many of you have given the correct answers, but as I said before, I would pick the first person who gave the correct answer. So the winner of this guessing game is PAVITHRA KODICAL. She was the first person to come up with correct guesses. CONGRATULATIONS PAVITHRA AND PLEASE ACCEPT THE BATON AND CARRY ON THE FUN GAME! It would be Riddle #6 for you! I can’t wait to see what you would come up with Pavithra! Have Fun!

Here is the list of all the other friends who made correct guesses:

Rekha, Cham, Roopa, Sripriya, Meera, Vaishali, Jaishree, Laavanya, Kamalika, PG, Hema and Kalai

Congratulations to you too friends! But I am sorry I can pass the baton to one person only, so I chose the first person as the winner! Thank you all for having fun with me!

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Shall We Guess? Riddle Me #5

I recently gave a correct answer to one guessing game held out by Kamalika. But I didn’t expect I would win this riddle, but I did! Thanks for passing me the baton Kamalika! I am the fifth person to carry the baton! Before I proceed, let me talk about rules/steps of this riddle.

Given below are the steps that need to be followed by the sixth person who gets the baton.

And here are some simple steps as set by Manisha, who started this fun event.

1. Find something stranger than strange and weirder than weird.
2. Post it on your blog within the next two weeks.
3. The quiz remains open for at least 1 day and at the most 2 days.
4. The person who guesses it correctly gets the torch and is the next host for Riddle Me This.
5. If the person who guesses correctly is the previous host, then that person will get to pick someone to pass the buck to from all those who made a guess.
6. And so on.
7. Please use the fabulous logo, designed by the real IFR owner: and link back to the host who passed the baton on to you.
8. Please do your best to keep this alive. Just think of how much fun it will be!

And now to the fun part, guessing game!

Look the above picture carefully! I placed three kinds of beans for you to guess! I am pretty sure you all can guess all the three names correctly! Isn’t that easy to guess? According to the first step of the rules said I have to give something stranger than strange and weirder than weird. But I couldn’t find that strange or weird thing to post, so going on with these easy guesses, as I am already late in posting this riddle! I will pick the first one, who guesses these beans correctly as the winner and the baton will be passed to her.

So what are you waiting for? Go on with your guesses and be the lucky winner to carry on the baton! Do I really have to wish you all good luck when I am pretty sure that you all could come up with correct answers? Anyways, Good Luck Friends!

HAVE FUN AND HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND AHEAD!

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A Treasure Hunt!

OK! Who is ready to peek into my kitchen to see how it is overloaded with treasures? Of course, most of you might have these, but still want to introduce you my treasures! Don’t think there are diamonds and rubies in my kitchen! These treasures mean more valuable than those to me! I have a large collection of steel glasses, spoons, plates and utensils which play very important role in my daily cooking needs. I got all these from India and we traveled together to many places like Hong Kong, Japan and now USA. We’re like best buddies! OK. Enough of blabber! Let me present you my kitchen collection!

Below are some of my steel collections. It’s not that I adore steel, but I just happened to collect so many of them. Now they live proudly in my kitchen. I still have many steel utensils, but I don’t want to scare you all! :)

Presenting my precious (OK not that precious) mandolin and churner!

Finally here is an Italian Moka Express (coffee maker) that I bought in Hong Kong. It brews coffee within minutes and the best thing is it is stove-top.

Have a cup of hot coffee for reading and viewing all my blah blah! :)

This is my contribution to Kitchen Treasure hunt event hosted by Dibs.

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All Lined Up!

I am reposting some of my old posts to send for dear Pallavi’s “Sunday Snacks - Fix It” event. I wanted to send a new entry for the event, but couldn’t find time to make it! So thought of sending these old posts and post a new one when I can make something.

All the snacks and sweets that I listed below are super easy to prepare and involve very limited cooking process and time. Click on the title to read the specific recipe.

Snacks

Corn Chat

Green Apple Snack

Roasted Chana (Dalia) Chat

Sweets

Coconut Pudding

Moong Dal Laddus

Wheat Laddu

These are my contribution to “Sunday Snacks - Fix It” event hosted by Pallavi. Sunday Snacks event is the brainchild of Hima.

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For the Challenge!

Here is an interesting event going on in the blogosphere. Dear Veda Murthy of Iyengar’s Kitchen is challenging us to create some recipes that should use only limited ingredients as she mentioned in the rules. I have some recipes that are suitable for this challenge, so thought of reposting those for this wonderful challenge! Hope these are suitable for the challenge, what do you say Veda?

Alright! Here goes the list. Click on the picture or the title of the dish to read the recipe.

Instant Cucumber Pickle

Mango Pickle

Millet Dosa

Potato Pancakes

I am sending all these to Veda’s “Challenge” with fingers crossed.

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Click...Click...Click!

Here are my two clicks for two events. This is just my humble attempt to participate in these two events.

The above picture goes to Jai & Bee’s “CLICK: August 2008 (Citrus)”. I used an orange, a lemon and a lime for the click. My daughter called them as “Traffic Lights” as soon as she saw the click. I was surprised and looked at the picture again and she was right! In ascending order, these are Go (green), Get ready to Stop (yellow) and Stop (red, of course not pure red but close enough). So the above title “Citrus (Traffic) Lights” occurred to my mind.

Next about the other click:

The above picture goes to Pooja’s “Theme of the Week – Saffron, White and Green (Independence Day)”.

I tried to get a look of the great Indian Flag. For that, I used some oranges to get the saffron color, rice for white and limes for the green color.

The saffron stands for courage, sacrifice and the spirit of renunciation; the white, for purity and truth; and the green for faith and fertility. (Source: Maps of India)

Hope you like it! You would be wondering about those blue things on top of the rice. Those were just some blue colored cereals I used to represent the Dharma Chakra in the center of the Indian flag.

On a different note:

My dear friend Swati, who always makes my day with her sweet comments, has bestowed these beautiful awards on me. So nice of you Swati!

Another dear friend Sireesha, who never misses to leave a nice comment on my posts, has passed me another beautiful award. Thanks dear!

Now it’s my turn to pass these pretty awards to these friends, who are always encourage me to do more with their sweet comments. I know the list is too long, but they all deserve it.

Kamala
Laavanya
Madhavi
Meera
Mitr_bay Area
RamyaBala
Sangeeth
Sireesha
Sowmya
Sra
Srivalli
Suma Rajesh
Trupti

Congratulations friends! Enjoy!

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Click For Bri - My Click

Keep Smiling!

This is my contribution for the this month's special photography event - YELLOW for dear Bri at Jai and Bee's Jugalbandi. I clicked yellow bell pepper for the event.

This is an appeal on behalf of a group of food bloggers who are friends of Briana Brownlow @ Figs With Bri. I have contributed what I could and I request you to help out too!

Bri was diagnosed with breast cancer two and half years ago. A mastectomy, chemotherapy and two years of relatively good health later, the cancer is back. It has metastasized to other parts of her body. At the age of 15, Bri lost her 41-year old mother to the disease. Now, she’s waging her own war against breast cancer. More about it here.

She is going through intensive chemo and other treatments and needs to focus single-mindedly on healing and finding what treatment works best for her. Her health insurance, unfortunately, does not cover holistic alternatives which she would like to try. Bri and her husband Marc have enough on their plates right now in addition to worrying about her medical bills.

The team organising the JUNE edition of CLICK at Jugalbandi has organised a fundraiser to help Bri and her family meet her out-of-pocket medical costs for ONE YEAR.

CLICK is a monthly theme-based photography contest hosted by Jugalbandi. This month’s theme is: YELLOW for Bri

Yellow is the colour of hope. Through the work of the LiveStrong Foundation, it has also come to signify the fight against cancer.

The entries can be viewed HERE. The deadline for entries is June 30, 2008. The fundraiser will extend until July 15, 2008.

The target amount is 12,000 U.S. dollars. We appeal to our fellow bloggers and readers to help us achieve this. Bri deserves a chance to explore all options, even if her insurance company thinks otherwise.

There’s a raffle with exciting prizes on offer. After viewing the list, you may make your donation HERE or at the Chip-In button on any participating site.

Your donation can be made securely through credit card or Pay Pal and goes directly to Bri’s account.

This month’s photo contest also has some prizes. Details HERE.

You can support this campaign by donating to the fundraiser, by participating in CLICK: the photo event, and by publicising this campaign.

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Mango Manthram – Bead Art

When Indira of Mahanandi has announced the Mango Manthram event, I immediately decided to take part in this. Since then I have been scratching my head with thoughts how to do that? I realized it is not that easy creating an art piece about mango, the heavenly fruit, rather than eating it. I thought why Indira didn’t announce Mango Eating Event (he he!). Anyways, I dig a hole in my head by scratching (just kidding) and came up with this bead art. I used different colored beads from my daughter’s bead collection.

What do you say about it? Which one looks better?

In the beginning I also drew two sketches about Mango, but wasn’t satisfied with them. Have a look at them below.

I know you are laughing at my art! Hey, I just gave it a try!

Here is a mango carving by my dear hubby.

My dear friend Andhra Flavors of “For Spicy Lovers” has bestowed the “Yummy Blog Award” on me. Thank you so much for thinking about me, Andhra! You made me so happy.

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Queen of the Day!

Yes, that’s what I was on Mother’s Day! I woke up with the greetings of my dear daughters with a mother’s day song. Later my hubby greeted me with a hot cup of coffee, brand new sunglasses and a lovely poem. He actually wrote the poem in our mother tongue (Telugu) which I managed to translate into English (a little effort!).

Later as their DD time (Dad-Daughter time) they both washed and cleaned my (our) Van and made it sparkly.

My breakfast was traditional dosas with my favorite chutneys. For lunch my husband has made a delicious meal. Later I was surprised to see that my older daughter has baked a lovely cake with the help of her dad. It turned out perfect from the hands of a kid.

We went for a family walk later that evening around the neighborhood. Then we all enjoyed playing some games. Finally I was treated with a delicious home-made pizza.

I forgot to say I got some gifts too. They might be small but they are precious when you receive them from your beloved.

From my little one (above)

From my older one

I was treated like a queen and I wasn't allowed to do any work. It was a great day! I wish every day is a MOTHER’S DAY!

One last thing, my older daughter has started her own blog (of course with my help) that feature all her art and craft works, poems and stories (Yes, she is a great story teller). Please encourage her with your precious comments. Thank you in advance.

Here is the link: Crazy World of Art

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The Three Musketeers for Click: Au Naturel

The Three Musketeers taking a shower

The above picture is my entry to the food photography event “Click: Au Naturel” hosted by Jai and Bee of Jugalbandi.

I got this click idea while washing the apples.

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Lights, Camera, Click…

I have been thinking so much about my contribution for the CLICK Metal event being hosted by Jai and Bee of Jugalbandi. I have made several attempts to click one, but got discouraged every time I saw the wonderful clicks from other blog friends. Since the deadline for the event is approaching, I made a commitment to myself like “OK, let me click something just to participate in the event”. And here was the final outcome!

Coffee Anyone?

I have an Italian Moka Express (coffee maker), which we had bought long back when we were in Hong Kong. We love it so much as it is so easy to operate and moreover it is stovetop coffee maker. It is made of Aluminum.

I also have so many steel glasses that I have bought in India. So I made use of all these metal items for my click.

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Water…Water Everywhere!!

Water…water everywhere
We’re gonna get wet

Ha ha ha! Not really! I just remembered that song, as I wanted to post some pictures of water (I mean lakes, waterfalls, ocean etc.,)

To start with, here is the picture taken at an Indian village (Bitragunta, AP). In the picture, a small pond can be seen behind the trees.

Then next picture is taken at the Folsom Lake, CA




The above picture is taken at Lagoon Valley Park, CA and the next one is the Clear Lake, CA.


Last but not the least, the pictures below were taken at the Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

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