Baking Partners - Group of Home Bakers

Here comes an idea from a small group of passionate bakers inviting other bakers to join them in this baking journey..... Let me introduce the bakers ..
1.  Reeni
2.  Tina
3.  Priya
4.  Suja
5.  Swathi
6.  Pratibha
7. Rashmi
8.  Julie

I heard about this from Julie on her blog. Swathi is co ordinating the group members and I mailed her to be added into the group. And here is the message she sent me........

Baking Partners: A new Baking Group

Baking a homemade bread, cake or cookies will give the best outcome. However in order to achieve the best results, a  perfect recipe and  right techniques are required. We are a small group of home baker friends, who love and want to learn more about the nook and corners of baking.  We are planning to try out recipes from books/magazines and cooking shows.  Every member gets a chance to present their choice of recipe and share important points with the rest of the group. Main purpose of this group is to learn the techniques, critic the procedure if there are ways to improve, and to eat a delicious food. Rules are simple, we will choose one recipe  and send it out to the group by 16th of every month and  the reveal date will be 15th of the next month . On that day we will  blog about it. A linky tool will be open during that time and each member can link their post. First month we are going to do a recipe, 2nd and 3rd month will be a theme and the 4th month we will be back at  a recipe. By doing in between recipes, we will able to learn more. All enthusiastic bloggers interested in baking are welcome, please email me   at favoriterecipes12@gmail.com. We will appreciate the use of logo or worded link that will help to spread the word.  A bunch of thanks to Tina for designing this beautiful logo If you   want to make it a gluten or vegan free diet, you can do those modifications also.                     Baking Partners are Reeni (Cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice)  Julie Erivum Puliyumm Tina  ( Pinay in Texas Cooking Corner) Priya (Priya's Versatile Recipes)    Suja ( Kitchen Corner Try It)  Archana  ( Tangy Minds)  Reshmi  ( EasY Cook)  Prathibha ( Cook Ezee)    Priya R ( Cook Like Priya) Vidhya (  A Portion to Share) Usha Rao ( My Spicy Kitchen) Divya Prakash( Divya’s Culinary Journey) Swasthi Blank ( Swasthi The Health Freak) Sanoli Ghosh ( Sanoli’s Kitchen) and Swathi ( Zesty South Indian Kitchen)  This is my effort to spread the word....and help this group grow. Lets enjoy this sharing and learning experience.....  Cheers!!

Mango Mousse Cake

Mangoes are almost going off the shelves at the markets......and when we got our small basket, we relished our share of this King of fruits. The last three mangoes stayed wrinkled and I though the best way is to make a mousse and finish the season.

Chicken Pie

I wake up from a short nap ... & here I have my son waiting with a request for Chicken Pie. While I made a mental note of ingredients available to execute his request..........he rolls out what exactly what should go into the Pie. Hmmm......on that nice thought we made this.

Zucchini Stir Fry

I love Zucchini...........for many reasons, primarily the name sounds so classy :)) then its so easy to cook  or bake  and it tastes so good as well. And a stir fry for lunch is not just great but could be prepared in a wink.......its that easy...

Choco- Almond Cake

Am happy to be back with a Choco - Almond cake. Summer holidays and the kids got nothing much to do..........that's when they wanted a frosted cake. I haven't been baking in a while and I guess they were missing it. The idea to include Maltesers on the cake came from them......and this is the outcome.....

ACHAPPAM - Rose Cookies

It's been a while that I blogged, though have been cooking all along. A break is good but when it gets too long ,it is all the more harder to get back......so here I am...with Achappams!

My New Home

 17^th May 2012……………We moved out of the flat we lived for 5 years to another apartment within the city.

The decision to move was taken in a week’s time, so I barely had the time to sort or to pack. To suit my convenience I called in the movers who did the job for me. I watched in silence as the men picked each of our belongings to cartons………..and I made mental notes as to what should stay and what I should perhaps let go……That much for tangible stuff……………

What about memories?? Going back to Feb 2007, the day when the flat came into my hands – I was super excited about the extended space, the doors & windows, huge bathrooms ,huge kitchen with a view of buildings ,palm trees, the mountains and the sea in Fujairah ………….endless list of niceness!!

As the packers took out the last carton, it was my turn to lock the door. As I  closed that door with a click I left behind a whole load of emotions(excess baggage as I call it) which I didn’t want to carry with me ever !! 

Strange but true…. that’s exactly how I felt.

What followed from then on – was the chaos in the new place. The movers indeed put things in the right places , but eventually we have to reshuffle and see what fits where. One thing with shifting is that the phone/internet/tv – all 3 were disconnected and was requested for a shift to the new place.When you have them at home – we are at it all the time, the entire family stays technologically connected than otherwise.

Thanks to mobiles – we could still stay connected to people.

 Now, in our new home – almost everything has fallen into place – some fixtures which the maintenance guys had to do is finally through. We had our fair share of take away. Take away foods are pure bliss when you are too lazy to put a meal together. But when you are fed with that on a day to day basis, it is not an easy thing to take. After the initial 3 days – we picked up an induction cooker…………. I had never worked on this ……so that’s how I learnt that this stove needs something in steel or cast iron. I didn’t have many – but eventually I realized it is easy to put a meal together with just 2 utensils. All it takes is planning!

Yet, when kids came home from school to see a simple meal of rice, dal and stir fried beans …their expression told me volumes about the importance of home cooked food.

This change has done wonders to me personally. In that excitement I goofed up a tasty chocolate cake........My kids finish exams in 2 days ..........that brings 3 full months of summer vacation!

I realise that I have completed one full year of blogging........couldn't write a celebration post........

Well, the blog anniversary came with a new home.............I would cherish this for the moment and  as I enjoy the positive vibes I shall keep this space going! CHEERS !!!!