Oatmeal Coconut Cookies

Tweet

Anne (with an 'e') is a skinny orphan girl with fiery red hair & loads of imagination who arrives at Green Gables from an orphanage to be adopted by middle aged siblings Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. Though they were expecting a boy, they decide to keep her with some reservations and soon fell in love with her quirkiness.

Whats your name? - if you ask Anne; She would reply - "Will you please call me Cordelia? please as the name sounds so romantic". and thats how our Anne is.

L. M. Montgomery is the author of this month's book 'Anne of Green Gables' who is known for a writing style involving lovely prosy descriptions especially about the beauty of nature at Green Gabless and Anne's daydreams. Her characters, are so unique in themselves and lovable (Anne, Marilla, Mathew, Mr. & Mrs. Allan, Miss Stacy, Diana, Mrs.Lynde etc) that one instantly fall in love with them.

Anne is very fond of her little 'tea parties' and am sure she would love to have the cookies I made for her and for her friends. :)

Oatmeal Coconut Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups All purpose flour
1 cup (unflavored) Oats
1.5 cups Sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1 cup Butter, at room temperature
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 cup coconut flakes

Method:

Step 1: Preheat oven for 375 F

Step 2: Combine the dry ingredients first - flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Step 3: In a separate bowl, mix in butter with sugar till creamy texture. Blend in eggs and vanilla extract. Beat in flour mixture with oats and coconut flakes.

Step 4: Drop some mixture on a greased baking sheet and slightly flatten them. Bake to 8-10 mins. Cool them on wire racks and Store in a tight container.

For the month of January, we are reading Roald Dahl's 'Charlie & The Chocolate Factory'. If you would like to come join us, please leave a comment here or drop me an email.

Do check what others made for Anne:

Simran: A Cake for Anne

Happy Holidays.

Cheers,
Siri

Another fresh year is here..2009!!

Tweet

A new year is fast approaching. and this is what I said last year remember?

Image Source

Another fresh year is here..
Another year to live..

To banish worry, doubt and fear..
To love, laugh and give.
This bright new year is given me

To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree, And sing more joyful songs!

~ Original quote by William Arthur Ward

...and now its time for me to stop and look back about what 2008 has given me & my blog:

1. It gave innumerable number of good friends, whom I never met them in person, but they made my (every) day with their warm & appreciative comments.

2. Experimenting with new dishes made me a good cook. Oh definitely! I knew nothing about the nuances of flavors per say, before I started this blog way back in Aug 2007 and now
I can proudly say that - 'I make people jealous with my cooking skills'.. (Ok, that's a bit too much of boasting, but hey! its true..:) )

3. I baked my first ever bread this year and surpirsed everybody, including me myself. Though I am still taking baby steps in this area - I want to bake more for sure!

4. I hosted (still ongoing), seven events in this year:

AWED: Middle Eastern
Frozen 'Yogurt'
MBP: Say Cheese
WHB: 159
Herb Mania: Coriander
RCI: Awadhi Cuisine (ongoing)
AFAM: Apricot (ongoing)

5. I experimented with many new ingredients & flavors and a special mention goes to 'Quinoa' and one simple recipe which is quite a popular dish among my friends & family - 'Quinoa Vegetable Pancakes'..:)

Phew!..those were some of my sweet memories that I wanted to share with you all..

Now, its time for my 'Top 5 Recipes' of 2008:

1. Sandwich Bread

2. Egg Puffs

3. Bell pepper stuffed with Black eye bean filling

4. Sun dried Tomato Couscous

5. Hashbrown Melt


Siri's 'Top Resolutions' of 2009:

1. To bake a cake.

2. To cook loads of new dishes with green leafy vegetables.

3. To blog regularly, in a timely manner.

4. To exercise atleast twice a week, to stay fit.

5. To keep up my reading skills. [ Do you have any recommendations in particular - 'Books that one shouldn't miss!', I would love to know from you guys. :) ]

This is not my last post this year, I have couple of more to come.. so until then cya and Happy Holidays folks..:)

Psst..Psst..Check out my totally re-vamped: Events & Roundup page!!

Off this post goes to Srivalli's 'Best of 2008' event.

Cheers,
Siri

The Little Round Bun...

Tweet

I love stories, esp the short ones, which have a subtle moral hidden in them. Thats the reason, I posted some of them previously here on my blog, and it has been a which I did so.

Here is one such Russian folk lore, which I loved ...and now sharing with you all.

"Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman who were very poor and had nothing at all to their name. And they kept getting poorer and poorer till there was nothing left to eat in the house, not even bread. Said the old man:

"Do bake us a bun, old woman! If you scrape out the flour-box and sweep out the bin, you'll have enough flour."

So the old woman scraped out the flour-box and swept out the bin, she made some dough and she shaped a little round bun out of it. She then lit the oven, baked the bun and put it on the window sill to cool. But the bun jumped out of the window and onto the bench outside, and from the bench onto the ground, and away it rolled along the road!

On and on it rolled, and it met a Rabbit coming toward it.

"I'm going to eat you up, Little Round Bun!" called the Rabbit.

"Don't do that, Fleet-Feet, let me sing you a song instead," said Little Round Bun.

"All right, let's hear it!"

"Here it is!

"I was scraped from the flour-box
And swept from the bin
And baked in the oven
And cooled on the sill
I ran away from Grandpa,
I ran away from Grandma,
And I'll run away from you, this minute I will!"

Off it rolled and away from the rabbit. By and by it met a Wolf coming toward it.

"I'm going to eat you up, Little Round Bun!" called the Wolf.

"Don't do that, Brother Wolf, let me sing you a song instead."

"All right, let's hear it!"

"I was scraped from the flour-box
And swept from the bin
And baked in the oven
And cooled on the sill
I ran away from Grandpa,
I ran away from Grandma,
And I'll run away from you, this minute I will!"

And away it rolled.

By and by it met a Bear coming toward it.

"I'm going to eat you up, Little Round Bun!" called the Bear.

"Don't do that, Brother Bear, I'll sing you a song instead!"

"All right, let's hear it!"

Out came the song well rehearsed by now and the little round bun was having fun adding extravagant flairs here and there. The song was over and away it rolled, far away from the bear!

By and by it met a Fox coming toward it.

"I'm going to eat you up, Little Round Bun!" called the Fox.

"Don't do that, Sister fox, I'll sing you a song instead."

"All right, let's hear it!"

"I was scraped from the flour-box
And swept from the bin
And baked in the oven
And cooled on the sill
I ran away from Grandpa,
I ran away from Grandma,
And I'll run away from you, this minute I will!"

"That was the most beautiful song I’ve heard in a long time. Sing some more, please, don't stop! You have the most melodious voice in the whole world" the Fox said. "Hop onto my tongue, so I can hear you better."
Little Round Bun jumped onto the Fox's tongue and began to sing:

"I was scraped from the flour-box
And swept from the bin-"

But before it could go on, the Fox opened her mouth and - snap! -she gobbled it up. That was the end of the little round bun.

Moral of the story: First flattery makes you deaf and then you are dead

Source: Bolokids

Herb Mania: Coriander Roundup

Tweet

This is a long due roundup of Herb Mania: Coriander and I apologize for the delay. Things at my front are not going as smoothly as thought so and still some balance needs to be attained between my work, my personal life and of course, my favorite of all - blogging! Its something which I would never ever think of leaving as it gave me support when I needed the most and also good friends whom I cherish every single day.!!



So, here are some fantabulous entries which I received for the theme - Coriander/ Cilantro!

...Enjoi..:)





Name: Lavi
Recipe : Coriander Chutney




Name: Bhagyashri
Recipe: Dhaniya-Pudine ki chutney




Name: Medhaa
Recipe: Pani Puri



Name: Vaidehi
Recipe: Kothimbir Wadi




Name: Kamalika
Recipe: Coriander Gravy




Name: Shifali
Recipe 1: Kadai Paneer




Recipe 2: Tomato Soup with Toasted vegetables



Name: Bhawana
Recipe: Pav Bhaji



Name: Shreya
Recipe: Cucumber Coriander Soup



Name: Radhika
Recipe: Coriander and Carrot Soup



Name: Divya
Recipe: Coriander Rice



Name: Vaishali
Recipe: Coriander Quiche



Name: Sujatha
Recipe: Kothamalli Adai



Name: Laavanya
Recipe: Carrot Coriander Soup



Name: Deepika
Recipe: Spicy Coriander Chutney



Name: Cham
Recipe: Nilgiri Kurma



Name: Usha
Recipe: Carrot Cilantro Soup



Name: Meera
Recipe: Cilantro Subzi



Name: Divya Kudua
Recipe: Coriander Sweet and Sour Chutney



Name: Uma
Recipe: Coriander Chutney



Name: Soma Rathore
Recipe: Fusion Farinata



Name: Sireesha
Recipe: Coriander Chutney



Name: Madhuram
Recipe: Coriander Dosa



Name: Pallavi
Recipe: Cilantro Rice



Name: Usha
Recipe: Cilantro Pinwheels

Name: Priya Suresh



Recipe 1: Herbal Juice




Recipe 2: 3 in 1 Chutney



Recipe 3: Coriander Masala Chappathi



Recipe 4: Coriander Medhu Vadai



Recipe 5: Coriander Onion Chutney



Recipe 6: Coriander Tofu Biriyani



Name: Divya Kannan
Recipe: Savoury Carrot Coriander muffins



Name: Srimathi(Foody Guru)
Recipe: Instant Cilantro Paruppu Usilli





Name: Easy Crafts (EC)
Recipe: Coriander Pulav, Coriander Thuvaiyal and Coriander seeds podi









Name: Raji
Recipe: Coriander Thokku

The entries are lined up in no particular order and if I, in case missed anyone please drop a comment.

Happy Holidays to one and all.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reminder: Ongoing events at Siri's Corner - (more details on the side bar...)

Last Date: January 1st 209

AFAM: Apricot

Regional Cuisine of India (RCI): Awadhi Cuisine


Cheers,
Siri

Happy Holidays..

Tweet

Life has been pretty busy these days, so my (dear) blogging took a backseat for a while. I will be posting soon, hopefully with some bread as Simran has tagged me for 'Baking for a Cause : Breadline Africa'.

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."

~ Helen Keller

Wishing you all - Happy Holidays. Hope you guys have an amazing time with friends and family!

Cheers,
Siri

Announcing A Fruit A Month (AFAM): Apricot

Tweet

'Apricot' means 'Precious' and is a relative to peach family. Why talk about this exotic fruit now, You ask? Well the title says it all. That's the theme I have chosen for this month's AFAM event, a brainchild of dear Maheshwari of 'Beyond the Usual'.

History about Apricots:

Apricots originally came from China. This golden fruit has been around for more than 4,000 years. Apricots progressively made their way through the Persian Empire to the Mediterranean where they were fondly adopted. Spanish explorers introduced the apricot to the New World, and they were planted in the gardens of Spanish missions all over California. The first recorded major production of apricots in America was in 1792 south of San Francisco.

Source

Apricots are available in almost all regions of the world, in one form or the other. They have all the essential nutrients with no saturated fat, sodium or cholesterol, low fat and high in vitamin A & C.

So,

'Do you reckon - you have a good reason to make something yummy out of Apricot this month?'

..then bring them on... but first some simple guidelines about AFAM: Apricot event:

1. Prepare any Vegetarian recipe using 'Apricot' (in any form) as its main ingredient and post about it on your blog. Archived posts can be sent, provided they are re-posted as new.

2. Link back to this announcement post and also to Maheshwari's blog. Usage of the logo is optional.

3. Send the following details to info(dot)siri(at)gmail(dot)com with the AFAM as its subject line by January 1st 2009

Your Name
Recipe Name
Recipe URL
A Photo of any size

4. If you are a non-blogger and you wish to participate, send in the above details with the recipe. I will post them in the round up.

Lets roll then...

Note: I guess, you have couple hours to send in your entries for November's AFAM: Cherry, hosted by dear Rachel.

signing off for now,
Siri

Announcement of RCI: Awadhi Cuisine

Tweet

The Regional Cuisine of India (RCI) event, a brainchild of Lakshmi of 'Veggie Cuisine' is all set to visit the exotic Awadhi cuisine this month, here at Siri's Corner. It is one such captivating cuisines of Northern India, from the beautiful city of Lucknow. and like all other cuisines of India, it also has an enthralling history behind it.

Awadh was a region in which at one point in history there was a shortage of food. A ruler in this land was concerned about this situation, and he then gave orders to his men to cook large amounts of food in huge handis. The food was supposed to be cooked throughout the day in order to serve people whenever they needed to eat. The food contained, meats, potatoes, vegetables, and other important food substances that would provide a whole nutrition. The process involved cooking all the ingredients on a slow flame so that all the juices would be well absorbed into the solid food. This meant that there would be less nutrition lost in the cooking process.

Source

Awadhi style cooking has a variety of bread, lentils, kebabs, kachoris, rice, vegetables, desserts etc. For more simple recipe ideas, which tastes great, visit the following links:

Recipes for Awadhi cuisine

Awadhi Recipes

Sewain Recipes

and now time for some simple rules:

1) Prepare any dish – be it Appetizer, Main Course or Dessert - Vegetarian/Vegan and post the same in your blog and link back to the announcement and Lakshmi's blog. You can send any of your archived posts . Just re-post it and provide a link back to this post. Usage of the logo is optional.



2) Multiple entries are most welcome - more the yummier !.

3) Send the following details to info(dot)siri(at)gmail(dot)com with RCI as its subject line by January 1st 2009:

Your Name
Name of the Recipe
Recipe URL
Photo of any size

6) If you do not have a blog, but wish to participate please send me your name, the recipe and a picture and I will post it in the round up.

Let the party begin then ...Shall we !!

Cheers,

Siri

An Ode to Alice - Veggie Finger Sandwiches

Tweet

I still remember the day, I read 'Alice in Wonderland' lying flat on the floor, for the first time when I was 10yrs old. I have read it many times since then and now for 'The book that makes me cook', I have to cook a dish inspired by it. I had these huge plans to make 'Orange Marmalade' with a tag 'EAT ME' and a juice with says 'DRINK ME'. But, I fell sick again at the very last moment, so I ended up preparing these simple 'Veggie Finger Sandwiches' as an evening tea snack! :D

Curiouser and curiouser the prose it did seem,
As day became night and the moon it did beam.
I huddled ’neath covers as white as the snow,
And my love for this tome did continue to grow.

With Rabbit and Dormouse and Hatter and Queen,
And White Knight and Cheshire Cat whose body unseen
Remained in my nightmares for nearly a year.
But yet there was more I learned I had to fear…

For then in the sequel appeared a most hideous
Beast indescribable, the mem’ry insidious!
I read the adventure, and each tick of the clock
Gave life to this beast, the famed Jabberwock!

With vorpal sword in hand the beamish boy
In bravery did slay, oh, what glee, ah, such joy!
Of an age I reflect as the decades have spanned
’tween now and my first reading of Alice and her Wonderland.

~ by Ruthann Logsdon Zaroff

Veggie Finger Sandwiches

Bread slices
Basil pesto sauce (store bought)
Tomatoes, sliced
Onion, sliced
Cucumber, sliced
Carrot, long wide strips (using a peeler)

Preparation:

Spread the basil pesto sauce of each of the bread slices. Arrange all the veggies and place the final piece of bread on top.
Cut the sandwich into quadrants and insert toothpicks into them. Serve on a platter with any dip in the middle..:)

I will update the post with links of my other friends who made 'Alice' inspired goodies soon.

Rachel: Sandwiches for my Mad Tea Party
Aparna: Orange Marmalade Cake

Cheers,
Siri

Weekend Herb Blogging (WHB) # 159 Roundup

Tweet

Hosting Weekend Herb Blogging was my long lasting wish, which became a reality this week. I received some yummy entries from every part of the globe and I wanna Congratulate Kalyn for successfully running this event for 3 successful years..:)) and now the baton is passed to lovely Haalo.

Without further ado, lets dig into this week's recipes...

Note: the entries are arranged in no specific order.






Name: Cheryl
Location: VA, USA
Recipe: Harvest Apple crisp



Name: Jerry
Location: Canada
Recipe: Balsamic Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta


Name: Cinzia
Location: Italy
Recipe: Biological dishwashing liquid


Name: Kalyn
Location:
Recipe: Pressure Cooker Vegetable Soup with Giant White Beans, Ham, and Bay Leaves



Name: Pam
Location: Australia
Recipe: Basil French Toast



Name: Virginie
Location: France
Recipe: Cocoa & Red Wine Biscuits




Name: Haalo
Location: Australia
Recipe: Blood Orange and Black Radish Salad


Name: Laurie
Location: Alaska
Recipe: Pork and Quince Stew



Name: Yasmeen
Location: USA
Recipe: Veggie Sprouts Noodles




Name: Heather
Recipe: Zirbenz Pine Liqueur



Name: Haley
Location: USA
Recipe: Conchiglie al Pomodoro


Name: Anna
Location: Australia
Recipe: Oysters with Horseradish & Parmesan


Name: Susan
Location: USA
Recipe: Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Pears


Name: Gay
Location: Philippines
Recipe: Thai Fried Rice




Name: Maria
Location: Greece
Recipe: All about Pumpkin



Name: Lisa
Location: Canada
Recipe: Chickpea Pumpkin Burgers




Name: Ning
Location: Philippines
Recipe: Oyster and Spinach Stir Fry


Name: Marija
Location: Serbia
Recipe: Herbed Chicken Skewers

and finally my entry to this week's WHB....


Baked Eggs with Vegetables (Adapted from here)

Ingredients:

2 cups of Veggies: I used coarsely chopped - yellow squash, zucchini, string beans, carrots, bell peppers, tomato, onion
2 eggs
1 clove of garlic, very finely chopped
1-2 tbsp Olive oil
Salt & Pepper
fresh Coriander

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven for 375 deg.

2. In a mixing bowl, mix veggies with garlic and olive oil. Then season with salt & pepper. Transfer the contents in an oven-proof dish and bake for 10-15 mins.

3. When the veggies and almost cooked, slip the eggs over them and again bake them for 5-15 mins, until the yolk is cooked.

4. Serve. We had this, as-is as a one pot meal one night and it was definitely a refreshing change for us, especially when we were bored of rice or roti for our dinner.

Happy Thanksgiving folks!

Cheers,
Siri