Donate for a Heart - A fundraising campaign

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Srivalli of 'Cooking 4 all Seasons' is organising a fund-raising campaign - 'Donate for a Heart' to help Anita Lakshmi, who is sufferring from coronary heart disease.

In Valli's words -

Lakshmi is 28 years old and suffers from Coronary Artery disease. She has two children, aged 3 & 6 and was undergoing treatment in Vijaya Hospital. The entire operation and other costs will go over 5 -6 lakhs (about 15000 USD). Lakshmi needs to be operated within 5-6 months. She is currently prescribed heavy dosage of medicines to sustain. It all depends on how well she responds till then to the medicines. Her health is deteriorating. So we are not sure how stable her condition is.

It was an emotionally moving experience when I visited them. I was daunted by their helplessness and the hope that was lingering somewhere in their look. The children were happy getting a visitor and even got excited posing for a picture. But I am sure the little ones didn't know how serious their mom's condition is. There are many in this condition in India. But we really can't help them all. We can help only those near to us. I hope you will find in your heart to help this cause and give those little children a hope to live!

It a sincere plea to one and all to help and contribute to the event in whatever way they can. You can use the below chip in widget to get your contribution paid safely through Paypal.



There are some exciting raffle prizes to choose from and I am sponsoring an American Heart Association Quick and Easy Cookbook and a lovely Jute Bag for the event.


Shipping: for US only
Bidding price: $25
Code : Siri_AHA Cookbook

Shipping: Only India
Bidding price: $25
Code : Siri_Jute Bag

The last date for this campaign is September 15th 2008.

For more details about the event: Click here.

Have a great long weekend ahead!

signing off,

Siri

MBP September : Say 'Cheese' and am an year old!

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Welcome ppl. I have a reason to be the 'happiest blog' today! I came into this amazing food blogging world exactly an year back and with a modest number 170 posts and 50,000 profile visits....I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of my evolution...:) and wish to have many more in future!

Yours truly,
Siri's Corner (a.k.a Siri)

What better way would be to celebrate this special occasion of mine with a special event announcement.....a birthday bash cum MBP event and the theme is....................

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!---------CHEESE--------!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Image Source: Flickr

"How can you be expected to govern a country that has 246 kinds of cheese?"

- Charles De Gaulle, former President of France.

My love for 'CHEESE' is so intense, that I would love to stay in such a country *wink*. No wonder I chose this as the next theme of MBP September.

Yes!.

......Lets 'Say Cheese!' all of next month!..:)

No matter how far archaeological findings go, there is evidence that cheese came into being in prehistoric times and ..this delicious food must have resulted from the simple observation that milk left in a container ends up by coagulating, even more if it is hot...:)

...There are hundreds of different types of cheese that can be differentiated both by the type of milk - raw, skimmed or pasteurised, and by the animal - cow, goat, sheep, buffalo, horse or camel, some specific to their geographical location and culture!
Here is the complete 'cheese' list!

Wanna know some more interesting facts about Cheeses? Click here.

Ok, its time for some 'cheesy' rules for MBP: Say 'Cheese'.

1. Cook up a vegetarian (eggs allowed) dish with any kind of 'CHEESE' as its main ingredient, from any fellow blogger's posted recipes. (Only BLOGS. other cooking or food websites not allowed).

2. Post a picture of the final recipe on your blog linking it to the blogger (whose recipe you made) and to this event post. You can blog about the entire recipe (highlighting the variations you made, if any) or just the final picture.

3. Please link back to this announcement post and Coffee's MBP page in your posts. Feel free to use any of the following event logos.

Say 'Cheese' 1:

Say 'Cheese' 2:

Say 'Cheese' 3:
4. Email the following details to info[dot]siri[at]gmail[dot]com

• Your Name
• Your Blog name and Location
  
• Name of the Recipe
• Permalink of your post
• Permalink of the original recipe
• A 300 X 300 picture of your final dish

....with MBP: Say Cheese as the subject line by Sept 25th 2008.

5. There is no limit to the number of entries that you might want to contribute. If you don’t have a blog and wish to participate, send in the details with your pic to the same email address.

6. All entries should be strictly Vegetarian (Eggs allowed).

The roundup will be posted within a week from the event deadline.

P.S: Please give me 48hours to acknowledge the receipt of your entry. (all thanks to my hectic work schedule.) If you fail to get a response within the stipulated time, leave a comment on this post!

You still have a day or two to send in your entries for August's MBP: Fruit Fare.

[EDIT]: Do check out the fruity fare for the previous edition of MBP, guest hosted by Aparna.

Lets get blog hopping and find some 'cheesy' bites then...

Have a great week ahead!

signing off,
Siri

Happy Birthday India!

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Happy Birthday India!

Image Courtesy: Flickr

AWED: 'Orzo with Pasta sauce'

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One thing I got to know the first day I moved into this house is about my health conscious 'roomie'. She is sweet and adorable and I must say, I haven't seen such a levelheaded foodie uptil now. She hardly uses 'oil' or any unhealthy fats for that matter in her cooking, yet her dishes are yummy and droolworthy.

She always says with a twinkle in her eye - " My tastebuds are used to simple stuff now! and I wanna make every effort to be hale and healthy even in my old age". ..:)

As I enter the kitchen today, I see her cooking 'Orzo' for her dinner. Its strange that I never experimented with this Italian rice pasta before, though I first heard about it from Dhivs and her 'Stuffed Bell Peppers with Orzo' recipe.

I was inquisitive for what my roomie was upto, so there I was keenly observing her recipe, making a mental note and eagerly wondering - 'How does it taste?? Hmmm'..
So, here is 'Orzo with Pasta sauce' recipe of my roomie and also the additions I wanna add to suit my taste buds..:D



Ingredients:

1 packet of Orzo
5 tbsp (store bought) Pasta Sauce
1/2 medium Onion, chopped
2 tsp of 21 Seasoning Salute (or any other Italian Seasoning)
PAM spray (or) 1/2 tsp of Olive Oil

Preparation:

1. Boil enough water and add Orzo to it. Cook until completely done.

2. In a separate pan, take oil and saute the onions.

3. Add the pasta sauce to cooked Orzo and mix for couple of minutes.

4. Stir in the sauteed onions and then the seasoning.

5. Serve warm.

My twist: Transfer the contents into a casserole dish, top it with some shredded cheese and bake until the cheese melts... Y.U.M.M.Y!!

Off this simple Orzo dish goes to Dhiv's this month's AWED: Italian..:)

Goodnight and Chao,
Siri

WHB: Bread Gnocchi

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'Bread Gnocchi' is one of those rarest of RR's recipes that I liked... making the authentic 'Gnocchi' does take some time, but this recipe is a quicky version with a prep time of less than 15 mins.

I gave an aromatic twist to RR recipe, instead of basil..I used some fresh Rosemary...:). Its strange that I never bothered to use this versatile herb before...but I am glad, I did it this time. ..:)


Adapted from here.

Ingredients:

8 slices of Whole Wheat bread (Recommended: Italian Bread)
3 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp Butter
3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Salt & Pepper
1 sprig of fresh Rosemary, palm crushed
2 cups of pureed Tomato


Preparation:

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Chop bread into bite size pieces. Add olive oil, butter and garlic to the skillet.

2. Melt butter into oil then add fresh rosemary and bread. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Toss and cook the bread 7 to 8 minutes then add the pureed tomato. Turn to coat and warm the tomato sauce, 3 to 4 minutes.

4. Serve immediately.

For a Cheesy twist:

Transfer the contents to a casserole dish, top with any cheese. Place the casserole under the broiler and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until the cheese browns and bubbles.

Off this dish goes to Weekend Herb Blogging, coined by Kalyn and this week guest hosted by my dear friend Divya of Dil Se..:)

Have a great Sunday ahead.

Siri

My Fridge Magnets...

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Until a month back, I was not a great fan for magnets (or) any kind of souvenirs (or) keepsakes. I know it brings loads of memories with them, but was not particularly fond of a them.

A trip to Atlantic City changed me!..you can see check out what I got from there in the second pic!

.... then I got some veggies.....then a 'Pooh' magnet.. I got the 'Mood Setter' as a free gift from my friend, and I absolutely love it! As soon as I enter my kitchen, the first thing I do is to set my 'mood'..it so much fun and thought provoking too!! *wink*.

When Veda announced her 'Fridge Magnets' event, I was very excited and was meaning to show off couple of fridge magnets.. I am still in lookout for some more.. for now here are some of them ..:))

Fresh Veggies!

L-R: a souvenir from the beautiful Atlantic City, USA; I love Poooh! magnet; 'How are u?': Mood setter.

this is my favorite of all!

signing off for now,
Siri