After the delicious and rich December challenge of chocolate and coconut French Yule Log, January's challenge was almost like a much needed detox! We've known the Daring Bakers' challenges to be rich, lush and delicious in the past but trust me this month's challenge was for me - God sent!
Funny how your emotions play ups and downs when you have to part with certain items you have had for years. I'm cleaning out! Quite radically actually - I cannot believe how much stuff we have.
This week I sorted out several of my clothing items. Most of the stuff has been upstairs in our attic for - well forever. Nice dresses, fancy party outfits and my wedding dress! I parted with all of it. I gave it to the Weimar version of Oxfam. I came out feeling relieved like a weight had been lifted off. Yes I even gave my wedding dress away and felt quite good about it. It was a simple and elegant designer dress nothing with frills. I hope that another young girl finds her happiness in it with the man of her life. I found mine and I do not need a dress to remind me of it!
I have often shared several of my childhood stories with you. Food that triggers memories of my grandparents, parents or close relations is something I often cherish. It makes preparing that particular dish all the more special. While stirring the dal or whisking batter for a special cake, I will find myself smiling at the memories of my mother or my grandmother.
I'd like to thank everyone who helped raise $62,206.86 for the Menu for Hope charity. It just shows that even though the World's economy is at an all time low, we as a a wonderful food blogging community have so much compassion and generosity in our hearts and give to the needy. For us, as food bloggers we talk, think, cook, photograph and blog about food almost everyday. Food comes easy to us - but we know not to take it for granted and we do what needs to be done to support those who do not have it easy.
I thank you for your compassion and thank you for allowing me to be a part of this great community.
My prize for the Menu For Hope was the fantastic 600 Curries, a new and exciting cookbook by Raghavan Iyer and it did attract a few bidders. In the end a Mr. Jean-Luc Besson managed to place the winning bid and get his hands on this incredible curry bible. So, Mr. Besson your copy of 660 Curries is awaiting you - please contact me via email under: blogmeeta[AT]gmail[DOT]com.
Anita of Dessert First has just completed her first book - a fantastic Field Guide to Cookies: How to Identify and Bake Virtually Every Cookie Imaginable. She was kind enough not only to judge but also provide the winner with their own personal copy of the cookie book. It was a tough decision but Anita chose La Boheme Cherie with her Lingue di suocera with star anise. Anita said she liked the addition of star anise in this cookie recipe. Cherie, congratulations and come on down to collect your prize! Please send me your mailing address so that you can get your own copy of this great cookie book. You are also welcome to use the winner badge to display on your blog.
I thank Anita for taking time out of her busy schedule to help me with this mingle. You are a true darling.
Talking about mingles - the current mingle is in full swing and my guest hostess this month is Michelle of What's Cooking Blog. The theme this month is Healthy Family Dinners and we've been getting a few fantastic submissions already.
If you want to join us for the fun all you need to do is send us your entry by 9 February 2009. We're looking forward to it!
Finally my last plug to get you to cast your vote for The Daily Tiffin in the Food Blog Awards 2008, category Group, by tomorrow. The Daily Tiffin is a fantastic group blog with a few amazing people putting a lot of effort into it. We're up against tough and stellar competition, but we're proud to be amongst the five finalists. Maybe we can still tip the scales LOL!
If you've already voted for The Daily Tiffin, thank you! If you have not then please vote here - for The Daily Tiffin of course.
So all I can say TGIF! I have the house to myself this weekend as my boys are off on a boys only weekend. I have plenty of things I want to do and a few recipes I want to test. I am also going to be doing my Daring Bakers challenge so wish me luck!
Have a great weekend everyone!
All photographs and written content on What's For Lunch, Honey? © 2006-2009 Meeta Khurana unless otherwise indicated. | All rights reserved | Please Ask First
When I first moved to Germany I lived in the southern part of the country - in Baden Württemberg. A lovely state, very much influenced by it's bordering countries France, Switzerland and Italy. The weather is always slightly warmer there and it seems to me that the people are just a little more relaxed. In terms of cuisine, due to it's geographical location Baden Württemberg is wine country and boasts of a range of regional culinary specialties as diverse as the areas from where they originate.
What a historic day! I was very much glued to the TV/Radio watching and listening to a man address his nation with such finesse and dignity. I had tears in my eyes and hope in my heart. I am pretty darned sure that I shared the same emotions, feelings and thoughts with millions around the world as Barack Obama spoke in Washington today. A historic day indeed!
I woke up with a pretty good feeling today and as I logged into my mailbox this morning I was very excited to read a mail from a friend. She was more excited than me because she has never made so many spelling mistakes in her correspondence to me LOL! The news she shared was that The Daily Tiffin was amongst the five finalists in the category Best Food Blog - Group for the annual Food Blog Awards!
This one's special to me because The Daily Tiffin is a blog I have experienced ups and a few downs with. However I have a fantastic team behind me. Some have been around for quite some time others have recently joined and others yet - left their memorable mark. All - however, added to the flair and filled The Daily Tiffin with life and spirit. Post for post - they research and take time from their busy schedules to make The Daily Tiffin a place for "A Healthy Family Lifestyle!"
Who are they? Well come with me and let me introduce you to our fantastic Daily Tiffin Team.
And because you will be making the 15 of us, that make up The Daily Tiffin, very happy, I'd like to request you to cast your vote for the Daily Tiffin in the Food Blog Awards 2008, category Group, by January 24, 2009.
If you are new to The Daily Tiffin, please take a few minutes to browse through the blog. Besides a few grand lunchbox ideas, we also have extensive posts on nutrition, health and of course food. We discuss family rituals, children, parenting and tips & tricks. If you are looking for fitness or exercise you'll find informative posts - all this - on one blog!
You see why I think this one is special don't you?
I thank all those who nominated us for this honor. Most of all I thank this unique team for their hard work and effort!
Now allow me to solicit a few votes for us ;-)
Vote for The Daily Tiffin as Best Food Blog 2008 in the category: Group - vote here
All photographs and written content on What's For Lunch, Honey? © 2006-2009 Meeta Khurana unless otherwise indicated. | All rights reserved | Please Ask First
Rustic and easy. Often I crave the simple dishes. There are certain food combinations that simply work extremely well together. One of them for me are tomatoes and bell peppers. Both have a sweet and tangy flavor and the crunchiness of the peppers is a wonderful contrast to the juicy softness of the tomatoes. Add a bit of chili and you've got an explosive flavor!
Fruit! It's been a lot on my mind lately. I love everything about juicy fruit. Sweet, succulent, colorful and so healthy. Besides indulging into the tempting fruit basket, I find they make perfect motives for the camera.
The year really has started off so well! My sun dried tomatoes and purple basil pesto entry to HHDD #24 was one of the two winning entries. I am sharing the honor with another lovely blogger, Tartasacher of Mil Postres who presented a grand panna cotta with sweet pesto and raspberry sauce. When Joey wrote to me telling me the news I could hardly believe it. But yes - it seems for the first time since the begin of Hay Hay it’s Donna Day! there has been tie.
January is here and everyone is thinking about improving their eating habits. After the Holidays we're looking to for healthy, nutritious meals spent with our family. The Monthly Mingle this month is exactly about this.
My guest hostess this month is the brilliant Michelle of What's Cooking Blog, a blog dedicated to "cooking with kids for a better body, planet and community". Michelle and I wanted to get everyone to the healthy way of life. Come and share your Healthy Family Dinners with us.
Here’s how it works:
Once you’ve posted your dish, send an email with “Monthly Mingle: Healthy Family Dinners” in the subject line to: Michelle (at) whatscooking (dot) info
The roundup will be posted by the weekend of February 15th.
We want to be a part of a typical dinnertime meal at your home so please let us in ;-). We're looking forward to your entries!
Never miss a mingle: check out the Monthly Mingle Calendar!
If you're interested in hosting a mingle over at your place then just drop me an email:
blogmeeta [AT] gmail [DOT] com. We're booked right through 2009 and the earliest free date is from March 2010!
All photographs and written content on What's For Lunch, Honey? © 2006-2009 Meeta Khurana unless otherwise indicated. | All rights reserved | Please Ask First
What a lovely mingle this was. You all came over with bundles of delicious, aromatic, spiced cookies. We had them all from Pffernüsse, Florentines to Speculaas and Gingersnaps! The mingle has never before smelled so wonderful. I'd like to thank everyone for your fantastic entries and especially creating such special treats exclusively for the mingle.
Brrrr!!! It's cold out there. With temperatures sinking down to -20 degrees C, it's beyond cold out there! The day was postcard perfect - clear blue skies, puffy white clouds matching the fresh powder snow and frozen snow crystals on the trees. Each time a sun ray caught a crystallized branch it glittered a rainbow of colors. I so badly wanted to take a few pictures to show you - but I think I would have frozen before I even got around to setting up my equipment.
Starting the year with a comforting bowl of homemade creamy black lentils. While last year the Bollywood Cooking series focused on many popular street food and restaurant dishes, this year my concentration for the series will be good, down-to-earth, homey food. The type of food I grew up on. My mum is and my grandmother was exceptional in the kitchen. The dishes cooked in their kitchens were beyond scrumptious - they were the solid foundation that gave us footing and reminded us of our roots.
