Food blogging has given me a lot of new friends.  One such very special person is Dee.  Sometime (actually very longtime) back she had sent me a BIG package for the Arusuvai Friendship Chain.  She had sent her delicious home made granola, koora podi, aam papad and a gorgeous Kitchen Aid Recipe Box.

The granola tasted unbelievably good, I was munching it on throughout the day and did not have anything left to prepare a dish using it. Sorry Dee it was not my fault that the granola was so delicious.  The koora podi is also so good, it enhances the flavor of any dish it’s added to.  It also tastes good by itself as a side dish for Idli/Dosa.  I use it in all my curries.  Above is the picture of the Potato Roast and and below is the Coconut Rice that I prepared using the podi.

Recently I also prepared her Broccoli Patoli/Usli.  It’s something I have never tried before, so I was really skeptical about the taste.  But I tried it anyhow because it’s my husband’s favorite vegetable.  We were not at all disappointed, because it tasted very good and I’m going to make this one regularly.

Thank you so much Dee for your recipes, friendship and more!

Uma has given me a Giant Bear Hug.  Thank you very much dear, hugs to you too. 

Hetal and Ranji have passed me the Friendship Award.  Thank you very much girls, I’m so happy that you thought of me. 

It’s very difficult to choose only a few people to extend my hugs and friendship.  Anyhow I extend it to

Dee
Akay
Roma
Laksh

Recently I also tried 2 other recipes from other blogs and this is going to be a regular in our house.  

Kalva’s Gongura Pachadi: It was my first try with gongura leaves and we loved the chutney very much.  Thank you Kalva.

Laavanya’s Bhindi Masala: Although I have prepared bhindi masala a lot of times earlier, the tip which Laavanya has given to microwave the okra for 5-7 minutes before sauteeing it is such a wonderful idea.  Try it out ladies, the okra does not get slimy at all.  Thank you very much Laavanya.  Can’t wait to try your oven baked Idli Manchurians.

In a recent episode of Paula Deen’s show in Food TV, I saw her preparing a very easy peanut butter bread.  Since I’m not a big fan of peanut butter I thought of making the bread with almond butter instead.  The taste was amazing and you won’t believe how easy it is to prepare. 

Ingredients:
All purpose flour – 2 cups
Baking powder – 4 teaspoons
Salt – 1 teaspoon
Sugar – 1/3 cup
Toasted slivered almonds – 1/4 cup (optional)
Milk – 1.5 cups (I used 2% milk)
Almond Butter – 1/2 cup (I used Nature’s Promise Organic Almond Butter)

Procedure:
1.  Preheat oven to 375 F.
2.  Combine the dry ingredients and nuts.  Add milk to the mix and stir well to avoid lumps.

3.  Now add the almond butter.

4.  Mix well and continuously stir them.

5.  Pour into a 8×4x3 inch loaf pan.

6.  Top the batter with some toasted almond slices.

7.  Bake for approximately 50 minutes.

8.  Have this for breadfast with or without jam.  Enjoy!

My Notes:
1.  I happened to check the reviews in the food network site after baking the bread while writing this post.  The recipe was given only 3 stars and most of them had written that the bread was too dry and did not have enough peanut butter taste.  So they had suggested reducing the amount of baking powder, increasing the quantity of peanut butter, reducing the baking time, or using organic peanut butter because it has more oil content.  But I did not have any problem with my bread.  The only change I made was using almond butter and added a couple of toasted almonds.  The bread was very moist and sweet enough by itself.  Jam was also not necessary.  The almond butter did have a lot of oil in it, maybe that gave the moistness to the bread.

2.  Adding toasted nuts in the batter gave a very nice crunch.  But I wouldn’t top the bread with nuts the next time because they get toasted once again and some of the nuts became little bitter.  Not topping the bread with almonds will also facilitate easy slicing of the bread. 

3.  Cool completely before slicing the bread, so that it does not crumble.  I would even recommend to 2 to 3 hours of cooling. 

4.  Also check out the health benefits of almonds here.

Update:  My friend Roma from Bangalore, India has tried another cool version of the Almond Bread.  Since almond butter is not available in India she has used regular unsalted butter and has included powdered almonds and has got a very moist bread.  

It’s award time again:

Dear Uma of Essence of Andhra has passed me the Nice Matters Award.  Thank you very much for thinking of me Uma.

I would like to pass this to:

The Pritya duo
Shubha
Kumudha

“Nice Matters Award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world.”

Another friend Rupa of Random Musings has passed me the Good Chat Blog Award.  Thank you very much Rupa. 

 I would like to pass this to:

DK
Mansi
Siri  

Dear Madhavi has passed me the “You Make My Day” award.  Thank you very much for thinking of me. 

I would like to pass this award to: 

Laksh of Musings
Rupa of Random Musings
Spillay of A Pot of Gold

Priya has passed my second “Yummy Blog Award”.  Thank you very much dear. 

As per the rules of this award I have to list 4 of my favorite desserts, which I have already mentioned in my previous award post and pass it on to 4 other food bloggers.

A-kay of Lemon and Chillies
Hetal of Isha’s Kitchen
Shweta of Fresh Flavors
Sukanya Ramkumar of Hot ‘N’ Sweet Bowl

Thank you very much friends.  All these awards really motivate me

I’m thrilled to receive my second award in the second month of blogging.  Kamala of Moms Receipes has passed me the Yummy Blog Award, which has been created by Roopa of My Kitchen Treats.  In her words, “Yummy blog award is the award given to the blog with most yummy recipes/photos.”

As per the rules I have to list my favorite desserts that I have prepared or eaten and pass the award to four of my fellow bloggers.

My favorite desserts are:
Rasamalai

Basundi

Chocolate Pizza

Chocolate Cake

I would like to pass the award to:
Dee of Ammalu’s Kitchen                         

Kaykat of Cooking from A to Z                 

Arundathi of Arundhathi-Foodblog         

Cham of Spice Club                                   

Congrats award winners!

Even though I’ve been browsing her blog for nearly a year, I did not know that there is a whole another world of food blogs out there, until recently. From there I started visiting a couple of blogs and inspired by so many of you I also started my very own blog and now have been awarded the “Nice Matters” Award. I feel very honored. Thanks A-Kay, it’s very motivating.
 

As it is customary practice to pass it on to other food bloggers, I’m sending this to the following people, for the following reasons:

1. Indira – Folks, let me tell you one thing, she is not just a passionate cook, and she is such a wonderful soul. She helped me with all my questions regarding blogging. Don’t be surprised if I start a fan club for her very soon. Her blog recently turned 3,  so this is my gift for her.

2. Shilpa – Her blog has also been such an inspiration for me and she also encouraged my idea of starting a blog featuring eggless baking recipes.

3. Sunita – I wish I was her neighbor. I think she is an “Ace of Pastries.”

4. Jai & Bee – I know that A-kay passed it on to you earlier, but I also want to, because you gave me the tip of listing my blog in Taste of India and I also like the philosophy behind their blog.

5. Meeta – Actually I visited her blog for the first time yesterday and read her About Me page. That was enough for me to become her fan. She is such a straight forward and honest person. I personally feel that those who are good at heart only can cook well and the vice versa also. I’m aware that A-kay has also passed the award to her, but I have my reasons.

6. Vaishali – I love what’s she doing for the animals and her vegan cooking too.

7. Roma - She is also a novice baker just like me. So I want to pass this award to encourage her, like A-kay did it for me.

After browsing so many blogs all these days, I feel that all the food bloggers are caring, loving, motivating, inspiring and more. How come the world has become so bad, when there are so many good people around? I wish the whole world could become a very very very big food blogosphere!

PS: Nice Matters Award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world.