Gifted Gorgeousness SAL March update and lots more

This is going to be a long post as I have so much to talk about the last 10 days...

First of all my entry for the month of March for the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL .

Birthday card I made for DH...It was a surprise as I stitched it whenever he was asleep :)


I'm finding it difficult to take time out for stitching these days which explains the bigger portion of red in my stitch pie :( . I decided to keep some area of the card unstitched as I was short of time.

On the cooking front , I tried making pasta in red sauce for the first time and it turned out good. The recipe can be found here:
http://www.tarladalal.com/Pasta-in-Red-Sauce-37563r

It was the festival of colors-Holi on the 6th ,though we didn't play with colors , I invited my friend and his wife for a festive lunch on 7th . I was successfully able to prepare "Ragda pattice" and "masale bhaat" just before the guests arrived. Why successfully, because there was no electricity for  3.5 hours and wasn't able to cook during that duration.

After the lunch, we had a good chat for 5 hours...yes I'm a talker...
My friend's wife brought Holi special food preparations and we were no more missing home ...blink blink.

Here is a picture of goodies which I got as part of International Women's day celebration in office.

I'll be travelling to London for business on 29th and you know what, all I want to do is buy lots of cross stitch supplies from there. I have already made some arrangements for that(picture me with a mischievous smile ).Imagine its my first visit to London and I have little zeal to visit the  tourist spots .

So if you have some recommendation for a good LNS or a thrift store in and around London , please let me know.
Of course the foodie in me still wants to know what are the must eats in London.

I'm hoping to get a lot of stitching time over the easter weekend during my stay in London if I don't go around and visit the London attractions.

I have now added separate pages to my blog for
a) Other crafts which I pursue( in a hope that these pages will keep me motivated.)
b) Pics of my mom's garden.
c) Cross stitch Finishes-Check this out for details of my finished projects.

  

Bhoplycha Bharit (Pumpkin raita)

Being brought up in Punjabi household means that a person ends up eating curd as many as three times a day....
Even the punjabi breakfast of stuffed parathas is incomplete without a bowl of fresh curd.

Raita (condiment made with yogurt/curd, served cold)  is also an essential part of Indian meal. It is served with sabji (cooked veggies with spices), pulao, rice etc.
I remember during childhood ,whenever my mom cooked a sabji which I particularly didn't like, raita would act as my savior. I would eat my chappatis (indian flat bread) with a huge bowl of raita. My mom used to make 3-4 types of raita to offer variety .
As I grew up, eating raita/curd became a  compulsion for me ;).I still look out for raita in a party or wedding buffet, imagine that!


This simple maharastrian recipe is for all curd/raita lovers....

Bhoplycha Bharit (Pumpkin raita)

Ingredients

1.Curd
2.Pumpkin
3.Salt to taste


For the seasoning
1.Mustard seeds(Rai)
2.Red whole chilly(one should be enough)
3.Turmeric powder(optional)
4.1 tsp cooking oil


Procedure
1.Wash,peel and cut the pumpkin in big cubes.
2.Boil the pumpkin in a pressure cooker.
3.Mash the boiled pumpkin, add curd to it.
4.Heat the oil in a pan ,add mustard seeds, red chilly,Turmeric powder and salt to it.
5.Add the seasoning to curd-pumpkin mixture and mix well.
6.Garnish with coriander leaves.

Enjoy the raita with any sabji. I enjoy it with steamed rice....

Tip: The original maharashtrian recipe has less of curd as compared to the usual raita ,add curd according to your liking.