Mahanandi

I am sure, like me, many of you enjoy participating in food blogging events and even thought of hosting. But rotating foodblog events are very few. Actually they are only two, the popular IMBB and SHF. I wanted to host one of those events, but it seems they are booked all through this year and next year also.

This new event – “Jihvā for Ingredients (JFI)” is for me, as well as for you food bloggers who wanted to host an event once in a while. Just like IMBB and SHF, it is a rotating event, that means instead of only one host all the time, different food blogger would host the event every month. I think this type of rotating events are more interesting to participate, the hosts not only bring their own personality to it, it is also a chance for us to visit and find new blogs and bloggers. More importantly JFI is not about the themes, it is about celebrating the natural ingredients, that we use for everyday cooking – one at a time.

What is Jihvā ?
Jihvā the Sanskrit word means taste, desire and deep longing. This powerful word also represents tongue and taste buds.

What is Jihvā for Ingredients?
I believe for Jihvā to happen, it’s all in the ingredients and how they are cooked. Jihvā for Ingredients (JFI) is online monthly food event, celebrating the Ingredients and what they can do for our Jihvā.

When, what and how?
The entries have to be posted on first day of every month. The host chooses food ingredient. To participate, cook a recipe with that ingredient and post it on your blog on the first of the month. Send these entries to the host, she/he will do the roundup and showcase all your entries within a week of receiving.

What are the guidelines to host?

1. Feature any natural ingredient and there are many.
2. I’d greatly appreciate if you could pick an ingredient related to India or Indian cuisine. (Which style of cuisine that ingredient prepared is, ofcourse it’s upto the participants).
3. Announce the event on your blog by 3rd of previous month. This will give plenty of time for the participants to shop, prepare, write and post their entry.

What is the JFI for May?

For May – it’s “Jihva for Mangoes” – ripe and unripe.

1. Prepare a recipe featuring mangoes (ripe or green unripe).
2. Post the recipe on your blog on May 1st.
3. Send me via email – the link to your post and a photo of the entry in 75×75pixel size.
4. Please include the title of post and your blog name.
5. I’ll post an entry along with you on May 1st and also will do the roundup of all the entries that I received by that week’s end.
6. Nostalgic tales, paintings, and drawings, anything related to mangoes is welcome from interested general (non-food) bloggers.

Interested to host this event?
To host this event, send me an email or write a comment. Reserved on first come first basis. I will update the list below as soon as someone interested in that month.

My Email: mailmahanandi@gmail.com

Some invest their money in stock market; we invested ours in our hometown. The school we built with the help of our family back in Nandyala, successfully completed 3 years this April. It’s a high risk, conscious kind of investment, mainly because no one in our family is in the education field until now and our goal is not geared towards profits.

Vijay and his equally talented brother Kiran, worked hard for the last three years, everyday. They designed the building, playground and education curriculum to create a good, quality environment for the children to learn. We started the school first with preschool – LKG, UKG, First class and then every year we are increasing the class to next level. Now we have upto third class. We have big plans for our school and ideas about what it should represent. The kind of education and adults it will create in future. This project is our labor of love and our passion.

This is one of the photos we took last year during our visit to school in Nandyala. Here, the children are all gathered for a school photo. Adorable and pretty innocent, healthy and full of energy – we were like them thirty years ago.

More about our school project at – Nandyala.org.

Playing Kittaya:

Checkout all the other kitties of food blogging world and cute Kiri in turtle woolwear at Clare’s ‘Eat Stuff’.

Spectacularly Beautiful Mahanandi, India

The temple which my blog named after is at least 900 years old, and my blog just turned one.

‘Mahanandi’ is my desire to capture the ‘real, everyday kind’ of homemade Indian food in images. Thanks for being so supportive and so generous both with your words and show of affection. Thank you for being part of my beloved ‘Mahanandi’.

Happy Ugadi and Gudi Padwa!

These are the kind of jars, my family uses back home in Andhra to store pickles like mango, lime and amla etc., They are our traditional kitchenware and I love the coloring, the shape of these beautiful ceramic jars. It’s been my hobby to collect these, here. So far I found the ones in the photo, from garage sales, flea/farmer markets and thrift shops etc., The price range I paid for these was 25 cents to 5 dollars, depending on the size.

I use these jars to store pickles just like how they are used in India. I also use them to store ghee, spicy powders, snacks like roasted peanuts etc., I love them because they connect me to my homeland. So pretty to look at, they are my treasure finds.

Do you collect kitchen things? I’d love to read about your kitchen collection. Write a comment or post at your blog, showoff your pretty stuff. You’re meme‘ed.:)

Posted in response to this comment.

Killing the Spirit

Victims of Blood Thirsty Regime!

V for Vendetta

“The Price of Cheap Chicken”

Kittaya making an appearance from his kingdom, the basement.

Checkout playful Kiri and all other cute kitties of food blogging world at Clare’s ‘Eat Stuff’.

Click on the photo to enlarge

An unexpected gift from my blog reader Srimati Veena Parrikar. I first met her at a forum, fell in love with her depth of knowledge and deep understanding of our food culture and traditions.

I have written a post a while back on Mahanandi, inquiring about Indian food magazines. In response, she has mailed me two Indian food magazines (Tarla Dalal and Savvy), a cookbook- “Ruchira – Selected Maharashtrian Vegetarian Recipes” and also a packet of traditional Marathi ‘godaa or kala masala’. She purchased all of them during her recent visit to India.

Veena, thanks for the thought and thanks for these wonderful gifts!

Would she be hired now by Food TV to host a show? Noway, Rosie!

Fabulous review of “Eating Well”, the food magazine that I subscribe to.

How to do fondue, the chocolate kind? An easy, fun, calorie packed treat.

Last year it was ‘internets’ (Bushisms), this year it’s ‘manimals‘. That’s pure speciesism(a new kind of racism) says one food blogger, check the petition and sign to show your support.

Food blogger or not, if you like cheese sandwich, then join in for a fun ‘cheese sandwich day’.

Yay, Steelers won the Super Bowl. Opposite team play was boring and the advertisements, oy… It was like watching the competition in boredom.
But what matters is the win, and I’m happy that Steelers won the Super Bowl, got their 5th ring.

Yay for my beloved ‘Mahanandi’.

I’m glad that my entry won the January ‘Does My Blog Look Good In This’ contest. More than the recipes, focus of my food blogging has always been, how the recipe looks before and after in images. Many thanks to the host for organizing this event. Also unlike Super Bowl, for blog’s events, what matters is the participation and the resulting exposure, so congrats to all participants and their super fabulous entries.

Comment form is closed at this time. Thank you!

Images of Pittsburgh on this Super Bowl Weekend.

Heinz Stadium (Steelers Home) – On a Regatta Day

Cathedral of Learning – University of Pittsburgh

Downtown Pittsburgh on a beautiful sunny day…………….Sri Venkateswara Temple, Pittsburgh

Very detailed and well written article about the condition of Pittsburgh for burgh fans by Charles McCollester from Monthly Review.

Excerpt:

“Pittsburgh is little known or appreciated nationally despite the important role that the city played in the rise of U.S. global power. Pittsburgh’s birth occurred at the cutting edge of imperial French and British expansion into the heartland of the continent. The city’s rapid decline coincided with the recent assumption of global imperial power by the United States. In between these two eruptions of global imperial realities into southwest Pennsylvania flows a story of collective work, struggle, and skill that arguably created the most productive region on the earth between 1880 and 1950 considering both diversity and volume of production.”

“Plant-closing activists in the 1980s used to refer to what was happening to Pittsburgh and other manufacturing centers as “breaking America’s backbone.” Now the once muscular city lies on the operating table surrounded by ideologues with knives, its public services and union contracts are of being eviscerated. While the black and gold faithful from coast to coast sport colors in salute to their team, Pittsburgh itself is being gutted economically without anesthesia or mercy.”

“The glory that is Pittsburgh today derives from its stunning beauty and historic character, its people and its memories. Sitting in a natural amphitheater carved by the three rivers, its hillsides green and leafy, its rivers once again filling with fish, its neighborhoods a crazy quilt of accommodation with its convoluted geography, the town has character and complexity. Pittsburgh has always been a proud place despite the often bitter labor relations that played a significant role in its history. What has remained true is an intense loyalty to this rooted locale: its neighborhoods and hollows, its forgotten corners and “seldom seens,” its churches, teams, taverns, schools, and unions. A loyalty from the heart beats in the Pittsburgh Nation, at home and away, waving the ‘terrible towel’ of memory.”

Ilva of Lucullian Delights who started the meme “2006 Food Challenges” (or “This year I dare”), and Winslow of Seven kinds of Soy Sauce, they both tagged me, to share 5 things I want to do for 2006, food wise. So here they are…

Blogwise:
1 Blog about Idly, Dosa and Vada, the delicious breakfasts of India, before my blogs one-year anniversary, in beautiful images.
2 Prepare and blog about traditional Indian sweets like ‘laddu’, ‘jangiri’ etc.,
3 I so want to prepare and blog about my favorite cake “German Chocolate Fudge Cake” and also, I don’t know why, but I’m very drawn to this American style, artery clogging, disgustingly decadent sweet “Krispy Crème Donut Pudding”. First, I’ve to find people to feed it. 🙂

Personally:
4 Going minimal on every Wednesday – Reducing the food consumption gradually to a full day fasting. I call it, my ‘Yogi diet on Wednesdays’. I was doing this before I went to India last year, started it again last week; it takes some time to get along with the hunger pains.:)
5 Continue food blogging to improve my skills and knowledge.

Thanks Ilva and Winslow for tagging me to share my ideas for 2006. I’d like to tag Priya of Sugar and Spice, to share her food ideas for 2006 with us.

To Super Bowl, after this game!

Steelers game today at 3pm, EST on CBS.
Steelers flag Image is taken from this site.

Darling Kittaya

Vijay was taking photos for ebay auction last week and this guy walked into the setting, posed for us, adorably.