Vinayakar Chathurthi and Kozhakattai (Italian Style)

From the title, you probably wonder what the heck I'm talking about. Well read on...Saturday Sep 15th was Vinayakar Chaturthi and it's customary to make Kozhakattai (rice dumplings - sweet and spicy) to offer as Prasadham to the Lord. However due to unavoidable circumstances, we couldn't do it this year. We did offer some sweet milk, fruits as Prasadham and kept it as a simple affair.

Based on the recipe that I recently saw here , I decided to make some Ravioli (2 filling types - Spinach/Mushroom and Sun-dried tomato) for dinner for my dear wife. The ravioli came out pretty good and my wife enjoyed it. She also quipped that we did make Kozhukattai i.e Ravioli are just flattened Kozhukattai's and I coudn't agree more.

We had some fillings (both kinds) left over for Sunday and L ingeniously whipped up some Ravioli Parmigiana for dinner and quite a meal it was....Thanks L

Love and love only

என்ன காயம் ஆன போதும் என் மேனி தாங்கிக் கொள்ளும் உந்தன் மேனி தாங்காது செந்தேனே
எந்தன் காதல் என்னவென்ரு சொல்லாமல் ஏங்க ஏங்க அழுகை வந்தது
எந்தன் சோகம் உன்னைத் தாக்கும் என்ரென்னும் போது வந்த அழுகை நின்றது

very powerful lines, how very true....aptly written (Padmashree Vaali), divinely tuned (Maestro Ilayaraja) and grippingly emoted (Padmashri Kamalahaasan)...

P.S: Why hasn't Ilayaraaja been awarded a Padmashree? Not that it affects his composing abilities without one, but as an ardent fan of a musical genius who has contributed immensely to the music field, I can't help but wonder....Well that's a subject matter for another post!!

Cyberspace to Outerspace

Way to (go)ogle!!

Happy Teacher's Day

A very Happy Teacher's Day to all those teachers out there.....

Time to party - in Tamil Nadu

I read on the net that Sarath Kumar, a prominent actor from Tamil Nadu has floated his own party with much fanfare to further his political ambitions. Only last year, Vijaykanth, yet another actor from South, started his own party "Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam". With every tom, dick and harry from tamil filmdom starting a political party, only time will tell if they can topple the usual suspects, DMK/ADMK in the Tamil Nadu political arena!!

Cute Couplet

I read this short but sweet couplet eons ago somewhere. I can't recall where and so can't reference the source. Anyways, here it goes

"Life is sweet, if we make it so;
If love is there, let the hearts overflow"

Labor Day Weekend

Whew!!!! Just to live up to the name, the weekend was full of labor.....loads of laundry, folding clothes, vaccum, cutting veggies for the week etc...

Lakshmi had her marathon training run on Saturday morning. So I prepared lunch - chana masala, tomato rasam and white rice. I also made kichdi for Vishruth. Saturday evening was an Oriental and not-to-be-forgotten one. Lakshmi made some out of the world items like Vegetable Manchurian, Cauliflower in Schezuan sauce, rice and noodles. Yummy....

Lakshmi also took the initiative to re-organise the rooms (kids and ours) and the result....for the first time the kids slept in their own rooms and we in ours (Sept 2nd 2007, day to remember). Lakshmi and I watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, very peacefully after putting the kids to bed

Lakshmi made some really wonderful Thenkuzhal, Seedai (salt and sweet) and Semiya Payasam for Sri Krishna Jayanthi (Lord Krishna's birthday). Vidyuth thorougly enjoyed the process of preparation and helped his mom as well . It came out so good that even Vishruth, nibbling on small pieces, semeed very content. We also distributed some to our neighbors before proceeding to the temple for a quick prayer visit