Neivedyam turns "1" Today!!

Today Neivedyam is celebrating its first anniversary!!

It was a year ago, while looking for some recipes that I stumbled across the world of food blogging. I was mesmerized and stunned to see a huge community of food blogs. I did not know what blogging was or there was something called food blogging. A few weeks passed by, afternoons of discovering more and more blogs led to the day where I decided to start my own blog. I remember the first comment I got, the blood rush I had and still have, every time I get a comment. Each and every five minute I used to check for comments. Since then, it feels so good every time I hit the publish button to share my kitchen adventures with the world. I feel so overwhelmed when I hear that people are trying my recipes and enjoying them.

This journey about food blogging has been a wonderful experience and I feel happy for all that it has given me. I have met some very talented, wonderful and lovely friends. So many great cooks, delicious recipes from different continents. Apart from recipes it is wonderful to share so many other thoughts and information. I feel happy and privileged to be part of this loving community.

I thank my fellow bloggers for being so supportive no matter what. Your comments and suggestions mean a lot to me. I also thank the non-bloggers and silent visitors of Neivedyam.

The best part about this blog was when I moved to Chicago. So many friends who knew me through Neivedyam came forward to help me. They made me feel that I was not a stranger. I even got to meet a couple of them. Thanks to Desi momz club.

These days when I go through my blog, I don’t believe my eyes, that I put all this effort on each and every post!! This is because I feel really lazy to resume. I am not sure when I will be back, but will quietly keep trespassing all the blogs for its delicious treats.

Taking a Break!

Hi Friends, We are moving to Chicago in 2 weeks so will not be blogging for I don't know how long. Will truly miss blogging and talking to you all. My Brain has constantly been thinking on Packing, cleaning, my son's new school, new place, new people, cleaning up the fridge and getting rid of frozen stuff and so much more. I am going to miss New Jersey so badly. Will miss all my friends here.

I wish you all a very Happy and prosperous Diwali! I wanted to cook and post so many different sweets for Diwali but now it is not possible. Will check all your posts once I am settled.
I will miss a lot of events too:(

Take Care and Enjoy the festivities!

Peach Tart, Sago Pudding and Navratri Neivedyam

I had to make something out of peach as Mansi was sweetly threatening me to participate in her event AFAM-Peach:) I made some mini tarts with peach and other fruits.
I also made sago pudding for Durga pooja which is my entry for Think Spice-Saffron.

Peach Tarts



Ingredients

2 tbsp Custard Powder
1 cup whole milk
2-3 tsp sugar
4 Mini pie crusts (I used ready made pie crust)
1 tbsp butter
Peach slices
cherries, grapes and pomegranate





Preparation

You can use any kind of fruits to create a tart. I also used custard for filling instead of cream cheese. Prepare a thick custard by mixing up custard powder, sugar and whole milk.
The mini pie crusts I bought are made of gram crackers so I brushed them with melted butter and baked them for 5 minutes at 375 degrees. This way the crust becomes crisp. Cool the custard by refrigerating it for 30 minutes.
Fill the custard after it gets cooled and arrange the fruits. Quick dessert is ready.



Durga Pooja

I made Sago pudding, Black channa, green gram/Moong dal and Sabudana/Sago wada for Durga pooja.
The Green gram is inspired from Viji's blog. The Sabudana wada recipe will be posted later.



Sago Pudding


Ingredients

1/2 cup Sago
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
a pinch of Saffron Strand
1/2 tsp Crushed cardamom
1 tbsp Cashew nuts
1 tbsp raisins
2 tbsp Clarified butter/ghee


Preparation

Soak sago for 3 to 4 hours in water. Strain the water. Warm up the milk and add the sago to it. Also add crushed cardamom. In a tbsp of milk soak saffron separately.
Once the sago appears transparent that means it is cooked. Add sugar and bring to boil. Turn off the heat and add saffron soaked milk to it.
In a pan add ghee and fry the cashews and raisins till golden. Add this to the pudding. Delicious Sago pudding is ready.


This one also goes to RCI Tamil Festivals and JFS:Dassera



The recipes for green gram and black channa can be obtained from Viji's blog