Healthy & Hearty - An Event Announcement

With Christmas and New Year gone, life is finally back to routine. I am sure every one has started the new year with a few goals, be it personal, professional or even related to hobbies, food or even books. I had talked about a few reading challenges in my last post and now I am here with a food event announcement. With a flood of food related events in the blogosphere, you would wonder why another?

But then I say, why not? On going through the recipes I have posted so far, I realized that most of them baring a few are indulgent food items, either high in calories or deep fried. So, I decided to take a break and prepare something healthy yet delicious. That's when I thought of Healthy & Hearty.

What am I looking for?

Basically, I am looking for HEALTHY recipes. It can be either a starter or a main course or any guilt free dessert. No deep fried food, but baking is fine provided it is not laden with butter! You can also create a low fat version of traditionally calorie rich food item.The options are numerous and varied.. So, friends send in your healthy yet delicious entries!

Here are a few rules of the event, you would like to know:

1. It can be any course of the meal.
2. Recipe has to be strict vegetarian. No eggs allowed!
3. Multiple Entries are welcome. I will accept entries posted in 2012 but not older.
4. Please send in your entries starting today, 10th Jan 2012 till on or before Feb 29th 2012.

5. Bloggers can simply send your Name and URL of your recipe at sethiajyoti119@gmail.com (sethiajyoti119 AT gmail DOT com) with the subject of "Healthy & Hearty" with the following details-

Name:
Recipe Name and URL:
Picture of the dish reduced to 300px:

6. Link back to this announcement page is mandatory. Use of Logo is optional

Reading Challenges 2012

Sometimes back, I had written about a reading challenge I was going to take up in 2012. On blog hopping various book blogs I came across a few more, so thought of taking up a few more reading challenges.
The first one about which I have already written earlier is A2Z Reading Challenge.

The South Asian Reading Challenge.

This challenge is hosted by Swapna Krishna of S Krishna's Books. You can read the details about this challenge here. I plan to read at least 15 books which will qualify for this challenge.

Apart from this I have also taken up the Goodreads Challenge where I am challenging myself to read 50 books in 2012. I had taken a similar challenge last year but failed marginally. I am hoping to reach my reading goal this year.

I came across another interesting reading challenge in Hema's Blog. It is a challenge named Whats in the name hosted by Beth. The rules are quite interesting and here I am quoting them from Beth's space:

Between January 1 and December 31, 2012, read one book in each of the following categories:

1. A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title: Black Hills, Purgatory Ridge, Emily of Deep Valley
2. A book with something you'd see in the sky in the title: Moon Called, Seeing Stars, Cloud Atlas
3. A book with a creepy crawly in the title: Little Bee, Spider Bones, The Witches of Worm
4. A book with a type of house in the title: The Glass Castle, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Ape House
5. A book with something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title: Sarah's Key, The Scarlet Letter, Devlin Diary
6. A book with a something you'd find on a calendar in the title: Day of the Jackal, Elegy for April, Freaky Friday, Year of Magical Thinking

The book titles are just suggestions, you can read whatever book you want to fit the category.

So, this is all about reading challenges 2012. Are you taking up any? I will be glad to hear about them.
I have finished reading Arranged Marriage by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and the review will be up soon.

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Deception Point by Dan Brown

This book was everything a typical Dan Brown novel should be: fast paced, full of twists and turns ensuring nail biting tension, adventurous, secretive, mysterious, thrilling with romance in between. For me, it was a welcome change after 2 disappointing reads. I am quoting the blurb from the back of the book for the plot.

"When a new NASA satellite spots evidence of an astonishingly rare object buried deep in the Arctic ice, the floundering space agency proclaims a much-needed victory… a victory that has profound implications for U.S. space policy and the impending presidential election.

With the Oval Office in the balance, the President dispatches White House Intelligence analyst Rachel Sexton to the Milne Ice Shelf to verify the authenticity of the find. Accompanied by a team of experts, including the charismatic academic Michael Tolland, Rachel uncovers the unthinkable—evidence of scientific trickery—a bold deception that threatens to plunge the world into controversy.

But before Rachel can contact the President, she and Michael are attacked by a deadly task force…a private team of assassins controlled by a mysterious power broker who will stop at nothing to hide the truth. Fleeing for their lives in an environment as desolate as it is lethal, they possess only one hope for survival: to find out who is behind this masterful ploy. The truth, they will learn, is the most shocking deception of all…"

I can safely call it a scientific novel since it has a strong scientific backdrop. Dan Brown is a master story teller and this novel is a good example of his immaculate ability at crafting ingenious plots that grips his readers with intrigue and awe. The character development is great, the plot is fascinating. The fact that the plot involves NASA a great amount of details about advanced technology and weaponry is cited in the book which at times, went above my head. On those occasions I could not really picture the scene in  my mind but non the less I knew what was going on and it seemed convincing enough. A movie based on this novel is going to be released this year and I am really looking forward to it.

All in all it was an enjoyable read, a real page turner. If you like his books, you can't miss this.
Finally, I have read all of the author's work. The other books I am written about by the author here are, Digital Fortress and The Last Symbol. To know more about the author and his books visit www.danbrown.com
My rating: 3.5/5
Linking it to A2Z Challenge
Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Wrapping up 2011 and Welcoming 2012 ~ With Orange and Kiwi Salad~ A Healthy Start to the New Year!

Year 2011 had ended and we are already 3 days into the new year 2012. So, here is wishing you a very happy and prosperous new year! May the new year brings you new joy, good health and peace!

Hope you all had a great start to the new year. Mine was great. We went for a short trip to London and witnessed the spectacular new year firework show live. I cannot praise it enough. It was fantastic. I will elaborate on it in a later post but for now have a look yourself.

Video Courtesy: BBC

Now coming to the Wrapping 2011 part. I wanted to do the wrapping up post on 31st Dec 2011 itself, but couldn't manage the time to compose the post. I am doing that now. It is difficult to choose favorites of favorites but somehow I have come up with my top 5s. Here are my top 5 favorites from my blog in two categories: Books & Food.

Books:

1. The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

2. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

3. Jaya by Devdutt Pattanaik

4. The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht

5. Room by Emma Donoghue

Food:

1. Eggless Chocolate Brownie

2. Paneer Tikka with Minty Yogurt Dip

3. Malai Kulfi - Using Condensed Milk

4. Chocolate Truffles

5. Orange Spritzer

Do check out these if you have not already! 

To kick start the new year in a healthy way, I am sharing a simple fruit salad recipe.

Serves 1-2

Click here for the printable version

Ingredients:

1 Kiwi fruit, peeled and cut into wedges

2-3 clementines, peeled into wedges and the membrane removed

A dash of lemon juice, to taste

Black salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar to taste

3-4 chopped pistachios for garnishing

Process:

Arrange the fruit pieces on a plate. Drizzle the rest of the ingredients over it. Serve immediately!

Once again, have a happy and healthy new year! 

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Lucky Library Picks#4

Here is the last of Lucky Library Picks post this year. Check out this to know what it is all about! You can find my other Lucky Library Picks posts here.

This week I have 2 books to share from the library. I had brought them from the library before it closed for Christmas.

The first one is:
Ecilipse by Stephenie Meyer
I have read the first two books of the twilight series, Twilight and New Moon and I am really looking forward to read the rest of the series.
The second is:
The Goddess Village by Nuala Woulfe
This is a new author I have picked this time in my endeavor to read more of Irish author. The blurb from the back of the book is interesting and I am hoping to enjoy reading it.

Do you have any Lucky Library Picks this week? Leave a link and I will visit your page to check out.

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

This is a scheduled post.