PORK ULARTHIYATHU

M

ammai is my Appan's sister. Yes,that also means she is my Ammai. Confused? We all called Appan's mom Mamma, so naturally, I got confused as a little girl and called my aunt Mammai,instead of Ammai. Mammai is an awesome cook just like her mother and she cooks a lot of stuff for every meal. Whenever we visit her family in Kothamangalam,she would definitely make her Kappa Erachi and this Pork Ularthu was another item that would visit the table quite often.

So just like you all having family groups on Whatsapp, we have one for our little family . Food is one of the main topics of discussion and one day, Mammai mentioned about her Pork Ulathu. I couldn't resist my temptation and got her precious recipe for her signature dish. I wrote it down on a piece of paper and that piece of paper vanished into a 'safe' place that I could never find!

On Monday evening,as I was rummaging through my little cookbook corner, I found that precious recipe! I was so excited, exactly the same way I felt 6-7 years ago when I found Ava's Mom's Chocolate Brownie recipe! So, when Jobin got back home from work that evening,we went to our nearby Oriental market to buy pork. That's the only place that I buy pork to make curries. Oh by the way, did I tell you all that I am on 10-day spring break? Yes, I am! :-) That also means,I will be joining Hyatt on April 4th for my 12 week externship! My Chef called me last night to tell me that my shift starts at 6.00 am which also means I need to wake up everyday at 4.30 am to get to the hotel atleast by 5.45 am since there's a 20 minute drive one way.Exciting times!

Okay, back to this delicious dish! So, whenever you are planning to make a pork curry like this or like my Pork Vindaloo ,make sure you buy a fatty cut of pork. If not, the meat will dry out during the lengthy cooking process and it will be fibrous in the end. If you've ever had that experience and didn't know what's going on, your meat was probably lean. The fat renders during the cooking making the whole dish succulent and delicious. Whenever I buy pork, I look for the marbling of fat throughout the meat. I don't buy meat with inches and inches of fat and skin above it,just a well marbled meat with some fat around it.

PORK ULARTHIYATHU

Ingredients:
1.5 kilos (3lbs) pork shoulder, cut up into 1 inch pieces
1 large onion, cubed
1 large tomato, cubed
1 1/2 tablespoon ground coriander
1 1/2 tablespoon cayenne
1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
1 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
Salt

For seasoning:
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
10 cloves garlic, finely sliced
2 inches ginger, finely sliced
10 pearl onions, finely sliced
5 dried red chilies
1 sprig curry leaves
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder

Method: Pressure cook the meat along with onion,tomato,ground coriander,cayenne, ginger garlic paste, garam masala & salt for 4-5 whistles.DO NOT add any water. There should be about 1 cup of gravy left over after cooking. If you have a lot more than that, cook it down.

In a large saute pan, heat the oil and crackle the mustard seeds.Add the garlic,ginger, pearl onions and cook till they soften and the onions starts to brown a little bit. Add the dried red chilies and curry leaves,saute for 30 seconds. Add in the spice powders and mix well for 30 second. Add the cooked meat along with the gravy and cook until the gravy dries up,coats the meat and gets a dark brown colour. Adjust salt as needed and mix in the black pepper. Enjoy while it lasts!

This dish packs a punch for sure! It is so delicious that I couldn't stop myself from eating small portions of it every time I walked into the kitchen. At one point, I was a bit worried if I would eat up the whole thing by the time Jobin and Ian got back! This curry would be so perfect with some Kerala Matta rice, Kachiyamoru and a Mezhukkupuratti. It will pair really well with Appam, Puttu, Idiyappam, Batura, Chapathi, Poori etc.

When Jobin tasted it, he was like this thing is so tasty! It really is,so do give it a try and let me know! Just one word of caution, get a fatty cut of pork, please! :-)

It's a rainy day here today and all I can think of is curling up on the couch with some chorum,morum,pork ularthum and catching up on some old comedy Malayalam movies. I was watching Pattanapravesham as I was cooking this dish yesterday, I really need some background noise when I cook! ;-)
 

A CHRISTMAS SPREAD - MEDIA MENTION

It was just before I left for India this time that I saw an email in my inbox from Grihalakshmi, a fortnighty magazine from Kerala. They asked me if I was willing to do a Christmas menu spread for their magazine. Initially, I was not very sure if I would be able to do it because from the day I would land in India, a week long journey was planned already. Since the team was very flexible with their dates, I accepted the offer and the rest is history,as you see it. The shoot happened in our home, in Kannur and it was a fun filled, labour intensive one yet worth every drop of sweat shed!
This was published on 15 December 2014 but,since we were travelling I couldn't update you all earlier. It's better late than never, right?

Menu:

Rich Hot Chocolate

American Buttermilk Pancakes

Bell Pepper Tempura with Chili Garlic Sauce

Easy Quiche

Cheesy Cauliflower & Sweet Corn Mini Pie

Ginger & Soy Baked Chicken

Grilled Chicken & Pasta Salad

Mango Fizz

Mango Pudding Cake

Mocha Truffles

PASSIONFRUIT ORANGE WHOOPIE PIES

There are some fruits that I like to eat and some in the form of drinks. Passionfruit is one such fruit. I liked it only in the juice form,until I baked these chubby pies. Daisy Mummy is our unlimited supplier for passion fruit juice. It's so tasty and addictive. This time when we reached India , we visited her and she sent us home with 2 big bottles full of it. Appans sister , my Mammaie,also served me enough to fuel myself for those days we stayed in Kothamangalam .

One of the first sweet something I ate after reaching America was a whoopie pie.A pumpkin flavoured one from a mall in Virginia.I ordered it for it's name.It called out to me. Jobin bought it for me and I really liked that tiny cross between a cupcake and a cookie. The filling was so delicious that it haunted me every now and then.

Almost 3 years flew past by and now,only after coming to Kannur did I bake a batch at home.It was just too good! The texture is definately cake-y. It shoudn't become crisp like a cookie(well,then where's the difference!).The filling that I've used here is a passionfruit butter/ curd. It's very quick and easy to make. You can sandwich these and store in an airtight container and they will stay good for 3 days.I was afraid if it would get soggy,but it didn't.

So have you all soaked your fruits for the fruit cake yet? I did a while ago and the cakes are now maturing. I love visiting our friends and family this time of the year in Kerala as we are almost always served a fruitcake,to munch on. What do you generally serve your guests at this time of the year?

PASSIONFRUIT ORANGE WHOOPIE PIES
Recipe from Taste.com.au

Ingredients:
100 grams salted butter,softened
1 cup caster sugar
2 teaspoon freshly grated orange rind
1 egg
2 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk

Passionfruit butter:
2 passionfruit
50 g butter,softened
2 eggs,lightly whisked
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Orange icing:
1 1/2 c icing sugar
2-3 teaspoon orange juice

Method: Preheat oven to 180C and line 2 cookie sheets.
In a medium bowl,cream together butter,sugar,orange rind until pale and creamy.Add egg and beat until well combined. Add flour,baking soda and buttermilk in alternate batches and stir until just combined.Spoon level tablespoonful of the batter onto the cookie sheet,5 cms apart leaving room for spreading.Bake for 8-10 mins,turning the sheets halfway to ensure even baking.Bake until puffed and golden.Set aside to cool for 5 mins and then remove from the tray. Repeat with the remaining batter.

For the passionfruit butter,add all the ingredients into a small saucepan and cook on low heat for 5 mins until it boils and thickens.Transfer it to another bowl,cling wrap it and chill for 30 mins.
For the orange icing,mix together the ingredients to form a thick paste.

Sandwich the cooled whoopies with the passionfruit butter and spread some orange icing over it. Icing will set as it cools.

I cannot let go of my favourite month,December without posting atleast one recipe on my blog! That too when I baked something so simple and delicious. Jobin is here with us and we are busy travelling right now,so there won't be much activity here until next year.
Wishing you all my dear readers a very Merry Christmas!

MOIST EGGLESS VANILLA CUPCAKES

I don't usually care for the amount of eggs in a recipe I am about to try because I love eggs,especially hardboiled eggs.When I say hardboiled,it should be perfectly hardboiled.No rubber like yolks for me,please!Okay,now lets get back to the topic. Well,Kannur is not a place where you can get wonderful ingredients for baking.I know it,so Amma and myself stock up really well. But on how on earth will we know that there will be shortage of eggs,especially in a place where there are atleast 3 bakeries on a street!

Well,it happened.Kannur town was out of eggs,for almost a week and that was too long for me to wait,without baking a cake of some sort. Our house is swamped with guests these days,to see our Ian vaava. So we need something,and when I say something,it has to be homemade because Amma & I cannot think of serving  anything storebought to our guests.

The hunt for something eggless started.I found way too many recipes online but only a few grabbed my attention. When I chose this recipe,it reminded me that I had tried out the same a few years ago and found the cake to be very oily.I thought of giving it a second chance and it worked just fine.

I had some buttercream with me,from the movie star's cake,so tinted it pink and used it to decorate the perfect cupcake tops.I usually don't go for such lavish decor on my baked goods for our daily consumption but since it's for the lovely folks who are visiting us,I didn't think twice.

MOIST EGGLESS VANILLA CUPCAKES
Recipe by Nita Mehta as seen on Recipe on Click


Ingredients:
300g all purpose flour
250 ml thick plain yogurt
150-180 g granulated sugar
125 ml oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Method: Preheat oven to 180 C/ 350F. Line your 12- cup cupcake tin.

In a large bowl,beat the yogurt until smooth.Add granulated sugar and beat till dissolved completely.Add baking powder,baking soda and mix to combine.Leave aside for 5 minutes or until frothy.Add oil,vanilla and beat to mix.Spoon in flour little by little and fold it into the batter.Beat with beaters for 30 secs to make the batter smooth and lump free.Pour into tins and bake for 25-30 mins or till done.Cool in the tin for 5 mins,remove and cool completely before frosting.

For the Vanilla Buttercream recipe,click here.

Ritchie loved the frosting and mentioned that he likes cupcakes with eggs better.I found these to be really moist and perfect for eggless days!

GIVEAWAY(S) !! CAKE, COOKIES & some more!

Those of you who have been reading this blog of mine, for a while, will clearly know my favourite month of any year! It's December! Even though we are just in November and when people are gearing up for Thankgiving, I'm waiting for the day after Thanksgiving so that the FM stations starts playing Christmas Carols 24/7 ! I am waiting for it to snow when I listen to 'I'm dreaming of a White Christmas' since I've always pictured Christmas to be full of snow on evergreens and sloping roofs of houses. Cannot blame me, blame the Christmas cards we get in India ;-)

Anyway, I'm back ,after almost a one month break. So much happened in between. I got back to Minneapolis on 19th October and the very next day we got the keys to our own Condo in Downtown Minneapolis :-) Then the remaining days of October was busy spent packing up, teaching a class of 25 at the same place where I taught before I left for India in July & finally moving to our new place on 28th October. From 28th till yesterday, it was just unpacking and days without internet. I must say, I never missed being online, catching up with my friends because I was so busy planning where to place our new furniture, crockery etc in our brand new home! The only thing that was giving me company was F.R.I.E.N.D.S. I love that show! I really wish they ran forever! :)

Now, let's get back to the topic, shall we? Well, some of you have baked it at home beofre and I have baked it many many times including last month for a Magazine shoot. That's the best thing to bake during Christmas.Any guesses what that thing could be? No? It's my Christmas Fruit cake, people! Yes, I am giving away a 6 inch Ria-baked Christmas Fruit Cake for ONE lucky reader of mine! Don't forget to make a claim for it because I can honestly say, that's the best Fruit Cake you will ever ever eat! My Amma, a hater of Fruit Cakes claims it to be the best :-) So that's going to be Giveaway no.1 :-)

Hmmm, now since it's gonna be Christmas time and we all since atleast some of us love Gingerbread Man, I'm giving away a dozen of  Ria-baked Gingerbread Man, yes with full decor on them to another ONE lucky reader of mine. That's Giveaway no.2 :-)

                                                        (Photo courtesy -Anu Menon)
So a few months back, Anu and I were chatting away on Twitter and as we discussed life and other things, she asked me if she could join me in my monthly giveaways (which I have not been doing for a while!).I was so happy about the offer and I instantly agreed! As you all know, I am a big fan of everything handmade and all things homemade! Anu knew that and therefore offered me an IPad Crochet cover which she stitched to be given away for my dear readers! How cool is that? Very cool! So that's going to be the Giveaway no. 3 :-)

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For entering the giveaway :
1. Tell me your best memories of Christmas or even the month of December! Is it your wedding anniversary? Is it your birthday? My Grandmother's birthday was on December 25 th! :) Whatever it is, tell me...don't worry, your chances of winning the above mentioned 3 things does NOT depend on the length of your stories, but definitely it's content :) So write away!

2. Like my page on Facebook  and leave another comment saying so, which gives you an extra chance to win! :-) [ I have to get something cleared out here after reading a comment below.This is just for pure fun, this option! You can totally skip it. I had double thoughts while putting this up but went again just to see how many of you actually do that! If it were for me, I wouldn't like a page just because I want to win a cake or a cookie but only if I really like that page's extension on Facebook. For me, in many cases, I never realised that my favourite blogs had a page on Facebook until they mentioned it on their blogs mostly during giveaways! It did help me at many instances because I get to interact with the author directly over their pages on FB :-)So please decide how you want things to be :-)No hard feelings and no way are you gonna lose your chance to win something I am giving away! I am doing this for you and it will always always always be for you, I am not expecting anything in return :-) This is not a camouflage to get more followers :-)  I did think of taking off this option after reading the comment but decided not to do so because I didn't want to sit back and pretend as if I never wrote a thing like that! I hate pretense! :-)]

3. Now,tell me, what would you really like to win! I have to pick 3 winners and I'm  hoping that it would help me :-)

This giveaway is only for the US residents (rather for an address in US, so you can win it for a cousin, friend or even a pet!)  :-) This giveaway ends on December 10th.

ALL THE BEST!

GINGERBREAD MAN FOR 400,000 HITS!

There is a saying,'When it rains,it pours!' and it is no different in my case! My blog just had it's 400,000 hits (100,000 more in 1 month and 5 days!) and when I am still taking time for it to sink in, I get this email from Susan & Abraham  of Chako's Kitchen saying that my HoneyComb cake has been selected as one of the 30 Best Recipes of 2010. This is what they  had to say, 'Ria Mathew of Ria’s collection is arguably the most talented baker and blogger from India. Currently residing in US, this gifted lady whips out heavenly cakes, cookies and innovative sweets and savories and her food pictures are talk of the town. So it is but natural that her entry for the Best Recipes of 2010 is indeed one the best recipe from her. This marvelous looking Honey Comb Cake, will woo you with its rich and perfect look and I bet you cannot help but drool over her culinary creations !' (taken with permission from Chako's Kitchen). That one piece of news has kept me smiling for the whole day!


Now let's get back to some little bit of baking that I had been doing the whole of last week!I must say that I was lucky to have some leftovers from the weekend parties to feed the two of us those days, or else, I would have gone crazy baking ,cooking ,cleaning,loading the dishwasher (I hate it!) , decorating the cookies, controlling the temperature indoors to prevent the frosting from melting, answering all the queries I get in my inbox (E-mail and FB which I LOVE!) on an hourly basis mostly regarding the Fruit Cake 1 & Fruit Cake 2, answering to SOS IM's on Google Talk and FB and status updating on FB :) plus the packing for our holidays!

When I asked my niece's what they would like me to bring over for X'mas, they said, they wanted Sugar cookies and Gingerbread man . Okay, I have never made both of them. So I hunted for recipes like a crazy old blind woman who hunts for her lost needle in a haystack (eh? Did  I just say that? ).That's exactly when Aparna had to post her recipe for this fabulous Gingerbread Man and I told her, I think I'm going to make her recipe, which I did :-) I am so glad that I made it because it is so good! I couldn't stop munching on them while I was decorating the cookies. I had excuses to give...to myself.


Excuse #1 : How would the Gingerbread Man (GM)  look like without it's head?
Excuse #2 : How would the GM look like with it's head and not it's arm?
Excuse #3 : How would the GM look like with it's head and arm intact but not  it's right leg?
Excuse#4 : How would the GM look like with it's head, arms and right leg intact but....
Yeah I made good use of all the 'probabilty' stuff I learnt in my class 12.!

Now we are back home after the holidays and I am having some major 'post Christmas' blues.So before I begin to talk about it, why don't you all check out this fabulous cookie's recipe?

EGGLESS GINGERBREAD MAN
Original Recipe from Taste.com
Adapted version from Aparna. I made some adjustments to her recipe.


Ingredients:
1 stick/113 g unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2c loosely packed brown sugar/grated jaggery
1/2 c honey
2 1/2 c all purpose unbleached flour (regular maida will also work)
1 tbsp dry ginger powder
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
1/4 tsp black pepper powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 350F/180C.Line a baking sheet (s) with parchement/butter paper.
Sieve the dry ingredients together and keep aside.
Cream butter and brown sugar/jaggery till pale and creamy.Add in the honey and cream till fluffy.
Add in the dry ingredients and beat till it comes together like rubbles.
Gather the dough together with your hand and knead it lightly, with your fingertips and form a smooth ball.
Flatten it, clingwrap it and leave it in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Dust your work surface and a rolling pin with flour, lightly.
Roll out the dough to 1/4" thickness and cut out the gingerbread man.
Place them on a lined baking sheet and bake for 8-10 mins depending on the size of your cookie.
Once baked, take them out and let them cool on the sheet for 5 mins.
When they are completely cooled, store them in an airtight tin.

Verdict: This was my first time baking a gingerbread cookie and I must say, this will be baked for the coming years during Christmas season. I love the spices that goes into the cookie and the smell of it gives you a warmth that no other season can bring!

OUR FIRST CHRISTMAS!

INSTANT CHOCOLATE & CASHEWNUT FUDGE

These are the days when I wish I can whip up something in less than 5 minutes,something which is good, in taste and looks and these blocks of chocolate goodness is my answer! If you ask me what's keeping me busy,we have been having parties at home back to back, baking and cooking on all the 4 burners at the same time,baking goodies to giveaway as gifts, some were packed and sent to my relatives on the otherside of this wide nation, some as 'under the tree' gifts for friends and some just for the 2 of us to munch on while we vaccum clean the house and load the dishwasher! :)

I still have another big batch of  fruit cakes and  cookies to be baked and in between all this I think of how to shoot some pics and post them on my blog. My blog has not been fed well the last week, but the author has been,very well! :) I made a batch  of delicious Orange Marmalade 2 weeks ago and it's been sitting inside my fridge all these days! I'm thinking of baking some tarts with it but I have made so many plans and I am planning to execute it all, but when? That's the big question,a million dollar question? Looks like my blog will have Christmas goodies till the end of January! :-)

I have made this fudge before,a pistachio version, when I was in India. At that time, we couldn't get foil trays of the mentioned size or shape in the recipe and I longed to be in US or UK then. And now that I am, nothing 's gonna stop me! The best part of this recipe is, you can make them in less than 5 minutes which definately doesn't include the time you spend in hunting for your can opener (like me!) to open the condensed milk ! Oh, you need to give them some time to chill, okay? Otherwise you wouldn't be able to chop them up into those pretty squares you just saw :-)

INSTANT CHOCOLATE & CASHEWNUT FUDGE
Recipe: Nigella Lawson


Ingredients:
350g Semi sweet chocolate/Dark chocolate chips
1 tin /396g condensed milk
2 tbsp butter
150g cashewnuts, chopped

Method:
Into a saucepan, on medium heat, add the chocolate chips , condensed milk & butter and let it melt together.
As soon as it is mixed together, switch of the flame and add the nuts and mix well.
Pour into a square* foil tray/tin lined with foil. Cover it and leave it in the fridge till well set (about 1 1/2 hr).
Mark the set fudge into squares using the tip of a sharp knife, turn it out onto a chopping board ,peel the foil away and cut into pieces.
Store it in the refrigerator.You can freeze them in a ziplock bag and eat them straight out of the freezer too!

*I used a rectangular foil tray and my fudge was a bit thin. I like it this way. If you are making it in the square tin, cut them into small pieces because these are quite rich.

Verdict: I was afraid  I would have to make another batch to give away because we both couldn't stop digging into it! It's a very easy and delicious recipe, try it and you will know! :)

I am sending these to Chocolate Extravaganza -Monthly Mingle hosted by myself and also to the new blogging challenge 'Forever Nigella' started by Sarah of Maison Cupcake.

CHOCOLATE CHIP NANCUTS/NANKATAI

Ihave never baked so much in so little time. Phew! That was a LOT of baking happening in my kitchen. I must say,my oven is still grateful. It hasn't given up on me :-) But trust me, it feels so good to be near the oven during winter...keeps you warm and keeps your house warm,too! Plus, you get to eat your favourite baked goodies!

                                                                  Photo Courtesy: Chris Ann
I met Chris Ann last month for a small blogger meet in Minneapolis. I have to say, she was a very graceful host! She brought us some yummy yummy homemade chocolate chip cookies! I remember her saying that she slaved over it...I don't think so! ;-) Anyhow, it was delicious. During the meet,we were having a casual chat and she mentioned that she would like me to do a guest post for their 'Cookie Exchange' event on the blog during the month of December. I agreed on the spot. Why wouldn't I? :-)

But the challenge for me was that she asked me if I could bake some sort of an Indian cookie. Umm, now that's interesting! Indian cookie? I had to think about it for a while because we Indians, really don't have a 'typical' Indian baked goodie.But then again, there should be something that we can call it 'Indian'...and yes! it was a cookie called 'Nankatai' or 'Nancuts' as we call at home. Indian cookies or 'biscuits' as we call it, is never soft like the 'cookies' that we get in US. It's crisp, crunchy and even crumbly, at times. So this is the texture of this cookie/biscuit too. :-)

Nancuts is the simplest of all the cookies. It's a very simple 3-ingredient recipe. You don't need any fancy equipment to get it done. At any given point, you can bake these cookies in less than half an hour!Usually this cookie is baked plain or maybe with a hint of crushed/powdered cardamom. I thought of giving it a twist and added chocolate chips to the dough.

For recipe..visit Love Feast Table!

I am sending these cookies as my entry for the Monthly Mingle- Chocolate Extravaganza hosted by myself! :)

Season's Greetings!

CHOCOLATE EXTRAVAGANZA ...come on in! Let's Mingle!

There are four basic food groups:  milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate truffles.  

~Author Unknown ~

Odear December, what took you so long to arrive? Do you know that I wait for you all these 11 months? So please stay and don't fly by so fast!This X'mas is very special for me...it's our first X'mas together,my first white X'mas (oh yes, it's snowing outside as I am typing) and my first X'mas away from my beloved family & country. Everything that I have experienced all these years is a lot different from what I am experiencing now.It does get me nostalgic, especially when there's not many people who come to our house to see our X'mas tree or the wreath that I made from scratch!Back in India, it was the prime time when families visited each other with boxes of goodies from where they come. Then there is laughter on the dinner tables,lot of good homemade food, freshly baked goodies and everything nice! I miss all the good times I had with my cousins, especially those late night talks, sleepless nights...

I guess I should stop my banter now considering that I am alone at home right now and Jobin is not around for me to complain! :-) Well, the happy side is that our tree is lit ,stockings are hung and our little apartment looks very Christmas-y! Ok, we don't have a fireplace...so I am envying all of you who do have one!But that does give me one thing less to clean :-D

I think I love holidays because of the fact that I get to bake a lot, mostly for family and friends! This year is no different, I am going to continue baking,maybe more ...or so I would like to think :-) How can I resist baking more this year especially when I am hosting the Monthly Mingle, the brainchild of the fabulous Meeta, right here on my blog, during my most favourite month, December! The theme, as the title of this post suggests , is CHOCOLATE EXTRAVAGANZA. I am a hard core fan of anything chocolate, so I couldn't think of a better theme than this!
So just in case you happen (I know you will) to bake anything with chocolate in it, from cakes to cookies, tarts to pies, hot & cold puddings, souffles etc do send it to the Monthly Mingle. By the end of December (sob!) let's get together and share all the goodies on my table. I'll make sure that the coffee is brewing to keep you all warm!

If you do not have a blog and would like to participate, kindly send me the photograph of the chocolate goodie to airmathew AT gmail DOT com.

Here's what you need to do:

1. Create a dish (or as many as you like) that fits the Chocolate Extravaganza theme as described above.
2. Post about it on your blog from now till 27 December 2010 (entries must be in English, please).
3. Your creation should be prepared for the current Monthly Mingle theme and posted anytime from now till the given deadline. 
4. You must provide a link to this post and the official Monthly Mingle page.
5. Once you’ve posted your dish, send your entries to airmathew AT gmail DOT com with the your name & post link. Please make sure your pictures are not more than 300 px wide picture.

What are you waiting for? Get those mixers and baking sheets out! Just in case you need any ideas :-) feel free to go through my Recipe Index. Let's make this season Chocolate-y!