Weekend Dog Blogging, Weekend Jabber

Dale, the official mascot of One Hot Stove, is making an appearance today, after many months. He is settling well into his new home, and every weekend I'll try and show you a little bit of his new life in St. Louis. Dalu's favorite thing about the new home: the sunshine that streams in through the huge windows! Dale is a sun-worshipper, every morning he catches the first sunbeam that comes in, and follows it around all day, napping here and there. See that lovely tan he has acquired? :)

A convenient square of sun right by his bed...


After a while, it is too much work to hold up his head (who turned on the gravity??)...


Later, a nap in the patch of sun right by the radiator...two sources of heat on a cold winter morning!


Please go visit all the puppies at the Weekend Dog Blogging round-up over at Sweetnicks!

And time for some weekend jabber...

Everyone who loves coconut (or even likes it just a little) should definitely visit Ashwini, who did a brilliant job hosting the Jihva: Coconut event. See the round-up for over 70 delicious coconut-ty soups, snacks, curries, desserts and more! I was excited to see dozens of recipes in the round-up that I cannot wait to try for myself. I already made Indosungod's Eggplant in a buttermilk sauce and it was absolutely delicious, even with my less-than-ideal substitution of dried coconut powder for fresh coconut.

The explosion in Indian food blogs over the past few months is so delightful...for me, it is a peek into home kitchens from many different regions of India. This is the sort of opportunity that money cannot buy! Every week, I try and make a couple of the delicious recipes that I see on other blogs, Indian or not. A few days ago, I made Cabbage Rice using the recipe shared by Vani of Mysoorean. The recipe calls for cooking shredded cabbage, then tossing it with delicious "palya powder" (Vani's mom's recipe) and cooked rice. Simple and delicious! A regional home-style recipe that I will make often.

So, do you prefer the food of "India" or of "Bharat"? What's the difference, you ask? "G" from the new Missouri blog Vyanjanaa tells us in a great little essay.

Speaking of Missouri food blogs, I have added a little list of the "St. Louis and nearby" food blogs to the side-bar. It is a small but vibrant community! Actually, Alanna organized a little treat for the St. Louis-and-nearby food bloggers in October, a wonderful food-styling and photography workshop, which I managed to attend even though (a) I was on a blogging break and (b) not even living in St. Louis yet! It was very exciting to meet many of the local bloggers, and also to meet a much-admired food blogger in person, Kalyn, who was a guest at this workshop. Kalyn has written a synopsis of the workshop, in case y'all want to read about the fun that we had!

Finally, congratulations, Kalyn...her blog, Kalyn's Kitchen, won the Best Food Blog: Theme prize in the 2006 Food Blog awards! I am so happy for you!

Whew, that was a lot of yackety-yak on my part...but then, I have much to talk about after a long break. Hope you like the weekend jabber section, and enjoy the weekend, everyone!