We are having a baby!!! *A 1 year old little girl from India!!!! :)

I've been blogging over at www.unfamiliarpaths.com for a while now- but I wanted the chance to update here too. WE HAVE A REFERRAL! Check out the blog over at the other page to see details. And here's one of my latest posts over there:

Hi all! We’ve opened an account at Adopt Together to gather funds to go toward adoption expenses and travel costs! We would love your help to help bring Mercy home! Our page is: https://www.adopttogether.org/mercy You can make a tax-deductible donation on that page. You’ll receive a receipt by email if you donate online. You’ll receive a paper receipt in January if you donate by check/mail. Thank you all for your love and support!

Moving (blogs that is...)

I haven't really had anything inspired or particularly exciting to blog about lately. One thing I'm doing though is moving my blog over to www.unfamiliarpaths.com (through wordpress- so you'll have to follow that address instead (or www.unfamiliarpaths.wordpress.com- same thing). I haven't done much to format that page yet though- so don't roam around too much because it's still under construction. I did import all of my blog posts though... so the info is there at least. *(And if you've been following me on your blogger account and want to add the new site just go to your dashboard and where it says 'blogs i'm following', hit the 'add' button, then paste in the new address).

I finished my first round of blanket projects and am about to hit round two. I wanted to blog about this second batch because I bought some really crazy fabrics this time... Hope I don't blind the new babies... hee hee. I'm sure it's some deep seated emotional response to how beige my house is currently, but hey- it's just a creative outlet, right?

So- if you want to see the new fabrics, you'll have to check out the new blog....www.unfamiliarpaths.com

Shameless Advertising

Hi blog friends,
I'm doing a little shameless advertising today. Groupon is this great $ saving site that I've been using for about a year now. They have deals for most major cities- and some smaller cities/areas too. They're doing a promotion right now where they'll give me $20 just for doing shameless advertising. :) If you click this link, sign up to get their emails, and buy a deal/make a purchase by March 21st, I'll get $20.

How it works: You sign up your email address to receive their emails for daily deals they offer in your area. You receive their emails. Every day they promote a different store/company in your area/sometimes websites. You can buy a deal or just delete the email. No commitment, no extra cost to you. Some examples of deals I've bought before:

• Buy a $20 am*zon gift card for $10.
• Buy a $30 gift certificate for 'So and so's mexican restaurant' for $15.

Then, after you buy your deal, you can print the coupon the next day, and then take it with you to use at the store/restaurant- or use the online code if it's for a website. :) Most groupons are good for 6 months. Easy peasy lemon squeezy, as my 7 year old says.

So, if it's something that you might want to do, you can either sign up on your own without following my link, or you can give me $20 to use toward future groupons by clicking here.

http://www.groupon.com/r/uu5844475

After you follow the link above and sign up, then go to this link, and buy this amazing deal:

$15 for $50 Worth of Photo Books, Cards, and More from Mixbook http://www.groupon.com/dallas/deals/mixbook-dallas?utm_campaign=UserReferral&utm_medium=email&utm_source=uu5844475

This is a great deal to do a printable scrapbook/book thing!

Drumroll please...

And the lucky winner of a set of Indian spice mixtures is.... #9! Beautiful Sohailah! So excited for you. I'll get these ordered and put together some recipes to include with them! :)

(thankyou random.org for your random number generating software... :))

And the rest of you will have to just try some of these recipes on your own. Since I am currently on an Aarti kick, here are some of the recipes that I've either already tried or can't wait to try!

Aarti's baked samosas

Awesome looking Lamb Kabobs from the Food Network site
Shrimp/Prawn Masala

Chicken Tikka Masala ***FAVORITE

Red Lentils

Rice Pudding

And, finally, just to put my two cents in: How I spice up my normal life to taste a bit more like India

1. Make chicken salad with chicken, celery, onion, etc... (whatever you usually put in) but then in addition to mayo (a little less than what you'd do normally), add this: 1 tbsp butter/olive oil in a small saute pan, add 1 tbsp garam masala or madras curry seasoning (both of which you should be able to find in your local grocery store spice jars). Let the spices bloom w/oil over medium heat for about a minute while stirring, then mix it in the chicken salad.
2. Make any kind of stew, soup, or stir fry. When you're starting to cook it, and you are sauteeing/softening your veggies, add salt, pepper, 1 tbsp garam masala, a few cloves of crushed garlic, a spoon of crushed ginger if you have it, and a tsp of cumin. YUM. Let it cook through/bubble before you throw in other veggies/items.
3. Serve your Indian food with basmati rice. :) I don't know if you have tasted the difference, but after living in India, every other rice (except maybe Jasmine) just isn't as tasty... :) It's got a slightly nutty, richer flavor than our american rice.

I do not consider myself an Indian chef AT ALL. I'm just a girl that likes food- and I want everyone to try Indian spices/dishes because I feel like overall, people here are a bit hesitant. Just remind yourself that there are as many kinds of curries out there as there are different kinds of chili in the U.S. (Chicken chili, red chili, spaghetti w/chili, tomatillo chili, Vegetarian chili, etc...). You can't just try one and say you don't like every other kind. Right? :)