Bear-y Special Meme

I got the invitation from Mariuca, to take part in this Beary special meme..

-START COPYING HERE- Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a powerful Genie Princess named Mariuca who was known throughout the land as the friendliest, most popular blogger in the blogosphere kingdom. Adored and admired by international visitors and commentators from around the world, the Genie Princess travels the blogosphere on her magical flying carpet, always looking for ways to share her good fortune with others.Over the past two years of blogging, Mariuca has met so many new people, from all walks of life and all over the world, each one bringing a little of their culture and lifestyle when they visit and comment on Mariuca’s two sites. So on her 2nd Blog Anniversary, Mariuca wanted to celebrate with all of her international blogosphere buddies by hosting a bear-naming contests at Wishing On A Falling Star and Mariuca’s Perfume Gallery and to pass her two lucky, cuddly teddy bears along to the winners who came up with the best names.On the opposite side of the world, from the moment Roxy (the prolific Roxiticus Desperate Housewives blogger) and her sweet daughters London and Maddie saw the teddy in his personalized t-shirt and blue muffler at Wishing On A Falling Star, they knew that he needed to come to live with their family in Mendham, NJ. The three New Jersey girls named him immediately and burst into a wonderful song for BEAR-iuca:

BEAR-iuca, BEAR-iuca, amazing teddy cheer.
BEAR-iuca, BEAR-iuca, we’d love you to come live here!

Mariuca received 16 possible names for the Mariuca Teddy Bear, making it hard for the Genie Princess to choose just one…then Alakazam! A bolt of lightning delivered the perfect way to share BEAR-iuca’s good fortune to bloggers around the globe. While the soft, stuffed, cuddly BEAR-iuca is on his way to live with Roxy, London, Maddie and Rex in the Roxiticus Valley, the Spirit of BEAR-iuca is racing through the blogosphere to bring happiness, holiday cheer, and beary best wishes to everyone who welcomes him into their online home and passes along the BEAR-iuca good luck charm to ten friends.Please play along with us by following a few important rules:1. Add your site(s) to the list once you have received the Spirit of BEAR-iuca badge of teddy bear cheer.2. Pass along the Spirit of BEAR-iuca and his cheery badge to as many people as you like.3. Leave a comment HERE once you’ve passed on the Spirit of BEAR-iuca.4. Once Roxy and the Genie Princess have visited your site to make sure your links are complete and proper, you will then be added to the Master List.4. To ensure everyone receives equal link benefit, please UPDATE your list regularly!BEAR-iuca LOVES

1. Mariuca 2. Roxiticus Desperate Housewives 3. Mariuca’s Perfume Gallery 4. Roxy’s Best Of... 5. Bay Head Blog 6. Roxiticus Best Blogs 7. Emila's Illustrated Blog 8. Metz - Empty Streets 9. The Spirit of Blogging 10. Speedcat Hollydale Page 11. Snapshot 12. purplefrogcat 13. Turn-u-Off 14. Simple Life 15. A Little Girl Talk 16. Life in the Lapadula House 17. Spicybugz World 18. The Mom With Brownies 19. Our High School Homeschool 20. Our Five Dangerous Boys 21. The Big Dog 22. LadyJava's Lounge 23. Moments of My Life 24. Life is too short to be ordinary 25. A Great Pleasure 26. Time Goes By 27. Life According To Me 28. Laketrees 29. This is a miracle 30. Porcelain Doll 31. Moms...CheckNyo 32. Wonderful Things In Life 33. Sweet Nothings 34. Hot Shit Form Here 35. Not Just a Mom Site 36. The Life of a Mom 37. Wiehanne Lounge 38. The Painted Veil 39. My Crossroads 40. Little Mermaid 41. LOVE's Haven 42. Also Mommy 43. The Journey 44. Comedy Plus 45. Making sense...(somehow) 46. The Modern Mom 47. Stay At Home Mom 48. Picture Clusters 49. Maiylah's Snippets 50. Sweety tots 51. My Discoveries 52. A Life to Remember 53. Rekha 54. Crissy's Haven 55. Crissy's Library 56. Crissy's Zone 57. Shopping Blog 58. Crafts and cooking 59. Asian Mutt International 60. A Simple Life 61. I AM KCAT 62. A Girl For All Status 63. Berry Blog 64. Carnation 65. Pinaymama's Diary 66. Life's sweets and spices 67. The Callalily Space 68. Butchay 69. Blessings in Life 70. Pinay Mommy Online 71. The Ruby Posts 72. Day Break 73. R...E...B...E...L?!? 74. VDAY CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY 75. Just the Tip of the Iceberg 76. Honeysweet Learning Center 77. Vsk8shop 78. A Diva's Hammer 79. YOU Next!

And since it is my turn to pass on the cuddles, here goes....

Arundati , Raaga , The Muse ,Jenn , rkdsign88 , LizzyT , Kristin, Robin , Anna and Nancy

All of the above are fellow bloggers, whose blogs bring me the warmth and happiness that hugs from a cuddly bear would.. So I pass on the love to them too...

The Booky MeMe

Passed on to me by fellow hosteller, cook n confectioner extraordinaire - Arundati....

The rules:

Pick up the nearest book

Open to page 123

Find the 5th sentence

Post the next three sentences

Tag 5 people and acknowledge the person who tagged you.

For a book-worm like me, it is more difficult to settle on a book, since I have more than one at hand..so ,as I commented to Arundati, after a game of eeny meeny miney mo, I got my hands on Tibetan Folk Tales by Frederick and Audrey Hyde-Chambers.

Page 123 - the Story of THE MAGIC BAMBOO

.....And so......

The three sisters' movements were like an improvised, graceful dance, as they
leapt, ran, and kicked to keep the shuttlecock aloft. Nyima, the youngest, gave
a despairing yell, realizing that she had kicked the shuttlecock towards the
dense bamboo grove. Her two sisters joined Nyima as she struggled to part the
bamboos in an effort to find the shuttlecock.

It is now my turn to pass it on to...

Sripriya, Shreya, Sagari, Hetal and Notyet100... Hope you guys have'nt already done this..

Potluck Meme - Spicy Okra (Bhindi masala)

A few days back I bought these really tender, tiny fresh okras and I couldn't wait to cook them. Okra is a favourite vegetable in our family, but there are many who do not like them because they can turn a bit slimy if not prepared properly.

This may take a bit of time, but the result is worth the effort.

Since the okras I got were small, I washed them, wiped them with a towel and cut off their ends and slit them about 3/4 their length.

With the long okras, I usually cut them into three pieces.

For 300 grams of okra/bhindis,

Make a paste with :
coriander powder - 2 tsp
red chilli powder -1 tsp
turmeric pwder - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tsp

marinate the okras in the paste, I put a bit of the paste into the slits too.

In a non-stick pan, add 1 tsp oil and shallow-fry the okras till the okras darken. Keep aside.

Take
Cumin seeds -1 tsp
Onion - 1 sliced lengthwise
tomato - 1 big Blanched, peeled and chopped(can use tomato puree also)
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves - 1 bunch chopped fine

Take a pan, heat 1 tbsp oil, (or less), add the cumin seeda, once they splutter, add the onions, fry till golden brown then add the tomato,add the garam masala and wait till it boils. Once the oil comes on top, add the okras and wait till the gravy starts sticking to the okras. Check the salt and add more if needed .Switch off the stove and garnish with coriander leaves.

What I've learned since I became Mom-meme

I had always thought of myself as a caring and loving daughter, niece, sister, grand-daughter, wife etc...but till I held my baby for the first time, I never imagined that I was capable of this much love....

I know that more than being the most educated or well read or well-prepared mom, I need to be able to love and empathise.

A sticky kiss and sweet bear-hug can make a mom put away all the worries and feel on top of the world....

When my baby wakes up with a smile, I know my day will be good.

The smallest discomfort or pain that my baby experiences can hurt me no end, but I have to be strong and brave for her...

I became a mom and I have learned, nay, I KNOW that I am blessed!!!

5 things about this mom - meme

Hmmm..when it comes right down to it, this is kinda a difficult task....

okay,

1. I love to read, and if the ending of a book is sad, I absolutely HAVE to read another feel-good book immediately

2. Absolutely love to cook and experiment in the kitchen as much as I hate washing dishes

3. Am crazy about my family and they are my reason for living

4. I love to paint and try various craft, but am not very confident about their commercial worth...

5. I believe in God,love, friends and family.