Sweet!



How many of you watched the inauguration without a tear in their eye or hope in their heart? It was a fabulous moment in history when Barack Obama was sworn in as President of the United States. Our local schools turned on their classroom TVs to let the children build their own memories. Medha tells me that after the crowd started shouting "No More Bush", her class had their own chant:
No more Bush,
Only Trees


What a great day, yes?!

There were more highlights to the day. The Daily Tiffin was nominated as one of the best group blogs on food! Voting is open until Saturday, January 24th at 8 pm EST. So hurry on over and cast your vote if you think since you know we are doing a good job at The Daily Tiffin.

Vote for The Daily Tiffin

Also, Jen's Use Real Butter has been nominated as one of the Best Food Blogs - Overall. How cool is that?! Jen's photography is mind blowing and her recipes are fantastic. She has a wicked sense of humor and is a real sweetheart. Plus she gives warm genuine hugs. So while you're over at Well Fed feeding their polls, please take a moment to stop by the Best Food Blog category and vote for Jen!

Vote for Use Real Butter

I thought that would be all I would need to make you wonderful readers do but there's one more clickety-click that I found about just now! Aimee of the hilarious and well-written Greeble Monkey holds a monthly Greeblepix competition where she gives away $250 in photo rentals from a local Denver photo shop. This is the first month that one of my pictures is in the top 10 finalists. Voting ends Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 at midnight Mountain time so please go take a look and vote for the best picture from those 10 inspiring images.

I want to be free

And when you're done voting, please come back here to celebrate with my version of Saffron Hut's Coconut Burfi. This has been a hit every time I have made, once I mastered the art of making it, that is. My version is richer and creamier as that was the only solution to get the burfi to 'set'.

Coconut Burfi


  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup frozen unsweetened grated coconut, thawed
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream (1 pint)
  • 1 tsp ground cardamom
  • 2 tbsp sliced almonds
  1. Combine sugar, cream and coconut and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently.
  2. Reduce heat to simmer.
  3. Cook until the coconut mixture comes together and is very thick. This takes about an hour for me at this altitude.
  4. Grease an 8x8 inch tray with melted butter.
  5. Transfer the coconut mixture to this tray and sprinkle with cardamom powder and sliced almonds.
  6. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 8 hours.
  7. Cut into 1 inch diamonds or squares and serve as dessert with vanilla ice-cream or by itself.
Notes:
  • The original recipe calls for 1 cup of milk which I have substituted with heavy cream. No matter what I did, the burfi just would not set when I used milk. Also, I was usually left staring at half a carton of heavy whipping cream, wondering what to do with it especially since I do not make butter chicken as often as I make this burfi. Remember that 1 pint is about 2 cups so that little pint carton of heavy whipping cream is the right size to buy.
  • Sometimes I cook the coconut mixture a few minutes too long. That results in a very firmly set burfi. In this case, warm it gently in a microwave for 20-30 seconds or leave it out on the counter for 15-20 minutes before serving it.
  • This coconut burfi is different from the traditional Indian coconut burfi as it is more fudge-like in its texture and very moist.


I hope you enjoy my version of this Coconut Burfi as much as we do!

I went out for a bike ride yesterday - yes! On January 20, 2009! In winter! We had glorious weather - just as we do today with temps almost touching 70F. So I had to make another Obamicon to commemorate just what a great day it was yesterday.



I will leave you on that Obama-high and hope that the new President is able to help fix all that has been undone in the past eight years.

13 comments:

A_and_N said...

I cried too. And I was quite surprised at how I cried for this man. :)

Anita said...

You guys are really fortunate to have such an inspiring leader. When I look at our crop I just lose hope... may be we will be inspired to get a real leader...

Ooooh - double cream....So I should substitute with khoya. I am constantly surprised at how much you have to alter recipes at that level!

Really coooool posters!

Pelicano said...

I love that first poster! But as for that golden pic up on the block, you're gonna whop someone in the eye with your hair a-twirlin' like that...be careful now... :-D

Beautiful burfi- I still wanna try your famous orange one too. Just a few more days of eating nice and then maybe...

...but then again: it is an exciting time in history that needs a bit of celebrating! Cheers!

notyet100 said...

burfi looks yum,..:-)nd loved readin ur post

cybergabi said...

Everything you said. Great about your photo. And that burfi looks yummy.

But the carton size in US supermarkets never fails to amaze me. We usually buy heavy cream in 200ml containers. They even have 125 ml. And those are standards sizes in Europe. Bigger sizes are only available in wholesale stores, where restaurants buy their stuff.

Finla said...

Oh yeas i was stick like a glue wtching theinaguration. Even my daughter was sitting and wqatching which i was really surprised.
I love coconut barfi, one of the sweets mom used to make when she was in a very good mood.
That is to say when we girls at home were very nice ;-)

Rima said...

Oooooh. I love coconut burfi. It is my favorite Indian sweet.

And yes, this is an exciting time in history! It has been a long wait.

Rachna said...

70F!!! aww man, send some warmth this way please..love the obamicons!! they are so coooool, and yes love the burfi, tis the season for coconut and sesame seed (till) burfi... hmmm, and some of us are watching our weight :(

Springer Kneeblood said...

The day was unbelievably wonderful. I have high hopes that, with Obama's intellect, the U.S. will recover our morality and will once again serve as servant to the world, not as an unwelcome would-be tyrant.

Jen Yu said...

I am so happy about our new president and all of the good people he brings into the administration. I just voted for you, hon! :)

bee said...

yes, i've eaten that barfi. it awesome. and congrats on your pic making the final round.

Aspiring Annapoorna said...

The Obama presidency already changed something - we have a new post from you, and we got to see what a pretty lady you really are :)

I really like your blog,and truly appreciate the integration of craft in your lives (in case I haven't said that before)

bee said...

congrats on your winning pic. gear may matter, but relatively speaking the mind's eye for the pic is what counts most. have to work very hard to get up to your skill level. kudos.

yes, certainly a hopeful time with the claims of a transparent and responsible govt. time will be the judge.

-jai