Memories the Essence of Life ~ Best of 2011!

There are times when you think days are flying and times when you think time just doesn't move. Luckily I haven't felt the latter for a while now. I am not sure if I should be glad or sad about it. The last twelve months have been one hectic period and I have not found time for doing many things.

I know it sounds such a routine thing. I have always said if one wants to find the time, one can surely. True, maybe I just didn't want to find that out myself. I have made sure I have been busy with more than what I can handle most times.

There have been times when I felt that I wasn't spending enough time with my kids. I try my best to spend as much time as I could manage. Well I know they will surely complain when they felt we are not spending time with them. We take them to the park, spend evenings watching movies, I have had them help in cooking at times, helping me with small things that they can do.

At the same time, this is the period for us to work hard, meet our goals, make much more of this life than just living everyday life! So sacrifices in certain areas are expected to happen.

Sometime during the last days of 2010, I thought to myself that I should really make an effort to be more active in Spice your Life! and decided to do a Marathon for 30 days. The group that joined us were so interested that they wanted me to continue, though with a theme. Since doing 30 days was just out of the question I decided on a weekly marathon.

Finally, we settled around a pattern of doing 14-day marathons, making sure my other group's activity Indian Cooking Challenge, doesn't get affected by this. Through Blogging Marathon, I have come to know many bloggers and enjoy a close-knit community that helps out and reaches out so much.

I have been really proud of having got together a group that is so free in sharing knowledge, experience, and much more. A big thanks to all my friends who had joined me in the Blogging Marathon.

I did Breakfast Mela, Sandwich Mela, Condiment Mela, Soups and Salads Mela, and Snacks Mela. And the entries that came my way surely fits us for many years to come!

As I was really busy with Blogging Marathon in Spice your  Life!, I tried hard to be regular in posting here. The highlights would that I managed to observe Navarathri this time and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It really gives one a disciple that's required. After that came Deepavali and for that again I enjoyed making new dishes. Learning traditional Indian snacks and sweets and making sure I record them, gives me great happiness.

It is said life is always a mix of happiness and sorrow. While on a global front, we did see many calamities and casualties, on the blogging front we lost a dear friend. Though I never met Jayasree, it always felt as if we always knew each other.

On a personal front, I lost my maternal grandma recently. She was the person behind many of the traditional recipes that are featured on this blog. Amma learned from her and she passed it on to me. Amma always said she can never make those dishes as good as her Mom's.

Life goes on and we surely make sure to get involved in many things to forget things that depress us.

As always I have lots of plans to execute in the coming year. I am optimistic that at least having goals gets one to be focused.

Ultimately it all boils down to the fact about, not how much and what we did. What really matters is if you gave your best efforts and hanged on till the end!

Give your best, rest will take care of itself!

Each year passing, I sit back for a while and think back on how it was and I always know I can vividly remember each day passing. There have been a few years that passed into oblivion. I know it has been a significant year. I met my childhood friends and it was such a nostalgic time, there is nothing better than meeting your friends you knew so many years ago.

When I spoke to them over the phone last year and met a couple of them, I knew life has come round a circle. This year I met about thirty of them. We have planned for a bigger group next year!

Also finally I thought I liked a tagline for the blog. "Memories that churn food and Tales". For the records, I posted about 277 recipes on Cooking for all Seasons and about 220 in Spice your Life!

I appreciate the support that is shown by the visits and emails. This space if I had wanted it to be just a personal record for my kids, I would have kept it a private one. I enjoy the interactions that happen in this space with my readers, so look forward to reading them.

I wish all my readers a great year ahead!