Fund Drive for Vaidehi Ashram with Raffle

In January Siri of Cooking with Siri mentioned in her Fb page that she went to visit Vaidehi Ashram for Destitude Girls in Hyderabad and that soon she will post about it and I mentioned to her I am looking forward for reading the post.

I remember reading the post and also seeing the pictures of the kids, especially the younger kids, it breaks your heart seeing them, and then that makes one think and  Siri had written in her post that when these kids have their food that not even a single piece of grain is wasted, they know the value of a grain.

Vaidehi Asharam, for girls they are young kids and girls, these kids have no family or sometimes they have a mom or dad but they dont have the means to look after them.
The girls are  taught fine arts such as music, painting, dance and handicrafts .

They are also provided with sufficient knowledge about good food and health which they in turn use to educate and empower women in nearby slum areas, which I thought is quite commendable.

You must read her post it is so touching and I am sure after you reading you will chip into the Fund Drive.
I know my mom used to go to a Orphanage in Cohin for my Dads anniversary and give them food, I also know that her youngest sister who is a widow does it too but then she goes to a home were old people are living.
Last year we lost our mom and I was in India for a while and then when I came back home my sister in B'lore told me they went to a Orphanage few hours drive from b'lore taking with them, rice, legumes, coconut etc... and while they were there they adopted a girl, well you can't take the lil girl to your home you pay for her food,clothes,schooling for each year.

If a donor donates 10$ then you gets 1 raffle tickets which can be used to bid for these Raffle Prizes
Ok you might say I do support other charity etc.... and I agree to you all fully, but  even if you give for other good causes, what is one more, the lowest you can pay is 10 $ and I am sure all of us can spare atleast 10 $.

1 Raffle Ticket = 10 $

2 Contibute Via Paypal or credit. You can donate any amount. Each $10 donation will give you one raffle ticket towards a raffle prize of your choice.

For Example, a donation of $20 will fetch you 2 raffle tickets which can be used to choose on any of the raffle prizes.

3. Once the donation process is completed, please forward your payment confirmation message to info(dot)siri(at)gmail.com, clearly specifying which raffle prize(s) you are interested in. Within 24 hours, your name and contributed amount will be added to the 'Fund Drive Supporters List' at the very end of this post. If you want to stay anonymous, please let me know in advance. For any correspondence/questions/queries, use the comment section or the email address mentioned.

To donate in Rupees:

1 raffle ticket = 500Rupees.

Please send an email to info(dot)siri(at)gmail.com for the bank account details where you can do a direct deposit and participate in the Fund Drive.

The event will close on 25th February and winners will be announced on 27th February via a randow drawing by the Ashram kids. :-)

What are the raffle prizes being sponsored?

Thanks to the amazing support from my blogger friends, you have 40+ raffle prizes to choose from, depending on where you live. All the raffle prizes are listed below in a table format for easy reference. For a more pictorial description of each of them - Click here.

The following raffle prizes make great gifts, and each item will be sent to the winner neatly packed and shipping expenses paid.

Please note that each one of these prizes can be chosen by multiple donors. A lucky dip will be conducted with the names associated and a winner will be chosen by the Ashram kids.

For supporting this Fund raiser I have donated a Cooking Book. The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments by David Lebovitz

If you want this book the code is RE 1

Just think like this,  you were planning to buy a prop for your blog to take better pictures, well don't buy that this time, donate the money for this good cause or was planning to buy something you saw in one of the clothes shop and you don't need it, but you like the color of that top or  shirt well don't buy it this time give that money for the Fund Drive, think about the joy these kids will have when they know that there are people in the world who cares about them.

Daring Bakers January, 2012 Challenge, Back to Basics - Scones

To be honest I am not a huge fan of scones unlike me Hans and Shyama loves it.

When I saw in the Daring Bakers foroum I had plans to make them though, but then days went by and I like to make my DB challenge when Shyama is home, as she also can enjoy them, but she is having exams this month, so she doesn't come home on weekend, as she will loose too much travelling from her place to ours so she has been staying there.

But then two days back it was such a dull day, it was dark, rainy ,windy etc etc.... and I thought why not do the Daring bakers, another reason to do is also, middle of next month I am going to visit my sis for a month so then I might not be able to do next 2 months of DB, unless if I make then in her place.
I do eat them but Hans just love them, well he loves everything which has whipped cream, I on the other hand is not a huge fan of whipped cream.

Mine didn't rise as much , as I added less baking powder by mistake so don't blame the recipe it was my silly mistake.

I think I will make them again once with the correct amount of baking powder.
I served it cold as I wanted to serve them with whipped cream and Jam.
This months Daring bakers is hosted by Audax Artifex.
He is like the Guru of the DB ,everymonth when there is a new challenge you know that he would ahve made the challenge in the first day or two and then he will be there helping with lots of doubts etc.....
Recipe is his own which he made many times to perfect it.

Basic Scones (a.k.a. Basic Biscuits)
Servings: about eight 2-inch (5 cm) scones or five 3-inch (7½ cm) scones
Recipe can be doubled
Ingredients:
1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm/5 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
2 teaspoons (10 ml) (10 gm) (⅓ oz) fresh baking powder
¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1½ gm) salt
2 tablespoons (30 gm/1 oz) frozen grated butter (or a combination of lard and butter)
approximately ½ cup (120 ml) cold milk
optional 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops of the scones
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9.
2. Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. (If your room temperature is very hot refrigerate the sifted ingredients until cold.)
3. Rub the frozen grated butter (or combination of fats) into the dry ingredients until it resembles very coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces if you want flaky scones or until it resembles coarse beach sand if you want tender scones.
4. Add nearly all of the liquid at once into the rubbed-in flour/fat mixture and mix until it just forms a sticky dough (add the remaining liquid if needed). The wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits) will be!
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, lightly flour the top of the dough. To achieve an even homogeneous crumb to your scones knead very gently about 4 or 5 times (do not press too firmly) the dough until it is smooth. To achieve a layered effect in your scones knead very gently once (do not press too firmly) then fold and turn the kneaded dough about 3 or 4 times until the dough has formed a smooth texture. (Use a floured plastic scraper to help you knead and/or fold and turn the dough if you wish.)
6. Pat or roll out the dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle by about ¾ inch thick (15¼ cm by 10 cm by 2 cm thick). Using a well-floured 2-inch (5 cm) scone cutter (biscuit cutter), stamp out without twisting six 2-inch (5 cm) rounds, gently reform the scraps into another ¾ inch (2 cm) layer and cut two more scones (these two scones will not raise as well as the others since the extra handling will slightly toughen the dough). Or use a well-floured sharp knife to form squares or wedges as you desire.
7. Place the rounds just touching on a baking dish if you wish to have soft-sided scones or place the rounds spaced widely apart on the baking dish if you wish to have crisp-sided scones. Glaze the tops with milk if you want a golden colour on your scones or lightly flour if you want a more traditional look to your scones.
8. Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes since home ovens at these high temperatures are very unreliable) until the scones are well risen and are lightly coloured on the tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.
9. Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm. recipe and he tried it so many times to perfect it.