I'm Back and Doing a Happy Dance!

Hello Hello! How are my favorite people doing there? Aww, I missed you and I missed Indian Simmer! Its good to be back, not so happy about all the comforts gone and actually having to do things on my own but it still feels good to be back. The last one month spent visiting home was the most refreshing, emotional and much needed time I had to myself. Especially after having a naughty toddler at home, what can a mom ask for more than some time with closest people in her life and peace that the kid is taken care of. Yes, I had no idea where the little monster was when I would nap for hours but trust me she couldn't care less and had a time of her life herself!

She visited the places her maa and papa spent their childhood at, she ate food her maa and papa grew up eating and she was pampered and spoiled by the same people her maa and papa were spoiled by. We laughed, we cried, we ate, we shopped and made tons of memories. Good times! Although I left one home, it is good to be back to another and its good to talk to you again!

Will tell you all about the trip soon but there's something else I'm SUPER excited about today and can't wait any longer to share with you. Here comes the "happy dance"- Indian Simmer has been selected as a finalist in SAVEUR magazine's Best Food Blog Awards! It made it to the final few in the Best Regional Cuisine Blogs category. Being chosen by SAVEUR among thousands and being nominated by you lovely readers is like winning to me! Ok, who am I kidding? I want to win it ALL the way! PLEASE please help me get there and vote for Indian Simmer in the Best Regional Cuisine Blog category! You will need to create an account if you don’t already have one. Voting is open until May 12, and the winners will be revealed on May 17. Thank You so much!

Now a few more good news that welcomed me when I came back home. Indian Simmer was also awarded a Reader's Choice Mom Food Blogger 2011 award by hugely popular Babble.com, an online parenting magazine. Then my Savory Indian Pancakes were picked and featured on the Food News Journal. A couple more projects are on their way but it might be too early to talk about them. Will keep you posted. But just wanted to let you know that it has all happened because of you, your love and your constant support. I owe you big time!

UPDATE: Lovely people from Saveur contacted and informed me that international readers (living outside of US or Canada) can also vote for their favorite contestants now. They are trying to fix their systems but for now  international voters should select USA or Canada as their country, and proceed from there by adding their own address. Once they update the system (which may take some time), they may go in and modify their profiles if they wish. I got so many emails from my friends outside of India who were bummed that they can't vote, now they can. So please help me with your votes! I love you :-)