Avant Garde Cookies - On an epicurean voyage

Unlike many bloggers, I never cooked anything when I was younger. Sadly, I never learned many of mom's classics. The taste lingers in my mouth, but the recipe evades me. I started cooking when I moved away from home for work - first in Chennai and then in US. During that time, I mostly cooked cause I had to take turns. That was my learning phase. There were a few instances where some friends inspired me and we did cook up some yummy meals.

The change came when I got married. I just loved making our dinners. Bought a lot of cookbooks, experimented a lot, entertained friends - It kind of became part of me. For 6+ years my husband has tolerated, appreciated and enjoyed my cooking. Now our little one, all of 3 years, makes my day by saying "Thank you Amma, its soooo yummy" to almost every meal I put on the table :-)

After 10 years in the IT field, I decided to take a break last year and spend some time with my little boy.  That was the time I decided to blog.

Reasons were many -

• I wanted to do more with the time that I have
• Though I like cooking I don't like making the same things over and over. Variety is the key.
• Most important - I cook a lot of food using recipes from friends or relatives, cookbooks or my own versions. I totally forget how I made them. So I needed a place to write down for my reference. 

During this journey (already 9 months), I met a lot of amazing bloggers. They inspired and encouraged me. They say "Way to a man's heart is through his stomach". "Way to a woman's heart is through her kitchen". Lot of these lovely ladies invited me to their virtual kitchen and thus to their hearts. 

Today, we embark on a new journey. We call ourselves Avant Garde Cookies. Avant Garde means experimental or innovative, pushing the boundaries of what is accepted as the norm.

Who Are We?? 

Joining me in this journey are some awesome bloggers. Some I know since day 1 of my blogging, some I met very recently. Let me introduce them to you.

Anusha - Love the wonderful collection of recipes and beautiful clicks in her blog. Above all her infectious enthusiasm to do things.

Jayanthi - She has baked some really mouthwatering stuff. I know where I am looking if I need inspiration for some baked goods!
Kavitha - When I first saw her blog, I was reading her 'about me'. When I finished reading it, I felt like I knew her... She has an amazing flare for writing. Her recipes are so detailed, you can never go wrong with them.

Priya - She is one who came up with the cool name for our group. Amazing recipes in her blog. 

Radhika - She has become a very good friend to me over the months. Her events like bloghop, lets cook and i love baking help me experiment a lot every month. And she always responds when I mail her with questions and encourages me to experiment - especially with my bakes :-)
Veena - I was introduced to Veena thru Radhika's bloghop event which I partnered with her a few months ago. Made Nankatai with her recipe (one of my first successful bakes). It is so popular in my house and in my blog. Do I need to say more?

And you know me!!

What are we going to do??

Every week we will each post a recipe for that week varying from theme based cooking, secret ingredients, recipes from around the world etc. Stay Tuned!!! See you all with recipes starting next week.

Want to be a part of this lively foodie group? Then all you have to do is email Radhika @ ticklingpalates@gmail.com with your name and blog url. Entries will be accepted only be on a first come, first serve basis, provided you agree to follow certain regulations of the group.