The  Torte
My very first posting was a Chocolate Cinnamon Torte. It occurs to me we often post our favorite and best recipes first...and get few, if any, comments. Then they get lost in the shuffle of newer recipes. I was experimenting back then, not sure I would continue or not. It took me a while to understand you get blogger comments (aside from friends and family who rarely comment anyway) after you comment on other blogs. Helloooo. And then I read someplace that over 90% who read your blog don't comment at all. I find that hard to believe, but perhaps you all have an opinion on that astounding statistic.
Anyway back on subject... let's move on to the absolutely, positively MOST DELICIOUS TORTE YOU'LL EVER HAVE.

Chocolate Cinnamon Torte


Ingredients:

2 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1 and 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs (room temperature)
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
4 cups whipping cream
1/2 square grated unsweetened chocolate
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 square of German cooking chocolate (make some decorative curls for the top)

Method:

Prepare the pans: I use 4 cake pans as I can fit this many in my oven at the same time. You will be making 12 cookies so you will cool, reline and reuse the cake pans. Cut wax paper circles to fit the bottom only of the cake pans. Lightly grease the bottom of the pans, put in the wax paper and then lightly grease the top of the wax paper. Set aside.
Preheat your oven to 375°.

Beat the butter and sugar well and add the eggs one at a time. Add the flour and cinnamon. When the dough is well mixed, use about 1/3 cup of dough in each cake pan, spreading it carefully all over the bottom. It will be very thin, but make certain the bottom is entirely covered. Bake for 8-12 minutes. Watch carefully as it burns easily. You want the "cookies" to be a little brown but remove them before the edges darken. You must take them out of the cake pans immediately while they are still soft; with the tip of a sharp paring knife lift up the edge of the wax paper under the cookie and slide the wax paper (along with the cookie) out of the pan. I spread newspapers on my counters as the cookies are greasy and they need to cool. You should have enough dough for 12 cookies.

While the cookies cool, whip the cream, reserving 1 cup. With the remaining whipped cream, layer the cookies, carefully removing the wax paper as you do each layer. I probably spread about 1/2 cup of whipped cream on each layer. End with a cookie.
To the remaining 1 cup of reserved whipped cream, add the unsweetened grated chocolate, the cocoa and the sugar. Place on top of the last cookie layer and top with chocolate curls.

Refrigerate at least overnight as the cookies are crisp and the cake will break if you try to slice it the same day. Overnight, the cookies soften. Serves 10-12 if not more.

The Idea
A friend of mine emailed this to me today. I think it is a fabulous idea and hope you will all join me.
When doing your Christmas cards this year, take one card and send it to this address. If we pass this on and everyone sends one card, think of how many cards these wonderful special people who have sacrificed so much would get. When you are making out your Christmas card list this year, please include the following:

A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue,NW
Washington,D.C. 20307-5001

The Awards
Forgive me for being so slow to acknowledge some awards I have received recently. No excuse for it, really.
I want to thank Shaz from Test With Skewer for the One Lovely Blog Award. It was my first.

Kristy  at My Little Space presented me with The People Love This Site Like Peas Love Carrots Award...thank you Kristy!
2. Lecia at A Day That is Dessert because I simply love her photographs
3. Heavenly Housewife at From Donuts to Delirium because of her sense of fun
4. Kathy at Sweet Up-North Mornings because she is amazingly creative, sweet and from Michigan!
5. TKW at The Kitchen Witch because she makes me roar with laughter
6. Pam at Sidewalk Shoes because I love her cats
7. Buffalodick at Opinions and Rectums, We All Got One because not only is he the first male blogger I followed, but he's a fellow Michigander and that counts for a lot.

And now 10 honest things about myself. 

1. Recently had a hip replacement. Arthritis has also attacked my shoulder. I am putting off doing anything about it. I'm chicken. PS: the hip is fine, I am back to normal.
2.  The Atlantic ocean is right across the street.
3.  Used to love duck hunting.
4.  I work out 6 days a week: step, weight classes and pilates.
5.  My hometown was Algonac, Michigan.
6.  Love and adore my three grown children: two sons and a daughter.
7.  Don't like really spicy food. (It doesn't like me, either.)
8.  Reading is my favorite thing to do, besides the computer.
9.  Love college football. M Go Blue! (Go Lions.) No groans and pity, please.
10.  I've traveled pretty much all over but have two favorite places, both in the Caribbean: Anse Chastanet on St. Lucia and Grace Bay Club on Providenciales, Turks and Caicos.

Thank you, Lucie!

Thank you Claudia!

Thank you Jingle!

Thank you Deana!


Thank you Lyndsey!



Thank you Mia!



Thank you Susan!
Thank you Kris!


Thank you Chaya!


Thank you Lucie!
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Thank you Shaz!





Thank you Juliana!

Thank you Kristy!



Thank you Mia!
Thank you Valerie!



Thank you, Kate!
Thank you Kristy!








Thank you Beth!  and Anula!

   This is an easy pickling process and the taste is so good its polished clean as easily too.    I especially like its color.  It's eye candy and I leave it on the kitchen counter or occasionally on the dinning table and enjoy looking at it everytime I pass by.  The recipe is passed on by my husband's grandmother.  She is a whiz in the kitchen.  It's amazing how she has all the recipes ingrained in her brain and does not consult notes (recipes) while cooking.  You say the word and she will just blurting out the entire recipe. Very fascinating lady indeed!  Fantastic at violin, cooking and sewing I would call her an all rounder.  She is quite old now and unfortunately not too well.  However, I am sure she would be glad to know I am sharing her recipe with you all.  Enjoy it!

This double shade of the onions in the picture below is as its getting marinated but after bottling in 4-5 days all of it gets evenly colored.


Ingredients:
1. Green Chilies
2. Shallots
3. 1 part Water
4. 1 part Vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)
5. Salt


Method:
1. Wash the chilies and let the water dry off completely
2. Peel the shallots and wipe clean with a damp cloth and dry cloth respectively until cleaned dry.  This will make sure the onions will stay longer pickled and not get spoilt.
3.  Boil water and dissolve salt in it
4. Once the water cools down add equal part of vinegar and pour over the chilis and onions filled in a bottle.
5. Keep the bottle tighly closed and it will be marinated enough to eat in 4-5 days

Serving: Its a fun pickle.  You can serve it as it is or cut and add them to your salad.
Decoration: Let your imagination take flight.  Keep them in glass bottles of different shapes and size and they look wonderful enough that your guests will go Wow!
Contributor: Sunitha

We got this cute and sweet award from Bigarade of Bittersweet Bigarades Ramblings

Namitha says: Thanks Sree and Sandhya for this lovely award. Sorry that I am posting the meme so late :-)


1. Where is your cell phone? Don't have one :-)
2. Your hair? Black

We are happy to announce that Sangeetha from Kothiyavunu blog awarded us a 'lovely blog' award.  You can see it on the left side of our blog but we wanted to write a special thank you to show our appreciation.  We are new on the blogging scene and its a great honor to receive this award in such a short span.  All at Collaborative Curry are very excited and encouraged  by this generous gesture from Sangeetha.  Thank you for such a warm and hospitable welcome into the food blogging community.  Thank you all . we appreciate it!

   This award prods us forward to do more and bring you more exciting stuff.  We have been concentrating on mostly Kerala recipe's because most of us are from Kerala and this is comfort food for us.  Also, in celebrating our lives it seemed best to start with a collection of what we do on a day to day basis. However, we do like to play with a pallette of diverse cuisine and bring our experiences to you.  Buckle your seats and be ready to take off with us on a journey through more exotic recipes as the week rolls on.

   We would like to share some awards and celebrate with a recipe for cherry winks. Please accept the awards and spot them on your sites. We thank you all for stopping by, leaving your comments and sharing your token of appreciations through awards.

      The recipe for the day, cherry winks were made during Christmas. I am still sticking to my no sweets regimen and please pray with me I keep it that way for a while. Blogging has gotten me into a sweet binge and I am trying to cut down for a while. Coming back to the topic of discussion the recipe is from my friend who instead got it from her mother. These were collected in a cook book, brought out by the ladies of her neighborhood in Kansas City, in the ‘40’s. They are crunchy and very pretty spiffed up with the maraschino cherries. I hope you enjoy this time tested cookies as much as I do.
  Kreative blogger comes with some rules.  Namitha and I have shared it with you before.  We request everyone who receives the award to follow the rules. 

  Namitha and I am would like to especially thank you guys who gave us these awards.

From Namitha:
Here is the 7 things that people may not know about me :-)
1. Have a love-hate relationship with rain.
2. Love Photography as much as I love cooking.
3. Get nervous about silly things (sometimes) but I face all the extreme situations confidently
4. Value friendships and glad that I have many friends whom I could count on :-)
5.A dessert maniac, and love almost anything that is sweet.
6.All through my life ,this is one sentence I've heard n number of times "you are getting thinner " :D
7.Love shopping for my kids

We were awarded by:
Renuka from love of cooking has shared the creative blogger award
S from Art, Food and Travel Chronicles Also shared the same award
Kitchen queen (Indu) and Soumya has awarded "happy 101"
Kalai of recipes diary shared Kreativ blogger
Spice of Spicebuds has shared Kreative blogger and beautiful blogger awards
Siddhi from cooked dil se has awarded us 'Happy 101' and Beautiful Blogger


Today's Recipe.

Cherry Winks:



Ingredients:
Flour - 2 Cups
Baking Soda - 1/2 tspn
Shortening - 2/3 cup
Eggs - 2
Vanilla Essence - 1 tspn
Dates - 1 Cup chopped
Baking Powder - 1 tspn
Salt - 1/2 tspn
Sugar - 1 Cup
Milk - 3 Tbspn (add less to start with)
Pecans - 1 Cup chopped
Corn Flakes crushed - 2 Cups

Method:

1. Sift flour, baking powder, soad and salt together
2. Cream shortening, sugar
3. Add eggs in and beat followed by milk and vanilla essence
4. Fold in the dry ingredients and mix
5. Add pecans and dates mix
6. Drop a tablespoon each into corn flakes and roll till the doubh is coated. 
7. Place on greased cookie sheet and top with 1/4 or 1/2 cherry
8. Bake in moderate over (350 D F) for 10-12 min
9. Cool and tin the cookies



Notes:  The dough is sticky.  Rolling in the flakes may seem hard, but if you use the spoon and lightly using your finger tip maneuver, you will be fine.

Contributor: Sunitha

We have a light snow fall today that is dressing the naked braches of trees and carpeting the lawns. The asphalt pavement flanked on both sides with the white cottony snow strikes out brilliantly in the scenary. On a cold day like this I love hot rolls dipped in soup and watch the snow flakes gently make its way to the ground.
Two years back, for the first time, I braved the daunting task of making bread and have enjoyed it ever since. Having made dough for the Indian roti’s/ chapatthi’s I don’t find getting the dough together for bread cumbersome. Today’s recipe is even better since it does not call for any kneading. As you enjoy the recipe and read about some awards friends have generously given, I am going to try and stay warm. Curl up on my sofa, read a book and sneek peek out the french window to make sure the picturesque landscape doesn't change. Yes, thats what I will do today.
You be good and bake those rolls to keep you and your family warm. It must be the snow I feel like rhyming.

Active dry yeast - 1 package
Water - 1/2 cup
Shortening - 1/2 cup
sugar - 2/3 cup
whole bran - 1/2 cup
salt - 1 tspn
boiling water - 1/2 cup
sifted all-purpose flour - 3 1/4 cups
beaten eggs - 1

Method:

Mixing the dough
1. Dissolve dry yeast in luke warm water (110 ⁰ F) and set aside
2. Take shortening, sugar, bran, and salt in a mixing bowl and add the boiling water
3. Stir the mixture till shortening is well mixed with other ingredients and melted
4. Set aside to cool to lukewarm
5. Add the ½ cup flour, the beaten egg and yeast mix and stir with the spatula
6. Gradually add the flour and beat well (You are trying to bring all the mixture together though not kneading)
7. Once all of it comes together place it in a greased bowl and roll it around so the dough is greased all around
8. Cover and chill in refrigerator till ready to use (this can be refrigerated for a couple of days and rolled our to make rolls when necessary)
Making clover leaf roll:
1. Make 3 one inch balls of the refrigerated dough and place in a greased muffin pan.
2. Allow it to double in size around 1 ½ to 2 hours



Baking:
Bake in a preheated oven at 400⁰ F for approximately 15 minutes. Please check after 8-10 minutes the first time since oven temperatures may vary. Adjust the temperature if required the next time.

Notes:
1. If you want to bake the rolls the same day chill the dough for an hour and make your desired shape of the dough and bake


Makes – About 18 – 20 rolls

Awards: We are happy to receive this award from our blogger friend Simply life .  We appreciate your generosity, Simply life



Now we would like to share it with some of our friends:
Sangeetha - Kothiyavunu
Priya -Priya's Recipes
Sonia- Nasilemak Lover
Anncoo-Anncoo's Hobby Oraphan-Easy Veggie
Three hungry Tummies
Priya of Priya's easy and Tasty recipes
Oraphan- Easy veggie
Faiza-Faiza Ali's Kitchen
Malar- Kitchen Tantra
Meeso-For the love of food


We have also been awarded by Mausi, Priya and Saju the 'kreative blogger' award.  We would like to share it with


Latha from culinary delights
Shri
Cham of Spice club
3 Hungry Tummies
Vineetha of Malabar Ruchi
Sharmilee -In my passionate world
SE(Denufood)

Rules for accepting this award:


1) Thank the person giving the award
2) Copy the award to your blog
3) Place a link to their blog
4) Name 7 things people don't know about you
5) Nominate 7 bloggers
6) Place a link to those bloggers
7) Leave a comment letting those bloggers know about the award

Keeping my end of the bargain
Name 7 things people don't know about you

1. Hate folding clothes
2. Love the smell of fresh earth
3. Like to walk in the rain
4. Love the idyllic pastoral scenes and enjoy a crowded musical concert with the same passion
5. Collect pine cones like they are precious stones. My husband has forbidden my bringing anymore home but I continue to sneak them in
6. Only like casual clothes
7. Not a fan of the short black dress

Contributor: Sunitha