Think Ginger round up and announcing the spice for December…

It’s that time of the month again…time to round up all those gorgeous entries that have been piling up in my inbox throughout the last month…and display them for all to enjoy. It was really interesting to see all those numerous ways in which the humble ginger has been used to produce exceptional dishes…from drinks to side dishes, mains, and from snacks to desserts.

But before the actual show, here’s the theme for next month…I hope you’ve got your thinking caps ready…this month’s (December) spice is none other than Cinnamon…

• The name cinnamon comes from Greek kinnámōmon, from Phoenician and akin to Hebrew qinnâmôn, itself ultimately from a Malaysian language, cf. Malay and Indonesian kayu manis which means sweet wood.
• Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum, synonym C. zeylanicum) is a small evergreen tea10-15 meters (32.8-49.2 feet) tall, belonging to the family Lauraceae, native to Sri Lanka and South India.
• The bark is widely used as a spice due to its distinct odour. In India it is also known as “Daalchini”. Its flavour is due to an aromatic essential oil which makes up 0.5 to 1% of its composition.
• Cinnamon bark is widely used as a spice. It is principally employed in cookery as a condiment and flavouring material.
• In medicine it acts like other volatile oils and once had a reputation as a cure for colds.It has also been used to treat diarrhea and other problems of the digestive system. Cinnamon is high in antioxidant activity. The essential oil of cinnamon also has antimicrobial properties, which aid in the preservation of certain foods. Cinnamon has traditionally been used to treat toothache and fight bad breath and it’s regular use is believed to stave off common cold and aid digestion.(wiki)

So, this festive season, get thinking, and remember to think spice… think Cinnamon.

Use it in any form…whole, powder… the guidelines are mostly the same as usual…just a few pointers for more efficient organisation of the event…

• For future events,please send in your pictures(if any) with a 250 pixel width (height does not matter)…the guidelines will also be updated…you can go through them here or refer to my left sidebar.
• Again, while sending in the entries, please do make sure that the pictures have been sent as an attachment.
• If more than one recipe is published in the same post, please send in each picture separately along with the entry.
• Please do make sure that the links to the relevant post has been sent, for it becomes a bit difficult to find the relevant recipe while rounding up, once more have been published throughout the month….more like finding a needle in a haystack

Thank you in advance for your kind co- operation

Now for the round up of all those gorgeous entries…As usual, I’ve tried my best to record them, but if any anomalies are noticed , do leave a message, and it will rectified at the earliest. I am sorry, (being pressed for time) at not to have been able to add the little flowery notes in praise of your recipes, which I normally do. But that does not mean that I have not gone through them..I really have and each one of them is unique in their own way. So, a huge round of applause to each and every one of you who have contributed to make this event a roaring success…there would have been no ‘think spice’ if you hadn’t put on your thinking caps…

As usual, I’m eagerly looking forward to your cinnamony creations next month….but first, take a look at all the following delightful gingery creations…