About Me
Hi… I’m SJ! I better describe myself as a loving wife/daughter/sister/friend/blogger and yes, a home-chef for sure!!! Born n brought up in a typical ‘Gujju’ family where I got introduced to authentic and traditional Gujarati cuisine by “Mum”.
As a child, I used to enjoy following cooking-shows, penning down those recipes, cutting n collecting recipes from newspapers/magazines! But suggesting those dishes to mum n eating ’em all was an omen of being big-time food lover only!
Later on, working full-time as an IT professional didn’t allow me to work on my culinary skills except weekends :( But mini vacations during professional career made me dig into culinary world as I wanted! Somehow, I kept myself sticked to cooking n blogging world, on n off though ;) Stepped into a new phase of life with my foodie-hubby!
… since then, cooking has been my 1st passion! I enjoyed this process of self-migration from being “Food Lover” to “Food Blogger” :)
~My Inspirations~
An inspiration source (with no 2nd thought) for me is my husband! Along with enjoying each dish I cook, he cooks his specialties for me too :) His role doesn’t end up here… Most importantly, I appreciate him as the best food-critic!
p.s. He taught me tips n tricks of food-photography, result of which is clearly visible on the blog :)
To me, cooking is a never-ending process of learning… and in this learning phase, my mum, mother-in-law, aunties inspires me a lot! And yes, I’m fortunate to have all food-lovers around… Papa, Brother, Brother-in-law, Sister-in-laws, Cousins, Nieces/Nephews, Friends… and everyone else :)
~Me n My Camera~
Is there a truth behind the expression “you eat with your eyes?” Yes, I think so… ‘coz how appealing your plate looks is the 1st sensory criteria :)
Initially when I wasn’t much into food-photography on this blog, I used to take a phone or digicam in hand n click the pics!!! Since when I started learning food-photography with Canon EOS 50D dSLR, I enjoy clicking-sessions in my kitchen every now n then. I’m still exploring my skills on this which makes my hubby worried about the camera at times! ;)
That’s pretty much all about me!!!
~Stay Connected~
Thanks for stopping by my little world… Would appreciate if you post your queries/feedback to me :)
You can subscribe to get regular updates by providing your email address under a label ‘Email Subscription’ on sidebar.
Always keep in touch via:
Facebook: http://facebook.com/cookingwithsj & http://facebook.com/sjbakeseggless
Email: tocookingwithsj@gmail.com or Ask SJ
Happy Cooking… :)
Congrats SJ for the new blog! The bg photo looks superb :)
Best wishes from the CheenaChatti Team.. Keep rocking…
Thank you so much, Jameela :)
Hi Shruthi,
Thanks foe stepping at my space….. you have a lovely blog with great collection… I am ur new follower… u look gorgeous :)
Hello dear :) Welcome to my cooking space… And thanks a ton for the compliments :P Everyone on this space praises my recipes n clicks, good to hear about me too ;)
Nice to know you.U have a yummy space.
Thanks Subha! Stay in touch by sharing recipes / participating in events :)
Shruthi, so happy to know you and your scrumptious blog. Happy Cooking and Happy Blogging!! Looking forward to stay in touch with you.
OMG.. Such an aweosme space.. How I missed getting here! Better late than never! :) Happy to be here.. Glad to follow you!
Shruti you are very pretty :)
Aaah! Thanks a ton, Nisha :) Glad to hear it as the 1st comment of the day!!! ♥
Hey Shruti! You have a lovely blog! So many recipes, so many activities, and lots of lovely pictures! I will explore at leisure for sure! Looking forward to more! :) And thanks for stopping by at Sugarfree Sweetheart!
Thanks a ton, Priya! Count me in your regular visitor’s list :)
Hi Shruti, discovered your space through a friends blog and I love all that I see here. Great collection of recipes and beautiful photography. Keep up the good work.
Thank you so much, Namrata!!! I just clicked on your page n exploring recipes over there… :) Great to connect with you!!!
Yummy recipes with beautiful photographs, lovely space you have here :). Thanks for the follow!
Hi SJ, thanks for visiting me and your blog is wonderful! Love the photography, something I keep striving to get better at. And great recipes, too! Will definately keep visiting.
Hi honey…have a look I’ve nominated you for the Dragon’s Loyalty Award!
https://shivaaydelights.wordpress.com/2013/12/12/dragons-loyalty-sunshine-wordpress-family-awards-%e2%98%86%e2%98%86%e2%98%86/
I very much appreciate you!
Love D x
Hi , have a look I’ve nominated you for the WordPress Family Award ♡
https://shivaaydelights.wordpress.com/2013/12/12/dragons-loyalty-sunshine-wordpress-family-awards-%e2%98%86%e2%98%86%e2%98%86/
I very much appreciate you!
Love D x
Shruti! I’m sending some love across through the WordPress Family Award! Do take a look here: http://sugarfreesweetheart.com/2013/12/19/passing-on-awards/
Awesome… Thank you so much, Priya :) Have received one more from Dimple, ‘m gonna draft a combined post nowww…
Sure, no hurry. Just wanted to thank you for your interactions on the blog. Do check out the post for my virtual dinner illustration as well. Happy holidays and good luck in 2014!
Hi SJ! your recipes look delish. Love Indian food. I too have a vegetarian website. Think you should check it out: http://veggiechica.com
Are those chocolate strawberries?! I’m so following this deliciously-too-good-to-be-true blog. ;)
On a more sober note, I look forward to going through your blog. :)
Hi SJ, I am head-over-heels in love with your blog!! I never in my dreams thought that one can make such vast varieties of vegetarian foods! Wow, you are an inspiration and I shall surely try out your recipes. I promise, I ll link back to your page every time I post a recipe from your blog :) Keep up the good work!
Oh yeah, amazing clicks too!! :)
Thank you so much, sweetie!!! ‘M on cloud 9, I guess :) Will expect many veggie dishes from ur end too :) Stay connected n yesss, Happy Cooking!!!
I’m glad I found your blog through WP. Beautiful collection of recipes! Will check out all of it.
Hello Dear SJ, I am writing because this is the second time I come to visit your blog and having very difficult time exploring around your blog. When entered in cookingwithsj.com, there is no way of trying to navigate chronologically. For a new comer all they can use is the ‘Search’ if they know what they are looking for. My two cents worth… if you add drop-down ‘Archive’ and also ‘Recent Posts’ to direct people, I’m sure you will have more views/visits.
Thank u for visiting my space! But with respect to the trouble you faced, I must say you didn’t explore it only. There’s a clear widget on right sidebar showing recent posts… As well as a separate page named ‘Recipe Index’ on top menu bar only!!!
Sorry, I guess I was blind. :(
https://shivaaydelights.wordpress.com/2014/01/28/shine-on-award-%e2%98%86/
Hi honey
Congratulations! I’ve nominated you for the Shine on ☆ award. I love your blog…Please have a look at this link above for more details
Much love D x
Hello SJ! Thanks for stopping by my not-so-active blog. You got a nice collection of recipes and thanks for sharing them. Looking fwd to trying them out. Later!
Hi Shruti, I have nominated you for the sunshine awards, please check the link below for details:
http://shamssblog.wordpress.com/awards/
Enjoy :)
Hi there, I thought I should nominate you for an award- Sunshine Award. Thanks for such amazing writes. Please visit http://taleoftwotomatoes.wordpress.com/2014/03/24/sunshine-award/ for details. :) P.S: Not sure, whether this is a No-Award blog, but I felt to pass on :)
Hey dear… That’s definitely not the anti-award blog!!! It’s just that I missed posting the previous awards here :( Thank you so much for a lovely award!!! ♥
You have a lovely blog.. I love especially North Indian dishes.. Visit my blog in your leisure time.. Thanks
Malathi
First time here Shruti…Loved your blog… Nice to meet you virtually :)
Hey Shema, it’s great to see u on my space!!! Hope u enjoy exploring recipes here… ♥
Hey Shruti, thanks for stopping by my blog, leading to me discovering yours :) You have some mouth-watering recipes yourself!!
hey shruti! Looking forward to your puff pastry recipes! :) Keep your blog going! xxx
Thanks a ton, Bandhna :) Will keep in touch with you… Happy Cooking!!!
Hi Shruti so nice to meet you!. Your blog is fabulous and I can’t wait to browse in greater detail. thanks for stopping by my blog so i could find you! :) – Indu
Hi Shruti, I have nominated you for Wonderful team member award. Here’s the link with instructions if you’d like to accept it.
Awards
Thanks for visiting my blog!!
Hi SJ: you have a beautiful blog. I’m excited to be following you- great recipes, great photography. Cheers,
Jess
Thank you so much, dear!!! Just visited your space and started following :) Happy to connect with you… Keep in touch!!!
Hey SJ! You’re blog looks wonderful and looking forward to explore your blog!
Hi SJ, got an interesting blog, keep on going :) Spend your precious time by visiting my blog, hope you would like mine. Stay in touch :)
Hi Shruti, I might be late, but you are an inspiration for me!! Here I am passing you the Very Inspiring Blogger Award, do check out at http://malarmuthu.wordpress.com/2014/08/29/more-awards-2/
Awwww sweetie… Thank you so much :) Will publish it in coming week for sure…
:)
Hey SJ, I found your blog over WHITBIT’S INDIAN KITCHEN and follow you now. Yor pictures are really amazing! Making delicious food is the one thing but to picture the food in a way that the reader can literally understand how the dish is going to taste is another thing. Check my Blog out! :-)
XX & happy blogging, MIENCUISINE
Hey Shruti found you back :) What a delightful blog you have. Loved it. So happy to follow you.
Lovely blog and lovely pictures!! Really loved it! Keep it up!
Hey! Amazing blog. Showed it to my mom too. She will follow you soon. All the best for future.
Great blog and photography .. Great to connect with u SJ :)
Thank you so much for dropping a msg here, Monika!!! I’ll explore your space soon… <3 Keep commenting… and stay in touch dear!!!
Just stumbled upon your fantastic. I will for sure be checking back and trying out some of your delicious looking food!