"MAITRI" - a friendship chain

Hello Friends,

In last few weeks, many of you might have seen posts related to a wonderful friendship chain of food bloggers and non-bloggers alike called Arusuvai. The moment Reshmi and I saw it (and I am sure many of you too), we so wanted to participate in it. But, then when we contacted the creators, we got to know that it is only for bloggers from India. Then, we kept thinking what to do to participate it.

And, what could be better than to start something similar over here in USA and Canada area. So, here we are (Reshmi and I) with this wonderful announcement which I am sure many of you wanted to be part of and would surely participate (I am counting on that, so don’t let me down… lol).

So here we go with the beautiful banner!!

We are naming our chain "MAITRI", which in Hindi/Sanskrit means “Friendship”. This is going to be a chain, where we will have fun with food and make lots of new friendships. 

Here is how it will work. 

The main concept is that bloggers send “Mystery Ingredient” to each other (through regular mail USPS/UPS/FedEx) and then have fun cooking with it. Every blogger, who is interested in this chain will let us know through commenting to this post. As, we have bloggers interested coming in, we will be matching bloggers. It means that matching blogger “A” with blogger “B” and blogger “C”, and then blogger “A” will be sending “mystery ingredient” to blogger “B” and “C”. And then, blogger “B” and “C” will have fun identifying the mystery ingredient (if it is not already mentioned), cook with it, share the recipe with everyone. Then, each of blogger “B” and “C” will send another mystery ingredient to 2 other bloggers. I hope this explanation makes sense. If you have any questions, feel free to send us email or leave a comment and we will clarify.

Here are some basic rules for this chain:

1.       It is open to both Bloggers and Non-Bloggers.

2.       This is NOT restricted to Indian origin bloggers and anyone and everyone who owns a food blogger or a food enthusiast (non blogger) is eligible.

3.       Bloggers and Non-Bloggers must reside in USA and Canada ONLY.

4.       Bloggers and Non-Bloggers will be matched randomly by Reshmi and I and we will notify the respective bloggers. 

5.       Mystery Ingredient HAS TO BE STRICTLY VEGETARIAN (no meat or seafood or related products are allowed. If you have any doubts on whether or not a specific product will be eligible, feel free to let us know.
6.   When you send the ingredient, make sure you don't just send a sample and send at least enough to make one serving of any recipe. For example, try to send one cup (8 oz). or something similar.

7.       The recipe that you will share with all of us which you will make using the mystery ingredient HAS TO BE VEGETARIAN. No meat or seafood allowed. Eggs are allowed ONLY in baking.

8.       The post which you will make for this chain has to have “MAITRI” word in its title and should link to both Reshmi and mine announcement posts.

9.       Using the logo is MUST.

10.       The Blogger and Non-Blogger need to cook and share recipe within 1 week from the date they receive the ingredient. This is just to ensure the chain keep glowing.

Note:  USPS Food Policy (I personally talked to them) - We can send any Food Products (perishable and non-perishable), We can also include dry ice, if needed, but dry ice quantity cannot exceed 5 pounds. When we ship any food items, we must declare it on the package about the food item and making sure they handle it carefully.

We will continue this chain till all interested Bloggers and Non-Bloggers are exhausted. Once the chain is over, we will start a second chain in appropriate time period.

We are hoping a heavy participation. So, keep your requests flowing and let us begin the chain. To start the chain, Reshmi and I will be sending each other mystery ingredients and then we will be matched with 2 bloggers each and proceed with the chain.

In case of any query, contact me at priya.mitharwal@gmail.com or Reshmi at reshrite@gmail.com.

A running roundup of this chain can be found here. You can check the list of interested bloggers and their matching status right now here.

That's all for now. Take care till next post.