Ladled

Navratan korma

Alton's  Brownie recipe has 2 cups sugar, so I'm going with this  Brownie  for the road trip for friends.

I was reading this book when my friends showed up to surprise me with cake and party for my bday. Its time for  Boston cream pie .

Pike place fish  market has a tradition  throwing fish  that a customer buys. The book has illustrations of it. I remember seeing of it on the Bizarre food show or one of those. I saw a salmon recipe with grapefruit but it was crudo. Mascarpone baked salmon with herbs

I havent tried very many kinds of teas.  My usual is the milk steeped in tea. The first thing I was surprised was by the colours of the tea, the beet root colour of the beet cabbage tea, the orange colour of the carrot curry tea. The beet cabbage had the smell of cabbage and the carrot curry had the slight sweet tinge of carrot. The teas have authentic flavours that we are comfortable with - veggies. And no need to add sugar. I know there's the green tea without sugar but that is not a taste that I have liked yet. Its a drink infused with meal flavours.

After the Tres Leches cake, I learnt that things need their time. I was told that it would taste better if it soaked longer in the liquid. So  Flan  will be done tonight. What U like best about this recipe is that it uses milk instead of the evaporated and the condensed milk others call for. Bought cornstarch yesterday. All this while I have been skipping the recipes with cornstarch. But after my recent debacles of missed frostings, I resorted to it. (In India too, cotton sarees were treated with rice starch to stiffen them after a wash) The  Argo lady  looks like a mermaid. I even bought some colours.

I set out to welcome a new baby with  Pyramid cake . My electric mixer, you heard of it, is not in any working condition. So against the cut into pieces advice, I expected whole butter to magically dissolve into the syrup. I wanted some veneer for the pyramid, so I tried with a fresh batch of creamed butter and after adding a little of the left over solution from previous failed attempt, I liked the taste of the buttercream frosting but it needs to thicken. Next time I will get it right. But everybody liked the cake and thought the frosting added to the cake.

When I saw this rye bread on sale at Safeway, I realised I never had rye.  After tasting it, I realise dit has to be had with accompaniments. Cucumber, salmon and mustard sauce. Rye toasts with smoked salmon cucumber

Paula Dean's coconut flan recipe didnt use real coconut. Twist on the familiars. Flan cupcakes  and  Tres leches cupcakes  from viewers and untested. Marcellas flan recipe does. Cake flour cloaked in the tres leches and coconuts, here I come. I need the recipes to work. I go with  Ree drummond Tres leche cake . trying to make 2 cakes at a time, I missed putting in the milk while making the batter. Correction before putting the cake into the oven. The other cake is  Bruce bogtrotters cake . A picture by picture account of  Tres leches cake  from Drummond.

Basic banana bread  with coconut

After watching  pan seared chicken strawberry avocado relish , strawberry and avocado in the fridge screamed to make themselves useful.

Lomi salmon I was making broccoli and thought why not steam the salmon while the broccoli is cooking. I had the lomi lomi on my mind but wasnt up about raw salmon. I put in steamed salmon, diced tomatoes, orange juice, green bell peppers. Yesterday I made part cole slaw with cabbage, fat free yogurt, white vinegar, pepper, raisins, cranberries, cantaloupe. The dressing belied its humble beginnings. I never thought I would be making this and eating raw cabbage. we love  mysore bajji .

The powder itself reminds me of pizza. I reduced the oil to suit my health needs. I used the resultant mixture as marinade for salmon and used it for pasta too. The seasoning mix results in a taste that is put together.

Yesterday while doing exercise on the elliptical, I was planning for dinner. Boiling the soaked rajma. I wondered if we can make paratha with it.  Rajma paratha  calls for mixing the stuffing in the dough, which surprisingly doesnt impede with the rolling out. But I didnt get the flavor as much. Neither of the roti nor of the rajma. I want to try out the  stuffed rajma paratha  way.

Bordelaise sauce