Ladled

I mixed a 3/4 spoon of Maxwell House International Latte Pumpkin Spice in a half cup of milk. I tasted mild pumpkin. Today I added more and had some lumps which tasted like Horlicks but not as much sugar. Still works to add taste to milk.

I saw one of the individual packets not for sale, in the common area. I had never seen r had it before. I asked a colleague if he had it. He said its good, he likes it but its very sweet. I was very pleassantly surprised to open it and find a parchment paper kind of roll with thin fruit strip stuck onto it. Yes its sweet, thats the dominant taste with some fruit tang. Reminded me of fruit leather like  Naturo Mango bar  or  Mango papad . Why dont we have preservatives other than sugar or salt that are good for health?

I am always looking for flavours to add to milk, so I dont have to add sugar. Ever since I read of matcha in baking, it was a mystery to me. Matcha green tea powder when added to hot milk, added a perceptible taste but thats something that needs getting used too to. There was some green sediments left over . When it comes to baking, even after the high heat action, the baked goods - matcha swirl shortbread cookies and matcha cup cakes had a natural green colour. Matcha shortbread cookies   tasted just like  naan khatai . It is a good option when to make vegeterian baking, when you are meeting someone for the first time and you dont know if they eat eggs or not. I wanted to welcome our neighbours with brownies, in the TV style but they appreciated these even better. Only the swirl got lost because, baking them in the bottom row gave them a brown crust. Phew! all that effort into making two different doughs. Matcha cupcakes

A neighbour made these cinnamon swirl cake bites. The swirl looks good even if it lines the crust. We didnt realise that they were sugar free even after we were told.

Perfect for sending marshmallow messages.

Kroger Dutch hot cocoa mix milk chocolate flavor When I tried it with whole milk, I chalked up the creamy flavour to the milk, but when it tasted the same with 2% milk, I knew it was the cocoa mix. 

Private Selection Double Cocoa  - Hot Cocoa mix with Belgian Chocolate. I tried a tablespoon of it in hot cup of water and some dry milk. It tasted chocolate. Must try.

A colleague said chocolate? I said yes. dark. Peanut butter. Yes and yes. If its Reese, then I dont like the peanut butter. The Justin's dark chocolate is divine and peanut butter is fine. I saved some for my spouse, but I forgot to bring it home. Same battle of trying to get it home tomorrow. You can find it at Costco in bulk or smaller packets of 2 cups at Target.

Yesterday my neighbor made daal from  kwati  which consists of nine grains and is made on special  occasions

The One Organic Sushi nori sheets were easy to take out of the packet and lay them on the paraffin wax paper for rolling. For a beginner, even without sticky rice, we were excited to make the rolls with mashed basmati rice and cooked salmon (even though I am not used to the taste of Salmon). Other ways of using the nori is putting it in salad, cookies or crush them and add it to anything like it was done in tiny instant noodle snacks. Makes for a good party time like any other assembling food options that lends to customisation - like burritos, tacos. we were a bunch of four, so each came up with their own side ideas - adding avocado, soy sauce.

For a party, we catered Badshahi Malai Kofta from  Chutneys . The creamy, pasty gravy was a treat. Malai had paneer in it. Its a cool twist mixing paneer and kofta concept.