Ladled

Bombay ice and golden halwa sweets A friend shared these ice halwa sweets. I havent heard of them before. They taste every bit fancy as they look. Thin. Ethereal.

Veggie burger recipe

Baci di Dama (pronounced Bacay dee damah )which translates to Dames Kisses or Ladies' Kisses, are Handmade Italian Chocolate Hazelnut sandwiches taste great with the crusty/ short bready (crumbling) exterior and chocolate layer spread in between. You will not stop at one. Once you are over the high of the texture, you realize tiny pieces of hazelnut too. Novel.   David Lebovitz baci di dama cookies recipe  has the same shape as the ones in the box. so you can satisfy that curiousity of how they were made and enjoy them even more.

Sauteed Cucumbers Lemon cucumber cake

My in-laws made  sweet poori . They attached each layer to the other with butter and went the sprinkling sugar way.

Having just made chicken biryani, I altered plans of making veg biryani to veg pulav.  I started looking at Sanjay Thumma's  veg pulav  which had  a mention of  udupi style pulao  in which the vegetables are deep fried and then added in the end. By then I had already watched a video of  Desi potato korma . I didnt want to boil potatoes, and then thought may be I could fry potatoes or bell pepper and use it in this curry recipe. This udupi style veggie frying and the additions for the korma, converged and thats when I thought that this whole mish mash of somewhere in between udupi style was going to be my ultimate pulav without need of a curry. Instead of deep frying, I did free style frying with lots of oil. I added 1 cup of milk and 3 cups water for 2 cups rice. I could have gone with a little less oil. But the recipients enjoyed the pulav and made all the mental effort worthwhile.

What makes food interesting? Not just the taste,  arrangement  but the story of how it comes to be that you make this something unhad before. Its whats in your pantry, what you are celebrating and so on.. My sister likes fruit cake. There's no butter in the fridge. We are celebrating her birthday. I liked a fruity bundt cake, after much searching and a liking for this  peach cake , I decided to go with  Basic Yellow cake without butter  and place peaches on top. The peaches went for a dive. A dreamy peach cupcake

Found this Smucker's Fruit & Honey Fruit Spread: Blueberry Lemon at Fry's. Peach jewels  didnt turn out sweet, as it was difficult o close them with too much stuffing. But adding this fruit spread on top made it just right. The fruit spread is sweet but not coyingly sweet. Wonder where the lemon flavour is lurking though.

I guess, its boring to wrap the stuffing in rectangles, so they started making triangles.

When I read of the  Impossible pie , I wanted to make it for Mother's Day, as a remembrance of my preschooler getting the meaning of possible wrong but I dont want to correct her with just with one word. Back to the pie, friends loved it. I think if you belonged to the soft crust or the custard or the coconut crunch lover group, you will like it, overlap is bonus joy. I fell 2 tbsp short of butter, Wonder how the taste or texture would have been different.

A friend gave these to try. The diskettes look so perfect cut. They taste good too and remind one of similar looking peda (milk fudge) wafers.

The Real Deal Veggie Chips are real spicy thanks to Sriracha. they are thin shells much like the sabudana appam but even thinner. A good thing about these chips are that they are not greasy like the pea shaped veggie chips.

Thai coconut curry chicken lettuce wraps With coconut strands

Very Chocolate. Very Right.

even though I have made chutney sometimes. Each person seems to have their twist. A friend adds yogurt, another adds coconut. This is Stan's recipe -  I use coriander leaves (cilantro), green chilies, a significant amount of fresh coconut pieces (you can use the frozen coconut, but it has to be “fresh”), mint leaves and a small piece of ginger.  I grind this with the tamarind water to give the “katta” or sour taste needed.  Of course salt to taste and maybe a small spoon of sugar for sweetness. 

Tazo Chai Tea Vanilla Caramel Microwaved in milk Fragrance of Caramel It starts sweet both taste and smell When you think this might be it a sweet, milky tea that passes for a hot beverage the spice kicks in slowly it adds up till you are left in the wake of ginger and pepper

When I opened the sprouts whole grains stash, there was barley and millet in it. I have cooked barley. I took to Millet because it looked like couscous. I put two cups of millet to boil in water and then looked for a way to cook. How to cook perfect millet every time Now I had to wait and see if it was going to be fluffy or porridge. The biggest surprise turned out to be the taste. It tasted exactly like pongal even without moong daal. Now I cant wait to cook the millet in pongal style along with some moong daal and pepper. With Celery, I was going to make  vegetarian kishke  which has to wait. This celery curry here is chopped celery, red chilli powder, cumin, ginger garlic paste and salt.

Sunny Side Up

In went some Indian spices - Cumin, Dhanajiru powder, pepper and salt. Had it with green mirchi chutney and dahi. Tasted like vada. Vegeterian Kishke  can be made with carrots and celery added to the potato pancake mix.

Fry and fry again the science secrets to the double fry

Artisanal plastic japans fake food is a real art I saw plastic food on display at the Taiwan Airport on the way to Singapore and China. This art form is called  Sampuru  or sample.

one a penny two a penny hot cross buns we learnt it as a rhyme

I was curious about the taste of  ULIVjava Martha Stewart "Lean" Mocha Iced Coffee. Its a first for me - coffee mixed with tea. Since its lean, it tones down the creamy expectations from the coffee. A mix of all, it is a light concoction. 

Thekua It is not too sweet, so it is to my liking. When I showed this picture to the neighbour who shared Thekua, he told about Satua . When I told my husband about  Satua ke Parathe  he siad that he know sattu roti.

Paqui Tortilla Chips Nacho Cheese Special are the best. Their huge size makes a statement. They are serious about this. They taste good by themselves or with any spicy dip, or shovel avocado with them. 

Best tea that I had so far. No sour black tea taste. No need of sugar.

Zucchini Frittata

Asparagus Casserole This was a very rushly made casserole. And what happens when you make things in a rush? Forget some thing. In over generalization of a casserole way, I forgot that the asparagus need to be boiled for few minutes. since I skipped that. I had to bake for a longer time. I like the end result but it is far from the perfect good feeling that occurs when you cook in a  relaxed manner. The recipes I looked at needed cream of mushroom. I looked in the pantry for an alternate and found just the right candidate. Campbells Chicken and corn chowder. And for Cheese, I used 2 packets of Annies's Cheddar Cheese powder from a big sash of Costco stuff. I didnt need to sue the cheese, but for the dish full of asparagus, one can of chowder was not enough wet ingredient. All in all, it tasted good. Lemon pepper and  Delallo breadcrumbs  as part substitute for the French onions, led the show. On the side are some squash that got a gentle bake. they will find their way to a f

A colleague's wife made this ultra sweet  hummingbird cake . because of the lots of fruit.. the sweetness seemed more natural. The texture is interesting too.

Have you ever made a side without a main. I just made the scene ready for tomato chutney, but no idlis or dosa. Everyone knows that these sides are delectable and can be had by themselves. While there are times when you know that somethings go well with another.. like sambhar with rice.. They might have a cycle too. Together for a while, decouple even if its contemporarily unthinkable.

Had to cook up some bell peppers.  Pan fried bell peppers  is simple and I have some balsamic vinegar to sprinkle on top too. But what about the strip part? The second level of mandoline width worked. Do you believe in food fads? Looks like quinoa, corn beans in stuffed bell peppers is in. I have been meaning to use up a bag of quinoa. So the way is paved for the fad. Sweet as well as spicy.

Refried bean soup  but with rasam powder (friends home-made). absolute sea for the vehicle of European sourdough bread. You have to debate if you need more sipping/soaking sauce or the bread. On the side is a curry of soaked chana dal with green onions. I have had it usually with onions but husband provided a green twist to it. Right from the first bite and taste, it was classic and original.This happens to be the ooh -aah want more food of the week. Over the weekend, neighbours had us over for momos and the tomato sauce happened to be right in every aspect and it vanished faster than I could drink it. How does food get that perfect point where you know its right. Same recipe. Same person. Same technique and yet sometimes its the best than all the other times.

Kerrygold Dubliner cheese - tried this at Costco with a Multi grain biscuit. I am trying to be open to cheeses. I like dthis one. Between bites, because of the texture, I almost felt like I was eating a milk based Indian sweet without the sugar rush. Yes, I got the 'piquant bite' of aged Parmesan. Some ways to enjoy Dubliner Cheese Dubliner Cheddar Fondue The Spicy Dubliner  which uses the Kerrygold Dubliner The Dubliner dubliner-cheese cheesecake  (my imagination of it being sweet figures..) Potatoes stuffed with caramelized onions and dubliner cheese Mead where cheese is melted with bread

Pirate's Booty, Aged White Cheddar is a nice chesy snack even for the cheese skeptics. Its like cheetos without the colour and melts in the mouth.

Fresh start organic fruit and veggie blend frozen Blended fruits and Veggies. It did not taste like vegetables. It is a fun juice. Love the kale's cool, garnishy look and taste.

Milton's Gluten Free Crispy Sea Salt Baked Crackers are crunchy, not too salty and no funny taste. 

Amaretti Virginia

It all started with a can of Lima beans. I love Lima beans. For lunch, I thought it would be a quick side Lima bean curry. Then my husband said, why not use up the frozen bag of Lima beans. Thus began our  Stone Soup . Then I thought how about some Kale. The Kale has been waiting to be used in  Orechiette with kale and breadcrumbs . Then I thought how about some green onions - playing on the green theme of Lima beans and Kale. The next day I looked up to see how the rest of the world likes their Lima beans with Kale. I love it when the introduction to a recipe talks something about the recipe like this  caramelization of slow baked Lima beans with kale . You can add tomatoes and olives to make a stew like  lima bean stew olives tomatoes kale .

Lachuch  from  Zahav This morning I looked at the  Earth balance natural buttery spread , waiting to be tried and said its bread for breakfast today. Well, there is no bread. The Earth balance natural buttery spread had a picture with he spread on a stack of pancakes. Then I said its pancake for breakfast today. But wait why not try the Lachuch. And there we are.. wait for one hour while the batter gets ready

Ruffled Milk Pie

Blissful quinoa pizza crust with carrot ribbons and shallots

Halvah Mille-Feuilles

Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread came with a Cinnamon Roll Pie recipe.

Strawberry Pomegranate and Rose Petal Mess for a colourful dessert.

Lindberg Rice Chips are crunchy and taste good with the wholesome brown rice flavour. Not too salty.

The magnified picture of the almonds made me think that cranberry was somehow pasted and dried onto the almond. I might have seen cashews studded with sesame, so almonds with sesame is not new. So imagine my semi - disappointment when I realised that cranberry with sesame was seperate and not on almonds. But looks like there's cashews with pomegranate flesh on them. Sahale is a native Indian word that means Falcon.

Black bean recipes

Pie Cell

A few cuts to the pastry sheet before filling and then  balustrade samosa . I called it that because they look like those fluent metal curlicues that appear in balustrades.

Samosa rose like this  Muffin Rose

Zaiqa rolls  with omelette cooked on one side and stuffing are a nice friday evening treat. Today while  I was making spinach omelette and my husband was making chapati, i thought why not mix them and make the Spinach Zaiqa roll. You never know when the inspiration is gonna hit you. Keep Cookin. Once the chapati is cooked, spread your choice of omelette mixture and once it is set, put the omelette side down, to cook it too.

Everything about the book is amazing. From the sesame seeds in a pod picture, how the well is made ready in the tehina for chickpeas (Turkish Hummus, that is chickpeas two ways) how to make tehina green by adding herbs Beets with tehina (you know what colour) Harissa Tehina Date Molasses (Best eaten with Tehina and Toast) Halva made from tehina and sugar Tabbouleh with bulgur Quinoa, Pea and Mint Tabbouleh Moroccan carrots (orange juice, lemon juice) chicken Cigars Fried Kibbe  - chicken two ways Pomegranate glazed salmon Carrot Pulav Persian Rice Green Bean Casserole with Tehina

After looking at this package, as a quick reaction I ate the funnel cake looking thing, expecting it to be savoury. I was mad that it was not. But hey wait, it still tasted good. Then I thought may b its jalebi. But is not soaked in syrup. While going through 'Duff bakes' book, I realised that it was funnel cakes. The coconut soaked sweet things were wholesome. that laddu which is a flour sauteed in ghee..

At the time I bought  Delallo breadcrumbs Italian Seasoned . I didnt know very many specific recipes hat used breadcrumb, other than finding your way with them. yes in cutlets and so but.. Delallo had a  whole wheat penne kale toasted breadcrumbs , which in my mind read as  orecchiette instead of penne as a nod to the cute tiny bag of   Hemisfares Orecchiette  in the house. I didnt know that  toasted breadcrumbs on pasta  was a thing. And who heard of  Lemon breadcrumbs . Meanwhile  Orecchiette with kale and breadcrumbs  for a native recipe. I do like adding savory mixture to my rice. Adding crunchy onions to the biryani. tometo . tomaato So I began to make the Orechiette with Kale but with an idea of the proportion of kale to the orechiette, I couldnt ladle in all of the pasta into the bowl. I had to use the rest in another dish. I added some crushed tomatoes. But that was too watery. Then I thought something needs to go in there. Refried beans perfect. And a thing like this,

I was looking for a variety cabbage curry to make. I found a  Kidney bean and cabbage curry  recipe. Mandoline has changed how I view Cabbage. It is now a very exotic vegetable with strands. The tiny tea cup is from a set that I got my preschooler but I am more enamored with.

After watching  How to Make Creamy Bruschetta Chicken , I wondered where is the  appetiser  bruschetta. And then it ocurred to me that it is a take on the bruschetta with bread.

I have never cooked with coconut milk before but once had a Pulav which tasted so warm. Upon further questioning, the secret ingredient was coconut milk replaced for water in some quantity . Once a friend made guthi vankaya very creamy and the trick was to find the secret ingredient. The taste was rich like some nut.. couscous? turned out to be coconut milk. After finding this 30 minute coconut curry , I added chopped red bell pepper, green bell pepper, Italian Squash (fancy way of saying Zucchini) and Mexican Squash. Used the usual curry culprits - turmeric, ginger garlic paste, green chillies, coriander and cumin powder, chili powder, salt and ofcourse the coconut milk.

These Thinaddictives cranberry almond are perfect with their thinness.Good for dunking in tea/coffee or a la mode. The only thing to keep in mind is the slightly egg taste at first bite which turns into a mild amaretti taste in consequent bites. Have to appreciate the cross-section of almonds and cranberries in the thin both for aesthetic and gustatory value.

I have heard of Stevia from friends and family. I did not know that they come in very small packets for easy portioning of single use. Without the '280 times sweeter than sugar' and a recipe on the back with 4 cups of water good with 1/2 tsp of Stevia, I would have had major intake of it. Just opening the Stevia bag, filled my nostrils with the sweet taste by odor itself. So I used a itsy bitsy teeny weeny amount of stevia, I liked the taste of it. It mixes well. My husband didnt like the aftertaste. If you like to use sugar sparingly, then you will welcome this replacement.

Pasta di mandorle siciliani Crispy on the outside and soft inside. The nut part of it reminded me of Kaaju Katli and the soft part has the lemon blast. Must try. Last time when i got almond flour in a deal, didnt know too many things to do with it. But now I know.

Always fun to try something new. Added very little in coffee. The end sips tasted very gingery.

This Samosa  Crescent Ring  was made with Pepperidge Puff Pastry. I rolled out each third of a sheet into double its size and cut 6 triangles out of it. For this, I used 2/3 of a sheet which resulted in a smaller sheet to fit the baking sheet. Next time, I will make a bigger ring so the inner stuffing shows. When I saw the crescent ring picture along with the initial steps in an email from pinterest, I knew right away that I was gonna make it. 

It looks like some seismic activity here, but this Simple white cake  is soft and melts in your mouth like roasted semolina. I used 1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder so it doesnt taste too chemical. Strawberry Roses

When I saw this Hearts of Palm, I had to try it out. I can see that it has some similarities to artichoke and its unique flavour.  How its made Hearts of Palm  shows you how they are made right from growing the palm tree to the packaging.

With Costco's roasted chicken, its even faster to make. When I put in the spices, I had fun crushing the dried red chillies in the packet before adding it to the curry. As promised it is as hot as it said. The final look of the curry too is as on the packet. The design of the ingredient packets with numbers and very simple instructions like 'Add me' are cool.  No Need of Recipe Guide The curry tasted good.

Made Couscous last night and had it with the  Cabbage Comeliness . and I have noticed that it is very filling (same with corn upma aka polenta). While reading up on it, I came across a restaurant review of  Mombar  which almost made me want to write a surreal book after reading this line ' Pyramids of couscous are served alongside age-old recipes, like mombar, for which the restaurant is named, a stuffed sausage dish that Mr. Sayed’s grandmother used to make.' The story would have someone know that they arrived once they are at the place or something like that will be said by a soothsayer. Come to think of places and realisations while watching the FBI story,  when the scarlet macaws were found, suddenly it hit me about the 'macayo' restaurant.  (Yesterday happened to be a significant day in the movie too) Back to the mombar  Menu . another interesting thing in the review is that each town had their own cuisine.

I dont know how or why, I thought I should use mandoline for cabbage and now I am not going to remember that I used to struggle cutting it otherwise. Mandoline makes cutting so effortless and the outcome is so sightly. It takes very little time to cook because of its even and small size of the cut vegetables. I used it for onions and tomatoes for chicken gravy which looks so consistent now. Are my days of uneven curry gravy behind me?

Yesterday morning I mashed the boiled egg and added some pepper to it on a slice of toasted bread. Cap with another that was my husband's intended breakfast but had for evening snacks. while making that I pronounced that there's mint chutney in the fridge and that should be used in the next sandwich. I also recalled the first time I saw my friend make this sandwich. This morning I applied the green mint chutney on the toasted bread and had to use up a boiled egg and wondered if it would taste good and it being morning. My husband was ok with it. Nothing revs up creative confidence like a willing subject. God made internet so our spouses could be happy.  Chutney egg sandwich  is a thing. I went ahead and sliced the egg  (I so wanted to use a mandoline after Cabbage Comeliness  )neatly and arranged it on the toast. There was an arrangement question because of the way yellow came to one side and the symmetry was lost. If I should be rolling over the white boiled egg slice with n

I never miss an opportunity to try a new pasta. So  Barilla Collezione Pasta, Spaghetti Alla Chitarra with its story of guitar string pasta was perfect for it. Once in a while when I have tomato sauce in the pantry, I use that. I once used  cream of mushroom too in the pasta. One day I will make the white sauce (roux?). Until then, using a can of chicken pot pie soup as the last thing into the sauce didnt seem too far fetched.

I have heard many a baker say that their interest in baking took off with Easy Bake Oven. Lets see what our little eager baker does with this Bake Shoppe. She helped me roll the  Rose aux pommes . She wants to place them once rolled up in the muffin. She wants to help more than I let her too. she wants to roll the puff pastry. She wont even wait for me to read the recipe and sometimes she wants to do those mixings in an unquantified way,

Friends are raving about  Portos Bakery

My friend sent me this beautiful link to  Feta Tapenade Tarte Soleil . Funny part is that I baked and baked the tart for a golden colour that it could never achieve cause yours unbaked forgot to put the egg wash. There will be a smart oven some day which will beep that you skipped a step in a recipe. The stuffing here is what we use in  kajjikayalu . I have fond memories of watching my parents make them. Crunchy and sweet. This one is a slight twist on that as its flaky here. My husband couldnt find the pepperidge farm puff pastry in quiet  a few places. Finally when he found it, he bought four which gave me a nudge to make something new like  Rose aux pommes While it is a way of making something beautiful, its a nod to try something new from international cuisines. I recently read in The Superhuman Mind: Free the Genius in your Brain that you should  imagine a waterfall of milk in the kitchen to remember grocery list of milk  and so on and while going through a gorgeous Fren

 I want to make these  Peach Pie Bites . I saw them at Costco. Finally got around to making them. Earlier I had bought canne dpeaches but still the recipe making didnt come to fruition. For Mother's day my friend got fresh peaches from Schnepff farms, so I took it as a sign that they should be made. The compote taste good. I used  Earth balance natural buttery spread  to make the pie base. I had to eat them with  Fruit honey spread .

My daughter and I watched this  Rose Aux Pommes   after watching  Sapin au pesto  after making a tart soleil. The technique of making  Roses feuilletees aux pommes  thrilled us. I ran out of apples, so made these with kiwi and potatoes. I wanted the savoury ones to have a spicy touch, so sauteed then in oil with chilli powder for a few mins. Having been through a mandline slicer, they were very thin. The left out ones were baked for as long as the Rose aux Pommes, which turned some of them black. i should totally try oven chips now. Making these Rose aux Pomes, I wonder about our fixation with Rose. After making these, i wonder if subconsciosuly we know the pattern of how roses are made and may be its that pattern thats beautiful. After baking the pastry sticks to the outer petals, like it were a pot. Pastry Pots.

Frozen  Cookie dough  used by Subway too.

My neighbour gave these  Farsi puri . By contents they are similar to matri but way thin. we were just having coffee, so great accompaniment.

This  Eggless mawa cake  has been altered a little because I went with liquid evaporated milk. I reduced the milk to 3/4 cup. I used only 3 tbsp of cream. I enjoyed the Reminded me of tres leches cake. For the first time, I used the cream in Paneer curry too. Akkha masoor recipe

It is so convenient to have finely chopped Kale in the fridge. I added it to the upma and replaced it for the green of the peas that I usually add. I even used it in the sphagetti pasta with cream of mushroom soup and green beans in it.

Whichwich We have been meaning to go there for a while. With Carters just next to it, it was a double whammy. Have you noticed that sometime syou go to the old bank or store even though there's a one in the neighborhood that you moved to like zillion of years ago. You order on these sheets. Its like you are taking a multiple choice exam and you need to sit down to ace the test. But imagine if not that, how much the line would be hoarded. I was happy that it didnt have the Subway smell of condiments but it had the fried smell of oil. We ordered a kind of each Sriracha Tuna, bowlwich, whichwich. The Chicken Pesto Bowl had the sauce well married with the greens. I like knowing about the equipmnt being used.  Telequip  for coin dispensing,  Radiant systems  for placing order. Eating places have their music. Thank you Shazaam. They played  The Waifs Lighthouse

There is over powering chocolate and caramel, I welcome the replacement of caramel in place of nuts for a change.

Ladwa with wheat flour, nuts, coconut powder that my neighbour made. A few weeks ago she introduced me to  adadiya made with urad flour which is usually had in winters.

Tastes delicious with those small cut pecans and cinnamon.

similar to  Beanitos Great to eat with dips and taste wholesome too.

A friend made these wonton cups, baked in muffin tins. 

Bought these at Costco. Cooks quick in 4 min. Sounds like the Madonna song.

Salad pockets Had some heated left overs, dried into nice chips. They call me Stacy, thats not my name

After  Ragi cake , I found out about  Ragi Hurihittu

It is always fun to know about new dishes.  dappalam These chips too are made of the same bitter melon. Its fun to know new ways of adding zing to the appetisers with green chili chutney like the one from Dal biji  with cantaloupe and musk melon seeds. Chicken Dosakaya

Sweetie Pie Organics Tiny Wafers Snack for Toddler & Baby, Carrot has a great crunchy, chip taste like that of thinly sliced, fried banana chips. Because of the sharp edges, I would wait as long as possible before feeding them to a 1 yr old. It does come with the instruction that the toddler should sit upright. A softer version would be welcome.

Ragi Carrot and nut cake I looked once or twice to make  Cardamom Cream Cake  but because of the many steps, I passed it. When Ragi Carrot and Nut Cake came across, I looked at few ingredients and thought it might be fine. My sister likes fruit and nut cake around this time, so i thought it might be fit in well. I had just looked at  Ragi dark chocolate cake  but it just used 1/2 cup flour and this one was more than 2 cups flour. So I went ahead with it, I thought it a good time to use  Panela . Everything was fine until I came across the step for grated carrots and potatoes, Potatoes I thought .. must be some mistake. I went to the ingredients list and sure enough found potatoes there. I knew I wasnt going to put potatoes in the cake. I went ahead and doubled the carrots itself. meanwhile, the flour mixture, butter and panels were all looking still crumbled and in need of some wet ingredient. And then I realised that I still had to use yogurt. My little helper said it got hard t