Ladled

Not the pan but the bread. Today from Desir bakery, I had 'Wheat bran walnut raisin bread'. At first it seemed dry but with a little resting on the desk. It turned into a temptress with a savoring of each bite. At first I saw only the raisins. With the next slices, when my main job was to scout for the walnuts. I felt the crunch. Dunked in tea, the half that I cut off the tall slice wasnt enough. I had to go for another half. Does food taste better when it is shared? whole wheat walnut raisin bread  seems so less sinful than  cinnamon bread . I should try to know the remaining slices from this  point of view .

My MIL told me that she made  allam aavakaya . She does not mean just ginger pickle, it also has mangoes in it, the quintessential pickle of Andhra eating. She also made kobbari aavakaya. So its not just coconut but with mangoes too. As kids when our relatives said they had allam pacchadi, we didnt know that it had mangoes in it too. 

At  Paletas Betty , I was taken by the chocolate. I was thrilled at an opportunity to taste  Mexican hot chocolate drink . I saw huge canisters with chocolate in it, in the shelves. While ordering, I realised this place sold only cold stuff. I like hot stuff better. I had to cancel my order in the head itself. My husband ordered the limon flavor. It reminded me of the icecream I made in my childhood using a freezer. The kind that has ice flakes.

I suppose that a person's first spectacular failure in the kitchen is a kind of coming of age. You could call it a rite of passage. -  T Susan Chang She talks of 'amorally delectable' meals. Involucre Trying to capture the 'green' of the mint in mint icecream without using food coloring, the author makes us realise how when we try to create a dish, sometimes we succeed, sometimes we fail. When we succed we are open to more experiments. When we dont we appreciate the irreproducible. Turkish Yoghurt pastry soul cakes When the buttercream doesnt turn out fine, she dreams of it, asks for advice, finally cuts down the recipe and turns out successful. Regarding goose, she says that chilling the poached goose for a day and two afterward helps to crisp the skin and that potatoes roasted in that released goose fat are delicious. If a woman has to feed children, her cooking skills ramp up. Making sure they get their eggs and veggies. eatyourbooks Cha...

'How is  Pulav  different from  Biryani ?'. My mom asks. This isnt the first time she asked. Last time I didnt know the answer. Today over a meal of  Chicken biryani , its imperative that I know the answer. I search on the web while eating and tell her that pulav is done all together at once while in Biryani the meat and rice are layered. The chicken biryani was flavorful but a blooper in rice - I used 4.5 cups for 3 cups Basmati. It seemed done and rest was supposed to cook with chicken juices. In the end, the rice was undercooked. I have used fried onions too. I made  drumsticks  with olive oil. I have tried this recipe before and was very happy with the result. This time I had bonus gravy. There's still the  chicken tikka masala  to make. I need to make it spicy for my family palate. With the cream, how will I manage that? I finally made whole wheat sphaghetti with a mix of vegetables - potato, carrot, peas, cauliflower, beans (all st...

MFK Fisher  calls kitchen the throne room. "Cooking, preparing food, involves far more than just creating a meal for family or friends: it has to do with keeping yourself intact" - Alice Waters, Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook. My mom would ask my brother if he would eat in the evening. He would say 'not hungry'. Half an hour into her saturday movie broadcasted by the DD, he would announce his readiness to eat. Food is best had when cooked. Its not always that we are in the mood for cooking. It takes work to be the eager cook who pesters with a 'Shall I make pancakes now?'.

I had  cinnamon sticks  from Pizza Hut yesterday. Without counting, I had three. the cinnamon and sugar on the crust make you go for another doughy bite. With Garlic sauce and pepper flakes and some left over pasta that I thought I had done away with months ago, I made a fired up pasta. had to add some soy nuggets and coconut flakes to tone down the spice.  Tortilla crusted Tilapia  turned out to be good on the side with the spicy pasta. From Desir bakery, I had  a huge cupcake or mugcake shall I say. It was so light and airy that with each bite I felt like I was having negative calorie food and feel more hungry for the next bite. Also it felt like I could fly eating that. And then a coffee cake inside  a pastry.