Announcing the "Best of 2007" Event

The end of the year compels a lot of people to take stock of the past 12 months. To think of the highs and the lows and the moments that will go down in their life history as THE moments that defined the year. It compels people to start making lists, and all kinds of year in review lists will appear in the media- best books, best movies, most news-worthy moments, sports records that were broken..

Spicy Cauliflower Soup

Can you believe 2007 is almost over?! It is a little shocking to know that the very last month of the year is only a couple of days away (especially because I still catch myself writing 2006 as the year...I know...I am a little slow on the uptake). It has been a very enjoyable year for me, in terms of cooking. This year, much more than past years, I have had a lot more time to indulge myself in

Cranberry-Date Chutney

This Thanksgiving, I tried to incorporate some typical North American ingredients into the menu. These are foods that I have tasted only after living here in the United States, and have grown to love. The chocolate pecan pie on the menu was studded with pecans and dripping with maple syrup. The third North American ingredient was cranberries. I've been hooked onto dried sweetened cranberries for

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Our Thanksgiving Menu(Gourd candles inspired by Susan, the food blogga)Vegetable Puffs with Cranberry-Date Chutney (recipe coming soon)Olive CrostiniSpicy Cauliflower Soup (recipe coming soon)Garlic-Scented Mashed Sweet Potatoes (recipe below)Wild Mushroom LasagnaChocolate Pecan Pie***** ***** *****I'm looking for excuses to make sweet potatoes any old day of the year, and of course this

Fall Favorite: Chili and Cornbread

Suganya is celebrating a month of Vegan Ventures on her blog. One of my favorite fall dinners just happens to be vegetarian chili, which happens to be vegan, and I teamed it up with some vegan cornbread to make a satisfying Southwest-US inspired supper. A few weeks ago, there was a chili cook-out at my workplace. A few folks who enjoyed cooking brought big crock-pots of chili, some others brought

Pasta Pastimes...

...or Using Your Noodle. Two games to play on a rainy afternoon, using dried pasta from the pantry. Once you are done playing with your food, you can eat it for dinner!Tic Tac ToeTic Tac Toe (known to many as "noughts and crosses") was played here using whole wheat spaghetti to set up the board and some calypso blend pasta as the pieces. Anyone remember playing this game with a friend at the back

Lights...Camera...Diwali!

Images of our small Diwali celebrations this weekend...A Diwali-themed Fabric Mural This gorgeous mural was created as a unique gift for me by my two aunts and a cousin. It is a mixed-media collage: oil painting interspersed with bits of fabric, paper and scraps of embroidery and jewelry. It shows all the small touches that make Diwali so special: the kandeel or lantern in the top left which

Recipe SOS: Thai-inspired Croquettes

It all started when Susan V., she of that sinlessly delicious blog, made croquettes with Thai flavors using pumpkin as a base for these little morsels. The taste of the pumpkin in this dish was all wrong to her, and the recipe needed some urgent help to rescue it from the failed-recipes bin. Susan called out for some emergency edible care by asking: And thus was born this contest. I brainstormed

A Sweet Snack, a Savory Snack and a Sweet Sweet Party Idea

I was in a holiday mood yesterday. Last year, at this time, my life was a nightmare of 18 hours a day spent writing and editing a thesis. This year, I am determind to make up for it by celebrating every holiday and festival that comes my way! All this coming week, I will be making sweets for Diwali, but today, it is a cookie. Biscotti are traditional Italian cookies, and the name refers to the

Mirchi ka Salan

Ever since I wrapped up the Indian Vegetables series, I have been slacking off as far as trying new Indian vegetable recipes is concerned. This is such a pity, because one lifetime is already too short to learn all the recipes out there, and I really should not be wasting time! This week, I tried an iconic dish from the city of Hyderabad in India. Mirchi ka salan consists of bell pepper strips