Restaurant Envy: Mesir Wat

A few weeks ago, a dear friend and I found ourselves in a quiet Ethiopian restaurant in Washington DC, home to the largest community of Ethiopian immigrants in the United States. We were sighing with relief that we were finally indoors getting a respite from the unseasonal heat wave, and giggling with anticipation of the tasty meal. It was my friend's very first time tasting Ethiopian cuisine and

Lentils with Peanuts

The daily bread for me (like for many Indians) is actually daily rice and dal. I was so excited when Suma announced the Delicious Dals of India event. Adding a few new dal recipes into the dinner rotation can only be a good thing.

Growing up, the everyday dal was the simplest ever- varan. On other days, there was amti. In fact quite often, leftover varan would be converted to amti. Other types

BB4: What's Lurking in the Kitchen?

I have a little quiz for you. Look into your kitchen cupboards, your refrigerator and freezer and raise your hand if you see any of the following:
Open bottles of jams and preserves that have not been touched for months
Ingredients bought for a specific recipe that you have not used again
Foods given to you as gifts but that you never get around to using
Food at the back of the freezer that you

Adaptation Edition Round-Up, and Your Chance to Vote

Here they are- bloggers taking on the challenge, adapting the recipes of other food blogs to fit their own tastes and their own needs. A recipe is a mere suggestion, a starting point, a source of inspiration, how it evolves is up to the cook.

I hope you enjoy reading each post, that you discover new blogs and find new recipes to try. At the end of the round-up you can put in a vote for your

Strawberry Quick Bread and Strawberry Shrikhand

For someone who is not too fond of strawberries, I have surprised myself by making and posting three desserts involving strawberries in the short span of a week. That's because seasonal strawberries are beautiful little things, aromatic and sweet-tangy, nothing like the hard tasteless strawberry-shaped pellets that grace supermarket shelves all year round.

When I have extra fruit on hand, my

A Sunny Weekend

We have had pretty dismal weather here for the past week or two- grey skies, showers and the rest of it. This morning I was shocked to see a bright yellow round object in the sky. Apparently they call it the Sun. It was the perfect day to visit a local Farmers' Market and this week we stopped by Tower Grove Park.

I bought...
Free range eggs which will be used over the next couple of weeks for

A Berry Luscious Treat

It is strawberry season and my friend from next door (mom to Shanti the husky) informed me that she had 2 pounds of plump strawberries patiently waiting in her fridge. She happens to own an ice cream maker and the fate of the strawberries was sealed once we found this easy, gorgeous recipe.

We decided to make the ice cream together by which I mean that Shanti's mom pressed the on button on the

Pesto Pasta Frittata

My huge cooking spree last weekend for the birthday party left me with a fridge full of odds and ends, and this week has been fun, coming up with inventive ways to use all that food and not waste any of it.

I made a big batch of pesto pasta salad for the party, and this morning, discovered the remnants from cooking that dish- some cooked pasta (I boiled more pasta than I ended up using for the

There's An App For That

Think of any occasion where people come together. Throw in a few snacks and appetizers and you have a party on your hands. Here are three apps I made last weekend and all of them passed the taste test, so they made it to the blog. 
The first involves a bright green fruit with a pale green, creamy interior- the avocado. As a bonus, we also have the tender leafy green herb, cilantro. Add to that

My First Bundt Cake

It is always such an honor and pleasure to make a birthday cake for someone. As much as birthdays remind us how quickly time is passing by, they also take us back to being a kid again- blowing out candles on a birthday cake with puffy cheeks and eyes tightly closed as we make a wish. 
Yesterday, V and I threw a birthday bash for our extra-sweet downstairs neighbor, inviting a dozen of her friends

The Winner of BB#2, Etc.

The votes are in, and the winner is jaangri (sweet sticky fried spirals) from Harini of Tamalapaku. Harini, please send me your address if you would like a little gift from me. Congratulations on being the most popular recipe this time around!

I want to thank all of the participants (if I could, I would send all of you prizes because all the entries were fantastic) and hope you will come back to