Happy Tuesday! Hope you had a great weekend! Our weekend was busy prepping for the start of school for our twins, and our annual dinner celebration of Rakshabandan – the Indian sibling festival celebrating the bond between brothers and sisters.
For this festival I usually mail my Rakhi (the thread bracelet that the sister ties on her brother’s wrist) to my brother who lives in Dallas, but this year I was in Dallas for my brother’s big birthday bash and got to tie it on his wrist in person, just a few days early.
Celebrating Rakshabandan with the Bay Area Cousins
In the Bay Area, with the only family here being my two cousins living close by we do our best to get together and celebrate as many festivals and holidays as we can.
But Rakshabandan is special because my cousins Nando and Mahesh and our families have been celebrating Rakshabandan for almost two decades now. This year’s gathering was just as special as always.
Our new tradition of sisters and sisters participating in the Rakshabandan festival continued this year with the girls tying a Rakhi bracelet on each other.
Spanish themed dinner on the menu
Inspired by our recent holiday in Spain I made a Spanish-themed vegetarian dinner for our gathering. When we were in Spain we noticed three things that are a huge part of their food culture – tapas, sangria, and paella.
Based on what we noshed on during our holiday I came up with a menu with the most memorable vegetarian dishes I had on our trip. Here is a look at what was on our Rakshabandan menu this year.
Spain Inspired Vegetarian Menu
Appetizers:
Blistered peppers
Toasted baguette with goat cheese and caramelized onions
Gazpacho
Potatoes bravas
Drinks:
Kambucha Sangria
Red wine
Dinner:
Vegetarian paella
Tomato salad with roasted peppers and mozzarella
Sautéed button mushrooms with Sherry vinegar
Dessert:
Peach plum oat and nut crumble
Here are a few more pics of our Rakshabandan Celebration
Selfies with the girls and the family
Hanging out with smiles and laughter.
The African sibling bond
Our good friend Stella stopped by in the afternoon and tied a Rakhi on Hitesh to celebrate their African sibling bond (Stella is from Ghana and Hitesh is from Kenya) 🌍.
Happy Rakshabandan!
Rakshabandan. Celebrating the bond among siblings.
What a nice way to celebrate the tradition! Looks lovely. all pictures are beautiful.
Thanks
Thank you Basanthi!
Dolly, as usual you left me Breathless with the superb Images of Near and Dear ones in our family and i love the way you celebrate Every Event with such Gliz and Glamor …. You look evergreen in that Lovely Green Saree …
sorry! It should read Glitz and Glamor ….
Dolly !! what a fine tradition… Love it. The pictures are so wonderful. I missed all the fine food. 🙂 It is such a sweet tradition to have the rakhi tying between the girls. love it!!!!
Hugs to you and all at home.
Cant wait to see everyone again.
Meera
Missed you at our gathering! Looking forward to having you back home!
Thanks Dolly. We had a wonderful time as usual BTW I am thinking of recreating your menu items this saturday when my niece and nephew from Seattle are going to be here visiting my sister and us.
Hi Uma, thank you for coming on Saturday and making our annual Rakshabandan gathering so special! I loved the mushroom dish you brought and the red pepper sauce was outstanding! Hitesh and I have been having it with our leftover rice and on eggs too. Its really delicious! Have a great week. Look forward to see all of you at our next get together 😊!
It was a nice evening and great dinner. Thanks.
Hi Nando. Thank you so much for coming on Saturday for our annual Rakshabandan celebration! I loved, loved, loved the card and your lovely note inside 💙!!
Hi Dolly,
Nice post! The pictures tell a nice story of the evening.We had a great time that evening! Glad you liked the saree that Meera bought during our trip to India. Yes, festival season is upon us soon.. time flies!
Hi Mahesh. Thank you for coming on Saturday to celebrate Rakshabandan, it’s such a great occasion to get all our families together and I am so glad we continue this tradition every year.
What a beautiful tradition!🤗🥰
Saved a Rakhi for you my dear sis!❤️
Hi Dolly Today is your Sister Bhanu’s Birthday !!!! She is the Best when it comes to making Dips and Novelty Cuisine .
Nice🎉🎊🎁🎈♥️🤗
So glad you came over and was part of this special tradition!❤️😘