All posts by surreyfarms.net

Dairy free recipes, Flower Power, From the Kitchen, Gardening, Good Reads

Harvest. Unexpected Projects Using Extraordinary Garden Plants by Stefani Bittner & Alethea Harampolis

2 Comments

Harvest. Unexpected Projects Using 47 Extraordinary Garden Plants by Stefani Bittner & Alethea Harampolis is a fun, beautiful, inspiring, and informative gardening cookbook I recently bought.

img_3466

I pre-ordered this book and I never pre-order a book.  I like to read the reviews and have the book be out for a while to see what people think of it before I get it. But the name of this book got me hooked – Harvest!  What a lovely name for a gardening book.  Harvest speaks volumes just by the meaning of the word – the feel good images it conjures of fields and farms, of flowers and nature.

IMG_3465.jpg

I ordered the book not knowing if I would like it, but that’s the beauty of Amazon. I figured if the book didn’t live up to my expectations I could easily return it. I finally got a copy of Harvest in the mail about a month ago, and with an open mind started perusing this book.  Let me give you just a few of the many reasons why this is a wonderful book to add to your gardening and cookbook collection. Continue reading Harvest. Unexpected Projects Using Extraordinary Garden Plants by Stefani Bittner & Alethea Harampolis →

From the Kitchen, Quick & Easy Recipes, Salads

Super Easy Super Delicious Super Quick Vegetarian Tacos & Taco Salad

Leave a comment

On warm summer days tacos piled high with fresh vegetables and packed with well-seasoned kidney beans is a positively satisfying meal for lunch or dinner. This is the easiest recipe to pull together with the most stupendously delicious results.  These tacos are packed with good for you legumes such as kidney beans, chock full of leafy greens, fresh tomatoes, delicious salsa, sour cream, and a dash of shredded cheese.

IMG_9837

These vegetarian tacos are so good that you will have not just one or two, but three or four. However if you are like me, you will find that this dish tastes even better without the taco shell, as a taco salad.  Try it. Here is the recipe. Continue reading Super Easy Super Delicious Super Quick Vegetarian Tacos & Taco Salad →

Flower Power, Gardening, Stories From Our Home, Travel Logs & Excursions

Banu’s Emerald Green Philadelphia Garden

4 Comments

My sister Banu who lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has a lovely home and a beautiful garden. Banu is an avid gardener just like my Mom and me. But she is crazier than me when it comes to gardening. She enjoys it so much that just like my Mom she will spend hours in her backyard and lose track of time.

IMG_1616

Banu’s garden is lush and emerald green. It’s the greenest garden I’ve ever seen. Continue reading Banu’s Emerald Green Philadelphia Garden →

From the Kitchen, Quick & Easy Recipes, Sweet Treats

Saffron Pistachio Ice Cream

5 Comments

When one has an ice cream maker at home it is so much fun to get creative with ice cream flavors. The best part of having an easy to use ice cream maker is that we can make small-batch ice creams – just enough for one evening. This also means that we can experiment with different flavors in small quantities. The twins and I love trying out new and creative ice cream flavors over the hot summer months.

Saffron pistachio ice cream is a classic ice cream flavor in India called Kesar Pista, which translates to Saffron Pistachio. Used to be I could only find this flavor at Indian grocery stores or at Indian restaurants and ice cream parlors. But now  with my easy to use ice cream maker, making Saffron Pistachio Ice Cream at home has become a breeze.  Here is the recipe.

Continue reading Saffron Pistachio Ice Cream →

Stories From Our Home

Happy Father’s Day!

6 Comments

On this day that celebrates Dads I thought I would share a few quotes from Fathers about being a great Father.

Thoughts From Fathers on Being a Great Father:

The quality of a father can be seen in the goals, dreams and aspirations he sets not only for himself, but for his family.  Reed Markham

I’m a father; that’s what matters most. Nothing matters more. Gordon Brown

To me, having kids is the ultimate job in life. I want to be most successful at being a good father. Nick Lachey

I would say my greatest achievement in life right now – my greatest achievement period is – and I’m still trying to achieve it – is to be a wonderful father to my kids. Bo Jackson

A real man loves his wife, and places his family as the most important thing in life. Nothing has brought me more peace and content in life than simply being a good husband and father. Frank Abagnale

IMG_8966

IMG_0132

Happy Father’s Day!

From the Kitchen, Off the Beaten Path, Stories From Our Home, Travel Logs & Excursions, Wanderlust California

Dinner at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California

7 Comments

We have heard so much about this talked about restaurant here in the Bay Area  – Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California.  The restaurant is so popular that you have to plan at least a month in advance just to make a reservation, and cross your fingers and hope that you can get a reservation. On top of that, there are guidelines for when one can call to make that reservation; one has to wait for the exact day to the month when you want to go for dinner. This is what I did; I patiently waited to the exact day one month before Hitesh’s birthday to make dinner reservations for his special birthday celebration with the family.  I was fortunate enough to make reservations for the day that I requested! This is how we ended up going to Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California. Was it worth the hype and the wait? YES, YES, YES. Continue reading Dinner at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California →

From the Kitchen, Quick & Easy Recipes

Dave’s Amuse Bouche. Goat Cheese Wrapped in Seaweed.

Leave a comment

Amuse bouche is a complimentary, bite-sized portion of savory food served before a meal or in between courses at a restaurant.

IMG_4169

When I invited our friends Dave and Rose to come over for dinner one evening to show us how to make pasta and tiramisu that they had learnt on their Italian holiday in Tuscany; Dave brought an interesting amuse bouche – goat cheese wrapped in seaweed.

img_0577

This was a very unique amuse bouche because I would never think to combine an Asian flavor like seaweed with a western flavor like goat cheese. Dave’s amuse bouche was a delectable little bite that packed a ton of flavor. Here is the recipe.

img_0576 Continue reading Dave’s Amuse Bouche. Goat Cheese Wrapped in Seaweed. →

From the Kitchen, Quick & Easy Recipes

Mushroom Sandwich

Leave a comment

Sometimes when I think of vegetables I can picture them as dainty or dashing, pretty or handsome. Tomatoes for example are beautiful – when they are in the basket with other veggies, all eyes are on tomatoes. While dark eggplant, potatoes, onions, and mushrooms look handsome.

With handsome vegetables like mushrooms and caramelized onions what you have with this recipe is a vegetarian mushroom sandwich that will satisfy the taste buds of all genders.

IMG_9401 Continue reading Mushroom Sandwich →