After a busy last week we had a lovely relaxing weekend this past Saturday and Sunday. I spent most of my time planting up spring bulbs and I also worked on dividing a few of my daylillies and bearded iris in the garden. Speaking of gardening, my Aunty Shashi visited me from South Carolina last week and spent three wonderful days with my family (she is an avid gardener). The last time I saw her it was under sad circumstances last fall as her young daughter Tara had passed away unexpectedly, but this year her visit is a more upbeat one as she came to celebrate her granddaughter’s 8th birthday down in Southern California; and then made her way up north to the Bay Area to visit with me and my two cousins. It was a lovely time spent with Aunty Shashi whom I affectionately call Shashi because even though she is my Aunty (My Mom’s younger sister) Shashi is only 14 years older than me 😉😀. Continue reading Three Days with Aunty Shashi + Two Recipes→
A delicious quiche made with flavorful veggies all baked into a crustless style quiche. If you are looking for a light and easy quiche to make that is healthy and delicious this is the one to try. All you do is sauté the veggies, then start layering them with an egg mixture, then cheese, and then bake. The egg and cream mixture finds it way into the veggies and bakes into a fluffy custardy type of quiche. My daughter said it tasted like the Japanese egg custard called chawanmushi 😋. Packed with flavor and light as can be, serve this quiche with a side salad like this kale apple avocado salad and you’ll have the most delicious, healthy and filling lunch. Continue reading Mushroom Pepper Kale Veggie Quiche→
This has to be the easiest salad to make! Just toss kale, apple and avocado together with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. That’s it! The apples release their sweetness when tossed with lemon juice making the salad taste like it was made with a honey dressing, while the avocado gives a nice creamy texture. Hard to believe that something so simple could taste so good, but it does! Continue reading Kale Apple Avocado Salad→
Watsonville, California is often associated with lush farmlands off Hwy 1 on the Pacific Coast. Here one can see miles and miles of farms growing fruits and veggies off all sorts. Strawberries, raspberries, apples, lettuce, kale, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, artichokes, tomatoes, and much more. At its core Watsonville is an agricultural community. But what is often overlooked is that being so close to the ocean, Watsonville also has miles of beautiful beaches. One of these beaches was our destination on a gorgeous fall October morning when my friends Padmini, Rose and I went on a road trip to Pajaro Dunes in Watsonville. Continue reading Walk on the Beach at Pajaro Dunes in Watsonville, California→
I hope you had a good week and are looking forward to a relaxing weekend. Today I would love to share a few photos I took of fall color in my garden. It seems almost overnight that the leaves in my garden turned color this week. Turmeric yellow, red, orange and brown leaves abound and are piling up on the floor. As many leaves are falling and have already fallen, my trees still have plenty of leaves still waiting to drop. All the leaves won’t drop until early January! Yup, we get three solid months of falling leaves 🍂🍂🍁🍂🍁. Continue reading Friday Fall Leaves→
Creamy risotto with farm fresh kale and leeks tossed with Mediterranean inspired artichokes and goat cheese turns a smple arborio rice into a delicious vegetarian risotto full of tangy veggie flavor. Risotto can be made in so many variations, as many variations as the countless number of veggies out there. This combination of vegetables is especially delicious as leeks add such a wonderful green oniony taste while the artichokes add that meaty bite and texture, as for kale and Swiss chard? Well, they are just good for you super greens that when cooked in the risotto add these beautiful flecks of dark green ribbons that in my opinion looks very cool. Mix in some creamy goat cheese and tangy Parmesan cheese and you get this delicious risotto loaded with good for you veggies. Give it a try!
It’s looking like fall around here; temperatures are cooler, leaves are falling, and it’s getting darker earlier in the evenings. This type of weather always gets me in a contemplative mood. It’s times like these when allthough I want to socialize and meet friends, I really want to keep it low-key – you know what I mean? This is the mood I was in when I had a friend over for a simple fall lunch one Friday afternoon recently. Not two friends, not three, but just one. It’s nice once in a while to have a quiet lunch with a friend, it gives us a chance to catch up one/one with each other and relax over comfort food and conversation. Continue reading Upma, Raita and Soup. Lunch with a Friend→
Hi folks, I hope you are having a good weekend! Ours has been a quiet one especially after all the power outages we had the previous weekend, we were happy to be home with electricity and happy to have a low-key couple of days.
Today I would love to share with you a fabulous fall garden project that uses foraged flora and natural garden elements. Are you looking for a creative way to decorate your pumpkins this season? Try this foraged flora pumpkin project that everyone can be a part off. All you need is glue and foraged flora and you can make the most beautiful decorated pumpkin that I promise will look like you purchased it from a high-end florist! Continue reading Foraged Flora Pumpkin Decorating with Friends→
How was your Halloween Thursday? Ours was really nice walking with the kids in our neighborhood. The weather was pleasantly warm and there were a good number of people out and about having a great time. A few streets down the road from us take Halloween extremely seriously and decorate their homes, their entire street, and get all decked out for Halloween. It’s practically like walking in a Halloween street party! It’s all in good fun with everyone having a wonderful time. Here is a look at a few pictures I took of the festivities. Continue reading Halloween in the Neighborhood 2019→
