To celebrate Lunar New Year here is a quick and easy stir fry noodle recipe that I have been making for years.
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Valentine’s Day Stay at Home Vegetarian Family Dinner 2018
❤️💞💖💓💗 Happy Valentine’s Day ❤️💞💖💓💗!
Every year a few days before Valentine’s Day my twins ask me this question “What special menu are you planning for Valentine’s Day?” I don’t know why but the question always catches me off guard, because Valentine’s Day usually falls on a week day and I assume that everyone just wants to get on with their homework and studying and relaxing after a long day at work. Every year I ask the kids if they want to celebrate Valentine’s day on the weekend when it is more relaxed, but I get the same answer every time “No. Valentine’s Day is on February 14th, why can’t we have a special dinner on this day? Maybe even a dessert or something?” Continue reading Valentine’s Day Stay at Home Vegetarian Family Dinner 2018
Primrose. A Delightful Winter Flower
Every winter while I am waiting for my garden to wake up from it’s dormancy I stop by the nursery thinking that they will have some colorful plants to brighten my garden blues. And every year the same plants catch my eye – cyclamen, pansies, ranunculus, and primrose. It’s the primrose that I gravitate towards as in comes in lovely shades of the rainbow.
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Cardamom & Saffron Dark Chocolate Nut Bark
Want to make a chocolate bark that looks positively gourmet with an exotic twist to boot? Try making these dark chocolate disks with an assortment of roasted nuts all flavored with cardamom and spice. This recipe is the easiest sweet treat to make with the most decadent of results. I posted a similar dark chocolate recipe with dried apricots and candied ginger a while back Dark Chocolate Fruit and Nut Bark with Apricots and Candied Ginger. In this variation I’ve added a wider variety of roasted nuts along with sweet cardamom, saffron, and smoky maple syrup. Continue reading Cardamom & Saffron Dark Chocolate Nut Bark
Tomato & White Cheddar Soup
Tomato & White Cheddar Soup
Ingredients:
- 2 15oz cans stewed or crushed tomatoes in juice
- 1 white onion finely chopped
- 5 cloves garlic crushed
- 1/2 tsp crushed red chili peppers
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp all purpose flour or any nut flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup shredded white cheddar cheese plus more for garnish
- Salt and pepper
- 5-6 basil leaves
- 1 tbsp herbs such as thyme, rosemary or chives.
- 2 slices of bread for croutons
- 1/4 cup cream
Usha’s Chai Spice Blend
Indian chai is the perfect aromatic and warming tea drink to give you a little pick me up. Chai is made by brewing black tea with milk, sugar, and spices. In the Western region of India in Gujarat, chai is made with a chai spice blend. This chai spice blend can have anywhere from three spices to more than five spices. The most common spices in a chai spice blend are cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and black pepper. These spices create a warming, soothing effect, and also act as a natural digestive aid.
Chai. Indian Spiced Tea
Indian chai also called masala chai is black tea brewed with milk, sugar and a complex blend of herbs and spices.
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Bangles
When my daughter Sri went to Bangalore, India to attend her friend’s wedding recently she asked me what I wanted from there, “Mom, what can I get you from India? Do you want a sari? An Indian outfit?” I told Sri all I wanted were some bangles. Really pretty bangles.
Continue reading Bangles
Carrots, Leeks and Butternut Squash Soup
What makes this soup so flavorful are leeks, sweet carrots and butternut squash all cooked into a creamy broth. These three vegetables are so good together that the soup requires not much else. Just salt and pepper. Try it!
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Quintessential California. The Mission Architecture
Living in California, one can’t help but fall in love with Mission architecture of this area. The white stuccoed walls with red tiled roofs, ornate ironwork, and colorful Mexican hand-painted tiles; these are such lovely characteristics of a warm and inviting architecture. When you combine this style of architecture with the almost all year California sunshine, blue Pacific Ocean, and the rolling hills and mountains that abound here, sometimes one can forget this is America, but rather it can feel like we are in Spain or in the Mediterranean somewhere.
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