Category Archives: From the Kitchen

Celebrating Festivals, Celebrations & Get Togethers, From the Kitchen, Stories From Our Home

Vegetarian Menu Celebrating Love. Happy Valentine’s Day! 2016

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Years ago in the early days of our marriage Hitesh would take me out every year for a Valentine’s Day dinner.  I expected it. After a few years of following this tradition I noticed something – Valentine’s Day second only to Mother’s Day is the busiest day to go out for dinner.  The restaurants are crazy packed.  Not only are the restaurants swimming with customers, the wait staff is working extra hard, the kitchen staff seems overwhelmed, and there is a constant stream of new customers impatiently waiting to be seated.  Restaurants want you to eat and leave so they can seat the next batch of customers, no leisurely romantic dinner on this evening. It can be pretty chaotic.  So I decided a while ago that while yes, I still want my flowers, and yes, I still want my fancy restaurant dinner – but the restaurant dinner I can take a rain check on for another day.  Instead, I will make a special dinner at home for all of us to enjoy and relax in the comforts of our own home.  This way the whole family gets to be part of the Valentine’s Day dinner. Continue reading Vegetarian Menu Celebrating Love. Happy Valentine’s Day! 2016 →

From the Kitchen, Good Reads, Stories From Our Home

Uma Aunty’s Book Signing Tea

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My Aunty Uma (my Mom’s younger sister) recently published a book on Indian herbs and their healing properties titled Herbal Transformations. Ancient Wisdom Revealed for Health and Longevity. Uma aunty’s book is a treasure for anyone wanting to learn about Indian herbs and their healing properties. Her book has taken years of research to compile, and the end result is an easy to read book on healing herbs that has plenty of anecdotes and personal experiences to make the stories and information on herbs come alive.  Continue reading Uma Aunty’s Book Signing Tea →

From the Kitchen, Good Reads, Quick & Easy Recipes, Stories From Our Home

Ina Garten’s Book Signing

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The twins and I are big fans of Ina Garten and her Food Network show Barefoot Contessa.  We love her program; her personality, her home and garden, her recipes, and how she is always cooking delicious meals for her family and friends. In November of 2012 Ina Garten came to town to promote her new cookbook Foolproof.  I thought it would be a great idea to go to her book signing with the kids. I looked into where she was coming and the closest place was going to be 45 minutes away. I really wanted to take Anjali and Rani for this event, but it was a weekday, I wasn’t sure if I wanted them to blow off an entire day of school for this.  But then as luck would have it my friend Rose called me and said there was a cancellation at one of the other book signing locations and they decided to come to Sur la Table in Santana Row instead!!  This was great news because Santana Row is 15 minutes from our home! Continue reading Ina Garten’s Book Signing →

From the Kitchen, Quick & Easy Recipes, Stories From Our Home

French Press Tea Anyone?

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You’ve all seen the French press, it’s everywhere now.  If you are a coffee connoisseur, I’m sure you have a French press.  It’s supposed to be the best coffee gadget to bring out the delicate coffee flavor.  What I didn’t know is that it can also be used to brew tea. Continue reading French Press Tea Anyone? →

From the Kitchen, Sunday Soups

Cauliflower and Roasted Garlic Soup

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I made this soup the first Sunday of the New Year after the holidays.  It was time to get back into the Sunday Soup routine that I had started last year.  Everyone loved the idea of having soup on Sundays for dinner, and it made it easy for me too to plan the meal for Sunday – it was going to be soup, that’s it! Nothing else! Continue reading Cauliflower and Roasted Garlic Soup →