In the summer of 2016 we visited family in Kenya, but before heading home to the coastal city of Mombasa we made a detour to stop at the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi.
Continue reading Holiday Down Memory Lane. Visit to The Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi, KenyaImages
Pansy Blossom Ice Cream
Coconut milk or coconut cream is a great alternative to dairy cream and it’s a boon to those folks who are lactose intolerant. I made this pansy blossom ice cream for Rani’s birthday in early March with coconut milk and coconut cream as one of Rani’s friends recently developed an intolerance to dairy.
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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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Beets & Olives Salad with Feta, Super Greens & Lemon Herb Dressing
With a sprinkling of briny olives, tangy Feta cheese, and sweet beets this is a rather eclectic salad.
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Pomegranate, Orange and Arugula Salad with Bleu Cheese & White Balsamic Dressing
Surprisingly the combination of orange and bleu cheese along with pomegranate seeds and the peppery bite of arugula tastes really good together in a salad.
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An English Style High Tea. Cranberry Scones. A Menu Worth Replicating
Here is another scone recipe from my friend Rose for sweet Cranberry Scones. Serve these scones warm out of the oven with some jam, accompanied by hot tea and fresh cut fruit, and you will surely have a perfect Sunday afternoon English style High Tea! Continue reading An English Style High Tea. Cranberry Scones. A Menu Worth Replicating
Veena & Mani’s South Bay Garden Gem
Our friends Veena and Mani have a gorgeous home right here in the South Bay. They moved into their new home a few years ago, and though their home went through a major renovation right before they moved in, the previous owners left the backyard untouched until now. Continue reading Veena & Mani’s South Bay Garden Gem
Iya’s Vitamin Salad with Miso Dressing
My friend Iya brought this delicious and refreshing coleslaw style of salad to our garden party a while back that was enjoyed by all. It was crunchy, sweet and salty, with an Asian inspired dressing. Part of the beauty of this salad is the gorgeous, thinly cut, colourful vegetables. When cut in this way, the veggie flavors come out perfectly in this delicious salad. I asked Iya for the recipe and also invited her to come over and show me how to make her salad. Here is the recipe.
Roasted Pan Sautéed Okra
Okra also called ladies fingers is an interesting vegetable. Growing up my Mom made okra quiet a lot, but I wasn’t always a big fan of this vegetable mainly because I didn’t like the texture of okra. It’s slimy when cut and that’s what turns many people off. But my Mom very often made an okra stir-fry in a well-seasoned old wok that got rid of the sliminess, and to get us kids to eat this very unusual vegetable she would tell us okra is good for the brain, that it makes us smarter, so we ate it slimy or not.
Okra provides about 22% of RDA per 100g of okra (which is about 3/4 cup of okra). RDA is short for Recommended Dietary Allowances that the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences puts out every few years. There is an RDA value attached to each food item. Think about it, 3/4 cup of okra has 22% of a person’s daily-recommended allowance of nutrients – that is pretty high! The many health benefits of okra Continue reading Roasted Pan Sautéed Okra
Swati & Tarak’s Italian Inspired Hillside Garden Retreat
Our friends Swati and Tarak have a beautiful home with an amazing Italian inspired hillside garden right here in the South Bay. This graceful terraced back yard is a wonderful representation of how you can transform a steep hill into a lovely lush green landscape filled with flowers, greenery, trees, and a fruit orchard.
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