Chow and Chatter

Valentine potato stamps

2012-02-11T22:47:00.000-05:00

Here's a fun valentines craft idea, simply cut the shape of a heart and kissing lips into potatoes and stamp away. I also got the kiddies to make foot prints to make valentines cards for daddy, the Grandparents and Great Grandparents.

Good memories :-) what are your favorite valentines memories?

British Scones from Short and Sweet

2012-02-10T22:56:00.000-05:00

I recently bought Dan Lepards book Short and Sweet The Best of Home Baking. I love reading the Guardian and often link up the best food articles and recipes to the Chow and Chatter facebook page. I started to follow Dan on twitter some time back @dan_lepard and he's lovely such a warm genuine person. Not only is he an amazing baker and bread maker, he's an award winning one and author of numerous books on baking.

I got this book for my Christmas its excellent and its as he says in the clip below. It can be purchased on amazon but at present shipped from UK hopefully it will come to the US soon.

The best thing about People who are really talented and good people is that people will promote and share their books without being asked. No one gave me this book to review or asked me to do it and he is mentioned on blogs all the time.

I made the scones and they turned out beautifully you can't beat scones with a cup of tea, its a British classic.

I won't put the recipe here without permission but here's a similar one

Vanilla, almond scones

He is so sweet can you believe he even nominated me for the shorty award

Dan Lepard @dan_lepard

I nominate @chowandchatter for a Shorty Award in #foodbecause...she's a good egg. And they're the best sort shortyawards.com/?category=food…

and be sure to vote for me only have till Feb 17th :-) http://shortyawards.com/chowandchatter

go on grab one I know you want one :-)

Have a great weekend everyone

Mahane Yehuda Market שוק מחנה יהודה

2012-02-09T10:06:00.001-05:00

I met David on Twitter @LoneTreeBeer he is fun guy from Scotland now in Israel who loves his Mrs. and has 2 grown daughters and 2 sons. He enjoys good food and often tweets pictures when he visits his local market like he did the other day. I saved them on my phone and asked him for a guest post. As us food lovers love a good tour of the fruit and vegetable market!

I came to Israel, from Scotland, in 1983 - to discover what the country was all about....

I had graduated from Glasgow and London Universities, and so I now wanted to take some time off and do something a wee bit different.

During this year in Israel, I first learnt some basic Hebrew and then managed to get a job in Hadassah Hospital, Jerusalem, as a research assistant.

And I had a great time.

So when I was offered to start a PhD program in Infectious Diseases, I jumped at the opportunity - largely, as an excuse to stay here.

After about three years of research - and becoming totally frustrated with my progress - I decided to take a Sabbatical year.

I learnt Landscape Gardening....and never returned to my doctorate!

!n 1989, I formed my own design and landscaping company "White Flower Gardening"

which keeps me busy - even today.

About 3 years ago, together with another couple, we started developing the idea of setting up a craft brewery.

Like the wine market of ten years ago, the idea of craft breweries was just starting to take off in Israel.

We had all been home brewers before - and we all enjoyed great beer - so we developed a proper business plan for the Lone Tree Brewery ("The Lone Tree" is the symbol of Gush Etzion - the area of Israel, just south of Jerusalem, where we live).

Like most new businesses, the beginning is very hard;

we decided to build a 50 meter building - a nano brewery - as a 'proof of concept' - to develop our own beer styles, to prove that we could work together and to verify that there was a real market for our beer.

After two years, I can now definitely say, that we have now completed this testing stage - we make and sell great beer, albeit in small quantities.

We are now planning our "real" brewery - including a visitors center and pub/restaurant - looking for a great location and working with investors to raise the necessary funds.

This is a work in progress - but we are confident that we'll succeed!

pumpkins

big cabbages

persimmons

strawberries

mini watermelons

olives

fresh lemons

fresh dates, oh wow these look so good

and amazing breads

lunch wish it was mine!

fresh herbs

chilis

So if your ever visiting Israel this would be a fun tour and a great beer to enjoy ;-)

David promoting this beer!

Banana and Nutella Bundt Cake

2012-02-07T23:37:00.000-05:00

I hadn't heard of bundt cakes before moving to America and often saw them on folks blogs or had them at friends homes here. A couple of weeks ago I finally got a pan and decided it was high time I made one.

I can't take credit for this awesome recipe heres the link and if you like these type of cakes this blog is dedicated to them!

In other news please vote for me to get a Shorty award in Social media for food. I now have 167 votes and need at least 204 to be in 6th place in order to be seen by judges.

so what are these awards? -

What do Conan O'Brien, Cory Booker, Sesame Street's Grover, Suze Orman, Ted Leo, Neil Patrick Harris and NASA have in common? Besides being awesome, they're all Shorty Award winners.

The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media, recognizing the people and organizations producing real-time short form content across Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube, Foursquare, and the rest of the social Web.

Every year, millions of people visit the Shorty Awards site to tweet nominations for their favorite social media content creators. All those tweets culminate in a highly anticipated awards ceremony that celebrates the winners in dozens of featured categories, as well as thousands of crowd-sourced community ones. For the second time, the Shorty Awards will also honor the industry's best agencies, brands, and social media professionals.

Nominate RebeccaSubbiah RD for a social media award in the Shorty Awards

Wild Mushroom Soup

2012-02-05T19:20:00.001-05:00

I made this lovely mushroom soup recently it was super easy and deliciously creamy, my little daughter loves mushrooms and loved the pack of wild mushrooms we got that day. She makes me smile as she really likes mushrooms and often picks enoki when we go shopping.

Ingredients:

2 cups of vegetable stock
a dash of white wine
about 2 tablespoon of butter
1/2 an onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic chopped
one pack of baby bella mushrooms and one small pack (about a cup) of mixed wild mushrooms
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup of fresh parsley chopped

Method:

saute the onions and garlic in butter
add the mushrooms keeping a few for garnish and saute for about 8 minutes
add the wine, parsley and stock and simmer for an hour
blend until smooth
season with salt and pepper and serve

and remember mushrooms are super healthy rich in Fiber, Protein, Vitamin C, Folate, Iron, Zinc and Manganese, and a very good source of Vitamin D, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Pantothenic Acid, Phosphorus, Potassium, Copper and Selenium.

Have a wonderful start to the week everyone :-)

Run Rabbit!!!!

2012-02-05T07:22:00.003-05:00

This is brilliant a sheep herding rabbit Champis in Swedish, he must have learnt from the dogs on the farm and he's good :-)

we all need a little clip to make us smile.

Last but not least please see the clip below for why you should vote for me for a Get shorty award in food, you simply vote using twitter. It would be an amazing way to promote food bloggers and dietitians in the world of social media. So far I have 70 and need at least 198 to be in top 6 to be reviewed by the judges by feb 17th

Please help friends, anything is possible :-)

Get Shorty Award

2012-02-04T16:01:00.004-05:00

Hi all so I was nominated for a get shorty award, these are basically like Oscars for twitter, I would love a vote - http://shortyawards.com/chowandchatter

I explain in the clip above why you should consider it. Voting is only open till February 17th :-) so we don't have long.

I am really an underdog but anything is possible right and I would love to use this to promote registered dietitians and healthy cooking at home.

love you all Rebecca

Bruschetta

2012-02-03T15:19:00.000-05:00

Another dish I made New Years eve was bruschetta, I didn't think it would be amazing as tomatoes are not that great this time of year. But it turned out wonderfully and they were all gobbled up in no time at all. I even got away with a good quality can of fire roasted tomatoes as I didn't want to remove the skins. I think the technique of making the garlic baguettes made this dish shine.

Ingredients:

one can of fire roasted tomatoes
4 cloves of garlic
olive oil
salt to taste
1/2 cup of freshly chopped basil
one fresh baguette sliced

Method:

mix the tomatoes with olive oil, salt and basil and keep in fridge for about an hour
rub the cloves of garlic over each slice of baguette to get the essence onto it, drizzle with a little olive oil
then toast on a hot grill pan
add a little of the tomato to each and serve
enjoy :-)

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. Our poor wee Jasmine has been under the weather today with a fever and bad cough lots of TLC and movies, praying she makes a speedy recovery and little Roshan doesn't get it.

And finally it would mean the world to me if you would consider voting for me for a Shorty award in #food, its a social media award related to twitter

Hugs

Meyer Lemon and Blood Orange Lemonade

2012-01-29T18:38:00.003-05:00

This is a super simple drink, a lemonade made with meyer lemons and blood oranges, so don't wait grab them next time your in the store the season is short and sweet.

From Wikipedia - the Meyer lemon is native to China a cross between a true lemon and either a mandarin or common orange. It was introduced to the United States in 1908 by Frank Nicholas Meyer, who collected a sample of the plant on a trip to China. Blood oranges hail from Sicily and were once only served for Royalty their rich color stems from anthocyanin a potent antioxidant and are also a great source of vitamin C and potassium.

Ingredients

juice of 3 meyer lemons
juice of 2 blood oranges
3 tablespoons of sugar

Method:

use a simple juicer to extract the juice of citrus fruits
mix in desired sugar or sweetner and ice
and enjoy :-)

here's a cool link from the LA Times - 100 things to do with Meyer Lemons - stay tuned for lemon curd, I made that last week, so good

and another link for great recipes for blood oranges from NPR

So who else is enjoying citrus season as much as me :-)

Smoked Salmon and Chive Pate

2012-01-28T09:40:00.000-05:00

Here's a simple pate with smoked salmon and chives, I made for new years eve. It was fun to make a couple of party foods and have friends over :-), heres the link it was on the BBC site. After I made this I was thinking I should get a fish mold to make it look prettier :-)

What is your signature party food dish?

Have a great weekend everyone.

Mini Key Lime Pie

2012-01-26T23:36:00.000-05:00

One of my all time favorite desserts is Key lime pie, I always have one every time I go to Florida :-), I recently made peppermint creams with Jasmine mainly as she loves using cookie cutters and coloring them, they were hardly eaten but had fun making them. I looked on the side of the condensed milk and saw a recipe for key lime pie, so easy. I just had to make a couple of mini ones, I used digestive biscuits (British cookies) for the base and garnished with some peel.

Ingredients:

4 digestive biscuits crushed
2 tablespoon of butter
about 2/3 of a can of condensed milk
juice of one lime and some peel for garnish

Method:

crush the biscuits mix with melted butter, line a couple of ramekins
and bake for 5 minutes at 350
meanwhile mix lime juice with condensed milk
add lime mixture to ramekins and put in fridge over night
enjoy the next day

This would be fun to make ahead for a dinner party :-)

Is there a food you have to have when you visit a particular place?

Have a wonderful weekend everyone

Cajun spiced yogurt sauce

2012-01-25T16:14:00.001-05:00

I made this simple yogurt sauce to go over my crab cake sandwich and just had to share the recipe.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of plain yogurt
1/2 teaspoon Cajun blackening seasoning
a wedge of grated cucumber
little fresh lemon juice
a pinch of sea salt

Method:

mix it all together and add to your sandwich and enjoy

Baked Egg with Spinach and Tomato

2012-01-23T22:59:00.003-05:00

I am hooked on baked eggs, they are so good can't believe it was taken me this long to make them. I think I read about them on a blog and went to bed thinking about them, I remember reading something along the lines of the eggs, bake while the coffee brews :-)

So I got up that Sunday morning on a mission to make them this recipe is inspired from the BBC good food site. Its easy to do and really makes breakfast special. It's also good for brunch or even lunch, I made a mushroom one the other day!, its funny as when I shared the picture on the chow and chatter facebook page Erin commented that I am hooked, she's right :-)

Ingredients:

2 eggs or how ever many you would like
ramekins, I am also told they can be made in a muffin pan
one cup of spinach
2 cloves of chopped garlic
olive oil
one tablespoon of butter
5 cherry tomatoes chopped

Method:

saute the spinach in olive oil with the garlic until cooked
add a little butter to the bottom of the ramekin and add the spinach and a couple of chopped tomatoes
break the egg into the ramekin with a little butter on the top
and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until cooked with the egg yolk slightly runny for dipping :-)
enjoy straight away with hot toast and coffee

Is there a new recipe your hooked on at the moment?

Turkish Delight Jellies

2012-01-21T21:15:00.001-05:00

I made these Turkish delights recently, but I am calling them jellies, they are easy to make and taste like Turkish delight but jelly like in texture, I had a suspicion such an easy recipe was too good to be true. After all the professionals in Turkey have been making it for hundreds of years, I can still taste how good it was from the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul :-)

Heres the link for the recipe, its worth making for the taste but for the candy making pro's out there do you know how I can get a firmer texture?

Is there a food you have had on a trip that you will never forget?

Hope your all having a good weekend, I took the kids to an Indian cultural program today it was fun. The Go Social app is going well, if you have it and wouldn't mind leaving a review on itunes, it really helps :-) thanks your friend - Rebecca

Thoughts on Being an Entrepreneur

2012-01-20T23:04:00.001-05:00

Here are a few of my thoughts on being an Entrepreneur what do you think?

Caramel Panna Cotta

2012-01-19T08:08:00.001-05:00

I made my first panna cotta a couple of weeks ago, hats of to blogging for continuing to inspire me to make new things. I adore creme caramel so I figured why not combine the two :-)

Ingredients

1/2 cup (240 ml) whole milk
1/2 packet unflavored powdered gelatin
1 1/2 cups of cream
2 tablespoon honey
1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar
pinch of salt
about 2/3 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of water

Directions:

heat the water and add the sugar stirring all the while, slowly increase the heat till its boiling after about 5 minutes it will start to brown remove from heat and add to the bottom of 4 ramekins
add milk to a bowl and sprinkle gelatin over the milk allowing it to dissolve and stand for 5 minutes
add milk to the saucepan and heat but not boiling, about 3 minutes.
add the cream, honey, sugar, and pinch of salt, stir and make sure it doesn't boil for about 5-7 minutes
remove from heat, pour into ramekins or any desired container, let it cool then put in fridge over night
carefully remove from ramekin and enjoy :-)

This would be a wonderful dessert to make for a dinner party as it can be made ahead of time and will surely wow your guests :-)

So who's made panna cotta and what kind did you make?, I want idea's for next time he he

Hugs

Introducing Go Social

2012-01-17T22:09:00.000-05:00

It is with great pleasure to introduce Go Social mine and Nadine's Social media tips app, here's me talking about it and a cool demo of how it works from Nadine :-)

It would mean the world to me if you know anyone who would like to have some easy tips to get them going with social media if you would share this post and app with them. I love social media and it has enriched my life, created paid work for me and connected me with amazing people. I hope this app will really help folks get the most of social media for personal and business use and most importantly to have fun with it.

here's another fun pinterest find :-)

Lotus Root Stir fry with Noodles

2012-01-15T22:34:00.000-05:00

So here's another recipe for lotus root, I used it in a simple stir fry and mixed with Chinese egg noodles, and vegetables we love meals like this in our home.

Ingredients:

1/2 a pack of lotus root
1/2 cup of shrimp
1/2 a bunch of broccoli chopped
one teaspoon of ginger/garlic paste
2 tablespoon soy sauce
a dash of sesame oil
2 tablespoon oyster sauce
1/4 cup of fresh Thai basil - if you can get it :-)
one cup of chopped baby bok choy
one packet of Chinese egg noodles

Method:

heat a little canola oil and add sesame oil
then add the ginger/garlic paste
and the bok choy, broccoli and basil cook for 7-10 minutes
add the shrimp cook for 3-5 minutes until cooked add sauces
meanwhile boil the noodles then combine
serve :-)

Other news my social media tips app is now available on itunes

stay tuned for another post with a demo :-)

Dried flower fairies

2012-01-14T12:05:00.000-05:00

Here's a super simple craft idea for little ones, first select some flowers, these were some of the last ones' we had in the fall, place between two pieces of paper and lay two very heavy books on top, hubby's medical textbooks worked great. They will dry out in a few weeks. Then cut out a little person shape and add flowers like a dress :-)

Have a fun weekend everyone :-)

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

2012-01-12T10:09:00.001-05:00

I made a lovely new friend recently called Kristen, she emailed me to ask me questions about being an Entrepreneurial dietitian to a talk she was giving to students. She is a wonderful diabetes educator and personal trainer. She even volunteers on the board of a food pantry in Clemmons an area she doesn't even live in. Through her I made contact with them and volunteer by helping with their social media fell free to follow on twitter @Clemmonspantry. She came to visit me one day and brought me a lovely pineapple such a treat I chopped it up and thought wouldn't it be cool to make mini pineapple upside down cupcakes. They turned out really well and were wonderfully moist.

Ingredients:

2 small eggs
4 oz of self raising flour
4 oz sugar
4 oz butter
a about 1/4 cup of icing sugar
1/4 of a chopped pineapple or enough to add a few chunks to the base of about 8 cupcake papers

Method:

cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
add the eggs and flour
meanwhile line a muffin pan with cupcake paper and add a few chunks of pineapple to the bottom of each
then add the cake batter to about 1/2 way up to allow space to rise
bake at 350 for about 15 minutes
if desired make some icing by mixing icing sugar/confectioners sugar with water and top with a cherry

Do you do any volunteer work?

Tips for Pinterest

2012-01-10T09:24:00.001-05:00

Here's a tutorial with my tips for using the social media site pinterest and a link to a great mashable guide, happy pinning!!

this image comes from pinterest, couldn't find the original source on there.

Lotus Root and Peanut Soup

2012-01-08T22:07:00.000-05:00

I went out for lunch recently with fellow ladies who tweet :-) in Greensboro and after lunch me and the little man, went to the Asian market there's a great big one there called Super G. I spotted a bag of lotus root and couldn't resist getting a bag I had seen a soup on Biren's blog Roti and Rice , but I lacked the pork to make the stock. So after a fun chatter on facebook, I decided to make miso soup with it. It is an aquatic root of the lotus flower low in fat, high in vitamin C, fiber, potassium, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B6, phosphorus, copper, and manganese. This root has a neutral in taste and had a great crunch.

Ingredients:

1/2 a pack of vacuum packed lotus root from the Asian store
one sachet of dashi soup stock
a couple of handfuls of peanuts
6 strips of seaweed broken into smaller pieces
2 tablepoon of white miso paste

Method:

soak the sachet of dashi with hot water in about 3 cups of water, its like a tea bag for 2-3 minutes then remove
mix in the miso paste with the stock/dashi and another cup of water
add lotus root and peanuts and boil for 15 minutes
near the end add the seaweed
enjoy

So has anyone had lotus root before and do you have any more recipe idea's for me :-)

Hugs

5 Spice Panko Crusted Sole and Big News

2012-01-06T11:53:00.000-05:00

Here's a super simple recipe great for busy evenings, I coated sole in panko and 5 spice and pan fried it and served with bok choy and rice, really good. This will make a regular appearance on our diner table :-)

Ingredients:

3 fillets of sole thin fish works best
about a cup panko
one teaspoon 5 spice
one egg beaten
a little salt and pepper to taste

Method:

dip the fish in the egg
then roll in panko, 5 spice and salt and pepper
fry in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes each side

Bok Choy

3 small bunches of bok choy chopped
a dash of sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar
one tablespoon oyster sauce
one tablespoon soy sauce

Heat a little canola or olive oil in a pan, add the seame oil and ginger/garlic paste, then the bok choy, soy, oyster sauce, sugar
cover with a lid and let it steam for about 5-7 minutes

Have a wonderful weekend everyone, things are good with us, little Roshan is now 4 months and I have started to introduce tastes of food, blending carrots and freezing in little batches, pears, and zucchini next :-)

Jasmine feeding her baby brother

and other BIG NEWS -

I am releasing another app for iphone with a friend and colleague Nadine Fisher - with social media tips basically an extension of the e book but now featuring tips from some amazing experts in the field such as Craig Kanalley social media editor for NBC news, Sree Sreenivasan, Professor/Dean of Journalism at Columbia University and technology and social media expert are also included. Also included are tips from Tonya Hall, host of a social media radio show, and Neal Shaffer, social media speaker and author. The app also has tips from other media savvy nutrition and health professionals including Elisa Zied, a registered dietitian, 3-time author, blogger and media spokesperson and Keri Gans a registered dietitian, author and media expert. The app will help you to learn to make meaningful connections, grow your business or personal brand and have fun with social media.

Stay tuned we are nearly ready to submit to apple I can't tell you how excited I am and honored that such big names kindly offered tips to be included :-)

Spicy Tapioca and Peanut Snack

2012-01-03T22:19:00.000-05:00

Here's another fun recipe using tapioca pearls, the same day I was tweeting about how to use them, someone mentioned that she makes a savory Indian snack with them. I think its from North India as my hubby has not heard of it, but it went down well as it was al gobbled up:-)

I just found out from the chow and chatter Facebook page from under the photo what this dish is called :-) - Sabera - sabudana khichdi yum

Ingredients:

one cup of tapioca pearls
about 1/2 cup of peanuts
2 red chili's
a little butter or ghee
a pinch of cumin seeds
a few curry leaves
1/4 cup chopped coriander/cilantro
salt to taste

Method:

soak the tapioca pearls over night, they will absorb the water and become soft
heat a little butter in a pan and add the cumin seeds, chili and curry leaves
after a minute add the tapioca pearls and partially ground peanuts (I used a coffee grinder, we now have two coffee grinders as we use one for spices) and finely chopped coriander/cilantro
add salt to taste and enjoy

Here's to lots more new recipes in 2012 :-)

Hope your all having a great week :-)

Cool Trick for Removing Avocado Stone

2012-01-01T20:08:00.002-05:00

This is a Cool Trick for Removing Avocado Stone, you may already know it but just in case you don't here you go :-)

Hugs

Tapioca Pudding and #Welcome2012

2011-12-31T15:39:00.000-05:00

So the bridal shower we all did for Nelly was so much fun Sanjeeta decided we should all do another for new year, with a new recipe and a look back at our favorite recipes from last year. This year has been amazing for our family with the arrival of our son, we are now blessed with a boy and a girl and couldn't be happier, parenthood is a fun ride:-)

So here's a new recipe for you - when my Mother in Law left in the summer she left a bag of tapioca pearls and me being me, I decided I was going to have fun learning new recipes with them. I made a tapioca pudding first it was delicious and my toddler loved it I think she was fascinated by the little balls inside. Tapioca is basically a starch made from the cassava plant and is a great thickening agent. Stay tuned for another tapioca recipe using peanuts and spices a tasty Indian snack.

Ingredients:

one cup of tapioca pearls
about 2 cups of milk
a handful of raisins
a few nuts to garnish, I used cashew
2 tablespoon of golden syrup

Method:

soak the tapioca pearls overnight
then boil about a cup with 2-3 cups of milk for 7-10 minutes
add the golden syrup and raisins
and serve

tip - it tends to solidify on sitting to have more, measure out desired portion heat for 30-60 seconds in microwave and add a little extra milk.

Here are are few of my favorite recipes, all new to me from last year :-)

Aloo Saag

Shrimp egg drop soup

Key lime Cupcakes

Dark Chocolate Mousse

and my amazing little daughter sampling it:-)

one of her new toys from Christmas day :-)

and little Roshan

Here's to new dishes and fun in 2012 -

"The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of mankind than the discovery of a star." -Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Much Love and Hugs

Arabic Shawarma with Pita

2011-12-26T22:35:00.001-05:00

I was browsing food blogs last week and came across a wonderful Shawarma recipe , It looked pretty easy and I adore Middle Eastern food. she has the most delightful Dubai based blog with first class photography and cute pictures of her little daughter. I marvel at food bloggers with small children who manage to get good pictures. The day I took this picture I had made pita from scratch as we don't live in an area where we can get fresh pita. The hubby was watching the kiddies while I cooked and by the time I had finished I had a couple of minutes to snap a picture!

The link to the recipe is above and for the pita I used that link but instead of using the oven I cooked it on a cast iron grill pan a great tip from Lisa . Overall I enjoyed the meal the pita were decent for a first attempt, its taken me years to master chapatti so next time they will be better, I loved the taste of the chicken and the lovely yogurt, mint and cilantro sauce. This dish brought back memories of our brief visit to Dubai.

Here's me enjoying tea in an Iranian restaurant this place was cool, called Apple in an office building with great food and views.

with the driver of the jeep safari if you visit Dubai this is a must

Outside of a pretty Mosque, I wanted more of this and basically ancient culture. Dubai to me lacked this, modern city with very little ancient buildings this was one of the oldest mosques and only dates back to the 1970's. I enjoyed Turkey much more for this.

Camels, back in the day the people in this area were bedouins living in the dessert.

No trip to Dubai is complete without a trip to the gold shops the picture says it all! even a lot by Indian standards we actually stopped in Dubai on our way back to the UK from India three years ago after attending my brother in laws wedding.

I would say its worth visiting for a layover for maybe a couple of days but not as a destination, but that's of course my humble opinion.

So where do you wish to travel to in 2012?

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T20:40:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone much love, Rebecca

The clip below is a fun idea, of a modern day social media nativity :-)

Craft: Tabletop Christmas Tree

2011-12-23T22:14:00.001-05:00

Here's a simple Christmas craft, a table top christmas tree as everyone is making final christmas decorations for Christmas day :-)

and the label below says it all

For Laughs: Cat and Bird play in Snow :-)

2011-12-21T10:21:00.001-05:00

Just because we all need a laugh, thinking of you during this special season in the hustle and bustle be sure to cherish the gift of today and remember God loves you

Hugs

Golden Raisin Tarts

2011-12-19T17:05:00.001-05:00

When I was growing up one of my favorite desserts my Mum would make was treacle tart, a tart lined with golden syrup (pure cane syrup from the UK and can be found in a lot of US grocery stores), mixed with bread crumbs and baked - gooey sweet and so good.

I found these lovely golden raisins and decided to make mini tarts with golden syrup and raisins, they turned out great. I gave most of them away as I don't need to eat them as trying to lose weight after the little guy arrived. I am just having the best fun inventing baked goodies, endless possibilities.

Ingredients:

8 oz flour
pinch of salt
4 oz butter
cold water to mix about 2 tablespoon
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup white bread crumbs
1/2 - 1 cup golden syrup enough to coast raisins and bread crumbs

Method:

sift flour and salt into a bowl
mix in butter by hand until it resembles fine bread crumbs
add cold water until it forms a paste
roll out to and link a muffin pan
fill with the raisin, bread crumb and golden syrup mixture and add a little criss-cross of pastry over the mini tarts
bake at 400F for 20 minutes or until pastry is golden.

Is there a fun food item you are having fun experimenting with at the moment?

Borscht

2011-12-18T09:27:00.000-05:00

I was tweeting a while back with the lovely Mdivani (I know you must be thinking Rebecca is addicted to twitter :-)) he had mentioned making Borscht and I asked him for the recipe. He very kindly emailed me his Grandma's recipe and she is Russian. I made it according to his directions the only different is I didn't add any sour cream, not keen on it and made a smaller amount. It was easy to make and a great soup.

If you love fashion, travel and food he's a great person to follow, he's a designer by trade now a blogger and awesome interviewer. He is the real deal and one of the nicest folks on twitter - @ladieswholunch1 and his blog

Borscht

Ingredients

8 cups Vegetable Stock
2 1/2 cups uncooked beets cut into julienne strips
1 cup finely chopped uncooked beets
1 cup finely chopped carrots
1 cup finely chopped onion
2-3 Tablespoons Sugar (to taste)
1/2 Teaspoon Salt (to taste)
2-3 Tablespoons red-wine vinegar (to taste)
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1 1/2 cups Sour Cream

Method:

Put 5 1/2 cups of the vegetable stock in a large pot. Place the remaining 2 1/2 cups of vegetable stock in a saucepan and add the julienned beets. Simmer covered over medium heat about 10 minutes. Strain the julienned beets out of the stock and put aside. Add the bee/vegetable stock to the rest of the stock and bring to a boil. Add the chopped uncooked beets, carrot an onions to the stock. Stir in the vinegar, salt and sugar, tasting as you do to get the flavor you like. Over medium heat, cook covered for 15-20 minutes or until vegetables are soft.

Now here is where you get to decide, because my grandmother did it both ways:

For a smoother soup, strain out the vegetables and discard. For a chunkier soup (my preferred) leave them in.

If serving hot, gradually stir in the lemon juice and the sour cream until smooth then add the julienned beets back into the stock and simmer for another 10 minutes.

If serving cold, let stock cool then chill. When ready to serve, add the lemon juice and then gradually add in the sour cream until smooth, then add the julienned beets back to the mixture.

I serve it with Sour Cream on the side for extra dollops when serving. Or!! Serving hot, I sometimes don't add the sour cream to the mixture at all and just put dollops into the bowl when serving (when doing this I add the julienned beets back into the stock without the sour cream addition).

Have a great start to the week everyone

Boulder Locavore Guest Post: Persimmon Pudding with Hard Sauce

2011-12-14T06:15:00.019-05:00

I am thrilled to introduce Boulder Locavore to you, she is amazing and I have really enjoyed tweeting with her, she is also a Mum and has been so uplifting as I would mention being tired with two little ones. I have always been a fan of her blog, her passion for local organic foods and knowing where it comes from. She tells wonderful family tales with her recipes and is a must follow blog.

I was completely flattered when cyber ‘Gal Pal’ Rebecca asked if I’d do a guest post for her. I don’t recall what she’d just read of mine that inspired her request but I seem to recall it was a madcap tale swirling around food.

I also don’t recall how we first connected though know it was on Twitter. I appreciate Rebecca for so many things. Her culinary focus and her culinary reach are two starters that caught my attention early on. When I first began to read her blog I was fascinated by the chef interviews and her worldly awareness and interest. She’s plugged in, this girl. Our bonding truly crystallized earlier this fall over my obsessions of anything Anglophile or anything I can infuse in a jar basically. I became smitten with things like Hedgerow Gin and Sloe Gin, voraciously researching fruits of the hedgerow and what liquor I could make with them. Rebecca would throw me a bone when she found one in the form of any links with such recipes; I suspect both out of kindness and to watch my puppy-like antics when receiving a link for something like Wild Plum Gin Sorbet (which I made immediately).

All kidding aside, I really respect Rebecca and all of her talents. Social Media maven, dietary aficionado and committed Mom of a wee tot and newborn. I remember those oh-so-painful days of no sleep and smiling faces ready to start the day when I had never experienced a sleep-filled night.

A quick note on me. I live in Boulder Colorado with a food focus of local, seasonal eating, hence my blog name of Boulder Locavore. I am also gluten free as well as have a serious case of wanderlust so draw from my travel experiences when preparing my food. I also choose all organic ingredients whenever possible (which is quite easy where I live) but am one who believes everyone needs to choose what is best for their needs and budget. Of late, I’ve been enjoying prowling through multi-generational family recipe boxes, finding and preparing vintage seasonal dishes. Food does bind us all and I love the idea I’m eating something my Great Grandmother had prepared a century ago.

When I would travel through the UK anytime around the holidays I’d always bring home a Christmas Pudding (and jarred Hard Sauce). Christmas Pudding is a bit like a souped up fruitcake equivalent for those in the U.S. It’s steeped in booze so literally can be kept for a year before eating. When I found a recipe for Persimmon Pudding with Hard Sauce in my Grandmother’s recipe box I knew I wanted to make it for this post. A bit of a nod to Rebecca’s UK heritage interwoven with my passion for all things vintage and seasonal.

I will admit both that I had no idea what to expect when making this and that I was thrilled with the outcome. Americans will associate the term ‘pudding’ with a creamy, gelatinous dessert but this is truly the form more of the UK experience. More like a dense cake, perfectly seasoned with holiday signature flavors without being ‘too much’. And let’s face it; anything with Hard Sauce can’t be beat.

PERSIMMON PUDDING with HARD SAUCE

The original recipe indicates to put the pudding in a mold to bake however I elected to use individual ramekins. If cooking in a mold, either solid or tubular, I would check the pudding at 30 minutes by sticking toothpick in and watching the browning on the exposed surface for doneness. If the toothpick is clean, it’s done. It does brown but should not over brown on the top. Slice and serve on a plate with hard sauce. Also the original recipe indicated to grease a mold. I did not grease the ramekins and had no issue; greasing the mold would probably be a good idea.

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

· 1 cup flour (I used gluten free flour)

· 1 cup sugar

· ¼ teaspoon salt

· 2 teaspoons baking soda

· 1 teaspoon cinnamon

· 1 cup peeled, seeded, mashed persimmon pulp (approximately 2-3 large persimmons)

· ½ cup milk

· 2 tablespoons butter, melted

· ½ teaspoon vanilla

· 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (I used a mix of the two and it was delicious)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Mix together with blender or by hand flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon.

3. Add to dry mixture the persimmon pulp, milk butter and mix until well combined.

4. Stir in the vanilla and nuts to the mixture and fully combine.

5. Fill ramekins* 2/3 full and bake on a cookie sheet for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and top has begun to brown.

*I used 4-4 ounce and 2-6 ounce ramekins.

HARD SAUCE

Ingredients:

· ¼ pound (one stick) unsalted butter, melted

· 2 cups confectioner’s/powdered sugar

· ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

· 1 egg white, beaten

· ½ cup cream, whipped (I hand whisked the cream to ‘lift’ it but not to make it peak)

· 1 ‘jigger’ (ounce) of rum

Blend all ingredients and serve with the Persimmon Pudding.

I thank you Rebecca for this opportunity and hope you can sit back and enjoy with a cup of tea. And to you, her dear readers, thank YOU for your time and I hope you’ll enjoy the recipe. Please pop by my blog to say ‘hi’. This cake would go perfectly with another of my Great Grandmother’s recipes I have on my blog right now ‘Designated Driver Egg Nog’ (my title, not hers)….providing you’ll be walking to your next stop!

Apple Chips

2011-12-13T08:54:00.001-05:00

Here's a wonderfully simple recipe got the inspiration from Nelly :-) Cooking with Books. Lovely for seasonal apples and would make a great snack food to nibble on at holiday parties :-) A much healthier chip a great source of vitamin C and fiber.

Ingredients:

2 large thinly sliced apples, I used a mandoline
a large baking sheet to lay them on, you could slice and bake more apples if you have a bigger oven and more baking sheets :-)

Method:

slice apples
bake at 225F for 30 minutes each side until crisp
sprinkle with cinnamon for a festive flavor :-)

Heres our christmas tree :-)

and a picture of my darling boy to make you smile :-)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone :-)

Tips for Expats at the Holidays

2011-12-13T08:41:00.000-05:00

Tribute to Mums

2011-12-10T14:26:00.001-05:00

So I was having a tough day today, hardly any sleep the night before and just exhausted hubby was away on a guys trip. Then I saw this tweeted, it made my day, I believe this is how God speaks to us to pick us up when we are down through the words of others

This one is for all the Mums and Dads

Craft - paper plate reindeer

2011-12-10T11:59:00.001-05:00

Here's another fun craft idea for Christmas, please forgive the baby crying all the parents will understand ;-)

Have a wonderful weekend all

Hachee a Dutch Beef Stew

2011-12-10T11:58:00.001-05:00

I got this wonderful recipe from Kay of Kayotic kitchen after I started tweeting that I wanted to learn some Dutch recipes. She tweeted me this saying its a staple comfort food for Dutch folks, I enjoyed the addition of apples and molasses in the recipe. I must confess it was a little different compared to a British stew in taste a little sweet but its so much fun trying foods from different countries.

Here's the link to the recipe and your sure to enjoy her blog - Kayotic Kitchen - Hachee

I served it over polenta sometimes I like a change from mashed potatoes and it worked well :-)

What new cuisine have you cooked recently?

Baked Banana for Nelly #Nellysbigday

2011-12-07T09:35:00.001-05:00

“And …I said YESSSSS!”

It happened one November midnight, in Twitterverse, we saw this tweet from our dear Nelly @nella22. Without missing a beat, we all knew Nelly had “said YES” to her beloved “M”,as she sweetly calls Brian Murray, her fiancé.

So here we are,Nelly dear, your friends in the food world, wishing you and Brian,all the best. And with our wishes, a simple recipe with an easy formula for a life of bliss, rich with EVERYTHING in it!

BLOGGERS RECIPE FOR NELLY ‘S WEDDED BLISS

Mix together: A lot of Love, Patience, Perseverance, Respect, Courage, Strength, Trust, Kindness, Honesty, Compromise & Great Sex.

Stir in : Equal Parts of Love, Support, Faith, Fidelity, Hope, Validation, Friendship, Forgiveness, Communication.

Cook over slow simmer for the rest of your life. Dot daily with a Sense of Humor.

Leave out the nagging, sarcasm, skepticism, doubts and stubbornness.

Serving Suggestions: Best prepared daily. Serve with flourish because Married Life is a FEAST. Live it with flavor, spice it with unconditional love, enjoy its richness.

Recipe Notes: Some ingredients won’t always be fresh or available. Or the heat may flare up and the anger spills over. Simmer down and douse the flames with all the LOVE you can throw in.

Enjoy the feast of marriage, love and life!

(Written by : Elizabeth @Mango_Queen)

Here is my little message for you sweet Nelly and a super simple recipe I just had to do something with banana's for Nelly :-)

Baked Banana with chocolate and Nuts

Simple slice a banana, add a few pieces of chocolate and some peanuts wrap in foil and bake at 350 for 5-10 minutes

Unwrap and enjoy :-)

This is also great on the grill or when camping chocolately gooey goodness :-)

LOVE YOU NELLY CONGRATS

This is my recipe/post for the virtual bridal shower for Nelly hosted by Sanjeeta kk at Lite Bite.

Special thanks to Heather for the logo, Elizabeth for the intro write up and to Junia for the spreadsheet.

Miso Marinated Chicken (tori misoyaki)

2011-12-06T23:24:00.001-05:00

This wonderful recipe was inspired by a conversation on twitter I asked if folks had more recipes using miso and someone tweeted this to me ;-) and in the process I discovered another awesome blog for Japanese recipes - Just Bento

Ingredients:

4 pieces of chicken I used thighs
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoon sake
2 tablespoon miso

Method:

mix miso, sake and sugar together and cover chicken with it
marinate overnight
cook on a grill pan i used cast iron for about 4 minutes each side allow it to brown
then transfer to an oven and broil for a another 10 minutes or longer until cooked.

Serve with rice and vegetables or add to your bento box :-)

Review of Wenzani Travel App

2011-12-06T16:14:00.001-05:00

Here's a quick demo of a fun new travel app, I think its cool and has huge potential :-)

Rose Milk

2011-12-04T16:40:00.001-05:00

We made rose milk recently, its a popular drink in India and a lot of friends and family members have fond memories of drinking it growing up. I brought some natural rose essence at the store and this drink sprang to mind, you can also buy rose syrup at the Indian store, although it has artificial coloring in it.

We had fun with this and called it Princess milk, I boiled some tapioca pearls let them sit in a little beet root juice to make them pink and used blended raspberries to get a healthy natural color. The pearls make it like bubble tea :-)

Ingredients:

2 cups whole milk or lower percentage this was for my toddler
a couple of drops of rose essence
about 8 raspberries pureed
a handful of tapioca pearls
a little beet root juice
sugar to taste about a tablespoon

Method:

boil tapioca pearls for 10 minutes until soft and rinse, allow to sit in a little beet root juice for 5 minutes until pink and set aside
add pureed raspberry and sugar to milk, with rose essence
pour over tapioca pearls.
enjoy with a little princess

she even put on a Princess dress to drink it :-)

Anyone got any more good recipe ideas for rose essence?

Craft - Peek a boo house

2011-12-02T20:04:00.001-05:00

Here's another simple craft idea for little one's

Hope your all having a super weekend, we are going to a christmas party this evening brave folks are having 66 people over, pleased its not me I would freak out :-)

Aloo Saag

2011-12-01T18:02:00.001-05:00

I recently learnt how to make aloo saag a North Indian dish with potato and spinach and wondered why I hadn't made it before its easy to make and super tasty. Maybe not the prettiest of dishes but when its served like this who wouldn't want to tuck in. I made it with chapatti love making these as Jasmine helps me roll them, like play dough for toddlers.

Here's an old post with tips and a fun picture of her with food all over the floor! and a you tube tutorial

Ingredients:

1/2 red onion chopped
2 large potatoes, cubed
one bunch of spinach chopped or a bag
1/2 teaspoon ginger/garlic paste
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
olive oil
salt to taste

Method:

saute the ginger/ garlic paste, with a little olive oil, add onion and cumin seeds for a few minutes
then add the turmeric, and potatoes stir fry for 3 minutes add a lid and about 1/2 cup of water and cook/steam for 5 minutes
then little by little add the spinach it will reduce down
then add the masala powder, salt to taste and continue to cook 5- 10 minutes until soft.

This is a wonderfully simple Indian dish and super healthy it pairs beautifully with chapatti. We ate it with dal, okra and chapatti a fab vegetarian Indian meal.

So go on dive in :-)

Hot Chocolate with Chantilly Cream

2011-11-28T21:59:00.001-05:00

This is a fun treat, once in a while why not have an indulgent hot chocolate :-), its a hot chocolate made with cadburys hot chocolate (my parents brought it from the UK) and chantilly cream. Which is a simple whipped cream from France with a dash of vanilla and sugar added. This was amazing.

Ingredients:

one mug of milk
2 teaspoon hot chocolate
1/4 cup whipping cream
one teaspoon sugar
dash of vanilla

Method:

add hot chocolate to milk and microwave for 2 minutes stir
whip cream with sugar and vanilla
put on top of hot chocolate, sprinkle with cocoa and enjoy :-)

What's your favorite winter drink?

Seafood Chowder

2011-11-25T11:54:00.001-05:00

It's soup season so here's another great one, and my first chowder with seafood. It's easy and if your like me and keep fish in the freezer great to make with limited ingredients on hand. I added blackened creole seasoning which gave it a great flavor and slight kick.

Ingredients

1 cup vegetable stock
2 large potatoes diced
2 medium carrots sliced
1/2 cup cream
one teaspoon blackened creole seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
one small bag of frozen sweet corn
1 1/2 cups 2 % milk
one salmon filet - cut into pieces
one sole fillet - cut into pieces
1/2 an onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic chopped and one piece of chopped bacon
knob of butter

Method:

saute the onions, chopped bacon and garlic for 5 minutes in a little butter
add the carrots, potatoes, creole seasoning, sweet corn and stock and bring to a boil for 5 minutes
then add the milk, cream and fish and simmer for a further 20 minutes

Have a wonderful start to the week everyone

Food Bloggers Unplugged

2011-11-24T20:26:00.001-05:00

The lovely Janice of Farmers girl kitchen a fellow Brit tagged me in this fun idea of Food Bloggers Unplugged and I thought it would be fun to answer like a live interview!, the questions are below I am to tag 5 folks but I will tag you all and its up to you if you would like to post and tag others.

Its fun to learn more about the bloggers behind our favorite blogs :-)

Food Bloggers Unplugged is to help you to find out a bit more about the tagged Food blogger, in this case ME! So here goes:

What or who inspired you to start your blog?

Who is your foodie inspiration?

Your greasiest most batter splattered cook book is?

These are three of the oldest books that I bought myself.

The best thing you have ever eaten in another country, where was it and what was it?

Another Food Blogger's table you would like to eat at?

What one kitchen gadget would you like Santa to bring you? (money no object)

I'm coming to you for dinner, what is your signature dish?

What is your guilty food pleasure?

Reveal something about yourself that others would be surprised to learn?

Have a great weekend everyone

Happy Thanksgiving Message

2011-11-23T16:44:00.001-05:00

A short thanksgiving message and a craft for kiddies me and Jasmine did last year

love and hugs Rebecca

Welcome to Winston Salem - love this

2011-11-22T22:08:00.001-05:00

This is amazing a must share amazing acrobatics and its done right here in Winston Salem where I live enjoy folks :-)

Florida sunsets and meet ups

2011-11-21T19:52:00.001-05:00

We have just spend a wonderful weekend in Florida, a weekend of fun eats, wonderful meet ups and strolls along the beach.

We fly into Saint Petersburg from Greensboro great deal :-) meet friends in Tampa that evening. We ate at the Tacos bus

913 E Hillsborough Ave Tampa, FL 33603

(813) 232-5889

Fun place with a buzzing atmosphere and good Mexican food at very affordable prices. I thought the fish tacos were just ok but they were fried I prefer grilled, my favorite item was a drink - Hochata a Mexican drink made from rice, condensed milk and cinnamon. I mentioned it on the facebook wall and Kristina kindly shared a recipe, guess what I will be making this week :-)

Chow and Chatter
Love horchata - rice, condensed milk and cinnamon from Mexico so good

181 People Reached · 6 People Talking About This

· · Share · Friday at 10:12pm via mobile ·

4 people like this.
- Nelly Rodriguez I had this at The Aviary last weekend and it was amazing! They made cinnamon ice cubes, so the flavor was amazing! They also added rum and tequila ;)
  Friday at 10:26pm · · 1
- Chow and Chatter Nelly now that's a fun version :-)
  Friday at 11:45pm · · 1
- Shelley A Rael My son buys it as his own treat. I don't remember to get it for him. Good stuff.
  Saturday at 12:16am ·
- Kristina Holdburg i love it to never made it with condensed milk before im sure that makes it super sweet ill have to try that! i always use rice cinnamon sugar and whole milk.
  Saturday at 12:40am ·
- Kristina Holdburg horchata is great in the summer its a thirst quencher!
  Saturday at 12:41am ·
- Chow and Chatter Shelley :-) Kristina do you have a recipe ?
  Saturday at 12:04pm ·
- Kristina Holdburg yes my recipe is very simple and authentic got it from my best friends grandmother who is from mexico.... take 1 cup long grain rice and 5 cups water put into blender make sure rice is uncooked blend about 1 min till rice breaks up. set aside and let soak 3 to 4 hrs i usually do it before i go to bed and when i get up in the morning i strain the rice water into a pitcher and then u discard the rice then add 1/2 cup of whole milk 1tsp vanilla 1tsp cinnamon and 2/3 cup sugar blend wellput in fridge till well chilled serve plain or over ice! YUMMY now i want to make some! :)
  Saturday at 5:22pm ·
- Chow and Chatter Kristina thanks awesome recipe making for sure :-) Rebecca
  Saturday at 8:14pm · · 1
- Kristina Holdburg your very welcome hope you like it! :) and thankyou for all your wonderful recipes that you share with us all! :)
  Yesterday at 4:33am ·
- Chow and Chatter Kristina oh your so sweet I am going to add your recipe to my blog just now :-) rebecca
  4 seconds ago ·

We then headed south to Siesta Key wow the sand is like sugar. I have been enjoying Lyndseys blog The Tiny Skillet for a few years and love her beach pictures it was so special to walk on her beach.

a sunrise

stunning sunset a must see

Since I was headed to her neck of the woods a meet up was in order, so we arranged to meet for lunch at Mattisons downtown Sarasota and another one of my all time favorite bloggers joined us Sam from My Carolina Kitchen.

Here you can see Lydsey in the blue she is every bit as sweet and talented as her blog, her hubby and daughter. On the left the pretty and lovely Sam and her hubby Meakin he was the life of the party.

This beautiful shell angel was a gift from Lyndsey that she made, she also gave us some dried sea urchins and told me she had made snow men with them here's the link, she is super crafty as well as a great mum, wife and cook ;-) - sea urchin ornaments

On saturday after a morning on the beach we drove along the keys from Siesta to Anna Maria in fact these wonderful German folks at our hotel told us to go, we ate at the waterfront restaurant overlooking the 100 year old pier. Good fresh food and loved the view.

fresh gulf of mexico shrimp so good

and of course no trip to Florida is complete without key lime pie :-)

lovely old car

Today on the way back to Saint Petersburg I quickly looked up restaurants and red mesa cantina came up, offering Mexican and South American flavors. I loved this place funky building with a hip vibe

4912 4th Street North St. Petersburg, FL 33703-3819

I ordered mofongo a new dish to me - pork, a type of cheese and yuca a Puerto Rican dish very good, we were in a rush would love to visit again and have fun eating more from the menu :-)

decor

I even got to enjoy a cup of tea on the beach this morning :-)

So if your thinking of a short break in the US - be sure to add Siesta key, Sarasota area to your list. Also if your a blogger never be afraid to reach out to blogging friends in a city your visiting and arrange a meet up you will be glad you did.

I miss you Florida :-), we will meet again

Have a great start to the week everyone its a special week for folks in the US thinking of you as you prepare for Thanksgiving

Love

Rebecca

Payasam (South Indian Milk and Vermicelli pudding))

2011-11-15T17:32:00.001-05:00

It was Diwali a couple of weeks ago and I made this payasam for hubby its his favorite, I used this site for the recipe, don't you just love blogs. I didn't make many changes, other than using pre- roasted vermicelli I got in my local Indian store and using butter in place of ghee both work well.

Ingredients:

Milk - 5 cups
Vermicelli - 1/2 a pack of pre roasted from the Indian store
Sugar -1/2 cup or to taste
Cashew nuts - 8 - 10
Cardamom - 3-4 ( powder it- I used my coffee grinder to do this)
Raisins -10 -15
butter - 1 tbsp

Method

Lightly fry the vermicelli in butter
Boil the milk then add the roasted vermicelli to it and cook till it becomes soft.
Add sugar and powdered cardamon
In a separate pan lightly roast the cashew nuts and raisins in butter
garnish the payasam with the nuts and raisins, I sprinkles a little cardamon powder for garnish too or pistachio would be great

Just before Diwali Jasmine and I did a rangoli resign. I try my best to teach her Indian culture :), but as you know I am a Brit and Christian so Christmas is my biggie :-) but still important to learn and respect all cultures

We are headed to Florida for the weekend tomorrow got a fab deal on fights and planning to meet two of my favorite bloggers, stay tuned :-)

Have a wonderful weekend all

Love

Carrot and Coriander Soup

2011-11-14T22:38:00.001-05:00

Here's another soup for you, posted before but since its soup season and this is one of my favorites I thought I would share the link again :-), I also made my first chowder recently and learnt from the facebook page that there are two kinds New England white clam chowder, milk based and Manhattan red broth with tomatoes added. I love the facebook page for the blog, linking travel and food articles and chatting there, learn so much from everyone feel free to join in the banter there too :-)

We all watched puss in boots last night fun movie :-)

Ever wondered about foraging, join me this morning at 12.30am EST as I talk to Michaela Ballman @nutrispeaking she recently did a course on it. With restaurants like Noma in Denmark regarded as the Worlds best restaurant being well known for foraging for menu items per Noma's website

We comb the countryside for berries and herbs that others would not bother with and work with foods that aren’t part of any system of formalised cultivation and consequently cannot be obtained through ordinary channels of distribution.

Here's an interview with the chef:

Hugs

Vegetable Pulav

2011-11-13T21:51:00.001-05:00

Here's a super easy version of vegetable pulav, all you need is some spices, frozen vegetables and rice combine with a boiled egg and you have a quick tasty meal on the table in a jiffy.

Ingredients

a few curry leaves but can omit
1/4 teaspoon coriander powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
about 3 cloves
one stick of cinnamon
one cup of basmati rice
1/2-1 cup mixed frozen vegetables
2 star anise
a pinch of cumin seeds
a few coriander seeds
1/4 teaspoon masala powder
one dried red chili or more if you want it to be spicier
1/2 a teaspoon ginger/garlic paste
1/2 red onion thinly chopped

Method:

heat a little canola oil in a pan
add the spices, curry leaves, chili, ginger garlic paste and red onion saute for 5 minutes
then add vegetables cook a little, 3 minutes
add rice and 3 cups of water cover and let it simmer on a low heat for about 20 minutes until all the water has evaporated

Have a wonderful start to the week everyone

Dark Chocolate Mousse

2011-11-09T22:37:00.001-05:00

I made my first chocolate mousse last week, it was so much fun and let me tell you divine. The more I blog and read blogs the more I get the confidence to get in the kitchen. I am having fun seeing the marvel of food reactions. For example how the whisked egg whites turned simple melted chocolate into a delectable mouse and recently how hot water, milk and sugar can bubble like crazy to create creamy caramel.

I found this recipe on this blog and didn't really change anything, but couldn't resist adding here for quick reference for lil ole me when I make it again!

Pierre Herme's Simple Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:

170g dark chocolate, finely chopped - about 1 1/2 bars I used Green and Blacks Organic
1/2 cup whole milk
1 large egg yolk (use good quality eggs and especially you are eating them raw)
4 large egg whites
2 tbsp caster sugar

Method:

Use a bain marie or I simplyput a stainless steel mixing bowl on the top of a pan of boiling water, this worked like a charm to melt the chocolate, keep to one side
Boil the milk and then add to chocolate mixing with a whisk, then add the egg yolk
In a separate mixing bowl whisk the egg whites with the sugar on medium to high until you get glossy peaks, then little by little add and mix to the chocolate, add the mousse to any desired container I used some Turkish tea cups I got in Istanbul.

These glasses make me smile as I remember buying them with Jasmine in a tiny pottery shop and the sweet girl gave a small plate to her as a gift. Hubby calls one a champions cup and gets her to drink her milk from it. So this is chocolate mousse for Champions.

Finally here's a wonderful interview with Pierre Herme the master pastry chef and Chocolatier he started his career at 14 and is a fourth generation pastry chef winning numerous awards. He famously worked at Ladurée and is known for his macarons. With shops in France, London and Japan and various cookbooks.

Beautiful Autumn

2011-11-09T22:21:00.000-05:00

I thought I would share some beautiful pictures of fall/Autumn around Winston Salem NC adore this time of year. Hope its beautiful where you are or if you in the Southern Hemisphere enjoying Spring :-)

My road

me and Roshan :-) having a fun morning in the park

friends and lolly pops

Have a wonderful weekend everyone :-)

Hugs Rebecca

Ode to the Spud

2011-11-07T20:18:00.001-05:00

Ode to the spud, don't you just love potatoes tasty healthy rich in vitamin C no fat and a rich source of vitamins and minerals. Poor things they have had a bad reputation and often omitted in diets but its how they are prepared that increased calories. I recently made hasselback potatoes and I learnt from Angie of Angies recipes that they are known as “accordion potatoes”, and were named after the Hasselbacken Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden that first introduced them in the 1700s. Angie featured an amazing recipe with a gorgonzola sauce. I served mine with pork chops in a mushroom gravy. Easy to make and lovely and crispy on the outside soft in the middle hubby also loved them and he is from a family of rice eaters . Someone from the chow and chatter facebook page even adapted the potatoes she was cooking that day to make them after I posted a picture and loved them as well.

Ingredients:

any desired amount of potatoes
sea salt to taste
pepper to taste
Italian herbs about a tablespoon
olive oil
4 cloves of chopped garlic

Method:

slice the potatoes using a spoon handle be careful not to cut through them, I did this with a couple :-)
coat with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and herbs
bake at 400 for about an hour

I was just reading a fascinating article today about how the potato changed the world heres the link:

How the Potato changed the World

and a wonderful clip about the Potato museum

Egg Drop Soup with Shrimp

2011-11-06T22:43:00.001-05:00

Hubby has been asking for more soups lately so being a good little wifey I have been making them, love them this time of year and makes a change for lunch. I got this simple and super tasty recipe from the Sweet Ann's blog Anncoo Journal. I made a couple of tweaks, added 5 spice and mushrooms and peas you know how our little one likes them :-)

Ingredients:

1 Large egg (beaten)
2 Tomatoes, chopped
one teaspoon of five spice powder
10 raw shrimp
one teaspoon ginger/garlic paste
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water
a dash of fish sauce
1/2 cup frozen peas
5 sliced mushrooms

Method:

heat a little canola oil in a wok on high, add ginger/garlic paste, five spice and tomato and let it reduce down to a paste
add stock, fish sauce, peas, mushrooms and simmer for 10 minutes with lid on
Add in prawns and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
Beat egg and pour in as the soup is boiling stirring it as you add
season with fresh pepper and sliced spring onion
enjoy

What is your favorite soup?

Baba Ganoush Linguini

2011-11-05T23:17:00.001-04:00

Don't judge this dish by looks :-) it tastes so good and its super simple to make. One of my favorite dips is baba ganoush, so I figured why not combine with pasta. Its basically baba ganoush but I didn't add tahini.

Ingredients:

one large eggplant
4 cloves of garlic
one tablespoon olive oil
linguini
salt and pepper to taste
a dash of lemon juice
1/2 a teaspoon cumin powder
handful freshly chopped parsley

Method:

thinly slice the eggplant and put on a baking tray with garlic drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake at 400 for 15- 20 minutes until soft
add a little cumin, dash of lemon, parsley and blend
mix with linguini and serve

Craft: Paper Bag Lantern

2011-11-05T13:00:00.001-04:00

Here's another fun craft idea how to make a lantern from a paper bag

Have a wonderful weekend everyone

Other good news is that big sister is getting on better with her little brother we all face painted each other last night well he was sleeping (poor lil guy) but she felt like she was playing with him :-)

Maple Shortbread Cookies

2011-11-02T14:26:00.000-04:00

We made these simple shortbread cookies recently and had fun making different shapes and letters, what a fun way to learn baking and letters!

Ingredients:

5 oz butter diced and a little extra for greasing
8 oz of plain flour and some for dusting
4 oz sugar
one tablespoon of maple syrup

Method:

grease a baking tray with butter
sieve the flour and rub in the butter with fingers until it looks like bread crumbs
stir in sugar and maple syrup and make a firm dough
roll it out onto a floured surface to about 1 inch thickness
have fun making different shapes
bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden
dust with confectioners sugar

While visiting the Charleston Tea Plantation I got some cookie cutters in the shape of a tea pot, can't wait to make these again soon :-)

What cookie cutter shape would you like?

Chow and Chatter

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Chow and Chatter
Love horchata - rice, condensed milk and cinnamon from Mexico so good