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Lahore, beloved. My adopted city. 25th largest in the world. Steeped in history. The food and cultural capital of the country, a city of crowded tree-lined roads and pulsating bazaars. Lahore gets under your skin, makes you fall in love with its faded elegance; winding, bumpy, messy streets, its shady gardens and even the noisy hum of its bazaars. Walking through the narrow, colorful alleys o
I loved the ease of having the kids home for the holidays. The days blended into one another and three weeks flew by too fast because we were busy moving and settling into a new house. With so much to do, the lazy mornings I had envisioned and looked forward to just didn’t materialize most days. However,But it was so good to be able to wake up just a little later than my usual 5 a.m. and peacefull
"Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness.It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift" The Uses of Sorrow by Mary OliverI have a hard time saying goodbye. But I'm not sad that 2012 has reached its bittersweet end.It was a challenging year, on the personal front, for both the husband and myself: a bad year for friendships, a year of some very tough trial
A little someone turned 5 a few days ago. The celebration wasn't a big one but the anticipation was huge this year. It wasn't for the cake and goodies or even for birthday gifts but for the fact that she was turning **five**. I still don't know what the big deal about being 5 is, but the magnitude of relevance attached to the number is evident from one of several conversations overheard aroun
My grandmother is an innate nurturer. After my grandfather passed away 27 years ago she latched on immediately to us, her grand children, as a coping mechanism to try and fill the gap he left behind. Every memory I have of her involves her being in her kitchen, her domain, where she would move around like a whirling dervish chopping, dicing, stirring, kneading - pouring out her love for
A chocolate cookie is like a warm hug. It can say "I love you" like nothing else. And so I left the house last night with a big box of I love you's in my suitcase and a song in my heart. I'm seeing my best friends after more than two years and going back home after well over one year. . . Not even a 3.5 hour flight day and the ensuing 6 hours spent at the airport have dampened my spirit. I'm beyon
Yesterday marks the first time my son traveled without me. I made these cookies because the chocolate chip kind are his favorite, because I was going to miss him and because I wanted to surprise him by hiding a small tin of these in his carry-on luggage. I imagine he reached into his bag and found the tin sandwiched between his books. Then he smiled, pulled out one cookie, placed the tin on his la
Hello, Summer...I've been missing from this space for months. It seems that writing dissertations takes up a lot of time. Even when there is lots of procrastination involved. In an ideal world I'd be telling you about the many, many new recipes I tested during this time. But not today. Looking through my archives I came across this photo from the end of summer last year. It was meant to make
It's mid-March already. How did that happen? I've had a serious case of the lazies. This post has been sitting incomplete in my drafts folder for over a month. Aside from updating my blog I should be working on my thesis but instead I've been giving myself 'a break' spending my mornings in a pensive trance as I moved around my kitchen measuring, whisking, stirring, dreaming. I'd taken to
I know, I know. Another banana bread recipe. I'm sorry. It's just that lately I'm a woman obsessed. I wake up dreaming about fresh pineapples and banana bread. And not necessarily in that order. I've tried to appease my cravings for the latter but so far it hadn't worked as far as finding a whole-wheat version was concerned. So I've been compiling a list of recipes to try out and,
Something warm and toasty for your winter mornings. In honor of World Nutella Day.I've eliminated such things from my diet but that's no reason to stop inflicting my cravings upon my kids. So, if you don't mind, we're going to curl up here in our little corner of the world with some Nutella Hot Chocolate. Nutella Hot Chocolate1 cup milk2 tbsp Nutella1 heaped teaspoon unsweetened coc
Well, it's been a while. A very long while. Another year has gone by and here we are already well into the new one. What does this year hold for you? I'm in the middle of completing my dissertation, enjoying the relative freedom from the strict study regime the past years and appreciating the new balance that allows time to enjoy my family, cook, bake and get back to blogging. These days
Okay, so technically this isn't the cream puff ring I was supposed to make and it doesn't even contain any peppermint. It's just a solitary little cream puff.I was unsure about successfully completing this challenge but after I made cream puffs this morning all I can say is that there is nothing to fear but fear itself. I was not intimidated in the least bit and my choux pastry was perfect. The wh
There can never be such a thing as too much chocolate. And this choc-almond studded biscotti found no lack of contenders in my house. This was my very first attempt at making biscotti and is also the first recipe I've tried from the newest addition to my collection of cookbooks: Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz. Ryan, a fellow-baker from BWD, suggested we start baking our way through anoth
This week I had the opportunity to try a brand new curry involving certain techniques that I'm not at all familiar with. Margie of More Please picked this rather unusual recipe by Madhur Jaffrey who, I am convinced, has a knack for taking a few simple ingredients and turning them into something amazing. Every single time. This curry uses 'Paanchporan' - a Bengali spice-mix that I have never u
I've always been intimidated by crème brûlée imagining it to be a very complicated dessert that I couldn't possibly make at home. So I was very excited about this months' pick & was looking forward to halving the recipe and trying at least a few of the variations in the 'playing around' section. But then, too lazy to do the math, I ended up making only the classic version. Dorie's directi
Last month all of us in the BWD baking group mutually decided that we needed to adopt a slower pace and bake only once a month instead of every other Monday. For those of us who are trying to cut back on desserts, this is a welcome change! I made changes to our baking schedule but I forgot to fix a typing error I'd made when listing this months' recipe. This resulted in a little con
Since it was my turn to pick the recipe this week, I opted for this simple & aromatic, non-vegetarian curry.The chicken required little preparation and was quick to prepare (other than a 3-hour marination time). I assume it as well with rice as it does with flatbreads or Pitas. Camille served hers with rice & I am assuming from Rocquie's photos that she used flatbread. Without further
My kids' idea of summer vacation involves endless supplies of food and entertainment around the clock. Since I try to keep their snacks homemade, I've spent the past several days whipping up simple treats that will last them all week long. Making ice-cream is a lot of fun even though it gets a little labor-intensive without an ice-cream maker. These fudgesicles, though, were very easy to make
This post has been sitting in my drafts folder for over a month. I have no excuse for my tardiness except that I've been both busy and lazy. So I decided to sit down today and finally write about what I did while in France.Remember the ever-expanding wish-lists I made before I left? I'm sort of ashamed to say I got to do barely three things out of my entire list. I was there for 6 days which I tho
Five kinds of chocolate in a fudgelicious brownie. This is the gooiest, most chocolatey treat I've made in a while. Dense and so fudgy you need to chase these brownies down with a glass of cold milk. But I'll be honest. I don't like the white chocolate frosting and wish I had paid attention to my instincts and left it out. Maybe it's the quality of the white chocolate I used. Or maybe it's th
Muttar Paneer reminds me of one of my closest friends. It used to be her favorite thing to cook. I haven't seen her in a few years so while I was stirring up a pot of it for Curry-Palooza this week, I wondered if she still likes to make it. I'm not very fond of peas but my husband and kids are. I had a bit of a disaster with the paneer that I burned over-fried but otherwise this was a fragra
I have not done any baking in months. Thanks to a very long & tiresome renovation and the fact that my oven refused to work. So I've been impatient to bake again and to also fall back in step with all the BWD bloggers who have been carrying on without me for weeks and weeks.No baking and no cooking means a neglected blog . . I keep meaning to come back here and at least write about my ho
As far as indian food goes, Rajmah is one of my favorite things to order when we eat out at Indian restaurants. I'm also guilty of throwing in the occasional packet of 'Gits Rajma Masala' into the grocery cart, unhealthy as it might be. I have actually never tried making it myself & simply presumed that I wouldn't be able to get it right. The thing about Subcontinental cooking is that so
I'm sitting out this weeks' challenge as well - unfortunately my oven has a malfunction & isn't working.Please check out the other bakers here & head over to Laurie's blog for the recipe.
Two days to go! Bags packed - check.camera packed - check.enthusiasm - check. (well, almost. currently suffering immense anxiety at leaving my kids behind; especially this one)My wish-list of things to see has grown. I don't expect that I will be able to do everything because most of my time on this trip is eaten up by the workshop I'm doing with Sophie Pasquet, but there's no harm in expandi
My entire kitchen had to be packed up earlier than anticipated as our renovation comes to an end & so I have not been able to bake this cake despite every intention to make it ahead of time.A few others are skipping the challenge so please head over here to check out the blogroll & the links to bakers this week. For the recipe, please head over to Rebecca's blog Beurrista or page 254 of Ba
Rocquie & I have been discussing curries forever. A new cooking event/group seemed the best idea to take things a step further: Rocquie gets to further explore her love for Indian cuisine and I get to try out new things because I'm not entirely new to curries. So curry-palooza was born & we decided to blog about our endeavors in curry-making on the first Friday of each month. We're no
(photo credit: taken by my son last summer) I'm going to Paris again!Here I am again, less than one year after my previous (and first) visit, counting down the days. Only 18 more to go! A friend and I made a spur of the moment plan to make a trip to Paris together for une petite vacance & it seems luck was on our side because once the decision was made, everything else fell into pla
I couldn't make these because, where I live, peppermint patties have been impossible to find & I wasn't able to make my own (no peppermint extract either).Everyone else in the group seemed to have loved these. Have a look at the blogroll here to see their posts & for the recipe.
A lot of people said the full moon looked no bigger than average Saturday night. But to me it seemed so much brighter that night. And as always, spectacular.
I've never met Paule Caillat, but when I finally see her next month, I'm going to hug her.Not only is she wonderful, she has also been so patient with my constant queries these past several months. I mentioned earlier that I wanted to book a class with her but all my planning & frequent e-mailing ended in anti-climax when I discovered I wouldn't be able to take one class I was looking forward
The truth is, I've been kind of distracted lately. I'm burned-out and have the worst case of writers' block ever. I sit here facing my laptop screen & the words just don't come. I blame it on the weather, the annoying renovation in our house, and the endless academic writing. As far as the latter is concerned lately I'm so un-inspired there too. I sit and stare at blank pages until the la
Monday mornings are my favorite day of the week. It's the only time I have the house completely to myself & so I allow myself the luxury to move about in slow motion; letting dishes accumulate &dust gather while I catch a couple of hours of reading & lazy day-dreaming. Freezing-cold Monday mornings are perfect for snuggling up on a favorite couch & celebrating the moment with fresh
It's been a year of Baking With Dorie. And what fun it has been: to get to know everyone in our small group & to bake through this wonderful book that I can't praise enough for the simplicity of its' recipes. It is absolutely, hands down, the best baking book I have ever used. Whether you are an amateur or a seasoned baker, this book is for you & I think everyone should own a copy!These Br
While I love both cinnamon & chocolate and don't mind combining them together in a dessert, this recipe disappointed me a little (Sorry, Dorie!). I made the Cappuccino version suggested in the book but even with addition of extra espresso, the cinnamon flavor was too over-powering for my family & even myself. I liked the chocolate & crunchy-sugar-cinnamon-y swirl in the middle of the c
My post is already late & will be up in a few more hours.Meanwhile, please visit the blogroll here to check out other BWD bakers this week.
Can you think of anything more comforting than French Toast on a winter morning? Add Nutella and it goes from comforting to divine. This is my entry for World Nutella Day which is the brainchild of Sara & Michellae at Ms. Adventures in Italy & Bleeding Espresso. Check out the Nutella Day Flickr Pool or the Nutella Day Facebook Page for more inspiration. This was a real treat - I added
