Finally it is summer in Seattle! I don’t think anyone else enjoys summer as much as us Seattleites. We have learned to fully appreciate the few sunny days we get every year. The streets are so lively these days, it is so much fun to go out into the city and get lost in the crowd. A friend and I had a fabulous Parisian style Sunday today. We started with brunch at Cafe Campagne, followed by a waterfront stroll and […]

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Leavenworth - a charming town in WA where we spent a relaxing July 4th weekend. A beautiful house in the middle of nowhere surrounded by Pear orchards and the stunning Wenatchee river in the backyard; lots and lots of food, drinks and games… it was truly the perfect weekend! Inspired by the resemblance of its countryside to Bavarian Germany, Leavenworth was remodeled as a Bavarian village in the 1960s. The town center is beautiful with its quaint Bavarian architecture, but […]

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We just got back from an extended weekend break in Las Vegas. Yes, the 10th anniversary celebration was in our favorite city in the whole world. What, you don’t think it is a romantic city? It sure is, for us at least! As much as Siv and I love each other, we have totally different hobbies and interests, except for two major ones - food and poker. Where else can you get the best of both these?
We have been to […]

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So, which Sex and the City character are you? If I must choose, I might fit somewhere between a Carrie and a Miranda. I am a big SATC fan- well, of the early seasons, it went downhill towards the end- but I can’t believe the hype that this movie’s got! It is like the Star Wars for women, I read somewhere that women across the country are going to go dressed up as their favorite SATC character! Ok guys, wipe […]

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We had beautiful weather in Seattle this weekend. I went hiking on Saturday with my friend M.  M is one of those exercise freaks who wears a pedometer every day and goes to the gym for fun. When it is raining outside, she sometimes goes up and down the stairs in our office building to get her exercise! M sits on the third floor and I am on the first floor, and she always offers to come down for coffee […]

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Catfish Sandwich and a Difficult Week Past

Wednesday, May 14th, 2008

Filed Under Mains, Seafood | 46 Comments

Do you know what a clear liquid diet is? Do you know there is something called good bacteria in your stomach? Do you know what acidophilus is? Do you know why they call it an Emergency Room if they make you wait for 4 hours before you get to see even a nurse?
These are just a few of the questions we had to ask ourselves this past week. Some knowledge was gained the hard way, some questions still remain unanswered. […]

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Past few days might have been the most humdrum foodie days of our lifetime. There hasn’t been any cooking happening in our house, and actually not much eating either. I won’t go into the details today, but it’s really been a difficult time. I might feel like writing about it some other time, today is definitely not the day.
One good thing that happened out of this near starvation was that I got a new found appreciation for an old favorite. […]

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Food Labels and Salad Lyonnaise

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

Filed Under Eggs, Soups and Salads | 27 Comments

Fair Trade, Certified Humane, Organic, Homegrown, Sustainable, Local -Are you as confused by these labels as I am? You want to eat right, but how do you define what is right anymore? I know it is an age old debate - the merits of local vs organic, but even that is not the end of the problem. Every new article I read, someone is preaching a new buzzword! How do you keep up?
I would like to do my part for the […]

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Soba Noodles with Bacon and Swiss Chard

Sunday, May 4th, 2008

Filed Under Noodles | 26 Comments

I recently realized how much dependant we are on rice. We cook rice most days mainly because that is familiar and is the easiest thing to prepare!  I love my rice, but I don’t need it everyday. Anyway since I have enough quantities of of Basmati, jasmine, rosematta, Himalayan red and Kalijira rice in the pantry, we are good for a while. I still want to be prepared in case the rice shortage gets really bad, so I am going […]

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Spicy Baby Back Ribs

Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

Filed Under Good with Drinks, India - Kerala, Pork | 25 Comments

In my last post, I didn’t mean to convey that I hate cooking. I just meant that it is the outcome that I enjoy more than the process. When it comes to cooking, the benefits outweigh the effort normally. That is the reason I cook certain dishes and would never even attempt certain others. I know I will never be able to bake a cake as tasty or as beautiful as our neighborhood baker. Even if I do it will […]

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I pretend to be a great chef. I try to believe that cooking is therapeutic, but I don’t really believe that! I do like to pretend that I am a big time cook, I love the accolades that come with it. I love the glory so much that I’ve even deluded myself into thinking that I actually enjoy cooking. But there are so many other things I’d rather be doing. 
Therapeutic, yeah right! I think watching TV is therapeutic, reading is […]

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I can’t believe I still haven’t blogged about one of the most famous non-vegetarian preparations from Kerala, the good old beef fry! Succulent beef pieces cooked in freshly ground spices and sauteed dry with onions and coconut slices, this is one of those famous Thattukada dishes.
Thattukada is Kerala’s version of a fast food joint. While the beef fry is not fast food, the fact that time works in favor of the flavors in this dish and it actually tastes better […]

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This is my favorite way to eat green beans. This picture was taken a long time ago, I have been waiting to take a better picture since the beans look a little overcooked and tired in this version. I actually like my beans tender, but the normal restaurant version has the beans very crisp, which would make a better picture for sure. But after we got back from India, I have gotten real lazy, and haven’t cooked much. I have […]

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I am going to be on a break from tomorrow, will be back online end of this week. Since I won’t be able to do the round-up till then, the deadline for Monthly Blog Patrol - Mixed Drinks is extended to March 28th midnight PST. Please e-mail the entries according to the guidelines, I will respond by this weekend.
Before I leave, here is my own entry for MBP. MBP is about trying a posted recipe from a fellow blogger, and […]

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Saffron Rice cooked in the Microwave

Saturday, March 22nd, 2008

Filed Under Rice, Rice Or Biryani | 22 Comments

After almost two weeks of eating out, the cravings for homemade food got unbelievably strong today. I had some frozen spareribs in the freezer, which I cooked with Indian spices to make a spicy pork fry. I don’t mind eating dry dishes with plain rice, as long as it is spicy, but Siv usually prefers a gravy with white rice.
First inkling was to make a fried rice, but the fridge was completely empty, even the eggs had expired almost a […]

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I am not a habitual list maker, but when things start to pile up so much that there is no way one can possibly get through it all without missing something, even I resort to making a prioritized list. The problem here is that I keep adding more to the list as soon as I strike something off it.  I have barely four more days to get through them all, that is the reason I’ve been so bad in replying […]

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I’ve been real busy lately with work deadlines fast approaching, and preparing for a trip coming up in a week or so. I didn’t get time to look at my rss feeds for three days, and suddenly the number of unread posts were in three digits. I have way too many recipes and restaurant reviews waiting in my drafts. If I don’t type those up soon, the details will be forgotten for sure. The to-do pile for blogging is as […]

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The husband is away on a business trip, the fridge is practically empty and it is pouring outside to go shopping. This was the situation at home tonight when it was time to start thinking about dinner. I raided the fridge to find some Portuguese sausage links, eggs and left over rice. First thought was to just have sausage and eggs, breakfast for dinner, why not? But then I thought of Meeta’s Monthly Mingle, and that today is the last […]

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After coming back home from work really late, I had two choices tonight - curl up in bed and watch American Idol or sit in front of the PC and blog.  It sure was a no-brainer after the kind of day I had. But my stupid DVR chose today to completely @#$% me over. The whole show was recorded with no sound! I have no energy to call up the Cable company and crib, and the most they can do […]

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Eggs n’ Potatoes Curry

Thursday, February 28th, 2008

Filed Under Eggs, India - Kerala, Potato, Side Dish - Gravy | 32 Comments

It’s been raining potatoes here in the blogosphere lately. That is because 2008 is the International Year of Potato. Wow, a whole year devoted to the spuds! Recently Sra wrote that she has used up all her potato memories, but she did have enough memories to fill about a dozen posts… That got me thinking about my relationship with the spud, and I realized that sadly I may not even have enough memories to fill one post!
Growing up, potatoes were […]

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We have ongoing arguments in our household as to who the better cook is. Now we all know there is really no argument there but I have to admit that there are a few dishes - when I say few, I mean single digits - that Siv is better at. For example he makes the best fish curry in the world, and I am not exaggerating. He also makes some mean crab dishes too. With chicken, mutton etc […]

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There is nothing like the sight of a fresh green mango to bring back the nostalgic memories of a happy Indian childhood. Unfortunately after coming to the US, the only real sour variety of mangoes that I could find were the greem frozen ones from the Indian stores. It works in chutneys and such just fine. But those slices are so sad looking, with a tired texture once defrosted, I use those only in emergencies, when the cravings for the […]

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I have a folder in my browser favorites called Recipes-to-Try and it is overflowing with all the links I have been collecting over the past year… I have tried so many recipes from other bloggers, and I normally thank them through comments or e-mail, but I have never taken the time to take a picture and write a post about it. The reason behind this is nothing but sheer laziness.
All the food bloggers out there know how much hard work […]

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If you are a food blogger keeping track of the ongoing blog events, I am sure you looked at this title and thought, Star Anise and Pomegranate - oh she is killing two birds with one stone… But  you are wrong, my friend! I am actually trying to kill four birds with one stone! Confused? Did you forget that Asparagus is an aphrodisiac?
Given it’s phallic shape, asparagus is frequently enjoyed as an aphrodisiac food. Feed your lover boiled or steamed […]

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Spicy Popcorn Chicken

Thursday, February 7th, 2008

Filed Under Appetizers and Snacks, Chicken | 37 Comments

For me the main attraction about watching a movie in the theatre is the popcorn. I prefer watching movies at home, sitting in my favorite recliner, with a nice cold beer and some spicy snacks. But no snack goes better with a movie than the theatre popcorn, I could just stare at the screen and keep munching on the crunchy, buttery delight, and before I know it my large bucket of popcorn is gone. Somehow I have never managed to […]

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