EVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #230 CHINESE NEW YEAR Chinese New Year 2020 Gong hei fat choy is the Greeting for Chinese New Year in Cantonese and Gong xi fa cai (pronounced gong she fa tsai) in Madarin. Basically it means wishing you great happiness and prosperity. This year Chinese New Year, Spring Festival and also known as Lunar New Year falls on 25th January. Like most Indian festivals, Chinese New Year doesn’t fall on the same day every year as it follows the lunar calendar. Did you know that the New Year festival usually lasts 15 days? How is Chinese New Year Celebrated? Its a day for praying to God, for good harvest and planting. People also pray to their ancestors. A vast variety of food…
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Continue ReadingRecipe: Rice Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies Rice Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies are deliciously, crunchy or chewy gluten free cookies. Easy to make, you can opt for white or brown rice flour. Memories Today my 100% concentration is not on writing the post and yet I want to say so much. The problem is that I just don’t know how to put my feelings into words. For once I’m lost for words! I guess that happens to all those who become grandparents for the first time or many times. I guess the feeling is the same. Yes, now officially I’m a grandmother or more precisely as they say in Gujarati ‘Hu Ba bani gayi.’ I proudly announce that I’m Ba to Lily Monique Mayuri Patel.…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #200NOTOUT I joined FoodieMonday/Bloghop in March 2016 when their #31st theme was Fusion Thandai Recipes. I remember I was really struggling to figure out what to prepare for the theme and also how will I portray myself as a new member. What I found very quickly was that the members of the group were very friendly and helpful. Today we’re on our #200th theme and I’ve come a long way, more confident, have improved on how I write my blog posts, how I take photographs of the prepared dish, learnt about other Indian cuisines and also know the members and a bit about their families. Many old members have left and new ones have joined. With some its now a lasting…
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Continue ReadingRecipe: Carrot Oatmeal Cookies Carrot Oatmeal Cookies are healthy as no refined sugar is used, tastes like carrot cake but a bit chewy. Ideal as a snack for both adults and kids as it is loaded with oatmeal, carrots, nuts and dried fruit. A versatile recipe as you can add nuts and dry fruit of your choice. I have used wheat flour to make them more wholesome. These cookies go a bit soft after a day. I would recommend baking a small batch as they stay fresh only for a few days. Memories Packing 2019 was an exciting year as we travelled almost the whole year. Hubby closed up his clinic on 31st December 2018 and retired from active practice as a dermatologist. Packing…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: A- Z RECIPE CHALLENGE THEME : A DISH BEGINNING WITH THE LETTER F RECIPE: FIG AND AMARANTH COOKIES Fig and Amaranth Cookies are gluten free, delicious, melt in the mouth kind of cookies that can be enjoyed on Fasting Days. Amaranth flour, a bit of butter and sugar with chopped dried figs, these cookies are so easy to make. No baking agent is used as I am not sure if baking agents are allowed during Ekadashi, Shivratri and Navratri Fasting Days. What is the A- Z Challenge? Well, we’re a Facebook group and every alternate month the participants make a dish with the relevant letter. The group was started in May 2018 by Jolly Makkar and Vidya Narayan. Jolly blogs at Jolly Homemade Recipes.…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: HEALTHY WELLTHY CUISINES THEME: 60 HWCG #TwistWithBiscuitHW Twist with biscuits is an interesting theme as its so easy to include biscuits or cookies into making a quick dessert. Everyone on the group was wondering what to make. Some suggestions came along like using savory cookies or biscuits for bhel, or a no bake cake etc. I had made up my mind to make an easy dessert recipe as its really dear to my heart. Mind you, I’m eagerly waiting for the biscuit bhel recipe. My eldest son did his Hotel Management and Administration from a Swiss Hotel Management School. When he came home after his first semester, his fingers had so many cuts. Being a mother, my heart hurt that his fingers were hurting.…
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Continue ReadingEVENT:FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOPTHEME:#176 FRUITSANDFLOWERS Wishing all my followers and friends a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. As Edna Ferber, a famous novelist and playwright quoted ” Christmas isn’t a season. It’s a feeling.” She was so right. Whether you celebrate Christmas as a religious festival or just as a festive holiday, the whole world gets encompassed in this joyful event. Its a reminder that good can prevail over evil, giving to others is a joy, we all can coexist together in peace and harmony. Come December and people appear more happy, more at peace, more forgiving. January is different, we all return to reality, sadness, daily life struggles, evilness around, hate, war and general gloom. The last theme for 2018, Fruits and Flowers was…
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Continue ReadingRECIPE: GINGERBREAD CRINKLE COOKIES Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies are slightly soft, a bit chewy, warm with spices and a must during Christmas or the Holiday Season. Sugar coated cookies with cracks or crinkles look so festive. What are Crinkle Cookies? Crinkle cookies are cookies with cracks in them. They are intentionally baked in a particular manner to get the cracks or wrinkles. The crack effect with the sugar coating makes them look very festive. The sugared parts reminds one of snow capped mountains. There are so many varieties of crinkle cookies, chocolate, lemon, strawberry, peanut butter, red velvet, pumpkin, sweet yam, coffee and so many more. Why I baked Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies? I love baking ginger cookies during Christmas time. Reminds me of the…
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Continue ReadingEVENT:FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOPTHEME:#175 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL The month of December, just becomes so different than the rest of the months. People start preparing for Christmas, people look forward to holiday time, people look forward to meeting up with family. Christmas season has been an exciting time for me since I was a little kid. In primary school it was the excitement of bringing something from home to decorate the Christmas tree and something special to share with all in the class for the end of the term Christmas Party. December also meant that we were required to go to the shop to help out as that was the busiest period of the whole year, did I mention it was a toy shop called Hobby Centre. We would be…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: BLOGGING MARATHON #88 THEME: REGIONAL CUISINE -WEEK 2 DAY 3 Tomorrow is my best best best (note the x3 best) friend’s 60th birthday. Today a lunch was organized by her and her hubby for their friends, as she put it people that have made a difference in her life. I baked a orange saffron semolina cake for her. Well, not going to talk about the party but as I was sitting right across her, I admired how she was glowing in her pink outfit and I just couldn’t believe she is 60! Still very active, no aches and pains to complain about, a recent dazzling grandmother as she likes to call herself. Slim, confident, disciplined, a good singer, can make any party lively. We’ve…
