Antipasti Italian meals are usually served with a starter. Starters or antipasti (singular antipasto) usually consist of cured meat, pickled vegetables, mushrooms, cheeses, olives, peperocini, pickled meats etc. These are suppose to be colourful, attractive and usually should be able to change the mood of people or gathering who will dine together. Anti means before and pastus means meal. Therefore its the starter or appetizer. Antipasti is usually served in individual plates or as bite size where diners pick it and enjoy it. It can be cold or warm or hot. There is much confusion between the crostini and the bruschetta. Crostini are usually made from small bread slices like an Italian baguette.The bread is toasted and the topping are more rich. Bruschetta is usually…
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Continue ReadingSummer time It was in year 1 that I learnt that there were different seasons. Growing up in Nairobi, for us it was always hot during the day, cold at night and the occasional showers in April and October. That was pretty much what the weather was back then. Words like Summer, Winter, Spring and Autumn were all new to me, seasons not experienced as yet. Postcards and pictures in books made them all seem like such refreshing and exotic seasons. When my aunt and cousins went off to UK in the 70s its then we would hear from them how windy the autumns were, umbrellas flying away and how their hands would get ice cold shovelling the snow. Mombasa’s hot weather was the hottest…
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Continue ReadingEvent: FoodieMonday /Bloghop & Foodies_Redoing Old Posts Theme: Coconut Milk Recipe: Pineapple Overnight Oats Pineapple Overnight Oats is a healthy, creamy, easy to make breakfast with tropical flavours. This is a no cook way of enjoying oats. FoodieMonday/Bloghop Group The #FoodieMonday #Bloghop group decided on #Coconutmilk as the #86th theme. I was happy as I could just think of pina colada muffins (which has been on my ‘to do’ list for ages). However, hubby dear dashed all my hopes of baking muffins as he just said pretty adamantly ‘no baking muffins in this house, there’s been too many muffins.’ Truthfully, haven’t blogged a new muffin recipe in a long time, but how do I explain to hubby dear that the ones I baked last week…
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Continue ReadingHealthy Seeds Our 85th theme for #FoodieMonday#Bloghop group is #Nigellaseeds. Nigella seeds, kalonji, black cumin, balck caraway,fennel flower,charnushka, onion seeds, Roman Coriander as they are called taste like a cross between onion, oregano and black pepper. It however has no relation to onion, cumin, fennel or caraway. They are seeds from the plant Nigella Sativa.Its widely used by the Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East including Turkey. Nigella seeds are roasted and ground and used in curries, vegetable preparations. As whole seeds they are used in pickles, flat breads and other breads. Use the roasted seeds in salads, sprinkle them on egg dishes, add a few seeds to relishes or chutneys. The famous panch phoran spice mixture from Bengal is a mixture of kalonji, fennel,…
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Continue ReadingHappy Holi Everyone Any festival celebration means food and lots of it. Food, fun, colour, rituals all make a successful celebration. If one is missing then the celebration or festival is not complete. Our #FoodieMonday #Bloghop group decided on #Holi as our 83rd theme. With Holi it means that I’ve been with this wonderful group for now a year. My first post for the group was a fusion Holi theme. I remember preparing the dish not knowing exactly how it will be received by the other members of the group. Must say they were a friendly group and immediately felt as though I’d known them for years. Its been a great journey of learning new recipes, new cuisines, how to improve photography, drawing strength from…
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Continue ReadingHappy Women’s Day International Women’s Day is celebrated on 8th March all over the world.It focuses on gender equality, respect, love and appreciation of all women be it in the economic, political or social field. Every year the themes vary. This year the theme is “Be Bold for Change”.While many women have been recognized for their achievements in many countries, there are still many more countries that believe in subduing the growth of women. Whether a woman is working or a homemaker all deserve to be recognized and appreciated. Our #FoodieMonday #Bloghop group decided to have Women’s Day treat as the 82nd theme. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize women who have influenced the way I think and lead my life. Top…
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Continue ReadingBlank mind Today is one of those days when I have no idea what I want to write about. Usually before I go into the recipe, I have something to write about, family events, news, thoughts etc. There is a lot happening in this world but I have no inclination to write about it. So today I’ll just straight go to the recipe. #FoodieMonday #Bloghop team decided on a hot or cold rice recipe as our 81st theme. Taking rice as the main ingredient, we were suppose to make a piping hot dish or a cold dish. I didn’t want to make anything piping hot as its just too hot here in Mombasa. So for cold I had options of kheer, phirni,…
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Continue ReadingCooking from a cookbook The 80th theme for #FoodieMonday #Bloghop is Cookbook Cooking. Now I certainly do not have a shortage of cookery books, they line a whole shelf in the kitchen. I’ve left some in Bangalore and have a few in Montreal. So when my friends from FoodieMonday decided on cookbook cooking, I didn’t know which one to choose. I could have played it safe and selected my favourite Tarla Dalal. However,I remembered the cookbook that my son and daughter in law had given to me as a Christmas present 2 years ago. I’d drooled over the pictures and wowed all the recipes, closed it and put it on the shelf. So I thought its time to dust it and actually make something from…
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Continue ReadingVenturing out to try something different Yes, its Monday (so soon) and can you believe it we are into the 6th week of the 2017. Time flies. For our 78th theme on #FoodieMonday #Bloghop we decided to go regional with #RegionalCuisine. As soon as the theme was decided I knew I wanted to try out a cuisine that I’ve never done before. So it had to be the Eastern part of India. I guess having made baked yogurt and rasmalai doesn’t really count. I decided on Litti Chokha from the state of Bihar. Well, some say that its also from Uttar Pradesh. What made me choose Litti Chokha? Two reasons, one being that my son in law is from that state, well now Jharkand which…
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Celebrating India’s 68th Republic Day It’s with much pride and joy that Indians all over the world will celebrate the 68th Republic Day on 26th January. The world’s largest democracy has progressed by leaps and bounds since 1947.The Indian Constitution came into being on 26th January 1950. The chief architect of the Constitution was Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar. January 26th 1930 was declared as the Purna Swaraj Day or Independence Day. Since 15th Aug was the actual Independence Day, 26th January was set as the Republic Day, the day when India became a Republic. Republic Day in India is celebrated with the same fanfare as Independence Day with grand parades by the Indian army, air force, navy, artists and performers not only in Delhi but…
