July 4th weekend with the kids!!!!!!!!!!

I know it seems a long time since I jotted something down. Any way here are some of my fav app I learned recently and have been hooked to it now. Rusty Nachos made out of parboiled and thinly sliced potatoes deep fried . Spread on a cookie sheet sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, cheese , caramelized onions . Bake till everything melts. Top with fresh guacamole , salsa , sour cream . It was delicious .
next one is a easy fruit dip or a butter for french toast ,waffle etc. Cream cheese , vanilla , brown sugar. soften and cream together.

The weekend was perfect weather and lots of fireworks and cards and enjoyed the company of my wonderful kids and their great friends. As they say life is good when your kids are home and to see them enjoying everything. I live for that !

Sadly with a heavy heart I am sending my baby to SFO today . Lucky for me I am going to see the other three very soon.

I am back

Hello everyone it has been too long since I made a posting though I have not stopped cooking. I have been going to pot lucks these days and have come across good dishes . One was french bread cut length wise butter and grill . Spread( sauteed cherry tomatoes and garlic in olive oil and sea salt) put chunk of ricotta cheese spiced with black pepper and salt and drizzle with EVOO. It is very good. grilled Brussel sprouts in oil and sprinkled with crispy garlic and red onion and salt and pepper. Adding black caramelized sugar coating instead of the crumbs for a cheese cake was delicious. When you cut into it this Carmel goodness just flows out like lava and mixes with the tangy cheese cake. This is good for today.

major gap in my postings

I know it has been a blah week for everything . I have been in the mood for easy baking food. So I tried chicken pieces with or without bones marinated in whatever spices and lightly coated in panko bread crumbs and baked on a rack over a pan . Trick is to spray pam on the chicken before you bake it . It crisps very well if you flip and spray again. Good and healthy. I did the same thing with tilapia and it was very good . Add a few drops of oil when you marinate the meat or fish. I use chilly powder , pepper, salt , soy, ginger, garlic . Give it a try when you don't want to turn on the stove .
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Fat Thursday!!

This is really true I really eat lot more the day after Ash wed just because it is day after fasting.
This year it was not too bad. I had an omelet in the morning and a cup of soup and a piece of dark chocolate for lunch followed by a snack of crumb fried shrimp in the evening. The dinner was pork curry and lentils with rice and a pear for dessert. Does that seem a lot? I wonder if some of you felt the same need of eating more the day after ash wed .

Ash wednesday

Fasting is concept people take it too seriously . Church tells us we can have 2 light meals and one full meal. But every body does it differently and that's fine as long there are some things you give up that day which will make you remember the start of lent season. If you really think about it there are lot of days many people are fasting without even knowing it. When you know that you cannot have something your hunger pangs are exaggerated . But really is it devil tempting you ?????? I don't know. I kept myself busy and stayed away from home till I could eat a meal. But was I really cheating . I should have stayed home and resisted the temptation. Sorry I am not that strong.

soupy tuesday

Today was a cold and breezy day and I was dreaming of a steaming cup of soup. I have been wanting to recreate this white bean chicken chilly I had sometime back in a small diner. So I started with pressure cooking white bean with sauteed onion and garlic and green chillies and salt pepper.
Once it is cooked I added chicken broth , diced cooked chicken threw in some carrots because I had it and cooked the soup till it thickened . It was actually very comforting.

I also had some hot chocolate too which made me toasty warm by end of the day.

Valentine's Day

Saint Valentine's Day has sadly been taken over and commercialized by romantic expressions of erotic love when in fact it is meant to teach us the value of real love.
When we say to someone "be my Valentine" we are asking that person to be the one who helps us to know the Caritas of God, to help us learn to love as God loves. That is the greatest gift we can give to another,and that is what we should be for others if we really love them. I read this in a magazine and I want to share this . I am the first one to admit that I don't follow that all the time.

Anyway My valentine gave me a beautiful pot of tulips that morning but later we had to take that for a friend as we did not have time to buy something else( on my request) . But next day my sweet heart upgraded and brought me beautiful bouquet of Roses. We also went with 7 other couples to have dinner . I felt it was too many people as we had to shout across the table or only converse with the couple in front of you. No matter what it was fun to celebrate among friends.