Soulful Creations

It has been hot, hot, hot here in Houston. Ever since we landed here, the temperatures have been in the triple digits. Add to that " stay-at-home " all day situtation- you get one cranky little lady (well may be not little but definitely cranky). So to remind me of some cooler weather- here is an easy dessert that combines most of my favorites- strawberries, lavender and whipped cream Ingredients (adapted from the minimalist's version ) 1 cup strawberries 1/4 cup raw sugar 1/2 cup heavy cream 2 tbsp vanilla powdered sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp lavender- I just crushed it using my mortar and pestle Method Hull strawberries, wash them and chop into 1/4-inch-thick pieces. Toss with half the sugar, and wait 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they give up their juices. Place half the strawberries and all the juice in a food processor, and purée. Pour purée back in bowl with the remaining strawberries. Whip the cream with powdered sugar, crus...

after a really long time. I forget what we usually do on Saturdays, when my mom was visiting we used to have some sort of brunch at home (the idli, dosa kind) but then I never made anything when ma was here!   Sour Sindhi kadhi, and I thought it was going to taste like the usual- boy I could not have been more wrong. A beautiful recipe I found here - the only modifications were to the veggies I added. Ingredients 3 tbsp. Gram Flour (Besan) 3/4 cup Red Gram Lentils (Arhair Ki Dal)    3 medium Potatoes (each potato cut in 4 pieces 16 oz bag frozen Cauliflower  1 green pepper, cut into big pieces   3 medium carrots, cut into chunks ½ tsp. Turmeric Powder (Haldi)   Salt (to taste)   2 cups of tamarind (about 1 lemon-size ball of tamaring, pulp extracted)-tomato (2 tomatoes, pulp extracted) water (leftover from when ma made rasam) 2 tbsp. Cooking Oil   3 cups Water For Temepering 1 tsp. Fenugreek Seeds (Methi)   1tsp. Onion Seeds (...

The entire day has been quite tiresome, especially because I could not figure out for the longest time why I was hungry almost 3h after lunch (usually I can go on for about 5 to 6h!). Then I realized it was the brown rice (healthy but not quite enough- you see I have abig appetite!). Anyway after we shopped for a few things at local grocer, we ate at Qdoba (this was at 6:30PM- both of us could not withstand the hunger pang anymore). So why I am telling you this story- I have no idea! But I do want to share with you a recipe that I saw on Foodnetwork . I had been planning to make it for so long (Well ever since Meeta announced the monthly mingle theme) and finally got to making it today (a day before the deadline). I made a few additions that are noted in red italics Ingredients 1 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon fine salt 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 1 large egg, beaten 1/2 cup whole milk 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1- 1...