Vindu

The sun was out briefly for a few minutes last night.  There were some squeezed orange halves on the counter. There is the by-product.

Butter pear - another name for Avocado.  Avocado can turn any ordinary meal up a notch. Like so.

Simple Cheese Sandwich(Sourdough and mozzarella) with a side of Avocado. Mmm mmm mmm. Life’s good.

I wish there were an event I can send this to *wink* *wink*

Inspired by Saffron Hut, I made these for dinner yesterday. Made some changes to the original adai recipe found here.  I have been meaning to make the adais ever since she blogged about them. 

–ingredients————————————

• Bob’s Red Mill 13 Bean mix - 1 cup
• Fresh/Frozen coconut - 1/2 cup
• Urad dal - 1/4 cup
• Rosematta Rice or Brown Rice - 1 cup (I used Rosematta)
• Turmeric - 1 tsp
• Red Chillies - 3
• Ginger - 1 inch piece
• Asafoetida - a pinch of
• Jeera - 1 tsp
• Curry Leaves - 6-8

–procedure————————————–

1. Soak rice, urad dal and beans overnight.
2. Grind together with red chillies and ginger.
3. Add the fine grated coconut, jeera. asafoetida, turmeric and curry leaves.
4. Add some salt according to you taste.
5. Make adai with the batter.
6. Serve hot with peanut chutney.

These adais are packed with the goodness of beans, whole grains and fiber. Do give them a try if you are looking at new ways to incorporate beans in your diet.

Yello!

Hope you all had a good weekend. Weather here is still so-so.  Actually it $uck$. Its like forever since we had a sunny day.  Plus N had a little cough that was quite irritating (to him, not me).

When I was a kid my mom(still does) used to make this pill with turmeric that caused respite from endless coughing.  Turmeric is my favorite spice too.  I make the same pill to give instant relief from coughing.  Take a pinch of tumeric, add about 5 drops of milk - just enough to hold it intact. Shape it in a small round and swallow.  Wash it down with a cup of warm milk. I haven’t found anything else that is as effective as pasupu goli.

My Click-June: Yellow for Bri entry.

Note: Stay away from this if you have allergies to turmeric. Oh, that and Kung Fu Panda ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I love Jack Black. Sigh.

Earlier this week a certain someone was indulged thoroughly on her birthday. The day started somewhat low-key what with it being a working day.. but then things picked up.  We took the afternoon off and went gallavating .. to Wallingford(a Seattle neighborhood). There is this cupcake place I have heard so much about but never tried. I made little notes about this place sometime last year and totally forgot about it…. Apparently N got hold of those notes and he actually arranged a surprise tasting thingy with this place. Served 2 purposes - We were considering dessert options for the wedding reception and it was a nice little surprise to me.  Gushing.. I galloped with him to Wallingford.  That was just the tip of iceberg.

Trophy Cupcakes and Pastry.

This place is THE best.  The cupcakes here absolutely fantastic.  The flavors - very creative. I never liked another cupcake place as much as this. Usually I am not a big cupcake fan. I wanted to gave the place a shot and I was not disappointed.  It offered more than what I had hoped for. Here are some cupcakes I had tasted. At $2.99 a piece thats heaven on your palate.

From top left:

• Lemon Coconut Cupcake
• Vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting
• Chai Cinnamon
• Chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting
• Triple chocolate
• Mint chocolate

After downing a rhubarb soda we strolled out of the store.  It so happened that the local farmer’s market was right in front of Trophy Cupcakes.  I felt like an Irish leprechaun reaching the end of rainbow

And the pigging out continues.  There was bread, cookies, cheese, cherries, tamales and quesadillas. I went crazy!

Cherries

And a Tamale

Followed by more junk food.. a grilled veggies quesadilla

And the icing on the cake was this … There was an artist doing caricatures and N forced me into one.. Oh yeah! He is pretty generous that way.  The artist had asked what I’d like to be doing in the caricature.  I told him,”Cooking”, naturally.  This is what he produced.

Thanks baby for making my day so special…. There was more to the day. Part-Deux coming up!!!