Oven baked Rutabaga Fries, a Review & a Giveaway

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So after more than a month of no blogging, I am back and plan to keep it that way. I could give you the reasons for not blogging, but I realize I will just end up whining. And that is something I just don’t want to do, especially today.

Since I have been away for so long I thought I would come back with not only a recipe but a giveaway as well.

A few weeks back Ariosto seasonings sent me some samples to review.  (Do understand that even though these samples are free, I have not been paid for the review and the opinion I share today is unbiased, or as far as being unbiased goes)

Ariosto seasonings have been very popular in Italy for over 47 years. They have an excellent range of Italian seasonings which combine the right amount of specially selected herbs, spices and Sicilian sea salt to perfectly flavor meat (chicken, beef, pork and lamb), fish and side dishes. The seasonings use herbs such as rosemary, sage, juniper, bay, oregano, garlic, thyme, sweet marjoram, basil, coriander, onion, parsley, carrot and celery to create traditional Mediterranean mixes. All the seasonings are natural as they don’t contain preservatives, colorings or MSG.

I received several packages of Ariosto seasonings. One was for poultry and meat, one for tomato sauces, one for roasted or fried potatoes, one for fish, and one with garlic and chili pepper.

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February SRC: TSRI’s Tomato Feta Pasta Salad

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I am not used to posting recipes one day after the other. And that is why I should have drafted this post earlier. Especially since this month I was very good at managing my SRC recipe selection. For once I did not procrastinate till the last moment to try a recipe. But that’s the only thing I was good at it this month.

I thought I would have the weekend to complete the writing part of the post- as the making part had been taken care of. But on Saturday, we had a pre-Super Bowl party at home and I got busy with that. And on Sunday, half day was spent hungover and the rest watching the super bowl. I also managed to lose $10 to V, betting on the Patriots to win! I was not happy.

So, as always, even though the intitial planning was great, by the end I was left rushing through another SRC post.

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Guest Post By The Pious Hippie: ‘Mint is the New Basil’

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My friend, lets call her Madame M, started a blog called the Pious Hippie a few months back.

Madame M and I have been friends for 9 years now. We met in college and instantly connected. Madame M has always been the intelligent types- class topper in school, and the streak followed her to college.

If ever I had a sister, I (and am sure I can vouch the same for my mom) would want her to be exactly like Madame M. I mean the girl is seriously talented. Intelligence aside, she is witty, writes amazingly well, is beautiful, cooks well, is charming, dresses great and well I could go on and on about her, but the bottom line is she is one of the best persons in my life and thanks to her I am a better person today.

In college, Madame M was the chef. My friend Ruchi and I would just lie on her bed, entering the kitchen only when it was time for us to eat.

Yup. My friends were amused when I started a food blog.

Madame M was the cook and I bet she can still beat my a** off when it comes to cooking. I guess she gets it from her mom.

Today, Madame M has been kind enough to guest post for me.

Do check her blog. Its quite interesting, with a lot of wit and humor thrown in. She tries to illustrate all her thoughts with drawings. You’ll get an idea of what I mean from this blog post.

Handing over to Madame M.

“MINT IS THE NEW BASIL”

by the Pious Hippie

Daniel Pink, in his book, A Whole New Mind, said that human beings are now searching for meaning in their day to day lives. Work just for work’s sake isn’t going to cut it any longer.

We want to do something that has meaning; that makes a difference in the world. We are looking for ‘our calling’.

I was deeply impressed by the book. And this particular chapter- on Meaning- made me think about the meaning of my life. What was my calling?

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