Vegetarian Kebabs | The Novice Housewife

Vegetarian Kebabs | The Novice Housewife

When I was in Allahabad during my last trip to India, the cook at my parents place would make these vegetarian kebabs for us to snack on with drinks. Good times, I tell ya! Since I could not get the cook back with me to the US of A, I asked my parents’ cook to give me the recipe.

Now most of us don’t measure when we cook, so the cook gave me an approximation of the recipe. First time I tried it, I had to make quite a few changes to the recipe to get the right consistency to be able to stick together. I made them for the new year’s party at our house and they were a big hit. Luckily I had noted the changes, so it was perfect the next time I made them.

You could deep fry these, like I chose to for the party, or you could bake them basted with a little oil as well. Of course the deep fried version are always tastier, but the baked version is almost equally good as well.

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Horse Birthday Cake | The Novice Housewife : Chocolate Cake with rolo and kitkat filling and swiss meringue buttercream frostingIn February I had the chance to make a birthday cake for a very special girl. My friend Jamie, the one who gave me the recipe for her tater tot casserole, asked me to bake a cake for her elder daughter’s sixth birthday.

The birthday girl is currently in love with horses, so we decided that’s what she will get on her cake.

Also she wanted chocolate, chocolate chunks and pink frosting for her cake. On being asked what kind of chocolate chunks, she opted for kitkats and rolos. So that’s what this cake is all about. Chocolate cake with a rolo and kitkat filling and pink swiss meringue buttercream frosting covered in pink fondant and topped with a horse!

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English Madeleines: Mini Sponge Cakes bathed in jam and rolled in desiccated coconut | The Novice Housewife

When I posted the picture for these english madeleines on instagram I mentioned that my house smelled of my childhood. And it surely did. In fact when I was washing the cupcake pan, it still smelled of the memories from my younger days, even though the madeleines had been removed and set aside a while back.

My mother used to make them when I was a kid. My brother and I loved them – bite after bite of buttery goodness. Although the original recipe calls for baking the batter in Dariole Moulds, my mom used to make them shaped like a regular cupcake- since she did not own a dariole mould. And then bathed them in jam and desiccated coconut. So I made them the same way in cupcake pans- not because I do not own dariole moulds (I actually don’t) but because that’s they way I remember english madeleines to be.

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