Pumpkin Cream Sauce, Eat.Feed.Love Review and Exclusive discount code

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Pumpkin Cream Sauce with Linguine | The Novice Housewife

There’s lots to talk about today.

This pumpkin pasta for one, courtesy Eat.Feed.Love’s taste club box. The Eat.Feed.Love’s taste club box and an exclusive discount code. My absence. Shutting down TPC. Moving to US. Moving to Dallas. 

My last post was from India; when I was still working on The Pink CakeBox, Chandigarh in India. Doing customized cakes. Then V got a job change and we decided that its best that I come back. You can read a little more about it here.

Its been a difficult decision. A lot of hard work went in establishing the business and it had finally started picking up with regular orders but with V’s MBA over and a new job for him in Dallas, it was time for me to move back. I do miss TPC- my clients, pushing myself to meet deadlines, pushing myself to get better with each order, the relief when an order was executed well and the joy when the positive feedback would come in the form of a call, message or a repeat order. Its been difficult letting all that go. But I will always cherish the last one year for what it was. There were a lot of struggles- countless sleepless nights working on an order, tense moments before getting the client’s feedback, tears cried over a cake that did not meet my expectation, frustrations over difficult clients and though at the time all of it made me feel like quitting- now when I look back I think it all added to the experience. And if given a chance I would love to do it all, all over again.

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Tomato, Basil and Goat Cheese Bruschetta

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The Novice Housewife Bruschetta

I am not sure why but today I just wished that I received an envelope with a postal stamp on it, the back of which I would tear open to find a hand written letter from someone I care about or someone who cares about me.

Probably the thought of receiving a letter came when I was thinking whether I am too late to write a letter to my brother for rakhi this year. Rakhi or Rakshabandhan is a festival in India which celebrates the relationship between brothers and sisters. Sisters tie a rakhi ( a sacred thread) on their brothers’ wrists and in return the brother vows to protect her. In modern times, the brother is supposed to give a gift in kind or in cash as well, which kind of works out pretty well for the sister :). 

The first year after marriage I remember I sent my brother a letter with a hand made rakhi since I could not find any actual rakhi where I stayed. After that I got lazy and the last two rakhshabandhans I have sent him a rakhi using those online rakhi delivery services, only because they are so convenient and staying abroad I never remember in time to post a letter with a rakhi in it. So instead of a letter, its just a small message on a tiny card (that too typed by the online service, not handwritten) for my brother. In return he gives me a nice gift when I meet him in India, mostly chosen by my sister-in-law.

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Focaccia and another attempt at making a Video Tutorial

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Focaccia The novice Housewife

Before leaving for Canada, I had the chance to stock up on a few recipes for the blog. I did not realize that staying with family and  such a hectic course schedule would leave me with not much time to spend on the blog. And hence my absence. And also why I haven’t been able to reply to your messages and mails. Sorry! I’ll get to it soon!

I also had the chance to shoot another video tutorial. I thought it looked fine when I shot it, but when I came to Canada and tried working on it, it just did not feel right. I would work on it a few hours, not like it, trash the project and then start the next day again. There are actually four versions of this video that I made and none of them turned out to be what I wanted.

But, I am still posting the video because I love this recipe for Focaccia bread. It’s from Peter Reinhart’s book the Bread Bakers’ Apprentice and not that I have tried other Focaccia recipes (one of my friends’ told me the one on Annie’s Eats site is pretty good), with this recipe I never really felt the need to try another one. It does require you to plan a little ahead of time, but if you truly want a crusty outside and a chewy inside, you do need to take that extra step. Kind of like Peter Reinhart’s Pizza dough. Believe me, it’s one of the best pizza dough recipes you will ever try. And so is this recipe for Focaccia bread.

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