Roasted Red Pepper Bread

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I got tagged!

Well, this is something that has been going around food blogs for a while and is called the Seven Links Challenge, where bloggers choose 7 of their posts that deserve to be recognized and talk about them.

Sawsan of Chef in Disguise tagged me.

Firstly, I want to thank Sawsan for thinking of me for this challenge and secondly, for taking me back on sort of a walk down the memory lane of all my posts.

By the way Sawsan has a great blog and some amazing recipes and stories. Do check her out.

Now the rules for being tagged are simple. The first thing you have to do once you are tagged is to list out 7 of the following things from your blog:

1. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL POST:

It has to be the post I did on my brother and my mom’s famous chocolate balls. Why is it beautiful? Well, because it was dedicated to one of the most beautiful persons I know (and I am talking about the inner beauty here) and it talks about a recipe by another beautiful person in my life (here I am talking about both inner and outer beauty)- my mom.

2.THE MOST POPULAR POST:

According to site stats, its the Macaron Cake post I did. And rightly so that it is the most popular one. It is also one post I am really proud of because I turned a complete failure into a great tasting delight!

3.THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL POST:

I don’t think I write anything too controversial; well, at least I try not to. But I guess the one on Mooli Parantha is the only post that comes to my mind. Well, at least my mom thought it was controversial as I was really heavy worded in that post! The post is also an example of my previous photography!

4. THE MOST HELPFUL POST:

Hopefully, my GMT posts are the most helpful ones because I really do put a lot of research in them. But I guess, if I had to pick one it would be the carrot cake truffle post I did. Again a failure that turned into something really delicious!

5. THE POST THAT WAS SURPRISINGLY SUCCESSFUL:

It has to be the coconut ice cream post. And the surprise has to be more from my Mom’s side than mine’s. She was sure that I would fail in making a nice creamy ice cream. She tried her best to convince me not to make it, but I did and she was pleasantly surprised by the taste, the texture and the fact it was made without an ice cream maker!

6. THE POST THAT DID NOT GET THE ATTENTION IT DESERVED:

I think the Caesar Salad post. It was one of the earlier posts I did and I actually can’t complain about the lack of hits on that post because I did not even put a picture up for it. Plus, hardly people viewed my blog then- my blog and its existence was only known to a few of my close friends and family. But, the recipe that I used has always been a hit with everyone. And that’s why I feel I wish it should have gotten more attention.

7. THE POST I AM PROUD OF:

It has to be my April Daring Bakers’ Challenge because of the creativity involved. I love those vegetable bowls even though I would most probably use them as decoration pieces (as they do get a little chewy when you dehydrate them). It was also the first time I tried my go at fried ice cream and noodle bowls.

Now that that is done. As part of being tagged, the second thing you have to do is to carry the tagging on and tag 5 more bloggers.

I would like to see what the following bloggers have to say about their posts:

And since all of you were kind enough to read through this (and even if you weren’t), I will leave you with the recipe for this Roasted Red Pepper Bread I had made the other day.


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An Indian Treat, Camelback Hike and a lost ring- Exciting Start to 2011

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After a year, 2011 is finally here!! (didn’t know I can be corny and rhyme at the same time!) Happy New Year every one! Welcomed the new year partying with our friends in Phoenix. Lots of fun. 🙂

I stopped making new year resolutions long back, mainly because they used to revolve around one theme- my weight. And well, most of you know, how such resolutions end up- being broken. But, this year I decided to give the theme another try with a slightly modified resolution. I am not resolving to lose weight, (with my love for all things baked and fried -don’t think that would be a practical resolution)– so I resolve that out of the 7 days in a week, 5 days I will try to get some form exercise– it could be yoga, running or time spent in the gym. I can almost hear myself saying “yeah right, all the best” in a mocking tone, but this time I am determined! Again I hear the voice: “haha, we will see”. To it I say, “Yes, we will!”

Fortunately, the first day of the new year was spent doing just that- showing my inner self that yes I can do it. Even though we had a late night (slept at 4 in the morning), and slightly hung over from the New Year party, I was up on 1st morning (well it was almost noon 😉 ), ready to hike the Camelback mountain in Phoenix.

Camelback Mountain, the best-known feature of the Phoenix skyline and the city’s highest point, is an irresistible lure to hard-core hikers, fitness fanatics and tantalized tourists. Both routes to the summit, Echo and Cholla, though fairly short, are among the steepest trails in Arizona, guaranteed to leave even the fittest of the fit huffing and puffing as they slog their way to the top. The first mile and a half of the Cholla trail, though steep in places, is easy enough for the most casual of hikers to enjoy. But the final quarter-mile is rather nasty, requiring a fair amount of scrambling along a bouldery ridgeline to the top. It is a 3.5 miles round trip for the Cholla Trail.

I managed to complete the trail, exceeding V’s expectations (he thought I would give up half-way. But I didn’t!) , and all was going according to plan! Good start to the new year.

The next day though, things went from good to bad. Woke up with a sore body, feeling pain in muscles I never knew existed in those parts of my body. That was still fine. It turned bad when, on our way back from Phoenix, I realised my yellow sapphire gold ring missing! I knew I had it in the morning before we left our friends’ house but somewhere on the way, the ring slipped from my fingers (well, the positive: I lost weight from a one day hiking trip! The negative: at the cost of a very expensive ring!) Anyways both V and I were very upset, but then things like this happen. I never wanted to wear the ring but V told me to, because he believes that the stone would be good for my overall prosperity and good luck. Since I don’t believe in such things, I wasn’t too keen. On his insistence I wore it. The irony is that once lost, I feel its a bad omen and my prosperity would be affected ( well, not that I was working or anything, but still, any chance of finding a job would get lost). Well, ok, I am not THAT superstitious but I would have felt more sure of my prosperity and my luck if the ring was in my fingers. Anyways, that too, we shall see!

Coming to today, I decided on treating V and myself to some real Indian comfort food: Poori, sookhe kale chane and Sooji ka Halwa .

Poori is a deep fried unleavened flat bread eaten in India. The dough is made of whole wheat flour, water, salt and a little ghee (clarified butter). One can also add carom seeds (Ajwain), like I did, for an added flavor.

Sookhe Kale chane is a north Indian dish, popularly made during Ashtami, (a Hindu festival) as part of Kanjak puja ( a ceremony performed for little girls). Generally, it is made sans salt (it is a fasting period and salt is not allowed). The salt is replaced with black salt (kala namak). Also, traditionally, ginger and tomatoes nor onions are used, but I have added them in my recipe (well, since we are not fasting!)

Sooji ka Halwa is a sweet dish very,very popular in most Indian households. It is also one of V’s favorites. Unfortunately for him, my first few attempts at the halwa have been disastrous. Its a tradition for newly weds to cook halwa for the husband’s family. Now, before marriage I had never entered the kitchen to cook, to bake-yes, but to cook, never. Well, probably once or twice, but that’s it. So, when I decided to make something for V’s family, I had no idea where to begin! Luckily, my in-laws had gone out of the house and the cook helped me making the halwa. Actually, I tried once, but it was a mess. So, had to take the cook’s help! Surprisingly, its very easy to make but also very easy to mess up. Fortunately, this time I found the microwave version of the recipe and thought to myself, I can;t goof up with this. And what would you know- I did! But, only slightly and because I had to third the recipe as I only had 2 cups of milk in the fridge. I also burnt the almonds in the microwave (I knew something was burning- but multi-tasking to prepare food in time for V’s lunch just ended up burning the almonds- but luckily, only a few!) The end result, though, was unexpectedly, pretty good. Actually very good!

Update: Just spoke with my mother-in-law and it turns out that losing a stone ring is good if it happens in the natural course of your day. It means all the bad energies leave you with that stone. Hmm.. 2011 looks promising! 😉

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