South of France

4 Jun

 It’s not a postcard, it’s from our very own Cannon Powershot Camera

 There’s so many foods we had but unfortunately we don’t have too many pictures of it, probably because we devoured everything we eat.

After all the coverage on the Cannes Film Festival , I was thinking about our trip to the south of France in September 2009. We were in Paris for our wedding anniversary and hopped on a train ride to see the country side from Paris to Nice on the fastest train I’ve ever been on – THE  TGV train.

It was a place, I always wanted to go especially since in magazines and stories you always hear people speak about the glamorous French Rivera. And it did not disappoint with its amazing weather, food, friendly people and picturesque towns along the Mediterranean coast. It’s a destination I want to go and explore all the beautiful towns surrounding the coastline.

But in the mean time, checking out a great restaurant  can make it seem like you’ve travelled to another place even if you have never been there . A couple of weeks ago while checking out one of the Smithsonian museums, we came across a  French Bistro in the historic Capital Hill area with  perfect outdoor seating area  for a sunny day called Bistro Cacao http://bistrocacao.com/ and it reminded me of when we were in France with the good food, wine  the french speaking hostess and the setting.

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Weber Grills – Funny commercial for 2010 Summer!

24 May

Perfect timing for a great commercial as this weekend is the unofficial first weekend of the summer 2010!

Weber Grills – Have Fun with it TV Commercial

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Harissa – The Moroccan Condiment

12 May

Morocco – just the word itself brings you an image of exotic fabrics, beautiful carpets, plush cushions, lanterns and the amazing food. In 2007, my husband and I briefly went to Morocco, while we were visiting Southern Spain and had an amazing time that was too short, but managed to try local food and checked out the local markets which are called “souks”. One of the things I had never tasted before was a paste called Harissa which is a red chili paste that is used in meats, as a spread and in couscous. And since then, I keep a looking for it in the supermarkets and for the first time last month, I saw that Whole Foods have started selling this wonderful Moroccan brand called Alili of Morocco (http://www.alilimorocco.com/ )and picked up their version of Harissa which was comparable to one we had in Morocco in my opinion.

Ideas on how to use Harissa

- Topping for hot dogs with onions, or grilled lamb,on top of burgers and other meats- its almost the 2010  BBQ season !

-Serve  with fresh mozzarella sliced with baby spinach leaves and olive oil.

- mix with some mayonnaise or hummus as a spread for your sandwiches

- mix with sour cream to create a dip for your chips

- in couscous, quinoa, rice or pasta and some olive oil

and much more..also if your interested in making this by scratch here’s a link to a great homemade recipe and article on Harissa http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/05/homemade-harissa-recipe.html

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Judith Leiber Signature Purses

6 Dec

Judith Leiber Elephant Purse

http://www.judithleiber.com/product.cfm?id=150

Can my birthday come any sooner? This purse is beautiful and very colorful too but for $5G’s might be much when we are looking for a house. But its a classic for anyone who looking for a purse to invest for a lifetime. They have other lovely pieces that I would love to have all of them soo shiny and sparkly without being tacky.

The Rose

From their website describes that “Adding to Hollywood’s nearly 50-year love affair with the brand, almost every First Lady dating back to 1963 has carried these custom-made bags to the U.S. Presidential Inauguration ceremonies. Judith Leiber is truly an iconic American brand.”

http://www.judithleiber.com/page.cfm?name=Red_Carpet

Will be posting more soon…

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Fojol Bros. Of Merlindia – DC’s answer for Lunch Curry

7 Oct

 Yaay ! Finally got to taste the Fojol Bros. of Merlindia in DC,  there’s nothing  like some “Curry in a Hurry “( I know most New Yorker’s know that restaurant in NYhttp://www.yelp.com/biz/curry-in-a-hurry-new-york).

So who are they? Here’s a quote from their About section

“On January 20th, 2009, the fojol bros. of Merlindia emerged from their home in the village of Adams Morgan and hit the streets of DC to share their family traditions with the world. They served food from their family truck and listened to and interacted with folks from all over the world. They watched with amazement as armies of people flooded DC on the day the world changed.”
http://fojol.com/

 fojols

 I follow them on Twitter and found out that today, they were  sitting up nearby and thought perfect they must have known I was craving some butter chicken. But  I was  skeptic because it sounded like it would a fake curry which tastes the same no matter its vegetarian or chicken,be bland and its from a truck?

And so the final verdict from today’s tasting of their “Dingo” size of Butter Chicken and Chicken Curry I am sold! It was soo000 good, flavorful, not too spicy but both curries had a distinct taste that my friends is when you know its good Indian Curry. And actually the fact they have that small size to get people to try for $2.00 is a brilliant marketing idea too. 

Here’s the Website & twitter to find out where they will set up shop next! And you can even suggest where too.

http://fojol.com/

http://twitter.com/fojolbros

I heart Fojol in DC :-)

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Food Flags!

1 Oct

Italy & France

ItalyFoodFlagfrance_

  Japan & India

japan_FoodFlagIndiaFoodFlag

 Love this Promo for the Sydney International Food Festival.  This is actually a great idea for a party  with tasting plates from around the world dressed as flags. Tres Fab

See the rest at The Kitchn’s link

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/look-food-flags-for-the-sydney-international-food-festival-097033

Enjoy!

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Penn State’s Hostess Goddess Sue Paterno

17 Sep

psu

To my Penn State Fans & Friends

This is an adorable article about Sue Paterno - for her  love of  cooking and hosting for her husband Legendary Joe Paterno or Joe Pa and the rest of Penn State country .  Now there’s a dedicated hostess goddess right there in the heart of Pennsylvannia.

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From  www.Philly.com

Lasagna, pies are her game plan

For years, Sue Paterno has fed Penn State fans and family, every morsel made from scratch.
This weekend, for instance, after the Temple vs. Penn State game on Saturday, she will be entertaining 60 guests at the Paternos’ ranch-style home, serving her homemade tomato sauce and meatballs, homemade lasagna, homemade chocolate chip cookies, and homemade peach pies – as has been her tradition after each home game for the 44 years that Joe has been head coach.

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20090917_Lasagna__pies_are_her_game_plan.html

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Good Morning – Fancy a Sunny Side Toast ?

9 Sep

Sunny Side Toast or simply Sunny Toast at least thats what I would call this. It has some interesting history, seems easy to make and create variations too and has lots of different names.

Read the two articles that caught my eye and inspired this post.

Serious Eats – Guy Kibbee Eggs
http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/09/guy-kibbee-eggs-in-toast-breakfast.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_in_the_basket

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In London

25 Aug
Sunny London – Tower Bridge

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Malabar Spinach aka Cheerah

9 Aug

MalabarSpinachattheKitchn

Indian food is diverse, colorful and vibrant in flavor, but most of the dishes showcased in Indian restaurants today reflect just one region in India – the North.  Believe me, I LOVE IT, but what people do not realize is that there’s a plethora of cuisines across the Indian sub-continent that is just as good as the fare of the North.  My family is from the Southern part of India and its rarely represented in restaurants and never understood that, it tastes completely different and it is just as good.  Come to think of it, whenever I sat in my mom’s kitchen while she cooked, using what I thought to be different & mysterious ingredients. She would tell me the English and the Malayalee (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayali) names of them. And for whatever reason , and I’m sure this happens to a lot of us, when its in a different language sometimes you  just can’t imagine any other name for an item other than the one in your language .

So when I came across this article on thekitchn.com, a bulb went off in my head – Malabar Spinach – could it be Cheerah?? What I called Cheerah my entire life and thought it was a mysterious plant actually has an English name!!?? My mom did say it’s a different variety of Spinach but I guess I did not put much thought about it until I saw this article and thought woah it sounds incredible and exotic. Now every time I eat Cheerah Thoran it would translate to Malabar Spinach Sautéed with Spicy Coconut. Makes Malayalee food sound amazing right?  I think I might have found my next project.?

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/what-is-malabar-spinach-091477

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