Is the weekend here yet? Somebody please say, yes :-) I had a crazy hectic week at work and could not wait for it to get over. We had two of our out-of-town directors at our office and that meant more work, running from one meeting to another, extra tasks, production issues and apart from that finishing our regular work. Phew! I am so glad that is over with. As if that is not enough I have developed cold and that means constant sneezing, sniffling and headaches. Who gets a cold smack right in the middle of blazing hot summer?

As a result cooking is taking a back seat and nothing interesting is happening in our kitchen. Luckily DH ventured into the kitchen and offered to cook something spicy and interesting. He had seen this Spiced Potato Curry on Manjula’s Kitchen and decided to give it a try.

Not only is this easy to make, the taste is delicious too. Since it has spices like coriander and fennel it is aromatic too. We had this along with rice and rasam and we had a wonderful, comforting meal. This reminded me so much of the baked Potato cubes that I make.

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What is it about summer that you like the most? Is it the outdoor gardening, picnics, longer days, out door grilling, fresh bounty of fruits and vegetables? For me the first pick would be the longer days and close second would be the fresh bounty of fruits specifically the beautiful berries. The grocery is usually flooded with fruits and vegetables; not only are they fresh but they are cheaper as well.

Did somebody say “what about the summer heat”? Well, let’s not go there shall we? If you live in some place like Texas, then the lesser talk about the heat the better. Let’s just focus on the fresh and fruity for now like this summery, low-fat dessert, parfait.

If you are wondering what is a parfait? An American parfait is a dessert normally made by layering cream, ice cream, or flavored gelatin dessert with other ingredients such as granola, nuts, yogurt,   fresh fruit, or whipped topping. A parfait is normally made in a tall clear glass making all layers visible. (source).

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It has only been few years ago when I learnt that even Black Chana/ Kala Chana are referred to as Chickpeas. I had assumed that only Kabuli Chana was referred to as Chickpeas. I make the usual Chana Masala with the Kabuli Chana and Saaru and upkari (Konkani for Curry) using the Black Chana. 

This is a simple dry curry and rasam made with minimal ingredients from the pantry. Kala chana is first soaked, cooked and then finally seasoned. The cooked water is used to make the rasam by flavoring with seasoning of garlic. This is my younger brother’s favorite food to have for lunch or dinner. We love this at home too, but we prefer the Lima Beans Curry or the Black Eyed Bean Saar upkari better. 

It is also helpful to note that chickpeas are a helpful source of zinc, folate and protein. They are also very high in dietary fiber and hence a healthy source of carbohydrates for persons with insulin sensitivity or diabetes. (Source).

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So what is a Coffee Cake? Turns out it is a class of cake intended to be served with coffee or during breaks. They do not need to contain coffee in them. Coffee cakes are typically flavored with cinnamon, nuts, and fruits. These cakes sometimes have a crumbly topping called as Streusel. 

It has been a while since I posted recipe for cakes/muffins; not because I have not been baking, but because the baking experiments were not successful and not worthy of posting them here on the blog. The baking that I do is all eggless and I am on look for recipes that are egg free. 

I recently purchased Ener-G egg replacer and wanted to experiment something with it.  This is used as a substitute for egg.  I chose this Cinnamon Coffee Cake as it was simple and not laden with calories. So I finally baked it and below are some positives and negatives as I found them.

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I had this dish almost 10 years ago at the company cafeteria I used to work for way back then. (Aww shucks, that was a decade ago, I cannot believe how time flies!) That was during the height of dot com boom and everything in the company was extravagant. Free breakfast, free lunches, pizza days, free stuff from the vending machines, pool tables, gymn, TT tables, birthdays, picnics and what have you. It was bliss, except for the work schedule as that was extremely crazy; we had to work long hours even during the weekends. But somehow people did not seem to care and worked their heads off.

I was new to the country then, new to the company and oblivious to the cuisine choices. Being a vegetarian limited my choices even further. So most of the times I used to take my own lunch to work, but on occasions when I could not I would eat at the cafeteria. After some trials and tribulations this Black Bean Cornbread was on the top of my list of food choices at the cafeteria.  But that did not last long. (No, not the choice of food, the cafeteria itself).

Less than the year later the dot com bust happened and that devoured the company, closing the cafeteria, leaving the people and assets in shambles. The company dis-integrated and the people dispersed looking for newer ventures and greener pastures. I moved on too and as time passed, the memory faded and I forgot about this dish as well.

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In our house DH is a huge fan of tea and has a wide range of tea collection. One of his weekend activities during summer is to brew a big pot of one variety and then refrigerate it. While serving he tops it off with ice, fruit juices, lime, mint etc.  This is a cool and refreshing way to beat the summer heat. 

Speaking of summer here in Texas it is at its peak and that means temperatures in the range of 100-110 F. It is hot and sultry both inside out with the feeling of thirst all the time. What better way to quench thirst than with some cool and refreshing ice tea topped with fruit juices/syrups? 

This time we decided to make our own Blueberry Syrup, thanks to the splurge of blueberries that we had after our BlueBerry Picking escapade. We googled and after looking for some recipes we got an idea and came up with this one.

Fruit Syrups are very easy to make, and the number of flavors one can concoct are endless. Substitute raspberry or blackberry or strawberry or even a combination and that makes a terrific syrup. The uses of it are endless, use it on pancakes, toasts, toppings on cakes, parfaits, combination with lemonade, iced tea etc and the list goes on.

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