Food Fashion Recipe Blog

Mirch Ka Salan – Spicy Pepper Curry

November 29, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

Why measure when you have your taste buds, right?!

As long as I can remember, my grandma and mom never measured anything in their cooking. There would be huge family gatherings and lots of food. Just watching grandmom(Amma) cook with a pinch of this, a teaspoon of that, tasting every now and then was pure joy. Despite all the chaos I would be called to taste and see if it was OK. Let’s just say, it wasn’t just O.K, it was all so perfect. Maybe because of their inconsistency in how they cooked and got it right always, inspired me to see what cooking was all about.

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Sesame-Almond Apple Cake

November 19, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

Have you ever asked yourself, “If I were to re-live the last 10 years, would I do some things different?” I definitely ask myself that sometimes.

We rush to achieve perfection in everything, and try to juggle a ton of stuff when all we can do is manage one. After all, we are just human. I would like to change small things. I didn’t have to vacuum everyday. I didn’t have to buy that perfect gift and drive around 4 hours to find one. I really didn’t have to eat that whole bag of chips (although I enjoyed it then). I would’ve loved to visit family back in India more often.

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Endive Boats with Beet-Carrot-Fennel-Pear in Asian Dressing

November 4, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

I’ve always been picky about my salads. I will eat a salad only if it is spicy, crunchy, and made with some peanut butter dressing :). Well, it changed.

I was invited to a clothing boutique opening a few winters ago. That’s when I fell in love with these endive boats after avoiding it for about 20 minutes. As we walked in, our coats were taken. The wine was served and the conversations were on full swing, when a very prim and proper server walked by us bringing these beautiful salad boats. I excused myself politely to walk across to the left of the room where the cocktails and desserts were. After a few minutes, the guy comes again with this beautifully arranged platter of these boats, and I picked out a boat just to be nice to the guy. He smiled because I had been avoiding him for at least 20 minutes. I stalked him for the next 15; I am sure I would’ve eaten at least 10.

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Bruschetta with Persimmon Chutney

November 4, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

Happy November!!

There’s something about the cooler weather, twinkling stars as early at 6.00 p.m., and all the festive pumpkins and persimmons in the grocery store. Everything screams of holidays, parties and food. Everyone gets in the mood of perfecting their pies, the sides and their birds.

The appetizers are some of the last to be remembered. Don’t you think?

I have a great one for you. Just make a lot of it and have some bottles of chutney ready to go for your guests, they’ll want it.

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Quick Pumpkin Butter with Cardamom and Ginger – Pull apart Bread

October 23, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

It is the season of festivals for Indians. Starts around September and goes on till mid November.

‘Ayudha Pooja’, that’s what we celebrate in the Southern Part of India this week. It is a very interesting festival. Ayudha means weapons/instruments. On this day, we pay our respect to all the regular household items we use. Knifes, screw drivers, hammer, calculator, you name it, if we can keep it for prayers, we will.

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Pesto with Candied Balsamic Cashews on Focaccia

October 14, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

We still are wearing our open toed sandals and sundresses. I think we are going to jump to Winter, skipping Fall. There is not a lot of foliage here. The only sign of fall are the squash and pumpkins.
I miss the chill, we need some rain.

On the bright side, I found some beautiful tomatoes in Cali and it’s crazy 91 degrees.

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Best Authentic Vegetarian Vegetarian Khow Suey – Lightly Spiced Coconut Milk Curry with Noodles and Condiments

October 6, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

It’s October, it’s Autumn. To me, it’s the start of a lot of baking, cooking, festivities and entertaining. I hope everyone’s as excited for Fall, Pumpkins, Warm Spices, and Soups.

All of that can get overwhelming at times.

But, sometimes, even too much of a good thing is really good, like this soup!

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Coconut-Cashew-Chocolate Fudge/Ladoo – Quick 30 minute recipe

September 15, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

This Chocolate Coconut Ladoo is a must-make Diwali sweet. It’s an instant 10 minute recipe that is easy, impressive and your friends will leave with the recipe for sure. It’s no wonder the recipe is such a huge crowd pleaser!

Happy Ganesha Chaturthi to all who celebrate!!

It is one of the biggest festivals of India this week. It is the birth of Ganesha, the Elephant God. To me, I love the vibes that this festival brings. I’m enamored with the colors and the mood it creates.

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Garlic-Coconut Spiced Hash with Eggs

September 11, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

Being a foodie has always made me think in one perspective, the sensual experience of eating is all in the head. I’ve always felt garlic is a package of surprises. You can use it in every possible innovative way, and there’s a new surprise each time. Now let’s hold onto this thought for a while…

Our bags packed and we are ready to get this thing going. We drove four hours to this beautiful site with winding roads. We reached our destination and were able to stretch our legs a little. Tall redwood trees, green and white tents, sounds of birds chirping invited us. It was hot, but we felt cool under the shade of the tightly packed trees. The tall trees towering above called us in a way with their outstretched branches. The warm sunlight streaming in was definitely inviting. We parked our cars and decided to poke around some more. Little did I know, I’d see the shadow of a bear that night…

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5 Easy Kids Lunch Ideas -Going back to school lunches

August 27, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

I thought I’d gotten used to this. One’s a teen, and the other just turned two digits. I’ve been through this for years now. Unfortunately, it is still so hard. My throat’s filled with knots. Emotions, those emotions all over again, the anxiety of separation. I thought I’d figured it all out, and it would be different this time around. Boy, was I wrong.

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