Here are my favorite Valentines Desserts:
CHURRO FRENCH TOAST SANDWICH
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8 Simple Decadent Valentine’s treats you must make
Dessert
Tiramisu French Toast
This Tiramisu French toast is a twist to the classic treat. It’s so delicious and unbelievably easy. This Tiramisu French toast recipe is made with coffee, cocoa and liqueur soaked brioche, buttery and topped with creamy mascarpone , and cocoa powder dusted on top.
I’m a morning person. I drink my coffee, I love my sunrise runs, but, I don’t care for breakfast. And you are a morning person? you ask;-). Yup. I’m that annoying person who is stupidly cheerful first thing. I love the early morning light and the birds chirping and dewy grass and a cuppa coffee.
I wasn’t a no-breakfast person growing up. Mom had the most delicious south Indian breakfast ready for me by 8.00 a.m and I didn’t have to move a finger. It was downright comfort home cooking. Weekends were different though. Dad took out his apron and the only vintage beater we had. The one with two whips, a handle to turn the whip.. remember?…. Good quality bread was key. A classic french toast, one of my dad’s specialties. It was simple: eggs, milk, sugar and cardamom. “Whip till it froths, dip the bread for no more than ten seconds on each side”, he said. Ghee laden, crispy and the best french toast. I enjoyed it! Those mornings felt very hoity-toity, with forks and all, nothing like my usual….
Eggless South African Donuts – Eggless Donuts with Cardamom & Coconut
Donuts are my kyrptonite and these Eggless South African Donuts have my heart. These are slightly different from the American donuts. They are sweet, spongy and pillowy, spiced and traditionally dipped in sugar syrup. SO GOOD!
Food feeds the soul. To the extent that we all eat food, and we all have souls, food is the single great unifier across cultures. On a larger scale, food is an important part of culture. Traditional cuisine is passed down from one generation to the next. It also operates as an expression of cultural identity. Immigrants bring the food of their countries with them wherever they go and cooking traditional food is a way of preserving their culture when they move to new places.
Being in America has opened up a pandoras box of global cuisine. What stays the same though is the extent to which each country or community’s unique cuisine can reflect its unique history, lifestyle, values, and beliefs. As the world becomes more globalized, it is easier to access cuisines from different cultures….
Creme Brûlée Linzer Cookies
Theses Creme Brûlée Linzer Cookies will become your absolute cookies ever! These gorgeous and easy cookies are buttery, flaky shortbread filled with thick custard and the torched sugar makes it heavenly. A Class dessert turned into a Christmas Cookie Classic!
“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.” ~ Norman Vincent Peale
It’s the time to be jolly, the time to shine, to give and to hold.
It’s a choice to be in the moment and to somehow find a balance between happiness and melancholy. Some moments are never planned out, some paths are taken and then we see where it leads us.
This year has taught us to live in the now. To be and to live, simply….
Red Velvet Thumbprint Cookies with Cream Cheese and White Chocolate
Red Velvet Cookies are a must make for Christmas. Baking and holiday season is upon us and I’m so happy to be bring this festive recipe for you. Buttery pillows of rich dreamy thumbprint cookies topped with cream cheese and white chocolate mixed in with cashews.
Red velvet cookies or cake is definitely one of the most festive looking treats for Christmas and the holidays. It’s the sweet marriage of cream cheese and vanilla with a little cocoa for good measure. She’s beautiful, dramatic, and completely topped with cream cheese and white chocolate frosting. This is my favorite.
These cookies are a blend of my two favorites, chocolate and vanilla. In my opinion red velvet shouldn’t be overpowered with chocolate. Red velvet desserts to me is a combination of vanilla and chocolate….
Gluten free Best Tahini Brownies with Peanut Butter
The BEST brownie recipe! These Tahini Brownies have a crispy top and edges, fudgy middles, and rich chocolate flavor, these homemade brownies will disappear in no time. Double the recipe!
I’ve been making “homemade brownies” that were average for years, until I found the perfect recipe. Anytime I made homemade brownies, I wanted them to be just like the ones I ate made by my team member for Thanksgiving for the old age home – super fudgy, moist, and chocolaty, with crispy edges and crackly tops. They were the best, I’d sneak a few to bring home for the boys. And Grace graciously would box a few for me. She said the recipe came from a friend and almond butter made it ever so perfect….
sweet bonda -Vada in Coconut Milk
Sweet Bonda- soft spongy Urad Dal Vada soaked in sweetened coconut milk. It’s a heirloom recipe of a very culturally rich small community of a district in Tanjore/Thanjavur. Perfect Navratri Sweet.
The memories of this sweet bonda traces back to when I was about 14-15 yrs. Back road drives, our yearly trips with aunts, uncles and cousins.
That year we visited Tanjore, South India. Tanjore is known for many things: It’s paintings, the very popular temples that were build during the Chola empire, and their hospitality. How can I forget the food?! To this day, Thanjavur and it’s food has stuck with me. We stayed at my mom friend’s home. A traditional home with thatched roofs, inviting thinnai and beams that were intricately carved out of teak wood. There are not enough synonyms to describe how varied their food is and how very delicious it is.
Reaching Tanjore past midnight, we went straight to bed after a few minutes of obligatory talk….
Healthier & Loaded Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins with tahini
These soft pumpkin muffins are loaded with chocolate chips and pecans, with tahini in the filling, it’s over the top flavorful. Made with olive oil and whole wheat flour, it’s little healthier, but no one can tell. Make one batch and it will become your favorite too.
We are still seeing high temps in the Bay Area, but that doesn’t stop me from going pumpkin frenzy. At least my home smells like Fall.
I’ve made a few batches of these over the last many years. They’ve also made a few trips to the bake sale, and they get sold before you can spell PUMPKIN:’).
I don’t measure, I eye ball pretty much everything especially when muffins are concerned. And every single time I get lucky. Last week a friend of mine asked for the recipe and it hit me that I don’t use any recipe for this. So, I decided to write it down, send it to her and while we are on a roll, share it with you’ll. It’s after all one of my most baked muffins during pumpkin season. Breakfast, lunchbox treat, after school snack… Best Ever Loaded Pumpkin Muffins for everyone!…
Sesame Apple CAke
Thinly sliced sweet apples run through this tender, fluffy and buttery Sesame Apple Cake. This apple cake screams simplicity and comfort, a cake that is not overtly sweet and so so satisfying.
That abundance mentality vs scarcity mentality. We are human, we want it all. Recognition, success, respect, money – these are all things that most of us dream of having in abundance on a daily basis.
Steven Covey in his book Seven Habits of highly successful people coined this well.
_________”Most people are deeply scripted in what I call the Scarcity Mentality. They see life as having only so much, as though there were only one pie out there. And if someone were to get a big piece of the pie, it would mean less for everybody else.
The Scarcity Mentality is the zero-sum paradigm of life. People with a Scarcity Mentality have a very difficult time sharing recognition and credit, power or profit – even with those who help in the production. The also have a a very hard time being genuinely happy for the success of other people.
The Abundance Mentality, on the other hand, flow out of a deep inner sense of personal worth and security. It is the paradigm that there is plenty out there and enough to spare for everybody. It results in sharing of prestige, of recognition, of profits, of decision making. It opens possibilities, options, alternatives, and creativity.”_____
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Modak/Kozhukkatai/Sweet dumplings with sesame and coconut
Modak/Kozhukkatai, a sweet dumpling served on the auspicious day of the birth of Ganesha, the elephant GOD. It’s nutty, sweet and with a drizzle of ghee, it’s irresistible.
You are what you eat, so eat something sweet!
He sits majestically, adorned with flowers and a spread of Modak, laddos, corn, puffed rice and vada is abundantly piled on a silver platter and placed in front of him. The moment we dread, with tears: mom dad and myself have to bid him goodbye for a year. Dad does the aarti, and we take him to do visarjan( leave him in water}. Sighs. It’s a sad few moments.
Morning starts off real early, 5.00 a.m to be exact. A bath and new clothes, a brass plate in hand, dad and I get ready to go bring Ganesha from commercial street. A place where my grandfather and his father got the custom made Lord that’s made out of a mould, and liberally sprinkled with gold dust….