Thanksgiving

Apple Cake-Pancake with Candied Walnuts

November 5, 2016 By Asha Shivakumar

Happy November!!! Happy Fall!

Fall is absolutely my favorite season, for its beautiful rich dense colors and the chill in the air. While summer has its own glory, this time of the year brings out the warmth, coziness, and hospitality in all of us. The plethora of colors we see when we go for a walk is unmatched, although living in the Bay, the fall colors are not easily seen.

Weekend comes and I always almost have waffles, muffins or pancakes. The thought that comes when I make these is that, they would come handy on the weekdays too. Guess what, I make 10 or 30, they are gone by Sunday evening.

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Malpua (Sweet Pancake) Stuffed With Ricotta-Coconut Rum Cream

October 24, 2016 By Asha Shivakumar

“Alcohol and desserts are pretty great on their own. When combined, the results are often epic”. – Ash

Diwali is right out the corner. Colors, lights, fireworks, clothes, family, friends, parties, dancing, and, of course, we can’t forget about the food. There is so much food and sweets. I love the spirit of this festival. It has the spirit of coming together, laughing over mugs of coffee and tea, snacking, and just relaxing. One of the specialties of Diwali is the snacks that are prepared days before the actual festival…

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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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BROWN BUTTER PUMPKIN CAKE with CARDAMOM AND SAFFRON

November 24, 2014 By Asha Shivakumar

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

There are a couple of reasons I am super hyped for this post.

One: Cardamom and Saffron, a match made in food world, is not only a favorite of mine but also of many. Isn’t there something great about it?. Close your eyes and think of those two spices. The warmth and the sweetness just engulfs you.

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CARDAMOM PUMPKIN HALWA with ALMOND CREAM TRIFLE

November 25, 2013 By Asha Shivakumar

One of my favorite festivals after I came here is Thanksgiving. There’s something about everyone getting together, cooking, sitting down for a big spread and saying Thanks.
Reminds me a lot of our festivals back in India.

I’ve been reading a lot of blogs about how they are going to celebrate Thanksgiving. What is the one thing you really look forward to on Thanksgiving day? I would love to know. Do you celebrate it the traditional way? DO YOU LIKE TURKEY?

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