Monthly Mingle #4 - Holiday Cuisine Roundup


This was such a warm and cosy get together. We all sat outside on the terrace, the lovely scent of lilacs in the air and the evening sun just starting to set giving the whole sky around us a gorgeous orange glow. As we huddled together, the great stories and memories started pouring out from each of my guests. Childhood memories and favorite vacations taken in the past. Some even shared stunning photos of their recent vacation.

The table was of course filled with the most delectable dishes each one brought along to the mingle. The Holiday Cuisine theme to this months Monthly Mingle brought back some cherished moments for many of us. It was a great virtual party with a few of the most grandest buddies around.

Check out what we all had!



Don't forget: I'm hosting this month's From My Rasoi and look forward to your entries by September 21.


Updated: Sweetest Anni has just sent me her entry for this theme. Anni lives in my most favorite region in the US - that is San Francisco and the wine country. Her backyard is something what I have dreamt of all my life and she serves lovely cake and scones for tea. Check out her wonderful post.



My dearest Lisa reminisced about their vacation long, long ago on Lake Nipissing, in Callandar, Ontario. Hubbs and Lisa love fishing and when their friend stopped by to go fishing, it gave Lisa the perfect opportunity to cook up a Lake Erie Perch Fry.




Trust Vaishali to go on a short vacation to Sicily and come back with a traditional Sicilian dish. Vaishali brought back some great cooking stories of how traditional home cooked Italian meals were very different to those served in restaurants. She brings something wholesome and delicious. Her Spaghettini with Zucchini Bottle Gourd is ready to be spooned off the plate.



After my favorite Cream Puff's oven decided to pack and go on vacation, I thought this is the end. Trust Ivonne though to come up with the most appetizing alternative. She's is a creative soul and her Nutella Supreme had me in a frenzy. Ivonne is a girl of my own heart and grew up with Nutella. This panini brought back cherished memories of summers in Italy with family (and Nutella!) Thanks for sharing the wonderful stories.



Johanna spent a wet summer in Vienna this year. She did have a lovely time, but a fortnight of rain caused the moods to swing to a low. However, she made this colorful Panzanella which warmed her heart and took her to summer vacation in sunny Italy.




There's a lot happening in Pam's life and that is why I was extremely glad that she took some time out and was able to bring this Lasagne to the mingle. She says it is something she just loves as it reminds her of Italy - a favorite holiday destination.



I welcome Rajeshwari to her first mingle with us. She was inspired by the a salad in a cafe in Denver. She spiced it up a bit and the Tropical Salad was a winner.





Isis Isis! She can make magic happen. Isis spent three weeks in Greece, where she is originally from. I listened to her stories with awe as we too will be headed to the Peloponnese in just 2 weeks. Her pictures were great and the little surprise they brought back with them cracked me up. She brings a popular Greek dish Stuffed tomatoes and bell peppers filled with all the greek warmth and sunshine.




My brilliant German friend Ulrike spent her summer with her family in Wales. Henning, her younger son loves scones, so he was in paradise at the Welsh bakeries there. On returning home Ulli decided to bake batch of scones herself and she spoils us with her version of Welsh Scones. Certainly something I will be trying out with Soeren!



I decided to reminisce about the very first vacation Tom and I took. We were in Mallorca, Spain and to commemorate our 8 years together I thought I would cook up a Paella.




After all these great stories and fantastic dishes we were so satisfied, that we all promised to do this again. Yes, I would love to have you all over again for the next mingle. The theme this time is "Take Two".


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10 comments:

  1. Wonderful party, my sweet Meeta! I enjoyed every second of it ;)

    The dishes presented look fabulous and I can't wait to go read all the memories these beautiful dishes brought to their creators!

    Thank you so much for hosting this wondeful monthly event - I can't wait until I find out what "Take Two" means! heheee!

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  2. Sweet round-up! Sadly I got back only on the 7th...am gettign my pumpkinny recipe ahead of time, so that i dont miss one of your events-
    Hope you got the message that I recd Pam's card at last :) Was I the last one to get my card?

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  3. Great round-up Meeta, such an array of delicious food!!!

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  4. i love your blog and might just be your most regular reader yet! just don't get around to commenting and participating in those wonderful events. when i see the round ups i really wish i'd gotten organsied enough to participate though. like this holiday one - after our last holiday, i have decided goa has to be the best holiday destinastion ever! even if all we were doing was feeding and changing babies, at least we were doing it in goa! anyway i don't know where this comment is going, just been wanting to comment for so long and now that i have gotten started i can;t seem to stop so am rambling. sorry! but i do really love your blog.
    d

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  5. I just loved loved looooved the take on 'spoon', Meeta. :) I must rush to all other blogs to read about their holidays now. See ya.

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  6. Meeta, darling.

    Mea culpa. Wouldn't you know it? I missed my flight to the roundup. I'm behind a day (my 13th is your 14th) and my carry ons were confiscated by airport authorities. No liquids on board. Snap! Hmmm...what should I do with all this wine?

    Well I hope you take a visit at my post at :
    http://blissfulbanquet.blogspot.com/2006/09/wine-country-comfort-holiday.html

    . . . and check out my contribution.

    You have an open invitation to spend a holiday in California Wine Country...

    Great gathering! Can't wait for the next monthly mingle . . .

    Tootles,
    Anni :-)

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  7. Meeta,

    Thank for the great party, I had a great time listening to the stories of your friends, and dreaming of all these wonderful holiday destinations.

    Yesterday I copied a recipe at a friend's place for courgette ...... Which fits in perfectly with your new theme. It doesn't ask for sage, but it will fit in.

    And am looking forward to the other courgette recipes, as I have frozen quite a quantity of courgette to eat in winter. Will include tips for freezing courgette in the MM#5post

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  8. My first monthly mingle ... what a thrill!!!

    I love all the entries and I cannot wait for the next one!

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  9. Hello Ladies!
    Thank you for all those who took part and to those who did not - hope you'll join the party nex time!
    D I am glad you did leave a comment. It was wonderful. I hope you do take part in the next mingle as I would love to get to know you. If you can't manage I understand - it is difficult with kids. Just leave your comments or drop me mails whenever you can. Don't worry about the comment going no where - my blog is meant for everyone to communicate with each other. So do what your heart desires!

    Hugs

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  10. thanks meeta. i do hope to participate soon. i make 2 nice pumpkin thingees. but i will have to actually make them soon to take photographs. lets see...otherwise maybe i'll just send you the recipes...
    you described your kitchen in one of your posts - it sounds lovely. maybe you could post pics of your kitchen for us?

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting What's For Lunch, Honey? and taking time to browse through my recipes, listen to my ramblings and enjoy my photographs. I appreciate all your comments, feedback and input. I will answer your questions to my best knowledge and respond to your comments as soon as possible.

In the meantime I hope you enjoy your stay here and that I was able to make this an experience for your senses.

Hugs
Meeta