As I went over to the Daring Kitchen, earlier this month, to check out what the challenge would be, I came away doing cartwheels and very excited. See I love puff pastry and homemade puff pastry rocks even more! But the challenge did not end there – no there was more.
A huge thank you to Bee and Jai for their lovely Heirloom recipe roundup! What a treat this roundup was, with so many exciting stories and recipes.
This month my lovely guest hostess is Aparna from the very versatile blog My Diverse Kitchen. As we discussed the theme several months ago I was very excited about it because it’s one of those elegant and sophisticated traditions I love. Although we do not practice it as often as I would like, there have been quite a few occasions when I have entertained my friends for High Tea.
As Aparna explains high tea, was actually a meal which was served around six in the evening in homes of common working class folk and a full meal equal to dinner! It was called high tea because it was served at the high table/ family dining table.
Somewhere in time, high tea came to mean a sort of traditional tea where lighter desserts and dishes are served. This would include savories such as appetizers or tiny sandwiches, scones, crumpets and pastry items like cookies, cakes, shortbreads, etc.
So Aparna and I are inviting you all to a cozy and jovial high tea party. We have a large but very empty table and would love it if you shared your grand High Tea Treats with us.
Here’s what you need to do:
Hope we have plenty of people joining the fun this month. We look forward to seeing your treats!
Hugs!
All photographs and written content on What's For Lunch, Honey? © 2006-2008 Meeta Khurana unless otherwise indicated. | All rights reserved | Please Ask First
Saffron, a regal and ancient spice dating back more than 3500 years and spanning several cultures. It has always been one of the world’s most costly spice.
Saffron is my current Food Guide feature, and I hope you enjoy reading more about this incredibly precious spice.
Click this month has paired up with the Monthly Mingle and is being hosted over at Jugalbandi. With the theme Heirloom both Bee and Jai asked for a challenging entry to both events. But as I decided on submitting my grandmother’s Saffron Rice Pudding, I knew straight away that saffron was to be my click of choice.
I like this picture a lot as it highlights the different shades of the saffron. I focused in on the mould of saffron giving a sharpness to mostly the spice and leaving the front and back of the photo out of focus. With this I hoped to draw in the attention to the spice itself. I liked the contrasts of the grey-blue backgrounds against the reds and oranges of the saffron. I also wanted to play around with the different textures; of the background, of the rock and of the saffron threads all three seemingly intermingling with each other. A simple shot but hopefully it brings out the depth I was hoping to achieve.
Details
- Camera: Nikon D70s
- Lens: Nikkor 18-70mm
- Tripod: Bilora 1211
- Focal Length: 70 mm
- Exposure Time: 1/60 sec
- Aperture: f/4.5
- Lighting: Lowel Ego lights – one from right and one lighting the back. White bounce in the front to light up some dark patches in the front.
Hope you like it too.
All photographs and written content on What's For Lunch, Honey? © 2006-2009 Meeta Khurana unless otherwise indicated. | All rights reserved | Please Ask First
"You say tomaaahtoh, I say ... sauce!" "You say tomaaytoh, I say ... salad!" "You say tomato, I say ... chutney!" Then I'll say "STOP!" before you give me any more tomatoes!
I am seeing red right now - tomato red! My CSA box has been overflowing with lovely ripe tomatoes and my mother-in-law’s green house has been producing more tomatoes than she can harvest. Last weekend I found myself with something like 4 kilos of tomatoes
Kheer or milchreis, riz au lait, arroz de leite, budino di riso, arroz con dulce or just rice pudding. Whatever you may call it, fact is almost every country has their own particular version of this creamy, dreamy, sweet rice dessert.
The North Indian type, kheer has accompanied me since my childhood. My nani, my aunts and my mother each had their own particular way of making kheer and each one was a tad different - almost like their own signature dish. I could always tell who had made the particular kheer I was eating. My mum, for example, used plump big yellow raisins and instead of almonds used cashews. One of my aunt added finely grated cinnamon while the other highlighted her kheer with a dash of rosewater. It was my nani's kheer however that always stood out - it was the queen of kheers if you might.
It was Barbara of Winos & Foodies who made me change my mind entirely about posting this recipe. I had something totally different planned but something that Barbara said on Twitter stuck to my head. See, she recently bought her first mango of the season - that in itself is not exceptional given the fact that she lives down under and the mango season is just starting. What stuck to my head was the fact that she missed out the previous mango season due to her chemotherapy. It made me sit back and think how granted I take such simple things in life. That one comment put things in a different perspective for me.
The sweetest surprises are the most precious ;o). Guess what’s in the box?
Stay tuned!
All photographs and written content on What's For Lunch, Honey? © 2006-2009 Meeta Khurana unless otherwise indicated. | All rights reserved | Please Ask First
