- July
- 23
My children are having a fabulous summer so far-—with two doting grandparents who have taken over the reins at home.
Granny (Patti) is a former art teacher, and spends countless hours creating and teaching Origami designs to the kids-—they are now expert makers of star box, parrot, elf, ladybug and numerous other designs.
The kids have also [...]
Posted by Swapna Venugopal on July 23rd, 2009 | 1 Comment »
- July
- 19
Our first harvest of the season included eggplant, arugula, basil and cilantro.
The kids joined me in putting together an arugula salad, and we decided to add red grapes and pine nuts for color and crunch. For the dressing, we whisked together olive oil, vinegar, Worchestershire sauce, paprika and a pinch of sugar. Delish!
Posted by Swapna Venugopal on July 19th, 2009 | 2 Comments »
- July
- 15
Don’t want to jinx it, but I can hardly resist the first glimmer of hope in my organic vegetable garden. This is our second year, and buoyed by our beginner’s luck last year (click here for the earlier post), we went all out this time—with a raised bed and fence.
And the results, so far, are [...]
Posted by Swapna Venugopal on July 15th, 2009 | Post a Comment »
- April
- 16
It would be no exaggeration to say that all the major Hindu festivals of Kerala are more about feasting than anything else.
So it was fairly easy for my parents to make sure that my sister and I, second generation Malayalis (as people from Kerala are known) growing up in Mumbai, had an appreciation for Keralean [...]
Posted by Swapna Venugopal on April 16th, 2009 | 5 Comments »
- April
- 2
One of my favorite dishes, growing up, was a side of sauteed spinach with shallots.
It’s a basic, no-frills recipe that tastes delicious.
All you do is pour two tablespoons of coconut oil (any vegetable oil will do, but coconut oil makes it swoon-worthy) into a heavy-bottomed pan, and when the oil heats up, add a teaspoon of [...]
Posted by Swapna Venugopal on April 2nd, 2009 | 3 Comments »
- February
- 9
For brunch last Saturday, I put together an old favorite— grilled sandwiches with a spicy potato spread. It turned out to be a huge hit with my kids, and left me wondering how I had forgotten all about this childhood staple for so long?
Here’s the recipe:
INGREDIENTS for the spread
3 tablespoons Canola or other vegetable [...]
Posted by Swapna Venugopal on February 9th, 2009 | 3 Comments »
- January
- 8
We were in India last month to celebrate my father-in-law’s 80th birthday. “Sathabhishekam”—as the traditional ceremony commemorating the ripe age is called—is considered a very important milestone, for one is believed to have seen a 1000 full moons by then.
Over the course of the three-day festivities—which included mehendi (henna) designs for the women and a [...]
Posted by Swapna Venugopal on January 8th, 2009 | Post a Comment »
- November
- 20
Thanksgiving is just a week away, and I’m looking for inspiration to carve out a menu.
Loyal readers of my posts (yeah, the two of you) know that I run a vegetarian household, and will not be stuffing a turkey.
We’ve invited a couple over (who are also vegetarian and therefore will not be bummed by the [...]
Posted by Swapna Venugopal on November 20th, 2008 | 4 Comments »
- October
- 23
For a person who hadn’t seen an apple orchard until last month, my mom’s always been a big believer in the maxim, An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
There was hardly a day when she didn’t pack an apple in my school lunch box. So much so that I earned the nickname “apple girl” [...]
Posted by Swapna Venugopal on October 23rd, 2008 | 3 Comments »
- October
- 2
Every couple of months, we drive down to Oak Tree Road, a street in New Jersey that straddles the municipalities of Edison and Iselin, for a slice of Little India.
A land where the grocery store aisles are crowded with women dressed in sarees, speaking a multitude of Indian languages. They jostle to sniff and squeeze vegetables [...]
Posted by Swapna Venugopal on October 2nd, 2008 | Post a Comment »