I love making desserts with fruits and vegetables. It’s my kind of way to ease the guilt of eating sweets. Off course, desserts made of fruits and vegetables are much healthier(well, depending on how it’s made) than the kinds made of sugar, butter and refined flour only. Candied winter melon or chal kumrar morobba is one of such dessert.
Do you know your truffles? At a dinner table, if you hear truffles will be served, would you expect the pungent scented expensive mushroom or delectable round, confection?
Natural truffle is a subterranean mushroom found growing near tree roots and thought to be an aphrodisiac by the ancient Greeks and Romans. I am not talking about these sensual, mysterious and one of the most expensive natural food. I am talking about the other kind that resembles the fungal namesake, the quintessential luxury confection of the modern world. Traditionally, this other kind is made with velvety smooth chocolate ganache filling. The Latin term truffle means “swelling” or “lump”. Both the mushroom and sweet gets the name from the unusual shape they hold. Just as the natural truffles, the sweet truffles are synonymous with luxury and finest delicacies.
October not only marks the beginning of autumn it also marks the beginning of the holiday season, starting with Eid ul Adha, and then Diwali, Thanksgiving and so on.
Eid is one of my most favorite holidays and I still get excited about the festivities like a small girl. For me applying henna/mehendi is also an integral part of the festivities. Though I never cooked pumpkin halva for Eid before, the orange pumpkin color with the dark green background resembles the color of henna, and I love it. Hope you do too.
Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today…
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace…
– John Lenon
Do you know September 21, is observed as The International Day of Peace, a.k.a. “Peace Day”. It is not a public holiday but is observed globally. The United Nation established this day to coincide the opening of the general assembly in 1981. The first Peace Day was celebrated in 1982. Until 2002, Peace day was observed on the third Tuesday of September. In 2002, September 21 became the permanent date for the International Day of Peace. Nations around the world are invited to observe this day of global ceasefire and non-violence – personal and political.
Anyone anywhere can celebrate this Day. Though various events and organized events take place on this day, it can also be observed as simply as with a toast for peace, lighting a candle, silent meditation, or just a picnic for peace. The impact of everyone, everywhere in the world coming together for peace is enormous. Let’s take this opportunity to attempt to make peace in our personal life and in our relationships, and in the conflicts we see around us. Can you imagine what a whole day would mean without anger, hostility and ceasefire.
I have long been contemplating what the opening recipe should be for the “from scratch” section of the blog. Should it be rice or fish dish since that’s the staple for many in the Indian sub continent or should it be a sweet dish. At the end, as you can see the winner is a dessert item.
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