mayurisjikoni

Steamed and Healthy     Last weekend was my second visit to Niagara Falls and I thought I will not be as impressed with this natural wonder as I was the first time. However, I was so wrong. It was as though I was watching the mighty falls for the first time. I guess that the feeling of awe will never cease no matter how many times I may get an opportunity to visit the Niagara Falls. Its one of my favourite places on this Earth.     We took my dad who is visiting Canada for the first time, to Niagara Falls. We booked him into a falls view room and boy was it spectacular. My niece from Atlanta paid us a surprise visit(my son knew) and she too joined us for the weekend trip. It was her first time too to see the falls. Come evening and we all would gather in my dad's room to watch the different colours lighting the falls. Its such a pretty sight. Three falls make up the Niagara Falls, the largest being the Horseshoe Falls that borders between USA and Canada, the American Falls which is

It's different    For the month of July, The Shhh Cooking Secretly group decided on #Chutneys as the theme. The chutneys I've seen so far by the participants are so varied. But then why not as many regions of India have their own chutneys to boast about. We make them from herbs, dals, vegetables, fruits, dairy products, basically anything. I remember my grandmother would not allow us to throw away the peel of cucumber. She would instruct me how to make that into a chutney. Back then we didn't have any fancy electrical gadgets. She would make me pound the cucumber peels, coriander, ginger and chilli using a mortar and pestle. And a delicious chutney would be ready in no time to dip our bhajias into or to smear on rotis.    Before I ramble on more about Chutney, let me remind you what the group is all about. Started by Priya of Priya's Versatile Recipes , every month participating members are paired up. Then according to the theme we give each other 2 ingredients that w

Amazing Gadgets     Whenever I'm at my son's place in Montreal, the first few days go into cleaning his place. Out of all my three kids he's probably the one with the most gadgets. Home cleaning becomes an easier task and love that our clothes do not have that awful damp smell. The wonders of a clothes dryer. His kitchen too is equipped with some of the best and powerful appliances. Every visit and we add a new gadget.      This time round I was appalled at the state of our very useful pressure cooker. The bottom no longer sits well on the hob and I just don't want to get you into the colour of the poor pressure cooker. So I insisted that we buy an Instant Pot as anyway I'd read so much about it and a few bloggers even use it regularly. In a small kitchen we need gadgets that are multi functional. So the Instant Pot fits that description.     I would recommend an Instant Pot anytime. However, don't think I'll get one for my home in Mombasa because of the fre

Delish and Evil Theme: No bake Desserts BM#78 Week 3 Day 3    When I saw so many dark ruby red cherries at the market and in the supermarket, I was tempted to bake a black forest cake. Basically a Black Forest cake, is layers of chocolate cake, kirsch soaked cherries, grated chocolate and whipped cream. Kirsch(kirsch wasser) is a spirit made from tart cherries. I would have loved to bake this cake or gateau as its called. However, my family would have probably thrown me out with all the dessert I'm making for the past few days.    Remember I mentioned in the last dessert post that I was looking for brownies. Well, its for this dessert. Since I couldn't bake the cake(who will eat it??) and as the Blogging Marathon theme suggested No Baked Desserts, I decided to make the next best thing to Black Forest Cake and that is a Black Forest Trifle.     Usually trifles are set in a big bowl and then served by scooping out a portion. I decided to go the mini way and made them in individua

Just the right time to have ice cream    It has been really hot for the past few days in Montreal. Its humid and just the kind of weather all Canadians enjoy. People are out walking, jogging, having picnics, swimming, sailing, lazing in the sun. Hubby and I want to be indoors as the sun is too much for us. My dad is here, his first visit to Canada. He is from London, so he too is enjoying the really sunny hot days. When I run for the shade, he thinks I'm mad. So I had to remind him that I get more than enough sun back home in Mombasa, so I'd rather enjoy the cool or cold weather.    Anyway, its the right theme that Sarah Ellis has chosen for this months Fantastical Food Fight . The theme is Ice Cream. I went through so many options to make the ice cream for this theme, but the abundance of berries just kept on beckoning me. A couple of weeks ago, we saw this documentary on veganism. I'm not totally convinced to give up my dairy products...love cheese and yogurt too much. Bu

A quick dessert fix Theme: No Bake Desserts BM#78 Week 3 Day 2    I must admit its all these theme based cooking that is motivating me to either prepare bookmarked recipes or try out new recipes. I've come across so many mug cakes but never really bothered to try them out. For the No Bake Desserts theme, we are suppose to make a dessert which we would normally bake in a convectional oven but not bake it in an oven...confused?? Basically no using a convectional oven.     Taking advantage of the abundance of berries available in the markets in Montreal, I decided to make a mug cake in the microwave oven instead of using the convectional oven. I must admit I still love my 'properly' baked cakes but as a quick dessert treat... and I mean really quick, mug cakes are not a bad option at all. Even my sone was surprised that I could bake a cake so quickly. Last week when we went to the supermarket, I was looking for brownies to prepare my other no bake dessert and I didn't find