Monica Bhide

Thanks Tejon. I wish I had a bigger kitchen. It is so small. I have so many friends who dont cook AT ALL and have these gorgeous gourmet kitchens that make my mouth water. Someday.. also I wish I had a gas range. My electric one works fine but I prefer the control a gas range provides. One can always hope eh!

Lunch -- I was going to make cilantro chutney sandwiches but discovered I had no bread left today. So I ransacked the fridge and found leftovers. (I guess its all relative what is found commonly in ones refrigerator!) I found some dosa batter from last night -- made with rice and white urda dal (soaked and ground up) and some potators cooked in a simple tomato curry. A side of cilantro chutney and ofcourse my bad habit of a coke.. and we are good to go. I am off to go eat and work. Be back tonite with dinner -- Coconut shrimp curry with simple basmati rice. ANd of course some fried papads.. hope you will like it.

lol. He is a monkey alright -- just that he is my monkey and thank you

What's that on the far right of the first pic? That hedgehog-like thing. Hope I'm not being disrespectful. Look forward to the Malaysian food, especially the curry! Chicken, fish or other? Will this be the Mamak (Indian-Malay) curry or the Malay version? ← No disrespect at all -- that is shrimp on a stick stuck in foil

The lemon helps it release its color better so you get a darker red instead of an orange

My poor five year old now thinks that apples make your legs grow stronger so you can swim better. I know I am evil. I wish Spiderman would endorse prunes

I cook everyday - primarily Indian, leftovers (hee heehee) and a bit of Malaysian. I do make random things from different cuisines but I am not an expert on them. I dont even consider myself an expert on Indian food. Just a lover of it.

Where were you staying? I love the tea ritual we have at home. There is something about it that is very soothing. I think I did a piece on that a while ago for eGullet.. let me see if I can dig it up

The table has no eggs -- what looks like deviled eggs is Indian cheese (paneer) scrambled and placed on baby pita. I hope I can answer at least some of your questions.

Exactly -- all he keeps telling me is what other kids brought into school. Today we settled on some yogurt and with much discussion a banana. Tomorrow its chips.

That would be great. How do you make them? Perhaps you can start a new thread on it? THat is what I like about eG.. I learn something new each time I post.

I dont do either and that is why he gets mad. I guess I should be a bit more lenient with him. When I grew up we used to eat something called "AAM PAPAD"-- literally these were mango fruit sheets hand made and topped with tangy spices. SO if he wants a rasberry roll up..... My fear is all that stuff has so many preservatives. Let me go find a picture of AAM papad to show you what I am talking about.. be right back

Thanks Di, I think he may like the cookies. He never got into applesauce.. just does not like it. I do...

Possibly not a whole heck of a lot healthier in the grand scheme of things - but what about fried fruits/trail mix kind of things? Dried apricots/apples/etc retain the sort of fruit role-up texture without all of the dye and extra processing. Thin them out with some nuts or maybe a little granola to keep it from being all just a dehydrated sugar-rush. ← He does like dried fruit. We get into a conversation each morning on the same thing. I guess all moms do huh.

Here is this year's annual henna food table before all the guests arrived -- And last years ANd some henna hands A friend of mine made this delightful lentil dumplings -- -- bet you never expected to see a stand like this used for lentils

Regarding my monkey - He and I cant seem to agree on what should go in his snack bag for school. I keep adding fruits and he keeps insisting on fruit roll ups. I am sure there is a happy compromise somewhere. What do other moms add in the school snack bags??? Help!

Lunch today is going to be chutney sandwiches -- its all I have the time to make today. (Here is the kicker -I am testing recipes all day but I cant post about them.. oye. Life)

It lasts for a good week to a few weeks. I use it in my hair as well -- henna powder, lemon juice, one egg, tea water-- sounds good enough to eat doesnt it

I was going thru my pictures of St Johns and am posting one of my favorites. Also breakfast there everyday was delightful tropical fruits. Some things are best left raw.

Well thank you! I think you will be happy to know that I have a class this saturday on Indian cooking and I will try to post pictures here after some of the dishes are done so hopefully that will be of use to you.

For all those you just emailed/PMed me -- no I am not going the star trek way, my hands are henna-ed. Each year I host an annual henna party to welcome spring. Friends bring in all the food and we always have a ball. This year we had - tamarind shrimp on a stick to hummus to a guava cake. I hope I can post some pictures of the henna party and the table. Some eGers were here for it as well from NYC and I will post pics of their hennaed hands.

I love to eat Malaysian and Thai food. I think I will make a Malay chicken curry this week. It has star anise for flavoring which tends to be very strong.

I have learnt to slow down a bit in the morning. Things are generally a madhouse as everyone gets ready for work. I start my day by lighting an incense stick and a short prayer. I think it keeps me calm for the day. (Friends are not allowed to comment on what I mean by "calm" LOL). Generally my husband and I will share a coffee or tea out on the deck. Here is the view we had a few weeks ago from our room in St Johns. I love simple things -- so we generally have Nescafe. Today I am drinking a ready spice tea. It is nice not to have to do too much when I am still half asleep. So these spice tea bags work well. I add a bit of sugar and milk. They have a darling aroma and taste earthy. My cup of tea always has company - I love Indian glucose biscuits (Parle G). The funny part is that when my family eats them, they dip the biscuit into the tea and still manage to keep it whole. I dip it and it dissolves into the tea and makes a mess. SO I prefer to eat it on the side LOL. My monkey needs to get registered for first grade today -- so we are all excited

I have no cats sorry. I do have a monkey - he is five and a half going on thirty five most days. He also thinks he is a food critic - constantly telling me what he likes and does not with my dishes! I think I'll keep him for now