Baby, do you miss me
Now that I’m gone, yeah

No, no I am not gone. I am still here just took a one week break from blogging & cooking. What’s with the song then, you ask (well, even if you didn’t I will still continue to explain. You have no choice but to listen or actually you do- you could leave this page. But, don’t! please!)

This was the song I used to listen to when the first guy I was seeing broke up with me (It was a short lived relationship- you know, the celebrity love kinds- lasted a week in actuality- but at that time it meant the world to me!).

I am sure you have never heard of the song, nor would have I, had I not been in the phase where every love song sounded like it was just made for me- every single word resounding of my story, my pain, my love, my heart break and well you get the drift.

Get the DJ to play our favorite song
‘Cause it’s what keeps me holding on
Baby, do you miss me
Now that I’m gone

Ok, it’s cheesy, but to a girl with a broken heart it was music! (FYI my taste in music is not that bad, it was just a phase!)

Now that I look back on those days, and knowing how things turned out thereafter, I laugh at the things I did after the break up. I used to listen to this song hoping that the guy misses me (yes, I was a love struck newbie and a break up was something entirely new to me) Of course he never thought of me, his updates on hi5, (that was the time hi5 was the thing like how today’s Facebook is) and gtalk/yahoo/msn status proved otherwise.

I do think people had it better before the digital age arrived, especially when it came to break ups. If the person of your interest moved on there was no way to know. You could live in the imaginary world and think that you are the only person he is thinking of, dying to talk u but embarrassed to come up and say he made a mistake, that he was sorry. But, alas, this is the digital age. In today’s world, you are bombarded with pictures of the person in question with a new love in his/her arms. There goes your delusional world where you were the only girl he ever loved.

Thank god, though, that those days of heartbreak are gone. They were torture! I am sure you know the feeling, don’t you?

C’mon you went through it too, right? Crying and listening to mushy songs hoping that would ease the pain. Dreaming of the phone ringing and your ex telling you how being apart from you has made him realize how good he had it with you and how you were the only person who ever understood him. You went through all that too, right. Right? Don’t tell me I was the only loser??

You did nothing of that sorts? When it was over, it was over for you- you moved on graciously?

 Really?
 Umm…

So did I!

Ha! Got u! I just made all that up. Nope I did not listen to songs while getting over crushes. Or check out my exes photos as if I was a stalker. Nah! not me! In fact, I was the one who broke up with the guy! Really.

(shifting uncomfortably)

Um…

(embarrassed smile)

Really I was messing with you. Honest.

Anywho.

So, yes, I have been absent for the longest time ever. Well, I don’t know if you guys missed me but I missed blogging. I finally went to the doctor who told me that I had a sprain and it would take about 4-6 weeks to heal. It sucks because I just got my exercise thing set and was enjoying it and pretty soon would have seen results, but now have to take it slow. That’s one reason I couldn’t blog. I was resting my ankle. Trying not to do much work. I also got a slight stomach upset in between, and that too on the day we got a new toilet seat installed in our bathroom. (See, this is why I started the blog- to document my life in snippets so that some day I look back and read and I will come across this particular blog post and know- yes! this was the time I hurled! So bear with me because these details are important..these are the things that make my life interesting.)

So while others remember so and so day as the day they did such and such fun activity I’ll remember the past week as the time I inaugurated our newly installed toilet seat by hurling into it!

Yes I am aware that by talking about toilet seats and stalking exes on orkut/hi5/FB I don’t put on a good case for me and sound like a loser.

I still do maintain that I was joking about the snooping around hi5/FB thingy.

Seriously you don’t do it?

.

Me neither!

.

Was just messing with you again!

MUSHROOM FALAFEL/MUSHLAFEL

I came across this mushroom falafel recipe and though Emily doesn’t like the ring to Mushlafel, I love it (yes, I have a thing for weird named things). I have changed the recipe slightly by using things I had in my pantry. I also made this the day V can not eat any eggs or meat- so I skipped on the eggs and made this mushlafel eggless by adding ricotta cheese to bind everything together. We loved them and ate them with bread as we had no pita on hand. These are pretty simple to make and taste great! This would taste great with tzatziki. You can find the recipe for it here.

Ingredients

  • 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 cup shallot or yellow onion, very finely diced (I used 4 small red onions)
  • 3 cloves garlic, very finely minced
  • 1/2 cup cilantro or flat-leafed parsley and 1/4 cup fresh mint, finely chopped (I did not have any mint or cilantro, so substituted with a handful of basil leaves)
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin, optional (Emily says optional because she meant to add cumin and totally forgot, and it was still great without it.  However, the cumin will give it a more falafel-y flavor)
  • 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
  • salt
  • 1/2 cup whole milk ricotta

Directions

  1. In a large frying pan, add enough olive oil to lightly coat the pan. Heat to medium-high, add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally until the moisture they release has evaporated and they are tender, about 10-12 minutes.
  2. Transfer the mushrooms to a cutting board and let them cool for a while.  When they are cool enough to handle, chop them well.  (You could probably pulse them in a food processor to do this, but you don’t want to accidentally process them into a mush.  The shallot, garlic and herbs you can definitely chop up in a food processor.)
  3. In a large bowl mix together the mushrooms, chopped shallot/onion, garlic, herbs and panko breadcrumbs.  Season to taste with salt.  Then, stir in the ricotta cheese.
  4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone pad.  Use your hands to scoop up small handfuls of the mushroom mixture and press them into little patties about 1 1/2-2 inches across. (I got about 12 patties.)  Transfer the patties to the lined baking sheet as you make them.  Then, put them in the refrigerator for an hour. (I was crunched with time so I put them in the freezer for 30 minutes).  This allows them to set and firm up so they don’t just fall to pieces when you cook them.
  5. When ready to cook the falafels, preheat your oven to 350F.  Heat a couple of Tbs. of olive oil in a large frying pan then add as many patties as you can fit into the pan.  Cook for about 3 minutes per side, until nicely browned.  As they are done frying, transfer the patties to another baking sheet (or the same one). Then, put the baking sheet of mushroom-falafels into the oven and bake for 5 minutes.
  6. Remove from the oven and serve warm.  Put a couple of patties on a pita/flatbread, add spinach and tomato pieces and dollop generously with tzatziki.

This recipe is linked to the Heart and Soul Blog Hop

6 Thoughts on “Five and Spice’s Mushlafel

  1. baby chauhan on 7 June, 2011 at 12:21 am said:

    sounds simple ,going to try it.

  2. This recipe makes my waist grow an inch =) yum yum!

    • Haha! Don’t worry these are pretty healthy, not half as bad on the waist as rest of the stuff we eat! Do try them out!

  3. Hi Shumailia, I am giggling at your story not because you hurt yourself and had to take a break (hope you are feeling better!) but because I remember those early day breakups as if they were the end of the world! Such longing! Everything worked out well in the end and I am going to be celebrating my 24 year wedding anniversary in October (I dont feel old enough!), but yes, young love can be so painful!

    I love felafels and the Idea of using mushrooms as a base instead of chickpeas is so intriquiing! Thanks so much for sharing this with us on the hearth and soul hop! All the best and glad to have you back posting! Alex

  4. Not sure I know how your commenting works! I posted a lovely one and I hope it went through! If not, thanks for sharing this recipe with us on the hearth and soul hop and glad you are feeling better! All the best, Alex

    • I do not know why but your comments went as spam!
      Thank you for the lovely comment and 24 years of togetherness in October- that is amazing! Wish you both many more! And yes I am much better now, thanks for asking :)!
      Hope you do try this recipe. We really enjoyed it!

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