The Novice Housewife

31Dec 2012

Boozy Tiramisu shots

If you think I had forgotten you, you think wrong. Somehow life has been real busy and my laptop and hence the blog has not been able to get the time I usually have for it. But, I could not NOT post my last post for 2012.

2012 came with many firsts. I completed my first ever triathlon. The blog got its own domain name. I went gluten free for a month, raw for a week. Tried out several new recipes. Things changed for the better for two of my best friends. Travelled to New York, Allahabad, Taj Mahal and of course Delhi. Certain things became clearer, and I hope 2013 brings clarity in the other things that yet confuse me. 2012 was a year of ups and downs, but then that’s how life is and 2013 should also have its share- but here’s hoping the ups more than make up for the downs that come.

We had a gathering yesterday at my in-laws place for lunch. I had planned to make a warm apple cake and tiramisu for dessert, but since our train got delayed by 12 hours and I had managed to catch a cold during my trip, I dropped the original plan and adapted it to make tiramisu shots instead (recipe adapted from here).

23Aug 2012

Layer Cake Love: Four layer chocolate cake with oreo cream filling!

Shumaila ⋅ 18 Comments

I started 2012 with a resolve to make more layer cakes.

So, I made the sky high carrot cake for two (which turned out great). Then, I made the momofuku birthday cake (which had a few mishaps but tasted great nonetheless). In between the two, I made the lavender chiffon cake again for my for my friend’s birthday in March. And then there was the mascarpone meringue layer cake thrown in as well.

But, three layers had been the furthest I had gone with my layer cake resolution.

And then came this cake.

The original cake is a two layer cake with oodles of oreo cream cheese frosting in between. But I decided to go big and made a four layer, very chocolatey cake with an oreo cream cheese frosting. Did I hear someone say yum? You betcha, it was!

03Jun 2012

June Recipe Swap: A recipe full of failures!

Shumaila ⋅ 13 Comments

After taking a break for the month of May, Recipe Swap is back for the month of June.

When Christianna had sent out the mail with the swap recipe of a mint pie, I knew instantly what I wanted to make. My friend has this super simple dessert recipe. She takes store bought shortbread crust and puts it in a pie dish and fills it with black cherry yogurt and freezes it till set. And that’s it. Another friend tried this recipe and got rave reviews. So I really wanted to try it. And I guess it fit well with the swap theme.

Since June is supposed to be the “watch what I eat” month- I decided I will make the shortbread crust at home rather than use a store bought one, having full control on what goes in the food I eat. I found a whole wheat shortbread crust recipe here.

But things did not go as planned.

For one I did not find black cherry yogurt in the store, which was not a big deal. I just decided to use some other flavor of yogurt.

06Dec 2011

Garam Masala Tuesdays: Gulab Jamun from scratch!

Shumaila ⋅ 23 Comments

If you have been doing the rounds in the food blogosphere, I am sure you have come across Sinfully Spicy. And if you have come across Tanvi’s site, then I am sure you have stuck around and visited her blog again and again.

It was her Gulab Jamun picture on Foodgawker that had caught my attention the first time. And that’s what I will be sharing with you today on GMT.

In the past whenever I have made Gulab Jamuns, its been from a packet mix. Had I known they would be so easy to make from scratch, I would have never bought a packet.

16Sep 2011

Red Wine Granita

Shumaila ⋅ 4 Comments

Read More →

12Sep 2011

An Apple a Day: The Heritage Cook’s Apple Crisp for September SRC

Shumaila ⋅ 38 Comments

With fall just around the corner and the apple picking season on in orchards in Arizona, V and I thought of showing my parents to the Apple Annie’s orchard in Willcox this Sunday.

Sunday being lazy days, made us doubt our decision to go (it was a two hour drive to the orchard and we are lazy people). But our experience last year to the orchard and the near-by vineyard was so much fun that we decided we must show them the place before my dad leaves on Wednesday for India.

To kick start the apple-y mood, and to make space for the freshly picked apples we would bring back from the orchard, I decided to make apple crisp from the store bought ones in my refrigerator.

23Aug 2011

Garam Masala Tuesdays: Atte ka Halwa

Shumaila ⋅ 7 Comments

Yesterday was Janmashtami, a Hindu festival celebrating the birth of Krishna, an avatar of the god Vishnu.

Sri Krishna taught us Karma Yoga. He strongly dictated in Gita that a man is bound to get the fruits of his actions. If he has done good actions/deeds throughout his life, he will get good results. Karma yoga is action (karma) performed without expectations or thought of reward. This selfless service of karma yoga is the path by which the mind is most quickly purified and its limits transcended.

Growing up as a Sikh, Janmashtami was just another holiday for me. But for V, a Hindu, its always been an important festival. His parents keep a fast the whole day on Janamasthami, only breaking it after offering prayers to Lord Krishna around midnight.

Though I did not keep a fast, I did not eat anything till I took a bath and first offered some food to the idol of Lord Krishna (I know that’s no feat but I thought I’ll mention it nonetheless ). Sweets and desserts are the most preferred dishes for Janamashtami offerings, because Lord Krishna was known for his sweet tooth and generally some kind of kheer or Halwa is offered to him.

So, I took upon myself to make Halwa (pronounced hull-wa).

Halwa is a popular Indian dessert made from various kinds of fruits, vegetables, grains and lentils. If using fruits in Halwa, they are grated finely and fried in ghee and sugar. Nuts and milk may also be added. Halwas have the consistency of a very thick pudding.

My trials with halwa making haven’t been too great. In the past I have tried making Sooji Halwa (made from semolina), one of V’s favorite desserts. The first time was a disaster and the timing of it couldn’t have been more perfect (read about that disaster here). Of course now I have a failproof recipe for Sooji ka halwa.

This time I thought I would make halwa from whole wheat flour- atte ka halwa (atta/atte is the hindi word for whole wheat flour). Personally, I prefer the whole wheat one to the semolina one, probably because that was generally what my mom made and carries with it a lot of memories.

After my 10th standard exams, my dad got posted to Delhi. Now 10th and 12th are crucial years for Indian students- the Board exam years. So when my dad got posted to Jaisalmer, (Rajasthan) during my 12th standard, in the middle of the school year, my mom decided to stay back with me in Delhi, and join him after I was done with my exams.

Now, like me, my mom used to get lazy to cook elaborate meals with my dad not there. Plus, I was fine with eating easier to cook one dish meals like parantha, and rajma chawal. And for dessert, almost everyday, both she and I would have atte ka halwa. She would just make enough for the two of us, with each serving consisting of 5-6 bites. But she would make sure it was made properly, with no skimping on the amount of ghee. It was a thing my mom and I shared and I will always treasure those afternoons for the fun we used to have eating and enjoying the halwa she made.

13Aug 2011

Oreo & Peanut Butter layered “Cakelets”

Shumaila ⋅ 7 Comments

Barring a few little frustrating events that happened, yesterday was a good day. It started with the wonderful news that my parents’ Canadian visa got through just a day before their flight. Had it not, they would have been with me this weekend, but at a cost of losing a few hundred dollars in flight cancellation, re-booking, etc. My mom’s parents and her brother stay in Canada and my parents’ plan was to first visit them and then come visit me. They have a ten year US visa but they needed a Canadian Visa. Never thinking that their Canadian Visa would pose any problem, they had booked their tickets some time back. But the Visa did cause a lot of last minute panic, and only a day before their flight to Canada did their passport arrive with the Canadian Visa stamped.

Happy with the news and excited that my parents will be visiting me two weeks from now, I left for the baby shower we were throwing for the mommy-to-bes. It was a triple baby shower and all three of the ladies are having boys, that too only a week apart from each other!

It was a fun filled baby shower with great food. We, bunch of ladies, could open a great restaurant with all the talented cooks we have. On the menu was chicken enchilada, olive mozarella salad, linguine pasta, homemade bread (which was really good), olive, pickle n ham on a stick, (taking a break to breath and wipe off the drool) BLT sandwiches, pakodas, jello snicker rice krispies, chinese noodles, lettuce and french dressed avocado and my contribution lentil samosas and mini oreo sandwich “cake”.

After a great time catching up and seeing the three mommy-to-bes tear up after opening their presents, I was back home to Target greeting me as soon as I opened our gate.

29Jul 2011

Celebrating First Blogiversary with tartlets & a Giveaway!

Shumaila ⋅ 33 Comments

11Jun 2011

Cherry Clafoutis

Shumaila ⋅ 11 Comments

So today V and I got locked out of our house. I hate these automatic locks. You have to be so careful when you step out of the house for even a second. And, when you are not careful, then you are stuck outside, hoping and praying that accidentally some window has been left open. Now our bathroom window was open- yay! or wait no yay!. The window was way up and we tried getting in through that, but couldn’t. We checked for any other window that was unlocked and luckily our bedroom window was open (now yay!). V was able to get in through that and once he was in, he let me in. Never thought I would be breaking in my own house. Like I said, I hate these automatic locks.

Now, for the last two weeks Foodgawker and TasteSpotting have been full of people posting about cherry clafoutis: a classic french country dessert. I have never eaten clafoutis before, but after seeing so many pictures and people raving about it, I wanted to give it a try. I also wanted to get rid off the cherries in the fridge. So for Office Thursdays I decided to make it.

The verdict: Its quite an easy dessert to make, if you already have pitted cherries. I did not, so the pitting took a little effort, though traditionally, the french leave the pits in, saying that they impart an almond flavor when baked within the custard, something no authentic clafoutis should be deprived of. But, I did not want people at V’s office accidentally breaking a tooth biting into the pits, so I pitted the cherries. As for the baked dessert- I did not care too much for it. I should have known that I would not like it even before making it because everyone said it tastes like custard and well, I am not a big fan of custard- in fact I do not like custard at all.

For an unbiased opinion I turned to V and asked what he thought of it and he liked it since he likes custard as well. But then his opinion isn’t completely unbiased. He never says he doesn’t like anything I make, which makes it really difficult to know what tastes good and what doesn’t. Anyway, it was polished off by his colleagues in office, so I am assuming it wasn’t that bad after all. But, as for making it again- I do not think I will be baking this until I try the real thing to know how it actually tastes and how close I was to the original thing.