Las Vegas: July 2011

Last weekend, A and I met up some friends in Sin City for a quick getaway! We landed Saturday morning and met up our friends Neilesh and Ashima at Planet Hollywood for crepes and mimosas.  Later that evening we had dinner at Vdara then went to see Celine Dion.  I've been dying to see my idol Celine Dion live in concert for years, so I'm happy to finally have gotten the chance to see her perform at Caesars Palace.  =)  Thanks, A!  After the concert we walked over to Pure nightclub which had amazing views of the The Strip.  On Sunday we mostly walked around The Strip and then went to the Wynn to see Le Reve, which was amazzzing!  Coincidentally, Le Reve translates to The Dream!  For those of you that don't know me, Sapna means Dream too!  =)

Chai, a morning must

Indian Cha

learned from my mom

1.5 cup milk (i use skim)

1.5 cup water

2 tbs indian black tea

1 small chunk of ginger, shredded

chai masalo

few sprigs of mint

sugar (i use splenda)

In a small pot, add chai masalo, ginger, mint and black tea to 1.5 cups of water. Bring to a boil.

Add 1.5 cups milk to the water mixture.  Bring mixture to a boil and remove from heat.  Add sugar to taste

Strain into a mug. Serve.

Makes 2 cups of cha.

Dahi Puri - Indian Street Food

This is one of the recipes I've learned from my mom.  We usually ate this with pani puri during family gatherings over thanksgiving and christmas!

Dahi Puri

1 bag of puri*
1/2 bag of sev*
1 bottle of green chutney*
1 bottle of apple butter or tamarind chutney*
1/2 cup moong dal - boiled until soft
1 potato - steamed and diced
1 tomato - diced
1/2 cup yogurt
cilantro - chopped finely
red chili powder
cumin powder
chaat masalo*
salt to taste

Put the yogurt into a bowl and mix with a fork or whisk until very smooth.  Add salt to taste. Keep aside.

Arrange the puri on a plate.  Poke a small hole in the center of the puri (enough to fill with fillings).  Place pototo, tomato and moong dal in the puri's.  Drizzle yogurt over each puri. Then drizzle green chutney and tamarind chutney over the puri's.  Sprinkle sev, cilantro, red chili, cumin powder and chaat masalo to your taste. 

(*)- items can be found at your local indian grocery store.

Texas Wine Country: March 2011

In March, we spent our 3rd anniversary in Fredericksburg, TX.  Fredericksburg is a small quaint German town a short drive from Austin.  There were 2 themes for the weekend: wine and wildflowers! 









Bluebonnets - Texas state flower












Delish!












Happy Anniversary, A!

Must see Wineries: 
Becker Vineyards
Pedernales Cellars
Woodrose Winery
Grape Creek Vineyards

Dining options:
Fredericksburg Brewery - ended up going there twice for dinner!  A loved the Pioneer Porter!
Any small german bakery with sweet treats, you seriously can't go wrong.

Accomodations:
If we went again, we would definitely stay on Main St where all of the bars/shops/restaurants are located instead of further in the residential area.

You can find great info on seasonal events, maps, directions here.

NYC: May 2011

In May, I tagged along on one of A's business trip to NYC.  We haven't been able to visit this city together so it was an awesome time to eat great food, explore the city and hang out with some great friends!  We didn't take our camera out too many times over the weekend but here is a sampling of pictures.



View of Staten Island from Battery Park

 


isn't A handsome?!

 


Delicious spicy avocado margarita!

 


me with my bff Megz



fun night!




Definitely didn't need this last shot of the night, right Megz?



Coconut Macaroons

I love coconuts.  One of my favorite chocolates are Almond Joys.  This recipe is delicious and I hope you try it out sometime.  Go on over to Baking Bites for a complete recipe.  My only change was reducing the sugar to 1/4 cup.  I tried to dip it in chocolate but that didn't work out so well :)

Coconut Macaroons --- recipe from Baking Bites.

Hill Country Peach Cobbler

Hill Country Peach Cobbler

adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride.

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup whole wheat flour (accidently used 1cup, foodiebride suggests 1/2cup)
1 tbs baking powder
pinch salt
3/4 cup milk 
3 cups sliced fresh peaches
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
10 amaretti cookies crumbled over pie
1 fabulous pie pan

Preheat the oven to 350.

Melt the butter in a saute pan over medium-high heat until it begins to bubble and turns a nutty-brown color.  Be sure to watch it from burning.

Pour the butter into pie dish.  Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, and milk.  Pour the mixture over the butter, but do not stir.

Arrange the peaches evenly on top of the batter, and sprinkle with cinnamon, brown sugar and crumbled amaretti cookies.

Bake the cobbler for 40-45 minutes, until the top is golden brown.  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.  A and I ate this for 3 nights after dinner!

Welcome

Hello!  My name is Sapna, and welcome to my blog!  After marrying my college sweetheart in 2008, I began cooking dinner each night because if I didn't I knew we would be eating spaghetti and beans (first and ever meal cooked by my hubby, A) every night!  After taking a few cooking classes, calling my mom for indian food recipes and obsessively reading food blogs, I decided it was time to finally start my own blog to share some of the vegetarian recipes I grew up eating and new ones I've discovered on my own.  I hope this blog will be a reflection of our daily lives, recipes and fun travel adventures.  Enjoy!