Don’t you love shortbread cookies? When you bite into a shortbread cookie, they seem to melt in your mouth. They are packed with buttery flavor and aren’t overly sweet. In fact, you may know them as a biscuit. How long it takes: 10 minutes to make the dough and 10 minutes to bake a batch. Allow extra time for chilling the dough. Equipment you’ll need: Stand mixer or sturdy hand mixer Servings: makes 5 dozen Shortbread has been around for centuries and originated in Scotland....

Please send in your recipe link along with the picture to my email @ daffodilshree@gmail.com. I will be doing a round up post before Jan 25th. Guidelines for the event: From now until January 15th, you are welcome to join the “Kids delight event | Cakes and Cookies” that will make a kid happy! The entries have to be Vegetarian. Also no alcohol in the bakes. (Eggs are allowed) Multiple entries are allowed too....

Winters here on the Mason Dixon line have been a little funny the past two years. Not a lot of snow, which is good/bad, depending on how badly I need to travel the roads. We had a 70-degree Christmas last year, and have been recently waffling between weather that swings wildly between above average and bitter cold, between sunshine and snow squalls that rip-roar their way across the skies, disappearing as abruptly as they arrive....

How long it takes: 25 minutes Equipment you’ll need: saucepan with lid Servings: makes about 3 cups Like basmati rice, jasmine rice has a distinct aroma, which sets it apart from so many other white rice varieties. While it is a neutral accompaniment to other dishes, jasmine rice also brings its own flavor to the table. Improper cooking can ruin jasmine rice, leaving it soggy and sad, or dried out and stuck to the pan....

While baked potatoes aren’t a quick dinner idea, they are super easy. Spend 5 minutes getting the potatoes ready, and pop them in the oven for awhile. Totally hands off time! How long it takes: just over an hour Equipment you’ll need: oven Servings: make as many as you want! While the potatoes are in the oven, you’ll have time to get the rest of dinner ready or, here’s an even better idea, enjoy baked potatoes as your main dish....

It’s what makes the golden brown exterior on snickerdoodles, the crunchy topping on my apple cake, and the warm, sweet flavor on pie crust cookies: cinnamon sugar! This versatile ingredient is the topping in so many recipes, but have you ever wanted to make a batch for yourself to store and use on a daily basis? If so, I’ve got you covered–today, we’re talking about how to make cinnamon sugar (and yes, it’s a brief talk for a brief, easy recipe!...

There’s no other word happier that ‘Weekend’ after a long tiring weekend and I’m so happy to share my How To Make Momos At Home recipe with you’ll today. It’s one of those posts that’s been long pending and even today as I’m sharing it with you. I’m kinda sulking as the pictures that I took from my DSLR somehow came out all blur 🙁 So, we are going to have to do with iPhone pictures for now....

Today’s lentil based dish is a hearty and nutritious Indian style Red Lentil soup – it is nothing but our everyday dal 🙂 The first time I heard about lentil soup, I thought it was a very complicated dish until I realized it’s nothing but our very own masoor dal with tomato. My son loves this ‘soup’, so I keep making it for him once in a while. This soup recipe is adapted from Tarla Dalal’s Bombay Curry soup recipe....

What’s so great about this pasta? Well, when you combine bacon, cheddar cheese, and ranch dressing with tender chicken and pasta, you can’t go wrong. How long it takes: 30 minutes, and most of that time is hands-off Equipment you’ll need: Instant Pot pressure cooker Servings: 8 And crack chicken pasta is made in just one pan: your Instant Pot. Easy cleanup, fast (less than thirty minutes!), and addictively good — okay, maybe you’re getting the idea....

Hayagreeva or Hayagreevar is the horse-faced avatar of Lord Vishnu, and he is the God of knowledge and wisdom. Only He knows how many times I would have chanted the “Gnana Nanda Mayam” slokam. The belief is when you chant that slokam, your memory power increases. :-) The prasadam or neivediyam offered to Lord Hayagreeva is Hayagreeva Maddi. This recipe is also known by the name “Hoorana“. Even now in the Sode Vadiraja Matha, they serve this as the neivediyam for Lord Hayagriva....

Previously as part of Krishna Jayanthi / Gokulashtami /Janmashtami we saw Savory seedai and Thattai. How can we celebrate a festival without sweet, so here come jaggery seedai. Usually I try to post sweet as the first dish, but vellai seedai and me, never get along well :-) Believe me, for the past 3 years, it was only sodappal for me. Only this time, I got it correct. But this time too, you can see there are some cracks....

As if cheesy jalapeño poppers weren’t enough of a temptation, now we have warm jalapeño popper dip! Why do warm cheesy dips have to be so good?! This is most definitely party food. Invite a group of friends over to share this dip. It’s for your own protection. How long it takes: 20 minutes to prep, 20 minutes in the oven Equipment you’ll need: skillet, baking dish Servings: 12 If you love jalapeño poppers or chile rellenos, you’ll love this dip....

For Day 2 of this week’s blogging marathon, I have a vegetarian version of Jordanian National dish, called Mansaf. Traditionally mansaf is made with lamb but this vegetarian version uses lots of hearty spiced vegetables. This recipe is from ‘The New Middle Eastern Vegetarian’ cookbook by Sally Butcher. I bookmarked almost all of the pilaf recipes from that cookbook. Some of the Middle Eastern Pilafs are quite elaborate with lots of flavors and textures....

Are you getting the winter blahs yet? Here in Michigan, gray clouds are the norm and nights are longer than the days. Kind of gives me the urge to hibernate like a chipmunk, curled up in a cozy bed underground, nibbling on seeds and nuts, and waiting for the warm sun to appear. Alas, hibernating isn’t an option for this busy mom! And honestly, after a day or two of hibernation, I’d probably be looking at the gym longingly....

The Best Everything But The Kitchen Sink Cookies! Clear out your pantries and preheat those ovens, because when it comes to these chewy, fully-loaded kitchen sink cookies, anything goes. Kitchen sink cookies, also called compost cookies, are an easy cookie recipe made from soft vanilla cookie dough packed with chocolate chips, salty potato chips, pretzels, and toffee bits. To stretch it a bit, they include everything but the kitchen sink, hence the name!...

You all know my love for kuzhambu recipes. I have explained it on every single kuzhambu recipe of mine. :-) Kuzhambu, call it as curry or gravy, or stew, is a tamarind-based dish that forms an integral part of the Tamil kitchen. And this kuzhambu recipe is one such dish. Background Before getting into the recipe details, I want to share how we (my MIL and I) learned this recipe....

The Best M&M Cookie Recipe I’ve got a fun and colorful M&M cookie recipe for you today! These M&M cookies are so easy to make and are great for baking with kids. You’ll love the simple and flavorful cookie base (it’s very similar to my second best chocolate chip cookie recipe!) and how well it works with the crunchy M&M candies. This one definitely deserves a place in your recipe book!...

“Mango” is called King of Fruit’s” in many parts of India, it’s only available in summers and as the temperature rises, we get more sweet & ripe varieties of mangoes. This Mango Cilantro Chutney marks the beginning of mango season in north India where many stores/foot vegetable vendors carry green raw mangoes. Although coriander chutney can be made without the mango as well, with mango, it just tastes more tangy & divine....

Fresh mangoes are in season right now and I buy them quite often in bulk. We enjoy most of them as snack and dessert. But I make sure to save a few to make this refreshing mango concentrate, so we can enjoy our favorite summer fruit for a little longer. This is a recipe to make a concentrate - which means you will need to add water to dilute it before serving....

Kulfi is an Indian dessert that gets 100% approval from both kids and adults. Even if you don’t like ice cream, you will adore this creamy, frozen delicacy. Traditionally saffron aka kesar is the most simplest form of kulfi. This is an absolute classic and I am sure anyone who tasted it would agree. Here I have kulfi recipe made with mango. This is a perfect recipe to use fresh summer mangoes....