To new beginnings!

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So many exciting things have happened the last couple weeks, I felt like they deserved their own blog post. Now before you get all bored on me, I must tell you that they’re all to do with food, food and more food! And not just Indian food, mind you. So here goes:

1. OneLifeToEat had its first official cooking class:

Yes, the day finally arrived. And I was beginning to think all my promotion efforts were going to waste!

Last week, I had the pleasure of teaching 4 wonderful ladies – Eileen, Marci, Tara & Janet – how to make Restaurant style chicken curry, Palak Paneer & Raita (a yogurt based condiment). Over the 2 hour demonstration class, I started with a brief explanation of commonly used Indian spices, their usage and their qualities. Marci enthusiastically took over my cook-top when we moved into the kitchen, following my instructions perfectly. Step by step, I taught them how to make delicious Indian curries, using simple techniques that can be applied on any type of meat or vegetable.

OLTE's first cooking class

We ended the class enjoying the fruits of our labor. We sat down to a delicious dinner that I served up with some store-bought naan and cumin rice. It was wonderful being in the company of 4 amazing women. The food on the table slowly disappeared as we talked about generations, social media and of course, food!

I hope I get a chance to teach many more classes. This experience was not only thoroughly enjoyable for me, it was also a huge learning experience. I never thought I’d be doing this and least of all, I never thought I’d be even a little bit good at it.

2. I’m invited to talk at the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market Fresh & Local Radio show:

I’m really really excited about this opportunity and truly thank Susan Berkson for discovering OneLifeToEat and getting in touch with me. It will be great to talk about the importance of using fresh vegetables in Indian cooking. Back home, my mother buys fresh vegetables from local producers everyday and I know how much of a difference it makes to the flavor of a dish.

If you live in the Twin Cities area, tune-in to AM 950 on Saturday, Sept 18th morning. A recording of the show will be posted online so anyone outside the Twin Cities can also listen in afterward. More details on this later! You can read more about upcoming guests here (scroll down to see me!).

And now, back to food and cooking

Last week, the hubby and I decided to make our second trip to our local farmer’s market. On our first trip this season, we loaded up on several assorted veggies and some really nice Butternut Squash Ravioli. Last week, we decided to stock up on fruits. Despite my husband’s warnings, I picked up a large batch of strawberries. He warned me because he knows I’m greedy – I get so tempted when I see strawberries that I get greedy, buy too much, forget about them in the fridge, and then feel miserable having to throw them away a week later when they begin to rot. I know… I’m mean no?

But this time, I was determined not to waste the precious fruit. I kept a small amount away for munching and was wondering what to do with the rest, when I came across good blogger friend Jenn Sutherland’s simple recipe for Sour Cherry compote. As soon as I was done salivating after reading her recipe (and this was at 9pm on a weeknight), I decided I had to make a Strawberry compote right away.

The result was a truly delicious, not-too-sweet gorgeousness of a compote that me and my husband together managed to polish off in 3 days flat! I followed her suggested ratio of sugar to fruit. The vanilla adds an interesting layer of flavor to the compote. We topped it over waffles for breakfast, vanilla ice-cream after dinner, and even over store-bought Belgian cream puffs! YUM! And did I mention I had 2-3 spoonfuls as is, several times a day?

Jenn's strawberry compote over waffles

Can’t wait to try this recipe with another fruit. Peaches maybe.

How have you enjoyed your strawberries this summer? Which fruits have you gorged on this season? Any interesting fruit recipes to share?

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