A Dozen Dishes to Make at Home

Do-Something-Everyday, August 2, 2016

It is letter D at ABC Wednesday and I have chosen the word  Dishes (as in food).

Recently, the New York Times did a feature on its food section called Thirty Things You Should Make at Home (and not buy from store). The list consisted many baked goods, two each of dairy (butter and yogurt) and ethnic items (hummus and kimchi). I thought I would produce a list of my own Indian dishes that should be made at home and not bought from store.

These are about a dozen delicious dishes that I make at home but are readily available in Indian stores nowadays. These really do taste much better when made at home. They are listed below not in any particular order. If you click on the Recipes label at the top of the page, you will find detailed instructions for some of them.

1. Spice Powder (top picture)

2. Cooked beans (chickpeas, kidney etc.) at home. They taste much better than canned ones.

2. Roti and Poori (Indian bread)

3. Low fat yogurt. Economical and better tasting than store bought.

4. Plantain Chips

5. Ghee (clarified butter)

6. Chutney (mint, cilantro or sweet)

7. Dosa batter

8. Gulab Jamun

9. Carrot Halwa (milk based carrot dessert)

I hope you enjoyed my little list.

Thanks for visiting.

Attracting Bees and Butterflies

Do-Something-Everyday, August 1, 2016

The coneflower plants on my front yard attract all types of insects, the best of which are the butterflies. Yesterday, this big Spicebush Swallowtail came to visit and stayed long enough for me take multiple photos from various angles, close-up using my smartphone. Take a look:

Linked to this week's Image-in-ing Photo Challenge

Thanks for stopping by.

Windows In and Out

Temple Window

Do-Something-Everyday, July 31, 2016

Window is the theme at Our Beautiful World this week --a theme with infinite possibilities. Here are mine:

The one above is one of the many windows that adorn the Hindu temple where I worship. These windows are heavily decorated and built according to the specifications of Agama Shastras (sacred Hindu texts on temple architecture). 

The one below is in my studio that overlooks the backyard. It is an excellent blind to observe backyard birds.

Below, one of the many buildings in the historic downtown, Santa Fe.

 Below, entrance to Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, Santa Fe

Below, a stained glass window at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art.

 Below, a medieval Islamic style window at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Thanks for visiting.

Zentangle Circle

Do-Something-Everyday, July 29, 2016

This week at I am the Diva czt, the challenges is to create a tangle using circle/s.  Mine is a yinyang (the infinite circle) and I tangled around it that created additional tangles. This zia was created by me using hot tips (woodburning) on a wood panel. To make the tangle pop, I added a wash of turquoise around it.

Thanks for visiting.

Linked to Paint Party Friday. Thanks to Eve and Kristen for hosting.

C is for Chutney

Do-Something-Everyday, July 26, 2016

It is letter C at the ABC Wednesday Challenge. For this challenge, I chose chutney. If you have ever eaten in an Indian restaurant you will recognize the word. It is the sauce that is served with those tasty fried appetizers. Though chutneys come in many flavors, the green chutney (which is made of cilantro) and sweet and sour chutney (made of dates and tamarind) are the most prevalent here in the US. Chutney became part of the British lexicon during the British Raj when it became a favorite spread for the dainty sandwiches they eat along with the afternoon tea. You will actually find the word in the print edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.

I made the chutneys and the fritters you see here.

Thanks for visiting.

Hazy Lazy Summer Days

Do-Something-Everyday, July 24, 2016.

Linked to Image-in-ing

The temperatures have been hitting the 90s for several days now and this hot weather is expected to continue unabated this week. While humans have been wilting and the competition between the birds at the bird bath has been fierce, the summer flowers have been blooming brightly and cheerfully. It is the season for day lilies and Rose of Sharon in my backyard. Surprisingly, there was this one lonely magnolia blooming in the middle of summer!

 

On Friday, I made this cut paper art to celebrate the full moon that occurred the previous Tuesday. The July moon is a special event in some of the Eastern religious traditions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Known as Guru Poornima, it is a day for honoring gurus (teachers).

On Saturday, we took a car trip to the Amish country, a 2 1/2 hour drive from where I live. We went to a furniture shop and saw some very lovely handmade furniture though we did not get what we were looking for. Then we went to indoors farmer's market at Bird-in-Hand (yes, that is the name of the town) which was rather meager on fresh produce but had booths filled with packaged food and handmade crafts.

On Sunday, as I finished cooking dinner I noticed that the two dishes that I made to accompany the rotis were matched in color (red and green)!

Thanks for visiting.

Butterfly Season

Do-Something-Everyday, July 21, 2016

It is summer which means that butterflies are here. New Jersey has its  share of native butterflies (about eighteen), but only a few show up in my garden and every year they are different. This year I am seeing  a lot more Cabbage White butterflies. Last year it was the  Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. One year, there was the Red Admiral which looked like a second cousin of the Monarch butterfly. The images of past and present inspired me to create the butterfly soaked art above. For this piece, I did the initial drawing using pyrographic tools. I used transparent watercolors for the painting. I like how it has turned. I posted the image on Instagram and Facebook and got lots of "likes". It is available in my Etsy shop here.

Below are a couple of photos of real butterflies.

Thanks for visiting. Linked to Paint Party Friday and Art Journal Journey.