HAPPIEST FOURTH BIRTHDAY, IAN!

That little boy of ours is FOUR now! Where did the time go? I think I ask that question to myself a lot these days. He has grown so much in the last one year. He also helps me a lot with things at home. His specialty is clearing up the mess and folding his own laundry! From the time he could walk, I made sure that he cleaned up after his own mess,every single day.He has been happily doing his share of things around the house without being asked to these days. The best thing is, he tells me that he is very good at cleaning up stuff!

He has recently started folding his clothes and puts them away in a nice little pile. His Malayalam is pretty awesome for his age and we are strict about speaking in Malayalam at home. His favourite cartoons still remain the same so I decided to surprise him with a Pocoyo on top of his birthday cake.I made that for my last term in school and saved it for his birthday. His favourite cake is still my Chocolate Cake.

When I asked him sometime back in February what cake he wanted for his birthday, he immediately told me that he wanted a red racing car. So, for the birthday, I made him a Butter Cake with Malted Chocolate Buttercream Frosting and for the birthday party next day, a Red Racing Car Cake ( courtesy Pinterest) with his favourite Chocolate Cupcakes. He was really excited about those and had a great time with friends both at his Montessori and at home.

Birthday Party Menu ( Dinner)

Pork Ularthiyathu

Cherry Cheese Pineapple

Maharaja

Curried Chicken Dip with Tortilla Chips

Chicken Biriyani

Fish Moilee

Homemade White Bread

Raita

He couldn't wait for me to finish taking pictures of him as he wanted us to light the candles and sing for him! Look at that face, isn't that worth more than a million bucks? Be still my heart.
 

HOMEMADE HOT FUDGE SAUCE

It's been really really hot outside today. So naturally,it's a day when I feel like eating something really cold, like an ice cream. These days, Ian gives me a list of things he would like to eat once he back from his Montessori. Chocolate ice cream, Fish Fry & Homemade Pizza tops the list. That reminds me, I need to thaw the fish for our Fish Fry, Yogurt & Rice dinner tonight!

I made some Hot Fudge Sauce yesterday to pour over our ice cream and Ian has fallen for it completely. This has been my go to homemade chocolate sauce recipe for years now. It's a fool proof recipe and can be made in no time at all and lasts for a good time in the fridge. When Kemp's asked me if we would like to try some ice cream from their 40 different flavours, I jumped in at that opportunity.  I mean, it is so hot outside now and who wouldn't like to enjoy some ice cream drizzled with homemade chocolate sauce? That too, when it's a brand that I've enjoyed over the years!

I decided to try the Caramel Cow Track and Caramel Fudge Cow Tracks because I am all about caramel right now and I was really sure Ian would enjoy the Caramel Fudge Cow Tracks and I wasn't wrong! He calls it the chocolate ice cream and when I drizzled the Hot Fudge Sauce over it, it made the whole thing extra decadent!

This recipe is from Kamran,a good source for awesome recipes! I just cannot wait to use up this sauce and create homemade sundae's for my little family! Summer is the best season even if it's scorching hot outside right now.

HOMEMADE HOT FUDGE SAUCE
Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients:
100 grams good quality dark chocolate,chopped small
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/3 cup golden syrup /light corn syrup
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt

Method: Melt the chocolate and cocoa powder together over a double boiler or using a microwave oven. Stir well. Add the golden syrup followed by heavy cream and powdered sugar. Add the vanilla and salt and mix well. Bottle it up and use as needed!

TURKEY SHEEK KEBABS with YOGURT CILANTRO CHUTNEY

Finally,I am free! I am done with school and my internship which can only mean ONE thing... that I've been catching up on my sleep ever since! It was really crazy here for the last one year and it intensified ever since I started my internship. There was zero personal time, no family time,no nothing. It was all about getting out of the house in time,even if that meant waking up at 3.30 am even on weekends! We are slowly getting our life back together now and it will come into a full circle once Jobin gets back home from India. As of now, it's just Ian and myself enjoying the big,much needed break.

Everytime I've made Sheek Kebabs before, I've used chicken. This time, I wanted to try it with Turkey. Turkey meat is a lean and inexpensive protein.The dark meat is juicy and succulent. If you are planning to grind the meat yourself,buy the dark meat. If not, just use whatever your grocery store has to offer. One thing that I really liked about using Turkey meat is that it really absorbs all the flavour that we add to it. When I first tried it at Jobin's friend's house,I wasn't really sure if I would like it or not and this was 6 years ago. I was proved so wrong because I honestly couldn't taste anything  'weird' like I thought,instead it was a nice,tasty and juicy affair.

This Kebab is a cinch to make,like most other Kebab recipes. I found this recipe online and changed it a bit to suit to our taste.I have linked to the original recipe and noted the changes in the recipe below.I felt there was a lot of heat in the original and since it's just me and Ian, I decided to keep it mild and simple for the boy.

TURKEY SHEEK KEBABS with YOGURT CILANTRO CHUTNEY
Makes 12

Ingredients:
For the Kebabs:
1 lb ground turkey meat
1/3 cup minced red onions
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon storebought Sheek Kebab Masala
1 1/2 teaspoons grated garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons grated ginger
1 teaspoon red chili powder / cayenne
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Juice of half a lime
1 egg,beaten lightly
Breadcrumbs from 2 white bread slices

For the chutney:
1/2 cup thick plain yogurt
1 serrano chili
a handful of cilantro leaves
Salt

Method:
Kebabs: Mix all the ingredients together and marinate it for 4-5 hours in the fridge. Form them into long cylinders over wooden skewers (previously soaked in water) with wet hands. Grill over medium high heat turning occasionally till it is completely cooked, 7-8 minutes.

Chutney: Blitz everything together in a blender and serve it along with Kebabs.

I am so in love with these Kebabs. They are very moist and succulent with a hint of heat from the cayenne and tons of flavour from the other ingredients. This is the grilling season and I do it both indoors and outdoor depending on my mood and how hot it is outside. This works well for both and all you need to do is just be patient and wait for it to cook at the bottom before you turn them over. Ground meat is delicate,so be gentle!

You can visit the Serve Turkey page for more information about Turkey!

 

A DAY AT THE VALLEYFAIR

Our life right now is so busy that there are days when Jobin & myself don't see each other for more than a minute and I am not exaggerating.  We don't have anytime for get togethers, meetups, day outs...nothing. It's mostly my schedule at Hyatt. Jobin has a pretty 9-5 job where as mine is so not like that! I am not even home over the weekends. In between all this, Jobin is studying and he travels to New York for his school and there has been many official India trips for him this year. Finally, among this crazy schedule, we took some time off on Fathers Day to pay a visit to the Valleyfair.

Whilst we were there, we attended a 'Hotdish & Hops' food event. Basically,there were many stalls sampling different types of Hotdish (a.k.a Casserole) & beer. We decided to go for it and tasted some of them.There was a live band perfoming while the event was on. It was very hot that day and Ian wanted to go for a train ride that he had been eyeing ever since we entered the fair grounds. I should say that train ride was a calming one. We just sat down and enjoyed the hot yet fairly cool breeze while the train took us around the whole fair (and tunnels, much to Ian's excitement!).

We came back home sweaty and sticky,something that I have rarely experienced here but very happy that we could spend some quality time together as a family! I hope we get more such days together before our Summer is over,which is usually very short! If you live in Minnesota and would like to make a trip to the Valleyfair, here's the link to the various events happening this Summer & Fall.

HIS & HERS BIRTHDAY CAKES

Hello June! I hope you are going to be as kind as May was to us. May literally flew by for us.  We both celebrate our birthday's in May,literally at the beginning and at the end so it's a busy month planning what to gift each other and what cake (s) to bake for each other. Our schedules have been so crazy that there have been days where I don't see Jobin at all! Sometimes I feel I need the time to stop moving by so fast because there's a little boy in our lives who is growing up at lightning speed! His vocabulary has increased so much now and he talks ALL the time! Jobin thinks he has taken after his mother when it comes to talking! ;-) I think so too!

Jobin had two cakes for his birthday this year. His most favourite Lamingtons,which is slowly becoming 'our' favourite and another super soft,delicious Lemon Cake with Mascapone & Lemon Curd filling. That cake turned out super awesome! This month, our dear fridge had no space for anything else other than cakes and desserts. We are not complaining one bit,okay? :-)

It was my birthday yesterday and as always, Jobin & Ian baked the most delicious cake for me! It was so soft that it fell off of the fork! Ian was super excited this time as he loves spending time in the kitchen,especially when it involves chocolate. The little spatula that he is using to stir, is his own. He's got two of those!It was my Golden Birthday, as well. For some reason, I did not want a cake this year which kind of put Jobin into a sad mood.He's been baking all my birthday cakes for all these years,so he was really excited for this year too! Finally, I gave in around 7.30 pm (on May 30th - which happens to be my parent's wedding anniversary!!)when he was watching a Suresh Gopi movie on T.V. I told him I needed a cake and I decided that to be a chocolate cake since that's Ian's most favourite flavour in cakes. Jobin loves Suresh Gopi's movies and likes the entire house to be pin drop silent when he watches any movie.So I was literally laughing in my head when I gave him the green signal for the cake. In return, he was offered some Kerala Porotta's & my Amma's special Kozhi curry for dinner that night! ;-)

This small tradition that we built for ourselves, is something that I look forward to every year. There's something really special and magical about having your birthday cake baked by your beloved!

EGG SALAD TEA SANDWICHES

Iam a big fan of tea sandwiches,be it vegetarian or non vegetarian. Amma used to make them a lot when we were young and it was something that we always took with us for long distance trips. This particular sandwich is not something that I ate as a kid, it was a different one made with eggs. This tea sandwich was something I ate during my teens and I still enjoy eating them. Jobin loves this filling,so does Ian. So, every now and then, this sandwich makes an appearance on our table.

Recently, Pepperidge Farm® contacted me asking if I could review some of their new line of breads - Pepperidge Farm Harvest Blend Breads. I really love their products,especially Milano cookies. Back in 2009, I even tried making those Milano cookies at home, a vegan version. They were good but not as thin and crispy as the original ones. They sent me a big box with 3 loaves of bread, Seeded, Ancient Grains & Sprouted.I chose the Seeded Bread for this sandwich because the seeded bread was a nice contrast to the super creamy filling. The bread was filled with goodness which you can taste in every bite.

This filling  for the sandwich is pretty much made with pantry staples. Some homemade mayonnaise, hard boiled eggs, carrots,cabbage and bread is all that you need! Here's how you make it!

EGG SALAD TEA SANDWICHES
Amma's recipe

Ingredients:
8-10 slices of  Pepperidge Farm Seeded Bread
1/2 - 3/4  cup Homemade Mayonnaise
2 Perfectly Hard Boiled Eggs
1 cup of grated carrots
1 cup of grated green cabbage
Salt & Pepper

Method: Chop the hard boiled eggs into a rough dice and mix it along with mayonnaise, carrots & cabbage. Season to taste and spread the mixture over the bread slices. I used two slices per sandwich. Trim the sides and cut each of them into 4 small triangles. Arrange them onto a platter and serve chilled.

These breads can be found at your Midwest local grocers!
This post is sponsored by Pepperidge Farm® and all opinions are my own.