Panfusine

Kumquats and Kale - an interesting combination which really do not have much in common except for the common first letter in their names. But when I opened up the box sent to me from Melissa's produce , the visual beauty of the colors just struck a chord, the bright golden kumquats and the regally purple Kale sprouts.

Kumquats definitely lucked out in the aesthetic beauty department when it comes to citrus fruits (although, Mayer lemons come in a close second). Tiny, golden,  olive sized, and a spectacular shade of vibrant orange that almost seems to radiate a glow from within.

I can't seem to ever be sure why baking always seems to involve a certain level of complexity. Maybe its my inherent South Indian background where baking is almost unheard of, -- for starters, the first time I ever set eyes on an 'oven' was when I was 7 years old, and even then, it was one of those gadgets whose main purpose was to store pots and pans. Daily cooking was always on the stove top and the level of heat applied was always measure in terms of high, medium or 'simmer'. Three settings and the particular burner (the 'Big' or 'small' ) used was all that determined the technique for countless delicious meal sessions that Amma dished out day in & day out. Temperature control was unheard of!

Anybody who's made idli / dosa batter in its standard minimum industrial quantity knows the drill.  Make batter on Friday Leave to ferment overnight Make Idlies for Saturday morning breakfast. Make Masala dosas for Saturday's supper  Plain dosa for Sunday brunch By Sunday evening you have about 2 cups of rather flat looking runny batter that you're not quite sure what to do with. It seems to be a precious waste considering the effort that went into soaking the rice & lentils, Grinding it down to a batter either in the kitchen blender, or on the table top chocolate conching device that has been perfectly re purposed for South Indian kitchens as the ubiquitous 'Dosa Grinder' (these machines have almost been elevated to the same royal brand recognition as Xerox, Q-Tips or Band-Aid -- they're simply referred to as 'Ultra' after the most popular brand of machines ). And then, there's the burdensome chore of meticulously cleaning ...

SPRING - whoever conferred multiple meanings to this word certainly was wise. Almost every one of these imply a positive connotation - Springtime, a spring in your step, 'spring' into action, spring spring spring.. heck, just like the repetitive version of the sound as is! OXO , my favorite kitchen gadget company just announced their range of  gardening tools and it was the perfect motivation to get working on my kitchen garden patch (which was more of a weed patch by last fall.). I love every product that OXO brings to market, and I'm unabashed about it. It was love at first 'slice'  in August 1996 with my first set of knives and peeler that my dad bought for me when I moved to New York City for my Neuroscience graduate program at NYU. (I still have the knives). The company sent me a set of outdoor gardening tools at the end of last month and it got me 'springing' into action on the veggie patch. A true realization that gardening is all the mor...