Berry Lassi with Flax Meal

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For the last couple of days,I see the mercury level dropping down in early mornings. It was such a hot summer and I can't believe it is almost Fall now ! Even now the maximum day time temperature is in 80s,but it is no longer Summer here in Colorado.

Strawberry Mint Lemonade

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It is almost Summer ! My daughter had the last day in her elementary school yesterday . I still can't believe that she is going to be in Middle school next year. She was just a baby yesterday and today she is almost a young lady ! How I wish I could just freeze time.

While talking to her a couple of days back, I was reminding that she has only a couple more days left as a 5th grader. She started, "Oh yeah, I will be in Middle school for next 3 years and then in High School for 4 years and after that I will be in College". I said "Whoa, slow down young lady, not so fast. I am trying to digest the fact that you are going to be in middle school, when the school reopens next fall and you are already talking about college !" So is our kids, they just want to grow big (and less adorable!)

Masala Chai - Indian spiced Tea

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I should be writing this post in winter,I know. But I thought this tea will be an appropriate drink for rainy evenings in the Spring. I know people who loves this and also people who hates it ! I just love masala chai, but TH hates it. So I make this tea for myself, or when I have a guest who loves this.

Soon after our marriage,we went to Mysore and Ootty. That wasn't exactly a cliche honeymoon trip. M had a conference to attend in Mysore and we thought we will take a couple of extra days and visit some places. In Ootty we visited a small local tea factory. They have different kinds of tea mixtures in packet, and they have tea samples too. After sampling, M didn't say anything in objection, when I asked him whether I could take a packet of masala tea.So we got one of those mixtures and some dried tea leaves to take home. But after reaching home, I realized that he hates it and it took me a long time to finish off that packet myself. That was a lesson learned and I never got a masala tea packet ever.No I never stopped drinking masala chai,I started making a mixture of masala tea myself,whenever the craving hits me.

Water Melon Agua Fresca

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I got this huge watermelon home the other day. We cut it open, gushed over how bright and red it looked, took the first bite and gushed again, but this time about how sweet it is. Then reality about most of it may go waste hit us. It would be a shame to waste such goodness, I knew! I looked online for recipes with watermelon. Wow! From a couple of ideas in my head to what variety I was received with. Drunk watermelon (infusing watermelon with liquor) to salsa , the works!

Another instance which made me realize how I was hooked to the net: Last night we had a power outage, and it was only reset this noon. This morning without internet I realized how a fish might feel out of water. I have to agree without the internet connection I am clueless as to occupy myself for the most part. I read some of ‘water for elephants’ it’s a good book and kept me engaged but as soon as the power came on I set about getting the internet ready and had to google a thousand things. I was behaving like a wife meeting her husband back from the war.

Okay exaggerations aside, don’t we all love the net? You will love this watermelon agua fresco as much too. It’s a popular Mexican drink and inspired by recipe from bon apetit I added some ginger too. Delicious!

Ingredients:
Watermelon – 1/8th
Sugar/Honey – to taste
Ginger – ¼ tspn grated
Lime 1/2

Method:
Blend the water melon, 1/4 cup water, ginger and lime and sieve. Serve it over ice and garnish with lime and mint.

  Agua fresca in Spanish means fresh water. This drink was popularized in Mexico.  The drink should be light and hence strained to give that watery feel when you drink it yet infused with the flavor of watermelon. 

  For  me, just the addition of lime and ginger gave this drink a great feel and I would drink it even if it is not strained and enjoy it too.  

Berry-Banana-Oats Breakfast Smoothie & 301 posts !

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This is our 301^st post, and I can’t believe it myself! Neither Sunitha or I realized we had covered 300 posts with the last one. We feel a great sense of achievement, and are thankful to all our readers for your love and support through the last one and a half years. One exciting day after the other is making me quite delighted as I write this post. I mean exciting Father’s day yesterday.

How was it for you? I spoke to my Dad, who was clueless about Father’s day, but I spoke to him and enjoyed our visit. It was definitely more exciting for my daughter. She has been planning the day for weeks and wanted to do something special for her dad. It all worked out well through the course of the day. We went hiking in the foot hills of Rocky Mountain which is a great pass time of this family. On the walk, my daughter got to do something different for her dad from the usual self painted Father’s day card she has been giving him for years. She carefully picked up wild flowers through her walk and gave it to her Dad. She was very pleased and so was he. These moments of simple pride and happiness are so priceless.

Not so much fun for my lil imp because he got excited and grabbed the bouquet from his Dad spoiling the bouquet and upsetting his sister. But on our walk back, the whole family picked flowers and brought home a fantastic wildflower bouquet. It’s sitting pretty on the windowsill. I wish I could take a close up picture to show you but it's a dreary day and hardly any light.

Coming to the recipe of the day - everyone hereabouts must be enjoying the berry bounty of summer. We are no exception. The farmer's market is brimming with greens not so much berries, but I got some from Costco. I think it is fitting to have some berry shake or preserve in summer. I stock a lot of fruits/berries in this season and right now if you open my refrigerator you will see Blueberries and Strawberries aplenty. The days are getting hotter and when you wake up to a warm sultry morning you cannot resist a cool breakfast smoothie. Anyways, some people here don’t like a lot of berries so a refreshing smoothie is always good. It gets the berries from spoiling and at least some respite from the heat.

I have plans of baking these berries and making preserves too. In fact, I already made a small batch of Strawberry jam. This year as I experriment with various flavors and combinations I hope you will be tuned into this space.

After my long winded post, here is a simple yet rich breakfast smoothie. The measurements are only a guideline, add or subtract as you go along but make delicious smoothies. Some things to keep in mind are the ingredients - obviously, it not only affects the flavor but also the color. When you need a softer, brighter color step up on strawberries. It always renders an exciting color :-)

Ingredients:

Blueberries- 1 cup
Strawberries- 10-12
Banana- 1 really ripe Banana
Cooked Oats- 1/2 cup
Honey- To taste
Milk/Yogurt/Soy milk- 1 cup
Ice cubes- a few

Method:

1.Cook the oats in water/milk and cool.
2.Mix everything well using a blender and serve immediately.

Notes:

1.If you want it super thick, leave the ice cubes and blend.
2.You could use any nut milk(for eg: almond milk) instead of milk, which will be great,since that makes this smoothie protein rich.
3,.This serves 2.

Strawberry Lassi

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The freshness of Spring is in the air! It’s difficult for me not to bring spring into every conversation these days. One reason is the obvious, spring comes and flees so soon you want to savor every moment. Another darn reason is it continues to snow intermittently in Colorado! This makes me want to repeat every so often that it’s spring and not winter.  I guess the strategy is more talk will hopefully get winter flying off and spring harnessed.  Day dreaming! I mean, somehow, can this snow go away?! On a cheery note the snowing is not as much as I make it out to be.  My son and I are enjoying long walks and trips to the parks which is after all the best part of spring and summer.  Long walks outside and to breathe fresh air is sublime. And talking about freshness, here is something that lives the meaning of the word, strawberry lassi! Yum!

These are flowers from my yard(You will agree the color is just like that of strawberries). Pretty, aren’t they?

This is one of my favorite coolers. Tell me what is yours :-)

Ingredients:

Strawberries- 8-10
Yogurt- 1 cup
Ice cubes- 5-6
Sugar/Honey- to taste

Method:

Blend everything together and serve.

Serves 3

Contributor: Namitha

Raspberry Smoothie

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Valentine's Day is around the corner, and what is more apt to share than something that visually resonates with such a romantic day!  There is nothing much to write about a smoothie, other than it is both visually and gastronomically satisfying.  It's not a drink, it's not an ice-cream, and yet it is all those things wrapped into one.  Don't forget it can be nutritious for you too! Wonderful! Yep! That's what it is! 

I absolutely love this pink color!  Okay, it may not be so appealing on a wintry day, but somewhere on the other side of the globe this is still welcomed, I am sure. It is definitely reminiscent of a hot, sultry Sunday afternoon, when you can lounge on you chair, in the veranda, sipping your smoothie which will fan you cool.  Melting ice-creamy moments! 

But in winter, when you want to try this, and have a toddler in the premise, you have to sneak it!  If he gets hold of it, then proceed days of sore throat, and we-cannot-talk-about-it kind of issues to deal with.  But, if you are a raspberry lover like me, I can give you all kinds of ways to sneak around the kids and enjoy it.  Drop me an email, I will be glad to enlighten you ;)  I know this sounds like marketing but hey, sometimes what else is Valentine’s Day too? For raspberry lovers, it's not about seasons - these drinks can be so addictive they will be a way of life. Like for people in love, it does not matter if Valentines Day maybe a commercial gimmick, it’s a celebration of love!

We also wish to say Happy Birthday to Sybil, who has diligently read through our posts and pointed out glaring mistakes.  Continue to blame Namitha and Sunitha for grammar and syntax mistakes, because they are only when we have not headed her advice :) Thank you Sybil, Collaborative Curry wishes you a very Happy Birthday and fantastic year ahead!

 
Ingredients:

Fresh Raspberries- 1 cup
Milk- 1 cup
Yogurt preferably Berry - 1/2 cup
Sugar- to taste
Ice cubes

Method:

1.Mix everything together in a blender and serve.

Contributor: Namitha

Hot Chocolate

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Hope you all had a terrific weekend. I have been following the news about the big snow storms in many parts of the US. I hope you are safe and warm wherever you are!.  In Colorado, we have  yet to see snow showers this year, which is rather unusual.  A part of me is glad that I can still walk out easily without worries of black ice, shoveling and the likes, but the other  part of me is apprehensive about missing a white Christmas.

The mercury levels are still low enough, and on these cold days something like hot chocolate to keep warm is welcomed. I made this keeping my kids in mind, and I am glad to say they loved it.  This is not a unique recipe I am sure, but a gentle reminder in case you are missing it.  A wonderful chocolaty drink! :-)

This is so good not only for the kids, you will enjoy it also.  Smack!

Serve with some whipped cream on top



Or as it is !



Ingredients:

Semi Sweet Chocolate- 2 ounces
Milk- 2 cups
Sugar- 1 1/2 Tbp
Vanilla - 1/2 tsp
Whipped cream to decorate

Method:

1.Chop the chocolate coarsely.
2.Boil the milk and sugar till it starts bubbling, but not boiling much.
3.Add the chopped cocoa and let it melt well by stirring for about 2 minutes.
4.Add the vanilla,stir and pour into warmed cups.
5.Serve warm with some whipped cream on top or just like that.

Contributor: Namitha