Home made Focacia Bread

Hello all,
Come weather changes we all crave for hot /warm soups but think about the accompaniments.. nice loaf of bread works out best.

Here's to all those soups out there..

Ingredients:
5 cups all purpose flour, plus a little more for kneading
1 tablespoon sugar
1 package active dry yeast
1 3/4 th cup warm water
1 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon salt

Method:
Combine yeast, sugar and warm water in a bowl. Put the warm water bowl aside for 15 minutes.
In a bowl combine the flour, salt 1/2 cup olive oil and yeast mixture. Mix the dough. Once the dough comes to a form soft dough transfer the dough to a lightly floured bowl  knead gently for 2 minutes and cover it  with a plastic wrap and put it in a warm place for 1 hour ( minimum) until the dough doubles in size.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat your flat oven proof sheet with olive oil  and transfer the dough to the pan and flatten it using your fingers..( let kids do it makes them feel the part of helping you cook the meal)
Drizzle your left over olive oil on it sprinkle some salt on it  ( at this point you can sprinkle finely chopped garlic or herbs on it )
Cook it in your oven for 25 - 30 minutes( on your center rack), or until the top is golden brown.
Enjoy your bread.

Ishita

National unclutter your desk day !

Hello all,
Since its a national unclutter your desk day had to share it with you all.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/inc-well/How-to-Unclutter-Your-Desk-136956283.html

Enjoy,
Ishita

Fashionista gone wrong.

I love hiedi klum's fashion style but this style has gone awful..
Just had to share it with all of you.

Enjoy
Ishita

My new love !

Since last year I had two passions to take care of : creativity and food , of course.
Well food is something i do not have to make much effort but creativity, art is a work from heart and devotion and dedication.
Not all the time i get to have the work finished from the get go of it. But thanks to the studio  that I visited : Work of Heart ( located in the heart of Campbell ,CA) , I just fell in love with the new inspirations and creations that you can create with just a little pinch of tender love from the fabulous teacher/owner Andrea.
I signed up for the amazing classes and have been there couple times now and I absolutely love it. I would love my daughter to go there and learn being creative as she has one amazing creative palette.

Loved this article about creativity, would like to share it with all of you:

http://www.jpb.com/creative/creative.php

my creation 2011

Some of Andrea's creations:







Thanks to Andrea @ Work of Heart for making my dream come true and letting me post her work of art on my blog.
I will always come back for more.

Love
Ishita

Surprise visit

This Christmas break i had a chance to visit my very old best friend from college days..we go way back many years.
I had a very good break, kids got their fair share, we had made a trip to disneyland.
Kids enjoyed, especially the princess part that my daughter is crazy about.
We had a chance to go visit her down south in L.A.
Ami, i just wanted to thank you for the amazing time together that we had and kids still don't stop talking about it.
We should definitely do it again.


I loved the beauty of nature around her house, just wanted me to move there!

http://friendship.about.com/od/Types_of_Friendships/f/When-Friendships-End.htm
love this article from about.com, this is to you all friends out there ~ may our friendship last forever.

love
Ishita

tofu taco

lately a lot of experiments happening with tofu!!!
Sounds like what would i be doing actually but turns out tofu is a fun food condiment...i put it in that category as it got me thru the entire last week.
Lovely, i shall share my experiments with all of you.

So let's get down to the business:
Ingredients:
8 ounce firm organic ( extra rich in protein tofu )
1/2 shallot or onion finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped mushroom
1 cup beans of your choice ( cooked)
1 cup salsa ( spicy i prefer, to kick up the flavor)
lettuce chopped 1/2 cup
1 avocado finely minced
Salt to taste
teaspoon of cayenne pepper,
teaspoon of cumin
teaspoon of black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic minced
oil to cook
cilantro to garnish
yogurt to top it with


method:
heat the pan, put some oil in it and add onions or shallot .
cook until they turn translucent ,add crumbled tofu - let it cook for atleast two minutes then add mushroom at this point. let it cook, do not stir them too much they will become very tough, do not salt them yet.
once they start to loose water salt them, add garlic add beans. add the cumin powder, cayenne pepper and black pepper.
Leave the mixture on the heat for another minute to simmer.
When the mixture cools start assembling your taco.
Warm your choice of tortilla, spread a layer of the vegetable - bean mixture, top it with salsa, avocado lettuce and cilantro. top it with yogurt.

Unfortunately i do not have any picture to share because we ate it up all so quick and we finished it all!!
But promise u next time , i will get a snap shot of it...

Enjoy

Turkey or no turkey

Hmm...
i have been getting all this questions around from friends: turkey or no turkey for the thanksgiving.
Its totally a personal perspective but should not be loathed on anyone.
Be respective of others wishes.

I just found few of these pointers that i guess i won't mind sharing:
# keep a positive attitude about you being vegan. Instead of arguing
 about it speak positively about the things that were positive in your life for being vegan.

# please , please  dont get preachy. encourage people to explore vegetarian / vegan lifestyle by the way you live. Just set an example.

# enjoy the meal with friends and family...no matter what its a fun times..so enjoy, relax turkey or no turkey we are thankful to a lot of people around us who play a very important part in our lives it starts from the youngest family member of our home who teaches us patience everyday,.. to the mail man who teaches us not to stop working not matter what weather ...to that old lady in that senior center who says its gonna be a great day today-positive attitude.
My salute to all of them and many more...this thanksgiving to all you very many thanks.

ENjoy the fun times.