Exploring a New Cuisine

Today we were so pleased to have three beautiful, young women (grad students) from India visit with us, and help to prepare a really delicious meal. CA and I have enjoyed various curries over the years and memorable meals in an Indian restaurant or two in London, but when we ate a wonderful meal at Paddy Rawal's Raaga in Santa Fe in September we decided we were going to learn more about the cuisines of India.

I bought The Raaga Cookbook-Modern Indian Cuisine, and then ordered Aarti Paarti, an American Kitchen with an Indian Soul by Aarti Squeira. And, I asked Eeshita, a recent acquaintance (hopefully friend), if she would cook with us. We settled on November 5th.

Eeshita and two roommates met me today, and we shopped at India Rice and Spice for ingredients to make Spinach Chaat (a Northern India specialty--street food), Saffron and Coconut Milk Risotto (via the Pioneer Woman blog), and Saffron Rasmalai for dessert (Bengali).

By 12:30 or so we were dividing up the responsibilities--Me-risotto; Eeshita-Rasmalai; KG and SD-the Chaat and a green and spicy Chutney (mint, cilantro, olive oil, onion, jalapeño, lime juices...).
What a fun and delicious afternoon that we plan to repeat very soon.

Insanity

Our week has been good. Very good. The Colorado Fun Kids arrived Wednesday in time for dinner, stayed one night, and then flew from Chicago O'Hare to Vienna, Austria. Grandparents there drove them the one hour to Bratislva, Slovakia--DIL's hometown.

On the drive here from Fort Collins, D+M's Family stopped to see J+M and the Omaha Fun Kids, then drove to the Peoria, IL area to visit GG and my family. A good time was reportedly had by all. 

Omaha 

Eureka

Peoria

My 95-year old Dad's 28th great grandchild, Natalie Ann. 

Their time with us was too short, but our family of 12 will be together by mid- 

August in Fort Collins, CO. And, JE's family will arrive here for a visit mid-July. 

The insanity began when we invited some newly-vegan friends for dinner on our porch. No... back up a bit. Thursday early afternoon I stepped-off the cliff. Willingly. It was my idea. Why not bake cookies for the 16 university students and 4 leaders who are going along with the Fun Kids for 5 weeks in Slovakia--Cru's Slovakia Summer Mission? Why, I have almost 3 hours; I'll just whip-up a batch of Aunt Roxy's Oatmeal Crisps. With walnuts. And raisins. And dried cranberries. And chocolate chips. Oh! I'll top them off with M+M's!

Yep! Right off the I am woman, W-O-M-A-N... cliff. 

Ta-dah! Unfortunately, one such victory inspires grandiose plans for unreachable goals; complex, highly-strategized plans--preparing dinner for vegans. 

I've asked CA to just shoot me if I ever get anywhere near such a cliff again.

I pulled off a highly-edited, reportedly superb version of my original menu... On-the-fly. I made the enchilladas, but discarded plans for the taco entrée and used the oven-roasted sweet potatoes (already prepared) as a side dish. The two planned desserts--melon skewers and fresh berries in a tequila-agave syrup--were likewise abandoned. We were too full after appetizers and the meal. Really, though, there was no way I had energy to chop, assemble, and arrange one more recipe!

glutenfreegoddess.com 

Roasted Red Pepper Hummuus. 

A can of vegan chili and a package of vegan  cream cheese. Nasty tasting, so doctored-up with green chiles, medium-temp red Salsa, a chopped Jalapeño. 

That worked; it was palatable. Served with these:

twohottamales.com Guacamole recipe Also, served with Teader Joe's Sweet Pitato Tortilla Chips

We always use Tortilla Factory's White Corn Tortillas. These are lightly fried and well-drained just prior to assembly. 

Sweet onions+mushrooms+baby spinach=vegan enchillada filling. 

Enchilladas with glutenfreegoddess.com 's Green Chile Enchilada Sauce (add 1/2 cup Medium Salsa and 1/2 cup Sour Cream. 

Oven-roasted Sweet Potato side dish. 

Oh, and some Green Rice--just regularly-prepared rice with green salsa added. 

The kitchen was completely trashed and required a major clean-up before bed, and more today. 

I sat on the couch and ate 1/2 bag of Trader Joe's Milk Chocolate Peanut butter Pretzels. Note: It is always advisable to shoot yourself in the foot after falling off a cliff.