Notices by Ganga (lifetimecooking@mastodon.au)

A reminder as US, AU and other politics hot up....

Dear friends, if you are posting about US, UK, FR or AU politics, I would love you to use a #hashtag eg #USPol, #UKPol #FRPol or #AUPol so that I can filter them out. Would you mind?

Otherwise, I might have to mute or block peoples. Would hate to do that.

Just a reminder as the recent events are attracting a lot of comment. Otherwise you've been doing fabulously with your hashtags.

Coming out around July this year, what a great cookbook for Vegetarians, from the famed Bhuddhist #PlumVillage in France and the well known Vietnamese Buddhist monk and author #ThichNhatHanh (via the Plum Village community).

The Plum Village Cookbook by Thich Nhat Hanh and The Plum Village Community.

I am looking forward to more information on this book.

#cookbooks #Food #BuddhistFood #Vegetarian #PlumVillageCookbook

❤️ 💜 ❤️

Cookbook browsing today .....

Today it is The Cook's Companion, by Stephanie Alexander

A reference book that sits in most Australian kitchens 😃

Bless you, Steph.

Tell me which book you have out today for your weekend cooking. Or blog. Or other recipe source. Maybe your mother's written notes?

#Cookbooks #CookbookBrowsing #food #AustralianAuthor #AustralianFood

I was curious about sweet potato leaves, and found this Indian kootu recipe:

https://mildlyindian.com/sweetpotato-leaves-parippu-kootu/

It is very sim to one I do with chilli leaves that is delicious!

#food #IndianFood #Vegetarian

I am a bit exhausted from the HUUUUUUGE shopping trip in the heat, visiting Asian, Afghani, Indian and Supermarket shops as well as the library. None of the near each other except the library. Plus Fridays, hey. Parking in one of the locations is a real problem.

BUT some #Treasures. Oh my goodness, so many Asian and Middle Eastern herbs around, and Asian greens. Very verdant.

And lots of #BetelLeaves, #SweetPotatoLeaves and #MoringaLeaves. I picked up a bunch of the moringa leaves, probably to dehydrate again altho a sambar or dal with the is tempting. I should have got the sweet potato leaves as I have not tried them before. Betel leaves are a delight to play with in the kitchen.

And also these in the Asian shop. Any idea what they are? Thai basil? There were boxes and boxes of bunches. Ping @skinnylatte @SeaFury

#food #ShoppingTreasures #Vegetarian #AsianFood

I've finally got to the last pile of dried tulsi from the Great Prune that happened earlier 🪴

From that prune, I have a large jar and medium jar of dried tulsi to enjoy in herbal teas, my smoothies and a little to add to soups and Indian dishes.

Drinking tulsi tea with ginger. 🫚🫚 🫖🫖 🌿

#Food #FromTheKitchen #FromTheKitchen #Vegetarian

From me and the folks around me, from the magpies singing and the birds tweeting, from the next door cats, and from all the beautiful butterflies, bees and bugs in the garden, have a very happy day, whatever you are celebrating (or not). Kisses and hugs if you want them. ❤️ ☮️ ❤️

@seanbala @weirdofhermiston Thank you for your kind words, Sean ❤️

Cookbook browsing today.... Part 1

Being a Lazy Day, I am browsing 2 cookbooks today.

The first one I got down from the shelves this morning because of a convo I had yesterday after I posted about the green almonds. I wanted to check some things. It is a book of Lebanese preserves.

🌟 #Mouneh, by Barbara Abdeni Massaad

This is the most beautiful of books, large, glossy, beautiful photos, full of stories of life in Lebanon, and full of recipes. I adore it, and it is beautiful to browse today and read more of the stories. They include personal stories of past strifes in Lebanon and how it impacted family life. There will be quality time spent with this book today.

You can tell I adore this book. They have another, #Manoushe, also excellent, but not quite as stunning as this book.

#CookbookBrowsing #Cookbooks #LebaneseFood #Vegetarian #Preserving #food #BarbaraMassaad

@nomdeb Wonderful, what an experience. I have a soft spot for Lebanese food too.

@nomdeb Ah, you must talk to @skinnylatte , she may have some recommendations for you 😄

@lookitmychicken There are annual and perennial varieties. I have the perennial one.

Another absolute stunner of a day. I've been working in the garden, and now catching up on some money-earning work.

Tulsi is a fabulous plant to have in the garden. It is the Indian Holy Basil. Not only is it a remarkable herb to have at hand, it attracts ALL the bees with it's 30cm long flower thingies.

I lost a beautiful tulsi bush one year and it saddened me immensely. Luckily I had taken a cutting a little beforehand, and it was growing. Now I don't take chances. I have 4 plants. ( The blue banded bees loved that first plant, but I have never seen them on the other plants.)

So now I have enough to dry the leaves and keep for teas and smoothies. And the odd recipe that calls for them. Today I am pruning the bushes. As I do it, the bees buzz around me, including my face. I take little notice of them - they have never stung me. But I do it in halves. Half of each plant in the morning, the other half in the evening.

They root so easily, I am going to set up some pots for cuttings to give away once they are rooted and flourishing.

I just leave the leaves on the stalks, and let them dry on the kitchen table. It doesn't take long and the leaves are easy to strip from the stalks/branches.

#FromTheGarden #GardeningRounds #GardeningAU #NotMyPic

Cookbook browsing today....

#Vegetariano: 400 Regional Italian Recipes by Slow Food Editore

This is a huge book and I am so pleased to have it on my bookshelves. It is chokka with regional, home-based Italian recipes. One day I am going to focus on this book in the kitchen. Maybe next year; it could be a good project.

The recipes also use lots of local ingredients, and it is fascinating to read about them and the cooking methods used.

Best of all, it is completely #Vegetarian ALSO, I just noticed, on the cover are those nice, 1-clove garlics that I get from our local Asian shop. I have never seen them anywhere else.

What book on your bookshelf inspires you the most?

#CookbookBrowsing #Cookbooks #food #ItalianFood #SlowFoodEditore

What is my cooling drink today? Panaka aka Panagam, a sweet Indian Limeaide made with lime, ginger, cardamom and pinch of black pepper with your preferred sweetener (usually jaggery but I am sugar-free'ish atm on my #NaturopathPrescribedDiet )

Sonth Panak is the same/very similar but with less lime juice. A different region of India, a different name.

Delicious.

Bok Choy (aka Bok Choi and Pak Choi) has been grown in China since the 5thC CE., and in Europe since the 18th Century.

There are four main types, and the edible types give us greens in all seasons with succulent stalks and tender leaves. They have a milder flavour of cabbage that pairs well with other ingredients.

It is eaten fresh, dried, salted or preserved, and is can be used raw or cooked in soups, casseroles and stirfry dishes. I like them lightly steamed.

#Food #FromTheKitchen #FromTheArchives #Vegetarian #AsianFood

Is anyone using the new'ish book reading app https://www.thestorygraph.com/?

Kovalam, Kerala, India. A beautiful place.

Goodbye Gouda and farewell French mustard: Signature foods on the brink of climate extinction. Also Flemish frites, Italy's white truffles, and Greek mussels.

https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/11/12/goodbye-gouda-and-farewell-french-mustard-signature-foods-on-the-brink-of-climate-extincti