Notices by Ganga (lifetimecooking@mastodon.au), page 2

@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

@timrichards Can't wait for you to do this train trip 😄

@hiway Yes please. nearly 4pm here. I have just taken everything out of the laundry and mopped the floor. Waiting for it to dry so I can wipe al the things and get them sparkly, and put them all back. It is sort of a mud room/laundry.

@SRDas Look what just arrived. Worth the $$ and the wait. A real treasure. And another book that smells of India to sit alongside Paachakam and Annapurni. Thanks for the rec.

Morning beautiful folks. Out early again today for breakfast with a friend I have not seen for a long time.

It is a drizzly and foggy day.

Ginger, Pickled

Pickling ginger prolongs the pleasure of good fresh young ginger which in normal circumstances is available for only 4 months of the year.

Pickled ginger is pink! It is so good to watch it change colour, if you make it yourself (very easy).

Strongly associated with Japanese cuisine, it is useful and delicious in so many applications.

It is a delight on its own; savour it. Nibble it while pouring the wine after work or whilst cooking dinner. Use as a relish for curries. Eat it out of the jar.

While pickled ginger can be eaten within a couple of weeks of preparation, it matures agreeably, obtaining a depth and dimension with age. A scintillating dish for all seasons.

(I first had pickled ginger a million zillion and one years ago at Darley St Thai - remember that gorgeous gorgeous place? Thanks David 😍 )

#Food #WhatIs #FoodInfo #Vegetarian

There is a lot of purple in the garden atm - including lavender, sage flowers, budleja, lantana, iceplant.

But it has competition!

#FromTheGarden #GardeningAU

Good morning, all you beautiful people. I hope you slept well (or will sleep well if you are in the other hemisphere). Awake bright and early this morning - family here from interstate, other family leaving for overseas.

Seven years ago today, a state of emergency was declared as South Australia was plunged into darkness following a storm. Many were without power for days. Adelaide was quite eerie.

The Silky Steamed Eggplant in #Ottolenghi's #Comfort is very excellent and easy to make. The first time steaming eggplant in the Instant Pot and I pretty much got the timings correct. It got devoured very quickly.

It is funny how both #NigelSlater and Ottolenghi avoided steaming eggplant for so long, Nigel even disparaged it cruelly. But experiences widen and opinions change, and I am glad for that.

The dosa batter is bubbling away, from #Dosai by #ChandraPadmanabhan.

The sambal, also from Comfort, is packed away in the freezer.

I've finished making the lentil based dip, yummy (recipe from my friend the #AlkalineCook). And am about to prep the veg Massaman Curry for some week meals, from #MeeraSodha's #East - with sweet potato and eggplant (plus the galangal).

#CookingForTheWeek

#FromTheKitchen #WhatIAmCooking #WhatIAmEating #Vegetarian #Food