The Cakes of May

May was a very, very, very busy month for me. It was Kim's birthday, and we had been close friends for more than eight years, and it was also the first birthday I would actually be spending with hubby. I wanted to do something big and grand, but with meetings and interviews all over the month for my new job, I couldn't dedicate myself as much as I wanted.

I planned with Kim's mom to organize a simple get together after she finished working, from a week in advance. I immediately set out on designing the cake and decided on a Shiva lingam with an Om and a personalized happy birthday greeting written Hindi styled, as she is a very religious Hindu and many of our days of school included us chanting "Om Namah Shivaya" in the back of the classroom.

The last cake I had made for her was five years ago; a double layer eggless chocolate cake with blue frosting (her favorite color). I wanted to bring back that memory as well. So I settled on a double layer eggless chocolate cake, filled with whipped cream, frosted with buttercream frosting, and decorated with cherries, cookies, and candy coated chocolate, which suited the cheerful, playful, often childish aspect of her personality.

Kim's birthday was a huge success! Her whole family loved it and her excitement lasted for hours and hours, even after hubby and I left after 10 PM!

Next was hubby's birthday, less than a week after. I had had a meeting on Kim's birthday, and my next meeting was on hubby's birthday, where another project was due as well. Again, I prepared ahead of time. As hubby is a huge Manchester United fan, from the first few days of April I had decided on a sketch of the Manchester United badge as the top of his cake.

I just needed to hope that as they were in some champion's league or the other (my schedule was too busy to remember and hubby had no idea any of this was going on until he saw the cakes) ManU would keep winning and stay on top. As each game went on closer and closer to the actual day, I held my breath and indulged myself in my work, holding my breath, waiting for him to announce whether ManU had its game on or whether my idea for the ManU cake would fall through.

I put blind faith in ManU (hey, if hubby goes crazy for them and Beckham played for them, I LOVE them!) and decided that I didn't need to worry. They would pull it off and hubby would reach his birthday knowing they were champions. I divided my time between focusing on work and focusing on the cakes and acting normal (I am a brilliant actress for things like this - or so I hoped).

I remained totally neutral for everything, got excited as I normally would have, got sad as I normally would have and so on. Earlier in the year though, I had snuck in questions of hubby's birthday cake preferences and he had specified that all he wanted was an all chocolate birthday cake, if so much. BUT I wanted to do a ManU cake, and I thought he would like it just as much as a chocolate cake.

Still, it was the one thing he wanted, and I told him I would "try" (hahaha) to work it in but I had something totally different that I wasn't sure he would like, but I was willing to risk it. So hubby was clueless (I'd like to think so) and kept asking what on earth I was doing throughout with the vague knowledge that I would possibly be making two risky cakes or one half and half cake he would probably dislike. i gave him quite a lot of hints to throw him off track.

Why did I tell him anything at all? So he would actually stay inside and gave me time to work in "secret". I wish I didn't have to kill any of the surprise, but I live with my husband, and hiding the preparations for two cakes can be tricky that way.

I did ban him from the kitchen and especially the fridge for days on end though, and he was more shocked than I expected when he finally saw the cakes. The ManU cake was eggless, double layered, chocolate, filled with red and yellow buttercream (ManU colors), and frosted with buttercream. The entire cake was frosted in green as I made it a football field with red lines and yellow corners, and around the cake I wrote "Not arrogant. Just better. Happy 27th Birthday [Hubby]". On top of the ManU badge, which was not the neatest work I had done, I put in a big "27".

As for hubby's highly anticipated chocolate cake, it was a single layer, chocolate, eggless, frosted in chocolate buttercream with chocolate syrup, drizzled with chocolate syrup, sprinkled with chocolate sprinkles over hubby's name, splashed with hubby's favorite color across the top, filled with carefully cut maraschino cherries across the top, and decorated with whole cherries and cookies around the edges.

Everyone that tried both cakes loved it! A satisfying turnout for all three cakes :) And I aced every interview and had all my work done for every meeting :) And hubby was indeed so surprised he was repeating himself and took on the appearance of "Ralphie getting his toy gun on Christmas Day" (I'd like to think). AND in even better news, Manchester United won the Premier League just days before his birthday and created history by doing so adding to their record (as hubby said). They are now facing off with Barcelona in the finals for the Champion's League. All missions were indeed accomplished!

Meat Substitutes? Get the REAL info.

By now you know that I'm a vegetarian from a family of meat-eaters and I'm married to a carnivore, right? Well you do now :). Of course, I hear a lot of negative opinions about vegetarian diets, but there are actually some people who say they would try if they had more options. Hello! Check out THIS blog, for instance! Sometimes all it takes is a little research, but with this blog post I'm not giving you any recipes; I'm rolling up my sleeves and getting into the "meat substitute" thing.

I was talking to my cousin, Min, last night, and although she loves vegetables, she wouldn't consider a vegetarian diet. Reasons? The same as many others who are reluctant to try going veggie. There aren't many options available for vegetarians, the meat substitutes don't taste the same, they miss the meat, the vegetarian options are tasteless, etc.

I won't pretend to have solutions to all those problems; I know I don't. After all, my husband still eats every animal he possibly can (it seems) despite the faces I make. As for the topic of meat substitutes, I can offer a bit of help there.

There is a vegetarian version of practically EVERYTHING. There are vegetarian hot dogs, shrimps, lamb, chicken breasts, chicken nuggets, fried shrimp, tuna rolls, sliced fish, smoke herring, chicken ham, and lots more that I'm forgetting to mention here and haven't heard of yet. This list excludes soya chunks and actual vegetable products like soya patties or peas loaves and so on. Soy milk is much healthier than any other type of milk I know and it tastes great! My husband and I are addicted to one type which is not only lactose-free, but very rich in iron, as in the highest level of iron I've ever seen in a soy product.

On a completely different note, women, you need to make sure that you're taking iron every single day. If you don't include iron in your diet, ask your doctor about supplements or multi-vitamins with iron in them (yes I know I said multi-vitamins but not all have adequate amounts of iron if they do have iron in them at all). Hmmm.....sounds like another blog topic! *hint hint, nudge nudge*

Back to meat substitutes. The most important thing I can say on that is although such products are advertised as "meat substitutes" don't go in with the frame of mind that it will actually substitute the taste and flavor of the meat. It won't. I personally think the products I've tried tastes better. As someone who has eaten some types of meat before, I know what I'm talking about. Sure everyone has different opinions, but this is mine.

VEGETARIAN FISH

I could not stand fish. I didn't care how it was made or what fancy or simple name it had. I didn't like it. Eel and salmon sushi? Surprisingly: YUM! Cooked fish, as in on my plate as food? Eeeewwwwwww. Then I tried vegetarian fish when I was staying with my uncle and taking care of his family some years ago.

"Um...what am I supposed to do with this?" I asked nervously.

"What do you do with food?" he laughed.

"Cook it?"

"Well go cook it then!"

"I really, really, really, really, don't like fish though," I said doubtfully.

"Just try it." He said as he waved me off and ended the conversation.

And so I did. The first thing I made with veggie fish was curried fish and peas. Ohmigod. Ohmigod. Ohmigod. YUM! I was in love with it! And I mean this was my first time as in I hadn't made curried fish before and I had never even seen veggie fish before. Even after my family forced me to return to seafood and then poultry, I still insisted on eating only veggie fish instead of real fish.

Advantages? First and foremost, no fishy smell! You can make this thing and not walk out of your house smelling like fish, not walk into your kitchen smelling like fish, and not have your niece run to hug you and pull away saying "Aunty, how come you smell like fish?" AND it tastes really, really, really good. Hubby the carnivore loves it, and if he loves it, you should definitely try it!

It's easy to prepare, no scaling the fish, no bleeding fish, no evil fish eye staring at you and following your every move, no tail reminding you of how much alive the fish once was, ohhh and the best part for me and all people who have ever swallowed those fine, little fish bones? NO BONE. YAY!!!

All you have to do is take it out of the packaging. If you want to slice it or cut it a certain way, do it. Season to your liking, cook to your liking, done. You will no longer have to hold your breath when you get your fish out to clean, because you don't have to clean veggie fish. YAY!!!

And veggie fish does not smell like the part of Chinatown with all the fish and seafood out there on ice. You know the part where all the little kids hold their noses and all the adults hold their breaths? That's right, don't pretend I was the only one.

VEGETARIAN LAMB

I've always been against eating four-legged animals since I was about 4-5 years old. Maybe it was because I had two pet goats when I was really little. When it comes to lamb, NO. I don't want it, and I don't want to look at you eating the killed, cooked BABY animal! Unfortunately, I did taste it once. I was somewhere around 12-14 and I was a vegetarian at the time. My aunt and uncle had invited us to a church Christmas dinner. My family was very accepting of other people's views and religions, so we said "sure!".

There were church members dishing out each person's meal after the service. I specifically told the woman carrying my plate that I was a vegetarian, so she bypassed the barbecued and roasted meats and whatnot. As I rejoined my family to eat. I bit into something soft and salty and asked my dad, the expert on meat stuff, what it was.

He laughed so hard his plate nearly fell of his lap. "Lamb" he answered.

"What?" I shrieked (and actually dropped my drink).

"Lamb, child, you didn't hear them talking about Jesus, the lamb of God? You're eating lamb."

I almost fainted.

We left early and I cried my heart out when I got home for the poor lamb (abortion is bad but eating baby animals is cool? WTH???) and for myself, breaking my vegetarianism. So from that heartbreaking experience I can tell you that vegetarian lamb tastes nothing like real lamb, but it tastes great!

You can either make it using it in the large chunks they're packaged in or chop them to your own preference. I almost always chop them to a size I prefer for each meal. Even hubby likes it, and that's a huge compliment! My favorite way to eat this is curried with coconut milk, but I've also tried them in empanadas and stir-fry and it's amazing!

Advantages? Same as the fish, no fresh animal blood or mess to clean up after, no reading about farm animals to kids and thinking about the lamb that went "baa" before it was killed, easy to prepare (take it out of the package, chop if you want, season how you want, cook how you want, and voila!), no bad smell, and great taste!

VEGETARIAN CHICKEN NUGGETS

I'll admit I used to like the chicken nuggets from either McDonald's of Burger King when I was younger (I was too young to remember). I wasn't a regular though and when I found out MacDonald's uses beef fat to fry their fries in (like that signature taste?) I boycotted them. But I also have to admit there was a certain taste about the chicken nuggets I had from a few different places, as if it changed taste the longer they kept in on their heating trays or something.

Surprisingly, hubby was the one who recommended I try vegetarian chicken nuggets. I fried them, microwaved them, and made my own version of "buffalo" nuggets. And I loved them!

I remembered eating chicken nuggets as a child; it was never fulling, and my brothers and I always needed more to feel full and would resort to another meal after to feel as though we had an actual meal all together. After two veggie nuggets, I felt as if I was in the middle of a meal! When I needed a light meal, two nuggets were all I needed!

I mixed and mingled many things with these veggie nuggets and both hubby and i loved it! Just take it out of the package and pop it on the microwave, of deep fry it, or steam them and slice them for a veggie caeser salad, the options are endless!

As an added bonus, if hubby the carnivore recommends it, you know it tastes good! It's incomparable to any other nugget or quick fix meal, it's just perfect!

VEGETARIAN SHRIMP

I used to like shrimps cooked certain ways when I was younger, but was turned off when I learned that shrimps are extremely high in cholesterol.

Hubby and I decided to try vegetarian shrimps recently and have since declared it another definite keeper! Everything you've made with real shrimps, try it with vegetarian shrimps; the biggest bonus is not having to clean them out of their shells and worry about de-veining them.

As with the other products, convenience is still a benefit, just take it out of the package, season depending on your meal, and cook. I've made these veggie shrimps deep fried, stir fried, in steamed rice, with pasta, as cocktail shrimp, and will curry them soon. Easy to prepare, easy to store, easy to keep (not if you're eating them!), and easy to choose! Oh, and no Chinatown fish place smell with this one either :)

CHICKEN HAM

I never liked processed meats as a kid. I would pull the stringy enclosure of my bologna and go "ewwwww" and trade it for a pack of wafers or something at lunch. I even gave away my lunches because I didn't like the smell many processed meats have when they're packed away all day (ewwwwww). Many times, the taste/smell would make me so nauseous I would feel dizzy and upset and would need to lie down or put my head on my knees. But that's just me.

Vegetarian chicken ham? YAY!!! It tastes so good. I made myself famous for my sandwiches in school when I made veggie chicken ham sandwiches for my friends. A big winner with everyone I know who has tried it! My absolute favorite way to make this is to toast some slices until golden brown on both sides, and put some gouda cheese over the toasted slices until it melts. Pop into two slices of bread and YUM!!!


Don't knock it 'til you try it

Bottom line: give it a try. Your taste may differ from mine and many others, so don't just take for granted when someone says they don't like it. You won't know if you like it or not until you try it. Give it a try! You may surprise yourself and your friends and family.

Also bear in mind that the way something is cooked plays a large part in how it will taste. One person may cook something a way you don't like, but someone else might make it your new favorite food. Stay open-minded, and don't knock it 'til you try it!

Curried Vegetarian Lamb & Veggies, Dhal, and easy Swiss Rice

I know, I know, I've been lazy. Bad AJ. Hear my excuse: busy schedule. That's all I have to say for myself. I still have a busy schedule, but I have a bit more free time at the moment than I did..during...the..last..entry...and I honestly don't know when that was O_o.

So I'm back because Anita requested some veggie recipes for an upcoming period of time and I thought ohmigod someone reads my food blog! and ohmigod a request from a real live person! and so I'm back here with a goofy smile on my face, ready to take on the heat (pun intended) once again.

Throughout this hectic month of May, I haven't stopped cooking, and so I decided I'll focus on the most outstanding meal of the month (hahaha that sounds like an award) first. Just last week I made an easy version of swiss rice, curried vegetarian lamb with veggies, red beans, and dhal (split peas). Here go my explanations.

There are different versions of different kinds of rice. I don't know where I first saw someone throw in some spice or the other into their boiling pot to make their rice swiss, but I've since alternated my spices with my own easy version. I wasn't too eager to try vegetarian lamb at first, but once cooked the right way, it does wonders. For example, with this meal. Red beans should be a no brainer (easy version: I usually drain out the water from the can - yes I get too lazy to soak them overnight - and saute some onions in a couple tbsp of oil, then throw in the beans, stir, simmer, add liquid and salt and pepper to my taste, simmer, and voila) but as my brain is quite tired at the moment, I'll leave the big, long process out of this one. Dhal is also called split pea soup by some. I just know it as dhal, a popular Trinidadian dish. It's also famous for being a prime meal as a soup in bars and as a hangover helper.


HOW I MADE IT

Rice: I put up about 3 1/4 cups of water to boil with a dash of salt and a drop of oil. Once the water was boiling, I threw in the 2 1/2 cups of washed rice and stirred in a tablespoon of ground ginger (fresh ginger works better) and a 1/4 teaspoon of ground cardamon (elychee). About 12-15 minutes later, I strained the rice and it was ready to eat!

Curried Veg. Lamb & Veggies: I put about two tablespoons of oil in a hot pot and wait for it to heat up. I mix about 1 tablespoon of curry powder and 1/4 tablespoon of anchar massala powder together, and add it to the pot. Stirring up the curry mix, I wait until all the powder is somewhat grainy and add 1/2 cup of coconut milk and leave it to simmer. While this is simmering, I add 1-2 sliced hot peppers (omit if you don't like it spicy), 2 finely chopped pimientos, and 2 1/2 cups of mixed veggies ( I used corn, sweet peppers, peas, carrots, cauliflower, baby carrots,and string beans) and stir until the sauce thickens. Then add 2-3 cups of chopped veg. lamb (seasoned with salt, pepper, and chopped green seasoning to taste) and stir again. Once the sauce has thickened to the extent that it begins slowly sticking to the pot, I add four-five cups of coconut milk and let it simmer to the thickness I want. Once the sauce has achieved the consistency I want, I add a pinch of salt if necessary, and take off the stove. Done!

Dhal: I wash about 1 1/2 cups of dhal (split peas) first, and add 1 flat teaspoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of saffron, 1 crushed clove of garlic, some chopped green seasoning, and stir. I add some hot water, just covering the top of the dhal, and leave it to soak for about 20 minutes or so, and add it to a pot of boiling water, where I leave it to boil for upwards of 15 minutes until the split peas are soft. Using a wooden swizel stick (ghutney), I swirl and mash the peas to increase the thickness. I leave it to simmer until it has the thickness I want, and take it off the stove. Then I put up a metal ladle (kalchul) on the stove burner, filling it just about half way with oil (I use a good sized one - that's about two tablespoons of oil). When the oil is hot, add about one tablespoon of geera (whole cumin). This process is called patching the geera in the oil. Once the geera browns, add one crushed, minced clove of garlic and 1/4 of an onion, finely sliced. I also add a whole pepper, slashed in the middle, but leave that out if you don't want it spicy. I usually turn this with a metal fork to ensure everything is browned (I love the onions all caramelized-y). Then lift the lid off of the dhal pot very slightly, and sneak the ladle/kalchul in there. That's right, just dunk it in and slam the cover on it (not loudly). The sizzly sound makes me giddy :) Stir it all up with your ladle/kalchul and get ready to serve. If you choose, you can do like my grandmother and boil the dhal with a whole pepper. For all the pepper lovers out there, it's heavenly.


REVIEWS
Best idea ever! I loved it, I loved it, and ohhhh how I loved it! There are no pictures to show you because it all finished very quickly due to greediness. Hopefully, the next time I make this (definitely a new fave!) I'll stop, clamp my watering mouth, and take a few pics to add later on. Right now, use your imagination. The rice was the perfect complement to the sweet, savoury, flavorful, in your face curry, and the dhal and red beans just enhanced it by that much extra. I wanted to drink the dhal alone...I wanted to sit down and eat the curry meal...I wanted to eat the rice and oh the beans and OMG...you must try it! It was HEAVENLY!!!!

As for hubby, Mr. I-automatically-hate-anything-vegetarian-or-healthy could not stop talking about how good it was! He can't wait for me to make it again and interrupted me mid-conversation a few times just to describe how much he loved it. Did I say best idea ever? I repeat: BEST IDEA EVER!!!!

I'm going out on a limb here, but have you heard of engagement chicken and so on? FORGET THAT!!! If you have vegetarian in-laws or new friends or soulmate hopeful or whatever, MAKE IT! They will love you, and they will love this. As a warning to people that advertise their cooking skills: people often expect you to become their personal cook. True story. But I repeat, this meal was THE BEST IDEA EVER!!!

Vegetarian Shrimps and Cocktail Sauce

Hubby and I bought some vegetarian shrimps yesterday, and this morning I was ready to think up a recipe and finally start cooking again. I couldn't remember anything about pepper shrimp, my original plan, and I started thinking about shrimp cocktail. I had veggie shrimp....I had made a sauce to go with fries last month that tasted similarly to cocktail sauce, so...why not?


HOW I MADE IT

I put 12 frozen veggie shrimps to boil in a pot of hot water, and pulled out a small bowl to start on my sauce. I put about a cup of ketchup, 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar, I minced clove of garlic, I teaspoon of green seasoning, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon of hot peppersauce made with freshly squeezed lime juice. I mixed everything together, added some salt and black pepper to taste, and placed the thawed out shrimp in a metal strainer over the bot of boiling water and let it steam for ten-twelve minutes. Then I took off the stove, let my shrimps cool, and had my cocktail shrimp!


REVIEWS

I loved this! It reminded me of the cocktail shrimp I had in buffet more than ten years ago (before veggie time). Even hubby approved, surprisingly. However, the veggie shrimp does not taste the same as actual shrimp, and having already tasted real shrimp before, I can actually tell the difference. So I'm hoping to make some veggie shrimp in a batter, deep fried or something of that sort to try with the sauce, as the sauce is superb!

Guacamole on a Sick Day

So I'm finally back! For the majority of last month I was ill to the extent of retreating from the kitchen. When I could stomach food, hubby and I bought food. Then came the pivotal point yesterday.

Hubby woke up with all my symptoms of nausea, dizziness, weakness, lightheaded-ness, and vomiting. This seriously freaked me out because hubby hasn't been sick since January when relatives passed on a flu to both of us after returning from overseas, and rarely ever gets sick, especially not so severely.

So I dug my heels in, took charge, told my ughiness to get lost, and prayed all day long. We canceled one meeting, pushed another one forward while hubby was conscious, and carefully set off to meet Kim's mom as quickly as possible.

Kim's mom has always been a motherly figure to me,and welcomed hubby as her son-in-law when we got married, so it wasn't surprising after greeting each other with the traditional "Sita Ram" when she took me inside, gave me the once over and declared that something was clearly wrong and that I had lost way too much weight.

I admitted that I had been ill, and after some gentle coaxing, admitted I was throwing up everything I ate nearly every day for nearly a month, diminished the excited look in her eyes to assure her I was not "expecting", and then shut up in order to absorb her wise words.

She went from one end of the kitchen, organizing some watermelon that we should make sure to eat, some re-hydration salts we should mix and drink a certain way, and a purplish skinned avocado that she insisted I make that evening as zabooca chokha (similar to guacamole) and sada roti (similar to pita bread). She scolded me for not coming sooner and then instructed me to come back for some homemade medicine if we didn't get better soon.

Kim's dad repeated hubby's words from the night before (it felt like the twilight zone) and warned me to be wary of an ulcerated stomach, and insisted that we both go to the hospital soon. We left quickly as hubby seemed to be just on the verge of being okay enough to drive, and rushed home for hubby to get some more rest.

I fixed up the re-hydration fluids for hubby quickly and instructed him to drink it before eating the pepper chicken we bought (the only thing he felt he would be able to stomach). When hubby seemed to be able to eat without looking as if he was about to be sick, I snuck off to soak my head with some Limacol (similar to Bay rum) and had some of the re-hydratioin fluids myself.

After some more rest, hubby woke up before his football game, had some watermelon, and decided he was well enough to at least watch the game. I filled up the water bottle, hubby packed his shoes "just in case", and we set off.

By the time we got there and had sat on the sidelines for a few minutes, hubby had sipped away 1/4 of the water and was putting on his shoes, promising to return to the sidelines at the first sign of illness.

As it turns out, hubby played for nearly the entire duration of the game. We attended the meeting before heading back home and hanging out with a couple friends, and then headed back upstairs. I was so happy I felt more than well enough to prepare a home cooked meal for the first time in weeks.

I picked up the avocado and began preparing some guacamole for the first time in more than four years.


HOW I MADE IT

I cut the avocado in half and took out the seed. This was the first time I had seen a purple avocado, so I was relieved to find the inside green. I sliced the avocado into quarters, peeled off the skin, and cut each slice into a bowl. I finely sliced about two tablespoons of an onion and minced one clove of garlic and added it to the avocado. I crushed the avocado and these ingredients with a fork until it was totally mushed and somewhat creamy. I added salt, black pepper, and my homemade pepper-sauce to suit my taste, mixed, and spread one slice of store-bought sliced wholewheat bread rather thickly, covered it with another slice, and took a bite.


REVIEWS

I absolutely loved it! I gushed about its creamy, flavorful, luscious taste all night long (I even proposed to myself, and accepted my proposal, promising myself to make guacamole forever and ever as long as I had avocados at my disposal). I sealed it in an airtight container and left it in the fridge overnight, had another sandwich in the morning, and gushed about its extremely awesome taste all day long! So far I've made four thickly spread sandwiches and I still have quite a lot left over for one avocado. Also, as an avid fan of chocolate soy milk, I have to say, the perfect food couple has to be guacamole on whole wheat bread with a nice, tall glass of cold soy milk. It's heavenly.

I absolutely loved this and will make it many more times in the future. Hubby and I have both suddenly recovered from our illness as of yesterday evening to boot! I don't know if it was the praying, a mother's love, or both, but something worked somewhere and I'm very glad for it!

Plus, the guacamole would make anyone feel better I think! ^_^