Good Gifting

Socialising with friends and hosting them at home is awesome, but we know it stresses them out when we insist that our guests bring no gifts, wine or chocolate for us.

In an ideal world, one wouldn't need to have a two way exchange every single time. However, given the culture all over the world, most guests like to bring a little something over to their host to show their appreciation.

What then is an ideal gift? In my mind, its one which the giver has put some thought into, and one which the receiver feels happy about and looks forward to experiencing/using.

Yesterday we had a fond farewell party for a dear friend who is leaving Hong Kong, and called a few mutual friends to have a small intimate party of 7. Two gifts we received are worth a special mention. Home baked scones! wrapped so prettily! complete with jam and marmalade! It ticked all my boxes and more: 1) gets used up and doesn't occupy valuable real estate space 2) is not yet another to add to my collectibles that just keep piling up 3) shows incredible thought on the part of my guests who know i love home made food 4) imagine the trouble they took to bake and find the appropriate packaging and even those small jam jars!

And the flowers alongside? What to say except that they made me happy indeed! Nature at her best, brings out the best in us as people. Dinner chez Vixabs definitely delivers...for Vixabs!

Simple is best

Have you ever pondered on the infinite wisdom in the statement that "simplicity is the best sophistication?" This is true in many facets of life, none more so than in food. After traveling the world, eating at Michelin starred restaurants, experimenting with molecular food and such like, isn't it really interesting how mother's food is ultimately the best? Ever  gone back from a trip abroad to pig out on dal chaawal all or khichdi or rasam rice? 

I think coffee and toast fall in the same category. In a small family owned cafe in Porto, Portugal, we had hot buttered toast made from homemade bread and espresso macchiato (called "pingo" in Portugal) - most satisfying breakfast ever!

Gift Idea: Home Made Sweet & Hot Pepper Chutney

What to do when homes are small, but hearts and health considerations are big? Gift chutneys/dips/pickles/pestos! They are healthy, tasty, have a variety of applications, and best of all, leave minimal ecological footprint, particularly if you package them in recyclable containers. Over the years, our wonderful circle of friends have provided very valuable feedback on how they have used that particular year's selection. Particular kudos and thanks to Deepti and Yash, who win the prize hands down for identifying the maximum number of creative uses they can be put to.

Vixabs' new year eve tradition seeks to do just that. Every year, we gift small bottles of home made condiment to our friends visiting our home for the new year eve party. Sabs is the "halwai" - affectionate Indian term for the (traditionally) fat cook who stirs the proverbial pot, while Vix is the 'presenter' or 'plater'; but Sabs has the last laugh as the chef de cuisine while Vix is the sous chef: the only combination for peace in the household!

For the 2014 New Year's Eve party, we decided to make a sweet and hot chutney made from multicoloured peppers (capsicums). The good part is that this doesn't involve any exotic ingredients besides the peppers themselves, and the proportions don't need to be that accurate. The sourness of the vinegar, combined with the spiciness of the chillies and garlic, the exotic touch provided by cumin, offset by sweetness of sugar make for a great treat. The difficult part of the exercise is that the dish needs to be on the fire for a long while, continually stirred. All worth the effort for our cherished friends circle: a labour of love indeed.

Application? on sandwiches, on baked potatoes, cracker topping, topping on cheese, whatever suits your fancy really.

Garden Grown Herbs: What a Treat!

We are experimenting with growing herbs in the garden. For someone who has no green fingers to speak of, imagine the delight when we saw the seeds in our planter blossom into tiny shoots of green! Coriander, Dill, Chive, Basil, Mint: any green herb that we could find was corralled into this preparation of herbed cous cous. Enjoyed with home made palak paneer and roasted beetroot: what a treat!

Christmas is here!

Its cold, its fresh, its festive: gotta be December, gotta be Christmas! As we busy ourselves baking the traditional Christmas cake and doing up the house, there are also more social get-togethers with friends, as we let our hair down, and unwind and get set to welcome another year.

We took the opportunity of a more relaxed Saturday to hand make a festive bread: I love saffron, cardamom and orange zest, and I love bread. So why not put it all together in one recipe to make "Pulla Bread"?! This is a Finnish semi sweet pleated bread that is enjoyed with coffee on special occasions. For my recipe, I added a lot of Turkish saffron and used honey instead of sugar. What we enjoyed the most was the braiding of the flour to make a lovely pattern.

Unfortunately I have no idea how it tasted: we packed up the whole bread for a friend whose home we were visiting for a festive dinner. Definitely one to do again, where the pleasure in making is as much as in the eating!

Chinese/Thai vegetarian buffet spread

Trying to find delicious+ vegetarian+ Chinese/Thai + healthy + easy to make food is no simple task. We had Indian friends visiting from the motherland, and were keen to give them something different they may not be used to back home. Obviously, being vegetarian, and rather health focussed, we needed to find recipes that had enough vegetables but also good choice of herbs and condiments to add flavour. After all, we were catering to an Indian palate, which is spoiled by access to the most bountiful spices in the world.

This is the menu we came up with. The only thing is that this is probably more appropriate for summer given the number of cold starters. Let's think of a winter menu when winter is upon us!

1) Tofu salad
2) Pomelo salad
3) Cold eggplant with sesame sauce
4) Okra with ginger sauce
5) Silky squash with ginger and garlic
6) Thai vegetable green curry
7) White rice
8) Asian creme brûlée

Sunday breakfast chez Vixabs

"Sunday morning, up with the lark,
I think I'll take a walk in the park,
Hey, hey, hey its a beautiful day!

I got something waiting for me
And when I eat it, I know it'll be,
Yummy, tasty, fun, its a beautiful day!"

Apologies to Daniel Boone. He must've been such a romantic, and here I go, converting it into a foodie song! But hey, I live to eat, so what's wrong with that.

Sundays are one of the few days that we get to enjoy a slightly slower start to our day. On dry days, its a delight to sit in our balcony, enjoy the gentle mountain breeze, contemplate the hills around, listen to the dulcet sounds of our wind chime, and of course, enjoy a simple (but for us sumptuous) breakfast of fruits, vermicelli upma (mother's recipe of course!) with mango and  coffee accompanied by our weekend newspaper. Cherish the small and sinful pleasures of life - they truly are precious!