Spinach & Tomato Pasta and Surviving Without Mommy

Mommy has been gone on her visit to Bombay for 4 days now, and Daddy and I are getting by fine, though I do miss her and I'm realizing just how much she keeps everything together. Up till today Daddy and I have been getting by on all the leftover Indian food she cooked up to make sure we don't starve (my favorite yellow daal, cabbage subzi, methi...) but seeing as today was Thursday and so I would actually have nothing to do after school, I decided to make pasta. I looked at recipes for some guidelines and ideas but in the end I decided to just throw together a bunch of ingredients and trust it would taste good.

While I boiled some whole wheat penne (about 250g), I heated some olive oil (1-2 tbsp) on low heat, threw in some minced garlic and chopped onions, sprinkled in some red pepper flakes, and plopped down a spoon (1 or 2 tsp) of sun-dried tomato paste just as the onions began turning translucent. By then it was all giving off such a lovely smell (in my opinion, the smell of frying onions and garlic is simply irresistible) and I tossed in some frozen spinach (about 8 "nuggets"). I mushed and mixed when the spinach got soft, then added 1 can chopped tomatoes (next time I'd go for fresh- canned tomatoes taste awfully acidic and tinny), a few splashes of balsamic vinegar, and some salt & pepper. I stirred in the pasta not long after (I don't like the taste of over-cooked-down tomato), plopped some in a bowl, grated some fresh parmigiano-reggiano (bought from Spinney's after school- I spent nearly an hour there and only bought about 5 things) on top, then topped with salt and plenty of pepper. Made about 3 servings.

Brandied Apple Cake

• 4 cups baking apples (4-5 apples)- MacIntosh, Golden Delicious, or Empire
  
• 1 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar (approx)

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
  
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
  
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
  
• 1 tsp salt
  
• 2 tsp cinnamon
  
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder (optional)

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup applesauce
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1 tsp vanilla
  
• 2 tsp bourbon/brandy OR 3 tbsp rum
  
• 1 cup walnuts (optional)
  

Peel & slice apples about 1/8 inch thick into large bowl. Cover with sugar and stir to coat. 
Mix dry ingredients & sift over apples, stirring often.
Beat wet ingredients (& add nuts).
Mix wet ingredients into apples.
Spread into greased/lined pan(s) and bake at 350 F for about 1 hr 15 minutes (50 min for muffins) for a nice crunchy crust.
Let cool (upside down/sideways on metal rack) then remove from pan.

Makes 1 bundt cake OR 2 loaves OR 1 loaf plus 8 muffins OR 18-20 muffins.

approx nutrition per 1/18 of recipe (without nuts): 215 calories, 7.5 g (12%) fat, 1.5 g (7%) saturated fat, 34 g (11%) carbohydrates, 1.6 g (6%) fiber, 22.3 g sugar, 2.2 g protein

Visiting the Temple and Cheap Indian Lunch

Because today is the death-day anniversary of my grandfather (dada-ji in Hindi), we went to the temple to make an offering and receive a blessing of some sort. I don't get really into it because 1) I'm not very religious and 2) I remember very little of my dada-ji, aside from one strangely clear memory of eating kitchari (a sort of Indian comfort food made with yellow lentils) for lunch at his house in India. Anyways, I agreed to go along with Mommy and Daddy because I didn't have any big plans for the day. After finding an open temple in Bur Dubai (think dirty, crowded, with narrow alleys and vendor stalls, yet still lively and exciting), going through the ordeal of walking around the dirty streets barefoot (you cannot wear shoes when entering a temple) before finding the actual temple entrance, and finally making our offering and receiving blessing and parshad (including yummy suji halwa), we decided to grab lunch at one of the many cheap Indian restaurants in the area.

We headed for Karachi Darbar, a North Indian/Pakistani, Muslim-run restaurant with vegetarian and non-veg food. I wanted to avoid eating lots of unhealthy oily food, so I was a bit reluctant, but the food turned out to be pretty healthy and delicious, and I didn't overeat! The three of us shared a stack of tandoori rotis (wonderfully puffy, soft, and HUGE- about 1 foot in diameter!), some kind of vegetable kofta, daal fry, and a paneer dish. Unfortunately I have no photos because our current camera is outdated and chunky, but fear not! After some research and shopping, I'll have a shiny new camera by the end of vacation.

Rainy Day Breakfast

This morning I woke to my second full day of vacation...to be greeted by RAIN. Now, rain isn't very common in Dubai, so I welcome a nice exciting change of weather. Any change from the usual (BORING!) sunny blue Dubai skies reminds me in the slightest way of Boston and New England, which is good because I miss Boston! I know it's strange to actually ENJOY crummy rainy weather when in Boston I'd be complaining about it, but things change when you move to the other side of the world.Like I said, it was raining, and rain always makes me think warm, cozy, comforting food like soup and hot chocolate. I wasn't exactly eager to have soup at 9 in the morning, so I decided on oatmeal, especially because the bunch of bananas sitting in the fruit bowl were at that perfect ripe-but-not-too-mushy-yet-still-sweet-and-tasty stage. Topped with a drizzle of honey to add a bit more sweetness, my oatmeal (nuked to exactly how I like it: moist but not the least bit gummy) was ready to be devoured.