you're welcome world.
you should really be paying for what i'm about to share with you.

my husband is from india...and he loves to cook.
yeah, i kind of lucked out.

over the past 7 years of being married, i've definitely learned a lot of indian cooking, but my skill is nothing compared to his. for me cooking is still just a chore, but for him it's a passion.

there are so many indian foods that i never heard of or imagined growing up, but now i don't understand how i could have ever lived without them. they've become comfort foods to me. and the happy part is that most of them are kind of healthy too!



we do eat meat in our family, but just a couple times a week since there are so many great indian veg dishes. i could totally be vegetarian indian style...they have mastered it. my husband has totally broadened my vegetable horizons.

and now he has finally put together a collection of our favorite everyday indian recipes.

these are tried and true. i can promise they won't disappoint.
you better invest in a pressure cooker though.

so enjoy! maybe next we get get him to share his non-veg recipes! :)

VEG INDIAN RECIPES

so our dear friends asked us if they could throw a Lord of the Rings Movie Marathon Birthday Party at our house...

to which our response was obviously, HECK YES!

first of all, i love it when people have parties at our place. it's all the fun of throwing a party yourself, but oh so much less responsibility! :)

and secondly, being the geeks that we are, how could we not get totally psyched at the idea of a LOTR party?! oh, and did i mention that there would also be 7 hobbit meals...like they have in the shire?!

anyways...needless to say it was epic.
probably the coolest party ever. i wish i had thought of it first.

our house was totally transformed into middle earth...
once we started decorating, we all kind of got carried away and stayed up till 3:30am kind of having our own pre-party party. it was totally worth it. :)





our dining room was rivendell...





my friend april deserves the best wife award for making her husband this cake and for all her hard work!









fanghorn forest?



how about a little hobbit stew?



or shelob cookies...



and maybe some lembas bread? one small bite will feed a grown man for a day. i found this recipe online, and  it was definitely other worldly.



oh, and did i mention that there were costumes? i wish i'd gotten pics of everyone...





if you go to the bathroom, be careful as you pass through shelob's lair...





happy birthday kyle! thanks to you and april for letting us be a part of the fun!

have i mentioned that it's hot in texas right now?
like crazy hot. like so hot that a friend of mine just left for india and was surprised at how much cooler it felt there!

i have a serious chai addiction, which doesn't go well with these temps. it's a problem.

so i took matters into my own hands and made a little summertime invention...chaice cream.
chaice cream= chai ice cream.

all i did was make my usual chai with cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon, boiled it in just whole milk, added sweetened condensed milk, and whipped it up in the good ol' ice cream machine.

and it's awesome. can i say that?



sorry for the melty pic. i just couldn't wait for it to finish setting before i had a little taste.

i love experimenting with ice cream flavors.
sometimes it's a total fail. but this time my friend, i say we have a winner! :)

hang in there friends, and have some chaice cream! it can't stay this hot forever...can it?