My Dear Lovely Neighbour Strikes Again

This time with a lovely spread of innovations from a day of cooking.

My Favourite was the Kafta - a mix of Lebanese and Indian spicing to the meat, baked over potatoes. It was amazing. As for the dal...

The dal was in fact excellent, until I ate a big green items thinking it is a curry leave only to find out, late in the game, that it was a hot chilli pepper. But that did not restrain me from trying the spiced rice which was exceptional.

Hmmm, funny how all platters were cleaned up. Do we think all loved this dinner???

What Woke Up The Kittens

A smell of freshly made dips woke up the kittens.

Using my Christmas gifts, I prepared two fancy dips to munch on with the kittens.

One is a salsa spice mix prepared by Victorian Epicure Inc. in North Saanich, BC. This was mixed with tomatoes, cilantro and lime juice.

The other is the lemon Dilly Dip mix, also my Victorian Epicure Inc. This was mixed with mayonnaise and sour cream.

Easy to make. Tastes fresh. Impresses guests.

The Night Jesus Passed By

The night before the Epiphany is a holy night. Some rituals say that Jesus passes by so the house lights are best left on all night welcoming Jesus.

The more relevant ritual is the making of Zalabiyeh, specially preparing the dough on this night so Jesus can bless it on his visit.

So one cat and I prepared the dough and kneaded and kneaded and let it wait for Jesus.

The next night, the dough, prepared in the right Zalabiyeh shape, was fried. It looked right, but did not taste right - I should have picked up on the fact that the recipe I used did not ask for any spices in the dough.

So my dear readers, specially the Lebanese ones, can someone please send me an authentic good Zalabiyeh recipe please? somervillekitchenwindow@gmail.com

Easy Sauce

What to do with these tomatoes that may not last the day?

Tomato sauce will be a good idea - cook some garlic, chop the tomatoes, add these lovely French salts with added herbs and simmer all afternoon.

Reading the title of this article, you'd think this is it. Not yet. Now add tomato pesto to the sauce, mix and turn off the heat.

Exceptional - taste, texture and ease!

Olly Jolly Says No More Bento Boxes

(Read Olly Jolly Count Your Blessings as Background)

After being caught ordering a Bento Box for dinner, My Dear Lovely Neighbour dropped off a full home made dinner so not to see me ordering Bento Boxes again. 

So what were our delicacies tonight? A delicious dal (you must see the size of these hot peppers in the dal) with spiced up salmon and fried herring.

With a bitter melon and potato dish. 

Olly joins me in saying Olly Jolly for having you My Dear Lovely Neighbour.

A Memorable Feast

Amay's House Burmese & Asian Cuisine

5076 Victoria Drive

Vancouver, BC

When a Burmese origin person says the food at Amay's House is as good, if not better, than her grandmother's cooking, one has to stop, listen and try. So a feast of a lovely group of people invaded Amay's House and the claim was proven. 

Excellent food, exceptional service, generous owners and amazing prices. Enjoy the photo tour - you won't go wrong trying any or all of the below.

Roti with curry chicken

Tea Leaf Salad

Spring Rolls and Samosas; Burmese Style

Royal Noodle Salad

Burmese Biryani

Tapioca with carrots and sweet potatoes 

Olly Jolly Says....

....Count Your Blessings

As I start my new year with a relaxing day, in a warm home, enjoying a cup of eggnog in my new beautiful cup gift along with freshly made idli with coconut chutney dropped off by My Dear Lovely Neighbour, I could not feel better.

But even if I was not feeling this way, all I have to do is listen to Sundari Bala Francis' Olly Jolly wise bee answering the question "what to do to make myself feel better":

"I just start counting my special blessing".

How to count your special blessings can be found in Olly Jolly Says Count Your Blessings by Sundari Francis-Bala. Book available via Amazon or by contacting me at somervillekitchenwindow@gmail.com

One of my special blessings inspiring today's article is having friends like the owner of Rumour Handcraft at Regina airport who sent me this beautiful mug, hand painted by Saskatchewan Artist Fran Walker.