That Fasting Time Of Year Again

And sooooo it begins.

Sounds ominous, eh? Well, it's not; I've just always wanted to start a blog post that way!

Fact is, Ramadan is here again. Last year I was pregnant, so couldn't fast. This year I feel closer to my fellow Muslims around the world who are fasting, and am enjoying the spiritual experience thoroughly. Erm, of course I do have the added benefit of not working and staying at home. But then again, it's not like I can sleep through it - baby B won't stand for that! This Ramadan is the toughest one yet (in my lifetime anyway) because the days are the longest so far. When this holy month comes around in December, it's almost easy to not eat or drink, because sunset is around 4pm! But these days, when dawn to dusk have 15-16 hours in between them - well, let's just say that it takes a special kind of willpower to keep you going.

Well, God never said it was going to be easy. It's supposed to test your spiritual mettle, so to speak. Let me tell you though, it helps to have a sense of humor to get you through that noon-3pm time slot, when all you can think about is devouring the contents of your refrigerator! I personally like to torture myself by watching the Food Network, or browsing through my favorite food blogs - that masochistic streak comes out to play from time to time.

There isn't much I'm doing this year in terms of iftar - i.e. the sunset meal. Since it's already past my dinner time when the sun goes down, these days DH and I just break our fast with dates, the ubiquitous fruit chaat, some cooling beverage, then it's straight to dinner. So let me tell you about this beautiful Blackberry Herb Spritzer that you can try for your iftar or just because it's the last few weeks of summer.
I'll be sending this recipe to Lubna of Kitchen Flavors for her annual "Joy from Fasting to Feasting" event, which is now in its third season. It was a fabulous source of inspiration last year, and I can't wait to see what other people contribute this time.

Blackberry Herb Spritzer

Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:
1 or 2 pints of fresh blackberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
Club soda
3-4 leaves fresh basil
Few sprigs of lemon thyme

Method:
1. Put the blackberries in your blender and puree them till smooth. Then strain that unbelievably gorgeous indigo-violet mixture through a sieve to get rid of as many seeds as you can. Set aside.

2. Combine the sugar and water with the herbs and bring to a boil till the sugar dissolves. Then turn off the heat and let the mixture steep so that the herb flavor is intensified. The smell is amazing! Let this cool completely.
3. To assemble, put a 1/4 cup of the blackberry puree in a glass, followed by 1/4 cup of the herb syrup. Top it off with 1/2-3/4 cup of club soda and lots of ice. Sip and savor!

Verdict: This is such a revelation for me. Using my own, homegrown fresh herbs for this drink made all the difference. You can use all kinds of fresh herbs to flavor the sugar syrup - like mint, or rosemary, or regular thyme. You could also add in some lemon/lime juice. I loved the combo of fresh basil and lemon-thyme. Don't use too much basil though, because it is pretty strong. And I'm nuts about the color of this drink. Looks like pinot grigio, almost, but deeper. It's a great beverage for these hot, sticky Ramadan nights.

The Darling Buds Of ... April?

See this luscious creation? This creamy, dreamy, unctuous concoction? It's my new favorite beverage. I made it for the very first time just the other day, and I was mesmerized. It took every last drop of my meager willpower to leave half for DH. And I'll be honest, quite a bit of my fascination with this drink has to do with the main ingredient that goes into it. I love surprises, and this took me by surprise. Now it's your turn to guess what this drink is made from.

Go on, you have about a minute or so to throw out your ideas. In the meantime, let me take you for a lovely walk around my neighborhood, during a gorgeous spring day. Everything is flowering. The buds are peeking out on all the trees, and the air is fragrant with some of this season's early bloomers.

My hood.

The pink tree, as I refer to it, in front of my apartment!

Ok! The wait is over! Did you guess the secret ingredient yet? Drumroll please ...

It's avocado!

Fun, huh? An avocado milkshake. And it's deeeee-friggin-licious!

It's also good for you. Avocados provide nearly 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, vitamin E, B-vitamins, and folic acid.

Vietnamese Avocado Milkshake (thanks to Wandering Chopsticks for opening my eyes to this!)

Makes 2 servings

Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:
1 ripe avocado
1 cup ice-cubes
2 tbsp sweetened condensed milk (or more if you like)
1/3 cup skim milk (or more, if you like your milkshake runnier)

Method: Scoop out the ripe avocado flesh. Combine with the rest of the ingredients and zap it in the blender till smooth and inviting. Taste for sweetness.

Verdict: To me, this tastes like a cross between coconut water and sugarcane juice, but you can definitely distinguish the avocado flavor as it goes down your throat. Let me tell you though, after a couple of sips, you really start to appreciate it. Especially that velvety texture as it coats the inside of your mouth. And then you end up craving it for breakfast everyday, like I do. Don't you just love the color? I happen to have a thing for green drinkies, having grown up with Pakistan's national soft drink - Pakola, baby! (if you've never heard of it, Google it folks, it's awesome) I will happily be making this drink throughout the summer, since it's also beautifully refreshing.

Me thinks I shall send this recipe in to the lovely Katie over at Eat This! She's hosting the next Weekend Herb Blogging event, and since she leads a gluten-free life, I believe she'll really appreciate this milkshake.

Keeping It Steamy

Don't give up on me yet, dear readers. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I've been missing all my blogging buddies so much! But I've met my match in this baby of mine. If there's anyone who can reduce me to a distracted, dysfunctional mess, it's this little one! He was even able to keep me from my blog for weeks - something DH conspired to do for a long time, but never succeeded. Of course, if I was more organized, I would've written a bunch of blog posts in advance of my delivery and simply published them every few days. So there, that's a good suggestion for all you expectant food bloggers out there - pencil this into your list of things to do before you head off to the hospital.

All right. Enough baby talk.

Ok, maybe just one last thing ...

Teehehehehehe - my poofy snowball! He's hilarious.

Ok! Now I mean it! Done with the baby talk for one post!

On to yummier prospects. It's silly to even ask what I did on Valentine's. DH got off easy this year. He is a complete non-believer in Valentine's Day, but usually gets last minute guilt and buys me lovely flowers anyway! This year all I got was a massive headache from lack of sleep and fatigue. And all he got was a cranky bitch of a wife. Pretty fair, me thinks.

Still, it's been more than a week since that day, and it's amazing how things have gotten dramatically better. We're having actual adult conversations again. We've almost caught up with our favorite TV shows that we used to watch, snuggled together on the couch. And although fickle Father Winter has limited us in where we can go with B, we're actually planning a date night later this week - leaving B with grandma at home. I'm soooooo ready for that! I might even make this decadent hot chocolate for him tonight, to get him in "the mood" before our date (although, let's face it, right now both of us don't need too much motivation - just a window of opportunity would be nice!).

Decadent Hot Chocolate For Two (thanks Lisa of I Must Have A Lot Of Time On My Hands for this recipe!)

Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:
2.5 oz semi-sweet / bittersweet chocolate (approx. 70% cocoa)
2 cups milk
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
Pinch of salt

Method: Combine everything, except the milk, in a pot, over low heat, until the spices combine with the melted chocolate to make a paste. Add the milk slowly, whisking continuously, bringing the whole thing to just under a boil. Remember to make sure the mixture is completely smooth before serving with a dollop of whipped cream on top, or ice-cream, or a few mini marshmallows (the big, fat one I used looks adorable, but doesn't make for an elegant mouthful!).


Verdict: This is the closest I can get to that hot chocolate you see in the final scene of one of my favorite movies - Chocolat. Oh dear gawd, pairing chocolate and Johnny Depp together was my version of heaven! There's something sensual and luscious and slightly kinky about the way really creamy, thick hot chocolate slips down your throat. Drink this while gazing into your loved one's eyes, and who knows, you may be in for one steamy night!

Pucker Up And Celebrate Something!

In a minute you're going to tell me that I'm being silly. And maybe you're right. But there's no harm in celebrating a minor event, because really, it's all part of my outlook on life - that we need to find the joy in the all small things life throws our way. Maybe circumstances are a little tough these days, what with the recession and all the nasty realities that go along with it, but we can't let that derail us completely folks. I'm a natural-born worrier, and even I understand that! We've simply got to keep our minds and hearts open, have a sense of humor, and not let those moments of laughter and happiness slip by unnoticed. For instance, yesterday, my Ozzy took his very first steps in the big, bad world of outside - all by himself! And it was hilarious! We got Ozzy when we were living in the NY apartment, and he was always an indoor cat. The most exposure he got to the outside world was through our big windows, or on the way to the vet once a year. Now, in our new CT apartment on the second floor, we have a sizable balcony. So after much debate between DH and I, we finally let Ozzy take his first tentative steps onto the balcony, while his proud Papa and nervous-nelly Mama watched from the sidelines. Ozzy's adventure lasted all of 10 mins, during which he had a close encounter with a bee, and scared me shitless by leaning over the balcony rails.

Ozzy: "WTF is going on?! The place outside my window is REAL? Am I in the freakin' Twilight Zone?!"

But I'm happy that he seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience. I know because now he cries to be let out once a day - big baby! So yes, I'll take this small event and drink to it. Since it's summer, I thought I could try some home-made pink lemonade? Why pink? Because it's pretty, and I know that DH is secretly fascinated with colorful drinks as much as I am. So pucker up with a glass of this citrusy delight, dear readers, and toast to making lemonade out of whatever lemons life has handed to you recently. Cheers!

Me thinks I'll submit this shot to Jugalband's "Click: Bi-Color" event - it's not my favorite, but I like the event!

Pink Raspberry Lemonade (got this recipe from Joy The Baker - genius woman!)
Serves 6-8

Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup fresh lemon juice (about 4-5 lemons)
4-5 cups cold water
2 tbsp or more of raspberry sauce

Raspberry Sauce Ingredients:
1/2 of a 12oz bag frozen raspberries, thawed
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp water

Method:
1. To make the raspberry sauce: Puree the raspberries with the sugar and water in a food processor till smooth. Then strain through a fine mesh strainer to get rid of the seeds. Keep smooth raspberry sauce aside. Can be refrigerated for a few days.

2. Make a simple syrup by heating together the 1 cup sugar and 1 cup of water, till the sugar dissolves.

3. Add the lemon juice, sugar syrup and cold water to a pitcher. Add 2 tbsp of the prepared raspberry sauce. Stir around and taste. You can add more sauce if you want. Then refrigerate for about an hour before serving. Garnish with whatever strikes your fancy!

Verdict: An easy recipe that's perfect for a scorcher of day. DH thought that it was too lemony, so maybe next time I'll cut the lemon juice down to 3/4 cup or add more sugar syrup. I liked it just fine though - and it was so darn pretty! Better than any of the bottled lemonades from the grocery store, and budget friendly to boot.

I had half the bag of frozen raspberries left over after this recipe, so to give myself the satisfaction of using up something completely (nothing bugs me more than seeing a half or quarter of something lying forlornly in my fridge - I make it my mission to use it up as soon as I can!), I thought I'd use them to make a quick Raspberry Crumble. You see, I also happened to have some extra crumble topping left over from a Strawberry Crumble I had made recently.

Raspberry Crumble

Ingredients:
Frozen raspberries, thawed
Cornstarch
Sugar
Crumble Topping

Method:
The half bag of raspberries I had, was enough for about 2-3 small ramekins. I added a 1/4 tsp of cornstarch and 1 tsp of sugar to each ramekin, and mixed it in with the raspberries.
Top each ramekin with a 1/4 cup or so of the crumble mixture. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 15-20 mins, or till the crumbled are bubbly from the sides and golden on top. The enjoy on a rainy day (which have been pretty common this summer) with a scoop of your favorite ice-cream.