The Kitchen Operas

Our adventures through Kerala (in South India) continued to Kumarakom — land of the backwaters and the houseboats that serenely glide down the waters.

As soon as we crossed from Tamil Nadu into the state of Kerala (in South India), I knew we “weren’t in Kansas anymore”.  All of a sudden things were impossibly lush and green.  We had a gorgeous drive seeing all that goes on in Kerala — women do the farming: Women pick the tea leaves: [...]

After our stay with the carvings in Mahabalipuram, we ventured on through our tour of South India.  In Thanjavur (formerly Tanjore), we visited the Brihadisvara Temple.  The temple is one of the Chola Temples, which as a group make up a World Heritage Site, and tell you the history of the Chola kings who have [...]

The first official stop on our sightseeing tour of South India, was Chennai (formerly Madras). Chennai is an IT hub, a big city, and the capital of Tamil Nadu.

Hi Blog! Thanks for being patient with me as life is a little hectic around here! I’ve got one more India post in the works (Delhi!), and then I can’t wait to catch you up on everything from my gluten-free bread baking classes to ginormous salads to macaron successes (and grand disasters) and summer dinners [...]

Mahara Jai Singh built the city of Jaipur, in 1727.  In the city, he built the Jantar Mahal, an observatory using astronomical instruments for astrological readings.  It’s now a World Heritage site, and I think you can see why: This is a sundial — and it’s really impressive (at about 4 stories high!): And it’s [...]

There was one hotel on our India trip that we just couldn’t bring ourselves to leave: Fateh Garh is the most beautiful spot I’ve ever visited.  Hands down. Fateh Garh sits on the top of a hill in the Araveli range near the city of Udaipur, Rajasthan.  The hotel “belongs to the Heritage Renaissance School [...]

Hi Blog!  I’ve missed you! I’ve just returned from 2 1/2 weeks of a life-changing holiday in India, and am working to catch up on blog posts for while I was away.  Expect tons of Indian recipes in the weeks to come, and some travel/food/India ramblings until I get time to test things out in [...]

I can’t wait to tell you all about it!!

So I have to share another foodie find in San Francisco: Samovar Tea Lounge.  I discovered Samovar through two recommendations: Heidi’s San Francisco List at 101 Cookbooks, and a tweet my favourite local tea shop — David’s Tea.  And I am so glad I did! This was my amazing view for two of my lunches.  [...]