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[rashar]

"The best topping for pancakes is more pancakes… and syrup."  🥞

[rashar]

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

3 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 ¼ cups milk

1 egg

3 tablespoons butter, melted.

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.

2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium-high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

[rashar]

🍒 🍇🍓

[rashar]

MIXED BERRY SMOOTHIE

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups apple juice can also use almond milk, skim milk, coconut milk or other flavor of juice

1 banana sliced

1 1/2 cups frozen mixed berries

3/4 cup vanilla Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon honey optional

Optional garnish: fresh berries and mint sprigs

INSTRUCTIONS

Place the apple juice, banana, berries and yogurt in a blender; blend until smooth. If the smoothie seems too thick, add a little more liquid (1/4 cup).

Taste and add honey if desired. Pour into two glasses and garnish with fresh berries and mint sprigs if desired.

[rashar]

I love Indian food - it's my favorite cuisine. I love the mixture of spices and the subtle flavors. It's really erotic; the spices are so sensuous.

[rashar]

World Cuisine: India

When a cuisine uses spices in such abundance that the meat and vegetables seem like an afterthought, you know you're dealing with cooks dedicated to flavor. There are no rules for spice usage as long as it results in something delicious. The same spice can add zest to savory and sweet dishes, or can sometimes be eaten on its own -- fennel seed is enjoyed as a breath-freshening digestive aid at the end of meals. And any country that manages to make vegetarian food taste consistently great certainly deserves some kind of Nobel prize. The regional varieties are vast. There's Goa's seafood, there's the wazwan of Kashmir and there's the coconutty richness of Kerala.

[rashar]

Feast your eyes on this sushi 🍣

[rashar]

World Cuisine: Japan

Japanese apply the same precision to their food as they do to their engineering. This is the place that spawned tyrannical sushi masters and ramen bullies who make their staff and customers tremble with a glare. You can get a lavish multicourse kaiseki meal that presents the seasons in a spread of visual and culinary poetry. Or grab a seat at a revolving sushi conveyor for a solo feast. Or pick up something random and previously unknown in your gastronomic lexicon from the refrigerated shelves of a convenience store. It's impossible to eat badly in Japan.

[rashar]

[rashar]

World Cuisine: Mexico

If you were only allowed to eat the food of one country the rest of your life, it would be smart to make it Mexico. The cuisine has a little bit of everything -- you'll never get bored. Amongst the enchiladas and the tacos and the helados and the quesadillas you'll find the zestiness of Greek salads and the richness of an Indian curry; the heat of Thai food and the use-your-hands snackiness of tapas. It is also central station for nutritional superfoods. All that avocado, tomato, lime and garlic with beans and chocolates and chilies to boot, is rich with antioxidants and good healthful things. It doesn't taste healthy though. It tastes like a fiesta in your mouth.

[rashar]

"The only guilty pleasure I have is pasta."

-Allison Janney

[rashar]

Simple Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced

Kosher salt

Pinch crushed red pepper flakes

One 28-ounce can San Marzano plum tomatoes, crushed by hand

1 cup torn basil leaves

12 ounces spaghetti

Grated Parmesan, optional

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Directions

Cook the oil, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper flakes in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring, until the oil heats up and the garlic just starts to turn golden, 4 to 6 minutes.

Add the tomatoes; rinse the can with about 1 cup of water, and add the water to the skillet. Add the basil, raise the heat to medium-high and simmer until the sauce thickens, 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the spaghetti to the boiling water, and cook according to package directions; strain well.

Add the cooked spaghetti to the sauce, and stir to coat. Serve with Parmesan if desired.

[rashar]

"Anything is good if it's made of chocolate."

-Jo Brand

[rashar]

Chocolate Cake Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon espresso powder homemade or store-bought

1 cup milk or buttermilk, almond, or coconut milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil or canola oil, or melted coconut oil

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Recipe

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º F. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by spraying with baking spray or buttering and lightly flouring.

For the chocolate cake:

Add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk through to combine or, using your paddle attachment, stir through flour mixture until combined well.

Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to flour mixture and mix together on medium speed until well combined. Reduce speed and carefully add boiling water to the cake batter until well combined.

Distribute cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center of the chocolate cake comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, remove from the pan and cool completely.

Frost cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.

Note: The cake batter will be very thin after adding the boiling water. This is correct and results in the most delicious and moist chocolate cake I’ve ever tasted! 

Freezer Friendly

Let the baked cake layers cool completely. Wrap them well with plastic wrap and then with foil. Put each layer into a freezer bag and freeze up to 2 months. To serve, thaw in the refrigerator overnight with wrapping intact. The next day, the layers are ready to fill and frost.