cafe zoe at todi mills

if you haven't already discovered the homiest cafe in south bombay, head straight to cafe zoe in todi mills which opens its doors bright and early every morning at 7:30 am and stays open all through the day till 1am. not many places feel appropriate at all times of the day but cafe zoe's sprawling yet cozy ambience, sofa as well as table seating, free wi fi, a menu filled with comfort foods (eggs, sandwiches, soups, salads, continentalish main dishes), a delicious pastry counter and a central bar which is a big draw invites you to drop in any time of the day. we've been thrice already in the past month and my favourites are the veg burger, beetroot risotto and melt-in-your-mouth pancakes that the kids loved. head over soon while cafe zoe is still being discovered and you may get some moments when the cafe is not packed!

roasted eggplant cannelloni

thanks to my iPhone now, i can watch food tv on my frequent air travels. i had downloaded many episodes from delicious tv and on the delhi-mumbai flight last week which was very delayed due to fog, i got a satisfying fill of cooking shows.

one great recipe i learned was how to make roasted eggplant cannelloni. i has been looking for a dinner party pasta recipe and this fit the bill perfectly!

now i'm keen to load up more food apps on my iPhone. would love your suggestions!

we're going on a bear hunt!

so r1 and r2 were expecting to meet all sorts of animals while camping and were quite scared of the whole concept. but unlike their story books in which children encounter bears etc, camping at the big red tent in khopoli was a peaceful and super fun experience which the girls totally loved.

it really is "camping made easy"as the tents are pitched for you, the campfire is lit for you, the barbeque is made for you and there even are clean toilets! a great way to escape the grind of the city, get closer to nature, sleep under the stars and initiate your children in to the joys of camping. of course, the real fun is doing it all yourself. maybe next time!

simple burritos

i made my girls make their own burritos for lunch today. i heated up some refried bans from a store bought can, added some water, tomatoes and a bit of salt. i also sauteed green pepper and onion strips (sorry, neglected to include in the photo). i warmed the tortillas and laid out all the ingredients on the dining table. r1 and r2 thoroughly enjoyed spreading some refried beans on a warm tortilla, adding some sauteed veggies, a wee bit of salsa and wrapping it all up. the jalapenos were for me and added a nice spicy bite to this very simple burrito. next time i will add mexican fried rice as well but first wanted the kids to familiarise themselves with simple burritos. in hindsight, i should have laid out some grated cheese, guacamole and perhaps some sour cream as well. i guess it has been ages since i had mexican. it's occurring to me only now as i write this blog post. oh well!

image courtesy: bigredtent.in

sorry people for falling behind on blogging yet again! my camera broke and i lost a lot of photos. but now i have an iPhone which makes blogging super simple so i do hope it's going to increase my frequency.

so three years after we discovered we can go camping in bombay (ok, not quite in downtown but 2.5 hours away), we're off to khopoli this weekend to check out big red tent. the kids are super excited and are dreaming of lots of adventures.

have any of you been? what should we look forward to? any do's or dont's?

contest: best couscous recipe

time for giving away a few cookbooks from my collection! do you have a great couscous recipe? share it in the comments section of this blog post and you could win one of three cookbooks i'm going to give away. there will be two rounds of judging. from all your submissions (and i hope there will be many!), i will choose three to test out. r1 and r2 will then pick the winner based on which one they like the most (and eat most of !). contest closes end of day sunday, january 15th. keep reading and watch the fun unfolding!

smokehouse deli, phoenix mills

photo courtesy: smokehouse deli facebook page

is it just me or is phoenix mills just getting better by the day?! i mean, it's become the absolute must-visit-at-least-once-on-weekends kind of destination (especially for young families with kids and not many open public spaces in our beloved city!), the awful traffic snarls nothwithstanding. hamley's (of course), indigo deli, zara at palladium, landmark, spaghetti kitchen, CPK, irish pub (my recent favourite post-work hangout with colleagues!) and now....smokehouse deli, a tres elegant all-day diner and a sweet refuge from all the hustling you have to deal with at phoenix mills. check out this cool review by vogue india's bloggers.