Zambian Meal

What I really liked about Zambian cuisine is the use of corn, the staple, to create a very unique bread n'shima. It is neither rolled nor baked but cooked as a thick porridge in water. It is used as the spoon to scoop up the sides that flavor it.

The beans are the most popular side to the n'shima. They are not made with an elaborate gravy loaded with spices but cooked along with tomatoes and onions with sparingly used spices. I made tomato gravy in case we felt the need for something with liquid in it. Golabjamoun for dessert was my biggest surprise. Though it looks like the Indian gulab jamoon it is nothing like it. This golabjamoun is made with sweet potato. It is normally deep fried but I cooked it in my aebleskiver pan to avoid the fat and keep the flavor.

I did not use any new ingredients for this meal. I used known ingredients in a different way. The corn meal used in Zambia is not available locally so I used Mexican masa, it is coarse but it gives the n'shima a yellowish hue which you would not see if you were eating n'shima in Zambia.


Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• N'shima
• Beans
• Tomato Gravy

And for dessert

• Golabjamoun

Yemeni Meal

Yemeni meals are not really vegetarian but like other recipes from the Middle East, Yemeni recipes can be converted fairly easily given the large number of ingredients. I made a one dish meal with dessert. The two dishes made a scrumptious meal. I usually make 4-6 dishes when planning a full meal but my husband was travelling when I cooked this meal so I had to keep the quantity down. :)

Boreck is a one dish meal. It is very filling with 10 layers of thinly rolled dough placed one on top of the other with the stuffing in between. When in a hurry it may seem like a lot of work. You should plan this dish when you have time. Then the rolling out of the dough to a paper thin disc will seem calming. For dessert I made halawat gajur. It is a delicious baked version of the gajar halwa as we know it.

I started cooking this meal right after lunch. I made the dessert and planned on starting the Boreck at 3 pm. Then I got carried away chatting with my father and before I knew it it was 5 pm. I debated over whether I would be able to finish but not having planned any back up I had to keep going. I finished well after 7 pm. Luckily it was a very sunny and clear day so the light did not fade allowing me to get good pictures.


Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Boreck 

And for dessert

• Halawat Gajur

Xinjiang (Chinese) Meal

As there are no country names with the letter X this meal comes from a province with that letter. Xinjiang is a western province of China adjoining the middle east. The food here is influenced largely by the middle east. The ethnic people of this region are the Uyghur or Hui.

For my the meal I was looking for noodles as the main dish. I found a very detailed laghman noodles recipe with embedded videos to help make them. Then I found a really nice pulao (pilaf) recipe. The Uyghur polo is not vegetarian but could be easily converted using paneer. I will make the noodles some day but for this meal my main dish is Uyghur (ee-gur) polo. I read here that samsa, a street food similar to the Indian samosa, is served with polo. So samsa served as the side dish. For dessert I made a sweet rice called mifirfan. 'Fan' is rice in the local language. In this dish the rice is sweetened with apricots and raisins along with a little sugar.

I did not use any new ingredients in this meal. This meal was not spicy at all. If you like spicy food you could add a whole range of spices to the polo as well as the filling for the samsa. We do not eat spicy food in our house so we enjoyed the original recipes.


Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Uyghur Polo 
• Samsa 

And for dessert

• Mifirfan

Welsh Meal

A very rustic meal today from Wales, the country that is part of the United Kingdom or Great Britain. I was careful to pick dishes that are Welsh in origin and not from the other regions of the UK. Welsh rarebit or rabbit is a simple melted cheese on bread recipe that I picked to build this meal.

Cheddar cheese is melted with very few ingredients and poured over toasted slices of bread. The bread is then toasted again before it is served. Some regions serve a fried egg on the top. I baked a loaf of whole wheat English muffin bread to make the rabbit. I paired this with an onion cake that I baked and served in my cast iron pan. The onion cake is made of potatoes and onions baked in layers with butter. Needless to day, my daughter loved it. The teisen lap or Welsh moist cake was delicious. This was the first time I baked a cake on a dinner plate. You cannot get more rustic than that! The cake is filled with raisins and stayed moist for 3 days. My father enjoyed it a lot.

No new ingredients for this meal but like I mentioned above I had never baked anything on a dinner plate. The meal was very filling.

As they say in Welsh, Mwynhewch Eich Bwyd!

Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Whole Wheat English Muffin Bread
• Welsh Rabbit (Rarebit)
• Potato and leek soup
• Onion Cake 

And for dessert

• Teisen Lap (Welsh moist cake)

Venezuelan Meal

I cannot believe I was stumped on what I should cook from Venezuela. This was one of the most delicious meals I have cooked. All three dishes were tasty, unique and very good.

For the main dish I decided to make Pasticho Venezolano or Venezuelan lasagna. This lasagna is not vegetarian. I made it vegetarian with the use of crumbled paneer. I retained the rest of the recipe which calls for béchamel sauce layered along with the lasagna noodles, fresh mozzarella cheese and the prepared paneer mixture. Simply delicious!

I paired this with salsa carioca, a simple salad made with tomatoes , onions, avocado and hard boiled eggs. The salad is dressed with a simple oil and vinegar dressing that has hot pepper sauce added to give it a nice kick. For dessert I made Besitos de coco, coconut cookies, that browned beautifully. They were crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. The entire meal was very satisfying both to cook and to eat.

I did not use any new ingredients in this meal. The addition of the béchamel sauce to the lasagna was very interesting as was the addition of hot pepper sauce to the salad dressing. My father who is visiting is not particularly fond of tomatoes. Both the main and side dish have tomatoes in them. But the tomatoes do not overpower the dish, merely flavor it and so he was able to enjoy the meal too.

As they say in Venezuela, Buen Provecho!

Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Pasticho Venezolano 
• Salsa Carioca 

And for dessert

• Besitos de Coco

US American Meal

A classic American burger meal with onion rings and mashed potato on the side and ice cream soda to wash it all down. My initial plan was a native American meal using recipes I had collected years back. That was back in Arizona where prickly pear grew in my garden and I had sources for saguaro fruit jelly and all the other ingredients. I don't have that yet here in Texas. So I switched to a classic burger meal.

The burger buns were fresh from the oven. I did not make my foolproof sourdough buns but instead made these quick rising buns using commercial yeast. For the patti black beans wins hands down. This black bean and oats patti was moist and flavorful. The onion rings are 'fried' in the oven and were a real hit. They were so loved that I have made them a couple times already. Mashed potatoes are always welcome in our house. The ice cream soda was delicious made the old fashioned way.

I did not use any new ingredients for this recipe but the whole meal is a keeper. I had made blueberry sauce for an experimental recipe that did not go as I planned and I had plenty of sauce left over. My daughter used the blueberry sauce to make ice cream soda everyday for a week after we had this meal.

Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Burger Buns
• Bean & Oats Burgers 
• Onion Rings 
• Mashed Potatoes 

And for dessert

• Ice Cream Soda

Turkish Meal

Today I am presenting some of the popular dishes from Turkey that I put together as a meal. My family enjoyed this meal thoroughly. The Pida was without doubt the most favored by my daughter while my husband loved the bulgur pilaf.

I found so many wholesome vegetarian recipes from Turkey it was hard to pick and choose. I chose the bulgur pilav instead of rice as we all like bulgur in our house. I had white beans left over and this white bean recipe seemed like a nice way to use them up. Red lentils are extremely flavorful and it was raining the day I cooked this meal so I made soup. I made the cacik as a Turkish variation of cucumber salad. I decided to keep the dessert simple and chose a rice pudding. This Turkish style pudding is a lot thicker than any rice pudding I have had and I flavored it with Mastic, the Mediterranean edible gum. But the star of the meal was the Turkish pida. I decided on the pida as I wanted to add a yeast bread to the mix. I converted the recipe to use my homemade wild yeast starter. Spinach, feta and onions on overnight fermented dough. Those didn't last long.

As it turned out red pepper paste and tomato paste seemed to be the common ingredient in all the dishes that I chose except the cucumber salad. I did not have any red pepper paste so I made my own. I used red bell pepper as I could not find red banana pepper. The authentic recipe calls for the pepper to be cooked in water, peeled, de-seeded and then the pulp cooked to a paste. I roasted the pepper and covered it in aluminium foil for 15 minutes. The skin peeled right off the pepper. I then removed the seeds, cut it into pieces and ran it through the blender. As for tomato paste I had a can of organic tomato paste but it smelled of citric acid so I pureed a handful of cherry tomatoes and used that where ever tomato paste was called for. The fact that the tomatoes in the paste were not cooked did not make much difference to us.

The new ingredient I used in this meal is banana pepper. The bulgur pilaf recipe called for banana pepper but did not specify the color. I found a green sweet banana pepper and used that.

As they say in Turkey, afiyet olsun!

Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Ezogelin Corbasi (Red Lentil Soup) 
• Ispanakli Pide (Turkish Boat Shaped Spinach Pizza) 
• Bulgur Pilav (Pilaf) 
• Kuru Fasulye (White Beans) 
• Cacik (Cucumber Salad) 

And for dessert

• Sutlac (Turkish Rice Pudding)

Swiss Meal

Two things prompted me to make this meal. One was the Swiss macaroni and cheese and the second was the soft two strand braided bread zopf. The loaves were so delicious they were all gone before we sat down to have this meal. I just about managed to get pictures.

Once I finalized the bread and pasta I needed something simple for a side. If I find something with potato in it I include it in the menu. Rosti or potato pancake seemed to fit the bill perfectly and was much loved by my daughter. What is a Swiss meal without a fondue? I culd not make a cheese fondue as that would mean too much food. Instead I made a chocolate fondue and we used apples to dip into the chocolate. I used my chocolate fondue pot to serve the fondue. I had to prepare it after the meal when we were ready to have dessert so as to not thicken the chocolate. So in the picture you see some chopped up chocolate and a whole apple. Overall a very enjoyable meal instead.

No new ingredients in this meal. I did use a new braiding technique for the Zopf. I do believe that I messed up somewhere while making this two strand braid. It was a little lop sided. The macaroni and cheese was very interesting. First the recipe called for potatoes to be used with the pasta. And second it was eaten with a side of apple slices and applesauce. I had never eaten pasta with apple before but it tasted really good.

As they say in Switzerland, En Guete!

Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Älplermagronen (Swiss Macaroni and Cheese) 
• Rosti (Potato Pancake) 
• Zopf (2-Strand Braided Bread)

And for dessert

• Chocolate Fondue

ROK Korean Meal

This meal comes from South Korea officially called the Republic of Korea. Rice is the Korean staple, the rest of the meal is built around it. Korean meals are usually served with a lot of side dishes.

The main dish today is bibimbap which could be called a complete meal in itself. A bed of rice is laid in a stone bowl and topped with a variety of flavored toppings like, spinach, mushrooms, sprouts, carrots and squash. In the center is placed a fried egg (I skipped that). All the flavors are mixed together when eaten.  I decided to make a few side dishes to go along with the meal. Buchu namul or garlic chives is a salad. Dubu Buchim Yangnyeom jang is pan fried tofu topped with spices. Gamja Jorim or braised potato is a soy sauce and garlic flavored pan fried potato. Korean meals do not include desserts. Sweet dishes are served on their own or with tea. I made dan pat bbang or bread stuffed with the sweet paste of red azuki beans. All the dishes tasted great but I have a confession. We enjoy meals without gravy or dal but we found this meal too dry. So we mixed in some plain yogurt with the rice.

The new ingredients I used for this meal were Chinese chives and azuki beans. I had never heard of azuki beans before I found the stuffed bread recipe. They are red beans and taste great in sweet dishes. We liked it a lot. The other ingredient Chinese chives did not go down too well. I have used chives before but they are the small ones used as garnish not as the main ingredient. The dish failed miserably. We simply could not eat it. It may have been the recipe or it may have been the way I prepared them. Unfortunately, I had already clicked pictures of the meal with it so I am posting those. But I will not post the failed recipe.

As they say in Korea, mat`ike`deseyo!

Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Bibimbap (Rice with Carrots, Spinach, Zucchini and Mushrooms) 
• Dubu Buchim Yangnyeom Jang (Spiced Pan Fried Tofu) 
• Gamja Jorim (Braised Potatoes) 
• Buchu Namul (Garlic Chives) (Failed - no recipe)

And for dessert

• Dan Pat Bbang (Bread Stuffed with Red Bean Paste)

Qatari Meal

As the only country with the letter Q I was a little worried about finding recipes from this country to make a full meal. But as with Oman, Qatari recipes use a lot of ingredients in their dishes so it is possible to use substitutes to make a non vegetarian dish vegetarian.

A lot of the dishes from Qatar are Arabic in origin and are eaten with regional variations all over the middle east. Machboos is a one dish meal which I have made vegetarian with the use of paneer. For a side I made Fatayer Sabanek, a spinach filled pastry. Fatayer is also made with a cheese filling. The cheese is usually salty in taste. I had a little leftover cotija cheese that I mixed into the spinach filling to give it added taste. For dessert I made Basbousa, a simple dessert similar to sheera or halwa. Baking the semolina mixture gives it a lovely cake like consistency and taste. This was a very tasty meal and we loved all three dishes very much.

No new ingredients were used in this meal but I enjoyed making the Machboos. Now even though the Machboos is filling I wanted to try Fatayer Sabanek. I just knew it would be delicious by reading the recipe and I was right.

Here are the recipe for the dishes on the menu

• Vegetarian Machboos 
• Fatayer Sabanek 

And for dessert

• Basbousa

Pakistani Meal

I chose to cook a Pakistani meal so I could make rumali roti. I have always been fascinated by the see-through roti but did not have the special equipment needed to make it. Recently a friend told me about a stove top method and I have wanted to try it. This menu was planned around rumali roti.

Alu bhujia was a new way of cooking potatoes and very tasty too. Potatoes being very popular in my house this was my choice for main vegetable side. Maste khiar or cucumber salad is a variation of one of the most popular salads in this part of the world. The Lahori dal added the needed protein to the meal. I debated on whether to make rice to go with the dal and finally decided not to make any. Shir khurma or sevinya is a simple dessert made with vermicelli.

I did not try any new ingredients for this meal but used well known ingredients in a different way. I have made roti or chapati almost every day for years but this roti was something different. I am glad I tried it. I also made a new friend in the process. She has a blog and lives in Pakistan. I checked with her before finalizing the recipes.

Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Rumali Roti 
• Alu Bhujia
• Lahori Dal 
• Maste Khiar 

And for dessert

• Shir Khurma

Omani Meal

A one dish meal can be as filling as a spread made with several dishes. This Omani meal was filling, flavorful and satisfying. I had been very worried about making a meal from this country as I did not know much about Omani food. Omani meals are not really vegetarian but their dishes use a lot of ingredients, a lot of them vegetarian, so it was possible to easily convert this dish by using paneer in place of the non vegetarian protein.

The main dish Paneer Kabouli is my vegetarian version of the original Omani Kabouli. Except for the substitution of panner I retained the original recipe. We found this dish very flavorful. It is made with Kabouli, garbanzo beans or chickpeas that I use frequently in our house. I was glad to have found this dish showcasing the flavors from Oman. For dessert I made Halawet Ahmed. Halawet Ahmed is a simple but popular vermicelli dessert.

I did not use any new ingredients in this meal. But I found the main dish very interesting. The paneer pilaf was cooked separately. The garbanzo beans and onion were cooked on their own and then used as a topping for the pilaf. The two flavors blended very well.

As they say in Oman, bil hana wa shifa!

Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Paneer Kabouli 

And for dessert

• Halawet Ahmad

Nepali Meal

Nepali cuisine is simple and delicious without the overpowering use of spices that drown the natural flavors of food. This meal was very well received in our house as our everyday food is not very different.

Dal bhaat (lentils and rice) and Roti (poli) are the staples of the Nepali meal. I built the menu around these. The alu kauli side is very similar to the potato cauliflower bhaji that I make. The tempering and flavoring ingredients are different and so is the order in which the ingredients are added. Kurilo Alu (asparagus potato) turned out to be delicious. This is a really nice recipe using fresh asparagus. For dessert I made the familiar carrot halwa.

Though I did not try out any new ingredients I used asparagus in a regular bhaji for the first time. I am so glad I did. This will be one of the ways I use asparagus in the future.

Was not able to find what they say in Nepal so Enjoy the meal!

Here are the recipe for the dishes on the menu

• Alu Kauli Ko Tarkari (Potato Cauliflower Bhaji) 
• Kurilo Alu Bhutuwa (Asparagus Potato Bhaji) 
• Dal Bhaat (Lentils and Rice) 
• Roti (Poli) 

And for dessert

• Gajar Ko Haluwa (Gajar Halwa)

Mexican Meal

We lived 90 miles from the Mexican border for a long time and the food around us was influenced by this proximity. Our favorite restaurant served food from Mexico city. Today I have put together a meal inspired by this restaurant - #25 Green Corn Tamale platter.

For about five years before we left Arizona, anytime we wanted to celebrate with a meal in a restaurant we went for this platter.

I recreated the platter with green corn tamales, enchiladas in verde sauce, refried black beans, Mexican rice and a simple salsa. All of these dishes go very well together and make a delicious and tasty meal. The day I cooked this meal everyone kept peeking into the kitchen asking if I was done. I made them wait until I got the pictures. Once I had pictures of the meal I started with individual pictures. I clicked the tamales last with 3-4 tamales and asked the family to start dinner. They waited impatiently asking how much longer I would take. Luckily all the pictures worked out. I had no time to check before the food was all gone.

No new ingredients in this meal but I hit a snag when I tried to make Mexican fudge for dessert. I cooked the dessert while I made the other dishes. The rest of the meal turned out great but the texture of the fudge was way off. It tasted alright but I knew I had to make it again. I took pictures of the meal with the bad batch with the promise to myself to make it again so I could post the recipe. I tried it again and this time the texture was fine but it was runny. It did not set. My family was willing to eat it as is but I could not take pictures of runny fudge. And so I tried to fix it by reheating it, adding a little sugar and chocolate chips. And finally I got it right.

I learnt my lesson and for all meals after this one I made the dessert before I did anything else.

As they say in Mexico, Buen Provecho!

Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Green Corn Tamales 
• Enchiladas in Verde Sauce 
• Refried Black Beans 
• Mexican Tomato Rice 
• Salsa 
• Verde Sauce 

An for dessert

• Mexican Fudge

Lebanese Meal

Today I am presenting a very simple Lebanese Meal. I debated on the country to pick for this letter. Initially I had picked Liberia over Libya and Lebanon because the food was so out of my comfort zone. Unfortunately so was the taste. When I floated the idea of a do-over with a different country my daughter was all for it. So I went with Lebanon.

The snake like baked dessert Mouwarka was the first recipe I finalized for this meal. It has such an interesting preparation. The endless ring is formed by rolling the dough from the center out to the edges. This is one of those recipes that allow you to play in the kitchen.

As a side I added the potato salad and cucumber tomato salad to the menu and used mint from the garden to flavor it. I really wanted to try out one of the thin Lebanese breads that are cooked on a convex griddle pan. I inverted an old cast aluminum 1/2 inch thick griddle to cook the Khobz marquq. I needed a stew to go with the bread. I used paneer to convert a stew recipe to make the paneer potato stew.

No new ingredients for this menu. But the spice mixture used for the stew is really one of a kind. Nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, coriander and ginger all together! Smelt wonderful, and a little went a long way. My daughter told me this stew was one of the best she has ever had.

As they say in Lebanese, Sab’aa sahaat!

Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Khobz Marquq (Lebanese flat bread)
• Lebanese Paneer and Potato Stew 
• Potato Salad
• Cucumber Tomato Salad (No recipe - cucumber, tomato, mint, salt and pepper)

And for dessert

• Mouwarka (Walnut Almond Serpent Dessert)

Kenyan Meal

Kenyan food is influenced by immigrants who brought their native cuisine with them. It is also influenced by the cuisine brought by the invaders from the north. This Kenyan meal has dishes influenced by cuisine from India, Persia and the Ottoman Empire.

Githeri is a stew prepared with mixed vegetables. Fresh corn was flooding the grocery stores when I made this dish. Fresh corn with bean, carrots and tomatoes made for a very colorful dish that was really tasty. It took a while to cook but the it was worth the wait.

It made an excellent base around which I planned the rest of the meal. The preparation of the Kenyan chapati is very similar to the Indian kulcha. The difference being the chapati is unleavened whereas the kulcha is leavened with baking soda. The pulao is a simple rice dish made with basmati rice roasted in whole spices. It goes well with Tzatziki which is a cucumber salad popular in every country that the Ottoman Empire had an influence on. Kachumbari is a simple tomato onion salad flavored with a touch of lime juice and olive oil. For dessert I made Kashata Za Nazi, a delicious coconut barfi (cake).

I did not use any new ingredients in this meal. In fact, it was the familiarity of the dishes that was surprising to me.

As they say in Kenya in Swahili, Ufurahie chakula chako!

Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Githeri (Mixed Vegetable Stew)
• Kenyan Chapati 
• Pulao 
• Kachumbari 
• Tzatziki 

And for dessert

• Kashata Za Nazi (Coconut Barfi)

Japanese Meal

This meal comes from Japan. It is a simple meal that is suitable for a Bento box. The flavors in this meal are very different from what we are normally used to. I did not know much about Japanese cuisine and needed help with all the basics of this cuisine. I was happy to find Just one cook book, a blog with a lot of information about Japanese cuisine. I was fascinated with how dishes are selected for bento boxes. I found additional information at Just Bento and I decided I wanted to cook a meal fit for a bento box.

My Japanese bento box menu has a big bowl of Japanese sticky rice topped with Furrikake that is a kelp topping made with kelp leftover from preparing dashi. The rice was served with several side dishes. Negimiso yaki tofu or grilled tofu, flavored with a strong miso paste, provides intense flavor in every bite. Nori tomagoyaki or seaweed rolled into omelette rolls is a unique omelette preparation where multiple layers of thin egg crepes rolled together. Together the tofu and eggs meet the protein requirement of a bento box meal. Spinach gomaae or spinach with sesame seeds is a surprisingly crunchy dish with the roasted sesame seeds. The blanched spinach adds a mild flavor. For dessert I made Matcha white chocolate chip cookies or green tea cookies. Matcha has a strong green tea flavor and an equally strong aroma that reminded me of henna.

The new ingredients I used were kombu (kelp), nori (seaweed) and macha powder (special green tea powder). When I cooked this meal I was in a mood to experiment. All the meals I had cooked from the different countries up until this time were full of dishes known to us. So I went out on a limb and picked dishes whose flavors would be very new. I went shopping for groceries at the local Japanese store, a delightful mom and pop store with a lot more than just groceries. My husband was travelling so it was just me and my daughter. Nori or seaweed is not completely new to me. I remember my father had brought home some nori from Japan when I was about 10 years old. I had bravely attempted to eat it in a rice roll as my Dad showed me. But I had not been able to eat it. Finally I cut little pieces of the nori and placed a couple in a ball of rice and was able to eat it. Let us just say that neither my taste buds nor my enthusiasm to try new foods has changed much over the years. My daughter didn't do much better than me. We did enjoy the rest of the meal.

As they say in Japan, Itadakimasu!

Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Vegetarian Dashi (Kombu stock) 
• Gohan with Furrikake (Japanese sticky rice with kelp topping) 
• Negimiso Yaki Tofu (Grilled tofu) 
• Spinach Gomaae (Spinach with sesame seeds) 
• Nori Tomagoyaki (Seaweed Omelette) 

And for dessert

• Matcha Cookies (Green Tea Cookies)

Italian Meal

My sister-in-law was to visit us for a day. When it comes to food she is not picky about the cuisine. So I cooked this Italian meal for lunch when she visited. I chose this Italian menu with dishes from different regions of Italy. Italian cuisine is very popular around the globe and our house is no exception. We all enjoyed this delicious meal.

I have made pizza at home for years but I really started loving the pizza I made only after I started making it with wild yeast leaven. The ingredients in the dough are flour, water, salt and wild yeast. The sauce is made up of fresh tomatoes. It was only natural to use this pizza as the foundation of my Italian meal. The remaining dishes come from different regions of Italy. There is the fresh handmade Gnocchi in tomato sauce, one of the easiest dumpling to make at home. Fagiolli All'uccelleto is an ancient Italian dish made up of beans in tomato sauce. Caprese salad was added to the menu because we all love it and there is fresh basil growing in my garden. For dessert I wanted something light and so I went with Gelo di Melone or watermelon jello. This jello is thickened with corn starch and is delicious.

I did not use any new ingredient in this meal but making fresh pasta was new to me. I enjoyed it so much that I am now trying my hand at different types of gnocchi and ravioli. Something I found very interesting was that all the dishes in this menu use tomato as the base and yet every sauce is different and tastes different.

As they say in Italy, Buon Appetito!

Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Sourdough Pizza 
• Pizza Sauce 
• Gnocchi in Tomato Sauce 
• Fagiolli All'uccelletto 
• Caprese Salad 

And for dessert

• Gello di Melone (Watermelon Jello)

Hungarian Meal

Hungary is one of the countries about which I know very little. Then I found the Hungarian ring bread. A beautifully made bread with intertwined rings. That was reason enough to want to cook a meal from Hungary. I wanted to try to bake that bread.

As with all the meals I cooked, I made the dessert and the most challenging recipe first. That way I ensured I would be able to finish everything to my satisfaction. If I was not satisfied with the dessert or the main dish I could always postpone it all to another day. For this meal I tried the bread first. Unfortunately, I messed up the proportions and it turned into a monster so big that I could not imagine cooking anything else that day. When I planned the meal again I left out the bread.

Mushroom Paprikas served on a bed of egg noodles was a perfect main dish to built the meal around. My daughter loves potato salad so when I found the potato dill salad I had to add it to the menu. I seem to be collecting the different types of cucumber salads out there, this is another tasty one. Lesco was a great side made with tomatoes, onions and Hungarian pepper. The coconut cookie roll has got to be the most delicious cold cookie I ever made.

My daughter who is very good at restraint when it comes to food went crazy about it. I had to keep her hands off.

As they say in Hungary, Jó étvágyat!

Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Mushroom Paprikas on Noodles
• Potato Dill Salad 
• Lesco (Tomato Salad)
• Cucumber Salad 

And for dessert

• Coconut Cookie Roll

German Meal

Growing up my Dad used to visit Germany for work a lot. I remember my Dad had learnt a baked potato casserole from a friend in whose house he had spent the weekend. He would make it at home in our little oven. We also had a lot of visitors from Germany in our house invited over for dinner. In fact, a bar of Kinder and Staedtler brand products make me nostalgic even today.

A mushroom and creme topped pizza like bread called Flammkutchen was the basis around which I built the meal. Flamkutchen were supposed to have been used to test the temperatures of the oven before the precious breads were baked. We could have had it for a meal by itself. Spaetzle dumpling is made in Germany as well as Austria. My initial plan was to make it for my Austrian noodle and dumpling meal. But it was just too much food so I shelved the idea. So I made it a point to include it when I planned this menu. The apple and potato casserole or auflauf as it is called in German added a lovely flavor. Eis und Heiss or cold and hot is a simple fruit based dessert. Red berries like raspberry and strawberry are cooked in their own juice and combined with cold ice cream. It is a real treat on a hot day.

I did not use any new ingredients for this meal. However, I had never used creme as a topping for any kind of flat bread before. I was not happy with the picture background but let it go as I did not want to cook the whole meal again.

As they say in Germany, Guten Appetit!

Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Flammkuchen (German Pizza) 
• Spaetzle Dumpling (Noodles) 
• Kartoffel Apfel Auflauf (Potato Apple Casserole)

And for dessert

• Eis und Heiss (Cold and Hot)