10 Popular Dinner Ideas to Keep You Warm This Winter

Winter is a special season worldwide. Everyone gets ready for the holiday dinners and celebrations. While winter time is quite enjoyable, figuring out perfect dinner ideas to keep you warm during this period can be tedious. Fortunately, there are many dinner ideas that not only keep you warm during the winter period but are also healthy, providing you with the right nutrients. To get the most of these winter dishes, it is advisable to use a hot case or casseroles. A right casserole set will ensure your food remains warm until it is time to serve. Below is a list of 10 winter dinner ideas to keep you warm.

1. Gajar Ka Halwa

When it comes to winter, especially in India, Gajar Ka Halwa is a popular dish in every Indian household. Though it is served as a dessert, only one look at the piping hot halwa, and you can’t help but slobber. The dry fruits which appear on top of the dish make it more irresistible. What makes this even more popular during winters is that good quality carrots are rampant during the season. Carrots are the main ingredient used in making Gajar Ka Halwa dish. You can prepare the halwa and store it in a stainless-steel casserole to retain the warmth and taste for a longer duration. 

2. Slow down cooker curry chicken and spinach

This dish is essentially a chicken and lentil stew. The long cooking allows the condiments to reveal all their aromas. Curry powder is the basis of  this dish. However, you need to know that it's not made of just one spice. While curry leaves add flavor to a dish, curry powder is a blend of several spices. This sumptuous meal will not only satisfy your tastebuds but also keep you feeling warm during the cold winter.

ThaiCrate - Home Delivery Review

When you feel like lazing around the house, don't feel like driving out to a restaurant but want to eat Thai food that spells authentic, then ThaiCrate is what you are looking for.

ThaiCrate.in is a home delivery service that offers you fresh authentic Thai food right to your doorstep. With a lot of vegetarian and non-vegetarian options you are bound to find something that appeals your palate.

The food is delivered in food grade plastic containers that are microwave safe. The boxes come neatly arranged in paper bags. Each box has a label describing the contents of the box. These boxes are made of food grade plastic and hence safe.

ThaiCrate - Home Delivery Review

The boxes are easy to eat-out-of if you don't wish to bother with the cutlery. We decided to share our order for dinner with the family and had a good time gorging on the dishes that were ordered.

A special delivery time was requested to the team at ThaiCrate and it was delivered on-time, spot on!

Read on to know our recommendations for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians.

Honeymoon Travel Diaries: Mauritius Long Beach Golf & Spa Resort - Part 1

In our first post on Honeymoon Travel Diaries we introduced you to our pre-honeymoon preparation and told you we decided to stay at the Long Beach Golf & Spa Resort in Mauritius. This post is going to be heavy on pictures because we were at a place so gorgeous that it had to be captured through our lens - for you to join us as we take you around! You can click on the individual pictures to open them in a larger size.

Honeymoon Travel Diaries: Mauritius Long Beach Golf & Spa Resort - Part 1

Mauritius has a huge list of resorts and it can become difficult to narrow down where you want to stay. Apart from budget constraints there are a lot of other factors that can determine your abode during the special days. Our main concerns were

1. Resort and not a hotel - we wanted a luxurious stay to make our honeymoon special
2. Pristine beach at the resort
3. In house dining options
4. Water activities
5. Assistance in local excursions - we did not want to do the routine trips
6. Spa for relaxation
7. In a location that is not overcrowded

When we started narrowing down on our options the one place which actually exceeded our requirements was the Long Beach Golf & Spa Resort, situated on the Coastal Road at Belle Mare. As I mentioned my sister had already stayed at Ambre, which is a property by the same resort chain of Sun Resorts. So we were confident that we had made a good choice. 

I will share a sample itinerary that you can use as a base to plan your own trip at the end of this post (or if this one is too long, I might end up splitting it into two posts!). But before we go there let's go dive into the beauty of Long Beach Golf & Spa Resort.

Long Beach Golf & Spa Resort has an expansive beach line of over 1.3 km on the eastern coast of Mauritius. It offers an array of activities to make your stay exciting yet at the same time relaxing whenever you need the quiet time. The resort offers 255 sea facing rooms each equipped with the modern facilities that you require. The rooms are done up in a soothing white, lime green and light blue colour scheme. Our room was like a little villa on its own with a huge garden up front overlooking the sea.

Garden View Room - Long Beach Golf & Spa Resort 

Each day our bed was done up in a different way but our favourite was the two swans with fresh flowers. Perfect for any honeymoon couple for sure!

Two Swans Bed Decor - Long Beach Golf & Spa Resort

McCain To Make Your Meals Special - Recipe Inside!

I do very little food posts here so yes this might seem a bit out of place for those who are still new to the blog. Food has its own beauty, beauty in its flavours and benefits.

I am a hard core junk food lover, so much so that I can eat chaat, tikki, pizzas as a replacement to my meals. But, I know we all should eat sensibly for a good and sound health. So I try and combine a bit of both.

This Rakshabandhan me and my brother (and my sister and all our cousins) had a fun day together. We ate so much during the day that for dinner that day a light meal of bottle gourd was prepared. Both me and my brother detest eating the bottle gourd. We were searching through our fridge to get hold of something better tasting when we saw a pack of finger licking yummylicious Veggie Fingers from Mc Cain. Dinner was already prepared, chapati with bottle gourd. If we wanted to eat those veggie fingers we needed a clever way to combine it with our bottle gourd. That is where this do-it-yourself reuse leftovers sort of idea clicked.

We cooked up - A Bed of Rice With Bottle Gourd Veggie Fingers.

A Bed of Rice With Bottle Gourd Veggie Fingers 

 By Our External World

Sunday Brunch At Lutyens Cocktail House - Review

Recently I had the opportunity to go out for brunch in a nice place nestled somewhere on Janpath (New Delhi) - it was a bit hard to locate because Google refused to show it on the map but if you do go there it's situated close to the Le Meridian hotel on 22, Janpath. Its two floors above the Jaguar showroom.

So after oogling at the stunning Jaguars I headed to the second floor taking the stairs. There is construction going on on the first floor so it might not look too pleasing when you walk up the stairs if you go there in the coming week or so.

But once you reach the restaurant a lovely ambience greets you. Grey walls with books, model cars, lots of mirrors, and pictures of architectural marvel make for a nice colonial feel. I went there on a Sunday so it was nice and quiet (I hate eating food in a very noisy place). The seating is nice and comfy with different sitting options available. I chose to relax on the cushy couch.

Sunday Brunch At Lutyens Cocktail House

The location is perfect for a relaxing brunch with ample light filtering in the large glass window wall that looks out onto the street. There are nice touches of books - I even found one that was like an encyclopedia on Tofu! They have chairs with a back that resembles a helm.

Quench Your Thirst With Pure Berry's Club Mix Syrups - Review

Summers are here and so is the need for something cool to quench the thirst. Recently I came across this pack of 'club mix' bottles from a company called Pure Berry’s. Its a indigenous brand run by the Mala family who also make jams, honey and crushes.

Quench Your Thirst With Pure Berry's Club Mix Syrups - Review

The Club Mix pack I got for trial contained 4 small size bottles (250ml each) - this is a good packaging size if you wish to try the product before making a purchase for a full sized bottle.

The pack comes for around Rs 225 which is extremely budget friendly.

The four flavors in my pack were Strawberries Club Mix, Lime Mock Club Mix, Blue Passion Club Mix and the fourth is actually a fruit/ice-cream topper called White Rose.

Quench Your Thirst With Pure Berry's Club Mix Syrups - Review

I mixed small quantities of each of these syrups with plain cold water just to taste each one out. After my initial tasting it was difficult to decide on a favorite. Each of these is very refreshing. Strawberries has a lovely sweet strawberry taste to it. Lime Mock and Blue Passion are both lemon based with Blue Passion more on the spicier side. I think I would like to make a 'gola' with crushed ice using Blue Passion.

A Food Odyssey Called Singapore

Singapore is a place known for its tourist attractions. From the rides in Sentosa to the awesome birds at the Bird Park, Singapore has always attracted tourists from across the globe. I have been fortunate to have lived in Singapore for a short duration and also visited the place as a tourist.

It was during my first visit to the city that I realized that Singapore is not just about the wonderful sightseeing it offers. Singapore is a host to people from many parts of the world. As a result it has become a haven of food, a multi-cuisine paradise. Singapore boasts of over 20,000 eating joints and is called the food capital of Asia. Singapore offers food from China, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Korea, India along with dishes from other parts of the world. Being an island nation this place if famous for its sea food.

A Food Odyssey Called Singapore

My first tryst with Singaporean food was in its food courts. I'm a pure vegetarian and was quite surprised to find various options in the food courts of Singapore. Food courts exist throughout the city. Most of them are housed inside malls and are air conditioned. I remember eating at a food court near the Indian Embassy once, I had a dish made of tofu cooked in mango gravy. I loved that dish and would love to go back to have it. I also remember visiting this large eating place called the Food Republic very famous for its hawker carts and hokkien mee fried noodles.

A Food Odyssey Called Singapore: Food Courts

Moving over to the place known as Little India (Serangoon road) - the place famous for its gold shops, shops selling electronics and also for the well known shopping hub called Mustafa. But if you do visit this place then you cannot miss out some authentic South Indian cuisine. I used to frequently visit this place whenever there was a desire to have delicious South Indian food. There are tiny restaurants selling dosas, idlis and filter coffee - another great option for vegetarians.

An Afternoon Of Gastronomical Delight - Ambrosia Bliss - Restaurant Review

I had visited this restaurant a few weeks back but the post never got published because my grandpa fell sick and he is no longer with us. He was a fearless man who lived life his style without a hint of worry of what others thought. He always had stories of his times in the British Raj and he believed that our government and civic system is strong and helpful. He loved his evening tea and his stroll in the market nearby where he would chat up everyone he met.

Saluting his spirit I am back to what I love doing. I know he must be narrating his stories wherever he is blessing us in every way.
***************

Nestled in L-Block Connaught Place, New Delhi is a sprawling restaurant called Ambrosia Bliss. It boasts of two garden terraces, a dining area, a bar and even a conference area. There is a reception with a nice lighting done in the backdrop.

The seating is comfortable and when I visited one of the garden terraces had a private party going on. The area was large enough to seat atleast 20 adults. I chose an area close to the huge glass windows where I could enjoy my meal under the sun but without the extremely cold breeze blowing outside.

An Afternoon Of Gastronomical Delight - Ambrosia Bliss - Restaurant Review

The post now follows with a large set of pictures of the food I tried out. I started off with two mocktails and a chocolate shake. If you enjoy ginger based drinks then do try out  the Winter Splinter mocktail (seen on the extreme right) with cloves, ginger and mint to intoxicate you.

If you like more fruity drink (like me!) you should not miss their Twist@Bliss containing strawberry, raspberry, lime juice and orange chunk. The chocolate shake however was just ok, nothing as great as the other two drinks.

An Afternoon Of Gastronomical Delight - Ambrosia Bliss - Restaurant Review

Soups

For soups I tried out the charred tomato basil soup which was quite appetising. I really liked the charred flavour. Another soup that was quite good was the Chilli & Shitake broth with a generous serving of prawns in it.

An Afternoon Of Gastronomical Delight - Ambrosia Bliss - Restaurant Review

Salads
For salads you cannot go wrong with the traditional caesar salad, fresh lettuce, olives, baby tomatoes, croutons and a generous shaving of cheese and herbs made it perfect for the palate.

An Afternoon Of Gastronomical Delight - Ambrosia Bliss - Restaurant Review

Appetizer Platters

Ambrosia Bliss serves four different kinds of platters. There is a Mezze platter with yummy hummus, Baba ghanoush, lebneh, and pickled veggies along with pita and falafel.

An Afternoon Of Gastronomical Delight - Ambrosia Bliss - Restaurant Review

Another vegetarian option is the Internation Vegetarian Platter - Tex Mex Nachos, garlic bread, Philadelphia cheese rolls and mushroom nuggets. The best in this platter were the cheese rolls. The garlic bread was good too but I would prefer a pinch more of seasoning. The serving size is quite nice  and if 3 people share this platter then its more than enough as an appetiser.

An Afternoon Of Gastronomical Delight - Ambrosia Bliss - Restaurant Review

There are non-vegetarian options available which I did not taste. But I did try a bit of the Indian platter which contains huge cubes of cottage cheese which has layers of seasoning inside, dahi kebabs which will melt in your mouth, haha bhara kebabs and mushroom galouti (its a tikka made of mushroom paste that sits atop a light and fluffy patty.

LG Mallika-e-Kitchen 2014 Season 6 Grand Finale

LG Electronics India presented its coveted sixth LG Mallika-e-Kitchen 2014 Cooking Queen title to Mrs. Rita Mathur from Bhopal. Orchestrated through live cooking competition at Shangri-La's - Eros Hotel, New Delhi, this year’s national amateur cooking contest attracted over 4000 participants from 62 cities across India.

 The afternoon started with 12 finalists from across India cooking their best for the judges, famous celebrity chef Nita Mehta and head chef at Shangri La.

LG Mallika-e-Kitchen 2014 Season 6 Grand Finale

All participants presented their delicacies cooked in 90 minutes using the LG Microwave Oven. The spreads included traditional Rajasthani affair, a unique twist of taste to the famous Litti and lots of yummy desserts. We got to savor and taste these dishes along with the judges which was fun. The participants were extremely humble and more than happy to help us taste the dishes sharing their recipes as well.

Foodpanda.com - Website Review

How many of you hate to cook in the sweltering summers, please raise your hand! I love eating food cooked at home (by my mom!) and I hate to cook myself (I know its kind of crazy but I'll let you in on a little secret - I love to watch cookery shows and cupcake wars just keeps me hooked if there is nothing else to watch!) Anyhow, in summers I specially detest cooking and prefer to use the microwave despite the varying researches on whether its good or bad for the nutrients in the food. And I love eating out and ordering in.

Usually when we need to order food and have guests over we tend to order from multiple sites, so that we can cater to everyone's varying tastes. Some like pizzas, others want to have Chinese and some would like to have their traditional Indian food. It becomes crazy ordering from multiple sites (or over the phone) so this time we decided to try out foodpanda.in - I had heard good reviews about this and have also seen the mailers with special discounts as well. I thought I'd share my experience about using the site in case someone has not yet ventured to their website. (for those of you who are not based in India you can check out foodpanda.com and select your country - foodpanda actually has branches across 30 countries so do check out your local websites.)

Foodpanda.com Website Review

Lunch At Courtyard by Marriott Gurgaon - MoMo Cafe Review

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon when I decided to have lunch at the Hotel Courtyard by Marriott Gurgaon. For a buffet option I headed off to the MoMo cafe and with my trusty camera in  hand I just went crazy clicking pictures (I clicked more picks than I ate!) Unfortunately my site would die if I upload them all. Even the ones you see here are compressed and cropped so that I don't drive you mad while the page loads.

Anyhow, enough of the banter and lets get straight to a review of the MoMo Cafe.

Lunch At Courtyard by Marriott Gurgaon - MoMo Cafe Review

MoMo Cafe is situated on the ground floor of Courtyard by Marriott. The Executive Chef at the hotel is an ‘Ayurveda food’ expert with over 3 years of experience dealing in the same genre as Ananda. The cafe offers a huge array of options during their lunch buffet. 

As you enter you are welcomed by a live band playing soft music and then there is this big arrangement of desserts (I will show you more pictures of this later). As I settled down on a table I was welcomed by the courteous staff. Actually I must mention here that I really liked the fact that right from the entrance of the hotel to my table, everyone said "namaste" (salutation in Hindi) - it just felt very welcoming.

Lunch At Courtyard by Marriott Gurgaon - MoMo Cafe Review

 MoMo Cafe offers Chinese, South Indian, North Indian and Continental dishes. There is a live counter where you are served fresh fritters and Sushi. The aroma and the way the counter is set up is super nice. There are fresh cut vegetables which just add so much color.