I've named my style

Modern nostalgia

What do you think?

xoxo,
Ellen

That Frozen Jello dessert pic you wanted, lovely pics from your trip here, and how are you???

Frozen Fruit Salad

Dear Hannah,

A few weeks ago, my cousin, Mary Catherine, emailed me about a recipe for frozen fruit salad. Since then, I have been pondering the salad, craving the salad, trying to make the salad and researching recipes for the salad. Nashville is a great city for many things, but especially for fruit tea and frozen fruit salad. The one I made at your house (a week ago) I totally made up. It contained a package of strawberry Jello mix, a tub of cool whip, a can of crushed pineapple, and fresh cherries and banana. It was pretty yummy, but paled in comparison to the one I had today at Merridee's Breadbasket in downtown Franklin. (Remember, it's the Swedish bakery where they have the amazing cinnamon-raisin bread?) They have just released the second volume of their cookbook. I hope their frozen fruit recipe is in there! Here is a recipe I found in Recipes from Miss Daisy:

Pink Arctic Freeze (What a great name!)
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
2 Tbs mayonnaise
2 Tbs sugar
16 oz can whole berry cranberry sauce
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup heavy cream, whipped

Beat cream cheese, mayo and sugar with an electric mixer. Add cranberry sauce and pineapple. Mix well. Fold in whipped cream. Freeze in a 9x9 dish. Cut into squares to serve.

MC, I hope this helps satisfy your craving. Hannah, will you post a picture from the one I made in WA?

love,
Ellen

Curry Supper

Dear Hannah,

This past spring, I took an Indian cooking class through USN's evening classes. It was really fun because I learned how to make ghee and how to use a masala dabba. I got one masala dabba from the class instructor, which I keep with the one from my friend Bijal who has also taught me a lot about Indian cooking. (Thank you Bijal!)



Hopefully I will make some puri soon and document it here. Like this guy:



So, in the class I also learned how to make gravy - not the Southern kind, but the oniony-tomatoey kind that makes Indian food so yummy delicious. I made this tonight - Chicken Do-Piaza Recipe. I added eggplant that I picked up from the produce place (regretting not taking a picture). They were called fairytale eggplant and were so cute! I will have to go by this week and snap a photo. Anway, supper came out looking like this:



I'm sure it would not have tasted like Indian food to a person actually from India (I'm a wimp when it comes to chilies), but the hubby liked it.

FYI: When I make Indian food, I use ALL of my dishes. I'm up for suggestions on how not to do that.

I wish I could say "bon appetit" in Hindi...

xoxo,
Ellen

Catch up

Dear Hannah,

How I miss you! It feels so long since I saw you yet it was only days ago! So much has transpired since I got off the plane in Nashville. Most dramatically, we're thinking of putting an offer on this house.

How cute is it?!? It is a LONG shot, but we feel hopeful.

Anyway, in an effort to keep our blog organized (a skill I struggle with), I'm going to post the Indian dinner separately.

I love you, dear friend.

Ellen

things that make me smile today

Friends who like Food

Dear Ellen,
Hope you had a fun day hanging out with your family! We did. Here is a recipe for potato salad. I found it on the Cooking Light website. I am not a mayonnaise lover, so it was good for me. I wish I was hungry so I could eat some right now...

• Dressing:
• 1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 
  Salad:
• 5 cups cubed red potato (about 2 pounds)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped peeled cucumber
• 3/4 cup sliced grape or cherry tomatoes
• 3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped orange bell pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1 (2 1/4-ounce) can sliced ripe olives, drained

Preparation

1. To prepare dressing, combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; stir with a whisk.

2. To prepare salad, place potato and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan. Cover with water to 2 inches above potato; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes or until tender; drain.

3. Add potato to dressing in bowl, tossing gently to coat; let stand 15 minutes. Stir in cucumber and remaining ingredients; toss well. Cover and chill.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

90 (28% from fat)

Fat:

2.8g (sat 0.2g,mono 1.6g,poly 0.8g)

Protein:

1.8g

Carbohydrate:

14.9g

Fiber:

2g

Cholesterol:

0.0mg

Iron:

0.9mg

Sodium:

295mg

Calcium:

19mg

Elsie Gonto, Savannah, Georgia, Cooking Light, APRIL 2008