Gin-Afza

Have you heard of this drink called Rooh-Afza? It's something I grew up drinking on hot summer days. It has very Indian taste to it. It's fruity but has hint of rose. You should really try it. When I realized i've had this syrup hanging at the bottom of fridge door there was this (angels singing) momemt....adult Rooh-Afza?!? So the experiment began. I'm pretty sure this has been done before but I don't care...i'm still pretty thrilled that I thought of this. All you need is:

1 Shot of Gin
1 Tbs of Rooh-Afza Syrup
Ice Cubes
Tonic water
splash of lemon juice
Mint for garnish

AND you get this my friend...I KNOW right!!!

This is great for summer. It's also great for days when weather is 0 degrees one day and 60 the next and you forget to change your themostat and your house feels like hot summer day with snow outside...

Mini Mexican Stuffed Peppers

What do you do when you end up buying big bag of mini bell peppers from BJ’s? Well you make your own version of stuffed peppers of course! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Mini peppers or any kind of bell pepper

Olive oil

Rice

Red kidney beans (optional but I highly recommend it)

Jalapeno

Onion

Garlic

Taco seasoning

Chipotle seasoning

Red pepper flakes

Salt

Directions:

1.    Pre heat oven to 350F

2.    Wash peppers. Chop off the ends and clean the inside

3.       Line them on a cooking tray and put them in the oven and let them cook for about 10 min. you want the peppers to be soft some brown spots. This makes them nice tender and juicy J

4.       In a pot cook some rice. Once the rice comes to a boil add taco seasoning , salt and let the rice cook through

5.       In different pan heat some olive oil.

6.       Add chopped jalapeno

7.       Add some red pepper flakes

8.       Add onion and garlic

9.       Once the onion turn translucent add the beans and some water or vegetable broth

10.   Make sure this mixture is not dry. Its ok to have some sauce as you want this to be soft

11.   Once this is cooked add the rice little at a time and mix. Again make sure that this is not dry.

12.   Stuff this mixture into each pepper. I have to use foil to prevent the stuffing from coming out. But whatever trick works for you. 

13.   Put them back in the oven for another 10-15 min. keep an eye on them to make sure that you don’t burn

14.   Pour nice glass of wine and enjoy!! 

 

 

Fall Traditions

There are many reasons why I love northeast, but one of the most important reason is the four seasons. Every year Prakhar and I make sure to see some fall foliage. This year we decided to check out Maine. We had 3 days but we covered good deal of fall foliage. I want to use this blog to document our travels and small details that we often forget. Details like how I forgot to pack a jacket and prayed the entire trip that the weather would cooperate. Like many of our trips, this was last minute planned trip. So we had our fingers crossed for good sunny weather, and colorful leaves. We first drove to Augusta, ME. Our original plan was to take a break in the town and then drive around. But the weather was so beautiful so decided to go on. We took Rt. 201 from Augusta and drove all the up to Quebec border. We never planned to go that far but the route was so beautiful we just couldn't help our selves. Next day drove on route 17 to Rangeley area. The road is picturesque. We stopped so often just to admire the scenery and take lots of pictures. The Height of Land is must stop. It's right before Rangeley. Unfortunately by the time we got to Rangeley town, it started to rain heavily. We did not want to risk driving through muddy road so we decided to head back to our next destination-Portland! The rain made the colors pop! The view was breathtaking. We had planned to spend the night in Portland. Of course wine is always involved. We decided to check out this Winery called The Honey Maker. All of their wines are made out of honey. So cool and so unique. My favorite was their Lavender Mead. Its made with locally grown Lavender! Afterwards, we headed to Portland downtown. The downtown Portland is gorgeous. Cute small shops and restaurants. We had dinner at Gritty McDuff's . I've never been a bar with so many vegetarian options. Beer and burgers = happy couple. The next morning we knew we had to drive back home so we did not want to wait for breakfast so we called few places and settled on Bayou Kitchen. Absolutely amazing brunch. Food was delicious and the place was really cute. I highly recommend it. From there we went to check out the light houses. The weather was beautiful and sunny. On our way back we stopped in Boston to see some friends and back home! Over all it was excellent trip. Of course few extra days off from work would've been great but we got to see plenty of colors, had local food and drinks. Good time.