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otto (las vegas)

January 4, 2013 By Fareen Leave a Comment

Mention Mario to most kids, the Mario brothers immediately come to mind. Mention Mario to my 4 year old, and he talks about the chef that he sees on tv. I love this kid!

While spending some time at the Venetian on our recent trip to Vegas, we saw one of Mario Batali’s restaurants, Otto, and thought it was the perfect place to grab a bite after our indoor gondola ride.  We took a seat “outdoors” and enjoyed the painted sky ceiling while enjoying the entertainment in St. Mark’s Square.

While we were checking out the menu, Q asked one of the waiters, “Where’s Mario?”. We discovered we had missed him by a week!  Bread and breadsticks were brought to the table and they happily obliged when we asked for some oil and vinegar.

As a starter, we tried the Ricotta Fritters.  These were morsels of fried goodness!  Ricotta cheese and red pepper balls rolled in bread crumbs and fried.  The cheese oozed out as we took a bite. Definitely a huge hit with all of us.

We also ordered a couple of entrees – the Grilled Tuna and the Maccherona. Both dishes were great and super tasty.
The tuna was cooked to perfection and served with a sicilian pesto.  I really loved this version of pesto and couldn’t get enough of it.  Red in colour, it was made with tomatoes, almonds and garlic. So good!
The pasta dish was great as well. With roasted peppers and chilis, it was cooked perfectly.

The dessert menu looked great but sadly we were so stuffed, there was just no room.  Definitely a great meal!

 

Otto Enoteca on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: eating out, vacations

blackberry scones

January 2, 2013 By Fareen Leave a Comment

We didn’t have a really late night but we got to sleep in a little bit, until 8am! We started off the year with a tasty breakfast – fresh sourdough bread, toasted, slathered with Boursin and topped with a runny egg. Divine!

Being the new year, we were sure there would be visitors so I whipped up a batch of scones to go along with tea or coffee.  I had blackberries in the fridge and some half and half that I needed to use up. A search on the internet came up with this recipe from Wendy from Around My Family Table. It was simple to make in the food processor.  I actually did a couple of pulses with the blackberries so that the beautiful purple was distributed in the dough.

These were great on their own but even more so with a pat of butter.

Blackberry Scones
Adapted from Around My Family Table

2 cups flour (plus more for kneading)
1/3 cup sugar
1 TB baking powder
5 TB cold butter
1/2 to 3/4 cup half and half
1 cup blackberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a food processor, combine flour, sugar and baking powder. Add the cold butter and pulse until crumbly. Add the half and half and pulse some more. Fold in the blackberries.

On a floured surface, knead the dough and form into a circle.  Cut into 8 triangles and place on a cookie sheet.  Brush the tops with half and half.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: baked goods

happy new year!

January 2, 2013 By Fareen Leave a Comment

Wishing you and your families a fantastic 2013 filled with lots of love, loads of cuddles, tons of happiness and a belly full of good food!

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: celebrations

serendipity 3 (las vegas)

December 28, 2012 By Fareen Leave a Comment

After Q and I spent a week in Texas, we met hubby in Vegas for a few days.  It was fun for Q to see the lights and he was pretty great when it came time to outlet shopping.  When driving the Strip, I noticed Serendipity 3 outside the Caesar’s Hotel.  I had always wanted to go to the original in NYC, but knowing I wasn’t going there anytime soon, I had to go while in Vegas.

Made famous in the movie Serendipity, and then even more so by Oprah, I knew I had to try the Frrrozen Hot Chocolate. The place was packed and we had a bit of a wait but it was worth it.

We ordered the drink for two and it was huge!  The three of us shared but we could have easily shared with three more.  It was a chocolatey blend of icy goodness topped with whipping cream.   So good!  As we sipped the yummy concoction, we got chunks of chocolate shavings while we sipped.

Would I go back for more? Most definitely!

Serendipity 3 on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: eating out, vacations

tony thai (houston)

December 27, 2012 By Fareen Leave a Comment

During our recent trip to Dallas, we squeezed in a quick one day visit to Houston to visit family.  It had been years since I had seen my cousins and I had never met their kids.  With them being so close in age to Q, I really wanted to get them together and meet.  It didn’t take long for them to form a bond, and in no time, they were playing with trains and drawing on their ipads.

We went out for dinner later in the evening to their favourite thai restaurants, Tony Thai.  We got there just before they were going to close but they welcomed us in for a quick bite.

We started with soup, Tom Yum.  The spicy broth with all kinds of seafood was delicious.  We also had some Thai wings as a starter which were the most delicious wings I had tasted.  The breaded wings had a sweet and spicy sauce that we just couldn’t get enough of.  They were a huge hit and we had to order another round.

The fried rice was tasty with chunks of chicken and loaded with veggies.  This went perfectly with the chicken in red curry, a spicy sauce fragranced with coconut milk.  The greens were delicious as well, with lemongrass and garlic – a tasty way to eat your veggies.

We ended the meal off with a delicious creme brulee.  Although there for just a day, it was wonderful to spend time with family.

Tony Thai on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: eating out, vacations

Happy Christmas!

December 25, 2012 By Fareen 1 Comment

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Wishing you and your families a safe and happy holiday season.

Filed Under: foodmamma

bombay chopstix (dallas)

December 23, 2012 By Fareen Leave a Comment

I was really excited to finally make a visit to Dallas. Q and I tagged
along with my parents to spend some time celebrating my aunt’s huge
accomplishment in obtaining her masters degree (her second!).  It was so great spending time with her and
her husband and finally meeting my cousins. 
Though a lot younger than me, we had a great time bonding, especially
over burgers at In and Out

No celebration is complete without a meal so we grabbed a
quick bite at one of their favourite places, Bombay Chopstix.  Tucked away in a strip mall, they served
Indian Chinese food.  This is the type of
food we had a few times in India and it definitely reminded me of past trips.  Chinese dishes with indian influences and
spices.

We started our meal with soup, Corn and Hot and
Sour. Knowing that most of the meal would be spicy, I opted to stick to the
mild corn soup.  The corn was sweet and
it was a fantastic way to start the meal. 
Everyone else at the table loved spice, all adding some hot chilis to
the already spicy food.  I was definitely
the spice weakling of the group.
This was followed by the Chicken Lollipops.  Pieces of chicken drumsticks with the meat
pulled up, making it into a chop. I think this was my favourite part of the
meal.  The breaded chicken was tossed in a spicy szechuan sauce – so good. My second favourite part of the meal was the Pepper Salt Shrimp.  Breaded and seasoned with
chilis and garlic, it was gone in no time.
We also had some Chili Chicken which was super spicy.  Thank goodness for the rice which absorbed
some of the heat.  
All in all, it was a great place with good food, reasonable prices and great service.

Bombay Chopstix on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: eating out

holiday baking

December 19, 2012 By Fareen Leave a Comment

We had a chance to get away and didn’t hesitate for a second
about not spending the holidays at home. 
The trip just meant that I had to be extra organized and get all our
holiday baking done early.  It’s always
fun to spoil our friends and neighbours with a box of goodies, and this year
was no exception.

It was hard to decide what to put into this year’s goodie
box but here is what I decided on.  Click to find out recipes for these tasty treat!

Whipped shortbread
Walnut shortbread
Chocolate chip cookies
Butter Pecan Squares
Rice Krispie Squares
Candy Cane Cupcakes

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: baked goods, cookies, cupcakes, squares

chocolate dipped walnut shortbread and the great food blogger cookie swap

December 12, 2012 By Fareen Leave a Comment

I was very excited to participate in this year’s Food Blogger Cookie Swap.  In it’s second year, this swap is hosted by Love and Olive Oil and The Little Kitchen.  It’s a great concept – send a dozen cookies to three fellow bloggers and three dozen will be sent to you. 

I wasn’t too sure what to make so I had to do some experimentation.  I finally settled on shortbread and this great recipe from Family Circle.  Little disks of brown sugar shortbread with walnuts and dipped in chocolate.  Easy and super delicious, I’ve made them a few times since the first trial.

These delicious little cookies went to Elizabeth from A Sweet Baker, Kelsey from K&K Test Kitchen and Celeste and Alicia from The Chronic Masterbakers.

It was really fun and exciting to get boxes of cookies in the mail.  I lucked out and got three amazing cookies!  Thank you ladies!!

The first box to arrive were the Double Chocolate Espresso Cookies from Savour Sisters.  These were moist and chocolatey and so delicious.

The second to arrive were shortbread from The Goodie Girl. I loved the little balls with chunks of chocolate and pecans.

I also received a box of thumbprint cookies from the Gourmet Housewife. Another classic shortbread filled with raspberry jam, so good!

It was a fun swap to participate in.  Looking forward to next year’s!

Chocolate Dipped Walnut Shortbread
Adapted from Family Kitchen

2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup toasted walnuts
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted

In a bowl, stir together flour and salt.  Beat together the butter, brown sugar and vanilla until well blended.  Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until well blended.  Stir in the walnuts.

Turn dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and roll into a log.  Wrap securely and refrigerate for several hours.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the chilled dough into slices and place on parchment lined baking sheets.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Once cooled, dip the shortbread into the melted chocolate.  Let stand at room temperature until chocolate is firm.

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: cookies

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Hello!

My name is Fareen and I'm so happy you stopped by! This blog is about my favourite things - family, food and travel. Here you will find adventures with hubby, my two boys and my great big family. There is food (lots of food!), as much travel as we can squeeze in and just life in general.

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