What to Cook?

Deciding what to cook is not only an exercise in frustration at times, but these days, it is a privilege for many. This week's column looks not only at highs and lows of meal planning, but it also asks how all of us can rethink meal planning given the current world food crisis: "I don’t want to sound overly nostalgic, I know that often the “good ole’ days” were also “hard ole’ days” But perhaps the time has come for us to think of meal planning in a different way because if we are not careful, the ability to feed ourselves will have nothing to do with wants and desires as our constraints will be money, health and availability." Click here to read the rest of the column. And for an interesting read, you might like to check out Tea's post: No Words.

This particular dish featured here today is Fried (sauteed Bora & Shrimp) Bora is also know an yard-long beans or snake beans. It is one of my go-to dishes when I'm wondering "what to cook". Click here for the recipe.

My dear friend Zuzana of Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen is hosting yet another unique event, Tried & Tasted. I was honoured and just a little nervous :) when she asked that Tastes Like Home be the first blog to be Tried & Tasted. I'm excited to see your creations and interpretations. Please do not hesitate to email me for any of the recipes you'd like to try. If you have questions about the ingredients or about substitutions, I'd be more than happy to answer.

This week I'd like to thank Madhavi, Swati & Vege Yum for bestowing the Yummy Blog Award on Tastes Like Home. Thanks to Roopa of Kitchen Treats for creating this award. Now, I'm supposed to pass this award on to 5 blogs but let me tell you, I had a really difficult time picking just 5 blogs so I picked 6. I thought that since I was awarded the award 3 times I could present the award at least once more than stipulated. Truth be told, I want to give it to everyone! However, I know that the blog love will be passed on just as in pay it forward. So here are my picks.

Lori-Lynn of Taste With the Eyes - the name of this blog says it all;
Sig of Live to Eat - whether she's at home cooking, dining out or travelling abroad, she never neglects those of us who are food-porn lovers :);
Peter of Kalofagas - this man can turn some tricks in the kitchen;
Suganya of Tasty Palettes - I've already threatened to invite myself over to her house;
Marie of Proud Italian Cook - this is homemade gourmet cooking at its best
Coffee of The Spice Cafe - this woman could feed me anything and I'd eat it, even if I didn't want to.

And finally, when I saw this Orange-Lemon Cake last week on Patricia's blog, I could not resist. All I could think of was a big cup of tea and a warm slice of this cake. You've got to try it. The recipe can be found here.