3 Recipes for a Muslim-inspired Holiday Meal

A Muslim-inspired Holiday Meal

 

I love Indian food! So I was very excited when I received a copy of the Bengali Five Spice Chronicles to review recently. This would make a great stocking stuffer or gift for the gourmet chef on your list. I didn’t know this, but apparently Bengalis are one of the most food and culture obsessed people in India. They are commonly compared to the French in that regard, as dining and entertaining are such an integral part of their culture.  What makes Bengali cuisine so unique are the variations and complexities that are a result of practice and delicate subtlety.  In The Bengali Five Spice Chronicle, author Rinku Bhattacharya explains the food and culture of her native homeland in Eastern India and showcases the recipes that are at the heart of Bengali life.

The book gets its title from the five-spice blend Bengalis call panch phoron. This spice blend consists of five whole spices in equal proportions: cumin seeds, mustard seeds, nigella seeds, fenugreek seeds, and fennel seeds and is at the heart of Bengali flavors and the individual spices form the basis of the Bengali pantry.

Being new to this cuisine, one of my favorite aspects of the cookbook were the menus for different occasions. I want to share with you today, three recipes from the Muslim-inspired holiday meal. If you are looking to add some new flavors and spice to your holidays, try these recipes for yourself.

Easy Kids Crafts: Cutest Snowman Craft Ever!

kid-friendly snowman craft

Cutest Snowman Craft Ever!

 

I admit, I love snowmen and I have a growing collection. I try to add one to my collection every year and am always on the lookout for the different and unique snowmen. I also love picking up holiday magazines at the grocery store and flipping through. I rarely make anything I find but I love to look and get ideas. This year was different. I picked up a copy of Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Holiday Craft magazine. As soon as I saw their “Snow Pal” craft, I knew I had to make one.

Not only do I think these snowmen are adorable, but they were very easy to make and a great craft for kids. I also think they would make an excellent teacher gift and a cute centerpiece for a table. Oodles of ideas for using these cute snow pals.

Maestro Market: New Business Connects Moms with Experts

MaestroMarket.com

In my inbox this morning was a press release about MaestroMarket.com, a new venture by Ian Shea. I was instantly intrigued by the concept of easily being able to connect with experts. As someone who is a parent coach and often hires coaches to help me improve different areas of my own life from nutrition and fitness to growing my business, I was excited to find a site that pulls a variety of experts together in one place.

Maestro Market, a unique and first of its kind platform that connects people with their ideal experts, or even heroes, today announced its official launch.  The new platform facilitates a variety of engagements (e.g., in person, using Skype, via telephone, etc.) between talented experts and anyone interested in learning a skill, solving a problem, getting inspired, gifting an experience or indulging a desire.  The experts span numerous categories including parenting, writing, women in business, social media, blogging, entrepreneurship and many more.  The company is also announcing initial partnerships that will help to drive both supply of and demand for its growing list of maestros.