A "Foody" Saturday..!

Saturday started with nice and fresh mood with me getting up at early 9 (?)...I further refreshed myself with a cup of hot ginger tea...After doing some tp over internet, making calls to India and chat with friends over yahoo and goggle it was time to think of some brunch as it was too late for breakfast and too early for lunch on week ends.. It was Abhijit who had lot of enthu to prepare whole lunch that day..With out any objections, I readily accepted the proposal with cleaning task allocated to me...
He prepared tasty "Pithala" (A typical Maharashtrian dish made up of peas floor) and the Masala rice...It was great to have Masala rice, Pithala and curd with little bit of pickle...
After a quick nap, we went for grocery shopping and as usual ended up in spending almost 4 hours in various shops... It was pleasant outside with temp around 5/6 deg. While returning Mita asked whether we want to go to their place for a cup of tea. I doubt if any one would deny for tea in such a nice weather. :) We had tea along with Gajar Halava at her place.
The real story started after that. There was a party arranged at Gautam and Rashmi's place. The occasion was Koushik's "Kelvan". He is getting married in December will head to India soon for the same. Rashmi had invited around 20 people and she cooked alone for all of them..!

We started with drinks including Bud light, Pepsi, Orange Juice and Apple sider. No body was in mood to have hard drinks as people had enough in Southmoor Christmas party on the day before. :)
Rashmi had prepared variety of dishes for main course. The main dish was Aloo tikki (Paties made of Potato) and the "Ragada" (Preparation of cheek peas).I was realy yummy with addition of tamarind chuttney, cut onion, coriander and curd.

Another dish was Pasta (rather Indian Pasta. this was the name given by her :) This was a delicious preparation which had vegetables in it and was served with hot and crispy garlic breads.

Masala rice was also prepared just in case required.
I didn't even look at it after having such a nice pasta and Ragada Patties. !!

It was a time for Dessert with people just finishing with the main course and trying to settle with their increased weights and volume. Yummy hot Gulabjamun with Vanilla Ice cream was presented. People really started jumping after looking at the delicious dessert. Every one was racing to ahead in the queue of repeat round.
I am sure it would have added 2000 calories after having such a nice and mouth watering food yesterday.
If you are feeling hungry after looking at those photos, do visit Rahsmi's place. :)

Brunch at Common Grill

Last Sunday, my friend Aarti & myself went to a locally popular restaurant in Chelsea, MI called 'The Common Grill'for brunch. Walking into the restaurant, we saw most patrons formally dressed. Dressed casually in jeans & a t-shirt – I felt distinctly underdressed there! This place has a nice family atmosphere, and most tables had groups of 6 or more enjoying a leisurely Sunday brunch.

We were shown to a table that overlooked the Main Street in Chelsea. Sitting there, I could almost forget that I was in the US; it had the homely and comfortable feel of an inn along the Welsh countryside.

They had a 'Lobsterfest' going on and the current specials were all centered on shrimp & lobster delicacies.

We started off brunch with a Strawberry Bellini and a Mimosa.
 
The drinks arrived soon along with some freshly baked lobster shaped herbed bread. The bread was so delicious that I almost forgot to click a picture, and here you see the lobster shape with a claw missing!
   

The drinks were refreshing, light & fruity, and were – in good time, followed by the entrees. Our entrée choices were Cajun lobster & Shrimp omlette and a Baked Egg in Flan with Sausage & Fennel seeds. The entrees were absolutely amazing, and decent sized portions. The cajun shrimp omlette arrived with some deliciously flavored hashbrowns, and some crisp toast on the side.

We decided to pack our leftovers into boxes, since we did not want to miss out on the dessert. We decided to sample the delicious sounding bread pudding with drizzled chocolate and raspberries – which believe me tasted far better than you can imagine from the pictures posted here.