Celebrating Autumn With A Cornucopia of Gourds

One of my favorite seasons is Autumn and the colorful foliage. You see, our house is surrounded by these tall, towering trees and so there are lots of leaves. Sometimes, I get these urges to jump into a large pile of them and roll around. One of these days I will. For now, I'll just sit outside on the deck and enjoy the leaves falling in the morning light. One can't help but appreciate Nature's wondrous beauty in all forms and colors. Another reason I love this time of the year is the pumpkins. All the houses on our block have these intricately carved pumpkins out on the porch for the upcoming holiday, Halloween. Besides the pumpkins, we like putting a cornucopia of gourds to celebrate the new season. It's an explosion of yellows, oranges and reds; decorating is so much fun. We also love cooking with them.

Here are some of our favorite and popular recipes:
Seasoned Pumpkin and Butternut Squash Curry
Chunky Pumpkin Sambhar
Achari Chayote Curry
Shahi Korma
Long Squash Yogurt Dip
Skintastic Squash 
Sweet and Sour Chutney

Upcoming Recipes:
Guest Post: Bottle Gourds Sambhar

~Cheers To The End Of Summer~

Mana's Aloha Farm - Fruit stand just outside of Akaka Falls State Park

Aloha to all! We're back from our island paradise getaway to Hawai'i. It was wonderful and definitely worth every penny. Indulged in tropical fruits and weather everyday and returned home with a big smile. Only wish we had more time to spend there. Alas there's always next time.
When we got home, we enjoyed some good ol' home cooking with some warm rasam and rice. Then ended the night with a glass of Tropical Fresca while reflecting back on our fun in the sun and on the beach. Join in by making your own batch today with the following ingredients. The recipe makes 6 servings (each serving is about 8oz):

- 250 ml canned Pineapple juice
- 250 ml Mango juice
- 250 ml Sprite
- ½ cup crushed ice

Fill the pitcher with crushed ice and pour in the juices and soda. Mix well. Serve cold.

***Quick Tip: For a low cal version, use seltzer water instead of Sprite.