Lemon pound cake with lemon glaze

A cousin whose birthday I missed was the perfect excuse for this. She inhaled the tres leches I had left over, and would emerge from her book blinking sleepily to say 'cake? I heard cake!' every time anyone said anything that rhymed with cake, and so, even though she wanted chocolate, I begged her to choose something else for me to make. She graciously allowed me to choose, with this as the result.

This cake is fabulous. Light, moist, tart, sweet, and mildly crunchy if the humidity doesn't make the frosting gooey, it goes so well with anything at all, and stays for ever in the fridge. Though I don't know, the second time I made it I took three fourths of the bundt off to friends, and it didn't last long enough for us to measure it's longevity!

Link party!

Lisa from Sweet as Sugar Cookies invited me to link up my sugar cookies! I feel so important...

Sugar cookies!

Adapted from Annie's Eats

For the party we had to celebrate my job at a place I've always wanted to work at, Dragon and I had a party, themed and everything. So I made sugar cookies, in white, orange and black. (Okay, only the orange ones were orange!) The recipe I used needed icing, so while the chocolate ones turned out delectably chocolate, the plain ones were a bit sad, but the ones covered in orange icing were perfect. So I adjusted the plain recipe.

Lentil soup

Or, I'm sick of dal, and I can't be bothered to make veggies.

For pre-cooking and background, see this.

• 1/2 cup uncooked brown lentils (masoor dal), pre-cooked
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 tsp garlic paste

You can also add any herbs you like, paprika and tomato would be nice, also rosemary or thyme if you like them.

Cook the garlic paste in the oil, add the cooked lentils and the spices, and salt to taste. bring to a boil.

To make this recipe more filling, you can poach an egg into the soup. Simply crack the egg into the boiling lentils, cover the pot and cook as long as you want.

Any dal (this one is awesome with arhar)

For pre-cooking and background, see this.

• 1/2 cup uncooked dal, pre-cooked.
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds (big black ones)
• 1/2 tsp jeera powder
• 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 small tomato finely chopped
• 5-6 curry leaves (fresh if pos, dried also work)

Heat the oil and put the mustard seeds in. When they start to pop, add the rest of the spices, curry leaves (they will leap about if fresh) and the ginger garlic and fry for a bit. Add the onions till pearly, then tomato till juice runs, and then dal and salt. Bring to a boil.

Masoor dal

For pre-cooking and other background, see this.

This works with any dal actually.

• 1/2 cup uncooked dal, pre-cooked 
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp dhania powder
• 1/2 tsp jeera powder
• 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 small tomato finely chopped
• fresh coriander (optional)

Fry the spices in the oil for a couple of minutes. Add the ginger garlic and cook for a minute. Add the onion and saute till pearly. Add the tomato and cook till juices flow. Add the dal, salt to taste and bring to a boil. Garnish with fresh coriander.

Simplest moong dal

For pre-cooking and background, see this.

• 1/2 cup uncooked moong dal, pre-cooked
• 1 tsp oil 
• 1 tsp jeera powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder (optional)

Fry the jeera, and the turmeric if you're using it, in the oil nicely, so it smells all cooked. Like 2 min or so. Add the dal, and salt to taste, bring to a boil. And ta-DAAAAA(L)!