We are in the dead of winter where I live, though thankfully I don't live in poor Boston!  Nonetheless, temperatures are expected to dip into the single digits in the next few days and the skies have been gloomy and gray.  If for no other reason than to give me something to be excited about in the middle of dreary winter, I enjoy "celebrating" Valentine's Day.  Truthfully, I never do much planning for it; since the very beginning, Hubs has been the one to surprise me with plans that always involve relaxation and a fun activity, like chocolate-making or spending time at a botanical garden.  My usual way of reciprocating is by making Hubs his favorite food:  cookies.

Yes, Hubs' favorite food is actually cookies.  His go-to cookie is a chocolate chip cookie with pecans or walnuts, but he is not discriminating and will eat any cookie that comes his way.  This year I wanted to change it up and thought about making shortbread cookies instead of some chocolate chip variation.

Shortbread cookies require very few ingredients--just flour, butter, and sugar.  No eggs, no baking soda, etc.  The dough ends up being more firm than that of other cookies, and the cookies end up crispier than most other types of cookies--which makes them ideal for dipping into chocolate.  I also decided to use ghee instead of regular butter in these cookies because it has a slightly nutty flavor that I thought would pair well with the chai spices.

Diwali, "the festival of lights," is one of the most important Hindu holidays.  Every year it falls on a different date sometime between October and November because the date is calculated based on the Hindu calendar.  Diwali is a celebratory time when people light candles and firecrackers, clean and decorate their homes, buy and wear new clothing, buy and give presents, and enjoy feasts of food.  Of course, as with all holidays, eating sweets is a big part of celebrating Diwali!  This year I decided to take a traditional Indian sweet and put a spin on it with American fall flavors.

Laddoo is a traditional spherical-shaped Indian sweet.  Laddoos are generally made of some combination of flour, ghee (butter), and sugar.  Often other ingredients are also added to the mixture, such as spices, raisins, and nuts.

One of my favorite types of laddoo is a Besan Laddoo.  Besan is flour made from chickpeas (bonus!  these laddoos are gluten-free!) which is easily found in any Indian store or most grocery stores.  I have very vivid memories of being a little girl and eating besan laddoos made fresh by my mother and grandmother in the dining room of our house; I have always loved the nutty taste and smooth texture of a besan laddoo.  In lieu of traditional Indian spices, however, I decided to update the besan laddoo with a beloved American flavor combination--cinnamon and brown sugar!   

A few weeks ago, I hosted my first three-course Indian food dinner party!  It was a lot of work for a newbie like me, but it was much appreciated by our non-Indian guests.  To make my life a little easier, I thought about sticking with easy desserts, like fruit.  Then I thought about making kheer, a dessert I have always loved and which is not difficult to make!

Kheer (also known as payasam in South India) is a type of rice pudding.  It is usually flavored with saffron, almonds, pistachios, and/or cardamom.  Kheer has a milkier texture and is not as thick as American rice pudding.  If you ever have last-minute company, I highly recommend preparing kheer as dessert because it does not take a long time to make and is liked by most people.  Our dinner party guests absolutely loved it!