Exactly one week ago we moved. We bought a new house, and we've been dealing with all that packing up and moving ones' stuff entails. So, I got the idea a few weeks before we moved to pack my kitchen up in a "special place." You see, we're going to be be redoing the kitchen. My first kitchen my way, and so while all that fiesta is happening, I'm using the kitchen of a friend for my cooking. The "Special Place" turned out to be a bunch of boxes in my friend's garage, and to complicate matters a bit more, all the boxes I packed for some reason say "Glass, Fragile!!!" on them underlined three times in red magic marker. Evidently, I was in such a paranoid frame of mind about things getting broken or lost while packing up for the kitchen move to my "Special Place" that I cannot find a damn thing. I mean that.
I went into my friends garage to see my "Special Place"....
What could possibly have gone wrong here? Are "glass" and "fragile" the only two words I know??? Are upward trending arrows the only thing I knew how to draw. This is by far one of the dumbest things I've ever done. I mark it down to the stress of moving but, life goes on and I'm determined to cook. So, after opening my 4th box this morning and finding not the measuring spoons I wanted but instead, coming up with steak knife. Yes, not knives mind you, but steak knife in the singular, I decided to work with what I've got and what I can find now. I have decided to Cook From Boxes. I am going to be cooking recipes that are easy, fast, and simple. So simple, in fact that you can cook them from what you find in a box. Hey, any box, take your pick. I got a million of them. Literally. I'm not kidding. I have a freaking gigantic pile of kitchen boxes, apparently stuffed with nothing but fragile glass.
Since, I stumbled across a bucket of shredded coconut, my kadhai (was I relieved to find that), condensed milk and a bag of cashews, I decided to kick off my new temporary cooking style with a classic ladoo recipe, Nariyal Ladoo. Ladoo are usually served for festivals, celebrations such as Diwali, or Holi. Actually, I had intended to make them for Holi, but you know, moving. So, since yesterday was Easter Sunday it seemed to be the perfect time to enjoy a sweet treat. Also, the stuff was the box I opened so there was that....
These Nariyal Ladoo, take only about 30 minutes, from making to enjoying. —Kathy Gori
See what other Food52ers are saying.