For the Love of Food

The cognac gives the onions sweet overtones, so if you are looking for a sweet onion flavor and not the even sweeter flavor of cognac on top of that, just leave it out. Continue Reading »

Last Spring my son was accepted to one of the preschools in historic downtown.  We have a few friends from our garden who also send their children there.  One of theme was a regular at the preschools “workshop” where parents get together and can jellies and make jewelry to be sold at the local Christmas market to raise money for different activities the children do in preschool.

Now, i haven’t had a chance to be part of a club or group that does things for fun (like crafts) since I was in high school.  So, I jumped at the opportunity to join the workshop.  We meet once a month around 8pm, crack open a bottle of wine, bring some snacks, and work on different crafts and talk.  It’s really so much fun and a great way to meet other moms/women – especially when you don’t know many people.

So…when I heard about their need for jellies, I got really excited and ran home in search of a unique recipe.  I came across a recipe on MyRecipes.com for a watermelon jelly, tweaked it, and ended up with something everyone was talking about!

The mom who is in charge of the organization for the jelly/jam/preserves/chutney sales gave my jelly the name “Toskanischer Sommer” (Tuscan Summer – in German).  I went by the market everyday with my camera to get a picture of it with the other jellies, but it was never out.  Then, the only day I show up without a camera, they are selling it..so these are pictures I took with my cell phone.

Much to my delight, all of my jelly was sold out in 2 days!!! Continue Reading »

Welcome to Taste&Create hosted by me, Nicole, from For the Love of Food.

I would like to welcome any of you who are knew to the event and am happy to see all of you who return each month for more!

This month, as usual, is different from the rest of the year. Because of the many holidays that take place around this time of the year, December and January Taste&Creates are combined into one. That means that you have 2 months to take care of making your dish and posting your blog entry.

Just a reminder:
-the rules can be found here.
-please do not email me your submission, go to the Taste&Create website, register/sign-in and submit your entry there by the 24th of January, 2010.

The next Taste&Create you can sign-up for is February and sign-ups will end on February 8th, 2010 for that event.

Here is this month’s partner list:
vanillastrawberryspringfields & The Singing Chef
Seduce your tastebuds & NO REASON NEEDED
Sweet and Savory Says it All & Dil Se..
The Bad Girl’s Kitchen & Bombay Foodie
Cupcake Project & A Bolder Table
One little Corner of the World & The Creative Pot

Well, it looks like we will be moving sometime in February. We have been on the look-out for a nice apartment in our town for the past few months, and, finally, we have found one that fits all our needs. Most importantly, it is on the ground floor (no more going up 5 stories holding two small children) and it has enough room for my husband to have his own office so he doesn’t have to work in our bedroom the whole day.

While the apartment is actually very beautiful as is, we have to have it renovated because it used to be a tax attorney’s office and there are no bathrooms..among other things. We will be knocking down some walls, adding a balcony, and adding 2 bathroom, etc. I just thought I’d share a few pictures of the future apartment with you, it’s a bit over 100 years old. The top left picture is of a old door handle to our future master bathroom. The top right photo is the entrance to the future master bathroom and the window to the right of that will be turned into a glass door to our future balcony. The bottom right photo is of the hallway/entry way. And, the bottom left picture is one of the main reasons I fell in love with the apartment – this is the kitchen…and that window is 9 feet wide!! We will be knocking out the wall to the left and making a large living/dining/kitchen, and under this huge window will be part of the kitchen and my sink as well as a desk for me in the kitchen. I will be adding lots of tall planters with tall plants on the outdoor windowsills so that we have some more privacy.

Oh, and it’s right off of the pedestrian zone in the heart of downtown.  Which means that I have to only walk 3 minutes to the closest grocery store and less than 60 seconds to the nearest pharmacy!  Granted, now I live a 10 minute walk away, but closer is always better and more comfortable.

So, when you are wondering where I am when I’m not blogging or taking care of my 2 little ones or baking Christmas cookies…I’m picking out new kitchen flooring, kitchen cabinets, and bathroom fixtures.

It is exciting, but I can’t wait until it’s finally over…it’s very stressful!

So, once you have made a delicious bowl of vegan refried black beans you need a way to use them. Tostadas are a great way to use refried beans in general and they’re quick and easy once the beans are made up. Continue Reading »

Through some quite successful trial and error I have found that the best tasting refried black beans are vegan. So, how do you achieve nice thick refried beans without all that lard?? Tomato paste! And, if you prefer yours on the spicy side, there are now some tomato pastes that have chili paste mixed into them for a nice kick.

So, next time you want to make some refried beans and are looking for something vegan, or just plain healthy, this is a great and easy recipe to come back to!

Ingredients:
1 Cup of dried Black Beans
Water
1 teaspoon Salt
1/4 Cup Tomato Paste
1 teaspoon (or to taste) Salt
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder

Directions:
“Quick soak” the beans by placing them in very hot water (2 inches above beans) in a pot and bringing them to boil for 2 minutes, then remove from heat, cover and let stand for 1 hour.

Drain the old water and give them a good rinse with hot water, and cover with more hot water until at least 2 inches above the beans (the water should not pass the half way mark of the pressure cooker), add 1 teaspoon salt, cover with lid, tighten all the appropriate areas to seal the pressure in, and cook on high heat. Once the pressure has built up to high pressure, cook for 25 minutes.

Remove from heat, and let stand until the pressure has released on its own. Once pressure has dissipated, carefully remove the lid of the pressure cooker.

To “puré” the beans, stomp with a potato masher or use a blender wand to puré, but make sure not to burn yourself with hot liquid.

Re-heat puréed black beans, tomato paste, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder over medium-high heat. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally until the beans have reduced to a loose refried beans state (not too soupy and not too thick).

Remove from heat, set aside, cover, and keep warm while everything else is cooking.

Makes about 2 cups worth.

Way way back in the beginning of the summer, when sour cherries were in season, I canned 2 batches of maraschino cherries. It was actually pretty simple. The “hardest” part was waiting until the sour cherries were in season because it only happens for 3-4 weeks a year!

To pit them, I took a paper clip, stuck it through the top and scooped out the pit. There are plenty of examples on how to do this online.

The 2 batches of cherries I made were different. One was just preserved in maraschino liquor and the other had some fructose added to it for sweetness. They were both canned in a water bath.

After waiting a few weeks, I opened them up and did a taste test. And, they are nothing like their store-bought counter parts, but are a much more gourmet version to impress your friends with. I had a lot of fun with this and hope that you can too next year when sour cherries are back in season.

Ingredients:
pitted sour cherries
enough Maraschino Liquor to cover them in a canning jar
2 teaspoons of Sugar or Fructose per 1/2 cup of cherries to be canned
jars of canning in

Directions:
place cherries, maraschino liquor, and fructose in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes and pour into canning jar(s). Sea the jars and can in a water bath for 10 minutes. Remove from water carefully, set aside and leave undisturbed for 24 hours. Open after at least 1 week so flavors have time to set.

Enjoy in cakes, over ice cream, or in your favorite cocktails!

Oh Summer, how I miss you!

Today is one of the few sunny Autumn days that we get here in Germany. Usually, the sky is the same shade of gray-white until late March. But, it’s a small price to pay for those long summer days that I love so very much!

In the mean time, enjoy this salad that I made back in August. Continue Reading »

A nice brownie recipe for a cold Autumn day.

I found this recipe via The Food Librarian and immediately ran to the kitchen to make sure I had all ingredients. And, I did..so I started baking. While along my merry way…the brownie batter in the oven..my hopes high…I blew the fuse in the kitchen that had both the oven and toaster oven on it…. And, didn’t realize it until the timer went off. So, my brownies were cooked through, but a sad resemblance of The Food Librarian’s delicious brownies. I will have to have a do-over once I’m in my new kitchen in January (more on that later!).

So, bake, enjoy..and don’t blow a fuse!

Here is my tweaked version: Continue Reading »

Welcome to Taste&Create hosted by me from For the Love of Food.

I would like to welcome any of you who are knew to the event and am happy to see all of you who return each month for more!

Just a reminder:
-the rules can be found here.
-please do not email me your submission, go to the Taste&Create website, register/sign-in and submit your entry there by the 24th of November.

Sign-ups for December/January’s Taste&Create will end, as usual, on December 8th. Every year I combine December and January because of the holidays, so the next sign-up after December 8th will be February 8th.

Here is this month’s partner list:

Yael’s Yummies & NO REASON NEEDED
Seduce your tastebuds & hungrywoolf
Cupcake Project & The Creative Pot
A Bolder Table & Love Big, Bake Often
Piccante Dolce & Bombay Foodie
One Little Corner of the World & Sweet and Savory Says it All
The Bad Girl’s Kitchen & Knick Nosh
What’s for Supper? &  vanillastrawberryspringfields