For the Love of Food

Before I left on my trip to the US, my in-laws visited us here in Germany and we took a 3 days trip to the Czech Republic. We spent 2 days in Prague and a day in Pilsen – the birth place of the pilsner beer.

I really really enjoy Prague every time I go, it’s just so very beautiful. And, I recommend if you ever have the chance to go that you take it.

Bellow I will share with you some of the many pictures that I took while in Prague and on our tour of the Pilsner Urquell brewery. Enjoy! Continue Reading »

Last year I made a really delicious fried rice from my Taste&Create partner’s blog The CookMobile. Every time I make the recipe I expand it just a little more.

A few months ago I asked my husband to cook it for dinner and he ended up throwing in other ingredients that I hadn’t even thought of adding. The verdict: it tastes even better! So, when I had a chance to make it again, I added his expansions to the recipe. I also used half the shrimp that the recipe calls for since I only had half available, but to make it feel like we still had enough, I cut each piece of shrimp in half and butterflied it. It ended up working really well, and since shrimp is very expensive in the part of the world I live in, I think I will stick to half the amount.

For those of you who would love a quick homemade meal in less than 30 minutes, this is a great recipe for you. Just think, by the time to you drive to a restaurant, wait to be seated, order your food, and finally get to eat, it’s been over an hour. This way you will be done from start to finish (including prep time) in less than 30 minutes. And, the more practice you have with the recipe, the quicker it gets. I can make it in 20 minutes flat!

Oh, and yes, it does taste just as good as take out…in my opinion, even better! Continue Reading »

As I hinted at in the last post, my father-in-law visits cooking classes at his local Williams-Sonoma that they offer for free on Sundays to anyone who wishes to attend.

While were were visiting, my husband and I had the opportunity to visit a class with him in north Austin.

I found the set-up quite nice. They had a large angled mirror on the ceiling so that we could see what they were cooking. We were able to taste-test everything and it was quite tasty. I was, however, disappointed that they were using mainly ingredients that you could only buy in their stores – like their roasted version of Ro-Tel for $12!!!

My father-in-law mentioned that they have different cooks for the different classes, and that this lady is the one who plugs their products. Other cooks cook from scratch and give tips as to where the correct ingredients can be found at other locations around town.

So, what did we eat while we were there?? Continue Reading »

While I was on vacation in the US and visiting my in-laws, my father-in-law made us some stuffed pancakes that he learned how to make at his weekly Williams-Sonoma cooking classes.

The original recipe calls for stuffing them with blueberries, but he stuffed them with a variety of items. We had some stuffed with homemade Italian sausage, some with maraschino cherries, some with Nutella, other with pineapple, and blueberries. All-in-all my favorite were the ones with the Italian sausage in the middle because I enjoyed the sweet/savory combination.

That being said, I found that the pancakes took quite a while to make/cook and by the time they were all done, we were all starving and the pancakes were cold. You also need the special Williams-Sonoma mini round pancake pan to make them.

The recipe can be found here on Williams-Sonoma’s website.

Bellow are pictures of the process: Continue Reading »

A while back I came across a recipe on Use Real Butter for some good-looking fish tacos. Now, I’m not a big fan of fried fish – or fried anything for that matter (too messy), but my mom never minds frying something for us. So, when I was visiting her on our trip to the US, we took the opportunity to make this together.

I can’t remember where I got the recipe for the white sauce that we used, or if i just made it up as I thought it should taste, but if you do a Google search for “fish taco white sauce recipe“, you’ll have plenty of recipes to choose from.

My mom ended up frying more fish than we could eat in tacos that day, so she froze the leftovers and said that they defrosted very nicely and remained crispy if you cooked them in the toaster oven. So, if you like to have fried fish, but don’t like to fry all the time, it would be a good idea to make a large batch of these and freeze them for later use. Continue Reading »

While on my vacation in the US my brother took me to a cupcake bakery in Austin called hey cupcake! I’d never been to a bakery before that only specialized in cupcakes.

I have had my fair share of bakery cupcakes in my life time, so I wasn’t expecting too much. Then, I took the first bite…

They were heavenly! So perfectly moist, but not gooey, with the perfect creamy frosting on top – I was in heaven! Continue Reading »

When I was visiting my mom in the US we took the opportunity to give my brother a belated birthday party. He loves cookie cakes, so my mom decided to try to make her own.
I think when I was younger one of these would cost about $30 at the mall, but for a fraction of the price, you can make it at home. My mom said she used the Nestle tollhouse recipe for bars, and we used the cream cheese frosting that she used on my baby shower cake.
She made the cookie cake on a round pizza stone that she had, but you can make this on any round pizza pan or into any other shape: rectangular, square, heart…etc.
All-in-all everyone loved it and it was hard to not keep sneaking pieces later on! Continue Reading »

While visiting my mom in the US, I had the opportunity to make some meals that I just hadn’t gotten around to making at home. One of the meals that has been on my list for a few months now has been a beef and Guinness pot pie – my husband’s request.

After some searching, I cam across a recipe that appealed to me from Closet Cooking. And, I combined it with my favorite pie dough recipe from Joy of Baking (minus the sugar).

This was actually a joint venture recipe: I made the pie dough, my mom made the beef stew, and my husband put it all together and baked it.

Now, I have never had a beef pot pie before, so I can’t compare with other recipes, but this with absolutely delicious, mouth-watering, plate-licking good. And, everyone who had some agreed – even my brother who is a very very very picky eater!

The recipe can be found here.