For the Love of Food

So, to continue sharing with you all that I have been keeping busy doing the past few months…while I wasn’t blogging…I want to share with you my garden!

I have been busy growing may types of plants – most importantly the ones that I can’t get here in Germany like Tomatillos and Jalapeños. By the time September roles around I hope to be making Tomatillo salsa and canning it to hold us over for the winter.

For the past 4 garden seasons I have not had any luck with cucumbers. This year I tried a different type that seens have be doing very very well in my garden. I have harvested 7 of these so far and more are growing! It’s so exciting to eat food you have grown yourself. Check out these slices: Continue Reading »

From time to time I like to enjoy grilled pork belly. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it for sale in the US, but it is quite popular here in Germany – especially in grilling season.

What is pork belly? Think is thick slices of raw un-smoked bacon – pre-bacon if you will. Before slicing, the meat is scored with a box cutter and then cut into finger-thick slices and placed in a marinade which is usually paprika based.

Grilled pork belly tastes best, but if you just can’t light-up the grill, you can also grill it in your oven with a little creativity. Most importantly, don’t forget to add a casserole dish filled with water to steam the meat while it grills so that it becomes nice and crispy, but does not dry out. Think of this as indoor grilling 101 – this method work well with any type of meat that you can fit on your oven grate.

Enjoy!

Currently, we are obsessed with popovers!

A few weeks ago my husband discovered a recipe for pop overs somewhere while stumbling. To our delight, they are quick and easy to make and taste delicious!

So, plan this for breakfast tomorrow – it is the weekend and you should take the time to pamper yourself.

Originally, the recipe we are using calls for brushing the popovers with melted butter and then rolling them in a cinnamon-sugar combination, but we prefer them plain. They have a fascinating flavor to them. Almost like a crepe. I think they would taste wonderful filled with melted cheddar and ham, others we’ve made these for have thought of filling them with jelly or nutella.

The recipe makes 12, but you may want to make more …they go really really quickly! They are so good that we eat them burning hot, the baby wiggles with excitement when he sees them, and out little one starts jumping.

Here is our recipe: Continue Reading »

I have been absent – on and off – for quite a while now. I think it may be a year since I’ve been “neglecting” my blog.

We have had a rough ride with life over the past year, but I have not let it stop me from cooking or from photographing my dishes.

I think it’s time to start rolling them out. Now, I can’t make any promises – I have a 3.5 and an almost 1 year old at home – things can get hectic and some evenings I just collapse from exhaustion. But, my goal and wish is to share it all with you.

While living in my in-between-homes apartment (see the yellow plastic plates I had to eat off of for over 3 months), I came across a fantastic blog: Budget Bites. Now, I love meals that keep me from spending lots of money. And, I love them even more when they are recipes of traditionally expensive dishes in restaurants.

To make this recipe even better, it saves me the hassle of rolling – to the disappointment of my 3.5 year old son who loves sushi rolled.

I did change up her recipe slightly to fit our family’s needs. I wanted a dressing that even our little one could enjoy and came up with an avocado dressing that went great with this dish.

So, here’s my version: Continue Reading »

Hi everyone, and Happy Birthday! Taste&Create has turned 3 years old! I am really glad that we have such a big turn-out this time around, and would like to welcome all of our new bloggers.

Because it is our 3-year anniversary, we will be doing something a little different this month – next month things will be back to normal. This month instead of the typical “make any dish on your partner’s blog” please make a dessert from your partner’s blog to commemorate our special month.

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 August, 2010.

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

Here is this month’s partner list:
Vrybzy Baking and More! & Dish on Diva Desserts
YUM FOOD & Dragon Musings
Starting All Over Again & seduce your tastebuds
For the Love of Food & Cupcakes, Food and Pretty Lil Things
Laws of the Kitchen & Baking and Cooking, a Tale of Two Loves
Cupcake Project & A Whisk and a Prayer
Rhubarb and Honey & Tinned Tomatoes
Always Eat on the Good China & mygreenmouth
KC in the Kitchen & NO REASON NEEDED
Bombay Foodie & Busy-at-Home