For the Love of Food

Way back when my husband and I were just married, we used to go on picnics all the time. My husband’s work route took him through a park, and after work on nice warm days, I would meet half way and we would have a picnic for dinner.

Now that we have two wonderful children, our picnics revolve around play grounds and sandboxes more than they do around food. So, since Foodbuzz asked us to blog about a meal on the go for this weeks Project Foodblog challenge, I decided to recreate a picnic for two.

On one of our previous visits to Prague, we discovered 94-year-old Deli in the heart of Downtown that has some of the most unique and delicious sandwiches I’ve ever had the pleasure of enjoying. Today, I would like to share the experience of a true Bohemian picnic with you.

The region of Germany that I live in is right next to Bohemia – which is in the western part of the Czech Republic, and much of the Bohemian culture extends into Bavaria. And, my butcher’s family just happens to be from Bohemia, so I asked for some advice as to what would be a typical Bohemian picnic meal to complement my potato salad and roast beef sandwiches. His mother-in-law came out from the back where she usually helps prepare take-away food, and shared some advice with me.  We settled on Brussels sprout salad, rice pudding with preserved, sour cherries, and elderflower spritzer.  My Bohemian picnic was starting to come to life.

And, with the surprisingly sunny weather we had this weekend, we were able to head on over to our community garden for a nice picnic dinner for two – while the kids played in the playground, of course!  I really love the scent of fresh air with my meal – it makes everything taste better.

Potato salad is a very classic picnic dish, but it’s much more fun – and delicious – when it’s in a sandwich.  It transforms a dry piece of bread into a deliciously creamy sandwich.  You can top it off with any deli meat of your liking; my favorite is roast beef because, not only does it taste good, but I have many wonderful childhood memories attached it it.  Then, go ahead and add some tomato, hard boiled egg, and pickle, and you have yourself the perfect Bohemian sandwich.

To complement the flavors and textures of my creamy potato salad and roast beef sandwich, I made a Brussels sprout salad.  I actually grew-up eating this same dish at home – even though I’m not Bohemian – with one major difference.  They add sugar.  I was really worried that this would over sweeten the Brussels sprouts and make them taste gross, but I was quite wrong.  And, although I still prefer my mother’s tangy version, this one is quite palatable and a really big hit with the kids.  My son was begging me for more after 2 helpings!

To help wash everything down, I chose to make an elderflower spritzer.  True, beer is very Bohemian, but I wanted something lighter that would offset the savory flavors of the sandwich.  This was actually the first time I had ever used and tasted elderflower syrup, and I was pleasantly surprised by its fragrant flavor.

To crown the meal, we enjoyed rice pudding topped off with the sour cheery pie filling that I canned this summer.  Traditionally, you would use sour cherries preserved in their own juices, but I find the creamier pie filling preserves the consistency of the rice pudding instead of turning it into a watery mess.

The general rule of a Bohemian picnic is to use what’s available to you.  Don’t have access to roast beef?  Use ham.  Or, go vegetarian and leave the deli meat out all together.  Not a big fan of Brussels sprouts?  You can make the same delicious salad using cauliflower.  Did you miss-out on the 3 weeks of the year when sour cherries are in season?  No problem, you can also top off your rice pudding with preserved plums, raspberries, or apples.  Use what you have in your pantry or what is in season and local.  Never heard of elderflowers and they don’t grow in your region?  Make a simple syrup with fresh petals and herbs available to you: rose petals, orange or lemon blossoms, lemon verbena leaves, lavender flowers, hibiscus flowers, mint leaves, vanilla bean …the list goes on and on.  Mrs. Willomitzer shared with me that when there was no wine they even made a simple syrup out of red wine vinegar and drank that mixed with water.  Creativity is key.

So, get your creative juices flowing, get cooking, pack your awesome Project Foodblog cooler or picnic basket, and take the time to have a Bohemian picnic. Continue Reading »

The project foodblog challenge has driven me to seek out new and interesting ingredients at stores and parts of town that I had never previously visited.  This week’s challenge brought me to a wig shop in Nuremberg.  When my friend told me that I had to go to wig shop for raw coffee beans, I took a double take at her email.  So, in the spirit of trying out something new, I made my way past all the wigs and hair weave and bought some raw Ethiopian  coffee beans.

A while back I had the pleasure of watching a colleague preform an Ethiopian coffee ceremony in our community garden, and since roasting coffee is not something we take the time to do everyday, I thought it would be a fun adventure.

I have to say that I really enjoy learning something new (and I bet you do too!).  Did you know that raw coffee beans smell like a cross between freshly pulled garden weeds and a far, far off hint of ground coffee??  I also learned that the coffee smell that sends all of us flocking to the nearest café does not come about during roasting, but rather while grinding.

This was definitely a lot of fun and easy to do.  The “hardest” part was finding the raw coffee beans.  Now, let me show you how it’s done!

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As promised, I will be re-posting the recipes from my luxurious Iraqi dinner party. Today I am starting with the pomegranate martinis we served before the first course.

I had never had a martini before this, and to be honest, I’m not sure I will have one after. They are just waaaayyyy to strong for me. I’m a margarita sort of girl. But, I like to try new things, and if you do too, then you should at least try this at least once.

Just a warning – this makes enough for 6 drinks. And, the original recipe can be found here. Please note that mine is much darker than theirs, but I was using jarred syrup as opposed to fresh made. Continue Reading »

Voting is now open!  Please cast your vote for me here. 

Now, I have hosted many parties in my short life: impromptu dinner parties, lunch parties, brunch parties, garden parties, winter solstice parties, children’s birthday parties, Thanksgiving parties…I could go on for quite a while.  But, I’ve never hosted a luxurious dinner party.  So, when Foodbuzz challenged us to host a luxurious dinner party I hit the web to get ideas on how to host one.

To my utter surprise, there is not a lot of information out there on how to host a luxurious dinner party – needless to say a small intimate dinner party.  There is plenty of information on how to throw huge and elegant wedding bashes, but since I cannot seat 100+ in my home, I had to turn to other sources.

I quickly emailed the two people I knew would have detailed thoughts as to what a luxurious dinner party would entail.  Could I hold it in my home since my dining table is in my kitchen?  Would I need a server?  These are just some of the questions I had.  Surprisingly – well, maybe not – I got quite different answers from both sources, but good advice none the less.

So, what do you need to put together a luxurious dinner party?? Continue Reading »

This is a fun recipe to make with your kids for a hot summer day.

So, what is an ice cherry?? An ice cherry is an ice cube shaped like a cherry with a stem.

They are pretty simple to make – the “complicated” part is finding an ice cube tray that fits what you need. I happened to have one lying around.

Here’s what you do: Continue Reading »

A year and a half ago I found myself in one of the greenest countries I’ve ever visited. And, this week is all about the Irish and their patron Saint: St. Patrick.

Being someone who pays quite a lot of attention to food, while in Ireland I noticed that food in Ireland is predominantly NOT green. Rich browns, oranges, and yellows adorn most plates nation-wide. And, especially in pubs, the leafy green salads that many of us are used to are few and far between – and sometimes non-existent.

So, what does a typical Irish meal consist of? Potatoes, meat, cooked vegetables such as carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, and cauliflower, and more potatoes…they sure do like their potatoes. I remember once when we stopped for lunch at a cantina and my husband was served two types of potatoes with his spaghetti!

Bread is also an integral part of daily life on the Emerald Isle. They have everything from scones to brown bread to soda bread. While we were staying at Stanley House in Schull, we fell in love with Mrs. Brosnan’s fabulous homemade brown bread. So much so that I asked for the recipe and have been waiting for a while now to try it out. But, since all my baking supplies are backed away in boxes, it may just have to wait for next St. Patrick’s day. Continue Reading »

About a year ago our friends from Hempe Kommunikations Deisgns invited us over for a delicious traditional Franconian meal of pork roast and potato dumplings.  I’m not sure whose idea it originally was, but our friends ended up taking step-by-step photos of the process and giving me the recipe.  It was not only a fantastically delicious meal, but it seemed simple enough for me to reproduce.

So, after some practice, I thought it would be great to use my opportunity to through another Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 event and show my friends how well I have learned their recipe myself.  And, since it’s the right time of year, I decided it was time to break out the wooden Spekulatius boards and make some spiced cookies.

I was so excited when I pulled the pork roast out of the oven and saw the look on my friend’s face..and hear the words that came out of her mouth: look at the crust, I don’t think we’ve ever had a crust like that on any of our roasts!

And, as many cooks, what do I like more than cooking and eating my own creations?? : when people love my food.

The roast was a huge hit – crunchy, juicy, perfectly flavored – same with all the side dishes.  The cookies..well, they were ok, nothing to talk over…a shame.  But, we will keep trying until we get the perfect recipe.  After the fact I was doing some things and came to the realization that I used all local products to produce this delicious meal – wines and beers as well.

Ok, bellow I will leave you with 3 great recipes (pork roast, potato dumplings, and spekulatius cookies) all with step-by-step pictures which makes this a long post.

Between all the delicious Franconian wine, beers, delicious food, and conversation I never ended up taking any pictures of my guests enjoying the meal!  Continue Reading »

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 »

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 »

I am sorry to say that I haven’t cooked anything for 3 weeks!! We have all been sick with either the stomach flu or a cold. In my case I got the stomach flu twice with a cold in between.  Today I have a massive headache like I haven’t had in 2 years….

Because of that I have no recipes to share with you from the past weeks, but for those of you suffering from a nasty stomach bug, I have just the drink for you! Homemade Gatorade.  This is a re-post from June 2008 from my blog.  The recipe is bellow.

It’s not possible for me to buy Gatorade where I live in Germany. I can find Powerade, but it’s expensive. So, we make our own with some flavor packets that we picked up when we were in the US. They are very inexpensive and take up very little storage space. They also come in a wide assortment of flavors. My favorite is grape because it reminds me of the grape soda I used to get to drink, although rarely, as a child.

Anyways, we’ve been living off of our homemade Gatorade, crackers, pretzel sticks, and bland potatoes for the last three weeks.

I am still not feeling 100%, so I may be posting sporadically for the next few weeks. And, thank you in advance for understanding!

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