For the Love of Food

I am so embarrassed…I am late with my Taste&Create post. Lately my days have just been melting together. It’s the end of January – where did November and December go???

I have been so exhausted lately: a baby, a toddler, a house hold, planning and organizing our move, cooking daily, etc…etc…etc… And, to keep me sane, I am taking a 45 minute jog with a friend once a week where we manage to run 6k. I was so surprised the first time we went running that I made it that far…I could never manage more than 3,5k in my life and always felt like falling flat on my face afterwards. Now, I just feel like a million dollars to do nothing but run and talk with my friend about life. So, our goal by April is to be able to run 10k. Currently it’s unimaginable, but I’m looking forward to the feeling of being able to reach my goal.

So, back to cookies. In all the stress of life, it’s important to stop and make time to bake. Because, although it is extra work, just being able to grab a cookie and close out the world for a few bites will keep you going throughout the day.

And, my partner’s peanut butter cookies are so very delicious that I ate most of them…I love peanut butter cookies. Please, check out her delicious recipe here on Dil Se..

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 »

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 »

So, after 4 weeks of not being able to eat anything sweet, I had a nice pile of these cookies. I found the original recipe on MyRecipes.com, made some substitutes, and didn’t end up with Thick, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, but rather thin buttery ones. They were so delicious that we couldn’t stop eating them. Continue Reading »

Back a few weeks ago I was unable to eat all forms of sweets: sugar, brown sugar, fructose, honey, agave syrup, milk, and even fruit. Luckily, those terrible4 weeks are over. You have no idea how sweet coconut milk tastes when you haven’t had one sweet piece of food for 4 weeks!

Anyways, it was a really hot summer day and I was craving ice cream. Unable to drink milk at the time, I took a nice thick and tasty coconut milk that I get here out of Thailand called Aroy-D and mixed it with rice milk to make a nice and “sweet” ice cream for myself. I made it on 2 occasions, once with cocoa powder and once without. I prefer the chocolate-free version. Ideally, it would taste better with sugar, so add to your liking if you are not on a restricted diet such as a candida diet.  This is also a great base for a vegetarian or vegan ice cream. Continue Reading »

Now that my baby is sleeping through the night (yes – I have taught our 9 week old baby to sleep 12 hours through the night!!!), I am trying to use my “free” time now to blog more often now (it took me 3 days to finish writing this post!!).

On to the pie crust… 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 »

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 »

I thought I’d share some nice summer-time eye candy with you while I spend a few days processing the tons of photos I took while on my vacation.

I had a really great time, but I am happy to be back home where the temperature is mild and the fruit tastes like, well, fruit!

And, that’s the story I want to tell you… Continue Reading »