For the Love of Food

So, a few months back I was meandering through my local grocery store when I came across a package of “wild tomatoes”- also known as heirloom tomatoes. Having heard so many wonderful things about heirloom tomatoes and never having seen them in any of my local stores before, I got excited and bought them.

Never buy tomatoes out of season…it’s always so very disappointing…I wish they’d just take the temptation away.

Anyways, getting past the disappointment, I was sitting at the table watching my son cut tomatoes into funny shapes and eat them when something caught my eye. Continue Reading »

So, where have I been for the last 4 weeks? In short: home-bound.

Three weeks ago our second son was born and 2 weeks ago our first son started preschool. So, I have been up to my ears in teeny tiny dirty diapers and an upset 2-year-old who wants more attention than I can currently stay awake for. 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 »

A few months ago I received an email from Da Capo Press Lifelong Books letting me know about a new book that they had just published: cooking green by Kate Heyhoe (an Austinite).  I was very intrigued about a book that was going to give me ideas on how to be more energy efficient and more environmentally friendly in the kitchen, but I wasn’t sure it would be worth buying.  I figured it would be full of common sense ideas that I already practiced in my own kitchen.  So, I wrote Da Capo asking them if I could have a free book to review and then give away to someone through my blog.  They agreed as long as they didn’t have to ship it to me overseas, so I had it sent to my in-laws who just visited me 2 weeks ago.

I was sure I would read the book and be able to pass it on without a second thought.  Boy was I wrong!  Not only does the book really go into detail on how you can be more efficient/environmentally friendly in the kitchen, but it goes into detail as to why  what is being recommended works better than what is the norm.  It also has a fantastic recipe section in the back.  And, I have to say that I am having trouble parting with this book.  I have really fallen in love with it.  But, a promise if a promise.

So, I am giving my book away to one lucky person who leaves a comment on this blog post by June 21st at 6:00pm US Central Time. The winner will be picked at random, and I will mail out (or personally deliver the book if you are in the Austin or Houston area while on my vacation) the book as soon as I have your personal info.  And, I will buy myself another book (hopefully in a used book store) and buy some more books for friends and family that I feel would appreciate reading the book.  So far I plan on buying at least 4 of these babies.

Now, a bit more about the book and what I learned: Continue Reading »

*Here is another blog post I found in my Drafts folder from August 2007!! It’s not only cheap, but delicious, filling, and very easy to make.  Because I do not own a grill, I broiled the skewers in my oven.*

Usually my husband and I usually reserve Greek dining for special occasions since Greek restaurants can be a bit pricey (in our town). Then I got to thinking, I can cook Greek too…and it’s amazing how simple and inexpensive it is!

Here I have made Suvlaki, Tzatziki, and Salad and I served it with some döner bread that I bought at my local Turkish store. The souvlaki recipe is based on Suvlaki Hoirino on About.com.

Continue Reading »

Recently I received a comment on one of my posts where a fellow blogger expressed her frustration with her food photography – all her pictures look the same – was her complaint.

Upon checking out her blog, I noticed that she has only been blogging for a few months and that her pictures look just like mine did 4 years ago: very one-sided.  I remember back when I first started blogging and taking pictures of my food that I was always so frustrated that my pictures never ever came out the way I had seen them with my eye.  The “simple” explanation is that my eyes are much better lenses than the one on my point-and-shoot camera and that the brain compensates quite a lot – much like the brain of a digital camera.  Except, that, well, a human brain can do much much more…so far.

So, for those of your who are just starting out, planning on starting out, or wishing to advance to the next level, this post will help you. Continue Reading »

I am very excited to share with all of you that my 10 money saving tips for in the kitchen have been featured on the Chew On That blog.

Every month I receive an email from Chew On That asking for my opinion on a food-related matter as part of their Monthly Mouthful. I have been lucky enough to be taking part in it for at least a few months now. This time when Hillary emailed me I just couldn’t stop writing…I had such much to say and so many tips to give that she decided to feature my words as a guest post! I am truly honored.

You can find the whole post here.

A small example of what a 25 square meter (250 square foot) garden can produce in one day by early summer.

This is a very short synopsis of the tips/topics I covered (there’s about 1 paragraph worth of comment from myself on each topic): Continue Reading »

This year I “discovered” a small, warm,and romantic Christmas market in my town. Who knew my town had 2 Christmas markets??!!

Apparently, each year for 10 days during Advent there is a Christmas market in the historic downtown of my town (Fürth). And, it’s a more traditional one – or so I would guess.

It just finished this Saturday, but it will be back next year.

There we found:

An Iron Smith:

A glass blower:

A Carpenter:

A Tin Man:

Felt Crafters:

A Paper Book/Journal Crafter:

Warm drinks and friendly chatter:

And this guy…who closes the market every evening:

It’s a small market…but a fine one.

Last month I blogged about a book my husband found and we bought and read called “Twelve Hours Sleep by Twelve Weeks Old” (by Suzy Giordano, Lisa Abidin) recommended by Cory Doctorow on Boing Boing.

I am SOOO HAPPY to let you know that all the recommendations in this book not only work, they are easy too.  There was very little crying involved, eventhough my son was 21 months old when we started (now he’s 22 months old).  And, this method worked from day one.  We started seeing results slowly – we did have a few nights the first 2 weeks of sitting next to a night light re-reading some recommendations.  But, by week 3 our son was sleeping through the night and taking 1 nap a day on time – AND we were all well rested and in a good mood.

Now, 4 weeks later, he knows when his bed time is and there’s no complaining involved – not even at nap time! The “key” is having a schedule.  You can have any schedule you like, but you have to stick to it.  Ours is as follows: Continue Reading »

This year I am trying to be more conscious about my buying habits and trying to buy in season and local products only.

For many of you this may be self-implied, but for me, having grown-up in semi-tropical Miami, FL, this is really hard when living in Germany.

I don’t like apples. I don’t like pares. I don’t like cauliflower….

I like mangoes and star fruit and avocados and tomatoes and…

But, it is not the season of all the foods I love and grew-up on. So, I have come up with a basic salad that makes me quite happy during Fall and is very much in season! Continue Reading »