For the Love of Food

In all the excitement of the past few weeks I never got around to sharing with you that I signed up for the Project Food Blog challenge hosted by Foodbuzz.

The challenge gives us a chance to prove ourselves as foodies and food bloggers by conquering 10 assignments. And, the person who wins in December not only has a chance to be featured on Foodbuzz for 1 whole year, but that person (oh I really hope it’s me!) will win $10000! Now, I don’t know about you, but I can think of plenty of productive ways to use $10000: boost my kids’ college funds, open my own bakery (commercial kitchens are so expensive!), expand my food styling props, save it…

What would you do if you won $10000?

So, many people are in it for the fun. I am definitely in it for the fun, but a serious sort of fun. I want to win. And, NOT for the $10000. No, I’m not crazy – there’s just more to take into account. I blog because I want people to read what I have to say and make my food and be happy. I want to win for the love of food

The challenges will start in about the second week of September and as each challenge is posted on my blog there will be a second post after then telling you guys that voting is open. And, I want all of you to vote for me!! So, keep your eyes open for my posts!  And, check out my profile here.

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!

Well, it looks like we will be moving sometime in February. We have been on the look-out for a nice apartment in our town for the past few months, and, finally, we have found one that fits all our needs. Most importantly, it is on the ground floor (no more going up 5 stories holding two small children) and it has enough room for my husband to have his own office so he doesn’t have to work in our bedroom the whole day.

While the apartment is actually very beautiful as is, we have to have it renovated because it used to be a tax attorney’s office and there are no bathrooms..among other things. We will be knocking down some walls, adding a balcony, and adding 2 bathroom, etc. I just thought I’d share a few pictures of the future apartment with you, it’s a bit over 100 years old. The top left picture is of a old door handle to our future master bathroom. The top right photo is the entrance to the future master bathroom and the window to the right of that will be turned into a glass door to our future balcony. The bottom right photo is of the hallway/entry way. And, the bottom left picture is one of the main reasons I fell in love with the apartment – this is the kitchen…and that window is 9 feet wide!! We will be knocking out the wall to the left and making a large living/dining/kitchen, and under this huge window will be part of the kitchen and my sink as well as a desk for me in the kitchen. I will be adding lots of tall planters with tall plants on the outdoor windowsills so that we have some more privacy.

Oh, and it’s right off of the pedestrian zone in the heart of downtown.  Which means that I have to only walk 3 minutes to the closest grocery store and less than 60 seconds to the nearest pharmacy!  Granted, now I live a 10 minute walk away, but closer is always better and more comfortable.

So, when you are wondering where I am when I’m not blogging or taking care of my 2 little ones or baking Christmas cookies…I’m picking out new kitchen flooring, kitchen cabinets, and bathroom fixtures.

It is exciting, but I can’t wait until it’s finally over…it’s very stressful!

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 »

Well, I am back into a normal sleeping/waking pattern – finally! I actually have been for a few days now, but being at the end stages of pregnancy makes it hard to sit at a computer and do anything – because it makes my feet swell.

Anyways, I want to start sharing some pictures with you from my vacation, and I’m going to start backwards. The last leg of our vacation took us on a 15 hour car ride from south-central Texas to just south of Denver, Colorado. So, why would I subject myself to a 15 hour car ride with 5 other family members (including a 2-year-old)?? For my brother-in-law’s wedding, of course!

We had a really great time – especially escaping the intense Texas heat and getting to visiting with the extended family that flew in from all over the US and world. Of all the people who enjoyed going to Colorado the most, I believe it was my son. He fell in love with his new aunt and still talks about her all the time. Many evenings he will come to me while I’m in the kitchen preparing dinner and tell me “goodbye mommy – going Jessica home”. Then he puts on his helmet, gets on his bike, and rides down the end of the hallway and tries to open the door to no avail. It is quite cute, ut makes me sad that we live too far away for a quick visit. Maybe that will change in a few years….

First, let’s talk wedding location: Continue Reading »

Sorry that this post is a bit later than I had planned on writing it. I spent the better half of Saturday in the hospital from dehydration from the nastiest stomach flu that I remember having and then spent until now just sleeping. Luckily, it was a quick stomach bug and I am perfectly fine now.

Ok, so on to the winner. I used a random number generator that I came across on the internet and the winner is:

Jeff Blackwell.

I will be sending Jeff my copy of Cooking Green as soon as I get his shipping address.

To the rest of you who would like to read this, but don’t want to spend the money to buy it, I highly encourage you to borrow it from your local library. Or, pool together with some friends and buy it together and take turns reading it.

Ok, Iḿ back to vacation time!

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 »

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 »

I have come down with a bit of a cold after being sick with something else last week.   I will be back in a few days.

Update (Jan 14): It looks like I have the stomach flu too…  it looks like it will be a few days longer.