For the Love of Food

I am always on the look-out for a good brownie recipe. I have been on the look-out for years now and have never found anything really worth mentioning. Well, it looks like my search ends here.

While searching my Taste&Create partner’s blog – My Sweet and Savory- I came across a blog post of hers where she raves about a fantastic King Arthur brownies. Well, she was right. They are perfectly moist, but not dense like fudge.

These are really the perfect brownies.  And, since I always love to see what a cupcake&brownie looks like from the inside, I thought I’d share this picture with you:

I would change 1 thing and one thing only. I would not add any cinnamon for a regular batch of brownies. However, I would leave the cinnamon for a Christmas batch of brownies. With the cinnamon they taste like a special type of cookie/cake that they have here in Germany.

Ok, here is the recipe: Continue Reading »

Have you noticed anything different here…or rather the same? Yes, this is the same bowl from the last post.

As many of you have read in previous posts, I have been in the middle of a move since February because the renovation company working on our apartment (Pravexx GmbH) is “a bit” behind schedule. Not to get anyone’s hopes up (including my own), but it actually looks like we could be moving in sometime in the next 2 weeks….I actually have flooring in the kitchen and if all goes well the new parquet will be delivered today and the walls painted tomorrow. And, my brand new kitchen is being delivered on Monday!!!

So, what does that all have to do with these awesome light turquoise bowls from Ikea (IKEA 365+)? Well, since ALL my things have been packed away in storage since February and I had been eating off of the same 4 plastic yellow pick nick plates and using tuperware as a cereal bowl (our temporary situation was only supposed to last a few weeks…not 4 months!!) I decided, on a recent trip to Ikea, to pick up some decent bowls. So, I walked out of Ikea with a big smile and 4 really pretty bowls. And, since they’re currently the only 4 bowls I have, they are going to pop-up in a lot of my food photography until we finally move and get the kitchen all squared-away.

On to the food…

I really enjoy bulgar. For some reason I don’t like couscous as much, but they are very similar. I buy instant bulgar which is ground up and only needs some boiling water poured over it and waiting about 3 minutes before you can consume it. It makes for a great, quick, and healthy meal – oh, and it’s pretty cheap here in Germany.

The one “down-side” to this bulgar salad is that it’s so good you will need a HUGE bowl to make enough for your family if you want to feed it to them for more than one meal (I only cook once a day for two meals).

My recipe is partially inspired by this bulgar salad recipe on Kayln’s Kitchen and partially by the great tips I received from my local Turkish grocer. Both recommended that I use fresh mint leave..and believe me I would love to..but I am still breast feeding, and nothing will dry up your breast milk like eating mint! Continue Reading »

As I was making my breakfast this morning, I was thinking how simple, healthy, delicious, and CHEAP this breakfast is. Why don’t more people eat this for breakfast??

I must admit that I grew-up hating oatmeal. I mean, who likes a bowl full of bugers?? Yes, that’s what I actually thought…and still think of cooked oatmeal. But, after moving to Germany I learned to eat breakfast as most other Germans: muesli. Muesli is basically some form of oatmeal, sometimes even in granola form (with lots of sugar), and other ingredients added to it such as dried fruits and nuts..and sometimes even pieces of chocolate.

For many years I bought pre-made muesli made of granola with tropical dried fruits until one day I could no longer eat sugar. A box of muesli can have a lot of added sugar in it! So, I started making my own. Throughout the winter I enjoy adding frozen blueberries and raspberries which I put together (without milk) the night before so that the berries slowly defrost and have the same consistency of the fresh berries they once were by morning. In the spring time I enjoy my oatmeal with bananas or strawberries, and in the summer I like adding peaches, apricots, or fresh blue berries. For some reason, every Fall I enjoy eating rye bread with different homemade jellies that I canned throughout the summer and generally don’t eat much oatmeal.

Not only is this a very very healthy and fulfilling meal, it is very inexpensive. For 27 cents a serving you really can’t go wrong (see my price list bellow). Continue Reading »

Souvlaki is one of my favorite summer time meals. And, and although the weather is so cool here right now you’d think it was Fall, it’s still nice to pretend that it’s sunny outside! But, honestly, souvlaki is great any time of the year, and although most recipes require you to grill your meat, I cook my in a griddle pan (without the grill ridges).

So, what goes well with souvlaki?? Zatziki – zattiki – zatziki, rice, and cabbage salad. You can vary the vegetables beyond cabbage salad if it’s not winter, but it’s quite delicious.

Please don’t be scared of the long resting hours – these recipes are all really worth making and well worth the wait. Continue Reading »

I am always on the look-out for a good chocolate chip cookie recipe. In the search for a crisp chocolate chip cookie, I came across this fantastic chewy cookie recipe on Cooking On the Side.

I tried these cookies out in all sizes: small, medium, and jumbo. And, jumbo cookies were definitely best over all because these cookies are breadier than what most people are used to and the larger they are the better the chocolate to cookie ratio is.

I made some ingredient substitutions to adjust for my dietary needs at the time. That’s also why my cookies look a bit different than the ones on Cooking On The Side. Different ingredients react differently when baked.

So, while I continue my search for a crisp chocolate chip cookie recipe, you can enjoy this one! Continue Reading »

So, still no move date in sight to our newly renovated home from Pravexx (we should have moved in on February 5th,   then March 5th, then April 12th, then May 5th, then May 10th, then May 15th..today’s the 15th and still no move in sight). And, while I have told you in the past that I couldn’t post as much until I move to the new home, I have decided to stop waiting for the big move day.

In someways I have become a “broken food blogger” – I only have 4 plastic yellow pickinick plates to photograph on, one salad bowl, and 3 forks. But, in no way have I become a broken foodie – there is a big difference! Although my current kitchen/foyer is smaller than the bathroom of my last apartment (2 meter x 2 meter), I still cook for my family every day and I still send my son to preschool with delicious homemade meals.

There are somethings that you should never let go of. The most important being your dignity in the kitchen. Last week I cooked a 5 course meal with one electric burner and a toaster oven for 15 people and no body would have guessed. Granted it took me 3 days to prepare, but I accomplished it and it made me feel good.

So, today I want to share with you a recipe that I found way back in the winter when I lived in my old home, but still use today in my tiny hole-in-the wall kitchen. The recipe says it’s an Italian salad dressing, but I find that it can go either way Greek or Italian. Continue Reading »

I had my first scone in Ireland…I believer we were stopping for lunch somewhere on the northwest shore of Ireland. They were delicious – studded with little pieces of dried apricot and raisins.

So, for St. Patrick’s day, I want to share with you one of my favorite food-memories of my trip to Ireland a year and a half ago. Continue Reading »

While searching for a vanilla ice cream recipe for Christmas dinner, I came across the most fabulous and beautiful-looking recipe with the promise of being creamy and not freezing into a solid rock.

This is the first ice cream I have had all around success with – flavor and creaminess. Wow..it is fantastic. I can recommend it whole heartedly…and I don’t like vanilla ice cream. Now, I am really itching to get my hands on a copy of The Perfect Scoop (where the recipe is originally from).

Oh, and it went really well with the homemade apple pie I made. The apple pie was ok…you can find my recipe here.

I also got to try out my new macro rings that my husband got me for Christmas. I have been dreaming of my own pair of macro rings since I was in 7th grade when I first tried them out on my camera – borrowed from my best friend.

So, on to other news…

Remember that apartment we were buying?? Well, we bought it and renovations are taking longer…and we have to move into another apartment. So, starting Wednesday, I will be offline for about 6 weeks until we are in our new home. So, while I may have some time to blog, I will most likely not get the opportunity to go online until sometime after Easter. Big bummer…

Ironically, I haven’t been very stressed the last few days and I am home with two sick kids, a whole bunch of moving boxes, and am coming down with a cold myself…and I just feel relaxed.  Crazy, huh?

In the mean time, enjoy this delicious recipe!

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 »