tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16012156810174077562024-03-05T16:36:43.914+01:00SerendipityKate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.comBlogger158125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-36978173761468761542012-04-28T13:41:00.000+02:002012-04-28T13:43:29.071+02:00Fish with Leeks and Tomatoes
We're still traveling, and won't be home for a couple of weeks. Here's a recipe from the archives to keep you busy and happy till we get back. Bon Appetit!
Growing up in an Irish Catholic family meant that we ate fish on friday. Every friday, without fail.
Actually, as Catholics, we weren’t obliged to eat fish. We just couldn’t eat meat. At our house, though, 'no meat'Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-10665015168826400742012-03-28T11:51:00.003+02:002012-03-28T18:51:05.166+02:00To Slip the Surly Bonds of EarthI remember the first time I flew on a commercial airliner. I was 19 and on my way from Atlanta to Knoxville to visit my college roommate. I was absolutely enchanted with the experience of flying, and couldn’t wait to do it again. I loved the rush of takeoff, being slammed back into my seat and that magic moment when this enormous awkward machine became weightless.
Many years later, I had a job Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-30964572870256097222012-03-22T16:37:00.000+01:002012-03-22T16:37:44.646+01:00Ristorante Zio Gigi: Home cooked food in the heart of FlorenceWe're traveling again. This time we're in Florence, where we spend our mornings in Italian class and our afternoons exploring this amazing city.
In Florence there are hundreds of restaurants, pizzerias, osterias, tavernas, bars, cafes. It’s hard to choose; there are so many. We love to wander off the main piazzas, looking for that special little place where everyone likes to go. Where they Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-3445915427043341612012-02-07T18:17:00.001+01:002012-02-07T18:28:31.951+01:00Mayo ClinicLet's face it: no matter how much we love our favorite ones, sometimes we feel the need to spice things up. I get bored with the same old thing. Come on, admit it—you do too. I mean, we've all tried to make it more exciting, haven't we? A little spice helps a lot, I think. I've been playing around lately, going farther than ever before, and I think I've found some tricks. So if you're tired of Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-52268422008166915862012-01-27T15:37:00.004+01:002012-01-28T09:20:36.970+01:00Donna Hay Photo ChallengeSimone of Junglefrog Cooking has a monthly photo challenge. She picks a photo (and recipe) from Donna Hay Magazine and challenges us to replicate the photo as closely as we can. The object of this exercise is not to copy someone else's work (ew) but rather to sharpen our skills in food styling and analysing the light in a photo. Why? So that we can be better photographers and do our own workKate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-1692436725967924682012-01-02T12:26:00.001+01:002012-01-02T12:45:55.785+01:00New Year's Traditions: Hoppin John
I have a confession to make. I really don’t like New Year’s. To me, it’s an artificial thing. Don’t get me wrong, I love the IDEA of it--a new start, wipe the slate clean and begin anew. What’s better than that?
The problem is that we seem to take all our problems, resentments, wounds into the new year. We can’t seem to leave them behind. We try to feel as if it’s a brand new year, but Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-51473306129689740562011-12-20T11:49:00.000+01:002011-12-20T11:49:31.399+01:00Merry Christmas 2011
Inthisseasonof star lightand candle lightwhen hope lights upall our lives, we gather to decoratea tree
Each ornament is a shining reminder that happiness comes one thought, one action, one day at a time.
Best wishes for happiness from our house to yours.
. Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-11282585499258498102011-12-08T18:18:00.000+01:002011-12-08T18:18:20.546+01:00Orange Cupcakes with Chocolate Cardamom Ganache
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Sometimes you find something that just works. For me, that's chocolate and orange. Chocolate and cardamom. Ok, to be honest, that's chocolate and just about anything (but probably not brussels sprouts).
I've been working at a new part time job. I would dearly love to learn how to make chocolates, and I offered my local Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-20783362865873968682011-11-21T10:13:00.006+01:002011-11-21T15:14:00.364+01:00STANDOFF!!
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They say that there's a Chinese curse that goes something like, “May you lead an interesting life”. I have to say that parts of my life have been very interesting indeed. I came of age in Atlanta during the Civil Rights era, when Martin Luther King was still alive. I saw him show the effectiveness of nonviolent resistance, Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-40343793012772724252011-11-16T18:46:00.003+01:002011-11-16T18:50:22.830+01:00Plate to Page: A Weekend to RememberOn a recent Friday, 4 friends and 12 strangers gathered for lunch at a villa in Tuscany. Monday morning 16 fast friends hugged goodbye, promising to keep in touch. In between, there was work and laughter and photos and wine and food. Lots of food. This was Plate to Page Tuscany.
Plate to Page is a workshop that combines food writing and food photography. And food styling. All in three days. Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-71961971691691952702011-10-11T18:01:00.000+02:002011-10-11T18:01:22.160+02:00My Dream Lunch and a Winner!There is a restaurant I’ve wanted to visit since I first read about it when I was in grad school. It just ticked all the boxes for me, and I’ve had it on my list of things to so ‘someday’ ever since.
Whenever we came to the Bay area I tried to get reservations, but I was always too late. This trip, however, a friend of Dan’s invited us for lunch. He’d managed to get the reservations by Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-5108811718043033102011-10-07T18:19:00.000+02:002011-10-07T18:19:59.940+02:00Lunch at the CIAYesterday we drove from San Francisco to Napa to have lunch with some friends. It was my first time in the Napa Valley, and it is gorgeous. The hills and fields are covered with vineyards--rows and rows of vines as far as the eye can see. These corduroy hills are the home of some famous American wine names, and as we drove we could see their names all around us. We got to our friends’ house Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-60720794425291680482011-10-04T19:04:00.003+02:002011-10-07T21:47:54.242+02:00Le Bilan and a GiveawayWell. It’s been a long time since I posted here. I know. I’ve been pretty much staying away from food stuff lately—as my goal weight approaches. And now I can proudly say that I’M THERE! And now it’s time to ‘faire le bilan’.In French, the word ‘bilan’ means ‘the bottom line’. Heh, when talking about a diet, is there a better description? Since I started my diet with a ‘rechnung’, it seems Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-89995751959622758482011-08-07T21:45:00.001+02:002011-08-07T21:56:32.326+02:00Making lemonadeNo, those aren't lemons, and the only lemonade we made was the kind you make when life hands you lemons. Last Thursday one of my neighbors showed up on my doorstep with a case of little green plums. It seems that her sister's plum tree had so many plums on it that it fell over! They had an absolute GLUT of them. So she brought me a few... eight and a half kilos of plums, to be exact. (18.7 poundsKate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-40322762379494759002011-08-01T14:09:00.000+02:002011-08-01T14:09:16.649+02:00In Praise of Everyday MiraclesOne of the things that I've been doing since I've been on this diet is walking. At least 30 minutes. Every day. Rain or shine, hot or cold (Belgium, remember?). I have several routes, depending on whether it's raining or not, how far I want to go, whether I want hilly or flat, or just how I feel.
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I really enjoy this time. I have been keeping an eye on the Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-62721029701087473682011-07-25T15:15:00.002+02:002011-07-25T19:09:42.392+02:00Katrin's Summer Beans
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No, I haven't disappeared. I've not been cooking much, since I've been on this diet. Roast chicken, grilled steak, fish with leeks and tomatoes. You've either seen these recipes or you don't need them. So I haven't been posting. MISTAKE! Because we've been travelling....
Last weekend we went to Dresden, to visit our friends Katrin and Berndt. We love to visit Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-10893710576523985802011-06-20T14:29:00.002+02:002011-06-20T14:32:01.477+02:00The Reckoning (recipe: Fish Terrine)
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In restaurants in Germany, when you finish your meal you don't ask for the bill. You ask for 'die rechnung'. It's what tells you how much you have to pay for your excesses at the table. As you may have guessed, this word is the root of our English word 'reckoning'. Which also has to do with paying for your excesses.
I've reached a day of reckoning; a day (in Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-22392951261786740182011-05-22T14:22:00.001+02:002011-05-22T14:22:51.481+02:00ApocalypseSo. The world ended yesterday sometime when I wasn't looking. I guess we're now in paradise—a place where we have everything we need to be happy. To me the world looks the same as it did before. Maybe we always lived here? Maybe we've always had everything we needed to be happy?Here are some images from my little corner of paradise:Happy Sunday!
Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-18413147583853287092011-05-14T13:49:00.000+02:002011-05-14T13:49:52.938+02:00Occupational Hazards
I've been a little bit under the weather lately. No, that's not really true—I've been on the injured reserve list. I have a kitchen injury.
We're all familiar with the normal kitchen injuries: burns and cuts. When we work with fire and knives we expect a little blister or cut from time to time. Sometimes we even have something more dramatic, like the time I sliced the tip off my little finger Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-38575453177096686392011-04-30T22:12:00.001+02:002011-04-30T22:13:22.971+02:00CARDAMOM LIME TEA CAKEI have been trying to figure out how to bake with gluten-free flours. I have quite a collection: brown rice, white rice, corn (fine and coarse), buckwheat, almond, oat. But wait, there's more! Teff, millet, quinoa, chestnut, chickpea, coconut. I keep thinking that I have to 'know' each one before I know how to combine them. I've been a little discouraged, to be honest.
As I read more and more Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-71393296518180508052011-04-09T10:32:00.002+02:002011-05-14T19:01:57.646+02:00Simple Gifts
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Many years ago, when I had my first kitchen, I began to do what my grandmother called “setting up housekeeping”. I had to figure out what I needed: plates, glasses and silverware of course, but also towels, mixing bowls, cutting boards and canisters. Canisters. What to keep my staples in? I searched and searched and couldn't find anything that I wanted to look at Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-37397648594688722882011-02-12T16:55:00.000+01:002011-02-12T16:55:52.688+01:00Rabbit and Merguez Tagine
I have two tagines, those lovely Moroccan cooking dishes. The big one is a traditional cone-shaped one, made from glazed terra cotta. I bought it from a Moroccan shop in our town not long after we moved here. I fell in love with it when I first saw it--it’s old, a little wonky, a little chipped. It wasn’t new when I bought it. The shop owner tried to talk me out of that particular one, pointing Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-9580722463873482102011-02-02T19:18:00.002+01:002011-02-03T08:45:38.557+01:00Lemon CurdWhat's in a name? I mean, Shakespeare said it, didn't he? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. This is the kind of statement that makes me want to push the concept. I mean, what if we take a lovely rose and call it a booger. Will we want to stick our noses in it and breathe deeply? I'm not so sure.
Take lemon curd. I mean, let's face it: curd is not a pretty word. It brings up images Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-19187031163319459262011-01-17T14:41:00.001+01:002011-01-17T16:03:10.585+01:00FLASHBACK: The Best Laid Plans...(part 6)Note: This is a continuing story. The previous parts can be found here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.
Twelve years ago yesterday something happened that changed our lives changed forever. At the time we had no idea the impact this event would have on our lives. It started out innocently enough: on a sunny January day Dan went for a ride on his new bike with some friends. I went to an Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1601215681017407756.post-44694632203673362842011-01-09T22:04:00.001+01:002011-01-09T22:16:08.475+01:00Oven Roasted RibsSomeone recently remarked that we must only eat desserts at our house, judging by my blog. It’s not really true that we only eat desserts. It’s just that they’re so pretty! Really, don’t you think so? They’re like the cheerleaders of the table, jumping up and shouting “me! me! look at me!” “take MY picture!” Ahem. Maybe they don’t really do that--maybe it’s just me.
In any case, the things Kate at Serendipityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04020909094072158951noreply@blogger.com15