Serendipity

Donna Hay Photo Challenge

2012-01-27T15:37:00.004+01:00

Simone 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 work

New Year's Traditions: Hoppin John

2012-01-02T12:26:00.001+01:00

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 if we’

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-20T11:49:00.000+01:00

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. .

Orange Cupcakes with Chocolate Cardamom Ganache

2011-12-08T18:18:00.000+01:00

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

STANDOFF!!

2011-11-21T10:13:00.006+01:00

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,

Plate to Page: A Weekend to Remember

2011-11-16T18:46:00.003+01:00

On 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.

My Dream Lunch and a Winner!

2011-10-11T18:01:00.000+02:00

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 staying

Lunch at the CIA

2011-10-07T18:19:00.000+02:00

Yesterday 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 and

Le Bilan and a Giveaway

2011-10-04T19:04:00.003+02:00

Well. 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

Making lemonade

2011-08-07T21:45:00.001+02:00

No, 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 pounds

In Praise of Everyday Miracles

2011-08-01T14:09:00.000+02:00

One 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. p { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; } I really enjoy this time. I have been keeping an eye on the

Katrin's Summer Beans

2011-07-25T15:15:00.002+02:00

p { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; } 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

The Reckoning (recipe: Fish Terrine)

2011-06-20T14:29:00.002+02:00

p { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; } 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

Apocalypse

2011-05-22T14:22:00.001+02:00

So. 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!

Occupational Hazards

2011-05-14T13:49:00.000+02:00

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

CARDAMOM LIME TEA CAKE

2011-04-30T22:12:00.001+02:00

I 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

Simple Gifts

2011-04-09T10:32:00.002+02:00

p { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; } 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

Rabbit and Merguez Tagine

2011-02-12T16:55:00.000+01:00

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

Lemon Curd

2011-02-02T19:18:00.002+01:00

What'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

FLASHBACK: The Best Laid Plans...(part 6)

2011-01-17T14:41:00.001+01:00

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

Oven Roasted Ribs

2011-01-09T22:04:00.001+01:00

Someone 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 we’

Crème Fraiche Verrines

2010-12-31T15:31:00.000+01:00

I've written before about some of my language adventures at the supermarket in our town. I told you about the preservatives and the cuisses de canard. But I haven't yet told you about the incident of the crème fraiche. When we first moved here, I went to the supermarket one day looking for whipping cream. All I could find was crème fraiche. Everywhere I looked—crème fraiche. I didn't want

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T01:48:00.007+01:00

Snow Days

2010-12-20T18:18:00.001+01:00

We have about 30 cm / 12 inches of snow on the ground here. It has snowed 18 of the 20 days of December so far. Last night we had another 15 cm / 6 inches of fresh snow. For me, a child of warmer climes, snow equals playing hooky. Schools closed, an unplanned free day. There's a part of me that still wakes up hoping there will be new snow. Of course, I don't have to drive anywhere. Normally, I

Lemon Polenta Cake

2010-12-18T15:27:00.000+01:00

Cooking without wheat is presenting me some challenges, some of which are difficult, and some of which are very enjoyable. One of the benefits of this way of eating (I don't like to use the word 'diet', because that makes me want to break it!) is that I get to explore other grains. I find foods that I wouldn't have found otherwise. When wheat or bread is not the focus of a meal, vegetables and

Bagna Cauda and a Winner!

2010-12-06T17:10:00.003+01:00

Bagna Cauda means 'hot bath' in Italian. Why are we talking about hot baths? Because we have about 6 inches of snow on the ground here and a hot bath sounds pretty nice right now? Nah, it's because this specialty of Torino is the perfect thing for a cold snowy day. If you're thinking apres-ski, you're in the right ball park. If you're like me, though, you're probably just thinking

Oat Shortbread Cookies and Vitamin O

2010-11-30T16:31:00.001+01:00

Many years ago, when I was in Grad school, some friends and I began to think seriously about nutrition. Grad students on the whole aren’t known for their interest in nutrition, but we discovered a vitamin that’s not very well known: vitamin O. Vitamin O deficiencies are pretty common, and can have serious affects on your social life. Your body can’t store it, and so you need some every day.

An Adoption and a Giveaway

2010-11-26T10:59:00.010+01:00

One of the things I love about bloggers is the mutual support we give each other. We also often give this support to new bloggers. I like to find a new blogger and comment on their posts, encourage them, add them to my blogroll, and generally watch them become established. I do this to 'pay forward' the support that I received when my blog was new. This is one thing I haven't had the time to do

Oven Braised Pork and Winter Vegetables

2010-11-16T20:41:00.002+01:00

The weather here has been very wintery—it's put the BRR in NovemBRR! Rain, cold, fog. Perfect weather to hunker down and stay home with something warm and hearty for dinner. Me, I also want something easy. Something that I can stick in the oven and not think about. This is the perfect thing! I used pork for this, but of course you could use any meat you like. I think it shouldn't be a 'noble'

Transit Problems

2010-11-11T15:17:00.006+01:00

Indigestion. Heartburn. Nausea. Insomnia. Headaches. Stomach cramps. (I'll stop there) Welcome to my world. For the past few months I've been having a lot of problems with indigestion and with what in French we call le transit. Needless to say, I haven't been cooking a lot of new and exciting things. I've just been trying to 'deal with' some pretty bland and uninteresting food. And we've been

Spiced Nuts

2010-11-01T19:27:00.005+01:00

One of the lovely customs here in Belgium is that whenever you're invited to someone's house for dinner, you take a gift. Nobody ever shows up empty-handed. This gift can be flowers, a plant, a bottle of wine, or something else that you know the host/hostess will like. Often it's chocolate. When we go to someone's house, we normally bring chocolates. This past weekend, however, we were invited

Spicy Cheesy Lamburgers

2010-10-16T12:49:00.001+02:00

My friend Françoise is the source of many good things for us. She's brought us friendship, good advice, English novels, the odd vocabulary lesson, and lots of good food tips. Recently, she shared with us some cheese that a friend had brought her from Turkey. We don't know the name of the cheese, but it was a hard, crumbly, salty cheese—sort of like Feta but with a more buttery flavor. At my house

Mirabelle Crumble

2010-10-03T12:45:00.001+02:00

One of the joys of late summer here is the fruit. I love the peaches, nectarines, raspberries and of course the blackberries. One fruit I didn't appreciate till we moved here are plums. There are so many types: Red ones, purple ones with yellow flesh, the green Reine Claudes, and the tiny yellow Mirabelles. I love it that fruit and vegetables here have proper names. I used to just buy plums.

Road Trip: York

2010-09-26T15:45:00.034+02:00

Well, it's been an interesting summer for us. We were lucky to have had houseguests often, and that's always a blessing. Other than that, it seems like we've been on the road most of the time, and my big project is STILL sucking up all my energy. Aside from that, I'm back. I've missed you all, I've missed writing, I've missed reading your blogs. I am also missing my Safari, which seems to have

Play With Your Food!

2010-08-25T18:07:00.018+02:00

I don't think it's a secret that I like to play with my food. When I have the time and energy, I love to take something ordinary and make it special. A little fancy. Maybe even fancy pants. Like these sandwiches. I had some leftover smoked salmon and some gorgeous heirloom tomatoes in all sorts of colors. I also had some of that darkdark pumpernickel bread that smells like molasses (I love

Cheese Muffins, Bag Ladies and a new Cook Book

2010-08-13T20:14:00.008+02:00

I've done it again—that bag lady thing. I am having a hard time writing at the moment, and I think that if I write something that's less than purr----fect (like I've never done that) you'll stop reading my blog, nobody will want to have anything to do with me, Dan won't love me any more, and I'll end up living on the streets with all my possessions in a grocery cart. I'll be a bag lady. I have an

Houseguest!

2010-08-02T22:41:00.021+02:00

I've been MIA for the last few days, because we have a houseguest. Pam from The Gypsy Chef, is here visiting. So far, we've gone to a market To Maastricht in the Netherlands, where we had some wonderful fries And to a typical Belgian village: Pam was warmly welcomed by all: My friend Françoise is on holiday. Today we went to her garden and raided the raspberries and currants and

Old Friends and a New Recipe (Lemon Cake)

2010-07-29T13:58:00.016+02:00

Last weekend Dan and I went to the Belgian coast to spend some time with some old friends. We have known George and Jacqueline since before we moved to Belgium. In fact Dan has known George for most of his life—they were in high school together in California. Being trained by the Jesuits tends to make lifelong bonds, I think. George is Belgian. He was in San Francisco for high school because his

Two Pesto Pasta

2010-07-21T16:28:00.009+02:00

This is a re-post of a recipe that I cook often. It's one of my all time favorites. Why? Let me count the ways: it's easy, it's healthy, it's made in the time that it takes the pasta to cook, and it uses ingredients I always have on hand. I first posted it when my blog was brand new. Almost nobody saw it. I decided to re-post it so that you could all see it. You're welcome! This is my favorite

Too Hot to Cook: Gazpacho

2010-07-16T19:26:00.013+02:00

One of the (many) reasons we moved to Belgium was the climate. I grew up in Atlanta, where it's hot and sticky for at least 6 months of the year. Dan and I lived in DC, where it's stinkin' hot. AND humid. (Though we used to say that in Washington, it wasn't the heat that would kill you, it was the stupidity, heh.) Belgium, however, is on the same latitude as the southern tip of Hudson's bay.

Rillettes of Trout and Smoked Salmon

2010-07-08T19:07:00.018+02:00

I've written before about luck. I don't win contests, I don't find parking places, I never get in the right line. But when it comes to friends, I'm very lucky. I've written a little about them and now I'm doing it again. We have some friends who live near us. He is a fly fisherman, and he loves to fish in the rivers around here. He catches lots and lots of trout. Sometimes he gets tired of

Blue Cheese, Cranberry and Pecan Lunch Quiches

2010-06-29T10:13:00.016+02:00

Many years ago, when I was just starting to cook in my first tiny kitchen, I made a quiche. This was before the wave of quiche mania swept across the US in the late '70s. This wave was so ubiquitous that there was even a book called "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche". (Heh, to which a friend of mine replied that REAL men ate whatever they pleased...) But I digress. I made a quiche. I made this quiche

Orange Chocolate Cake

2010-06-21T13:29:00.017+02:00

Well. THAT was a rather long weekend, wasn't it? I've been AWOL, and I'm sorry. I had an enormous project that came to me and I've been absolutely swamped by it. I haven't even had time to cook! Well, that's not precisely true. I did have time to make a cake for our neighborhood barbecue on Sunday. I had promised to bring a dessert and when I saw this recipe I knew it was going to be the one. I

In Praise of Summer Fruit

2010-06-11T04:42:00.002+02:00

It's a little early for most of these, but it's not too early to start looking forward to them. The fruit of summer is one of the joys of living here. We have local fruit starting now, with the early strawberries and right through the summer with cherries, plums, apricots, peaches, nectarines, blackberries, red and black currants. Into the autumn we have apples and pears. Every month there is a

Mojo Pizza

2010-06-07T14:11:00.019+02:00

I have a confession to make. No, two of them. First, I'm a yeast-o-phobe. I love things made with yeast: fresh dinner rolls, good crusty bread, cinnamon buns. Pizza. And I absolutely love the smell of yeast. But I never bake with it. I buy it regularly―in my supermarket they have these pretty little cubes of fresh yeast that look so nice in my fridge until they're about 3 months past their

Broccoli, Leek and Goat Cheese Tart

2010-06-04T20:53:00.008+02:00

Broccoli. Probably the most under-rated vegetable ever, with the possible exception of beets. What’s not to like? It’s full of vitamins and minerals, it’s low in calories, and it goes with almost everything. OK, not with ice cream, but with most vegetables. Leeks. One of my all-time favorites. We always have leeks in the house. I love their gentle, garlicky, oniony flavor. They smell soooo good

Memorial Day

2010-05-31T17:32:00.032+02:00

Memorial Day: the beginning of summer, barbecues, long weekend, the swimming pool finally open... Here in Belgium, Saturday was the commemoration of the end of WWII. As every year, we were invited to the ceremonies at the American Cemetery at Henri-Chapelle, about 10 miles from our house. This is only one of the many cemeteries for Americans who died in the Allies' drive through northern Europe

Grilled Scallop Appetisers

2010-05-28T18:23:00.014+02:00

Scallops. Can we ever get enough of them? We love them, with their delicate, sweet flavor. They also cook very quickly, which makes them a hit at our house! We had some wonderful scallops in January, and still have fond memories of them and the friends who gave them to us. This time we grilled our scallops and drizzled some old balsamic vinegar over them. We ate these with rice, as a first

Chocolate Pound Cake

2010-05-24T11:01:00.012+02:00

When I was growing up, there were some special desserts that my grandmother made. EVERYONE'S grandmother made them. One of them was chocolate pound cake. This is one of those recipes that is closely guarded and only given to the younger generation when they marry, as a part of their trousseau. It's an incredibly lovely cake, with a texture like silk and a deeply chocolate flavor. It was often

Olive Pesto

2010-05-20T21:32:00.017+02:00

This month’s issue of La Cucina Italiana has an article on pesto, and recipes for lots of different kinds. When we think of pesto, we normally think of basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil and parmesan. Those are the ingredients for the classic pesto, Pesto alla Genovese. But pesto can be made with any number of ingredients. The name ‘pesto’ comes from the tool traditionally used to make it: a

Home again...

2010-05-17T15:12:00.009+02:00

We're home. Tired, with our suitcases filled with dirty clothes and our heads still full of Italian. And my camera full of photos! We drove back through France, having decided that the St. Bernard pass was not for us―it was still foggy and raining up there when we left. Torino is surrounded by the Alps, and they are normally visible from all over town. We only saw them as we were leaving. But

Torino Road Trip: Day 13 The Shroud

2010-05-14T14:21:00.013+02:00

Today after class we went to see La Sindone, the Shroud of Turin. It’s an ancient relic, much studied and much disputed. Some say that it’s the image of Christ, that it was wrapped around his body after he was crucified. Others say that it dates from the 12th or 13th century, and was probably from the last head of the Templars who was tortured and crucified as an example to the others. Still

Torino Road Trip: Day 12

2010-05-13T17:22:00.016+02:00

When you think of Torino, or Turin, what comes to mind? The Shroud? Fiat? Mazerati? Maybe the fine wines of the Piemonte region? Truffles? All of those are here, but there’s something else amazing, that would be among the last things I would have thought of when Torino is mentioned. Torino is the home of one of the world’s finest museums of Egyptian artifacts. I know. Today we visited

Torino Road Trip: Day 11

2010-05-12T15:04:00.017+02:00

Today it was drizzly while we were in class, but it stopped by the time we were finished with class. We didn’t have another class after 2 o’clock today, so we decided to take the car and explore the region a little bit. We headed south, to Alba, about an hour south of Torino. Alba has some really pretty medieval buildings: …didn’t I tell you not to forget to look up? This building is

Road Trip Torino: Day 10

2010-05-11T13:37:00.025+02:00

If you’re ever in Torino, you absolutely positively MUST go to a place called Eataly. It’s down near the Linghotto complex, and easy to get to with public transportation. It’s a foodie paradise. It’s enormous, and you can easily spend half a day in there. Which is a good thing, because it was raining again yesterday. Sigh. When you go in, the first thing you see is a giant banner welcoming you

Road Trip Torino: Days 7-9

2010-05-10T14:03:00.019+02:00

On Saturday we didn’t have rain. It was cloudy and a little chilly, but it wasn’t raining. So we went to the market, of course. On Saturdays in Torino, there is a market. OK, there’s a market every day in Torino. I’ve read that this is the largest open air market in Europe. It’s certainly the largest I’ve ever seen. And on Saturdays it’s even bigger. You’ve already seen the section that sells

Road Trip Torino: Day 6

2010-05-07T13:54:00.013+02:00

Today we finally had some sunshine! WAHOO! After school, I went for a walk while Dan did some work on the computer at school. I wanted to show you a little bit what Torino looks like. It’s really a very pretty city—it has an architectural unity that you don’t often see in cities. Paris has it, Washington DC has it, but not a lot of Italian cities have it. Here it’s because Torino, while an old

Road Trip Torino: Day 5

2010-05-06T14:02:00.015+02:00

Rain. It’s still raining. So, today we’re going to visit a market. As we walk to school every day, we walk through an enormous market. There are several large buildings to house the indoor part of the market, and all around these is the outdoor part of the market. For the most part, the outdoor part sells housewares and fruits and vegetables. The indoor part sells meat and cheese and some

Road Trip Torino: Day 4

2010-05-05T15:13:00.013+02:00

Today it rained all day. It didn’t just rain, it poured. All day. So I’m going to tell you a little bit about the school, since we didn’t get any photos of Torino outside. The school is located in the historic center of the town, in the part that dates back to the Romans. It’s in a lovely old palazzo, on the second floor (American third floor). You enter the palazzo from a side street, through a

Road Trip Torino: Day 3

2010-05-04T14:49:00.015+02:00

This morning when we woke up, it was still cloudy. After breakfast, though, it started to break up a little and we started to get a sense of the view from our balcony. The light was splendid, and I took this photo of one of the hills to our east. I’m not sure what the church on top is yet. I’ll let you know when I find out. It was the first day of school, and we didn’t want to be late! We

Road Trip Torino: Day 2

2010-05-03T14:43:00.008+02:00

We woke up to a light, drizzly rain. Ew. Not the best weather for crossing the alps—especially if you want to get some awesome photos! With the rain came fog. Lots of it. But when it lifted (partially) we had some splendid views. This one is in Gruyere, just south of Bern: Here are a couple more from the road: In Switzerland, you see this a lot too: Heh, that’s what happens when you

Road Trip Torino: Day 1

2010-05-01T20:43:00.016+02:00

8 am: We’re off! The sky is cloudy, perfect for driving. There wasn’t much traffic. As we doive south, the first hour or so was in Belgium, with familiar countryside all around us. As we left Belgium and entered Germany, we were in the Black Forest. There are high fences around the autobahn here, to keep the animals off the highway, and occasional overpasses just for the wild animals. Heh, my

ROAD TRIP: Torino

2010-04-29T16:28:00.017+02:00

ROAD TRIP! We're off at the crack o'dawn tomorrow. Again. This time, we're going in the car, and we're taking you with us--virtually, of course! We're off to Torino (Turin) for two weeks, where we'll spend the mornings in class improving our Italian, and the afternoons exploring Torino and the Piemonte region of Northwest Italy. You're invited to come along--we've rented an apartment for the

DAY TRIP: Amsterdam

2010-04-27T19:28:00.032+02:00

Sunday morning Dan and I got up bright and early and took the train to Amsterdam. Dan had a meeting there and I had free time. I had arranged to meet up with Oz, from Kitchen Butterfly and to spend the afternoon with her exploring Amsterdam. The train ride up there was really interesting--we passed a lot of pastures with canals around them instead of fences. From some angles it looked like the

ASPARAGUS!

2010-04-24T12:30:00.010+02:00

It’s asparagus season, and we’re eating a lot of it. Steamed, baked, roasted. It’s everywhere. Green, white, tiny, enormous, baked, grilled, roasted, in soups and salads. In Germany it’s called Spargel. I love that word--it sounds like sparkle, and that’s what happens when the asparagus hits the market. It’s the official signal that Spring is here. In our markets there are mostly white

Under the Little Big Top

2010-04-19T15:59:00.023+02:00

I love a circus, don’t you? When Dan had an office in Montreal, we used to spend a certain amount of time there. One of the things we loved to do was to see Cirque du Soleil. The things they did were astonishing, magical. I remember once there was a man who flew. Really flew. He began by walking around the enormous ring, his hands through some gymnast’s rings that were attached far above him. He

DUCK REDUX: Duck and Lentil Tarts

2010-04-15T10:07:00.021+02:00

Leftovers. I love ‘em, don’t you? I mean, what’s better than finding food already cooked in the fridge? That way you can re-combine it with new ingredients and make something au pif, something on the spur of the moment, something that’s never been done before. Or at least not this week. Because there’s normally only two of us eating here, we often have leftovers. When I made cuisses de canard

Home again...

2010-04-11T09:20:00.008+02:00

Home again, recovering from jet-lag and finally unpacked! We got home to find that our wifi router had committed suicide and we spent a lot of frustrating time trying to restore internet service. It's interesting to come face-to-face with how much we depend on the internet in our daily lives--from email to lesson preparation to blogging. In any case, we're back now and I'm off to try to catch

STUFFED ZUCCHINI

2010-04-05T02:57:00.000+02:00

Note: We're still on holiday. This is the last of my pre-programmed posts. I'll be home soon with fresh ones! Do you see these things? Aren't they adorable? I love it when I find these in the market. They're perfect for stuffing. They're also perfect for playing zucchini bowling, but that's another story. Today we'll just stuff them. Not in the rude way, of course. This is a great weeknight dish.

LANGUAGE LESSONS: Logical Consequences

2010-04-02T02:32:00.001+02:00

NOTE: We're still on holiday. This is a re-write of an early post about the problems of trying to solve linguistic challenges using logic. Enjoy. One of the interesting things about living in Belgium is that we are exposed to different languages every day. Everything we buy has two or three languages on it: French, Dutch, and often German as well.Our daily language is French. When we leave our

CLASSICS: Pimento Cheese

2010-03-29T11:53:00.002+02:00

Having grown up in the Southern part of the US, I have some special food prejudices. I love spicy food. I will make a beeline for a coconut cake. I like my tea strong and iced. No sugar (I know). My lifetime ambition is to make good fried chicken (I'm not there, not by a long shot). In the summer, I could happily eat BLT every single day. And I love pimento cheese. Pimento Cheese. Pimiento

FLASHBACK: The Best Laid Plans...(part 5)

2010-03-26T07:21:00.003+01:00

Note: This is a continuing story. Part 1 can be found here, part 2 here, part 3 here and part 4 here. I'm sorry that this is so much text, but I have no photos that can go with this... After living for a time in Dublin, we returned to DC to close up our house in preparation for our move to Belgium. Our last months there went by very fast. We set about dismantling our life, step by step. We

Here We Go Again...

2010-03-21T02:15:00.000+01:00

Yes, it's that time again. Our travel season is starting, and to kick it off, we're off to visit my mom. We'll be gone almost three weeks. To entertain you while I'm gone I've left some posts which should appear every three days or so. I think we'll have internet access from time to time, so I should be able to check in and see what you're up to...So wish me a bon voyage and have a HOPPY EASTER,

Peter Piper's Peppers

2010-03-18T10:27:00.026+01:00

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Who could eat the pickled peppers Peter Piper picked? Can you say that five times fast? No, I can't either. Neither can I pronounce the name of this gorgeous mix of vegetables: Ajvar.When I saw the photos of Ajvar here, I knew it was something I would love. I wanted the recipe. I wanted to make this. I wanted to eat it till I had had enough of it. And

PHOTO RESCUE: Level Adjustment

2010-03-15T10:29:00.036+01:00

I know, I know. We’re supposed to take good photos and not have to rely on Photoshop or another photo processing software package to make them good. In my next life I’ll be able to do that. In this one, however, my photos sometimes need help. I’ve been working with a couple of friends who are photographers to improve my photos--both as I take them and as I process them. I’d like to share with you

CUISSES DE CANARD. CONFIT.

2010-03-12T10:32:00.016+01:00

One of the wonderful things that we discovered after we’d moved to Belgium is duck confit. In French, it’s called cuisses de canard confit. Cuisses de canard means duck thighs. Confit is a word that doesn’t translate well into English. Prepared? Pickled? Preserved? Not exactly the same thing, but in that family of ideas. Here’s how they’re made: duck thighs are packed in a mixture of salt and

FRIDAY FISH

2010-03-08T10:18:00.014+01:00

Growing up in an Irish Catholic family meant that we ate fish on friday. Every friday. Without fail. The only exception we ever saw was when my older brother had rheumatic fever and the doctors wanted him to eat beef every day to strengthen his heart. Heh. I know. But it was the best medical wisdom at that time. My grandfather had the same advice after his heart attack, and he lived to be 87.

GOING POSTAL

2010-03-04T08:46:00.023+01:00

One of the interesting things about living in Belgium is learning to deal with the vagaries of the post. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. If I put a letter in the post today, it will be delivered anywhere in Belgium tomorrow. That’s impressive to me. A bookstore in Siena once sent me some books on a Friday and I had them on Monday. From Germany or Switzerland I might expect that kind of

TRUFFLE MASHED POTATOES

2010-02-27T10:30:00.011+01:00

One night recently we had (another) roasted chicken. We have this often, because we can get three or four meals from a chicken. I make it more or less the same way each time, changing the herbs or the lemon or whatever else makes sense given what I have. I like to slice the cold meat for sandwiches. A little mayo, a grind of salt, some good bread, maybe some lettuce and tomato, maybe just some

TODAY...

2010-02-24T19:13:00.007+01:00

Today. Today the snow is finally gone. Today My throat no longer feels like it’s shredding itself every time I swallow. Today my cough is better. I woke up having slept all night. Dan too! Today I have no fever, no chills, no aches, no pains. Today the sun in shining in my corner of the world. Today the light is different. It’s warm, it’s alive. Today the air kisses my skin with the

Citrus and Samurai

2010-02-21T01:08:00.000+01:00

On my kitchen counter right now are citrus fruits: lemons, blood oranges, clementines and limes. Beside them is a jar of Samurai sauce (or Samourai sauce, if you’re Dutch). This is a bad omen in my house. When I start to get sick, often the first sign is that I start to crave sour things. And hot spicy things. Sour I understand--it’s the Vitamin C. Ok, but spicy? Beats me, but it’s an

BLUEBERRY WINTER TREAT

2010-02-18T15:19:00.009+01:00

I don’t know about you, but about this time of year I start to look for things that remind me of summer, of sunshine, of warmth. I start to pull out things that I put up or froze or saved during the summer. One of the things that I save in the summer is blueberries. I love their intense color and the lovely flavor they bring to things. Also, they make my tongue blue, which is always a nice

CHOCOLATE VALENTINES

2010-02-14T02:39:00.002+01:00

Calling all Chocolate Lovers! Is there a day that’s more appropriate to celebrate with chocolate than Valentines day? I don’t think so. To honor the ultimate chocolate holiday, I’ve gathered a group of bloggers who are all making something with chocolate today. Belgian chocolate, of course! I hope you’ll cruise around and visit them. I know they've all made something wonderful from their

Fish Cakes

2010-02-11T01:23:00.000+01:00

Do you ever just open the fridge and find parts of things left over? Of course you do. We all do. When that happens, sometimes Dan and I just eat little bits of things for dinner. At our house we call that ‘grazing’. Other times I make something that ends up being really good, and then I wish I had taken the time to write it down so that I could make it again. When I made these fish cakes, I

Adopt a Blogger

2010-02-08T08:35:00.004+01:00

Kristin at Dine and Dish sponsors a program called “Adopt a Blogger”, in which experienced bloggers act as mentors to newer bloggers. The idea is for the new blogger to be able to take advantage of the the experience and expertise of the experienced blogger. In this way we build communities and pass on what we've learned. What a great idea! Since my blog is only 6 months old, and I have a lot to

FLASHBACK: The Best Laid Plans...(part 4)

2010-02-06T01:21:00.004+01:00

Note: This is a continuing story. Part 1 can be found here, part 2 is here, and part 3 is here. After Dan’s accident in 1999, we finally decided it was time to do what we’d talked about for so long. I gave my consulting firm 12 months notice, and began the process of turning over my clients and my expertise to others. I was working with a very talented team and the process went relatively

1-2-3 Pasta

2010-02-02T15:19:00.020+01:00

Sometimes you just want something quick. Something filling. Something comforting. At our house, that usually means pasta. The other day it was (still) snowing out, and I wanted something warm and comforting. Something a little spicy. Something that would make me think of warm climates while it fended off the cold snowy weather. Which is still here, by the way. I had some merguez sausage and

Hummus Flower

2010-01-29T11:14:00.017+01:00

There was a time in my life when I couldn’t eat anything that had wheat in it-no crackers, no bread, no pita, no gravy, no biscuits, no cookies, no croissants... you get the idea. I got pretty creative with some things. Like Hummus. I reallyreally like hummus, but if you don’t have pita to put it on, what can you do? Corn chips. Yes. They work very well. Sometimes, though, if you have company

FLASHBACK: The Best Laid Plans... (part 3)

2010-01-25T11:27:00.015+01:00

Note: This is a continuing story. Part 1 can be found here and part 2 is here. Several people have asked me lately why I don’t write more about moving to Europe, about the process itself. Good question! It is really a good story, if I do say so myself... We’ve been here almost nine years now, and it feels so much like home that sometimes our life in DC feels like a dream. So I’ve started going

Tea Verrines with Citrus Fruits

2010-01-22T13:15:00.015+01:00

This time of the year we’re trying to eat lighter, to counteract the rich foods we ate over the holidays. I saw this recipe on Tartelette’s blog, and bookmarked it right away, knowing that when the blood oranges came in, I’d want to make it. This is a verrine of citrus fruits and pomegranate seeds in a jelly made from tea. Tartelette made this with white tea and pink grapefruit. It was (of

WINTER CLASSICS: Oxtail Soup

2010-01-18T16:12:00.003+01:00

Soup. Are you sick of soup yet? Not me! Before I made this, I’d never had oxtail soup. I KNOW! It’s such a winter classic, so traditional. Maybe that’s why I’d never had it! Be that as it may, when I saw some queues de boeuf in the supermarket, I snatched them right up. When I got home, I wasn’t sure anymore why. There they were, though, so I decided to go ahead and make oxtail soup. The

IN PRAISE OF HEROES

2010-01-16T21:49:00.007+01:00

Heroes. We all have them. Whether it's a fireman rushing into a building we know will subsequently collapse or a child suffering bravely from an incurable disease, a parent who sacrifices everything for a child, or someone who does what we had thought was impossible; we have heroes. Some of them are well known, and some of them are only known to those close to them. They're all heroes. In the

White Onion Soup

2010-01-14T09:15:00.002+01:00

Cold, snow, ice. I had a whole day to cook, because I sure wasn’t going out in that stuff. I needed to go to the market, though, because we didn’t have much in the way of fresh fruit or veggies. But I decided that tomorrow is another day (as they say where I come from). So I looked in the fridge, and I had a chicken carcass from one I had roasted a couple of days before. By now, Dan is well

SCALLOP VERRINES

2010-01-11T01:02:00.003+01:00

This is another recipe made from our gift of Breton Scallops. For this one, I wanted something lighter, with some Asian flavors. I had some lemongrass leaves that I thought would go well with the sweetness of the scallops. I also had some crisp radishes for a sharp note and some celery root to round out the flavor. I didn’t do much to the scallops--they didn’t need much. I rinsed them, dried

An iPhone App and an Award

2010-01-08T15:29:00.011+01:00

Do you see this? Do you see my strawberry panna cotta photo? ->>>No, I haven’t been plagarized--I’ve been published! Several months ago, I was contacted by the California Strawberry Commission about using my recipe for panna cotta in an iPhone app featuring recipes using strawberries. Today it's officially available. Do I have to say that I am thrilled? In some ways I’m still an academic at

Some New Links and a Rant

2010-01-07T22:33:00.018+01:00

I have been working on my photography skills since I bought my new camera and I’ve decided that one way to do that is to join Project 365. I’ve committed to taking at least one photo every day for a year. My year started on January 2, when I first read about this project over at Dine and Dish. I’ve posted a link to my project photos in the column on the right -> ->, just under the list of

Scallops and Chick Pea Puree

2010-01-05T08:29:00.005+01:00

Luck. You know, I’ve never thought of myself as a lucky person. I mean, I’ve never won any kind of prize. Never won even a small lottery prize, never won anything from Publisher’s clearing house. Never even won at bingo. Once in the Netherlands I held 20% of the tickets for a raffle that had 25 prizes, and I STILL didn’t win anything. I don’t care. I may not have Lotto luck, but I have Life

NIGEL'S FISH

2010-01-02T15:48:00.001+01:00

When I don’t know what to cook, I usually turn to my trusty copy of Nigel Slater’s Kitchen Diaries. Ok, by now you probably know I’m a real Nigel Slater fan. One reason that I always turn to this book is that whatever I find will be seasonal and prepared without too much fuss. It will also be delicious. In October, Nigel prepared some haddock. It was simple, quick, and creatively done. I’ve used

CONIGLIO IN UMIDO: Rabbit Stew

2009-12-31T08:20:00.001+01:00

It’s the season for gibier, or wild game here in Belgium. In the supermarket at this time, we have an amazing choice: wild boar, doe, wild buck, pheasant, pigeon, duck, guinea fowl, reebock, marcassin (baby boar), hare, and rabbit. During the holidays, game is on everyone’s menu. I will admit that I haven’t yet tackled boar or venison. Rabbit, though, is something that we eat from time to time.

NUTS! A tale of two bloggers

2009-12-28T09:43:00.000+01:00

Several months ago I was lamenting the fact that I couldn’t find good pecans here in Belgium. Shortly thereafter I got an email from Mardi at Eat, Live, Travel, Write, offering to send me pecans in exchange for a certain type of Belgian Chocolate--Manons by Neuhaus. A good deal, I think! At the time, I was traveling a lot, and when I got home Mardi was traveling. Last week, though, she was in