Ocean

Fruit Tart

The season of fresh berries are upon us!

or atleast, it was...

I say "was" because with a deep sorrow in my heart, I have to admit that today I saw the first yellow leaves on a tree. GASP.

I think this must mean that Fall is creeping in on us, but I dare not say it too loudly as it may tempt fate. Thus, in the midst of this "northeastern" (translation: downpour) week, I think back to the summer days, when the heat from the oven while making this tart was unbearable, when I carried this tart over a friend's house in flip flops and a summer dress, and when this tart served as dessert to an outdoor summer BBQ and as backdrop to great company. On that summery night, it was loved by all, and there was not a single yellow leaf in sight. The end.

Berry Picking

Some photos capturing our memorable, delicious-but-sometimes-sour, itchy-yet-relaxing get away with friends. We hope you enjoy!

This last one is for Yolanda because she loved the clouds....

Lasagna with Steffie

Every time Steffie is in town, we end up making lasagna. She and I roast eggplants like no other! While the men were off mastering their tennis moves, we created a feast as a surprise. The menu included lemon pepper asparagus, Gouda and herb eggplant, and tofu basil lasagna.

Before we started, I asked: "Steffie, you think this will cover 4 dinners and maybe 2 lunches?"

She said "Yes, I think so."

We ended up with enough for 4 dinners, 4 lunches, and 4 dinners the next night.

If you will notice, it was "one hunk of a lasagna," although the photo really doesn't do it justice.

Amsterdam, Part III

Most of the feel of Amsterdam came from walking around in the city and local parks. Here's the stereotypical view of a windmill, bikes, a river, boats, lush greens, and sunshine. It was truly beautiful and relaxing, especially where there's a river every other street.

While enjoying the view of either the North sea or the green lush parks, my friend Steffie introduced me to some of the local cuisine. On top of taste-testing ice cream (tough job), we also had Bitterballen, whose larger version is called Kroket. These beauties are fried food rolls with different fillings consisting of mashed potatoes, meats, seafood, veggies, bread, egg, onion, and so much more. Ours tasted like it was filled with an Indian curry.

The other thing we tried were fries dipped in mayo. Not only was it popular, but getting mayo cost half an euro more! It was...okay...but very European. We finally just ended up dipping our fries in the kroket filling and that was heavenly when you've got great company and a great view!

Amsterdam, Part II

In Amsterdam, I fell in love with the waffles, or specifically the stroopwaffles of the Netherlands. These are a specific waffle sandwich that consist of a layer of caramel surrounded by two thin waffles, or pizelles. It's usually eaten slightly warm, and when you buy them pre-made, the custom is to put the stroopwaffle over your cup of hot coffee or tea so that it softens and warms just the right amount from the hot steam. They are so popular that I did even find stroopwaffles on sale in the Starbucks in Amsterdam. Some days, I still crave them, just not enough to go out and buy my own pizelle maker (although I did find a recipe online already)

Below are some representative images of a local bakery. I wanted to take EVERYTHING home. yum!

Amsterdam

The land of waffles... and pancakes.

The pancakes remind me more of crepes, and like crepes, you can get them salty or sweet with a large variety of toppings. What sets it over the top are the stroop syrup and the powdered sugar condiments. Apparently, you can add these two to any pancake (even the salty ones). I had my initial doubts of its versatility but after trying syrup on a chesse and ham pancake, I'm now a believer!

My Travel Journal

It's been awhile since my summer travels, but I figured there are things, especially food related that I should post.

I started my journey with a train ride from Paris to Amsterdam. In Brussells, I had breakfast with horse in a zebra suit. He was kind and inviting except the table falls right a the level of his privates which were very detailed. He also talked a lot...in French...and I kept getting the feeling that he was looking down at me.

I had a stereotypical latte avec pain au chocolat. It was simple but delicious and you could be staring at the single chocolate croissant that pushed me to resolve that I would make my own chocolate croissants one day.

Or maybe it was this one that I got with my 1st class seat (2nd class was sold out, and this was only $5 more).

Summer Tomatoes

I have come across a variation of this recipe in a bunch of different places. It's always a mixture of cooking together bread and tomatoes, along with some variation of cheese and different herbs, especially basil. Thus, from a mixture of different sources, that's kind of what I did. It especially fit because I must say that my recent trip to Italy left me craving Italian food and just cooking without recipes. I added some of our day old bread, tomatoes, basil, Italian herbs, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese that I imported direct from Bologna, Italy. They were thrown together in Cocotte, and 30 minutes later, voila!

It looks sloppy, but oh my was it amazingly delicious!

Junior Mint Cupcakes

Triple chocolate cake (I decreased the amount of eggs to make it a brownie consistency) with a mint and chocolate filling.

Topped with vanilla mint frosting and two junior mints.

Le peche au chocolat

I went a little overboard with the chocolate to croissant ratio.

Each of these were a little sin of chocolate.

Malt ball Birthday Cake

Here's a birthday cake that David and I made for our good friend, Dave S.

He once told me that he loved malt balls, so we made him a chocolate and vanilla malt cake.

The secret is malt powder and fine chocolate shavings incorporated into a butter dough as well as a vanilla bean-based frosting.

Pork & Spinach Stirfry

Simple, "refreshing", flavorful, tender, and perfect with a warm bowl of rice.

Veggies

Potato noodles with cucmber and pork

A traditional Northwest Chinese dish.

Chinese pork ribs

A slow simmer of different spices

Potato and Scallion