I discovered a new milkshake and it's delicious: chocolate avocado.
I swear.
1/2 avocado
1-1/2 C milk
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1-2 T preferred sweetener (sugar, agave nectar, etc.)
1 t vanilla extract
A few ice cubes
Blend them all together and serve immediately. (My sweetener was two packets of Splenda b/c I had it).
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Midsommar
We celebrated midsommar a little early this year with Derellek this past weekend. Gropius was so excited to have a firepit in the backyard and I researched the traditions about jumping over the fire and which herbs to throw into the fire. :)
We started off with some cheese, crackers, and elder flower tonic before moving on to our slices of Swedish "cheese pie" or "vasterbottensost pie". Picked up the Vasterbottensost at IKEA earlier this week and found a recipe online here. The end result was delicious!
Then, it was a round of magnetic structure building with Lulu...
Siggi and Snorri enjoyed some nasturiums in honor of the holiday, too.
And everyone enjoyed the new patio furniture!
The firepit was readied for once darkness fell...
And Gropius gave Lulu a quick bath to get her ready for bed before she came out to tell us goodnight and help us put Siggi back in the rabbit hutch.
Once Lulu was ensconced in bed, it was time to move on to the savory cheesecake (with prociutto and chives), lox, potatoes with dill, and grilled Nürnberger bratwurst from the local German butcher. YUM!
The fire was lit and much merriment was had by all! We enjoyed rue, oregano, rosemary, curry plant, and lemon balm in the fire along with the dried almond wood that Gropius picked up at BevMo (the Happiest Place on Earth (tm)).
And last but not least, it was panna cotta for dessert with a strawberry sauce and some blueberries.
The next morning, we recycled the strawberry sauce into breakfast: crepes!
We started off with some cheese, crackers, and elder flower tonic before moving on to our slices of Swedish "cheese pie" or "vasterbottensost pie". Picked up the Vasterbottensost at IKEA earlier this week and found a recipe online here. The end result was delicious!
 |
| Swedish cheese pie |
 |
| with fresh thyme (instead of the traditional dill--I *hate* dill) |
 |
| we were also comparing German vs. Austrian Obstler |
Then, it was a round of magnetic structure building with Lulu...
 |
| Lulu's 1st question the next morning: "Wo ist Tante Hellen?" |
Siggi and Snorri enjoyed some nasturiums in honor of the holiday, too.
And everyone enjoyed the new patio furniture!
The firepit was readied for once darkness fell...
And Gropius gave Lulu a quick bath to get her ready for bed before she came out to tell us goodnight and help us put Siggi back in the rabbit hutch.
 |
| Caption Contest! My entry is, "And suddenly the party took an interesting turn...." |
Once Lulu was ensconced in bed, it was time to move on to the savory cheesecake (with prociutto and chives), lox, potatoes with dill, and grilled Nürnberger bratwurst from the local German butcher. YUM!
 |
| the only picture of the savory cheesecake--we were too busy stuffing our faces! |
The fire was lit and much merriment was had by all! We enjoyed rue, oregano, rosemary, curry plant, and lemon balm in the fire along with the dried almond wood that Gropius picked up at BevMo (the Happiest Place on Earth (tm)).
And last but not least, it was panna cotta for dessert with a strawberry sauce and some blueberries.
The next morning, we recycled the strawberry sauce into breakfast: crepes!
 |
| my breakfast plate--delicious and relatively low-fat |
 |
| My beautiful baby girl! |
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
A few garden close-ups
Just a few snapshots from the garden this week:
And Gropius's latest project, the firepit:
He dug a pit underneath the middle two pavers and lined it with some concrete bricks so that we can have our own firepit in the backyard, like Jürgen and Babel did last summer in Nürnberg. He's planning on lighting up a fire this Friday for an early Midsommar celebration with Derellek. :)
 |
| Siggi and Snorri enjoying a little fresh grass outside their rabbit run |
 |
| Texas Tarragon, almost ready to bloom |
 |
| Lots of Marigolds this year |
 |
| My white echinacea |
And Gropius's latest project, the firepit:
 |
| solar half dome lights, compliments of IKEA |
He dug a pit underneath the middle two pavers and lined it with some concrete bricks so that we can have our own firepit in the backyard, like Jürgen and Babel did last summer in Nürnberg. He's planning on lighting up a fire this Friday for an early Midsommar celebration with Derellek. :)
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Dinner last night...
...was amazingly tasty! David Lebovitz highlighted a woman's blog where she adapted a Molly Katzen recipe into a pizza. I forwarded it to Gropius and we both decided that it looked tasty and worth a try.
Rather than following her example and cooking the corn-cake crust in a pie pan, I decided to use my trusty 10" springform pan instead. The removable sides turned out to be really helpful, but I do wish that we had followed her lead by putting the corn-cake crust on a second pan (rather than doing the second baking on the springform pan bottom). The cheese made it stick a bit around the edges and I don't think that would've been a problem with a second pan.
Our other modification was to use two whole eggs rather than the egg/egg white mixture in the original. We aren't that worried about our cholesterol (yet). Other than that, we baked the recipe as-is.
Our corn-cake crust:
And the finished product:
We put red bell peppers, one spicy Italian sausage, tomato sauce, and red onion on top with a dusting of basil.
Delicious!
Rather than following her example and cooking the corn-cake crust in a pie pan, I decided to use my trusty 10" springform pan instead. The removable sides turned out to be really helpful, but I do wish that we had followed her lead by putting the corn-cake crust on a second pan (rather than doing the second baking on the springform pan bottom). The cheese made it stick a bit around the edges and I don't think that would've been a problem with a second pan.
Our other modification was to use two whole eggs rather than the egg/egg white mixture in the original. We aren't that worried about our cholesterol (yet). Other than that, we baked the recipe as-is.
Our corn-cake crust:
And the finished product:
We put red bell peppers, one spicy Italian sausage, tomato sauce, and red onion on top with a dusting of basil.
Delicious!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Celebration Weekend
Okay, here are the photos I promised in my earlier post yesterday. We left Sacto ~9:45am and arrived in Menlo Park after a short detour through a Canyon between I-880 and I-680. The canyon was very pretty but didn't help us get there sooner.
We avoided the parking lots for the masses by parking on the street in the neighborhood nearby and walking over. I snapped a quick couple of photos of Lulu showing off her "vagrant chic" ensemble this morning:
The Sunset people aren't stupid--the first tents we came across upon entering were the beer and wine tasting tables. Yay! I tried some (relatively) local but previously unknown (to me) wines and Gropius enjoyed a variety of beers--the beer selection was better than the wine selection this year, I think.
Then, we made our way over to the Sunset "dreamhouse" which was a converted shipping container this year. I was more impressed by the table that they had set up beside it:
As always, the landscaping is just beautiful. I think we picked up postcards advertising landscaping from a million different people today. I hope our front yard will be beautiful like this someday:
Lulu become absolutely *fascinated* by chickens. You heard it here, folks--chickens and bee-keeping are the latest trends in urban homesteading. We must've seen at least 3-4 separate flocks of chickens as we wandered around and a couple of different bee-keeping demonstrations.
Then, it was time for LUNCH! In the gauntlet of beer/wine tasting, at the end of the tunnel was the food and it was fabulous. Lulu and I enjoyed some Venezuelan street food and Gropius was excited to see the Korean taco truck that was at the Sacto MoFo Festival back in late April. This time he got the BBQ'd pork sandwich, The Sammy, and reported that it was delicious. I enjoyed a pabellon arepa with yucca fries. I'd never had yucca fries before but they were tasty! More substantial than a potato (similar to hushpuppies), and definitely filling.
After we were full, we wandered through the garden/cooking side of the shin-dig. They had a demo kitchen set up (where Rick Bayless was cooking at 12:30 today, sigh), but we got to watch the Sprinkles Cupcake lady frost some strawberry cupcakes!
Then we found where Safeway was giving away FREE coffee chocolate chip ice cream!
And Lulu wanted to play with the colored glass balls at this display more than her parents were comfortable with....
And, last but not least, I found a nice way to keep mint (among other things) from overtaking my garden:
By the end, Lulu was exhausted (no nap today) and we thought for sure that she'd sleep in the car....um, no. Instead we were entertained with the "spitting" and "song" from the previous post. (although NOT patty-cake which was the rhyme I'd requested before I started shooting the video)
We avoided the parking lots for the masses by parking on the street in the neighborhood nearby and walking over. I snapped a quick couple of photos of Lulu showing off her "vagrant chic" ensemble this morning:
 |
| the shirt is size 4-6 years, ditto the skirt from Polarn O. Pyret |
The Sunset people aren't stupid--the first tents we came across upon entering were the beer and wine tasting tables. Yay! I tried some (relatively) local but previously unknown (to me) wines and Gropius enjoyed a variety of beers--the beer selection was better than the wine selection this year, I think.
Then, we made our way over to the Sunset "dreamhouse" which was a converted shipping container this year. I was more impressed by the table that they had set up beside it:
As always, the landscaping is just beautiful. I think we picked up postcards advertising landscaping from a million different people today. I hope our front yard will be beautiful like this someday:
Lulu become absolutely *fascinated* by chickens. You heard it here, folks--chickens and bee-keeping are the latest trends in urban homesteading. We must've seen at least 3-4 separate flocks of chickens as we wandered around and a couple of different bee-keeping demonstrations.
Then, it was time for LUNCH! In the gauntlet of beer/wine tasting, at the end of the tunnel was the food and it was fabulous. Lulu and I enjoyed some Venezuelan street food and Gropius was excited to see the Korean taco truck that was at the Sacto MoFo Festival back in late April. This time he got the BBQ'd pork sandwich, The Sammy, and reported that it was delicious. I enjoyed a pabellon arepa with yucca fries. I'd never had yucca fries before but they were tasty! More substantial than a potato (similar to hushpuppies), and definitely filling.
 |
| Look, no lines!!!! |
 |
| my very filling lunch |
 |
| grilled skirt steak, plantains, black beans and cheese |
After we were full, we wandered through the garden/cooking side of the shin-dig. They had a demo kitchen set up (where Rick Bayless was cooking at 12:30 today, sigh), but we got to watch the Sprinkles Cupcake lady frost some strawberry cupcakes!
Then we found where Safeway was giving away FREE coffee chocolate chip ice cream!
 |
| surprisingly unfazed by the caffeine |
And Lulu wanted to play with the colored glass balls at this display more than her parents were comfortable with....
 |
| glass = irresistible to small children |
And, last but not least, I found a nice way to keep mint (among other things) from overtaking my garden:
 |
| this bed had mint, strawberries, rhubarb, and blueberries |
By the end, Lulu was exhausted (no nap today) and we thought for sure that she'd sleep in the car....um, no. Instead we were entertained with the "spitting" and "song" from the previous post. (although NOT patty-cake which was the rhyme I'd requested before I started shooting the video)
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Flammkuchen
YUM!!!!!
Gropius and I made Flammkuchen last night for dinner. I found our recipe from a past entry of one of our favorite food blogs.
It required a bit of pre-dinner prep earlier in the afternoon, but the dough was easy to throw together with the KitchenAid mixer. It was interesting in that it called for a bit of rye flour (in addition to the all-purpose) which gave it a nice full flavor. I didn't even bother removing the dough from my mixing bowl--I just slapped some saran-wrap on top and put it in the oven with the light on to rise in a warm place until we were ready to cook dinner (after I got home from German class).
The rest of the prep was equally easy, too--just thinly slicing red onions and stirring together some créme fraiche--we were good to go!
Then, we slid that puppy into the oven and waited 15 minutes to enjoy a delicious meal with some nice German Riesling.
Gropius and I made Flammkuchen last night for dinner. I found our recipe from a past entry of one of our favorite food blogs.
It required a bit of pre-dinner prep earlier in the afternoon, but the dough was easy to throw together with the KitchenAid mixer. It was interesting in that it called for a bit of rye flour (in addition to the all-purpose) which gave it a nice full flavor. I didn't even bother removing the dough from my mixing bowl--I just slapped some saran-wrap on top and put it in the oven with the light on to rise in a warm place until we were ready to cook dinner (after I got home from German class).
The rest of the prep was equally easy, too--just thinly slicing red onions and stirring together some créme fraiche--we were good to go!
 |
| Next time I would chop up the pancetta for easier eating |
 |
| Worst part? Slicing all those red onions! |
Then, we slid that puppy into the oven and waited 15 minutes to enjoy a delicious meal with some nice German Riesling.
 |
| Sliding it onto our preheated pan |
 |
| finished product! |
 |
| Can you see the deliciousness? HEAVENLY! |
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Lime-Elder flower muffin recipe
Inspired by this recipe from Food&Wine, Lulu and I adapted one of my stand-by muffin recipes to make these beauties this morning.
I used some elder flower juice concentrate that I bought at IKEA's food section and supplemented plain whole-milk yogurt for the buttermilk that was missing from my fridge. I also didn't have powdered sugar, so the glaze with St Germain (from the original F&W recipe) will have to wait for another time. My muffin tin is also an old hand-me-down from my mother and I suspect that the cups are smaller than the ones you can buy in the store now (yet another example of portion creep in the American diet). So, this muffin recipe makes 12 muffins and 12 mini-muffins, too.
For those who are interested, here's what I did:
If I had it to do over again, I might add more of the juice concentrate b/c I wanted a stronger elder flower flavor, but I think if I had the powdered sugar glaze, then the muffins were just right. I think you could also easily sub in low-fat (or nonfat) yogurt. I just happened to have whole milk yogurt from making strawberry FroYo earlier this weekend. I don't think lemons would sub well for the lime though--I think it would clash with the elder flower.
I used some elder flower juice concentrate that I bought at IKEA's food section and supplemented plain whole-milk yogurt for the buttermilk that was missing from my fridge. I also didn't have powdered sugar, so the glaze with St Germain (from the original F&W recipe) will have to wait for another time. My muffin tin is also an old hand-me-down from my mother and I suspect that the cups are smaller than the ones you can buy in the store now (yet another example of portion creep in the American diet). So, this muffin recipe makes 12 muffins and 12 mini-muffins, too.
For those who are interested, here's what I did:
1/2 C sugar
zest of 1/2 lime
handful of slivered almonds
2 C all-purpose flour
1/3 C sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
3/4 C plain whole milk yogurt
1/3 C apple sauce
1 Tb vegetable oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tb elder flower juice concentrate
1 tsp almond extract
cooking spray
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Combine ½ C sugar, lime zest, and almonds in food processor and process until crumbly.
3. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and 1/3 C sugar together in a large mixing bowl.
4. Combine the yogurt, applesauce, oil, eggs, juice concentrate, and extract together along with the processed almond-sugar mixture. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.
5. Spoon batter into muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake for 21-25 minutes. Remove from pan immediate and place on wire rack to cool.
If I had it to do over again, I might add more of the juice concentrate b/c I wanted a stronger elder flower flavor, but I think if I had the powdered sugar glaze, then the muffins were just right. I think you could also easily sub in low-fat (or nonfat) yogurt. I just happened to have whole milk yogurt from making strawberry FroYo earlier this weekend. I don't think lemons would sub well for the lime though--I think it would clash with the elder flower.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)