So far the weather this year has been fickle. Snow, melt, snow melt, 1 day cold, 1 day warm… even the birds’ chirping has been tentative as if they are unsure if they didn’t return north too soon. Local produce here in Germany remains decisively wintery except for the wonderful citrus produce from Spain and ...
Often when I can’t go to sleep after any exciting day, I write my blog posts or letters in my head. I compose and think of the words that inspired me about the event or the problem to be solved. When I was recently thinking about what words came to my mind when I thought ...
Spring is slow in coming here this year. As if it isn’t sure if we are ready. Ready for rebirth, ready for lushness, ready for the new chances and opportunities that spring brings to nature. And symbolically to us. Are we prepared to accept the challenge? Are we ready to enjoy and revel in the ...
I have continued to play around with various smoking and braising variations a lot of them tea-based. I recently discovered jasmine ball tea which looks like miniature brown/grey/green balls of wool. The wonderful fragrance and convenient form led me to buy 2 packs of them during our recent visit to Bruges, Belgium, were we had ...
Having decided to go to Rhodes on Easter vacation in April, the pre-excitement got the better of me and I just had to have lamb and orzo to enhance the anticipation. Usually I marinate the lamb in oil, lemon juice, mashed garlic and rosemary, but I had wonderful bunches of fresh mint and cilantro so ...
Happy Halloween Halloween has just come and gone here and although not all children living in Germany take part, it has become more popular over the years. The arrival of the costumes and the carving pumpkins is also accompanied by wonderful pumpkins for soups, breads, pies, and for more exotic things like Bobotie baked in ...
Minced Lamb “Köfte” with Eggplant/Aubergine on a Skewer Oven-baked Sweet and White Potatoes Chunks Fall Beet, Apple, Walnut and Goat Cheese Salad Köfte is a kebab variation which is popular in Turkey and Iran but also can be found in Macedonian, Armenian, and Romanian cuisine. In good Turkish restaurants in Germany you can find it ...
Imagine you finally get to cook for long-lost dear friends and you only have a one time shot before they “disappear” again for a long-time. Sure you have remained in email and Facebook contact and know what their kids are doing and they know what your vacation was like – but what you can’t share ...