Everything I need

I am sitting at home with my husband, parents, and brother. And I have everything that I need.





Sitting right here, on my parents beautiful deck. I could turn my phone off because I don't feel the need to talk to anyone else. Lose my car keys, because I don't feel the need to go anywhere else. Just enjoying my family. Nature. Life. Trying to always remember what God has given me.

My husband and I should be leaving soon to start the new chapter in our lives....together. It feels so great. Scary. Exciting.

I hope the apartment we get has good light so that I can return to taking pictures of food. But for now, family and nature have been pretty good muses. Don't you think? My parents have the most beautiful back yard.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Happy 52nd birthday "Pops". I hope you have 52 more!!!!


WE LOVE YOU.

New beginnings

I haven't posted on here for a while, but I have a great excuse.


I GOT MARRIED!!!


Yes. I got married on August 18th to the love of my life and I couldn't be happier. We went on a wonderful vacation full of clear skies, sparkling blue ocean, plenty of sunshine.



We're in the midst of planning a big move, so I am unable to cook and photograph as often as I'd like. I've cooked some good food over the past few days though. Fresh fettuccine with seared scallops, clams, and herbs...Cajun-Style Shrimp and Spicy Chicken Sausage over creamy grits with fresh corn-on-the-cob...Mussels cooked in a sauce with garlic, shallots, and lemon zest. Lots of fresh salad.

I wish I could have taken pictures and shared them. I really miss blogging and hope to return to it very soon. But until then.

Here's to new beginnings!!

Until next time...

July DK Challenge: Sweet Corn Soup w/Homemade Dumplings

Steph from Stephfood was our Daring Cooks' July hostess. Steph challenged us to make homemade noodles without the help of a motorized pasta machine. She provided us with recipes for Spätzle and Fresh Egg Pasta as well as a few delicious sauces to pair our noodles with!


So I've finally had the time to do another Daring Kitchen Challenge. We had to make homemade pasta, without a machine, and use a recipe from our cultural background.

Here's the thing.

I traveled my entire life growing up, so I come from a little bit of everywhere, you know? But since I was born in Germany, I decided to make Spatzle, a very common German pasta. The technique that Step from Stephfood used is slightly different than the way I am used to making it. When I've made it, the dough is not extremely thick, because it has to be thin enough to push through a colander or some sort, to make a bunch of very small noodles. In Steph's demonstration, she made big dumpling-like Spatzle.


This was very interesting to me, so I decided to try it her way. I just mixed some eggs with cream and herbs, and slowly whisked in the flour. I was not sure exactly what the consistency should have been like, so I winged it. I put the dough on my cutting board, added a little flour, and kneaded it a little bit until it was a fluffy white pillowy ball of dough. At this point I decided that I had veered from a traditional Spatzle, so I decided to call them dumplings instead.



I cut my do in half and rolled each half it into a log, and cut the log into chunks. Boiled them for about 15 minutes and VOILA. Homemade/Handmade Spatz....oops, I mean Dumplings! I made a very quick and delicious Creamy Sweet Corn Soup and put the dumplings in the soup. Let me know if you would like the recipe for the Soup (it's very basic, stock, cream, s/p, herbs, corn, seasonings).

This dumpling and soup recipe would be excellent topped with left-over shredded chicken.

I'm Sick

I haven't written in here for a while. It's because I'm sick :(. I have Strep Throat and had to get a horrible shot on my bum. YIKES!

I had to drive home on one butt cheek because the other side hurt so much.

Anyways, I'm feeling better and hope to write a new blog post for Daring Kitchen this week.

TTYL

Pineapple-Ginger Cake, and The Golden Hour

I have recently discovered the beauty of the "Golden Hour", and I must say, it is quite......beautiful!


I see the sun during these times every single day, but for some reason seeing this gorgeous golden tint in a photograph makes me appreciate it much more . I always thought that photographers used special editing software to achieve a beautiful golden hue in their photos, but now I know the secret.

The Golden Hour.


This lovely golden sunlight put me in the best of moods. So good a mood that I actually decided to bake a cake. Yes. BAKE A CAKE. If you hadn't noticed, I have never included many, if not any, dessert recipes in this blog. This is not an accident.


I hate baking. I hate measuring, and with baking I feel like I have to measure everything exactly right, or else the entire dessert will be a catastrophe. But I figured that I needed to have at least one go-to cake recipe, you know?!


This recipe is actually an Olive Oil Cake recipe. I tried it with olive oil, and decided that I'm not too fond of the savory-sweet combination of this type of cake. I'm sorry to all of the Olive Oil Cake lovers out there. Please don't hate me!


So this time, instead of using olive oil, I used coconut oil. Coconut oil is a misunderstood oil. Many people think it is bad for you, but it is actually a great oil to include in your diet, and even in your skincare & haircare routine. So if you ever want to cook with a healthy oil, but you're tired of olive oil....try coconut oil.



I made a strawberry-pineapple-ginger sauce to go with the cake. Delicious!

Pineapple-Ginger Cake

1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup whole milk
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted but not hot
1 cup pineapple, roughly chopped
a pinch of salt
1 cake pan, loaf pan, baking pan, whatever you have
1/2 tablespoon butter to grease baking pan

Strawberry-Pineapple-Ginger Sauce

1/2 cup honey
3/4 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup strawberries, pureed
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease your baking pan. In one bowl, mix sugar, eggs, vanilla, milk, and ginger. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

Whisk in the flour mixture to the egg mixture. Add the coconut oil. Fold in pineapple

Add cake batter to the greased pan. Bake in oven for about 1 hour. Serve with Strawberry Sauce and whipped cream.

Strawberry Sauce:

Heat a pan on medium heat. Add honey. Cook honey about 1 minute and add pineapple juice and strawberry puree. Add ginger.

Cook for 7 to 10 minutes, until slightly thickened. Sauce will thicken more as it cools.

Lamb and Lentil Stew

Hello everyone, I hope all is well. It's 6 in the morning and I've been up all night. I just cannot sleep for some reason.

So I decided to write.

I feel like everyone should blog. It's a good release.....you know what I mean. Even if no one reads your posts.

It's very therapeutic.

I am really loving food photography. Actually, I'm really loving photography. Not just taking pictures of food.


Taking pictures of nature.


I saw the strangest looking bird in my backyard the other day. I tried to take a picture of it, but it saw me getting closer and flew away. I think I need one of those zoom lenses, so I can take pictures of things from far away.


It's really fun learning how to use my new DSLR.

It's also fun going to the farmers market without a grocery list. I did this the other day. I just walked around and looked at what was good. This is rare for me. Usually, I will type up a list in my Blackberry. Then I get to the farmers market before they open, sit in my car and go over my list. I buy everything on my list, and maybe 1 or 2 other things.

But this time, I just went with the flow. I felt like such a grocery-shopping rebel! Going to the store without a list. Yes, I know I'm weird.

I bought some local honey, organic rolled oats (for more granola!), mustard greens, freshly baked pita bread (made at the farmers market), red lentils, and lamb.


And then I went home and made a beautiful lamb and lentil stew, and ate it with the delicious pita bread.

It is a hearty, healthy, and tasty stew that even my 20 year old brother loved....and it was his first time eating lamb. You know how picky young people can be (although I'm not much older!), so I was excited that he tried the stew and enjoyed it. I hope you try.

Lamb and Lentil Stew
serves 4-6

2 pounds of lamb stew meat, with bone or without bone
2 tablespoons Olive oil
2 onions, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 lemons, zest and juice
1 orange, zest and juice
2 tablespoons curry powder
10 allspice
1 tablespoon ginger powder
5 sprigs thyme
1 quart chicken stock
1 1/2 cup red lentils, rinsed
1 bunch mustard greens, cleaned and chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste
5 Basil leaves and 3 mint leaves, chopped (optional)

Season lamb with pepper and 1 tablespoon curry powder. Marinate overnight, or at least 1 hour.

Heat a large pot on medium heat. Add oil. Cook lamb until brown on all sides. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add orange and lemon zest, and thyme. Cook 2 more minutes.

Add remaining curry powder, allspice, ginger powder, salt and pepper, lemon juice, orange juice, and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for 1 1/2 hours, until lamb is very tender.

Add lentils and mustard greens. Cook 20-30 more minutes. Turn off the heat and add herbs is using. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if needed.