Wordless Wednesday: Slurp!

Can you tell she really loved the soup?

Wordless Wednesday: Mama's Little Helper

Curly Sous (chef)
My daughter loves to help in the kitchen. From cooking, to setting the table to even washing the dishes! I love my little curly sous :) Here she's stirring pasta for her and her brothers' lunch.

Santa Husband to the Rescue!

So, I was pretty sure that I would be without a computer for a good 2 months. With the holidays and birthdays, I didnt think one was in my near future so I got comfy with the iTouch and called it a day. However, yesterday while cooking dinner, my husband rushed in the kitchen and confiscated my iTouch, which was blasting Queen of course, and secretly went off on his own. I was wondering why, thought it had something to do with work. He then came back and said that he found a nice inexpensive laptop and that we were getting it tomorrow. He felt bad about my blog and photos and thought it was important to get one sooner than later. I was ELATED! But didn't get too excited, because, things change quickly---obviously!!

So we picked up a new laptop and router (ours sucked) and I was a happy mama. Even though it took me 5 hours to use it finally, I was happy :)

This weekend, I also got a late birthday present- a new lens! A canon EF 50mm f1.8 II!! I had a stock lens since I purchased mu camera this summer and I've been dying for a new one. I really love it and hope to get better! It's cheap, but everyone I know who has one raves about it.

. Also check out my friend Serena's Blog  for some photos I took of her and her husband. They are such a sweet, fun couple and their first baby is due in a week and a half!! Wish her well :)

Some photos from the weekend.We finally put some Christmas/Winter Decorations up. Am I the only one not really feeling Christmas this year? I've bought presents, baked, been to Christmas Markets and I feel nothing. Not a bah humbug feeling but meh. I don't know, hope it passes. My daughter, is my lil Santa Baby. She is so excited- it's so sweet :)

Mama and Technology Don't Mix

Due to 2 laptops crashing out on us during the holiday season, I will not be blogging until......we get a new one? My lovely friend has offered up her computer on the weekends, so maybe I will post again then. I am able to read and comment on blogs on my iTouch so I will most certainly be around reading. I had so many recipes I've been excited to share with you all, too. Hopefully I will be able to blog the results of my homemade bacon this weekend! It's been curing away in the fridge since Thursday, December 2.  I will be around, but my blog will not be updated until further notice. Oh how I could use a real Santa Claus about now. This has been a crazy year!!

Love you guys!!!

PS: I will update Twitter and my Facebook Page as they are a bit easier.

More Randomness Confessions with Less Nipplage

• I think that the military should fund spouses sex toys and/or batteries for such devices. Ok, before you unfollow me or quickly exit this post, hear me out. Yeah, we miss our husbands or wives for their sheer presence, hugs, helping with kid, etcs...but also making love is a big deal. I know I am a much happier person when I've had a big dose oh my hunk of man. What do you think? Ok, maybe not, but I am writing my congressman to see what happens....

• To make housecleaning a bit more interesting, I tap my inner Freddie Mercury and housework becomes more fabulous, sexy, and flamboyant. One of my faves are "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen. My children are BIG Queen fans now. We sang "We Are the Champions" at the top of our lungs while shopping yesterday. It was awesome.

• "Come on Mama, when are you going to post an actual recipe?" That will be covered here I promise. As you all may, or may not know, my husband is away doing the military thang. I have been cooking like crazy still, some of you may know this from my Facebook Page. I use it as yet another outlet to talk as much as I want about food. My friends who know me personally know I don't really talk about food openly on FB, because I don't want to come off as being snobbish or bragging. Yeah, that's weird, I figure on Twitter I can do it because most of my 'followers' love food. And my friends who fanned my page of Facebook know I love to cook, and don't mind the posts. Yes, I am a paranoid weirdo. Most the recipes are my own creation that I am aiming to perfect for you all to read and maybe even try.

•  I made this Saturday evening from basically boiling Italian sausage for 10 minutes just before it's cooked through then sliced.  Then sauteed sausage. Add a little red wine to the pan, then make sauce using  tomato puree and sun-dried tomatoes, fennel seeds,  thyme, oregano lots of garlic, lil chili powder and a lil pasta water. Add sausages, then linguine, and add loads of cheese, I used Pecorino Romano. I made a small amount of tomato sauce as my son does not like red sauces with pasta, but  even HE enjoyed this. So I am quite proud. This is inspired from reading an Italian Sausage burger with Sun-dried tomato pesto that read from Food and Wine. 

• When I blog, I have to listen to this song. Not sure why. It keeps me focussed and I type the beat while be-bopping my head like a spastic woodpecker. Yes, I am black, and don't have much rhythm. Myth busted!

• So, I've been cooking like mad, but haven't posted recipes. For me it's harder. My husband usually takes care of the children while I blog. Because usually when I blog food recipes I must be in a zone and focussed. Plus, I know a recipe is really good from my husband. Children are so fickle about things, so when all 3 enjoy a recipe I usually post about it. So lately I've been typing thoughts, inspirations and aspirations. My husband will be home in 2 weeks, so after that time, be prepared for  at least 4 recipes a week again!

• I am a very open person. I say outrageous things.

Birthday and Thank Yous!

Thank you everyone for the kind comments, messages, and e-mails! Your thoughts and genuine concern is greatly appreciated!!!

My husband left Saturday and I have moving non-stop since.  My house is clean, we've been to the zoo and been spending time with lovely friends! Busy, busy is great during times like this. Still have to make time for my great blogger friends of course!

Some things going on....well..Friday was my son's 5th birthday!!! He's my first-born, my first love! We've been through s much from the time he was conceived- let's just say he was meant to be here! He is both American and German (I am American just in case you do not know) so he speaks both German and English. Well he speaks "Deenglish!" which is a mix of Deutsch and English. Though he seems to reprimand is brother and sister and Deutsch, I wonder if that's because he gets reprimanded at kindergarten! It's so sweet that he loves both cultures though he prefers German. Which is fine ;)
Some photos!

Celebrating at Kindergarten first

Celebrating at a Chuckee Cheese like place :)

Oma and Opa bought him a Ben 10 bike!! And they're going to teach him to ride. I love them!

Made Vanilla Cupcakes with Homemade Cream Cheese Frosting Dyed Green (for Ben 10!) on Sunday for grandparents.

Alles Gute zum Gerburtstag Baby Boy!!!!

A Video of My Teeny German Kitchen: Where the Magic Happens

My kitchen is small. The more passionate I become about cooking and the more we move, it seems like the kitchen gets....smaller. That's backwards, right? But this house has a huge bathroom which is needed with 3 children! I should be happy, because unlike most typical kitchen kits in Germany I  have a big fridge!  Hell, some kitchens in Germany doesn't come with a full kitchen!

My 4 year-old son helping with pie dough

 Our kitchen is specifically made for American uses because when we viewed the house, there were openings for a large fridge and slightly bigger than your normal German stove.The only "un-American" thing is the small size. I only have 1 and a half counters for prep work!

 I had to be very creative to make this kitchen work. Some things I did was to turn our entryway closet into a little pantry. That helped with all the food storage, We had to store a lot of things in the dining room which was a pain with 3 curious children about! We also put shelves on the wall to place more things. My next project is to buy a pot and pan holder that hangs from the ceiling. It's better for the pans and pretty cool looking. I'm very tall, so I will hit my head a good few times. Hey, I've already lost a few brain cells after having children, what's 100,000+ more gonna harm? 

There are advantages to having a small kitchen:

1. It's easy to move about- everything is in a close vicinity.

Was whipping up Beef Wellington. Was worried about the lack of space, but it was quite easy to do after all! 

2. Forces you to have an immaculate prep area! I clean so much while cooking because clutter is way too frustrating for me to deal with.

3. And best of all, less to clean. 

After! Babygirl helped frost the cake.

The are obvious disadvantages:

1. I feel a bit claustrophobic when the kids help out, but I still have them come in. It's the most popular room in the house!

2. Having no room to put anything anywhere and less prep area

From baking 1 single layer cake (pre-pantry days)

I have to use my dining area as an extended part of my kitchen when using the food processor or stand mixer. My stand mixer is now used as part of our home decor. haha. My friends know I cook, so it's not so odd!

Here's a video I made in March 2010. I spring cleaned my home and wanted to show the results. I wanted to just do a slide show on Google Picasa, but it ended up on YouTube with Vivaldi Four Seasons 2 in the background. Le sigh. I would just re-publish the photos, but the photos are on the computer that has crapped out and there's no way to recover the photos :( Hope you enjoy and turn the speakers if you want!

All-in-all, I love my kitchen. It's small, but has the most character than all of the kitchens I've ever had. It's my favorite place in the house and its truly where the magic happens. Not THAT magic....yet ;) But it is where the pie happens.

Happy hubby with homemade Chicken and Bacon Pie. 

How I Survived 17 days without the World Wide Web

I went nuts about 2 Tuesdays ago when my internet suddenly stopped working. I was slowly weaning myself from access to the internet anyway, but damn, I didn't want to go cold turkey!! Our internet service provider heard A LOT from me and I hope to never call them again unless I have to cancel my service with them when I move from Germany for good!

What I missed the most, more than Facebook and Twitter combined was my blog. I was finally getting a hang of it and finding so many other inspiring blogs. I am not saying this just because it sounds nice, either. But this particular post is about, "How I survived 17 days without the Web: Likes and Dislikes.

LIKES

1. My house has never been cleaner. I finally organized our basement and it's no longer a dark scary spider hell. 

2. Utilizing my cookbooks and magazines. I am a cookbook fiend, but even us fiends go to web as it's easier. I've cooked so much from my Fine Cooking and Cuisine At Home books, it seems like they had exactly what I was looking for!

EX:
 
Cuisine at Home:Circus Hot Dogs with Honey Mustard Coleslaw and French Fries with a BBQ Rub (my recipe)

Buttery Yeast Rolls also Cuisine at Home

Amazing Blueberry and Peach Crisp/Crumble with a Pecan Streusel from my Fine Cooking Magazine. Amazing!

Inspired by the Neely's cookbook. The butter is made with orange zest, scallions, paprika, onion powder and sugar. So delicious

3. Watching TV again. I am not a big TV person, but I rediscovered the good old tube. I watched old DVDs and caught on my favorite show "Come Dine With Me" found loads of inspiration from "Iron Chef: America"  watched "The Simpsons" Seasons 1-10 again and found new shows, "The Great British Menu" and "3 in the Bed". Most of the shows are UK centered, but we have UK satellite!

DISLIKES

1. While the internet was down, the weather in Germany was pretty gloomy so no time outside with 3 bored kids got old fast!

2. Not being able to immediately look up something. I was itching to to buy some jars so i can start jarring this season's fruits, but I did not know where the hell to begin! And all the instructions on the jars are in German so I was pretty much screwed. 

3. Not blogging. This is embarrassing, but I typed out a few "faux" entries on Word. Don't judge me, I needed my fix!

4. Not being able to get up with friends. All my communication and event organizing is usually done via web. This shows me I need to buy a phone book. I am horrible with phones. When I call friends, I always end up dialing the wrong number a few times prior. Le Dork.

Well now I am back, and will share more of my life and recipes with you all! I am so sorry for being away so long. I've been reading blogs like mad. 

Check out more food I cooked here on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yummysommer/

Faux Chicken Doner Kebab- It's our Anniversary!

Today is my 3rd year marriage anniversary. It's like a normal day to us, really. My husband went to work, and I stayed home with the kids and even babysat for a friend.

 It's no biggie to me as we worked the day we married as well. I went to work, on my lunch, got married and went back to work, ha.

I was 8 months pregnant with my daughter and I was exhausted. Not only because I was big and pregnant, but because I spent a good 2 months fighting hard for us to get married. Since we were getting married under German law, we needed paperwork up the ying yang and it didn't help that my husband was married twice before! We also had to get every single document translated and the translator we hired took her sweet ass time doing so. To make matters more annoying, the translator talked our ears off whenever we'd see her. I know more about her than I do my own mother! Not to mention it all cost me over 1500 dollars!!! 

We also were on a very crucial time-limit. I was separating from the military and in order for me to stay here in Germany we had to get married, which we planned on anyway. So that day, I was just happy for it all to be over. No photos were taken, unfortunately, and we ate a doner kebab at the stand or what the Germans call Imbiss. It was a delicious doner, our favorite stand in fact!

Quick history of doner kebabs from Wiki: Doner kebab (Turkish: döner kebap or döner kebabı, literally "rotating roast", often abbreviated as döner, also spelled donair, donar, doner, or sometimes donner), is a Middle Eastern dish made of lamb meat (mainly) cooked on a vertical spit and sliced off to order. Two similar dishes are called shawarma in Arabic and gyros in Greek,^[2] although ingredients and sauces differ. The English term kebab in some countries refers specifically to doner kebab.

There are many variants in the composition of the meat, the ways of serving it, and the garnishes. 

A while back I watched a show on the Good Food Channel on UKTV and there was a chef, Simon Rimmer competing against a Doner Kebab takeout/takeaway shop to see who makes the best food quicker, tastier and cheaper. The dish he created looked AMAZING. Light refreshing and just damn good. The doner shop doner looked like your standard messy doner, but won in the end as the customer wanted a spicier taste. When I saw that I HAD to try it. So I did tonight.

This tasted delicious and was quick to whip up. Everything is fresh and homemade...well except the ketchup used, but even Gordon Ramsay keeps ketchup in his pantry, so I am not ashamed! This recipe  can be easily changed. Use whole wheat flour for the flatbread (our went bad in the pantry oops), use pork or traditional lamb fillets. Add loads of veggies, make it meat free, JUST TRY THIS!

Chicken 'doner' kebab (adapted from Simon Rimmer's)

For the chilli sauce

• 1/3 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 jalapenos, chopped or to taste
• 1/3 cup tomato ketchup
• 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

For the chicken

• Boneless skinless chicken breast, about 3
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• about 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons butter
• ½ lemon, juice only

For the flatbread

• 2 1/4 cups bread flour, plus extra for dusting
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• about 1/3 cup hot water

For the onion rings

• vegetable, enough to one-third fill a deep, heavy-based pan
• 1 cup all-purpose
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• ½ tsp salt
• about 1/2 cup cold water
• 1 medium onion, sliced into 1cm/½ in-thick rings

For the dressing

• 1- 1/2 cup Greek-style yogurt
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint, plus extra to garnish
• ½ lime, juice only

Preparation method

1.    For the chilli sauce, place the vinegar and sugar into a non-aluminium pan. Bring to the boil over a medium heat. Add the chillies and cook for five minutes to reduce the liquid by half. Add the ketchup and Worcestershire sauce, stir and simmer for five minutes.

2.    For the chicken, slice each chicken breast into 5-6 long strips and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

3.    Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken breasts over a medium heat for 3-5 minutes, turning occasionally, until lightly browned.

4.    Pour the stock over the chicken. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Add the butter and lemon juice and stir. Simmer for 5-7 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. (No pink should remain when the meat is cut into. If any pink remains, cook further.) Keep warm.

5.    For the flatbread, place the flour into a bowl. Add the olive oil, cracked black pepper, salt and hot water and bring together to form a dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until it is smooth and elastic.

6.     Divide the dough in half. Using a rolling pin lightly dusted with flour, roll half the dough out to form a circle7-8in in diameter. Repeat with the remaining dough to create a second circle.

7.     Heat half of the vegetable oil in a frying pan and place a dough circle into the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side, or until golden-brown all over. Remove and keep warm. Heat the remaining oil and cook the second dough circle as before.

8.     For the onion rings, heat the oil in a deep, heavy-based pan until a breadcrumb sizzles and turns brown when dropped into it. (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.)

9.     Place the flour into a clean bowl and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the water and whisk to form a smooth batter.

10.  Dip the onion rings into the batter to coat completely. Carefully place into the hot oil in batches. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until crisp and golden. Carefully remove with a slotted spoon and drain onto kitchen paper.

11. To serve, divide the chicken pieces between the flatbreads. Drizzle with the chilli sauce and place a dollop of the yogurt dressing on top. Top with a few onion rings and garnish with extra chopped fresh mint.

Hope you love this as much as my husband and I did!

Me Vs. Them: The Food

So I haven't blogged in the past few days, but exhaustion has caught up with me. Me vs Them and we end with a tie. It was a very hard 5 days, but I made some big changes during that time and hope to keep it up.

My goals I did not accomplish was blog every night. I had the Blogger opened, camera plugged in and within seconds, I was asleep. Reading? Same thing.

The goal that I focused on mainly was cooking everyday. This time it seemed harder. Not sure why, but I had an horrible time thinking of a proper menu. I also had to shop like a true expat, which means no trips to the commissary.  I shop on the German market more these days anyway, so that's not much of  big deal.

Anyway I did get better. Thursday was Chicken Lime Fajitas. I forgot that I bought chipotle chili pepper so it was spicier than normal. Sooooo I washed the kiddos chicken and served haha. They ate it all, so I am happy. But will learn from that simple, but costly mistake. I thoroughly enjoyed it, though. But I love spicy food. My kids not so much!


Friday we had a classic. Homemade pizza. I love making pizza, and even better when you have a food processor! Will make a separate post for this recipe soon. Jamie Oliver has definitely inspired my pizza crusts! I also make my own sauce and use buffalo mozzarella. It's so worth using the best ingredients and it's not even costly!


Friday night I was going through Twitter  looking for inspiration and found "The Naptime Chef". She had a recipe for Artichoke Lasagna. I LOVE artichokes and this lasagna has a cream sauce, so it's a winner in my tomato sauce hating 4 year-old's eyes! I am eager to make this when I find the ingredients. Until then I made a Chicken-Broccoli Lasagna. I poached chicken for the first time, using whole peppercorns, herbs, bay leaf, and garlic and it tasted amazing. I was always afraid to poach in fear if losing the taste of the chicken, but if you add some flavor to the water, the chicken is then flavored. Alternatively I could have roasted the chicken, but I am happy I didn't. I also used broccoli instead of spinach because my kids will not come near it if spinach was added! They  watch me cook and know every ingredient by looking at it. My son can spot one dice of an onion in a haystack! The lasagna turned out amazing and tastes even better leftover.


If anyone would like recipes, please comment and let me know. I will be more than happy to send some your way!

Me vs Them: The Cornbread

One of the things that caused an hour delay yesterday was the fact that I could not figure out what the feck to cook for dinner. My kids are very picky, so it's a task meal planning a lot of the time.  I also like to try new meals. WHY I want cook new exciting, but kid-friendly meals when I am alone with 3 children under 4? Because I must have dated a dominatrix in my past life and instead of getting whipped by my leather bound a mistress , I whip myself with crazy high goals.

So today, I did not want to make the same mistake. My lovely friend took the youngest two this morning AND my cleaning lady was here, so should be feeling on top of the world! No, I have loads of laundry, trash to take out, bedroom, to organize and clean, and figure out what the feck to cook. I did some laundry, cleaned some of  my room, and took out all the trash (yes!). The reason I didn't finish the laundry and cleaning my room was because I was STILL stumped on what to cook. Was thinking about General Tso's Chicken, but my kids, especially my daughter, hates anything remotely spicy, so I had to nip that. I browsed online, went through all my cookbooks and then it clicked to go with a favorite: Mac 'n' Cheese with cornbread. The kids all love pasta and cornbread, and my son has a weird love for mac 'n' cheese period, so I thought I was golden.

Well while cooking, I had my mise en place, was well organized, dishes and teeny workspace is looking clean. The baby comes in pissed, and I say wait. Gotta finish. So he cries and cries, and when he's pissed he looks to destroy anything he in front of him. Well, unbeknownest to me he turned the fecking oven up on 250C which is 482F. So while prepping the mac 'n'cheese, I smell the bread and say, "damn that smells like it's almost done! That's not right!" I almost sort of saved it in  time. It wasn't burnt, but it was soo dry and not my normal stuff. The kids didn't like it and they're cornbread crazy, but at least the mac 'n' cheese went down well. I am going to bake cornbread again Friday along with some other stuff.  That'll learn me for being so sure.

The sun will come ooooout tomorrow...

A Review Things I did Instead of Blogging for 7 days

Saturday afternoon I was tired of looking at my baby's mullet/don king gone wrong hair so I cut it whilst he was in the bath. He didn't notice what I was doing and he looks great!! I'm quite proud after  messing up my oldest son's hair twice. I used scissors instead of clippers as they have very fine soft hair. Later in the week I snipped some of my son's hair, too! And even my husband approves.

        

               BEFORE                                                                                          AFTER

  

From Saturday evening, I cooked food and baked dessert specifically for my lovely husband for Father's Day. All requested by him. Saturday I baked my Brownies with an Orange Twist, Chocolate and Peanut Butter Chip cookies, and started White Chocolate Cheesecake. The brownies and cookies were gone by Sunday afternoon. No worries, I generally make small batches!!  On Sunday I made dolce le leche to top my cheesecake. Which basically was boiling a can of sweetened condensed milk for hours- of course nicking two holes on the top of the can. It is worth the wait AMAZING stuff it is!!! I also made Sweet and Spicy Chicken, Grilled Asparagus, Bacony Potato Salad, Buttermilk Cornbread, and Bourbon Baked Beans. Took me 5 hours as I did everything from scratch, but well worth the wait!!! I also cooked with Rhubarb for the first time and it was tastier than expected! I made a Strawberry-Rhubarb cobbler topped with Lemon Flavored Whipped Cream. Always whip your own cream, the canned stuff or Cool Whip does not compare!

We went to many playgrounds and parks this week in our town and around Heidelberg. On Tuesday, the kids saw their friend playing at the fountain in our town's Marktplatz so I let them join to. They had a great time even though they played in the fountain WITH their clothes on.  Kids usually play in swimsuits or even naked, but this was an unexpected stop. They wanted to strip like they usually do at the waterpark at the Neckarwiese, but my American ass wasn't playing that this time. No other children were naked so my weren't either. Well except the baby who did half. I bought them Bob the Builder ice cream afterwards, and they took a much needed bath afterwards! 

Some pictures from that day and others:

On Wednesday we went to a playground in Heidelberg we've never gone to before. There was another girl there who was 7. She didn't speak much english, but playing is an universal language and the kids had a blast. Especially since the girl was wild and crazy like them.

Girl in the tree                                         Romeo and Juliet on crack

Besides playing, I did watch the America play Algeria. Most Americans don't give a damn about soccer, but living overseas and not being able to watch the NFL and NBA at normal times has been a bit difficult and annoying and soccer/football/fussball/futbol has filled that void. And damn, what an exciting sport it is! More Americans need to jump on the bandwagon!! I was thisclose to having an heart attack while watching it because we were making stupid mistakes. Algeria threatened a goal many times. I was so pissed off I went and cooked dinner at half time to settle my nerves. I was listening to it in the background. So instead ripping out more hairs out of my head, I cooked Chicken-Broccoli Penne Alfredo. Thankfully in the last few minutes of the game, the US finally scored and we are #1 in our group!!! Saturday we play Ghana!

Finally, I got my books in the mail from Amazon! I asked on Twitter and also some close friends for book ideas.  It is very hard to read when you have 3 children under 4, but I plan on trying because damn my braincells are dying by the second!!! Right now I am reading The Digital Photography Book Vol. 1 by Scott Kelby. I have all three volumes and I am halfway through the first volume. I am hoping to learn a lot from it as I am in love with photography now. So much to learn and even more money to spend! Also arrived was "The War of Don Emmanuels Nether Parts" and "Confederacy of the Dunces." I am so excited to read both!

So I finally have time to blog today. My youngest two are ill so while one is napping and other is snacking on low salt crackers, I am blogging and reading blogs. If there are anyone half interested in my mutterings, thank you for your patience! I am putting blog something in my schedule from now on.