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Showing posts from August, 2005

IMBB#18: Summer's Flying, Let's get Frying! Spring Rolls

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Let's start with the appropriate apology for the slightly fuzzy picture - but I just couldn't bear not entering this month's IMBB?, hosted by Linda from At Our Table , so I used an old picture. Eh, the picture can be old, as long as what it shows is good, no? The theme is " Summer's Flying, Let's Get Frying! ". I'd initially planned to make My Stepdad's Beignets - but SOMEONE decided school had to start tomorrow, so there was all of a sudden things I had to take care of, instead of enjoying myself in front of the deep fat fryer. But bite-sized, homemade spring rolls - who could say no? And I haven't really coaxed that recipe from him... yet... but I will, and then you shall know all about 'em! I love me a nice springroll. Crispy, preferably made with some sort of pork, but I'd never be shy of a veggie one either. These was made with minced pork, fried with chili, garlic, onion, soy sauce, fish sauce and a bit of sugar to taste. Again, w...

Time for Some Real Food

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Just so happens, Jennifer set people straight on the whole crouton business the other day, so I don't have to. I love that post. Who other than a food blogger could get so heated about a crouton?? And I have to say, I wholeheartedly agree with her - it might just be those bready thingys on your salad, but NOTHING compares to the real deal. And the real deal can only be made at home, and does NOT come out of a box. Nu-oh! A rather untraditional use for them here though - I had fantastic chantarelles - and chantarelles just screams "a little bit of chopped shallots, cream and plenty of salt and pepper!" at me. Creamy - so then you need something crispy for a nice textural contrast... and a bit of greens of some kind... and actually, we needed a salad. Ta-Dah! Born was (in Martins opinion) a weird combo of the above - cos salad torn in chunks, creamy, warm chantarelles and homemade croutons. I liked it, it was sort of a warm salad with all the textures needed to be a real ...

It's Someone's Birthday Today!

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Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday Little Food & Thoughts! Happy Birthday to YOU! Yeah. We're full of ourselves like that, me and my blog. We also almost ate both of those layer cakes, entirely by ourselves. Okay, so maybe not. But we could have! If you sing, maybe you can have a slice too ;-)

Return of a Blogger

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I have now safely returned from the German highways - I managed to get the car to 190 km/hour at one point - boy that was FAST!!:o)! Saw two amazing - and stylistically very different - instructions of Wagner operas ( Tristan & Isolde and Lohengrin ) in Bayreuth, the mecca of Wagner-fanatics. A great experience that I wouldn't mind doing all over, should tickets become available again (hint, hint Dad!) Alas, vacation will soon come to an end - just one more week! I have to return to school - which, as always, sets mixed feelings of excitement, fear and joy rolling around in my tummy. Luckily, I got into the division I had as my first priority, so things are looking well from the beginning - it's always nice to get off to a good start. But you know, there are always all of the things you never got to do - like finishing the scrapbooks, alphabetize the cupboards, work like a dog to make enough money to last you through the winter (and for all the other stuff), getting into t...

Wauw! There's a Blog Party Near You!

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Greetings from Bayreuth! I'm here with my Dad (and an incredibly slow internet connection - but I found one!) and I just had to be a part of Stephanie's new event: Blog Party! Cook up a tasty, one (two-three-or-four)- bite(s)-sized treat - then blog about it, and send a link to Stephanie. You can even throw a real party if you want to, Lord knows you'll have plenty of ideas as to what to serve, drink and listen to, with the round-ups and editions to come! And if you don't know who else to invite, you can always invite me - tee-hee! I just told you a little while ago about my tapas-esating sister. Well, so be it, I have a fairly sized repertoire of small morsels, and while I love the whole gather around the big bowl let me ladle you some stew, I also enjoy a perfect little treat, served just for me. One of them is the one pictured above. It's gazpacho (you know, the cold tomato soup) served in a shot-glass, this one served for my cousins 18-th. birthday. I decorate i...

SHF#11: Coffee! Mocha Chip Pound Cake

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You know what the first thing I ate this morning was? Uh-huh, that's right. A piece of that cake. Yup. Because you know, it's Sugar High Friday again, and Ronald has asked us all to incorporate coffee into our desserts today. Desserts, schmesserts - heck, what's wrong with breakfast?! And coming up is a promotion of one of my favorite books, Baking by Flavor . It's not like you haven't heard of it before , is it??:-) Lisa Yockelson has a whole chapter in the book titled "Coffee and Mocha", and Martin is not a big fan of coffee in his food (but loves drinking it) - could there be a better excuse to try one of the recipes?? I don't think so! I like coffee, but don't drink it that often - the occasional latte, or iced latte -or okay, I admit, sometimes when studying, I do need a fix... I need loads of sugar and milk (except for the espresso after a several course meal) though, so the mocha idea appealed to me. Coffee and chocolate, oh yummy! I...

'Nuff of the compotes already!

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Okay, I promise. I've really been on a compote overload lately, but it's just 'cause they're so good with that fabulous yoghurt from Thise for breakfast. That way at least I get SOME fruit in my stomach - I can't live of banana-blueberry tea loaf , can I? Or could I? Hmm, worth contemplating... The gooseberries at the market was gorgeous, so I got some, just to come home and find myself with no idea whatsoever as to what to do with them. Except for a compote. So that's what I did. Easy as always: place gooseberries and a fair amount of sugar (you'll have to taste along the way, but for about ½ a kilo I'd start of with 3/4 cup - see me juggling with American AND metric measures at the same time, wo-hoo!) a dash (okay, 2 tablespoons) of elderflower syrup/cordial and about 2-3 tabelspoons of water , in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, squish some of thegooseberriess to make sure that whatever it is that flows from them that will make what looks like a...

For My Sister, The Lawyer

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If I was ever to open up my own catering business, I'm pretty sure I'd name it "My Sister's Caterer". Why, you ask? Well... My sister is probably the person to whom I've catered the most, usually buffet-style. Jerusalem artichoke soup, salmon/cream cheese rolls, pigs in blankets (I know, so kitchy, but we love 'em!), salads, spring rolls, chicken skewers - lots of bite-size things. She's very much the tapas-eating kind of person. And I should probably just clarify, here in Denmark, the word "tapas" has been misused to such a degree that any dish served in a cup or on a small plate, consisting of a maximum of say, 7 bites, would be called a tapa. I dunno, I guess the chef's just think it's smart. And if there are no tapas in sight on a menu when she's out eating, she'll be sure to make them happen anyways: "does anyone want to split something?" is a sentence you'll definitely hear somewhere around the time the wai...

[DANSK] Keeping it simple...

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Back from vacationing in the north of Jylland, having enjoyed plenty of smoked salmon with creamed spinach, brunsviger , beer and local butter. I even went bathing in Vesterhavet (The North Sea) and loved it, wave-crushing and all! And while I didn't have this on this specific vacation (My Dad did) I do love it. New potatoes, boiled to perfection and cooled. Thick slices on rye bread, mayo (homemade if you have the time) and loads and loads of chives. Salt and pepper. Smørrebrød for ya.