Food & Thoughts

I have eleven (11!) tomato plants on my balcony. There are white ones, yellow ones, green and red ones, pink, orange and even black ones. Some are big, some are small, some are the shape of dates, some are very round and others very long. Two of them are striped. A couple of them I grew from seed, but I couldn't help myself when we went on our yearly visit to Gartneri Toftegaard , so some of them came into this home as wee little baby-plants. They've grown, they're producing like crazy (as in big bowlfuls, everyday) and I love it. I loved that I've nursed them all through spring and summer, trimmed the little side shots and the crazy leaves, schlepped water from downstairs so they could have their drinks, fed them, talked to them, moved them around so the sun wasn't too harsh on their delicate leaves or so that they didn't drown in the August downpours. Tomatoes are like gold. But they are not the only thing growing in this house. When I got pregnant, I prom...

Look, I know this looks like a pile o' mess. But trust me, it doesn't taste like a mess. What it does taste like is fantastic. I promise. Sweetness from the beets, salty capers, starchy potatoes, mustardy hotness and smoky bacon backdrops flaky, clean-tasting cod. It's lovely, if you ask me. It fits right in here during winter - not being very Christmas-sy, or too heavy. Lord knows there's enough of that kind of food around in December. And there's a lot you can do regarding the attractiveness of the dish - like not mix the beets in with the rest of the ingredients, but just gently bounce a couple round the top of the rest of the "salad" before serving. That way, everything won't be pink. Even though I'm all for pretty girl colors in food, there's gotta be a limit. The dish does take a little time to put together, but I'm thinking you could make a couple shortcuts. Like use already pickled beets, boil the eggs the day before, and use lefto...

My apologies. It was my sincerest intention to do a DwB post at least every other week. Then what happened? Well, the boss left on paternity leave and left me with a whole lotta work, hence, no post last week. Yup, always blame it on work. So even though I had done some cooking, I didn't have time to do a write up. But it's here today. Having done this DwB thing for quite some time now has had me troubling my mind - not so much with how to keep finding new recipes that I want to try to choose from - lord knows there's PLENTY! - but from what to do with the recipes I kept bookmarking from blogs that I've already once featured in a DwB session. I know, it's shameless of them to not stop posting about delicious things once I have acknowledged them - but they do keep doing it, oh yes they do! And I mean, of course you want to know about new blogs, but face it - it's also the food we're all after, isn't it? So what to do? I could of course just try them out, ...

I love my Dad. I know, every little girl (and the not-so-small ones, too) love their Dads. But my Dad is special. I think I've mentioned before that I've never lived with my Dad. My Mom and him split up shortly after I was born. When I was little, I always hoped that they'd one day get back together - I imagine all children of split-up'ped parents do that? - but on the other hand, I think I knew, deep down inside, that the arrangement was probably better for everyone like this. Because, you see, this way, there was never any anger. They were never mad at each other, there was never any arguing, never any shouting. Not that I knew of anyways. They stayed friends, and to this day, have a profound respect for each other. While I grew up, my Christmas Eve's were always spend with the two of them together. Me, my Dad, my older sister, her Dad - and then the rest of the bunch. The rest of the bunch - well, some years that consisted of my Mom's best friend and her fami...