I found some fresh strawberries so I made a great set of pies for me, my sister and our neighbor came over fore tea and pie!
Homemade Strawberry Coconut Pie
Tag cooking at home
A way to Finnish the day, Finnish Musician
A special treat awaited for me in Kensal Green, London. A young man from Finland willing bestowed a lovely song up our music loving group, performed by him, sung in Finnish, entertaining the whole group. Lots of fun, a great way to enjoy the accommodations!
Portraits of those before us, and more, National Gallery, London
Culture is in the eye of the beholder and the artists of old captured the essence of all things great in the centuries before us….and viewing them is free at the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square in downtown London.
A fabulous aspect of the National Gallery is the general entrance is free, which is great for those traveling on a budget like myself. I attended/viewed the Gallery a total of 3 times to get through all the exhibitions (not fully shown here). The exhibits are large, spacious, and overly awesome to boot. Why? The National Gallery offers era’s from classical to Renaissance to Modern, DaVinci to Rubens to Van Gogh to Monet to Post Modern Art. It is all very wonderful.
The Gallery also sets on Trafalgar Square, which in its own ways is always awesome, a full day or two of free adventures all in one wonderful location, well worth checking out and very friendly on the wallet (post cards of must of the art work is also available for those without a photographic eye or wanting to play “Where’s Waldo” postcard style).
Old High Church and Kirkyard, Inverness, Scottish Highlands
Chickpea and Curry Wraps, Super Easy
Breakfast for Dinner
Pancakes a plenty, raisin, chocolate and regular-plain Pancakes
Thomas, German Friends and I eating breakfast for dinner.
We had an ‘American’ style breakfast of pancakes, apple cinnamon compte, bacon, farmers omellete, juice, coffee, and an egg assortment (over medium, scrambled with cheese, sunny side up, and more!)
For the last several weeks, we (my german lady friends) and I have been for coffee, conversation, and culture—well, mostly just to talk in English as both desire to improve their English communication skills–and had asked me to meet with them more often for practice–always a fun way to learn and I really enjoy spending more time with my ladies.
Thus, every week we meet…and the laugther follows. Last week, the topic of favorite foods and cusine from our own cultures incorporated itself into the evening, as we ate (naturally, what is better than food with friends?)
The ladies, being both German, eat German breakfast–but have never tasted the delights of an American or ‘farmers’ breakfast so this week, as planned, they drove over for our weekly conversation and I made ‘brinner’ (breakfast for dinner)–a favorite of mine.
The menu included:
An Assortment of Pancakes-cinnamon raisin syrup–Apple Walnut compote
An assort of eggs cooked in a variety of ways
A Farmers omellete (large), topped with melted cheese
and Bacon (what breakfast is complete without bacon?)
Coffee, Juice
Adventures in the kitchen—
Baked chicken, sweet potatoes, zuchinni, and onion, a one dish wonder
Texas style taco salad
turkey sausage, mushroom gravy over green beans (instead of pasta)
Sliced Gala apples with Nutella
Clover and Raisin Oatmeal, toast and banana
Crispy Bacon, 2 over easy eggs, and toast (with orange Marmelade)
Open face Tuna Salad with tomatoe slices and red bell pepper spears
A Fusion blend salad of greek and italian salad with a hummus dressing and a slice of hearty bread
Baked sweet potatoe (with butter and cinnamon) chicken stir fry with marinated, roasted bell pepper
Crossiant (not homemade), clementine slices, scrambled eggs and brie wedges
Furit, onions, and other staples
Peanut Butter Porridge with raisins
Farmers Omellete with fresh cheese-bell pepper on pumpernickel and plum breakfast
Tuna and Feta Salad–a super easy meal
Vegetable platter salad with pickle and homemade balsamic dressing
Fusion Taco Salad
Ground beef browned on low heat
Add half of a chopped onion
Half a chopped onion, diced tomoatoe, and small bell pepper chopped
Add one can of drained red kidney beans with the chopped vegetables into the ground beef and onion mix all together in one pan
Simmer all together and stir for 5 to 7 minutes
My friend has sent me a taco seasoning sauce packet as part of my birthday gift and I added the seasoning packet to the pot of ingredients. It is possible for you to make your own taco salad seasoning on your own but considering I had a mix already on hand I used but my friend had given me
I chopped up a half a head of lettuce and divided it between two bowls
I laddeled to have two scoops of the taco salad mix on top of the cut lettuce and serve it garnished with Hatch Chiles from a can
Dinner Made Easy
Baking is vastly becoming one of my favorite methods of cooking–it does not require constant attention, stirring, and often, it does not even require multiple pots, pans, bakeware–which is super nice and easy peasy when it comes to cleaning up. Who really wants to spend extra time doing prep, maintence cooking and clean–up when there are adventures to be had and life to be lived!!!
Super Easy, one dish meal
Baked Chicken Meal:
Small-Medium Chicken (rinsed)
1 Large Sweet Potatoe (use fork to prick holes in the skin)
1 medium Zuchinni (halved or quartered to fit in the dish)
1 Medium White or Purple Onion, Halved
Directions:
Put all the items into a baking dish or roasting pan, sprinkle salt and pepper (or your favorite seasoning mix) on top, cover with aluminium foil (or lid if using a roasting pan)
Put entire baking dish (roasting pan) into the oven at 325 degrees Farenheit, bake for 90 minutes (or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked thru to the bone) and Serve.
I used what produce is in season at the moment, making the meal super inexpensive. Also, by purchasing the whole chicken on sale, the meal came out very cheap.
This recipe can be easily altered for a larger group, simple double, triple or adjust to your group size and needs—
Adventures in Cooking–2 course meal
I do not stick to rules when cooking. I rely on my
Salad and Entree
imagination.
Akshay Kumar
Working on the dream list of cooking more often is becomign quite fun…groceries in Germany are relatively inexpensive, especially compared to American grocery costs.
Thomas, thankfully, is pretty open to trying new things, even when it is me that is cooking. Spending time in the kitchen is well worth the while when there is someone to feed.
This evenings meal was a two-part evening–salad as a appetizer and then the entree. I have not quite learned or mastered the art of pairing wine or an adult beverage with food yet but one step at a time…
Salad:
Baby spinach—chopped walnuts–cranberries–crumbled goat Feta cheese–diced roma tomatoes–oil and vinegar dressing
Entree:
Steamed Green beens with salt, topped with sauted red bell pepper spears
Pork loins..seasoned with black pepper, garlic salt, and paprika and lightly fried on low heat in Sunflower oil.
I think food always tastes better when it is arranged in a pretty way—edible art?
My Travels 