Category: Cooking

  • My new ceramic grater

    I’ve seen these ceramic graters being sold at every market and festival in Germany for the past year, and yesterday I finally got one.

    Red squarish ceramic dish with raised grooves on the bottom, with a clove of garlic

    It mushified a clove of garlic nicely, though getting it out again took some finessing. Rodd worked it out – you have to hold the grater on an angle and use the bristles of the brush to push down the plane of it.

    I used it in my homemade ranch salad dressing alongside the Snook’s spicy baked chicken strips. (He used toban djan instead of the curry.) It was delicious!

  • Brussels Sprouts

    I never ate Brussels Sprouts growing up; they were just never a thing that my Mom cooked. It may well be that the first time I ever had them was ten years ago at Porteño in Sydney. (They were were charred and tossed with bacon and they were the most delicious thing I’d ever had.) But apparently Brussels sprouts really were a lot more bitter 20+ years ago, before scientists figured out how to get high yields from less bitter heritage varieties. Huh. So if you think you don’t like them, you should give them another try.

    A couple recipes I particularly like:

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    No-Bake Blueberry Cheesecake, made by the Snook. 😍

    No-Bake Blueberry Cheesecake, made by the Snook. 😍

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    The Snook made me a beautiful homemade birthday dinner – pan pizza and a pomegranate cake. He’s the best. ❤️🍕🍰

    The Snook made me a beautiful homemade birthday dinner - pan pizza and a pomegranate cake. He’s the best. ❤️🍕🍰

    The Snook made me a beautiful homemade birthday dinner - pan pizza and a pomegranate cake. He’s the best. ❤️🍕🍰

    The Snook made me a beautiful homemade birthday dinner - pan pizza and a pomegranate cake. He’s the best. ❤️🍕🍰

    The Snook made me a beautiful homemade birthday dinner - pan pizza and a pomegranate cake. He’s the best. ❤️🍕🍰

    The Snook made me a beautiful homemade birthday dinner - pan pizza and a pomegranate cake. He’s the best. ❤️🍕🍰

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    Arrived home to find the Snook baking biscotti to accompany his homemade chocolate pudding! 😍

    Arrived home to find the Snook baking biscotti to accompany his homemade chocolate pudding! 😍

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    Swedish-style cinnamon rolls, homemade by the Snook! ❤️

    Swedish-style cinnamon rolls, homemade by the Snook! ❤️

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    Spargelsaison! We decided to take @soknitsome’s advice on how to serve traditionally, complete with Prosecco! ❤️🥂

    Spargelsaison! We decided to take @soknitsome’s advice on how to serve traditionally, complete with Prosecco! ❤️🥂

  • Happy Birthday to Me

    Happy Birthday to Me

    My 44th birthday has come and gone. 🎂 Normally we like to go out to a fancy restaurant, but with everything still closed due to Covid, that wasn’t happening. Instead the Snook ordered us a four-course takeaway meal from Mural Restaurant, a local Michelin-starred place, which he then assembled according to the instructions.

    Dinner from Mural

    We also had lovely matching wines which came in cute little numbered bottles…

    Wine pairing

    The first course was spinach ravioli with cauliflower puree and tarragon oil, paired with 2019 Scheuermann Grauburgunder. Also sourdough bread with beetroot butter (which was quite sweet!).

    First course

    Second course: steak (cooked in butter, garlic, herbs) served with parsnip puree and braised onion, along with a 2017 Blaufränkisch Kirchholz. The steak had been cooked sous vide, so all he had to do was brown off the exterior in some herb butter and slice it up.

    Cooking the steak

    Second course

    Then it was time for dessert! A little slice of buckwheat cake with white chocolate ganache and citrus compote, paired with a 2019 Riesling Röttgen Kabinett.

    Dessert

    The very final course was cheese! A spread of a few special Swiss cheeses and chutney, served with a 2012 Gewürztraminer Goldert Grand Cru. The chutney was very savoury – almost like an onion jam.

    Cheeses

    On my actual birthday, the Snook said he was going to bake me a cake. As you know, he’s really good at this. I’ve had the epic swimming pool cake, the potato-chip beaked duck cake, an over-the-top “bûche de Noël,” and many more. A few days before, he asked me what sort of design I wanted. “Something Moomin-ish,” I said. And what flavour of cake? “Funfetti. You know, sprinkles.” With that as the brief, he went to the supermarket for supplies…

    Candy

    He baked the cake (from scratch, of course!) in a giant sheet, and he also made German buttercream for the icing.

    Then he cut the cake into six pieces and stacked them with layers of icing in between before starting to sculpt. “The trick,” he said, “is to cut away everything that isn’t Little My.” Everything he cut off, he stuck back on to help build out the shape.

    Then it was time for more icing and decoration! Her eyes were made with “Oblaten” (edible German baking wafers that you use to make Christmas cookies), her hair was strawberry gummy strings, and her face details were done with licorice string. She had a few Smarties as buttons down her back, and a red bow to complete the look.

    HOW GREAT IS THIS? I’M LITTLE MY, AND I LIKE TO BITE THINGS.

    Little My Cake

    He’s very talent, and I am a very lucky girl!

    The Snook

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    Pasta with Beans and Greens. 😍 (Recipe from @seriouseats)

    Pasta with Beans and Greens. 😍 (Recipe from @seriouseats)

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    Friday night nuggz and beer… 🍻

    Friday night nuggz and beer... 🍻