in the kitchen: from scratch. . .
In my aspiration statement for my Peace Corps service, I wrote about wanting to “get back to basics.” And so far, in the kitchen, it’s been a marginal success. These last few weeks have been more successful than usual because: 1) I’m making fresh bread every week. This week, I made wheat yeast rolls. 2) […]
Cups a Joe (and tea)
Veronica usually writes the blog posts but since this is a subject near and dear to my heart you are stuck with me. I love a good cup of coffee. Wait, let me correct that. I love a huge cup of coffee. But that is a tall order in most places in Romania. Most Romanians […]
in the kitchen: Romanian-ized refried beans
Oh Mexican food. Mi-e dor de tine. (I miss you) Tonight I must say that I made some kick-ass Mexican food. We’ve been hoarding these flour tortillas that Kaufland (a German chain grocery store in the big city) is now selling. We don’t get to Kaufland that often, so we save the tortillas until we’re […]
in the kitchen: Valentine’s Dinner
We’re not exactly Valentine’s Day type folks. But given that we’re far from home, we used it as an excuse for a nice dinner of comfort food and to try some things from scratch. On the menu, breaded chicken, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, dinner rolls and a pie for dessert. The chicken was a […]
in the kitchen: neomonde in romania
David and I have a favorite middle eastern restaurant in Raleigh called Neomonde. With fresh pita, falafel, tabouli, hummus, moussaka and so many spicy tasty salads, who wouldn’t like it? Last Lent, on a Friday, we went Neomonde, so we were being vegetarian. Of course tomato and cucumber salad was on the list and hummus […]
in the kitchen & recipe: lazy girl’s quiche
My dear friend Gretel makes delicious quiche. She rolls out a tasty homemade crust, boils up some veggies, maybe shreds up some cheese and *voila*poftim* a beautifully, fancy delicious quiche that is the envy of all. Especially me. I have some quiche roadblocks — a) I haven’t mastered the crust yet — I’m a bit […]
in the kitchen and recipe: lapskaus
I didn’t intend for this blog to be all about crafting and cooking. I really wanted it to bear witness to my Peace Corps adventure. But as one of my mantras in Romania is “getting back to basics” I’m going to take my current theme of cooking and crafting as variations on the theme of […]
recipe: Buttermilk Spice Cake
Here is my mom’s recipe as folks asked. Note that the times for beating the mixture are important. Overbeating makes an untasty cake. This cake goes well with a buttercream or cream cheese frosting. Enjoy! Dessert: Buttermilk Spice Cake 2¼ cups flour 1 cup granulated sugar ¾ cup brown sugar (packed) 1 tsp baking powder […]
in the kitchen: Romanian Buttermilk Spice Cake
There are recipes that I always prefer when my mom makes them — meatballs, pot roast, and buttermilk spice cake to name a few. I don’t know what it is about these dishes, but there’s some magic mom dust that just makes them better than when I try my hand at them. But being “fara […]
in the kitchen: smantano, unde esti?
Oh iubito mea, smantano, unde esti? Oh my love, sour cream, where are you? Seriously, there is NO sour cream in our entire town. NONE! There’s yogurt, sweet cream, whipping cream, but NO SOUR CREAM!! And we have baked potatoes on the menu tomorrow night. What are we to do?? My guess is that with […]