Soep!

I have this great book on blogging called No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog so I probably shouldn't post about this but I'm super psyched about my new "recipe" for soup.

Steam carrots, red pepper, onion and a peeled apple until quite soft and remove skins from the red pepper. Put in the steaming water and add a bit of water. Next, either put it in a blender or use one of these puppies until smooth.

Next, add two of the Maggi Bouillons "Groenten Met Kruiden" (vegetables with herbs), which I am almost positive you can't get in the U.S. (durn). Warm it up and then add some Creme Fraiche/Verse Room until it's as creamy as you desire.

Now, grab a bowl and eat it with your favorite Belgium beer. The one we drank it with was a gift from C&J when we had them up for dinner. They described it as a kind of wine and while it does have some vino qualities, it also reminds me of hard cider as well. It was wonderful and the soup was delicious if I do say so myself.

We went to Brugge/Bruge this weekend and I'll have to fill you in later. We enjoyed ourselves, but have realized that Buttons is really quite homesick.

We're back in less than 3 weeks, but if y'all have any ideas on how to help her, please let me know.

Things I've Learned

I knew coming to Belgium would teach me a few things. I even had an inkling of what some of the lessons would be. Yes, I can get along quite nicely with less stuff and I'd even say I'm getting along better without the burden of too much crap. The three of us can even go to Paris for the weekend with two small backpacks, a purse, a stroller and get along just fine, thank you.

No matter how many toys Buttons has, she very often goes back to the basics of art stuff and imaginative play with found objects or changing the role of her toys. Here she is pictured with her Lego violin. I swear I could take her anywhere with string, beads, blocks, paper, scissors, markers and her beloved doll and she'd be good.

I've learned that I'm really going to miss the view we see everyday when we decend our staircase from our apartment. I may need to get a gnome for my yard. (Yes, the little guy has grown on me.) Unfortunately we don't have room for the horses, cows and chickens we see.

The two things I was most worried about happened while we were here and we're still ok. The first major thing was Hubby losing his passport. After just a couple of visits to Brussels along with about 100 Euros less in our pockets, he has a new one. We're hoping that he'll get his Visa for our Russia trip in time and then everything will go as originally planned. The second thing was scary at the time, but everything turned out ok.

I can cook without recipes and also sans oven. No one was more surprised than me. I rely heavily on my recipes, oven, slow cooker and rice maker. However, with a little thinking, some creativity and a little magic bouillon, I've been cooking some yummy soups and adjusting some of my recipes for the stove top. The fridge is also quite small and I'm not used to that, but it's actually helped my culinary skills and I find I waste less when there's only so much room. Plus, a good portion of the fridge must be reserved for Belgian beer, ya know?

Yes, I've learned more but my last post was a novel, so I'm trying to get this one down to a short story. More to come, I promise.

Compare and Contrast : The Food

You know about the great chocolate (pralines), the incredible beer selection, the delicious mussels (only eaten in "r" months), and of course the fries (Belgian, not French, thank you), but there are other foods here and they do differ from typical foods in the U.S.

For instance, if you order an ice tea here it will be sweet and carbonated. In the States, I've been to the south and I do enjoy "sweet tea" sometimes, but I finally decided to make some ice tea at home because I was craving just a simple non-sweetened still ice tea. However, I am starting to enjoy their ice tea here and I'm sure I'll miss it when I'm back in the states. In fact just about everything here is carbonated and I do enjoy my bubbles.

And the dairy products? Oh my. The milk is to die for and the yogurt here is actually fantastic. Normally not a fan of yogurt, here I have at least one a day. It's creamier and better tasting. I can't really explain it except to say "mmm, good". They also have Greek style yogurt with strawberries and let me just say I'm glad I didn't know how to read the fat content. Yes, it was THAT good.

There is a great deal of meat here and ham seems to be a popular choice. Hubby only eats fish/seafood and poultry as far as meat goes, so it's been slightly challenging. In Ghent he ate Waterzooi and in Bokrijk he had an amazing cheese plate and shared a bit of my Vol au Vent. I imagine that vegetarians have a bit of difficulty eating in Europe and vegans? Holy cow. Good luck. The popular dish Stoofvlees is kind of like having my mom's pot roast made into a stew and it's wonderful. Once again, glad not to know the fat content.

We have a friend coming today to stay for a couple of nights and I know we'll eat out a bit, but I'm trying to decide what to make here. I'm so used to having an oven and a slow cooker back in the States that I really have to think about what to make. I finally found some taco fixins finally and I'm thinking of trying that. Can you believe I found vegan taco filling? Well, whatever we have I know it will be served with beer, but that's a whole post unto itself.

The Ghanouj Family

Our CSA is ripe with eggplants. In my life I have rarely purchased the beautiful purple suckers much less made them a part of our weekly menu. Mostly we've been adding a little olive oil, salt and pepper and grilling them with other veggies. Last week I put together a wonderful eggplant parmesan without using a recipe(!) and holy cow that is a labor intensive dish. Along with making eggplant more often now, we also talk about them regularly. I've told a few people I'm thinking of making baba ghanouj (pronounced ganoosh) and apparently my girl does have big ears. Today at lunch, pretty much out of the blue, she starts talking about mama ghanouj and baby ghanouj and baba ghanouj and Buttons ghanouj. This makes even more sense if you know that although she has started calling Hubby "daddy", for her first year and a half he was known as "baba", the Chinese word for daddy. So we have become Baba Ghanouj, Mama Ghanouj and Buttons Ghanouj, the Ghanouj family.

Chilli already?

While on vacation in Vermont, I made some chili for our household which consisted of Hubby, Buttons, Beth, her hubby, her two cuties and me. Beth told me I must post the recipe for my chili, so now that the monsoons have hit our part of the country and cool weather is here, I shall oblige.

Katie's Chili
Small amount of olive oil
1 large yellow onion
2 pounds of ground turkey (or ground veggie substitute)
About 40 oz of canned tomatoes, diced or chopped with juice
15 oz tomato sauce
12 oz tomato paste
2-15 oz cans dark red kidney beans
2 teaspoons salt
3-4 heaping teaspoons chili powder
2-3 bay leaves
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (or Pick-A-Peppa)
Dash of tobasco

Directions:
Brown onion in olive oil, add turkey/veggie substitute and brown/warm. Combine other ingredients and cook in a crock pot on low for 4 to 6 hours, or on low on the stove for about an hour, stirring frequently.

You may serve on top of rice or with shredded cheese and tortilla chips.

I also persuaded Gina to post about "Toddisms" and I recommend her post to you.

Kids and Restaurants

Buttons is all and all a very well behaved child. However, when she is overly tired and overly hungry, she can very much (understandably) act her age. Once when she was loudly crying we were politely asked to shut-up or get out...at a diner. We were with friends, but we left and had lunch back home. I have not been back to this diner since. I certainly understand the need for things to be quiet while people are eating, but I was embarrassed and sure that I'd leave a place far before anyone would tell me it was time to skedaddle.

We do go out to eat and in general we try to take Buttons to kid friendly places. Honestly, she really does a good job, but there is a timer that starts the minute we enter the restaurant and unless something fabulous is happening, there is a time when she needs to go. This is her favorite place along with this place. There's also an excellent local place that has wonderful Chinese food that she digs as well.

Tonight we went here and really enjoyed it. The food was very good AND they are kid friendly without being a "kid's restaurant". They had crayons and a coloring book for her and when we ordered, the waitress asked if Buttons would like her food right away. She came back with our drinks, bread, olive oil and some raw (no egg) pizza dough on a small plate. Let me tell you, our little cook was in hog heaven. She smooshed the dough, added some of the cooked bread, pretended to add a few things and then just before the food came, they asked Buttons if she wanted it cooked in the oven (oh yes). As we were finishing our meal, they brought the cooked dough back and Buttons was thrilled. Hubby and I were actually able to talk about our upcoming vacation while our girl kneaded away. If that weren't enough, our waitress was wonderful and after asking her manager, decided since it was our first time there, they would send us home with their most popular dessert. I do like to support locally grown businesses, but this place was tops in my book and I look forward to going back.

CSA Bounty

The Maylee Beezir family decided to try out a CSA this year with a local farm. This year was the first time they offered this service as well, so we were taking a chance and the first month was good, but fairly lean. The boxes of food have been supplemented with farm fresh eggs and free quarts of ice cream from the wonderful on-site creamery. As you can see above, we hit the mother load this week. That honeydew that's hiding back there on the left should be front and center. Best melon I've ever had in my life. Ever. Oh my dog was it good. Not much else to say, except if you have the ability to join in on a CSA farm, do it. It's good for you, your community and the world. If your particular farm has a creamery attached, so much the better.

*Thanks S & K for picking up this box of goodies for us while we were on vacation! It was sooo worth the wait!

**Please ignore fugly wallpaper. Someday...

10 Things I Love About Summer

1. Buttons. I love watching her love summer. The sandbox and her little pool are two of her most favorite things. She also has a fondness for bopping carpenter bees with her father. That's their thing not mine, but I'm glad they have a "thing".

2. Music. Windows down, volume up, singing loudly. Blondie, Abba, Erasure...anything I can sing along with in the car and know at least the chorus very well.

3. Movies. There is something heavenly about going into a cold movie theater in the middle of the hottest summer day and needing a sweater when you're inside. I love coming out with the memory of the movie while the sun blinds me with its bright beauty. Sometimes the movies are even pretty good.

4. Gardens. I love seeing the flowers and picking veggies out of a garden. In fact, we need to plant some flowers soon. We just have our perennials up right now. The beauty of the flowers and the grass reminds me of when we lived in San Diego.5. Swimming. Yes, Buttons and I do it all year long indoors, but there's something about being outside at a lake, pool, or even just your own backyard mini-pool that screams summer.

6. Camping. Not that I've really done much of it since I married, but I love it. My family went camping every summer usually in a pretty nice but modest trailer. Hubby and I don't have a trailer, but we have a tent with very few camping supplies. I hope that as Buttons gets a little older, we'll go camping just as I did as a kid. Campfires? Hiking? S'mores? Sleeping hard in your sleeping bag? Oh yeah baby, I'm so there.
7. Grilling. Love the taste of charcoal, but with the ease of gas we wind up doing it more often. Ok, Hubby winds up doing it more often. Veggies and chicken are my fave, but I like grilled bananas too. Yes, you read that correctly...grilled bananas.

8. Shorts. Not on me, but I love to see Buttons and Hubby in shorts. I get to see how much she's grown from last summer when her legs are bare. Last year is was mostly knees and feet. Now she has legs! And Hubby in shorts? He has great legs.

9. Anniversary. Ok, technically ours was a spring wedding, but it's in June so I count it as a summer wedding. We were married on my grandparents farm on the most beautiful day in Michigan in 1994. I got the best one. (Raising Arizona quote.)

10. Food of summer. Watermelon, lemonade, sun tea, corn on the cob, potato salad. Need I say more? I am a foodie after all.

What's your favorite part of summer?

Shell and Cheese

Mmmm, Midnight Moon cheese. Ever had it? Go get some now. I'll wait...It's my favorite cheese and I bought a little today with apricot and cumin preserves. Click on the above picture and you'll get the info on this goat cheese gem.

So the blogging has been a bit slow lately. And posts about knitting? I've been very lax in that department. However, I have been knitting and am hoping to have an FO (finished object) soon. It doesn't look that fabulous in the above picture, but I really like it and since it's my oldest UFO (unfinished object) I'm really happy it's almost done. I only have to knit a few more rows and make sure both sides are even, do a three needle bind off on the shoulders and do 2 sideseams. Whoohoo! (Yes that's our little fluffball cat who loves this shell and would really like it for a blanket. (Click on the shell picture to find the pattern.)

Another reason for a small amount of knitting posts? I don't think I write about knitting very well. Sorry Secret Pal.

Caillou and Footessa

TV. I am a bit of a junkie. My hope for Buttons is that she will be selective in her viewing. We kept her away from the tube for pretty much her first 2 years. When she had bronchitis and needed a nebulizer we took advantage of a Barney DVD given to us by a friend. Yes. Barney. But you know what? Not so bad. Good lessons, pretty slow pace, certainly not flashy. We started enjoying Sesame Street on occasion and when hubby is not home, the TV is my best buddy when I need a shower. (She sits on our bed which is about 7 steps from the shower.)

Her favorite shows right now are Caillou and The Barefoot Contessa. Yes, that's right. My daughter likes to watch "Footessa" which is a (great) cooking show on the food network. How did my daughter find a love for Ina Garten? Well, it started several weeks ago at 5 pm whenI was jonesin' for some grown-up TV, but wanted Buttons to be able to stay in the room with me. I turned on the Food Network and there she was, a heavenly haven of adult conversation with no adult themes. No explosions, no French-kissing, no fighting. Just food and Ina. My girl loves to cook in her kitchen, so it's no surprise really. But when she asks if we can watch "Footessa" it still makes me laugh a little.

As for Caillou? I really like that show as well. It's animated but it has that Mr. Rogers feel. Slow-paced, good values like sharing and helping others and it's real. Oh, after only seeing Mr. Rogers Neighborhood a couple of times, she dubbed him Neighbor Rogers. I like that.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to head off to The Food Network's web-site to print a recipe for Footessa's coconut macaroons.

Taco Bell Slip and Slide

Warning: Although this post contains a nice message at the end, if your gag reflex is easily triggered, this post isn't for you.

Shortly after Hubby and I married, we moved about 8 hours from our family and had to rely solely on each other for all of our needs. Early on after this move, I was very sick with bronchitis*, but finally feeling hungry and Hubby was kind enough to fetch me dinner from T.B. We ate. He went upstairs to do some homework (for grad school) and I had a coughing fit. It wouldn't stop. My eyes felt like they were popping, my throat hurt and then there was my stomach. That Burrito Supreme and the Mexi-melt I enjoyed just an hour earlier was now deciding to leave my body. I knew I would never make it to the bathroom upstairs, so I fled to the kitchen. (I figured the sink can be cleaned and we had a disposal.) Our place was very small, but I didn't make it to the sink. I made it into the kitchen, lost it on the floor and then... wait for it... slipped and fell in the vomit. At some point Hubby heard either my sobbing, my coughing, or the loud thud and came running. And do you know what that sweet man did for me? He took me upstairs while I finished the job, asked me if I needed anything, told me to go take a shower and rest. Yup, he cleaned up the kitchen too. The wedding was great, the honeymoon sweet, but a man who will clean up something that nasty for you says true love.

*Bronchitis is my sworn enemy after being a part of my life at least once or twice a year since I was like 7. The only good thing it's ever done for me is curb my appetite, as this post has done as well.