A Duck's Oven

We've moved!

2014-10-14T04:10:00.002-07:00

Thank you so much for visiting A Duck's Oven! I've moved to a brand new site, where you can still find all of my recipes.

Check it out here: A Duck's Oven

Crispy Carnitas with Spicy Rice

2014-10-10T05:54:00.000-07:00

Okay. Do you know how good carnitas are?

Carnitas are like, really, really good. Like Fiance is shoving a very simple carnitas "taco" thing into his face and looks up to say, "This is the best Mexican food you've ever made. Well, besides nachos."

He has an irrational obsession with nachos so I'm just gonna pretend he didn't say the last part.

Besides their utter deliciousness, I like carnitas because I can make a huge batch for so cheap! Here in Cape Town, I can get a huge pork roast for about 50 Rand, which translates to a little less than $5. I usually cut that into two pieces and freeze, which means I can make enough carnitas for a dinner and lunch the next day for two and only spend about $2.50 on the meat. That is a winner in my book.

These are very simple to make and you can absolutely do it in your crockpot. The only reason I cook mine on the stovetop is because I don't have my crockpot in Cape Town. Once we're back in Portland (two months from now- holy WHAT) you better believe crockpot carnitas will be happening on a weekly basis.

I like to make a big batch of rice cooked with onions, bell peppers, jalapeño, cherry tomatoes, and cumin with a big dollop of guacamole on top, but you can totally eat them on a tortilla. No matter the type of meat, if it's Mexican inspired, Fiance always goes meat, cheese, salsa, guac, and hot sauce, and he's always happy with it. So do it however you like, but I did include my recipe for the rice.

Crispy Carnitas
Adapted from Crockpot Gourmet
Serves 3-4

Ingredients
1 lb pork roast
1 tbsp olive oil
1 jalapeño, diced (remove the ribs and seeds if you're sensitive to spice)
1/2 onion, diced
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground oregano
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 cups chicken broth (or 1 bullion + 2 cups water)
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp chopped cilantro

Directions
1. In a large stockpot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Cook the jalapeño and onion until they just begin to soften, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute, stirring occasionally. If using a crockpot, you can skip this step, or do it and then add the veggies to your crockpot.
2. Add all remaining ingredients except the roast and cilantro to the stockpot or crockpot and stir to combine. Add the roast. It should be covered at least half way. If not, add a little more chicken broth.
3. If cooking stovetop, bring the liquid to a simmer then reduce the heat to low, keeping it at a slow simmer. Let cook for 2-2 1/2 hours. If cooking in the crockpot, cook on low for 6-8 hours.
4. When finished cooking, move the rack in your oven to the second highest slot and preheat your oven on its broil setting. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray it with cooking spray.
5. Shred the pork while it's still in the cooking liquid, using two forks. Once shredded, stir with the cooking liquid to coat the pork.
6. Transfer the pork to the baking sheet and spread it out so it's a thin layer. Cook in preheated oven for about 5 minutes, or until the edges of the pork are just started to blacken and pork is crispy. Check on it regularly, cooking time can differ depending on your oven's settings.
7. Sprinkle the cilantro over the carnitas. Serve over spicy rice.

Notes: Essentially any cut of pork that's meant to be roasted will work, such as shoulder or butt. Just find what's on sale! In a pinch, I've used all lemon juice when I didn't have lime juice, and the carnitas were still delicious.

Spicy Rice
Serves 2

Ingredients
White, short-grained rice
Chicken broth
1 tsp olive oil
1 jalapeño, diced
2 tbsp diced onion
2 tbsp diced green bell pepper
6 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

Directions
1. In a medium-sized pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the jalapeño, onion, and bell peppers and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables have softened.
2. Add the tomatoes and cook for another minute.
3. Add enough rice and chicken broth to the pot according to the rice package directions for 2 servings, replacing the water with chicken broth.
4. Cover with a lid, bring to a boil, and reduce the heat to medium-high. Cook for 15-18 minutes, or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Fluff with a fork before serving.

Pizza Stuffed Pretzels

2014-10-07T07:04:00.000-07:00

So pizza is a big thing in our house. I blame that entirely on Fiance. Before we met, I had pizza at sleepovers or when my family had movie nights, and that was really it. It wasn't a food that I got particularly excited about or needed to see on the menu all that often. For a little context, we started dating when we were 16. I didn't really have a stereotypical teenager diet: my mom made me breakfast every morning and dinner every night because she was an absolute saint. I got some junk food from the vending machines at school every now and then and often had a bowl of popcorn or cereal as an afternoon snack, but not all that bad. Fiance, on the other hand, played sports almost all year round: soccer mid-summer to winter, indoor soccer in the winter, and tennis spring to summer. So, he supplemented his home-cooked meals with a lot of pizza. If he was picking dinner, it was a local pizza chain like Round Table or Flying Pie. If he was picking a late night snack, it was a frozen pizza. Pizza all the tiiime.

Now, eight years later, I still don't love pizza as much as he does, but I certainly enjoy it a lot more. I love a big slice with plenty of sauce, pepperoni, and caramelized veggies. But we're in South Africa right now, and South Africa has a lot of really great things, but it does not have good pizza. It has okay or TERRIBLE pizza, but nothing that comes close to our Northwest style pies.

So I've been making a lot of pizza-style things at home: homemade pizza, calzones, pizza rolls. And now, after being inspired by these ham, swiss, and jalapeño stuffed pretzels, pizza stuffed pretzels. And holy wow, these babies rocked both our worlds.

I'm going to break the whole process down for you, but here's a collage so you can get the gist:

Do not be intimidated! These pretzels are a bit time consuming, but they are not hard. And oh so worth your time.

Start by proofing the yeast in warm water with some sugar. You want it to get foamy. Don't be impatient with this or you'll have crappy pretzel dough, and that is an absolute shame.

This is a simple dough: just salt, softened butter, and flour get added next. Knead it for a bit, let it rise in a warm place until doubled, then punch it back down. I made four pretzels with this recipe. If you want more, go ahead and double it.

Divide the dough into four even balls and roll them out into a long tube, about 16 inches. Then roll that tube out flat, about three inches wide.

Add your favorite pizza toppings. We kept it simple with cubed mozzarella, cheddar cheese, pepperoni, parmesan, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning.

Pinch the sides together very well and tightly.

Make the dough into a "U" shape...

Then fold the ends over into a simple pretzel. I wouldn't recommend doing a twisted pretzel when the dough is stuffed. It's just a little too thick. Pinch the edges underneath really well, you might want to get your fingers wet for that part.

Next, you're going to boil the pretzels in a baking soda bath. I'm talking lots of baking soda. Then put them on a parchment paper or silicone baking mat lined baking sheet. Mine still stuck a little with the parchment paper, so I think a silicone baking mat would be the best way to go.

Top with an egg wash, parmesan, and Italian seasoning.

Then bake until golden brown. It's okay if the cheese oozes out a bit because OH MY GOSH will you just look at them?!

Gooey pretzel pizza amazingness. That is what these bready treats could also be called.

The stuffing of my dreams. Next time I'd love to add some bell peppers and caramelized onions. Some of you might want to try this with olives. That's fine, you can do that, but I don't get you olive people. Maybe I will some day.

I made a spicy tomato sauce to dunk these in and they were the most perfect "dinner" ever. As I was editing these photos, Fiance kept looking over my shoulder and saying, "Can we have those again tonight???"

Yes, Fiance. Yes we can.

Pizza Stuffed Pretzels
Adapted from Baker by Nature
Makes 4 Pretzels

Ingredients
Dough:
3/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
1 1/2 tsp instant active yeast
2 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp butter, softened
2 cups + 2 tbsp flour

6 cups water
1/2 cup baking soda

Stuffing:
1 cup mozzarella, diced
1/4 cup cheddar cheese
2 tbsp grated or shredded parmesan cheese
10 pieces of pepperoni, diced into small chunks
Garlic powder
Italian seasoning
(Feel free to add your other favorite pizza toppings! You could do Hawaiian pizza stuffed pretzels with Canadian bacon and pineapple instead!)

Topping:
1 egg
Grated or shredded parmesan cheese
Italian seasoning

Tomato dipping sauce:
1 12 oz can tomato sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions
1. In a large bowl or the bowl of your standing mixer, stir together the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let sit for about 10 minutes to proof until foamy.
2. Add the salt and softened butter to the yeast mixture. If using a standing mixer, add the flour gradually with the dough hook attachment and mixer running on low until completely incorporated. Knead for about five minutes, or until dough is elastic and smooth. If not using a mixer, stir in about 1 1/2 cups of the flour, then turn out onto a floured surface. Knead the rest of the flour into the dough. Knead dough for about five minutes. Dough will be slightly sticky.
3. Lightly oil a large bowl with cooking spray or olive oil. Add the dough and turn to coat. Cover the bowl with saran wrap and put in a warm place to rise until doubled, about an hour.
4. While the dough is rising, prep all of your stuffing ingredients. Prepare a work station with a lightly floured cutting board and your stuffing ingredients.
5. When the dough has risen, preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (218 degrees C). Prepare a large baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
6. Punch the dough down and divide into four equal pieces. Roll each piece out into a 16 inch long rope. Roll the rope out to flatten it. It should be about three inches wide. Arrange the cheeses and pepperoni on top of the flattened dough, not piling too high and leaving at least 3/4 inch on either side of the toppings. Sprinkle lightly with garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Pinch the edges of the dough together to enclose the toppings and pinch the ends closed. Repeat with all dough balls.
7. Shape the stuffed dough ropes into pretzel shapes by arranging into a "U" shape and folding the ends over each other (see photos above). Pinch the ends underneath the pretzel tightly.
8. Fill a pot with the 6 cups of water and baking soda. Bring to a boil. Boil each pretzel for 30 seconds, one at a time, and remove to the lined baking sheet.
9. In a small bowl, whisk the egg. Brush the top of each boiled pretzel with the egg wash. Sprinkle the tops of the pretzels with the parmesan and Italian seasoning.
10. Bake the pretzels in preheated oven for 14-16 minutes, or until tops are golden brown. Let cool for 3 minutes on baking sheet.
11. While they're baking, make the dipping sauce by combining all ingredients in a small saucepan. Cook on medium-low with a lid on and cracked to release steam, stirring occasionally. Cook for 10 minutes, then taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.
12. Serve pretzels hot with the tomato sauce for dipping.

Strawberry Cheesecake Oatmeal

2014-10-03T04:47:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately my obsession with strawberries did not quit with the season. Ya wanna know why that's okay? Cape Town has incredibly mild weather and strawberries have been in season since May. Which has been winter. Different varieties, yes, but strawberries nonetheless.

I've come to love eating strawberries with my morning oatmeal. Usually, I keep it really simple: oatmeal cooked with just a pinch of salt in the water with sliced strawberries, raw sugar, and cinnamon on top. Fiance always goes for the honey instead of sugar.

This particular morning, I had some leftover cream cheese from the mini stacked birthday cake I baked for my blog's 4th birthday (WOOOOOOing about that still) that needed to get used. So, I whipped the cream cheese up, added just a bit of milk, honey, and cinnamon, and drizzled it over my ordinary oatmeal with strawberries to make them super AWESOME cream cheesy oatmeal with strawberries.

The best part: with low fat cream cheese, it adds hardly any calories because you don't need much to give it creamy flavor. The drizzle will keep in the fridge for about a week, so you can have it for breakfast all the days!

For those of you who don't really dig out of season berries, try throwing frozen berries in when you start cooking the oatmeal. They'll break down just a bit and be super delicious!

Strawberry Cheesecake Oatmeal
Makes 1 Serving

Ingredients
4 oz (1/2 a package) low fat cream cheese, room temperature
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp milk
1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cups water
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup oatmeal (not instant)

3 large strawberries, hulled and cut into thin strips
Cinnamon, for serving (optional)
Honey, for serving (optional)

Directions
1. Using a standing or handheld mixer, whip the cream cheese until lighter in texture and fluffy. Add the 2 tablespoons honey, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, and milk. Beat until completely combined. Taste and add more honey if desired. Set aside.
2. To make the oatmeal, bring the water to a boil in a small pot. Reduce heat to medium-high and add the salt. Add the oatmeal and cook stirring frequently for five minutes, or until thick.
3. Pour the oatmeal into a bowl and top with strawberries. Drizzle desired amount of cream cheese mixture and sprinkle with cinnamon and extra honey if desired.

October Desktop Calendar

2014-10-01T01:52:00.002-07:00

It is October. Ooooh my gosh. Two and a half months left in Cape Town. What.

This month's desktop calendar is of course, Halloween themed, because we need as many opportunities to celebrate holidays as possible. I don't think they celebrate Halloween in South Africa in quite the same way as they do in the US, like no trick or treating, but they do celebrate. Time to attempt to limit myself to one bag of candy corn a week. This is not a joke: I have actually made myself physically ill from eating too much candy corn. I'll spare you the details.

In case you're curious about the adorable cupcakes on the calendar, they're Pumpkin Ghost Cupcakes I posted a couple of years ago. They're super easy to make and totally adorable.

To set this photo as your desktop calendar, click the photo for your desktop size to open it in a new tab, then right click the photo and save it to your computer. You can then set it as your desktop! The one above is for a 1280x800 desktop (a 13 inch Macbook). Here are some more desktop sizes.

1024x768:

1920x1080:

iPhone 5:

Bacon Chili Mac (from scratch!)

2014-09-30T04:40:00.001-07:00

Let me start this post by saying that "chili mac" was not a part of my childhood. Usually, chili mac consists of mixing a prepared box of Kraft macaroni and cheese with a can of chili. This couldn't have happened at my house, because the only canned soup to be found was tomato or the occasional chicken noodle and I was lucky enough to have a mom that made incredible mac and cheese from scratch. It was one of my favorite comfort foods growing up and every time I make it, using her recipe of course, I can picture my mom standing in our kitchen cubing a block of cheese and feeling thrilled because I knew what was for dinner that night.

Now, excuse me while I go cry because I haven't seen my mom in eight months. I'll be home soon, Mom! Cue more crying because we'll be leaving Cape Town in two and a half months. I'm a little bit of an emotional wreck these days.

Anyways, we had some leftover chili in the fridge and my predictable craving for mac and cheese kicked in, so I thought we'd try chili mac for dinner. Fiance likes his mac and cheese with other things stirred in (hence this chorizo mac and this bacon cheeseburger mac), so everyone was happy.

This chili is made from homemade mac and cheese and homemade chili. People of the blogosphere: it is SO EASY to make macaroni and cheese from scratch!!! Ditch the mystery powdered orange stuff! Admittedly, this is coming from someone who has a huge weakness for the blue box, although I've switched to the organic varieties since college so I can convince myself I'm somehow having a nutritious lunch.

Start by whipping up some easy-peasy mac and cheese. The sauce consists of butter, flour, milk, black pepper, and cheese. Added in that order. Seriously, so easy.

Then stir in some chili. I recommend using leftovers for this. I've got a thing against recipes that require me to make something to make something, but if it's a great way to repurpose leftovers, I'm on board. And seriously, who doesn't have leftovers after chili night? Don't get me wrong, I love, love, love chili but by the third day of eating it for lunch I could do with a little variety in my life. If you must use a prepared can of chili, you can do that, too. But it won't be as tasty.

This chili mac is extra special because of bacon. You wanna know a trick? Bacon makes EVERYTHING extra special. In fact, there are very few things that wouldn't taste better with bacon added to them. But let's do things in moderation, here. Save the bacon additions for things that are already over the top. Also known as Bacon Stuffed Cinnamon Rolls.

So once you've stirred in a very generous helping of crumbled bacon, you have a choice. You can definitely dive into this bacon chili mac as is. Or, you can spread it into a baking dish, hit it with some bread crumbs and even more bacon, and bake it. We baked it because Fiance prefers it that way, but you better believe I snuck a few bites before it went in the oven.

And then make sure you add some bacon for garnish. Because there can't be enough bacon.

So, when you're menu planning for the week, plan on having chili one night and this chili mac the next. It makes things nice and easy!

Bacon Chili Mac
Serves 3-4

Ingredients
9 oz short noodles of choice (I recommend fusilli or elbow)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups milk, divided
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup cubed cheddar cheese
2 cups prepared chili
10 strips bacon, cooked
1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/2 tsp paprika

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions for al dente pasta. Strain when cooked and toss with olive oil. Set aside.
3. In a large pot (you can use the same one used to cook the pasta), melt the butter over medium heat. When completely melted, add the flour and stir continuously. Cook for about a minute.
4. Add 1 cup of the milk to the butter and flour. Reduce the heat just a bit. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until the mixture begins to thicken.
5. Add the cheese and pepper to the milk mixture and turn off the heat, but leave on the burner. Stir until the cheese melts. Add the remaining milk a bit at a time to thin out the sauce if necessary.
6. Remove the pot from heat and stir in the cooked pasta, tossing to coat the noodles with the cheese sauce.
7. Add the chili and 7 strips of the bacon to the macaroni and stir until combined.
8. Spread the macaroni mixture into the prepared baking dish. Crumble remaining bacon strips over the top and sprinkle with bread crumbs and paprika.
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until heated completely through and the top is crunchy. You can broil for a couple minutes to brown the top.

Coconut Shrimp & Veggie Curry

2014-09-27T05:55:00.001-07:00

Let me get two things out of the way first:

1. I know I've been posting a lot of curry and curry-type foods on here in the past few months. That's because since discovering how phenomenally delicious curry is I want to eat it for ALL THE DINNERS. And then, inevitably, all the lunches, because leftovers! Unfortunately, Fiance is now a little sick of curry dinners, which I may or may not be at fault for, and always pouts when I say that's what's for dinner. To which I respond, "Fine, I will enjoy this warm, spicy curry and you can make yourself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Weirdo." And we all win.

2. I know that the curry just looks like indistinct yellow stuff over rice. But you're going to have to trust me on this: there is some seriously delicious shrimp and veggies underneath that yellow stuff. And the yellow stuff is what makes it all so seriously delicious.

Now that that's done, here's what I have to say about this yummy bowl of comfort food. The sauce is incredibly easy to make and only depends on a few spices for big flavor. I recommend not adding any cayenne until you've put the sauce completely together, tasting the curry, then adding just a bit of cayenne to find the right spice level for you. For me, spiciness is an essential part to a good curry, so I tend to add lots of spice.

I use frozen, peeled and deveined shrimp without tails to make things really easy. Otherwise you're going to be getting curry sauce all over your fingers aaaand no thanks. Just make me a promise: do not, for the sake of my sanity, overcook the shrimp.

I also use frozen veggies, again, to make things really easy. Dishes like curries and soups are PERFECT for frozen veggies! You can use fresh, if you prefer. The frozen veggie mix I use has broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, carrots, and green beans.

Now that you've got the gist, this curry is all of the good things: it's crazy easy to throw together; it's a bowl of lean protein, veggies, healthy starch, and BIG flavor without big calories; and it's a total crowd pleaser. Let's just say Fiance usually can't resist a bowl even after he's eaten his PB&J, even though he probably is rightfully sick of it. Because I insist on making it like, once a week. Sorry, Fiance. It's my compromise for making you Meaty Fusilli once a week.

Coconut Shrimp & Veggie Curry

Serves 3-4

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium-sized yellow onion, diced
1 jalapeño pepper, finely diced
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can coconut milk
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional- see directions)
1 1/2 cups peeled and deveined shrimp
1 1/2 cups frozen vegetable mix

Directions
1. In a medium-sized, heavy bottomed pot, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the onion and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion starts to soften, about 3-4 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute.
2. Add the ginger, curry powder, coriander, turmeric, salt, and pepper to the pot. Cook for about a minute, until spices are lightly fried and fragrant. Add a little more olive oil if you're concerned they'll burn, but the mixture should be relatively dry.
3. Add the diced tomatoes and coconut milk to the pot. Stir until well-mixed, then increase the heat to medium-high. Once bubbling, reduce the heat back to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Taste the curry for spiciness. If you'd like it to be spicier, add the cayenne pepper and stir to combine.
5. Add the frozen veggies. Simmer for about 3-4 minutes.
6. Add the shrimp. Read the package instructions to get an approximate cooking time- shrimp of different sizes will take more or less time to cook. 2-4 minutes will likely be enough simmering time. Check at 2 minutes. The shrimp should just be opaque but not have shrunk.
7. You can eat this curry on its own or serve with rice. We like ours with white or basmati rice.

Notes: I recommend using mild or medium curry powder and spicing it yourself. You can use light coconut milk, but it won't be quite as rich. The frozen veggie mix I use has broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, carrots, and green beans. If you don't like tomatoes or don't have diced tomatoes on hand, I've subbed them for about a 1/2 cup of tomato sauce before and it's worked very well.

Rooibos & Sweet Chili Soaked Chicken

2014-09-25T02:41:00.002-07:00

For all of my American readers who read the title of this blog post and said, "Huh?" first, thank you for reading it anyways, and second, here's a brief explanation of what rooibos is. In South Africa, "rooibos" (pronounced ROY-boss) usually refers to a very popular tea that comes from the rooibos bush. It's grown in the Western Cape, where Fiance and I are living. It's considered an herbal tea and has an earthy, nutty flavor. It's delicious and I'm starting to develop a habit of having a cup every night, since it's caffeine free. Which actually leads me to a funny story...

So the thing about moving to a new country and experiencing culture-shock is that during those first couple of weeks, familiar creature comforts are REALLY important. For example, our first night in Cape Town after an exhausting three days of travel, I was an emotional basket case. We had a flight cancelled and missed another flight, which created a ton of stressful logistical side effects, so I was pretty much just at my end. We got to our apartment where our landlord explained that we "might have enough electricity to get through the night" and buying electricity entailed a process that was completely new to us. It was also about 7:00 p.m., so we didn't know how much time we had to get that handled. We bought some stuff for dinner that wasn't very good, I tried to have Special K cereal instead only to find out that Special K in South Africa is different and weird, and we couldn't figure out how to make the hot water work so we could take showers. Oh, and we had no sheets or blankets, and all I really wanted was to sleep for ten days in a comfy bed.

But then we turned on the TV in our unfamiliar flat in this unfamiliar city to see if there was anything worth watching on one of our four channels, and the movie "There's Something About Mary" was on. I was so happy I could cry. It was so silly, but this movie that I loved that was so familiar brought me crazy amounts of comfort. Then, I chilled out, watched the movie, and was able to start to see that our problems were pretty minor. Seriously, I was a total basket case.

Anyways, the previous year working in the restaurant industry had gotten me fairly addicted to coffee. It was a very necessary creature comfort for me, and our trip to the grocery store our first night had produced no results in the java department. We did get some rooibos tea, though, and Fiance told me to just drink some of that since it was caffeinated. I said fine, while insisting that it JUST WASN'T THE SAME THOUGH, and drank it, and felt a little better. And did this for over a week. Eventually we figured out that french presses were really popular here and bought ourselves a little one so I could get my coffee back and stop pouting each morning over my cup of tea. Only then did Fiance admit that there really wasn't any caffeine in rooibos tea. Once I was past my indignant outrage, I was able to realize he did that for my sanity, so maybe it was kind of nice. Kind of. So now this tea will hold a special place in my heart for helping me cope during my first few weeks living in a new country.

Aaaaaaand on to the chicken! This chicken gets plenty of tasty rooibos flavor and a kick from the sweet hot chili sauce. It's also got tons of fresh coriander (which I literally JUST figured out is the same thing as cilantro......... foodie fail) to give it a fresh flavor.

If you can't get your hands on rooibos tea, try substituting it with your favorite herbal tea (like chamomile). Rooibos is getting more popular around the world, so you should be able to find it with other teas in your grocery store. I highly recommend trying it!

Rooibos & Sweet Chili Soaked Chicken
Adapted from Robertsons
Serves 3-4

Ingredients
6 bone in, skin on chicken pieces, trimmed, rinsed, and thoroughly dried (I used a mix of thighs, wings, and drumsticks)
1 cup boiling water
4 rooibos tea bags
1/2 cup sweet hot chili sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 small onion, roughly chopped
1/4 cup packed coriander or cilantro leaves
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Directions
1. Steep the rooibos tea bags in the boiling water for five minutes. Set aside to cool. You can add a couple of ice cubes to speed the process.
2. While the tea is steeping and cooling, combine the sweet hot chili sauce, olive oil, onion, coriander or cilantro, cayenne pepper, paprika, salt, and pepper in a food processor. Process until smooth. Add the tea and process until combined.
3. Add half of the tea mixture and the chicken pieces to a large plastic bag or a bowl. Toss to coat and lift the skin of the chicken pieces.
4. Refrigerate the chicken to marinate for at least 30 minutes, up to 24 hours. Store the remaining marinade in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
5. When ready to cook, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).
6. Arrange the chicken pieces on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, baste with reserved marinade, and flip chicken pieces. Bake for another 20 minutes, or until cooked through and skin is crispy.
7. Let chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Note: This chicken would also be great on the grill!

SA Sunday: Victoria Falls

2014-09-21T08:45:00.001-07:00

Fasten your seat belts. You're in for a really long, picture-packed post. But I promise it's totally worth it because I think I can safely say this is the coolest thing we've done since coming to Africa.

After spending a night in Gauteng, Fiance and I went to Victoria Falls. Victoria Falls is a massive waterfall, I'm talking 355 feet high, twice as high as Niagara Falls, on the Zambezi River, which is the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia. David Livingstone, the first European to see the falls, named them for Queen Victoria (as so many other things in Southern Africa are), but its indigenous name is Mosi-oa-Tunya, which means "the smoke that thunders". It really does thunder! Although Victoria Falls isn't quite the tallest or longest waterfall in the world, it is the largest sheet of falling water.

Now that you have the background, here is a recap of our adventure!

We left Gauteng after a slight delay to our flight (heads up to others visiting the falls: our flights both to and from the falls on Air Zimbabwe were delayed) and landed in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe in the late afternoon. We had to purchase visas at the airport before entering Zimbabwe. Another tip for other travelers: Zimbabwe is currently using the dollar as their national currency and you have to pay for your visa in cash. They do have an ATM at the airport. We got double entry visas, since we planned to visit Zambia, which were $45 each. Get a lot of cash out because it's pretty much a cash only city. Most places will accept the dollar, rand (South Africa's currency), and kwacha (Zambia's currency). The ATM gave us our cash in hundred dollar bills, not twenties, and we had a LOT of trouble breaking them. If you can, stop by one of the banks in town to get small change (don't forget to tip!).

Victoria Falls airport is a tiny little airport. We stepped out of the plane right onto the tarmac! Even better, there are only two international gates.

We booked our entire trip through KDR Travel and Tours, who were easy to work with. They arranged for a shuttle to pick us up from the airport and take us to our hotel. We stayed at the Rainbow Hotel on the Zimbabwe side of the falls. It was a gorgeous hotel and the perfect mid-range option for us. There are some pretty elaborate resorts in the area, but we were only staying two nights and didn't spend much time at the hotel. Here's a picture of our room:

After we got checked into our room, we went to the pool bar for a drink. Even though wine dominates Southern Africa, there is some pretty good beer, and Fiance fell in love with yet another lager: Zambezi Lager. He even got a t-shirt at the airport on our way out. Don't worry, Oregon, they still don't got nothin' on you when it comes to brews.

We knew we wouldn't have time to go to Victoria Falls National Park that evening, so we signed up for a dinner cruise on the Zambezi to do that night. After a few minutes of waiting for our shuttle to take us to the dock, we started to get worried. The shuttle was supposed to pick us up at 5:15 and the cruise was going to leave at 5:30- not a lot of wiggle room. We mentioned it to the activities coordinator at the hotel who immediately looked panicked and said he'd make some phone calls. About ten minutes later, a car finally showed up.

We got to the docks late to find that the cruise had left without us. I was immediately disappointed, thinking we'd have to get a refund and go back the hotel. But our driver and another guy at the dock walkie-talkied the boat and waved them back. This might sound like something that should have brought me some relief, or made me happy. And it kind of did. But in that moment I was just mortified because a dinner cruise packed full of people was forced to turn around and come back for little ol' us, which took at least five minutes. This is an open boat, so every single person was quietly staring at Fiance and I as the boat re-docked. My face was the color of my hot pink dress the entire time.

Once we found our seats, which were of course in the middle of the boat, and I got a glass of wine, people lost interest in our late arrival and I was able to forget my humiliation (which I'm sure was so much worse in my mind). This is me calming down:

Fiance was only mildly embarrassed and was mostly just laughing at my distress. He's kind like that.

We saw some hippos right away. We actually saw hippos every time we were near the Zambezi River during our trip.

We also saw elephants! Three different times. Unfortunately it was so dark during these sightings that it was really hard to grab a picture and this is the best I've got for you.

The sunset that evening was absolutely gorgeous. We came at the perfect time of year. It was sunny and mid-80s during our whole visit.

We got back to the dock after dark, and luckily there was a shuttle to take us back to the hotel (I was definitely worried). Fiance was thrilled to have nine sports channels at his disposal in our room, so we watched some TV and went to bed before a seriously big day the next day.

We got up bright and early to start our adventure across the border. After breakfast at the hotel, we asked the activities coordinator about getting a taxi to the border, and this turned out to be a bit more of an ordeal than we expected, but we made it. On the Zimbabwe side, they stamped our passports to indicate an exit, then we started the 15 minute walk to the Zambia border. Part of that walk included crossing the Victoria Falls Bridge where we had an incredible view of the falls.

People were kayaking in the water below! I am way too anxious of a person to kayak and white water raft. I really wish I wasn't. There were also people bungee jumping off this bridge! Again, no thank you.

After the bridge we passed by Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park. The sign should give you some idea of the wildlife in the area.

We finally got to the border post on the Zambia side, where we had our temperature taken as a check for ebola and bought our single-entry visas (fellow travelers: $20 each, pay in cash). There were baboons all over the border post! This particular one had a baby on her back:

We're used to seeing baboons in South Africa. They lose their appeal and cuteness pretty quickly once you realize how badly they want your food and that you have to guard your bag or they'll totally snatch it. They didn't harass us too much, though.

From here, we found a cab to take us to the Royal Livingstone Hotel, where we were meeting a group to do the scariest thing I've ever done: swim in Devil's Pool. Oh, just you wait and see.

This is perhaps the most famous hotel in Victoria Falls. When we're real grownups and have all the money we could ever want to travel the world (which WILL happen if I wish it into being hard enough...), we'll bring our kids back and stay in this hotel.

There were zebras grazing in the lawn like it was no big deal. So of course we snuck up on them and got some pictures.

Around the time we were supposed to get picked up to be taken to Livingstone Island, where we'd swim to Devil's Pool from, we went over to the dock where we met two other Americans from California who we'd be doing the swim with. One of them was as nervous as I was about the whole thing which oddly made me feel braver. In the meantime, we enjoyed the view of the river and watched a group of hippos in the water a few hundred feet away.

The boat came to pick us up and the guide split us into two groups of six. We were with the other two Americans, a woman from Colombia, and a man from Spain. We took a small boat over to the island, about a five minute boat ride. A boat on which we of course took some selfies.

We could see the spray of the falls from the boat, which didn't exactly ease my growing fears about the swim I was about to take.

Then we got to the island, which is named for David Livingstone. He saw Victoria Falls for the first time from the island. There's a plaque at that viewpoint, where we got to stop and take pictures of the falls. The falls are breathtakingly beautiful and the rainbows made the impact even greater.

From here, we moved on to a spot where we ditched all our stuff, crossing our fingers that a baboon wouldn't come by and snag our bags which had our passports. We got to give one camera per couple to another guide, who was brave enough to dance around the falls and take our pictures. Then it was time for the swim. Honestly, I was more nervous about the swim from Livingstone Island to Devil's Pool then actually swimming at the edge of the falls. The current was really strong, and although I'm a fine swimmer, it's only something I've ever done recreationally. Our guide was awesome, though, and told us exactly how to swim to fight the current and kept us all safe. A lot of it was shallow enough to walk.

And then... we went in to Devil's Pool. Devil's Pool is a pool of water literally at the edge of the falls. It's created when the water is at a certain level, usually between September and December, and a rock formation creates a barrier at the edge. The current is still incredibly strong, and you have to be really careful, but it's totally doable. I say that now, sitting safely in front of my computer in Cape Town, of course.

Here we are with our guide:

And me gazing in awe and terror straight down 350 feet at the cascading water around me:

And Fiance looking the happiest he's ever been, striking a Superman pose:

Look closely at the upper righthand corner of this photo. See the people? That's us in Devil's Pool.

Here's a video of our adventure to really give you the full effect!

Fiance actually signed us up for this activity without consulting me first. Instead, he signed us up, showed me a video, told me to "think about it", and when I finally decided we should do it, he said, "Good, I signed us up last week." Rude.

I am really, really glad we did this, though. I felt excited and good about it after I decided we should, then we showed a video of it to our moms who panicked, and I started to question whether or not it was worth it. Our guide was fantastic and took really good care of us. As long as you're smart and follow the guide's directions, you will be totally safe. I have never, ever experienced anything as thrilling or awe-inspiring as swimming in Devil's Pool. You are never going to get a view of the falls like that (really, literally) anywhere else and there's something about swimming in the same water that is incredibly cool. Not to mention that a good adrenaline rush is always fun!

We swam back, which was a little harder since our muscles were tired from fighting the current on the way over and we were starting to lose some of that adrenaline, then dried off and got dressed. After that, they served us a delicious breakfast on the island with a view of the falls while we ate. I loved getting to calm down and relive the experience with other people in our group right on the island.

On our boat ride back to the hotel, we spotted some elephants on the bank! Elephants and rhinos have been by far my favorite animal sightings since we've been here. They're such majestic creatures and I'm wowed by them every time.

We decided to have a drink on the deck at the Royal Livingstone Hotel and enjoy the view before heading back to Zimbabwe.

The Royal Livingstone Hotel had all these adorable little white monkeys running around and one decided to pay us a visit!

It was a little jumpy though and panicked every time it realized we were looking at it.

It did hold still long enough for one good photo, though.

We got a taxi back to the border post where we had to get a stamp in our passports that said we were exiting Zambia. This taxi driver drove us back to the other border post, which was great since we were a little tired from the morning adventure and had a lot more to do that day.

At the Zimbabwe side, we had to wait in a much longer line to get back into the country. It was a little chaotic, but eventually we go our passports stamped for our second entry into Zimbabwe. Make sure you get vaccinated for yellow fever and get malaria pills before visiting these countries. You'll need to present your "yellow book," a small book with records of your vaccinations, when entering Zimbabwe.

I had to get the ultimate tourist photo with this sign on our walk from the border to Victoria Falls National Park:

Then we went to the park. This park offers incredible views of the falls from the Zimbabwe side. So here is a series of photos that speak for themselves:

After gawking at the beauty that is Victoria Falls for a long, long time, we made our way back to the beginning where there's a statue of David Livingstone.

After several hours in the park, we grabbed a slushy on our way out and found a taxi to take us back to the hotel. The taxi driver asked what we were doing for dinner that evening, and we told him we'd planned to just eat at our hotel's restaurant. He said, "No! You have to go to Boma" and passed us a brochure. It looked like quite the restaurant, so we said yes. He made our reservations for us and came back to pick us up from our hotel at 7:00 p.m.

We had so much fun! It was definitely a very touristy experience, which we don't typically go for, but we embraced it for what it was. They dressed us in wraps when we got there, then had us dance with them for a few minutes before getting our faces painted.

Then we were sat down for dinner, where we were served their traditional sorghum beer, Umqombothi. It had a really strong flavor that I actually kind of liked, but I ended up going for wine for the rest of the meal, and Fiance got another Zambezi. We were served appetizers that we ordered, but from there it was buffet style. We had veggies, bread, steak, warthog, peanut butter rice, maize meal, fish, pumpkin soup, and plenty of other dishes. It was delicious! After dessert, they taught the entire restaurant different songs on drums. We had a great experience and I recommend it to other people visiting Victoria Falls.

We got to the airport where we found out our flight had been delayed an hour and a half. We had a connecting flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town, but luckily I had insisted on a big window between flights because I am the most paranoid traveler ever (FIANCE LOOK! My travel paranoia really does pay off!). We made our second flight with a just enough time to spare.

This was a seriously incredible vacation, only second to our trip to Vegas, where Fiance proposed! I highly recommend this trip to anyone that can do it. There is nothing like Victoria Falls and it's a great way to see two African countries in one trip. Not to mention, there are countless activities like safaris you can do while in the area.

Thank you for reading what might be my longest post yet!

Easy No Mix Apple Pancakes

2014-09-20T04:03:00.000-07:00

This blog has a disproportionate amount of apple recipes. More than that, it has way too many breakfast apple recipes. In the last few months alone, I've posted recipes for Cinnamon Apple Scones, an Apple French Toast Bake, and Hot Cross Bun French Toast with Apple Compote. But I think that this trend, even though a bit overkill, is totally justifiable. Warm, sweet, cinnamon-y apples are probably the most comforting thing to wake up to, so I will continue doing it in whatever new ways my brain comes up with. And continue sharing these apple creations with you, because I know I can't be the only one who loves apples this much.

This was a breakfast for dinner brainchild, and I think it might be Fiance's favorite new breakfast food. We had ours with plenty of shoulder bacon, because pork and apples are best friends and one of the best savory+sweet combos ever. There are apples in the pancakes and extra apples to go on top for maximum delicious apple impact.

This recipe doesn't use a mix and I promise you don't need one. It's really easy to make pancakes from scratch. If you really want to use a mix, though, just follow the package instructions to make enough pancakes for 3-4 people and follow my instructions to make and add the apple mixture.

Easy No Mix Apple Pancakes

Adapted from AllRecipes
Makes about 12 Pancakes

Ingredients
3 small or 2 medium Granny Smith apples (another tart apple will work)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup milk
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup flour
2 tbsp white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 egg
2 tbsp butter, melted

Canola oil

Directions
1. Peel, core, and dice the apples. The chunkier you dice the apples, the chunkier your pancakes will be, so consider this when dicing and dice to your liking.
2. Add the apples, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon to a small saucepan. Cook over medium low heat until apples are soft, 10-15 minutes. Set aside.
3. While the apples are cooking, prepare the pancake batter. In a large bowl, combine the milk and lemon juice and let sit to "sour" for 5 minutes.
4. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, white sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.
5. Whisk the egg and melted butter into the soured milk. Whisk in the dry ingredients and mix until lumps are just gone. Don't overmix. Fold in just over half of the cooked apples.
6. Heat about a tablespoon of canola oil in a skillet over medium high heat. When hot, pour batter into hot skillet, using 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Flip when bottom is golden and remove to a plate when other side is also golden. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
7. Serve pancakes with remaining apples, butter, and maple syrup.

Notes: If you have buttermilk, use it in place of the 3/4 cup milk and 2 tbsp lemon juice. If you are having bacon with the pancakes, try replacing the canola oil with bacon fat for richer pancakes.

If you want more apple inspiration, here's a post with a few ideas!

Mini Stacked Birthday Cake

2014-09-17T02:01:00.000-07:00

Guess. What.

A Duck's Oven turns four years old today! I can hardly believe it.

This blog started as a way for me to share my adventures learning to cook in my very own kitchen and to prove that college students could prepare more than just boxed mac and cheese and frozen pizza. Now, it's come with me as I explore a new country and all kinds of new foods. My cooking, photography, and writing style have changed oh so very much since this blog first began. As I was reading through some of my earlier posts, I couldn't help but laugh and cringe a bit. There's definitely a learning curve when it comes to blogging, and I've still got a long ways to go! In case you're curious, here's the very first recipe I posted on A Duck's Oven: Chocolate Chip Buttermint Cookies.

To celebrate, I baked my precious blog a birthday cake. My blog really doesn't need a whole cake, but I still wanted to do a traditional, stacked cake. So A Duck's Oven got a mini cake instead. And it was crazy adorable. I think this would be perfect for little kiddos' birthdays or for anyone who doesn't want a whole cake sitting around their kitchen (WEDDING DRESS SHOPPING IN T-MINUS FOUR MONTHS).

I baked a yellow cake, because it's my favorite. And cream cheese frosting because, well, it's my favorite.

The batter is pretty simple to prepare: cream the butter, add the sugar and cream some more, add egg yolks, add vanilla, alternate adding dry ingredients and milk. I added some sprinkles because they're fun.

Pour the batter into an 8-inch round. Yes, mine is coated in foil. It had some water in it that I didn't catch and rusted a bit. It's probably fine but I'm paranoid. And yes, I could buy a new one, but we're leaving Cape Town in three months (?!?!?!) and that feels wasteful.

Bake until slightly golden and it bounces back when you poke it. This batter makes such a yummy cake! Yes, you could use a boxed mix, and I am definitely known for doing so... but this is almost as easy and better.

Okay. Now listen to me. Let the cake cool completely. COM. PLETE. LY. Yes, I know it sucks to wait. But if you don't, this won't work. Let it cool in the cake pan on a wire rack for awhile, then flip the cake out onto the rack and let it cool awhile more. When it's ready, move the cake to a sheet of parchment paper.

Pick a drinking glass with about a three inch diameter. Or if you have circular cookie cutters, that's great, too. Just make sure they're tall. You should be able to get four circles out of the cake. Spray the rim of the glass with cooking spray.

Slowly press the glass into the cake on the edge of the cake. Don't press too hard or quickly- you want to cut the cake more than squish it (although you will a bit). Tap and shake the glass to get the cake to pop out. Don't squish it out with your fingers or it'll lose its shape. Repeat until you have as many circles as you can get.

If you have enough space on the edges of the cake, you can get another circle by putting two half circles together with frosting. I was able to get five circles total, enough for a three layer cake and a two layer cake.

Spread frosting on the top of each cake and stack the layers. You can totally try to go higher than three, but I wasn't sure if mine would stay upright.

Then frost the outside, cover it in sprinkles if you want, and you have the cutest birthday cake of all the birthday cakes.

I made a "4" out of sprinkles on top of my cake because I didn't have candles and this event needed to be thoroughly commemorated.

If you ask me, this is so much more fun than a cupcake. It still looks like a frosted cake... but it's tiny! And everything that's a miniature version of something else is better.

Happy birthday, A Duck's Oven! I hope you have a good reason to bake a mini birthday cake yourself soon. Half birthdays totally count!

Here's an instructional photo for Pinning:

Mini Stacked Birthday Cake

Makes 2 Mini Cakes
Cake Recipe Adapted from AllRecipes

Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup white sugar
4 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Scant 1/2 cup milk (1% or 2% is fine)
1 tbsp sprinkles (optional)

1 cup frosting of choice

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Grease an 8-inch cake pan.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. Cream the butter until lighter in color and fluffy. Add the sugar and cream until well-incorporated and light. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, and beat gently to incorporate each one. Add the vanilla and stir until incorporated.
4. Alternate adding the milk and dry ingredients, about 1/4 cup at a time, until all ingredients are added. Stir until just incorporated, do not over mix. If using sprinkles to make funfetti cake, add them to the batter and stir until just incorporated. Do not over stir or the sprinkles will bleed their color.
5. Pour batter into the greased cake pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until slightly golden and cake bounces back when pushed.
6. Let cake cook in the pan on a wire rack for about 15 minutes. Invert pan and turn cake onto the wire rack and let cool until completely cool.
7. When the cake is ready, lay parchment paper on a flat surface. Transfer cake to paper. Grease the rim of a drinking glass or cookie cutter with about a three inch diameter. Press the glass slowly and gently into the cake on the edge. Tap and shake the glass gently to pop the cake out. Repeat until you've gotten as many circles as possible (you should be able to get at least four). To create extra circles, cut out half circles from large enough spots on the edge of the cake and seal them together with frosting.
8. Stack the mini cakes with a layer of frosting between each. I recommend not going higher than three layers. You may want to press the outside of the cakes together a bit to seal in the crumbs at this point. Frost the outside of the cake and decorate as you please!

SA Sunday: Johannesburg & Pretoria

2014-09-14T06:17:00.001-07:00

Fiance and I saved enough cash for one other adventure in Africa during our stay in Cape Town. After some serious thought and maybe a little debate, we ended up deciding to go to Victoria Falls (posts to come!) because it would allow us to see to more African countries, Zimbabwe and Zambia, and the falls are one of the most gorgeous natural landmarks in the world.

On our way there we had to fly out of Johannesburg, so we decided to make the most of it and spend a night there and see a few of the sights. Fiance had the foresight to look into cab costs, and we ended up deciding to rent a car. Since our hotel was in Johannesburg, we wanted to visit Pretoria, and the airport is super far away from either of those places, we really did save a ton of money. If you're visiting any city in South Africa, I highly recommend looking into a rental car and bringing your own GPS. Public transportation isn't very widely used and isn't recommended for tourists. Europcar was really great for us during our short visit!

Straight from the airport we went to the Union Buildings in Pretoria. Another bonus about a rental car- you have a place for your luggage until you can check into your hotel! Especially important if you're doing a 24 hour excursion like Fiance and I.

South Africa has three capital cities: Pretoria, Cape Town, and Bloemfontein (BLOOM-fawn-teen). Pretoria is the executive capital of South Africa, so where the president works. The buildings where he and his staff work are called the Union Buildings. The Union Buildings were built in 1913.

They sit on top of a large hill in Pretoria called Meintjieskop, giving the buildings an excellent view of the city.

In 2013, this giant bronze statue of Nelson Mandela was erected. We've seen a lot of Mandela statues since we moved to South Africa, but this one might be my favorite!

For some scale, here I am standing with the statue.

The Union Buildings are so beautiful and I'm really glad we chose to make this stop. I let Fiance pick all of our activities in the Johannesburg area, and he did good!

Our next stop was to the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria, which we could see from the Union Buildings. There's actually a law that says any building built between the two can't be so tall as to obstruct the view.

The Voortrekker Monument is one of the more interesting (and controversial) landmarks in South Africa, so we knew we had to stop and see it. South Africa is a very multicultural place and this monument represents a very specific version of part of its history. The monument is a huge granite structure dedicated to the Voortrekkers who left what was then the British-controlled Cape Colony (which includes the Western Cape, where Fiance and I live) to settle in the northern and eastern parts of what is now South Africa in the mid-1800s.

The bronze statue you see in the center is of a woman and two children. It was built to commemorate women's efforts to what they called the Great Trek.

You enter into a huge domed room called the Hall of Heroes. There are relief sculptures all along the walls that tell the story of the Great Trek, starting on the left and wrapping around the entire room.

The sculptures depicted some of the more significant events of the trek, including battles, as well as daily life.

The floor underneath the Hall of Heroes holds a cenotaph (an empty grave) dedicated to those who died during the trek. On December 16th at noon, the anniversary of the Battle of Blood River which was called the Day of the Vow until 1994, a ray of sunlight shines on the cenotaph from a hole in the ceiling. The Battle of Blood River was a battle between the Voortrekkers, who were Afrikaaners, and the Zulus, which the Voortrekkers won. In 1994, at the end of apartheid, it was renamed the Day of Reconciliation in the hopes of creating a national unity day.

The Day of the Vow refers to a vow made by the Voortrekkers to God the day of the Battle of Blood River. The Voortrekkers promised that if God helped them win the battle, they would build a church in his honor and forever honor the day. Here is the text of the vow outside the monument:

The room that held the cenotaph was lined with flags of the different Voortrekker Republics as well as tapestries depicting the Great Trek. The tapestries were reminiscent of depictions of westward migration in the US (the Oregon Trail) I encounter at home.

The lowest floor was a museum with some artifacts from the trek. After we explored that, we went all the way to the top of the monument, which Fiance insisted on taking the stairs to instead of just hopping on the elevator. I guess it's good for me. The stairs may have given me jelly legs, but the view was worth it. You can stand on the roof of the monument and get a great view of the city.

In the fields surrounding the monument, we spotted a few zebras and wildebeest, which was fun! Wildebeest really are the ugliest African animal.

From there, we headed to our hotel in Sandton, a suburb of Johannesburg. After getting checked in and Fiance spending half an hour trying to figure out how to park our car (which he claims wasn't his fault... Just kidding, Fiance!) we went to dinner at Mandela Square.

After exploring the shops a bit and getting a few drinks at a worldwide restaurant chain that shall remain nameless because I'm too ashamed to say it, we got dinner at The Butcher Shop and Grill. Great wine, good food, although I keep getting undercooked steaks every time I order them. Sorry, dad, I'm going to have to start asking for medium.

Overall, it was a great quick trip to Gauteng! There's obviously still so much we could see there, but we got to take in some fantastic cultural sights. Next week, I'll be sharing our trip to Victoria Falls!

Fettuccine with Goat Cheese, Bacon, & Cherry Tomatoes

2014-09-12T23:12:00.000-07:00

I've learned so, so much during my six months so far living in South Africa. One of those smaller, less consequential things is that there are so many foods out there that I have yet to try. Cape Town has introduced me to a love of curry I didn't know I had, new seafood, ostrich, coriander, and countless other incredible foods.

Although my palate has grown leaps and bounds since college, I keep coming across seemingly ordinary foods and realizing that I've never tried them. Recently, one such food was goat cheese. We were served an incredible goat cheese salad during our stay at Inverdoorn for our safari and I realized it was something I hadn't eaten before! Why?! It was so creamy with just a touch of smoky, and I fell head over heels.

Since we're at the end of tomato season in the US, I've been seeing tons of gorgeous tomato-pasta dishes on Pinterest. I really wanted one for myself, so I came up with this fettuccine. It's packed with cherry tomatoes, bacon, goat cheese, tons of garlic, and fresh basil, thyme, and rosemary. It's fresh and hearty and so many of my favorite things.

Oh, and when I say tons of garlic, I mean a lotta garlic. Like have breath mints at the ready amounts of garlic. Like it might be best, for your coworkers' sake, to not bring leftovers to work for lunch amounts of garlic.

And bacon because everything is better with bacon. The sweetness of the cherry tomatoes with the smokiness of the goat cheese and saltiness of the bacon is the combination to beat all combinations.

You can use whatever shape of pasta you like. I typically go for short noodles like fusilli because they're so much easier to eat, but I felt like swirling the fettuccine would give a better guarantee that I'd get plenty of the other pasta components in each bite.

Hurry and make this while you still have your last few tomatoes!

Fettuccine with Goat Cheese, Bacon, & Cherry Tomatoes

Serves 3-4

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp chopped thyme
1 tsp chopped rosemary
12 cherry tomatoes, cut in half

8 strips thick cut bacon
1 tbsp olive oil
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp chopped thyme
1 tsp chopped rosemary
1/3 cup goat cheese, chopped into small cubes

250 grams or 9 oz fettuccine pasta

3 tbsp basil, chopped chiffonade (into thin strips)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Toss the cherry tomatoes with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon chopped thyme, and 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary. Roast in preheated oven for about 10 minutes or until tomatoes are soft and have started to collapse.
2. While the tomatoes are roasting, cook the bacon over medium heat in a skillet. Reserve the fat and drippings while cooking. Crumble bacon roughly with your fingers and set aside.
3. Without washing the skillet, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat and drippings to the skillet. Over medium-low heat, add the minced garlic cloves and cook until fragrant and starting to brown, about a minute. Add the remaining chopped thyme and rosemary and cook for another minute. Set aside.
4. Cook the fettuccine according to package directions for al dente pasta. When done, reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid and drain.
5. Add the cherry tomatoes, goat cheese, and bacon to the garlic herb mixture in the skillet over medium-low heat. Stir together and cook for about a minute, then add the cooked pasta and toss, cooking for another minute. Add reserved pasta water if the sauce needs more liquid, but this shouldn't be a saucy pasta.
6. Serve with plenty of chopped basil on top.

Notes: Pepper bacon would be fantastic in place of regular bacon! Want to learn how to chiffonade? Check out this Youtube video for help!

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

2014-09-10T07:21:00.002-07:00

People. My best friend did a terrible, terrible thing.

She got pregnant with her first baby, the first baby between the two of us, a week before I went off and moved to Cape Town for almost a year. We didn't know she was pregnant when we tearfully said goodbye, also known as me sitting around shocked, dazed, and useless because of our stressful departure and not believing I was actually moving to South Africa. Instead, I found out when I'd been here for two weeks over a crappy excuse for a phone call because our internet is just oh so awful.

So I missed my best friend's first baby shower, which I should have thrown, I don't get to cook her a single thing during her pregnancy, I don't get to see her big belly, I don't get to shop with her, I don't get to jump up and scream with excitement with her, I didn't get to help her and her husband move into their first house and decorate the nursery, I don't get to be there for my best friend during her labor. And worst of all, I don't get to meet this precious little girl who is already so special to me until she's already two months old.

I really meant that to sound silly and whiny, but now I'm totally bummed out. I couldn't be happier that Fiance and I made the decision to come to Cape Town and am so grateful we even got the opportunity, but man oh man. I'm definitely sad I'm missing this.

So, instead of walking by baby stores and saying, "Ooooh, let's go look!" and having Fiance retort, "No, we don't have any money," I decided to contribute in a different way. Here's what I would have baked for my best friend had I been able to throw her a baby shower. Or just for her to munch on while finding an hour or so to relax in her now very busy life. Because nothing makes the heart sing like peanut butter + chocolate.

These super fudgy, soft chocolate cookies come from Sally's Baking Addiction. And they are totally the tastiest. I added the pink candy pearls in the spirit of baby girl, but you could just use sprinkles or nothing at all. They won't be as fun, though.

The filling is made of peanut butter whipped with powdered sugar: easy, yummy, and fluffy. Muster some self-control before making it- if you're a peanut butter lover like me, you'll be hard pressed to not just dip some apples in there and eat the bowl.

Although I have yet to be pregnant myself, I can't help but think I'd love the brownie-like fudginess and creamy peanut butter that is these cookies. Really, these cookies have a few alternative titles: "Cookies for Kimberly" (my best friend) or "Pregnancy Hormones Tempered by Chocolate" (it's a play on "Death by Chocolate"... get it??? get it?! Okay, Fiance didn't laugh, either) would definitely suffice.

So make these for your pregnant friend, your pregnant self, or just for your non-child-carrying-you because you also deserve some chocolatey goodness in your life.

And Kimmy, I hope you can enjoy just feasting on these with your eyes for now... I'll make them for you in a few months!

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
Cookie recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction
Makes 8 Cookies

Ingredients
Cookies:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp milk
1 cup mini chocolate chips (regular are fine, too)
Candy pearls or sprinkles (optional)

Filling:
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Directions
1. Use a handheld or standing mixer on medium speed to beat the butter until lighter in color and fluffy, about 20 seconds. Add the sugars and beat until creamed together on medium speed, for another 30 seconds. Beat in the egg and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Over medium low speed, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. The dough will be very thick. Mix in the milk and chocolate chips by hand.
3. Cover the dough with saran wrap in a bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour, up to 36 hours.
4. After the dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
5. Roll the dough into balls a bit larger than a tablespoon each and arrange a few inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. You should have 16 cookies. Press them down just a bit and press pearls or sprinkles into the dough, if you're using them. Bake for 12 minutes. Cookies will be soft and fudgy. Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets then remove to wire racks to cool completely.
6. In the meantime, using a handheld or standing mixer, whip together the peanut butter and powdered sugar until completely combined and fluffy, about a minute.
7. When cookies have cooled, spread about two tablespoons of the peanut butter mixture onto the bottom of a cookie and press another cookie on top of the peanut butter. Set the cookie aside and continue working until all cookies are sandwiched.

Spiced Yogurt Chicken

2014-09-06T00:30:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I made a discovery: marinading chicken in yogurt makes it so moist and flavorful. I'm way behind on this, I know. The hundreds of pieces of chicken I've prepared and consumed since fending for myself have totally missed out.

If you've been following my blog for awhile, you know that lately I've been using a lot of ingredients and influences that have never made an appearance here before. It's a weird thing for me to keep plain yogurt in my fridge that I don't intend to cover in honey and berries. But I just can't get enough!

I've also been using a lot of chicken drumsticks lately. If you prefer thighs or breasts, hey, that's your call. Any cut will work just fine for this recipe, but if you're using boneless, skinless cuts, reduce the cooking time a bit.

For the marinade, toss yogurt, tons and tons of parsley, cumin, paprika, garlic, salt, and pepper into a food processor and blend until those parsley leaves are finely chopped.

Add the marinade and the chicken to a big ol' plastic baggie or a bowl and rub the marinade into all the chicken's nooks and crannies. Make sure to get it under the skin, too. Let it sit for at least a half hour, up to 24 hours in the fridge.

Cooking time! This recipe calls for cooking the drumsticks in the oven, but you could totally grill them. They'd be so tasty on the grill. I roasted broccoli and brussels sprouts on the same cookie sheet to make sure we get green things in our diet.

Cook for about 25 minutes, flip the chicken, and cook for another 15, or until the skin is nice and golden. You might need to broil them for a few minutes.

We had our chicken legs with the tasty veggies you saw and plenty of naan and feta cheese. This chicken + homemade naan = crazy tasty meal. Seriously, make yourself some naan to go with this. It's not that hard and I posted a recipe for it this week!

Have fun gobbling this up! And prepare to become just as enthralled with yogurt marinades as me.

Spiced Yogurt Chicken

Adapted from Taming of the Spoon
Serves 2-3

Ingredients
4-6 chicken drumsticks
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup parsley leaves
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Feta cheese & naan for serving (optional)

Directions
1. In a food processor, combine the yogurt, garlic, parsley, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper. Process until well combined and parsley is finely chopped.
2. Add the yogurt mixture and the drumsticks to a large ziploc bag. Rub the marinade around the chicken legs, making sure to get it under the skin.
3. Marinade chicken for at least 30 minutes, up to 24 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (218 degrees C). Arrange drumsticks on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove from oven and flip the chicken legs and bake for another 15 minutes, until cooked through and skin is golden brown. If necessary, broil the chicken for a few minutes to brown the skin.
5. Let chicken rest for five minutes before serving. Serve with feta cheese and naan, if desired.

10 Fall Apple Recipes

2014-09-04T00:30:00.000-07:00

Fall is here. Fall is finally here. Well, for all you people back in the northern hemisphere, anyway. Here in Cape Town, we're entering spring. We just bought our plane tickets back to the US (<<< experiencing every emotion under the sun about this) and although we'll be back just in time for Christmas, we're going to miss my favorite season in Portland: fall. The rain doesn't really start until mid-October and Portland's bountiful supply of trees go all kinds of gorgeous during these few months.

Anywho, if I were in Portland right now, countless pumpkin and apple treats would be making their way out of my oven. Here are some of my favorite apple recipes and a few other delicious looking ideas from other blogs!

Cinnamon Apple Scones. These scones make a brunch appearance at least every other week and I think I'd be safe in saying that these are Fiance's new favorite breakfast. I also have a peanut butter variation, in case you need a break from apples. Although I don't know what kind of person would.

Hot Cross Bun French Toast with Apple Compote. This one might ring a little more Easter-y, but the french toast would be great with any kind of fall bread. Inspiration: pumpkin bread french toast with this apple compote??? All the best fall foods in one dish!

Upside Down Apple Cake. I love upside down cakes. Is there anything tastier than fruit caramelized in butter? And I also get cake?! And this apple one is so light and and fluffy.

Hard Apple Cider Sangria. This recipe from So Good Blog is perfect for fall- I can't help think how yummy this would be for sipping on game days!

Fried Apples. As everyone knows, anything deep-fried is awesome. And apples already awesome. So I can't imagine how good these deep fried apple rings from Travel for Taste must be!

Green Apple Smoothie. Not only does this smoothie from Healthy Seasonal Recipes have plenty of apples, it's also got ginger and coconut. What a yummy way to start the day!

Caramel Apple Cupcakes. Okay let me break these cupcakes from Wild Wild Whisk down: an apple cake filled with dulce de leche and topped with cream cheese caramel frosting. I can hardly wrap my mind around all that deliciousness. These have suddenly jumped to the top of my baking list.

Apple Butterfinger Bars. These blondies from Inside BruCrew Life look amazingly sweet, crunchy, and caramely. I love the mix of flavors here!

And now for some savory apple options, because apples are good in everything.

Chicken Quesadillas with Apples and Gruyere. Apples and cheese are BFFs. Especially creamy, flavor-packed cheeses like gruyere! I can't wait to try this quesadilla from Healthy Nibbles & Bits to mix things up a bit.

Curried Chicken Salad with Apples and Raisins. Curried everything has become my new favorite way to cook. Although I've mostly been sticking to traditional stuff like Tikka Masala, I love the sound of this chicken salad from Bowl of Delicious! Such a good lunch idea.

I hope you have SO much fun in your kitchen this apple season and you've found some inspiration here! What are you planning to use all these delicious fall apples for?

Homemade Naan

2014-09-02T00:30:00.000-07:00

I've been cooking a lot of Indian and Middle Eastern inspired cuisine in the last few months. Like a lot. Like suddenly various curries make an appearance on every week's menu. Before we came to Cape Town, I hadn't even stocked my spice drawer with spices like turmeric and curry powder, let alone delved into dishes like Tikka Masala.

Even though most of these dishes have thus far been comprised of meat, rice, and occasionally vegetables, I knew that naan and other flatbreads were in my baking future. Grocery store naan is always so dry and disappointing.

Homemade naan, though. Homemade naan is... magical. "Yummy" just doesn't cut it here. It's more than that. Homemade bread is always better and this flatbread is no exception. It's made with a bit of yogurt and gets brushed with a little ghee (clarified butter) for supafied deliciousness. Yes, I've resorted to making up words in order to to truly describe what this naan can do for your life.

If you've made your own bread before, this'll be a cinch, and even if you haven't it's still a very easy recipe to follow. The dough starts with the standard yeast-sugar-warm water mix, then gets ghee, salt, yogurt, and flour added to it. Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy.

Then after some kneading (I know, I know, the worst part of baking- but it's worth it) and some rising, you divide the dough and roll it out into eight inch discs. I don't have a rolling pin here, so mine are a little lumpy and lopsided. It's okay. They're still tasty.

Aaand no more rising! Note: don't be like me and just stack these on one another. Put some paper between them or lay them out. Otherwise, they'll stick to each other and you'll be super annoyed because you have to re-roll them. Boo.

Brush some ghee on the naan pieces with a very heavy hand. Then just grill 'em, broil 'em, or fry 'em. It's totally up to you. The broiler on our oven doesn't get all that hot (or at least, it takes ages to, and I have no patience) and we don't have a braai (grill, in local Afrikaans!) so I panfried and it worked perfectly.

I have no shame and will admit that we had no trouble gobbling up all six between us with dinner. Because, as I said, they are magical.

Homemade Naan

Adapted from AllRecipes
Makes 6 Pieces

Ingredients
2/3 cup warm water
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp white sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup ghee, divided (melted butter will work, too)
2 tbsp plain yogurt
2 cups flour

Directions
1. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your standing mixer, whisk together the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let sit for about 10 minutes, or until yeast is proofed and foamy.
2. Add the salt, half of the ghee, and the yogurt to the to the yeast mixture. Knead in the flour a half cup at a time with the dough hook attachment on your standing mixer or with a wooden spoon and then by hand when it becomes to difficult to stir. Knead for 5-8 minutes or until dough is elastic. It will be sticky.
3. Lightly oil a large bowl. Add the dough to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes to an hour, or until doubled.
4. Punch down the dough and knead for another five minutes. Divide into six evenly sized pieces and roll into 8 inch wide discs.
5. You can cook these on your grill, under the broiler in your oven, or on the stovetop in a fry pan. Preheat your appliance of choice and cook each naan for about two minutes on each side or until they puff up and brown spots just start to appear.

Here are some dinner ideas to go with your naan!

Chicken Tikka Masala! This might be my new favorite food. I mean it.

Chicken and Pineapple Curry. Tropical and all things yummy.

Citrus Spiced Chicken. This chicken helped me discover a love for chicken thighs I didn't know I had.

September Desktop Calendar

2014-08-31T01:10:00.000-07:00

September is truly my favorite month of the year. The start of football season, fall leaves, honeycrisp apples, pumpkins, the weather... I could go on and on. This September, I'm looking forward to spring here in Cape Town, and admittedly I'm a little bummed that I'll be missing out on the glory that is a Portland fall. But I'll go drown my sorrows in a mojito at one of the gorgeous local beaches and get over it pretty quick.

For this month's desktop calendar, I still stuck to the colors and foods that come to mind with fall. This photo holds a special place in my heart because it was one of the first I shot with my first DSLR of my very own. The photo is of an incredibly tasty Apple Upside Down Cake.

To set this photo as your desktop calendar, click the photo for your desktop size to open it in a new tab, then right click the photo and save it to your computer. You can then set it as your desktop! The one above is for a 1280x800 desktop (a 13 inch Macbook). Here are some more desktop sizes.

1024x768:

1920x1080

iPhone 5:

Classic Meatloaf

2014-08-30T01:10:00.003-07:00

If you can believe it, I'd never had meatloaf before I made this. And I'm 24 years old. That's a lot of years to not have meatloaf. I've had meatballs! Which are really just a more petite form of meatloaf, right? Whenever I think of meatloaf, I think of kids on TV ungraciously whining to their tired-looking mothers, "Meatloaf again?! Mooooom!" That just wasn't really a dish I had interest in making.

But that's all really silly because, as it turns out, meatloaf is delicious, and those spoiled little brats should stop complaining. They're getting some seriously tasty food, especially if it's served with cheesy mashed potatoes.

And it's pretty easy to make! Just ground beef, bell peppers, onions, garlic, an egg, salt, pepper, paprika, bread crumbs, and a little milk combined.

Yes, this should be done in a loaf pan. But I don't have a loaf pan here in Cape Town, and we're really trying to avoid buying anything for the flat that isn't deemed "essential" since we're here for less than a year. So I formed it into a loaf shape on a baking sheet and it worked just fine.

So, do what you gotta do then slather the whole thing in steak sauce, or use my homemade sauce that I made with ketchup, dijon, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce. So, so yummy.

Then baker 'er up until completely cooked through. Yes, it looks a little funky, but it's crazy tasty and moist. I think the biggest complaint about meatloaf is that it's dry. The bell pepper and coating it in sauce help keep this meatloaf nice and moist.

Those biscuit looking lumps in the background are actually piles of cheesy mashed potatoes, the essential side dish to meatloaf. We also had some green beans because something green must appear on the plate and they felt like the most all-American veggie. Because meatloaf is super is super all-American, right? Right? Well, I think so, anyways.

No longer fear dried-out meatloaf- try this recipe and your kids (or significant other) will so not whine.

Classic Meatloaf
Adapted from AllRecipes
Serves 2-4

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds ground beef (not too lean, nothing under 90/10)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp minced garlic
1 egg
1 small onion, finely diced
1/2 green bell pepper, finely diced
3/4 cup soft bread crumbs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup steak sauce or homemade sauce below

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan (or, if you're like me, a cookie sheet).
2. In a large bowl, combine ground beef, salt, black pepper, paprika, and minced garlic by hand. Add the egg, onion and bell pepper and mix by hand. Finally, work in the bread crumbs, 3 tablespoons of the steak sauce, and the milk.
3. Press the meat mixture into your loaf pan and shape, or form into loaf shape on a cookie sheet. Brush with the remaining steak sauce.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for one hour, or until cooked through. Let stand for at least five minutes before serving. Top with additional sauce, if desired, and serve with mashed potatoes.

Meatloaf Sauce

Ingredients
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp Tobasco hot sauce (to taste)

Directions
1. Whisk together all ingredients until well-combined. Taste and add more hot sauce if desired.

Football Season Kitchen Essentials

2014-08-28T00:35:00.000-07:00

YOU GUYS. The Ducks play football THIS SATURDAY. And I don't get to watch it. Life is cruel.

Just to play with my heart a little, PAC-12 Network announced they'd be adding some games to YouTube for international viewers! Good news, right? Except that the only African country included was Senegal. Some games that are air on ESPN might be on a cable sports network here, but we don't have cable. We're hoping to go to a bar and beg them to play that channel on their TV, but that's only a possibility if the game is aired during business hours. Oh, and our internet is far too slow to stream a live game. During a trip to the US Consulate a few months ago, I asked if they knew anywhere we could watch US college football in Cape Town. They laughed. Our only shot would be if we knew a marine and could watch it on the base. Which we definitely don't.

In other words, no football for us. My favorite season is usually fall. I love the weather, I love the food, and I love, love, love the football. Cape Town, your beaches better be extra spectacular the next few months or I'm going to be a total grump.

Okay, enough of my whining. Most football seasons, I love having a few of our friends over to watch the game and cook up plenty of food. Here are a few of my favorite tools I keep in my kitchen for game days to feed hungry Duck fans (Other fans don't get food. Sorry.).

A dutch oven is perfect for deep-frying and what I use for hot wings, hushpuppies, and all of my other favorite deep-fried things. Right now I use an itty-bitty one I inherited from my mom, but I put a bigger one on my wedding registry. Make sure you have a candy thermometer, too, so you can keep the oil at the perfect 350 degrees for frying.

A grill pan or cast iron skillet. This is my favorite thing to use for frying up burgers when it's too rainy to use my actual grill. I love, love, love my cast iron skillet for searing steaks and making cornbread, too! My super sweet future mother-in-law got me that shiny gift.

A football cake tin! Okay, this isn't strictly necessary. But it's really fun and I've made some very cool cakes with this thing.

A slow cooker is great for getting chili going early and I even use my little tiny one for keeping dips or fondue warm. I love the programmable one my mom got me for Christmas a couple years ago!

I get a lot of really awesome gifts from my mom and future mother-in-law. Future MIL also got me this gorgeous Rachael Ray bakeware set a couple of years ago. They make nachos so pretty and are great for baked dips!

A hugely important staple to our game days is beer, especially since we're in Portland, Oregon (usually) where great craft beer is abundant. We therefore of course have several Oregon Ducks pint glasses.

Now that you've stocked your kitchen with the essentials, here are a few of my favorite game day recipes!

Hot Wings make an appearance pretty much every game day. This is my secret recipe for the ultimate hot wing!

If you want something a little different from the standard hot wing, I love these Blackberry Chipotle Hot Wings. They're great to use up August and September blackberries!

These Greek Meatballs with Feta Tzatziki are pretty easy- you can let people assemble their own sandwiches or you can just eat the meatballs dipped in the yummy sauce!

Spicy chili and cornbread are fantastic for game days, especially during chillier November and December. My recipe for chili is plenty spicy and made with beer, of course!

I almost always make my own hamburgers when we have them at home, and I think I've got the recipe perfected. This one has a bit of a twist: the patties have diced jalapenos and are stuffed with pepper jack cheese!

A super easy way to feed a crowd is with a big dish of pasta. This Spicy Baked Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce and lots of sausage is a great crowd pleaser!

Have fun watching games this weekend! I hope you enjoy some great beer and even better food with them.

Chicken Enchilada Bowl

2014-08-26T01:42:00.000-07:00

I love "bowls" for lunch! Mine are often composed of a mish-mash of leftovers, which are usually great, but deliberately put together ones are even better. Bowls like this always reheat really well and they're great for work because it means just one tupperware container, something my lazy self is totally on board with.

I worked in a Portland restaurant that primarily served pasta the year before coming to Cape Town. Super delicious, carby pasta covered in house-made sauces that I could modify to my heart's content. I knew I couldn't eat pasta everyday and I was working so much that I'd often be there during two meal times, so I brought my own meals to work as often as I could. Do you know how hard it is to eat the boring salad I threw together before running out the door when I could have baked ziti made to order? Ugh.

In order to not find myself saying "I'll just save this lunch for tomorrow..." and cave at the sight of macaroni and cheese, it was important that my lunches from home be something I was super excited about. And this enchilada bowl was always one of them.

Whenever I make chicken enchiladas, I make extra chicken and usually have extra enchilada sauce, then just put a few of these bowls together in tupperware containers for the week. Even if we don't have enchiladas, I'll occasionally put them together anyways because they're so easy.

My favorite method is to just throw a few chicken breasts in my crockpot with salsa, chicken broth, cumin, and chili powder, but the chicken can be cooked stove-top if you're short on time. I cook the rice in chicken broth, salsa, and cumin and make my own enchilada sauce. This recipe for enchilada sauce is really easy and the results are incredible! So much better than canned or jarred enchilada sauce. You probably have most of the ingredients on hand, too!

This is a light version, but if you're looking for something with a little more oomph, mix the shredded chicken with a little sour cream and more shredded cheese.

Chicken Enchilada Bowl
Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients
Chicken:
3 chicken breasts
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup salsa of choice
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder

Enchilada Sauce:
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp chili powder
1/2 cup tomato sauce
3/4 cups water
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cayenne powder (leave out if you're sensitive to spice, or taste before adding)
1/4 tsp salt

Rice:
Short grain rice of choice
Chicken broth
Salsa
1/4 tsp cumin

1 cup shredded cheese
Diced raw onions (optional)

Directions
1. Chicken: add all ingredients to a crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. If you're short on time, combine all ingredients in a large stock pot or dutch oven and simmer on medium-low heat for 30-45 minutes. Remove chicken from cooking liquid and shred by inserting two forks and pulling apart. Discard cooking liquid. Set aside.
2. Enchilada sauce: heat oil in a heavy pot over medium high heat. When hot, reduce the heat to medium and add the chili powder and flour. Cook for about 2 minutes, or until fragrant. Reduce heat to medium-low and add the tomato sauce, water, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, and salt. Cook for ten minutes over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.
3. Rice: Make the rice according to package directions for four servings. Replace 3/4 of the water with chicken broth and the remaining 1/4 with salsa (this is approximate, totally fine if your ratio is a bit off) and add the cumin to the cooking liquid.
4. Assembly: divide rice between four bowls. Top each with a quarter of the shredded chicken, then a quarter of the enchilada sauce, then 1/4 cup shredded cheese. Top with a few of the diced raw onions if desired. If prepping for lunches, do the same but store in separate tupperware containers.

If you do want to make chicken enchiladas, try my recipe! It's one of the most popular recipes on my blog and one of my favorite weeknight dinners. It's also a great dish to put together for friends who are moving, just had a baby, or would just like a meal they didn't have to cook themselves!

SA Sunday: Dinner at Addis in Cape

2014-08-24T02:12:00.002-07:00

Our friends from Portland came to stay with us here in Cape Town for two weeks last month and we had an absolute blast. We got the weather to cooperate for most of their stay despite it being winter here and did tons of fun touristy things. Like get our picture taken with the Cape of Good Hope sign:

Awesome friend 1, awesome friend 2, me, Fiance

In case you missed it, we also went on a safari! Which might just have been the coolest thing of my whole life.

But among those very big tourist things, we did some of the neat local stuff, like go down to Long Street. Before we explored the many bars lining the street (which included enjoying the musical stylings of a high school metal band), we had dinner at the Ethiopian restaurant Addis in Cape! It was a delicious culinary adventure. We sat on low seated chairs around a small wicker table.

You're going to have to forgive the less than stellar photos. I was armed with just my iPhone and the restaurant had very low light. Here's a pretty picture of the food before I dive into my photos:

Okay, now you know what you SHOULD be looking at. Moving on.

We did a three course meal that started with an appetizer of fried injera. Injera is a spongey, very thin bread made from ground teff. It soaks up all the flavor of the stews and sauces. And deep friend is even better.

Our main course was another huge piece of injera with several different dishes piled on top of it. We had doro wat (spicy stewed chicken), kai sega wat (very similar to the key wat I posted a recipe for yesterday!), yebeg alicha (slow cooked lamb), prawns addis in dar (prawns in a tomato sauce), misir wat (spicy stewed red lentils), kek alicha (stewed yellow chickpeas), gomen (spinach similar to collard greens), and a tomato salad.

Utensils aren't needed for this! You're given rolls of injera to scoop everything up with, in addition to eating the injera the food is served on.

For dessert, we had baklava. One of my favorite desserts of all time.

Then, to top this wonderful meal off, they served us this incredibly rich Ethiopian coffee and what might be my favorite food: popcorn. Few things in life have made me happier than this surprise.

It was an incredible meal and really fun to try new foods. They make the whole thing a great experience without it being overly touristy. I highly recommend a stop here if you're in the area!

If you AREN'T in the area and want to try making some Ethiopian food at home, try my recipe for Key Wat (spicy Ethiopian stewed beef). It's pretty simple and totally delicious!

Spicy Ethiopian Stewed Beef (Key Wat)

2014-08-23T01:41:00.000-07:00

People. Ethiopian food is delicious. Like, crazy good. And I've only come to realize that in the last couple of months. Do you know what's so silly about that? In my Portland neighborhood, we had tons of Ethiopian restaurants. But no, Fiance and I always opted for the burgers at Pause (also delicious) or pizza from Old Town (ditto) rather than venture out a bit.

Instead, I had to go all the way to Africa to actually find that out for myself. Admittedly, I'm still quite far from Ethiopia, but you get the point.

When our friends from home were visiting us last month, we went to the Ethiopian restaurant Addis in Cape on Long Street here in Cape Town (I'll be sharing that dinner with you tomorrow for SA Sunday!). The entire meal was incredible, but Fiance and I's favorite thing was the spicy stewed beef they served. I needed to have it in my own kitchen.

Many Ethiopian recipes, like this one, call for a very spicy spice blend called berbere. If you're lucky enough to live by a spice shop like Penzeys, you can pick it up pre-blended. If not, you can make it at home! It consists of lots of red pepper flakes, chili powder, paprika, fenugreek, cumin, nutmeg, black pepper, turmeric, dried ginger, onion powder, garlic powder, allspice, cardamom, cloves, coriander, and cinnamon. You'll likely have most of these in your spice cupboard, but if you can't find the more obscure fenugreek, you can leave it out. I got mine during Fiance and I's adventure to Bo-Kaap. It's definitely a lot of ingredients, but so worth it! It'll make enough to last awhile and I've already used it to make a delicious stewed chicken, too.

The beef gets stewed with this seasoning, caramelized onions, garlic, beef stock, a little sugar, and tomato paste. Super simple and chock full of flavor.

This dish is traditionally served with an Ethiopian flat bread that's similar to a crepe called injera. It's an absolute crime that I wasn't able to do so, but I couldn't find the essential ingredient: ground teff. I will find it eventually, and I WILL make delicious, spongey injera. And I will be happy. In the meantime, couscous is a great side to key wat.

You could absolutely make this in your crock pot. The only reason I did it stove top is because I don't have one in Cape Town. It'd be a super easy meal for weeknights: throw all the ingredients in the crock pot and the couscous takes just another 10 minutes. Steam some broccoli and bam, you've got yourself a well-rounded meal!

Spicy Ethiopian Stewed Beef (Key Wat)
Adapted from Food.com
Serves 4-6

Ingredients
Berbere seasoning:
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground fenugreek
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp turmeric
4 tbsp hot pepper flakes (Yes, tablespoons! Not a typo!)
2 tbsp paprika
1 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground allspice
3/4 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Stewed Beef:
1 lb stew beef, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil, separated
1 small onion, diced
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp berbere (less if you're sensitive to spice)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp sugar
2 cups beef stock (or 2 cups water and a beef bullion)

Directions
1. To make the berbere spice, combine all ingredients. Store in an airtight container.
2. For the stewed beef, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season the beef with the salt and pepper. Brown the beef in batches in the dutch oven, removing to a plate to catch its juices.
3. Without cleaning the dutch oven, add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the onions and cook until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
4. Add the tomato paste, berbere seasoning, and sugar to the onions and garlic. Cook until a thick paste forms, about 3 minutes. Add the beef stock and beef and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low to simmer.
5. Simmer the beef for at least an hour, up to two. Remove the beef from the cooking liquid and shred it by pulling the chunks apart with two forks. Add the beef back to the stock mixture and simmer for another 15 minutes.
6. Serve with injera or couscous.

Note: If you'd like to cook this in your crock pot, follow the instructions until you've caramelized the onions. Add all remaining ingredients, caramelized onions, and beef to the crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Before serving, shred the beef by pulling the chunks apart with two forks and return to the crock pot and cook on high for 15 minutes.

Growing My Blog: Interview with Sally of Sally's Baking Addiction

2014-08-21T01:58:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about doing this Growing My Blog series has been getting to know other bloggers and getting tips from some big-timers! A few months ago I shared my interview with Lindsay from Pinch of Yum, which was super fun. This week, I talked to Sally of Sally's Baking Addiction.

I've used (and LOVED!) several recipes from Sally before. Her blog is beautiful, her photos are stunning, and her recipes are different and always produce something delicious. Like this Funfetti Sugar Cookie Cake. Or these adorable Candy Cane Kiss Cookies (YES, I already have Christmas on the brain a bit. And I know it's August). And I think she's a super genius, because she came up with this Salted Caramel Apple Pie. The ingredients of which just made it on to my grocery list.

Better yet, she doesn't only blog about baked goods. One of her more recent recipes is for a Glowing Skin Smoothie that I can't wait to get my hands on! Oh, and did I mention drool-worthy photos? Here, let me prove it.

Aaand best of all, she was super great to talk to and had some wonderful advice for growing bloggers like me! She also has a section on her blog devoted to blogging tips, which was very helpful and gave me a great boost of encouragement. I really can't wait to see what else Sally comes up with!

Alright, on to the good stuff! Here's Sally's advice for us.

What made you decide to go from blog reader to blog writer?

At the time I was emailing all of my recipes to my friends and after doing this for about a year, I decided I wanted to just put them all in one place. Starting a blog seemed really scary, but my fiance Kevin encouraged me to go for it. I also love to take pictures, so it was inevitable.

What's your favorite thing about blogging?

Hearing from readers all over the world telling me how much they loved X recipe. Or that I gave them courage in the kitchen. Or that my cookies helped comfort them through chemotherapy. This makes working 7 days a week with little sleep completely worth it.

When did it feel like Sally's Baking Addiction had a substantial following? Do you think there was a post or event that helped your blog turn that corner?

My Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe went viral extremely quickly. It brought a lot of new eyes to my website, which encouraged me to work harder to keep all of the new traffic. Investing in a fancy camera and learning to use it helped too!

What advice do you have for bloggers who have full time jobs but are eager to grow their blogs?

Get used to sleeping less. Ha! Well, I'm sort of being honest. If you are serious about growing your blog and taking it to the next level, you're going to have to work. Extremely hard. It takes long hours, dedication, and persistence. And a lot of coffee.

What makes other food blogs appealing to you?

Good photography. We all eat with our eyes, myself included, and I am drawn to beautiful irresistible looking food. I'm also drawn to other blogs (not only food blogs) if the blogger is real, genuine, and honest. It's easy to spot blogs who aren't 100% into it or are really just looking to earn money. You have to love it, and that's extremely obvious in a blogger's writing style and how they make an effort to connect with readers.

How do you connect with other bloggers?

I try to comment on other blogs when I have a spare minute and/or share their recipes on my social medias. There are so many talented bloggers out there! I remember reading these exact blogs before I became a blogger and now they know who I am through my blog. It feels pretty cool to work hard and get to this point! The food blog community is incredible and I've met a lot of friends through it.

What advice do you have for newer bloggers?

Do it because you love it. If your heart isn't into it, you may begin to resent it. It won't be all rainbows and sunshine, and it takes a lot of sweat (really, it does! running around with a 10 lb camera for 6 hours is a good workout!) and tears. But if you truly love it, you'll pass through the bumps and plateaus at marathon speed. Have fun along the way, too. And don't be afraid to learn something new.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, Sally!

For more stuff I've put together about growing my blog, check out my Blogger Resources page.

Sriracha Lime Chicken Legs

2014-08-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

Hampton Creek provided the mayonnaise for this recipe, but all opinions expressed are my own.

So there's this phone on the wall in our flat. It's not an ordinary phone. It's only function is for our complex's security guards to communicate with us if they need to. This usually only happens when we order Chinese food and need to meet the driver in the lobby. So ya know, four or five times a week. JUST KIDDING, I am a real food blogger. Overall, it's a pretty handy tool. Except that when it rings it sounds like a semi-truck is backing into our flat and gives Fiance a heart attack every single time. Turn down the ringer, you say! Except that none of the buttons on the phone are labeled and I've tried enough times to rule that out as a possibility.

This week was super eventful because we got three deliveries three days in a row! Even though that stupid phone left my ears ringing and I had to put real pants on (meaning not paint-covered sweatpants) to go get each one, it made me feel super special to get so many presents. Saturday was my birthday and very generous family members sent me gorgeous flower arrangements, which were two of those three deliveries. The third was this super exciting package from Hampton Creek, which I'm also calling a birthday present even though they would have no way of knowing because it was so much fun.

I have a thing for mayonnaise. Not your run of the mill, super cheap, grocery store mayo, though. I either like to make my own with some good quality olive oil or get the fancy stuff. And then add all kinds of crazy things to it because I'm obsessed with food and can't leave good enough alone. One of the greatest condiments of all time is mayo blended with those canned chipotle peppers and a little of the sauce they come in. Make a fry sauce with that and some ketchup and your french fries will never be the same! You can thank me later.

So I was super, super excited about these new treats. Hampton Creek created this eggless mayo as a healthier, more natural, vegan alternative to your standard mayonnaise. I'll admit that I was skeptical- I totally believe in the power of the egg and thought it would be pretty hard to replicate the taste and texture. They must be geniuses because they absolutely did it. In fact, I liked this better than regular mayo. I'm totally converted. In case you're curious, here's what's in it.

Although I quickly used the Sriracha and Garlic Mayo together to make my fry sauce for sweet potato fries (SO GOOD), I eventually wanted to try something different than your typical potato salad with this mayo. After a bit of pondering, I came up with this marinade using the Sriracha Mayo! And it was amazing. So much flavor and the mayo kept the chicken super moist and really crisped up the skin.

The marinade is ridiculously easy. Lime zest and juice, cumin, minced garlic, Sriracha Mayo, salt, and pepper!

I marinated my drumsticks for about four hours, but two hours to overnight will do the trick. When they were ready, I roasted them with some potatoes tossed in olive oil, paprika, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Since they were on the same pan they fried in the chicken fat and mayo a bit and were so good that I may or may not have eaten almost all of them by myself.

Then baked 'em up until everything was golden and chicken skin was crispy. As it should be!

I want to eat these all the time. They're spicy and zesty and salty and all of my favorite things.

My fellow Portlanders can get Just Mayo at local Whole Foods, New Seasons, and Safeways. Or you could get some for free because Hampton Creek is super nice and wants to give one of you a pack like mine with Sriracha, Garlic, and original Just Mayo!

Giveaway! (CLOSED)

To enter to win a pack, just do at least one of the following below using Rafflecopter. Sometimes it takes a minute to load. You can do multiple for multiple entries! If you already do any of the following, just check it off! If you have any questions about entering, leave a comment on this post. We will verify all entries. The giveaway starts Tuesday, August 19th and ends Tuesday, August 26th. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations, David! Thank you everyone for participating.

Sriracha Lime Chicken Legs
Serves 2-3

Ingredients
6 drumsticks
1/3 cup Sriracha Just Mayo (or you can use 1/3 cup mayo and 1-2 tbsp Sriracha, depending on how much spice you like)
Juice and zest of 1 small lime
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions
1. Whisk together Sriracha Just Mayo, lime juice and zest, cumin, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Add chicken legs and toss to coat. Let marinate in the fridge for 2-24 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet and arrange drumsticks on baking sheet so they aren't touching.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and flip legs. Bake for another 10 minutes. Broil for a few minutes if necessary to get the skin golden brown.

Note: I diced potatoes and tossed them with olive oil, chili powder, paprika, salt, and pepper and baked them on the same baking sheet, for the same amount of time. They were delicious!