The 15 Minute Writer

9 years ago today... Loneliness

2013-05-02T00:54:00.003-04:00

Today I came across a piece of writing I did 9 years ago while living in Lübben (Spreewald) - a small town 1 hour southeast of Berlin, Germany. Tears came to my eyes as I read what I wrote during a very lonely time of my life. How much things have changed! Sometimes it takes looking back to appreciate just how far you've come. Needless to say, I'm not lonely anymore.

02 May 04 - Lübben (Spreewald), Germany

I wake up, find myself alone—as usual—in the stale room, my neck aching on the two squished pillows beneath my head that only in their first fluffed moments manage to give any sort of resting support. The verdant view from my window glows in its spring freshness, a brightness without the sun. At 7 AM my day begins, in spring you don’t have to drag yourself out of bed—it drags you. And in the solitude my days drag on—a bowl of oatmeal; boil water, as I wash dishes, make the oat mixture of oats, flax seeds, a dash of salt, cinnamon, brown sugar, pour water, a drop of real maple syrup and a splash of vanilla soy milk. Then I make my vitamin drink, a cup of tea, a cup of yogurt—all while listening to the radio, time passing by in 30 minute increments of news updates, sandwiched together by moderation, music, and ads. Then comes the point of decision-making—what do I do after breakfast? Choices depend on the day. Sometimes it’s a clear choice to get showered and ready for school, if I have to be there early, on weekends and days off it can vary—go translate for a couple hours, check e-mail again—which you just did after waking up, bathroom and taking out retainers, or like today, go for a walk. Since time is about the only thing I can afford to spend, seeing as money is even more scarce, I burnt off two hours walking around the area, discovering new parts of town I’d never been to before—simply by crossing the railroad tracks—all while listening to various music to keep me paced. I learn to appreciate nature as it can hardly disappoint me; usually it simply amazes me. Like the closed positions of the dandelions, their centers curled up so a bee won’t come, the slime trail of a snail along the dirt path, the aromatic petals along the way. But it doesn’t change the fact that I’m alone, that I can go through the whole day without saying a word, unless someone calls me or I have mild interaction in a store, but Sundays are the worst. On Sundays you begin to believe that the silence and loneliness are unbearable, and you begin to want to change your mind about a lot of things, look for new answers to the questions swimming in silence, begin to wonder how you can sit in bed for hours with no obligations, no friends to call to stop over, no one to talk to, how you can manage this life that you’ve chosen for the time being, and if maybe you’re not even right. This is the pain of my pathetic existence right now. And even worse, I can’t change it at the moment, and while I’m generally “content” and can manage to make do with things as they are—it’s Sunday’s like this that really make me think about just how lonely I am.

Homemade Peanut Butter

2013-04-11T21:34:00.004-04:00

Today was such an exciting day! Not only do we have fantastic weather again, but it was also the first delivery of the season for The Produce Box. This week provided a nice preview of what can be expected to be a very bountiful year. I chose the Harvest Box this week which included one English cucumber, sweet potatoes, whole wheat bread, one big tomato, carrots, strawberries (add-on) and 2 quarts of raw, unshelled peanuts.

What in the world was I supposed to do with that many peanuts? Everything else can be gobbled up in a matter of no time, but the peanuts - I was going to have to think for a minute. I suddenly remembered that last year I purchased a Produce Box add-on of Mackey's Ferry Creamy Peanut Butter, which is quite possibly the most delicious peanut butter I've ever had (I tasted it at the NC State Fair last year for the first time). Since it contains very few ingredients, I wanted to see if I could make something similar. I did a little googling to figure out what to do.

Turns out that raw, unshelled peanuts are useless unless you boil or roast them. Since peanut butter is best made with roasted peanuts, I oven roasted them on a cookie sheet at 350° F for about 20 minutes, turning them with a big spoon every 5 minutes. The house smelled like peanut butter cookies afterwards!

Step 1: Oven roast at 350° F for about 20 min on a
cookie sheet, turning at regular intervals.

Next I had to wait because they were too hot to touch. The second step was definitely the most tedious and took well over an hour: shelling and skinning the peanuts.

Step 2: Shell and peel

Then came the fun part! Actually making the peanut butter. To do this, I put all the shiny, skinless, roasted peanuts in my food processor.

Step 3: Skinless, roasted peanuts in the food processor

Next I laid out the ingredients I needed. I never really measure so had to go by taste and appearance to get it just right.

The ingredients: the peanuts, peanut oil, molasses,
coconut oil, ground sea salt, brown sugar

The ingredients are really simple (my measurements are approximate because I didn't measure):

1) Skinless, roasted peanuts (It takes more time to oven-roasting, shell and skin the peanuts yourself, but it is definitely worth it)
2) 1-2 tablespoons of peanut oil
3) Roughly a heaping tablespoon of organic, virgin coconut oil (I got mine at Trader Joe's). The coconut aroma from the coconut oil adds the perfect undertone
4) Molasses - approx. 1-2 tablespoons
5) 1-2 teaspoons of freshly ground sea salt
6) Just around 1 tablespoon of brown sugar

Put everything in the food processor and blend at the highest speed until very creamy. Add any of the above ingredients to adjust consistency or flavor.

The result:

Super yummy, creamy homemade peanut butter. Store in the refrigerator to preserve freshness - it will also firm up a bit more because the coconut oil solidifies at colder temperatures, making it easier to spread.

Enjoy!

Satisfy your cravings!

2013-03-07T14:37:00.000-05:00

The recipe on the package -
I added blueberries and used
coconut oil.

My first blog post ever included a picture of gluten-free blueberry pancakes, but I haven't mentioned them again. Well, I've been having a craving for them and this morning I simply had to satisfy it. Last summer I froze so many of the blueberries I picked at Creekside Farm that I still have a ton in my freezer to use in smoothies, baking and pancakes! I used my favorite gluten-free baking mix from Bella Gluten-Free, followed the pancake recipe on the package (using coconut oil as the oil) and cooked my pancakes in a pan greased with coconut oil. They were so delicious; the coconut oil added extra yummy, natural flavor.

The batter

Sizzling in the skillet.


Ready to eat and leftovers!

Bulletproof coffee

2013-03-06T07:40:00.000-05:00

My brother told my mom about bulletproof coffee and she shared it with me. There's plenty of information on the web out there about it, especially on the website: www.bulletproofexec.com. For now I'm just using organic, fair-trade Bolivian coffee from Trader Joe's, but essentially I'm following the same basic principle. Blend fresh brewed coffee with about a tablespoon of coconut oil and a tablespoon grass-fed butter. I've even been adding some organic, unsweetened coconut milk and a dash of pumpkin pie spice. The result is a drink that will help you focus and perform at your peak.

I was a bit concerned about consuming this much fat at first, especially because I had my gallbladder removed a couple of years ago. It turns out that our bodies can process the medium-chain triglycerides found in coconut oil and the short-chain triglycerides found in grass-fed butter without bile, meaning that they aren't potentially harmful to people with gallbladder disease or those without a gallbladder. This is great news! Here's more information about why: http://www.ofspirit.com/brucefife1.htm, http://www.primalbody-primalmind.com/?tag=butter

Here's this morning's cup:

Bulletproof coffee with a dash of pumpkin pie spice.

Back on the road to wellness

2013-03-04T15:41:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted much of anything in while and it's been far too long. My hiatus also reflects my temporary abandonment of my gluten-free, vegetarian (almost vegan) diet in favor of being more of a "flexitarian" as my neighbor has called me. Well apparently "flexitarianism" hasn't been good for my health. Last week I had a little flare up of endometriosis resulting in a ruptured ovarian cyst. While I've had them before, before going on an anti-inflammatory, endometriosis diet four years ago, this was the first one I'd noticeably had in about 4 years. I feel fairly confident that this has to do with venturing off the healthy path in favor of being more pragmatic. Well now it's caught up and it was enough of a wake up call to go back to eating the way I know I should. So today I got started and back on my road to wellness and stocked up on all kinds of good things at Trader Joe's: kale, coconut oil, gluten-free pasta, coconut milk, dairy-free cheese, avocados, tomatoes, decaf green tea, organic fair trade Bolivian coffee (for the bulletproof coffee I've heard so much about with grass-fed butter and coconut oil), dry roasted, unsalted pistachios, and several other things.

I've just finished making my mid-day meal, which is a vegetarian pasta sauce over gluten-free pasta. For the sauce: heat up some coconut oil and sauté chopped garlic and onion. Add baby orange bell peppers, spinach, chopped fresh mushrooms, 1 large can of organic diced tomatoes, one peeled and chopped blood orange, a handful of walnuts, a handful of sun dried tomatoes (not the ones in oil, just dried in a bag) and sea salt. Simmer until ready to serve over GF pasta.

The finished dish - the cheese is a soy-free, dairy free
mozzarella alternative.

A little wiener can love a lot

2012-09-11T11:38:00.003-04:00

Came home from the gym to find Jewel cuddled up with her stuffed animal puppy. Too sweet!

Culture shock in my own country

2012-06-05T13:12:00.000-04:00

Even though I was born and raised in the US, my 5+ years spent in Germany were enough to "European-ize" me. Sometimes I still have moments of "culture shock" in my own country. Yesterday I had two such moments.

The first moment was when I learned that in the US you apparently actually have to pay to recycle batteries and eco-friendly light bulbs. For years I couldn't find anywhere to take used batteries and I simply refuse to throw them in the trash. I don't care what anyone says about it being OK to throw away alkaline batteries - I won't do it. I'm thankful that battery recycling is even possible now, because for years I have been saving up my batteries hoping that I could one day find somewhere to recycle them. Thanks Batteries Plus for taking back old batteries - but it's not really cool to charge 99 cents per pound / $1 per light bulb for recycling. In Germany basically every grocery and drug store has a box at the front for recycling batteries - because it's the right thing to do - and it's free!

My second moment of culture shock came during the process of couch shopping. It was absolutely unbelievable to see how the (US) furniture industry has adapted to certain traits often scrutinized as "typical American". Individual seats on some couches could fit 3-4 of me. I felt like Alice in Wonderland - I often felt as though I had been shrunk down into a miniature me. Not only are many couches made for very large people, they also accommodate laziness with HUGE cup holders built into the couch. Seriously - a cup holder in a couch, it's not a car!! I personally think it's rather tacky. I might think it's OK if the couch were for a special movie theater room in the house, but I don't want that in my living room. I was going to say something about the electric recliners - but I actually kind of liked that (except I don't want wires running through the living room and I don't have floor sockets).

On a funny note, at one of the furniture stores I was helped by none other than Will Ferrell. Well not that Will Ferrell, but it was all I could do not to say something. I'm sure he appreciated that. As we were leaving there was a car with the license plate "MAKULAF" - I wonder if it was his...

Almond milk at Raleigh cafe

2011-08-13T05:31:00.000-04:00

Back in the spring I posted about making almond milk lattes at home since no major coffee shops or even local cafes seem to carry almond milk. At least in downtown Raleigh this problem now has a solution: Cafe Benelux at City Market. Yesterday I met a friend for coffee, ordered an iced chai latte, prepared to drink it with regular milk if I had to, and just as I finished paying and looked up at the shelf I saw it: Silk almond milk. I immediately asked that my drink be made with it instead. Back in April I visited Cafe Benelux for the first time with my best twin friends visiting from Berlin. At that time I asked whether they would consider carrying almond milk, but they weren't sure. I guess I'm not the only person who asked. I'm so glad there is a local business offering more than the large chains - in so many ways. At least now I know where to go in downtown Raleigh for cafe beverages made with almond milk. Thanks Cafe Benelux!

Some more yummy summer salads!

2011-07-22T16:42:00.003-04:00

Since it's been so hot, I've been making lots of yummy summer salads to keep cool. Some of the recipes are familiar, others made up, others borrowed from online sources.

Here's what I've been up to:

This picture features a medley four of my recent salads: tortellini salad, pesto roasted vegetable quinoa salad, green and bean potato salad and my tuna salad.

The tuna salad has appeared on here before - just click the link above. I found the recipe for a delicious, mayo-free green bean and potato salad on allrecipes.com and made it exactly according to the recipe.

The other two recipes are my own creations.

Tortellini Salad:

2 packages of tortellini - 4 cheese and spinach and 4 cheese
Olive oil
1 small head of broccoli - steam for 2 minutes until bright green
Chopped sun dried tomatoes
Sun dried tomato pesto
Red onion chopped
Grated carrots
Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
Julienned red pepper
Chopped spring onions
Fresh mozzarella, diced into 1 cm cubes
Grated Parmesan
Freshly ground salt and pepper
Fresh baby spinach leaves

Cook tortellini according to package instructions. Drain and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil. Steam broccoli for 2 minutes until bright green. Add to tortellini in large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well and serve over fresh baby spinach leaves (or fold in with the rest of the ingredients). Store in refrigerator and serve cool.

Pesto Roasted Veggie Quinoa Salad

Red and Regular Quinoa - For a larger salad use 2 cups of quinoa (1 c. red/1 c. regular), for a smaller salad, use only 1 cup of quinoa.
Squash, zucchini, cherry tomatoes (heirloom blend), mushrooms, red onion, carrots, garlic, yellow/orange/red bell pepper
Green pesto
Olive oil
Parsley
Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
Juice of 1 lime

Cook quinoa according to package instructions. Add all chopped veggies to a large bowl. Add a couple splashes of olive oil, stir in a generous amount of green pesto and broil on high for about 15 minutes. Add broiled veggies to the cooked quinoa. Add chopped parsley and olives and the juice of one lime. Store in refrigerator and serve cool.

This last salad is a Moroccan eggplant salad, which turned out to be incredibly delicious. I had so much eggplant in my produce box a couple of weeks ago that I simply had to find something to do with it. Most of the ingredients in this salad are local: squash from my parents' garden, local eggplant, local zucchini local heirloom cherry tomatoes, local red peppers (all from the Produce Box). I altered the recipe a bit to include a few more veggies and substituted sesame seeds for pine nuts since I didn't have any on hand. Original recipe courtesy of myrecipes.com, but I made my own adjustments.

1) Make marinade:

Marinade:
3/4 c. olive oil and red wine vinegar (total - half of each)
1 tablespoon of fresh ginger
1/2 tablespoon of minced garlic (fresh, pressed)
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cumin (I might have used a tad more)
1/4 tsp. ground pepper (I ground it fresh, so not sure how much I used)
Dash of cayenne pepper or freshly ground red chili flakes (I used ground red chili flakes)

Mix all together.

Ingredients for the eggplant salad:

2 large bell peppers (I used red and purple, but you can use red, orange and/or yellow as well) rinsed, seeded and chopped into chunks
1 zucchini and 1 squash, chopped into chunks
1 large eggplant, chopped into chunks (I used several eggplant varieties, Japanese, white and regular)
1/2 large sweet onion, chopped into chunks
1/2 purple onion, chopped into chunks

-----
Later: 1/2 c. toasted pine nuts (or substitute with a few dashes of sesame seeds if you don't have pine nuts)
1/4 c. chopped fresh mint leaves

Mix all the veggies together in a bowl and add the marinade. Coat veggies, spread onto baking sheet and broil on high for about 15 minutes.

When the veggies come out of the oven, allow to cool for a bit, then put back in the bowl. Add pine nuts and fresh mint leaves. Add a bit of red wine vinegar and freshly ground salad and pepper to taste, if desired (I didn't and it was fine). Store in refrigerator and serve cool. Can also be served warm if preferred.

This week's Produce Box, 21 July 2011

2011-07-22T16:18:00.000-04:00

This week's produce box was packed full of local goodness - peaches, tomatoes, corn, peppers, cabbage and 2 kinds of melons (sprite and Korean). For an extra $10 I got 4 extra quarts of peaches and have already shared some with my parents and plan to make some peach salsa and other goodies with the rest.

This week's Produce Box, 14 July 2011

2011-07-14T15:53:00.000-04:00

Sorry for skipping a couple of weeks - I actually did skip on getting a box 2 weeks ago and last week I just got a fruit box. This week's box was filled with all kinds of goodies and I already have lots of ideas of what to do with them. I have a picnic date Saturday night so I'm thinking I can put a lot of these items to good use! Potential menu items: corn salad, eggplant and bell pepper salad, a veggie pasta salad, peach (blueberry) pie... So many choices!

This week's produce box, 23 June 2011

2011-06-26T09:58:00.000-04:00

I ordered the organic box for this week which contained broccoli, leeks, green beans, 5 ears of corn, a honeydew melon and blueberries. Things have been so busy lately that I haven't had time to cook as much as I like. To help me clear out my fridge a bit, I invited my family over last night for dinner. On the menu: broccoli salad, cabbage salad, ratatouille with brown rice, corn on the cob and a blueberry, peach and cherry cobbler. To be hones, the cobbler would have been better as a crisp as the gluten-free version ended up being rather gooey and not terribly flavorful. It was edible though. I think I'll stick to crisps from now on. Everything else turned out quite nicely and I now have some leftovers and more space in my tiny Euro fridge.

This week's produce box, 16 June 2011

2011-06-16T17:16:00.000-04:00

Today I've laid out the contents of this week's produce box because everything was transferred into my cooler instead of leaving a box. 1 huge savoy cabbage, 6 ears of corn, 1 pt. of blueberries, precious baby eggplants, 3 cucumbers, a huge head of garlic, large cherry tomatoes. This week's newsletter had lots of good ideas for things to do with the cabbage. It's my birthday weekend (30!) and I probably won't get around to cooking much until next week. Good thing everything's so fresh that it will last!

This week's produce box, 9 June 2011

2011-06-09T14:01:00.001-04:00

This week's Produce Box: blueberries, 6 ears of white corn (hopefully super sweet), 3 zucchini (one is hiding behind the corn), 2 cucumbers, fingerling potatoes and amazingly sweet and delicious cherries. I'm tempted to make a blueberry/cherry cobbler, but on the other hand am certain that could easily just eat up all the cherries in one sitting. They are soooo good!

Blueberry Sunday

2011-06-06T08:36:00.001-04:00

An O'Neal bush at Creekside Farm
loaded with berries.

Just about 10 minutes from my house is a blueberry paradise - Creekside Farm is bursting with blueberry bliss from May through August - acres and acres of multiple varieties starting with the early sweet O'Neals to the amazing gumball sized, super sweet Powder Blue in late summer. I discovered the farm at the Clayton Farm and Community market last year, picked twice last summer and am absolutely hooked on these berries.

Washing the berries

Washed and ready to eat

Yesterday I drove over for my first pick of the season - O'Neals are in season right now - a sweet, average size berry that the farm owner says is a real challenge to grow because the bushes will die for no reason at all. More than other varieties, this bush is very sensitive to soil conditions, temperature, weather. Fortunately Creekside Farm seems to be doing it right as they have managed to keep several rows of the O'Neal variety alive - and they are loaded with sweet berries. I picked for about 45 minutes yesterday - naturally testing each bush before I picked - and got about 3.6 lbs of berries.

When I got home I washed and de-stemmed the berries and put them in the refrigerator to munch on at my convenience. Blueberries make for the perfect summer snack!

I had 1.5 pints of blueberries left from my Produce Box. They are good, but they can't beat the ones from Creekside Farm. I already had a plan in mind for my Produce Box blueberries - a delicious blueberry crisp! I got the recipe from Yankee Magazine (and halved it for 1.5 pints). The lemon juice and lemon zest along with the oats and cinnamon really give this crisp a great flavor. I used Bella Gluten-Free All-Purpose Mix instead of flour. Those sensitive to oats can substitute certified GF oats, but I just used regular ones. Needless to say, my Sunday started and ended with blueberries - delicious from start to finish!

**I should add that blueberry picking makes for a pretty good thigh workout - my thighs are so sore today from all the berry-picking squatting and knee-bending!**

Fresh out of the oven, blueberries still bubblin'.

A nice portion!

Bowl-cleanin' good!

Cool summer salads (vegan and gluten-free)

2011-06-05T18:22:00.002-04:00

Napa Cabbage Salad and Shoepeg Corn Salad - both vegan and gluten-free

I met up with friend Andrew for a potluck picnic on the lawn while we watched the Béla Fleck concert at the NC Museum of Art last night. My contributions to the potluck were two cool summer salads: Napa Cabbage Salad and Shoepeg Corn Salad - delicious separately, but somehow they complement each other so well that they are even better when eaten together.

I got the basic recipe for Napa Cabbage Salad online (http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/napa-cabbage-salad) - the Napa cabbage courtesy of the Produce Box - and embellished it with shredded yellow squash, shredded carrots and diced cucumber. I also added the juice of 1 lime to the sauce. Other than that I followed the directions. It was delicious!

The Shoepeg Corn Salad comes courtesy of my friend Brandi - who got it from her mother-in-law. This salad is to die for and I didn't change a thing about the recipe! The only thing I changed in the recipe was that I cut the sugar in half - the canned shoepeg corn already had sugar in it, so I figured it would be fine to cut back on the sugar for the sauce. I also highly suggest nibbling on it to check the taste before the recommended "overnight" period is up, because it is irresistible! I doubled the recipe.

2 cans of shoepeg corn
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion (I used sweet Vidalia onion)
3 stalks of celery (chopped)
2 oz. of pimento (drained)
Marninate overnight in:
1/4 cup vinegar (apple cider)
1/4 cup oil (I used canola)
1/2 cup sugar (I used half this amount)
1/2 teaspoon of salt (I used freshly ground sea salt)
1/4 teaspoon of pepper (I used freshly ground pepper)

This week's produce box, 2 June 2011

2011-06-02T18:12:00.000-04:00

This week's produce box contained Napa cabbage, tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, red potatoes and yellow squash. The cabbage is so big that it is almost covering up the squash and tomatoes, but I think they are visible enough. This weekend I'm going to an outdoor concert with friends and can't wait to make up some cold salads to take to our potluck picnic. Definitely will be making a Napa cabbage salad, a shoepeg corn salad and maybe a sweet potato/potato salad. Great weekend plans ahead (getting a head start tonight). Can't wait!

Chipotle-inspired rice salad (vegan, gluten-free)

2011-05-31T23:03:00.001-04:00

As I was driving back from my writing class tonight I had the urge to stop by Chipotle to grab a salad for dinner. I could almost taste their honey lime dressing in my mouth, but just as I envisioned my salad before me, my thoughts blurred and I missed the turn I would have had to make to head to the nearest Chipotle. Going back or trying to swing by the other location would have been out of my way and put me home later than I would have liked. Instead I decided to see what I had at home and whip up a quick dinner. As I drove home I could see the basic foundation of my salad coming together: brown rice, corn, black beans and chili powder. When I got home, it took less than 15 minutes to whip up what turned out to be an absolutely delicious meal. Thanks to Trader Joe's frozen brown rice, the rice was cooked in 3 minutes. To the rice I added half a can of corn and half a can of black beans. For fresh veggie crispness I chopped up some of the cabbage I had from my produce box, a spring onion, a third of a cucumber and a handful of grape tomatoes. I added half a chopped avocado and stirred everything together. To recreate the honey lime dressing, I squeezed the juice from one lime, added a spoonful of honey and a slosh of canola oil, whisked everything together and stirred it into the salad. For seasonings I used a couple dashes of organic chili powder, ground sea salt and Penzey's Mural of Flavor spice blend. I stirred everything together and had a delicious, filling meal in under 15 minutes.

The delicious and colorful result! Sooo yummy!

Squash-filled cabbage rolls (vegan and gluten-free)

2011-05-29T19:06:00.001-04:00

So I came up with something yummy to make out of some of the items in this week's Produce Box: cabbage rolls stuffed with a medley of squash, tomatoes, onions, garlic, red bell pepper, grape tomatoes, shiitake and brown button mushrooms and spiced with German herbal salt and Penzey's Mural of Flavor salt-free spice blend.

I took leaves from the pointed cabbage and steamed them to soften them up. In the meantime I worked on the filling and the sauce.

For the filling: Chop half of one large sweet onion and 1 scallion. Add approx. 1 Tbs. of olive oil to pan, add onion/scallion and press 2 cloves of garlic. Chop several yellow squash and add to onions. Chop red bell pepper, grape tomatoes, shiitake and button mushrooms into small cubes and add to pan. Saute until squash softens. Flavor with herbal salt and Penzey's Mural of Flavor spice blend or other preferred spices.

Filling

Spices

Filling up close

The sauce

For the sauce I put a little bit of olive oil in a saucepan, added 3 diced tomatoes, half a chopped sweet onion, 1 pressed clove of garlic, some herbal salt and ground in some of the "Pizza and Pasta" spice from Aldi. I let the sauce simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the tomatoes were no longer solid and the onions were soft.

To make the rolls, I put a couple spoonfuls of the filling onto the cabbage leaf and then rolled it up. Once all the rolls were made I covered them in the homemade tomato sauce, then baked at 350 F (175 C) for about 15 minutes. Before serving, drizzle with crema di balsamico for a nice presentation. The entire recipe including preparation took about 40 minutes.

Making the rolls:

Produce Box: 26 May 2011

2011-05-26T12:51:00.000-04:00

This week's Produce Box came this morning with lots of yummy goodies to enjoy over the next few days:

- Tomatoes
- Yellow squash
- A cucumber
- Blueberries
- Pointed cabbage (Spitzkohl)
- Sweet potatoes
- Spring onions

I already have some ideas of what to do with this week's bounty. Maybe some squash fritters and gluten-free blueberry cobbler! We'll see :-)

Positivity

2011-05-25T10:23:00.002-04:00

I want to get out of this rut I'm in of seeing the glass half empty,

I want to toss out this attitude and replace it with positivity.

Time to stop blaming INTJ and Wednesday's child for my state of mind.

Personality only goes so far,

happiness and satisfaction certainly can't be that hard to find.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's to trying to focus more on the positive from now on. They say positive thinking is a powerful thing; let's see if I can manage to get it to work for me.

Der Lenz ist da! (Spring is here!)

2011-05-14T21:02:00.000-04:00

In case you haven't noticed, spring is here! A German song from the 1920s made famous by the Berlin sextet the Comedian Harmonists playfully associates the coming of spring with the growth of asparagus - though it seems this was actually metaphor implying something entirely different! Nevertheless, in Germany this time of year is synonymous with "Spargelzeit" - the short season between May and June when white asparagus is harvested in the various growing regions across the country - including Baden and Lake Constance/Bodensee in Baden Württemberg and Beelitz not too far from Berlin. In the United States we are much more familiar with green asparagus, yet white and green asparagus are actually the same species. The difference in color and taste simply comes from an entirely different way of growing this gourmet vegetable. In order to prevent photosynthesis, which causes the vegetable to turn green, white asparagus is grown under mounds of sandy dirt. The shoots are then harvested individually by hand using a special asparagus picking knife and a trowel.

I had my first taste of white asparagus as an exchange student my senior year of high school. Before that I had only ever had green asparagus and didn't know that any other kind existed. I was a bit skeptical of the white vegetable and couldn't understand why asparagus had to be peeled. Unlike green asparagus, white asparagus has a much thicker skin and must be peeled before cooking in order to be tender. Once I tried it, I was hooked. After that, I always made a point to have asparagus whenever it was available. When I worked at Siemens in Berlin the company cafeteria served local Beelitzer white asparagus almost every day during "Spargelzeit" - traditionally with potatoes, ham (optional) and hollandaise sauce. Since I am not a big fan of the peeling aspect of preparation, I used to eat it almost every day that it was available.

Now that I live back in the United States, it can be much harder to find white asparagus, much less a restaurant that will serve it. However, the German American Chamber of Commerce usually sponsors dinners in the chapter cities, but this would mean traveling to Charlotte or Atlanta.

How excited I was when I saw that a local restaurant here in Raleigh - Capital Club 16 - would be serving a "Spargelzeit" dinner paired with delicious Austrian wines. I simply had to go! The dinner was held this past Thursday and I invited my dear German friend Mea (81 years young!) to come along with me. The chef had spent time training in Germany and was excited to bring the Spargel tradition to Raleigh. He found a farm in Ohio that grows asparagus in the traditional German style - complementing the white asparagus with locally grown North Carolina green and purple asparagus. Mea and I had a wonderful time treating our palates to delightful dishes featuring the ultimate vegetable of spring, perfectly paired with superb Austrian wines. Even though I had lived in Vienna for a summer in 2004 and certainly tried a good bit of Austrian wine, I really was not familiar with it beyond that. It was wonderful to become reacquainted with wines that pair so marvelously with foods - in a dinner in which this was precisely the intention! The wines are available locally through Seaboard Wine or through importer Klaus Wittauer, who was at the dinner to explain each of the wines with ardent enthusiasm. Mea and I had a wonderful evening this past Thursday! I'm already looking forward to the next wine and German-themed dinner - hopefully soon!

Thursday's menu (copied from the e-mail sent out by Capital Club 16)

Reception:
White Asparagus "Reiberdatschi"
Bavarian Style white asparagus and potato pancake with goat cheese and chervil

Lump Crab Cake Bites with slivered pickled asparagus and Gruner tartar sauce

Tegernseerhof Grüner Veltliner

First Course:"Spargelcremesuppe"Traditional cream of white asparagus soup with nutmeg, spring chives and Morel mushroom saute

Steininger Loisium Grüner Veltliner

Second Course:
Marinated White Asparagus Salad Basted quail egg, planed reggiano, grape tomatoes, frisee and tarragon vinaigrette

Anton Bauer Rosenberg Grüner Veltliner

Third Course:
"Spargelessen auf Lazarus-Stube art"
*This is the preparation found in most taverns, beer gardens and homes during the harvest season.

Simmered white asparagus, NC Country Ham, dill new potatoes, blood orange hollandaise
(Veggie option: Simmered white asparagus, spring vegetable florentine, dill new potatoes, blood orange hollandaise)

Steininger Grand Grüner Veltliner

Dessert Course:
White Asparagus and Rhubarb Crisp with oatmeal crust and white asparagus lemon cream

Anton Bauer Frizzante Grüner Veltliner

An awkward encounter

2011-05-11T09:44:00.000-04:00

Before having my gallbladder removed in March, I had been going rock climbing with my friend Andrew almost every Tuesday since last November. It had been nearly three months since my last climb. Since next week I start taking a writing class on Tuesday nights, I decided to go climbing again with Andrew last night. It had also been nearly three months since I had last seen the guy (J.) I had been dating in December/January. Rock climbing had actually been one of the things we used to do together. When he found out that I went regularly, he wanted to join me. I wouldn't say that things between us ended on bad terms - he had even wanted to try to stay friends, but I really wasn't ready for that when he suggested it. Nevertheless, I certainly thought it would be possible to be amicable to one another should we ever run into each other again. Apparently he saw that differently - or maybe it was yet another misunderstanding. At any rate, J. happened to be at rock climbing last night with one of his friends who also used to go when we went together. In the nearly 2 hours that we were there - at times standing just a couple feet away from each other - he not once said anything to me or even acknowledged my existence. Maybe the situation was too awkward - after all, I never attempted to say anything to him either. But then again, I really didn't think it was my place to be the one to speak first. I somehow thought he would have the decency and common courtesy to at least say, "Hello, hope you're well." I guess not.

Weekend highlights

2011-05-08T22:58:00.001-04:00

First of all, Happy Mother's Day to all those who have the privilege to be mothers - either to actual human children or animals of any species. My mother was out of town this weekend so I'll be taking her out for lunch tomorrow to make up for it.

Gilded cranes

The weekend turned out to be better than I ever could have imagined. As a result, I'm quite tired so I might just have to mention a few highlights and come back and elaborate later on. First Friday was fantastic - beautiful gilded cranesat Flanders, first visit to the brand new Contemporary Art Museum, art auction at Centerline (the highlight there was actually the company's office itself), PBR-themed art at Design Box, student textiles at the Fish Market... but my personal favorite was the work by Rob Logic on display at Morning Times.

Gilded cranes with "Gaga" glitter glam

Saturday was beautiful - long walk with the dogs in the morning, resting then a crazy 3 mile Kangoo Jump run (my muscles are crying out in agony today), out to dinner (Ethiopian) and an album release concert (Birds and Arrows) with my new friend Cheryl.

Today I've mostly been working all day, but still managed to get in a little walk - even if it was very slowly since every muscle - even muscles I didn't know existed - aches from my Kangoo Jump escapade yesterday.


One of the many beautiful works by Rob Logic on display at Morning Times.

Although I was heading into the weekend feeling a bit down about some things, I managed to bounce back see things from a new perspective - great art, music and company have a way of inspiring a change in attitude.

I'll have to go into more later - for now I need to hit the sheets (except that I still have to put sheets on the bed before I can go to bed, I hate when that happens!)

Almond milk latte

2011-05-07T12:00:00.000-04:00

I'm admittedly not much of a coffee drinker, particularly because I try to avoid caffeine. However, from time to time I really enjoy a good latté, as long as it's made with almond milk. The problem is that most coffee shops - including the major chains like Starbucks - have failed to accommodate the needs of non-dairy, non-soy consuming customers - i.e. people like me. I would love to order a latté in a café, but until such places "wake up and smell the coffee" and realize that there is untapped potential to sell to this target group, my coffee beverages of choice will be consumed in the comfort of my home café.
I make my decaf almond milk lattés usually using a flavored decaf coffee and unsweetened Almond Breeze almond milk. Powdered stevia is my sweetener of choice (also yet to be offered in most coffee shops). I use the eco-pods in my Senseo machine, which is a nice alternative to an actual espresso machine.

Almond milk froths up thick and foamy - you can't even
tell it's not real milk!