"Tag You're It!" - Blogging Game

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Just in time for school - it's like an old fashioned school yard "tag" game with a modern twist - It's a "Tag you're It" blogging game.  Heather from "A Mom, A Kid and Art" (please checkout her blog it's totally cool) tagged me and now "I'm It!"  (actually this was a very delayed reaction on my part - it took me over a week - sorry).  Here's  how it works:
Once you're tagged, you must follow the rules:
1.  You must post the rules
2.  Answer the questions the tagger set for you
3.  Create 8 new questions for the people you will tag
4.  Tag 8 bloggers with a link to your post
5.  Let them know they've been tagged


Here are the questions that Heather gave me and my answers:

1. If you could visit anywhere in the world, regardless of cost, where would it be and why?  Vienna, Austria to visit the place where my mom once lived. 
2. If you could eat only one kind of food for a month what would it be?   Dark chocolate
3. What did you want to be when you were a little kid and why?  An artist because I loved (and still love) everything about being visually creative. 
4. What's a bad habit you should give up?   Letting the pots & pans air dry instead of drying and immediately putting them away.
5. Is there a celebrity or famous person that you are really sick of hearing about and who is it?  President Obama (I'm just being honest)
6. What's your favorite author or book? Bible
7. What's the worst piece of advice you've been given and followed? "Wheat Grass Juice tastes good - try it!"
8. What is a funny or weird fact about yourself that no many people know?  I had many episodes of "sleep paralysis" well into my 20's. 

OK - here are the 8 bloggers that I have tagged and below this list are their questions:
HoliMessThe Dorothy DaysA Humble BumbleSaved SisterOur Everyday HarvestEtcetorizeCountry Momma CooksChristy Cottage
The Questions for the 8 lovely Bloggers That I Tagged:1.  What is your earliest childhood memory?2.  What language do you think this word is: "Ausgezeichnet"?3.  Bungee Jumping, Hot air balloon or neither?4.  What TV show is this quote from: "Hi,  my name is Larry, this is my brother Darryl and this is my other brother Darryl"5.  What is your favorite decade?6.  Have you ever had a recurring dream or nightmare?7.  What is the messiest room in your house?8.  When you think about or look at the color "green" - name the first thing that comes into your mind________.

Frank's Flowers - The "Rolly" Rose

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Frank's Flowers - The Eiffel Tower Rose A few months ago I showed you how to Prune & Trim Roses and in that post I promised that I would show you how to start a rose bush from cut roses.......well, I just ran out of time this year. I do apologize - but this will be one of the first posts in the spring next year. However, this year I will still feature a few of my father's roses. Today's Flower Feature is The Rolly Rose.
My grandparents lived beside a man named "Rolly" - he used to walk around his backyard on his hands.  He was amazing!- he never faltered and would walk the perimeter of his property.  As a child I could watch him for hours - I thought that my grandparents lived next to a carnival man (no offense against "carnival people").  This rose was from his property:  Rolly gave my dad a cutting from his rose bush and my dad grew these rosebushes from that cutting (I will share that technique with you in the spring of 2013).  That is why we call this rose the "Rolly Rose."  This rose has the most sweet scent of all of my dad's roses - it is as sweet as candy.  This was the most difficult rose to photograph because it is all the same color - there is no white edge or color variation of any kind.  I noticed that the first and last picture that I included in this post show a little red & pink tints but that's not accurate- it is solid orange (it also didn't help that my parents have an orange brick house - as you can see in the second picture below). 
I have just sent you a digital dozen of the "Rolly Rose" - please ENJOY these digital versions of this fantastic flower!
   

  Other Roses on this blog:The Eiffel Tower RoseThe Black Cherry Rose
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Frank's Flowers - The "Black Cherry" Rose

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Frank's Flowers - The Eiffel Tower Rose A few months ago I showed you how to Prune & Trim Roses and in that post I promised that I would show you how to start a rose bush from cut roses but I ran out of time and this will be one of the first posts in the spring next year. However, this year I will still feature a few of my father's roses. Today's Flower Feature is The Black Cherry Rose.This stunning rose is a family heirloom.  My dad started this rose bush from a cutting that was taken from one of my "Oma's" (grandmother in German) rose bushes. The "Black Cherry Rose" has a color variance that looks exactly like a black cherry - in certain lights it looks deep burgundy red but with that "Bing" cherry glow, at times it can even look almost black (see the last picture below).  However, the scent of this rose is almost nonexistent - It's beauty makes up for the lack of scent. 
Please ENJOY this digital half dozen of "Black Cherry Roses" !

Photo by Angie Ouellette-Tower

 

Photo by Angie Ouellette-Tower

 

Photo by Angie Ouellette-Tower

 

Photo by Angie Ouellette-Tower

 

Photo by Angie Ouellette-Tower

 

Photo by Angie Ouellette-Tower

 Other Roses on this blog:The Rolly RoseThe Eiffel Tower Rose  Copyright, Permissions & Disclaimer  Linked to:Photo Friday
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"Naked Bakers" - IT'S NOT WHAT YOU'RE THINKING!

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 "Naked Bakers" - It's NOT What You're Thinking Don't worry - this is a family friendly blog and rest assured I was fully clad while baking these potatoes.  Recently I have seen & heard of dietary studies showing that potato skins are actually toxic.  Not only are most of the pesticides stored in the skins (that is if you are not using organic potatoes) but the skins also contain toxins like "glycoalkaloids."  There are 2 "glycoalkaloids" that are most prevalent in the skins - they are "alpha-solanine" and "alpha-chocanine."  I was always raised with the philosophy that the skins are the most nutritious part of the potato - I'm still not sure which side I believe - the verdict is still out.

In the mean time my husband came up with this brilliant idea - he calls them "NAKED BAKERS" - He's really been the genius this year with the idea of planting potatoes in a compost pile (see link below) and now these! 
Simply peel and wash the potato - place in a preheated 375 degree or 400 degree oven and bake until done.  They will look like the picture below when they are done baking - they do have a crispiness on the outside even without the skin - Now I actually prefer the "naked bakers" to regular baked potatoes.
ENJOY!!

Other Potato Ideas on this blog:
Preparing Seed Potatoes for Planting
Planting Potatoes in a Compost Pile
Harvesting Potatoes
Leek & Potato Soup
Baked Potato Dinner
Kale & Bacon Potato Patties
Ham, Asparagus & Potato Pancake stacker

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Smoothie Saturday #3 - Cinnamon Apple Cider

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 Smoothie Saturday #3 - Cinnamon Apple Cider A while ago I bought - The "NutriBullet".  Since then I have been creating many smoothie creations. Today is the third "Smoothie Saturday" where I will share one of my smoothie experimentation. In this recipe I included cinnamon. Cinnamon - is good for your blood sugar, aids in lowering cholesterol, helps relieve indigestion and colds.  (again - I'm not a doctor - please see my "disclaimer" at the bottom of this post). I used unpasteurized Apple Cider in the feature Smoothie recipe below - I know that there is a controversy over unpasteurized Cider but in my opinion the pasteurized kind tastes no different than apple juice.  I trust the farm where I buy my cider - they are very clean.  However, please use your own discretion with this ingredient (cider).  Printable Recipe 1/2 apple (washed & cored - I leave the skin on)1 small pear (washed, cored & peeled)1/2 banana (peeled)1 tablespoon walnuts1 teaspoon flax seeds1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder1/2 cup apple cider1/4 cup water1/4 teaspoon cinnamon Begin with the smaller "NutriBullet" container and use the "nut & seed" blade to blend & chop the walnuts & flax seeds. Now place the remaining ingredients (including the processed seeds & nuts from the first step) into the larger "NutriBullet" container and use the "smoothie" blade. Blend for about 30 seconds.  ENJOY!! IMPORTANT: All of my smoothie recipes on this blog are measured for the "NutriBullet" and are a single serving - if you have a different kind of blender that has a larger capacity then you may increase the amount of ingredients according to your desired smoothie needs. The ingredients in this recipe measure exactly up to the max line of the NutriBullet. 

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Other Beverages on this blog:
Homemade Grape JuiceChai Tea from scratchHoliday PunchBlueberry LemonadeBerry Almond Cacao SmoothieBlackberry Apricot with Green Tea Smoothie
  

Southern Sweet Tea

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Sweet Southern Tea. There's nothing you can buy in a bottle that is quite as good as fresh brewed. However, Milo's is pretty hard to beat! Blair and I fix up a pitcher of tea for different reasons. She likes to drink tea and I'll have to admit mine revolves around a little "adults only" river recipe concoction I put together a few summers ago. (I'll be posting that next!)


I like my tea to have a nice kiss of sweetness, but I don't want it almost like syrup. Here's our favorite blend.
INGREDIENTS:

• 3 Luzianne family size tea bags
•  1-1/4 cups sugar
• Enough water to fill pitcher

DIRECTIONS:
Place three tea bags in hot water in a small saucepan.

Place a WOODEN spoon on top. (As long as the spoon is on top, the pan will not boil over. Don't use a metal spoon as it will get too hot!) Let the water come to a full boil. Set off heat and let the tea steep for 5 minutes.

Place sugar in bottom of pitcher. Squeeze out tea from tea bags. Pour hot tea over sugar. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Fill the pitcher up the rest of the way with cold water. Place in refrigerator and let it chill. Serve with lemon slices and lots of ice.

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Denise's Tipsy Tea aka Elk River Tea

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One of my favorite drinks to imbibe in periodically is a Long Island Tea. Problem is, when you want to whip them up for a crowd, it gets quite expensive! One evening we were packing for the river. It was going to be a hot, humid weekend and I got the brilliant idea to create my own version of a "tipsy tea," which I have officially named Elk River Tea. 

I packed a gallon of Milo's tea, some lemons and planned on creating my own concoction with some smooooth Canadian Hunter Whiskey. Of course you can fix your own sweet tea at home and make it a really inexpensive party drink.

INGREDIENTS:

• Southern Sweet Tea (Milo's or homemade only!)
• 1 oz. Canadian Hunter Whiskey
• Lemon Slices
• Lots of ice

Fill your glass with lots of ice and sweet tea. Add 1 oz. or more of Canadian Hunter Whiskey. Squeeze some lemon juice in the glass, stir and top with another lemon slice.

If  you really want to treat your guests to a really cool treat....click here for my Tipsy Pops!!

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Denise's Tipsy Pops

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My co-worker Lisa, brought in a Southern Living magazine one day that included "Cocktail on a Stick" recipes. I don't know why she thought of me, but I agreed they would be a perfect test recipe in the Grisham kitchen. As hot as it's been all summer, anything icy and cold is a welcome treat! After looking over all the recipes listed, none of them excited me. I don't drink mint juleps and the other options would require me to buy a bunch of stuff for drinks I normally wouldn't even fix.

So...being the frugal chef I am, I stuck with what I know best. I made pops with Elk River Tea, Whipped Cream Vodka Creamsicle and Strawberry 'Nise.


INGREDIENTS:

• Small plastic cups
• Popsicle sticks (from craft department)
• And one of the following adult beverages
  

Creamsicle

• 2 oz Whipped Cream Vodka
• 4 oz Diet Orange Crush

Strawberry 'Nise

• 2 ozs. Burnett's Coconut Vodka 
• 6 oz. Orange Fused Strawberry Sunny-D  

Elk River Tea

• Southern Sweet Tea (Milo's or homemade only!)
• 1 oz. Canadian Hunter Whiskey
• Lemon juice 

Mix your favorite poison and pour into a plastic cup. Word to the wise: If your concoction includes a carbonated drink, give it plenty of room to grow or you will be wiping up a slushy mess!! Carefully cover the top with aluminum foil. Make a very small slit in the foil so you can work a popsicle stick in. Set on a tray and let freeze overnight.

To remove from the cup, carefully roll the cup in your hands and eject the pop out. 

*These treats are for adults only!! 

 

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Kahvliahvi Kokakool aka Kitchen Monkey's Cookery School

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Here's a children's poem in Estonian, written by Heljo Mänd in 1960s, describing small elephant's Bumbu's birthday party in the jungle, where monkeys were eating wafers ("vahvel" in Estonian) and the crocodiles were eating forks ("kahvel" in Estonian). If you combine the monkeys and the forks of this poem, you'll get kahvliahvid aka kitchen/fork monkeys.

Tingel-tangel-tungel,
kära täis on džungel.
Sünnipäev on Bumbul,
elevandijumbul.

Tangel-tungel-tingel,
pidulaual kringel.
Ahvid pistsid vahvleid,
krokodillid kahvleid.

Tungel-tingel-tangel,
limonaad on kange,
jookseb mööda lonti
justkui sada tonti.
 


Couple of weeks ago I got a phone call from a well-known journalist and party organiser, asking to give a cookery demo to a group of kids and their parents at a small music festival in a small Estonian town of Kilingi-Nõmme.  The workshop, called Kahviahvi Kokakool ("Fork Monkey's Cooking School", or probably better translated as "Kitchen Monkeys"), was to have four cookery sessions/demonstrations, and I was asked to give one of them. I agreed - it was a chance to get out of town and listen to some nice music in fresh air before and after the cooking demo. We were discussing the possible menu options, taking into consideration what the other sessions were focusing on, and finally agreed I'd teach the kids and their parents (26 in total) how to make cold soups. Not your usual gazpacho, mind you, but a kefir and a buttermilk soup, respectively - one savoury, one sweet.

It's summer, after all! As it turned out to be a really hot on Saturday (the music festival and the culinary workshops took place on Saturday, July 7th), cold soups seemed to have been a wise choice indeed :)


My cold summer soup workshop was at 5.30 pm, third one of the afternoon:


I tied the apron strings and was ready to begin. Note the sweet monkey-fork/fork-monkey design:


The kids were all anxiously waiting and ready to start chopping:


We began with the savoury kefir soup. Basically we made this chlodnik, but adding beets/beetroots and grated horseradish was optional, and everybody added some cooked mortadella-style sausages as well, to make the soup a bit more substantial. I must admit that about 3/4th of the kids asked for both the beets and the horseradish, which made me very happy indeed :)

Small (and some slightly bigger) kitchen monkeys in action. Note the high concentration of fathers - at least four - who were accompaning their children:




My role was to make sure everyone has understood the instructions and are progressing nicely:


Cutting the sausages into small dice for the soup requires some serious focusing and concentration:
 

Me, making sure that everyone got some vitamin-rich green onions:

Here's a close-up of the cold kefir soup with scallions/green onions, finely chopped sausages, beets and cucumbers (you can only guess there's beetroot at present at this point, as the stirring of the soup was a serious and time-consuming job as well):


Once everyone had finished making and eating their cold kefir soup, it was time to start making the dessert. I had chosen the wonderfully summery Danish buttermilk and strawberry soup koldskål - you'll find the recipe here on Nami-Nami. We did use kama cereal balls instead of crushed biscuits/cookies, however.

The main component - local Estonian strawberries, which are at their peak just now:


Mint, destined as garnish of the cold buttermilk-strawberry soup (lemon balm works just as well)

 Choosing the prettiest strawberries for the buttermilk-strawberry soup:



Here's our daughter (3 y 5 m) enjoying the buttermilk-strawberry soup she made all by herself:



Thank you, Merle Liivak, Kahvliahvi Kokakool & Schilling, for inviting me! I had a lovely day indeed :)

All photos by my food-blogging friend Liina Vahter .

Braised Chinese leaves (Peking cabbage) in chicken stock

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What do you usually do with a Peking cabbage/Chinese leaves/Chinese celery cabbage/Napa cabbage (Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis)?

In Estonia you'll most likely to encounter it chopped into small dice or thin ribbons and mixed with chopped peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, perhaps some feta cheese, and served as a side salad. Not particularly interesting, but cheap and filling.

I hosted/instructed couple of Chinese cookery events earlier this year, and while preparing for the events, I spent hours browsing my favourite Chinese cookbooks, looking for recipes and inspiration. Fuchsia Dunlop and Ken Hom are my favourites for inspiration (currently in love with Dunlop's most recent book, Every Grain of Rice,  the US version is due in February), but Yan-kit So's Classic Chinese Cookbook, as well as Sasha Gong & Scott Seligman's The Cultural Revolution Cookbook provided a number of excellent dishes for the final menu.

One of the dishes that I included in the final menu, was this humble braised Chinese cabbage, served hot. This particular recipe is from Ken Hom's wonderfully approachable tome, Complete Chinese Cookbook (hardcover, published in August 2011), with tiniest of modifications (you'll find the original recipe for Braised Beijing (Peking) Cabbage in Cream Sauce on p 264); there are rather similar recipes for braised Chinese leaves in Sasha Gong's book (p 21), and in Yan-kit's book (p 205)).



I was rather sceptical to start with - I had never had these leaves in a hot dish before (and don't care much for the raw version myself). However, this dish was a true revelation - the leaves become almost silky after braising, and the final dish was much bigger that the sum of its parts. As we were enjoying our meal at the end of the 2-hour cooking marathon, most of the participants were expressing their surprise regarding how much they enjoyed this dish, having not had very high expectations about cooking and eating a hot dish using Chinese leaves (and that happened three times, actually, as I hosted three Chinese cooking sessions, all sold out, and all having 15 participants).

Note the dish is gluten-free, and also vegetarian, if you use plain water instead of Chinese chicken stock. Not as flavoursome, but still tasty. 

NB! There are few more Chinese recipes here on Nami-Nami.

Braised Peking cabbage in chicken stock
(Hautatud Hiina kapsas leeme sees)
Serves four to six



500 g Chinese leaves
1 Tbsp groundnut oil
3 large garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
300 ml chicken stock (ideally Chinese-style chicken stock)* or water
1 tsp salt
0.5 tsp ground white pepper

To thicken:
2 tsp cornflour + 2 Tbsp water (optional)

Cut the Chinese leaves into 5 cm (2 inch) wide strips.
Heat the wok. Add oil and heat until hot and slightly smokey. Add the garlic, stir-fry for 15 seconds.
Add the cabbage leaves, stir-fry for 2 minutes.
Add the stock or water to the wok, season with salt and pepper. 
Reduce heat, cover the pan and simmer on a low heat for 15 minutes, until the cabbage leaves are softened.
Using a slotted spoon, remove the cabbage leaves from the pan and place into a serving dish.
Reduce the remaining liquid by half. Add the cornflour water, heat through to thicken*.
Pour the thickened stock over the cabbage leaves and serve at once.

* To be really honest, I've usually skipped the final thickening phase with cornflour and simply reduced the liquid.

Thank you, Marju, for helping me style this simple dish for the photo shoot.

Frank's Flowers - The "Rolly" Rose

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Frank's Flowers - The Eiffel Tower Rose A few months ago I showed you how to Prune & Trim Roses and in that post I promised that I would show you how to start a rose bush from cut roses.......well, I just ran out of time this year. I do apologize - but this will be one of the first posts in the spring next year. However, this year I will still feature a few of my father's roses. Today's Flower Feature is The Rolly Rose.
My grandparents lived beside a man named "Rolly" - he used to walk around his backyard on his hands.  He was amazing!- he never faltered and would walk the perimeter of his property.  As a child I could watch him for hours - I thought that my grandparents lived next to a carnival man (no offense against "carnival people").  This rose was from his property:  Rolly gave my dad a cutting from his rose bush and my dad grew these rosebushes from that cutting (I will share that technique with you in the spring of 2013).  That is why we call this rose the "Rolly Rose."  This rose has the most sweet scent of all of my dad's roses - it is as sweet as candy.  This was the most difficult rose to photograph because it is all the same color - there is no white edge or color variation of any kind.  I noticed that the first and last picture that I included in this post show a little red & pink tints but that's not accurate- it is solid orange (it also didn't help that my parents have an orange brick house - as you can see in the second picture below). 
I have just sent you a digital dozen of the "Rolly Rose" - please ENJOY these digital versions of this fantastic flower!
   

  Other Roses on this blog:The Eiffel Tower RoseThe Black Cherry Rose
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Linked to:
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