España

Spain, another of the beautiful, romantic countries in Europe and of course, home of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Champions!  It wasn't too difficult to find that paella is one of the most well-known traditional Spanish dishes, and I can certainly see why!  There were a myriad of recipes available on the 'net, so I chose one with some traditional ingredients such as chorizo sausage.  It was a lot of fun preparing this dish, and amazingly simple.  Most of the work was in cutting up the meats and vegetables, and it was a real pleasure to cook everything in the one dish - paella pans are amazing!  Also, because the dish itself is so complete, there was no need to make any side dishes.  I must say, I loved this dish, so many flavours melded together into one of the best dishes I have ever tasted!  To accompany the meal (well, the meal prep, to be more specific), I made some Sangria.  Okay, I admit it, I am not exactly a Sangria fan - at least not of the specific recipe that I used (not that there is a lot of variation between Sangria recipes).  For the meal itself, I chose a Rioja, which is apparently a popular wine in Spain.  This particular Rioja was a product of Marques de Cacere, and was quite enjoyable, very smooth and flavourful.

For dessert, I made Churros (unfortunately they were a bit too chubby), and some rich, tasty hot chocolate.  It was a wonderful way to end the evening!  Actually, in Spain, it would be quite common to start the day with churros con chocolate - so very civilized, don't you think?!!
                                                
                              ¡Buen provecho

Česká republika

No tour of Europe would be complete without a visit to the Czech Republic....a country with a storied and painful history. I think this is a fitting country to visit this weekend, since we are in the midst of our first snowstorm. We went from dry grass to over 10 cm of snow in one day, and the wind is strong and chilling. The Czech Republic also has a cold climate, so there are some hearty warming foods to choose from. The only difficulty I had was in choosing between the many delicious-sounding dishes that I encountered in my recipe search.

Ultimately, I decided to start the meal off with some Houbova Polevka Myslivecka (Hunter's Mushroom Soup) - the kids hate mushroom soup, so this is just perfect! The main course is Svickova na Smetana (beef tenderloin in a cream sauce), accompanied by Knedlíky (Czech Dumplings), a totally heartwarming meal. Thankfully, my oven has been fixed!! The perfect accompaniment to this hearty meal is the delightful Czech pilsner I found at our local MLCC - I don't know much about Czech wines but I can say that the pilsner was, for me, more appropriate for this hearty meal.

To add to my culinary delight, I picked up a new set of pots today, and I am totally thrilled to be cooking with them.  For one thing, it is nice to have enough pots to make my meals without having to wash one mid-prep!  For another, it is a distinct pleasure to cook with a top quality pot, it actually does make a difference (or so it seems to me).  They are an absolute dream to cook with (there is another perfect example of how I really really need a life, lol)!

Okay, results time-the soup is fabulous, two bowls later I had to force myself to dig in to the rest of the meal.  I have never made a mushroom soup before, other than out of a can, so it was lots of fun and for me, the highlight of the meal!  My dumplings were quite the soggy mess, but actually quite tasty.  The Svickova was surprisingly  labour-intensive, but worth the effort.  I found the sauce a bit tart for my liking, but that is probably my own fault for not measuring things precisely.

Once again, there are loads of leftovers (at least when the kids are here, Jess helps make a dint in that)!  I now have 4 days' worth of Czech cuisine packed away in my freezer. to go with the 2 days worth of French cuisine already there.  I'm thinking I might need to clean out my freezer soon!


                                           Dobrou chuť

Le fiasco français!

Ah, France, home of my maternal grandfather's family!  I had been looking forward to this meal with great anticipation.  Jessica and I planned our menu earlier in the week, she was also looking forward to trying something different!  Our meal was to start with some Escargot and some Moules Marinières (mussels steamed in white wine), followed by Coq au Vin (Alsation style, in white wine) and Pomme de Terre Dauphinoise (scalloped potatoes).  For dessert, Crème Brulée...mmmm!

Unfortunately, my French meal will definitely NOT rank up there with the likes of Julia Child, or Julie Powell, for that matter!  We started first preparing the Crème Brulée, so that it could chill while we were preparing and eating the remaining dishes.  I turned the oven on to pre-heat, and we got started.  All went well with the food prep, and we also decided to make some meringue cookies (simply to avoid wasting the 6 egg whites that were left over from making the Brulée).  It seemed to be taking an unusually long time for the oven to preheat.....it just would not heat up past 200 F.  Well, considering everything but the mussels and chicken needed to cook in the oven, this did not bode well at all!  Turns out the lower element of the oven was not working, so we had to improvise (also known as Jessica making numerous trips over to use my sister's oven), which clearly impacted the timing and ultimate enjoyment of our meal.  Everything turned out well enough, and we were clearly able to triumph over a bit of adversity....but it certainly wasn't as satisfying an accomplishment as it could have been.  Sigh...

                      Bon appetit

Italia

So. first stop along this world tour of food is Italy - with my thanks to Elizabeth Gilbert and also Julia Roberts. Her sheer physical enjoyment of a plate of pasta is what inspired me to do this in the first place! Saturday afternoon after watching "Eat Pray Love", I grabbed my copy of Elisa Celli's "Italian Light Cooking" and started flipping through it, trying to find something simple enough to cook for just one person. The kids were at their dad's, so at least I was free to choose whatever appealed to me. A quick trip out to pick up some groceries and some wine (well, one of the recipes called for a dry white....), and then a few hours of sheer enjoyment, and a lovely meal as a reward!

I started with a Minestrone (okay, that one I cheated on, it was a Knorr package, but quite tasty, all the same). My appetizer was Gamberi con Aglio (shrimp with garlic sauce), light and absolutely delicious, followed by Spaghettini alla Chitarra Abruzzi (pasta with traditional Abruzzi tomato sauce). I found I totally enjoyed all the prep work, and I was almost transported by the lovely smell of the fresh parsley as I chopped it up. Then and there, I vowed to myself to always use fresh herbs when they are available, it adds soooo much aroma and flavour to the food. I added a loaf of Herb and Olive Bread that I picked up at the grocery store, which was the finishing touch to a delightful meal.  The meal (and the cooking process) were complemented by a Bolla Pinot Grigio, which added a lovely subtle flavour to the Gamberi con Aglio, and a Umani Ronchi Montepulciano D'Abruzzo, a light red which I lucked upon! I chose it because it was from the Abruzzo region, where the pasta recipe originated, and it turned out to be a lovely fit.

It was wonderful, and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole evening, especially the end result! It wasn't about the cooking, nor about the eating, but the whole combination - planning the menu, shopping for the necessary supplies, preparing the meal, and finally, sitting down to enjoy the fruits of my labour!

                                                               

                  Buon appetito

My Escape From Boredom (otherwise known as My MidLife Crisis)

So, lately I have been horribly bored, and I just have not been able to figure out what to do with myself. Ever since I quite smoking last February, I have felt a bit lost, and totally miserable about things. I have gained weight, no matter how much I have tried to diet and watch what I eat. I actually weigh more now than I ever did before in my life, even when pregnant. It almost seems like I have not let myself enjoy anything since I quit smoking, that I have been serving some type of enforced penance since I have to live without my old buddy, nicotine. Not at all logical, but there you have it!

Last month, I invested in a marvelous home gym, an Inspire MC3. It was a bit pricey, but well worth it. Jordan will be able to use it towards the physical activity portion of his online Phys. Ed. class, and I have started using it just to make myself feel better! But it is nowhere near enough.... Now that my children are teenagers, I find that I have to entertain myself more and them less. It was so gradual that I didn't realize it was happening, they grew up! Now, it occurs to me that they need me far less than they used to, and I am left to my own devices, left to find things to keep me from going crazy or slipping into a deep pool of depressing self-pity, left to find out what it is that I actually enjoy!

So, now that I spent the last several weeks reading "Eat, Pray, Love" and "Julie & Julia", and then this past weekend watching both of the movies, I decided it was time to find something to excite me. I've been a believer in "The Secret", ever since I first read the book, so it is clear that I need something positive to focus on, something interesting to keep my mind stimulated.

So here's my plan - I am going to cook my way around the world! Actually, this means that I would like to cook in nearly every country in the world, but reality dictates that I simply cook from their traditional fare in my own kitchen! I mean, if I am going to be fat, I might as well enjoy what I am eating!