800 Bus Loads of Danes

My first response to a spontaneous invitation to a football match was an usually quick and firm “no”. I haven’t watched much football since my teens and it’s the last social event on my mind as a worthy time off activity from the baby. But last weekend, I found myself sitting amongst 51 thousand others, eyes on a single ball for a good 90 minutes. Being somewhat discontented with the variety of life experiences I’ve had, I resolved to tweak my current selection of social events. This is certainly a good beginning. I thought I was there only to observe the progress of a sport. But my corrupted eyes spotted the social snippets and gathered enough to write a whole blog entry.

American ear infections

Our little family had been turned topsy turvy the past weeks because a little ear was infected. Leanne was prescribed a round of antibiotics but the condition was back a week later. Concerned with the overuse of antibiotics, the doctor and I concurred we would try our luck this time round with ear drops, antibiotical no less, anyway. During the doctor visit, I mentioned that I’ve already been trying to get her off the bottle because I read on various websites that when a child lies down supine to drink, liquid tends to accumulate in the tube within the ears and become susceptible to bacterial growth. She was smiling as I spoke and when I was done, she tried diplomatically to reassure me that we need not change anything.

Gypsies are humans too…

Gypsies have a pretty nasty reputation, at least here where I am. I have not heard anyone speak kindly of them before. My sole ‘interaction’ with a gypsy thus far is with a teenage girl who cleaned my windscreen during a traffic light stop despite my protest. I naturally see them too as eccentric beggars who need not exist. Until I met a group of gypsy kids who showed me a different side of them.

Une Grande Madame – A three-tiered 70th birthday fondant cake

If you still have breath to blow out seven big candles on your birthday cake, you certainly deserve no less pomp than this cake. My mother-in-law celebrated her 70th birthday with us last week. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to prepare something grand, something that would touch her and make her smile in the midst of tears. Recently, the husband retold something wise his mother told him once: there are two things nobody can ever take away from you – whatever you eat and see. I was glad to have provided the object for the two experiences to occur.

Toddler Recipe – Yummy Cheesy Tortilla

Potato and egg – two of Leanne’s all-time favourite foods. A dish containing either one ingredient is usually completely eaten up, plate even licked. So imagine the joy when the meal consists both items. A big fan of tortilla myself, I came up with the following recipe for my 18-month-old. Admittedly, it’s a little more tedious to make than spaghetti bolognese. That’s why I make enough at one go for a couple of meals. It’s an ideal dish for self-feeding as the tortilla can be cut into bite-sized pieces and served with cherry tomatoes and sliced cucumber. With the vegetable sides, it’s more than a perfect nutritional meal.

Recipe

Makes 2 15cm rounds

Ingredients

• 2 medium-sized potatoes
• 100g chicken breast fillet
• 1/4 onion, minced
• 50g (or more) grated Mozzarella cheese
• 2 large eggs
• Some salt*

Some oil

*Salt is of course optional but I believe the chicken fillet would taste rather nasty without. I always add a little to improve overall taste. That’s all the salt I use in the recipe anyway, by the way. Better to have a toddler eating some salt than rejecting food that’s simply too bland.

Method

1. Precook the ingredients. Peel potatoes and cut into very thin slices. Slice fillet likewise, into very thin pieces. Sprinkle a little salt on fillet. Boil potatoes and steam chicken. (My setup is simple. I use a small pot to boil the potatoes and top it with a bamboo steamer for the chicken.) Cook both items till they are tender.

2. Beat eggs in a bowl, add onion and cheese. Mix well.

3.  Heat frying pan. Add a teeny bit of oil. Pour a quarter of the egg mixture into pan. Let the egg solidify a little. Arrange half of the portion of potato and chicken slices on top. Pour another quarter egg mixture over. Press down on tortilla with a frying ladle to bind the ingredients together. Flip tortilla over once the bottom is browned. Brown the other side. Remove from pan and allow to cool. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Cut into bite-sized pieces and serve.

Hints

I used one of those special double-sided pancake pan to make the tortilla. Alternatively, you can try flipping the tortilla onto a plate and then sliding it back into the pan. That works equally well.

A Shabby Chic Kitchen

The days of oilcloth being considered tacky are officially over, now that the selection of patterns has increased to include the very trendy polka dots, vintage style roses and paisleys. Higher popularity means more choices and less spending – any bona fide housewife’s dream. Not only does it let you add personality to your kitchen easily, it is easy to clean up and provides a good work surface for baking. After deliberating for a good whole week, I finally made up my mind about having a pale and cool coloured tablecloth in the utility kitchen. Since the kitchen cabinets are grey, I went with pale mint for a complementary hue effect. Since the chairs are already a bright fire engine red, I didn’t feel like another huge glaring piece of surface. The husband was also very  taken with the colour choice.

2012′s first birthday cake

The year-end festive period is always rather draining on creative juices. This means at least one out of the three major events, Christmas, New Year’s eve and the husband’s birthday, is usually prepared last minute with spontaneous solutions. Since the spotlight landed on Christmas last year, I was left scrambling to prepare for the special (birth)day all during one last available morning. Thank God for the rather quick thinking of pouring the remaining chocolate cake mixture into two small round tins and baking them together with the Christmas cupcakes, the cake base was settled beforehand. A white chocolate ganache was easily whipped up and used to sandwich the two rounds together. Bam. Cake done! Now what? The tedious part of the cake making of course – decorating it!

A starry starry bake

I seem to have a knack for tedium; the recipes or craft projects I want to make require either many steps or more effort each step. The higher amount of satisfaction is a most probable reason for these choices although I almost always feel sorry at half point. And then I will simply do it again.

While browsing the latest issue of ‘Lust auf Genuss’, a photo of bright orange stars dusted with desiccated coconut wouldn’t leave my eye alone. I decided they have to appear on this year’s Christmas cookie table. Each year, my mother-in-law prepares a whole range of sweets for the Christmas period besauss we tend to stay home throughout and snack with only breaks made out of real meals. It’s high time I make a contribution too.

An Intricate Christmas Macaron

The last round of mad macaron baking was Christmas 2009. I stopped taking orders for macarons in May 2010, a month before giving birth. It wasn’t my intention to be baking macarons this Christmas for sale but when there’s a request, I couldn’t resist. It’s not about making the extra bucks; it’s about the subsequent flow of inspirations that really gets me high. And strangely, this flow seems to be particularly active in the moments leading up to sleep. I would literally be drifting off to lala land and then an idea would hit me. Does this happen to you too?

Pierre Hermé buttercream recipe revisited

Pierre Hermé is not fond of buttercream as a filling for macarons, he says in his book ‘Macaron’. Indeed, the only recipe in his book that uses buttercream is the rose macaron. Over the past years, I’ve been relying on a swiss meringue buttercream recipe from a fellow blogger. Out of sudden, I wondered why I don’t use PH’s recipe. I decided to whip up a batch to use for this year’s Christmas flavours.