Writer’s Block

April 25, 201417 Comments

Well, when we left for our spring break adventures, I certainly didn’t intend to take such a long hiatus from the blog. Little did I realize how busy we would get upon our return. I’ll be back in a few days to share our adventures, give a few updates and then we’ll launch into some cooking around the world again. For today, however, I figured I would provide a little flashback to our first year of blogging. You see, I was reminded by Charlie Louie at Hotly Spiced that today is ANZAC Day, a day of remembrance for Australian and New Zealand veterans. She shares a fabulous story of her grandfather in WWII, so in honor of him and all veterans, here’s our ANZAC post from three years ago. Cheers!

As promised, we have one more delicious recipe from New Zealand. I think that to-date this has been my favorite cooking destination on this adventure and I know that many of these recipes will become part of our regular rotation. Earlier this week, Mr. N and I baked up these little gems – ANZAC Biscuits.

They are a traditional treat from both Australia and New Zealand and were often sent to soldiers in the Great War; thus the name Australian and New Zealand Army Corp or ANZAC biscuits. The traditional recipe is easy to make and the biscuits last for weeks without perishing. Continue reading →

March Madness is upon us

March 24, 2013April 13, 201337 Comments

While the rest of the nation has been filling out their brackets with their favorite college basketball teams, we’ve been stuffing our brackets (and bellies) with French Toast. About this time last year, we announced our French Toast Challenge, and since then French Toasts from around the globe have been battling it out for French Toast supremacy. We made 13 in all, but only four can be selected for the big dance.

But before we get to the competitors, it wouldn’t be March Madness without some controversial snubs by the selection committee. Miss A and Mr. N did a fantastic job on the selections, but two French Toasts found themselves on the wrong side of the bubble despite having strong performances. Romanian French Toast, a savory style French Toast surprised everyone, but fell just short of making the cut. The most controversial decision, though, was the omission of Bananas Foster French Toast. A top pick in the preseason, they fell short as the committee decided that two banana recipes was too many. Fans of Bananas Foster complained of the committee’s hypocrisy and argued that if they were in the top four, they should have been given a bid. Mr. N and Miss A were having none of it, though.

But enough of the also-rans. Here are the brackets: Continue reading →

Diddle Diddle Dumpling

April 25, 2011April 13, 201323 Comments

Tonight we enjoyed a bonus meal from Miss A’s cooking destination, Russia. Typically we only spend two weeks on each country, but with the holiday and weekend travels we needed something that we could make up quickly. Actually this meal, the traditional Russian Pelmeni, is anything but a quick recipe. It’s a lengthy process that took all hands on deck. What made it work for us this weekend is that we actually prepared the Siberian dumplings last weekend, froze them and were able to quickly cook them up tonight.

The Russian pelmeni is a meat dumpling similar to potstickers or pierogies. According to RusCuisine.com, the dumplings, popular all over Russia, are believed to have originated in Siberia as many could be made at once and frozen for the long winters. The first step to making the pelmeni is to create the dough from flour, salt, sugar, egg and water. It’s a very tough dough to knead at first, but eventually becomes soft and resilient. Once we were satisfied with the consistency of the dough we chilled it in plastic wrap for 40 minutes before rolling it out on a floured surface. Continue reading →

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

April 22, 2011April 13, 201311 Comments

This past Sunday we all spent the afternoon in the kitchen busy with several different recipes. I wasn’t planning to make dinner rolls, but after I saw the “Bunny Backsides” on Frieda Loves Bread, I knew we had to give them a shot. The kids were definitely game, and having quite the giggles about getting to make (and then eat) “bunny butts.” Now I’m admittedly not a great bread maker. I typically let my bread machine do the work for me, but for these cute little spring treats, I thought I would again try my mom’s dinner roll recipe (to-date I have yet to pull this recipe off correctly).

We began by scalding the milk and then stirring in sugar, salt and shortening. We then set this aside to cool to lukewarm. In the meantime, we sprinkled the yeast into hot water to dissolve and then slightly beat two eggs with a fork. Next we combined the milk, the yeast and the eggs into a large mixing bowl and began to stir in the flour a few cups at a time.

Continue reading →

How Did We Miss This in South Dakota?!

April 21, 2011August 3, 201110 Comments

We’re in South Dakota tonight for this week’s stateside meal adventure. As we mentioned in a previous post, the Mount Rushmore State was one of Miss A’s favorite places to visit this past summer – and now it just might be her favorite cooking destination too. The South Dakota Peach Kuchen has been a hit on our breakfast plates this week and tonight South Dakota’s official state food, Fry Bread, was also a big winner.

South Dakota Fry Bread can be served as a main dish with taco toppings or as a dessert/snack with cinnamon and sugar. Of course we tested both options! Our taco toppings are courtesy of Laura at Manna & Quail who posted her Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos recipe last night. Thank you Laura! This recipe truly saved us a ton of time tonight (Seriously dinner was done and cleaned up by ten after six!), and it was just the healthy topping we needed.

We prepared the slow cooker recipe around 11 a.m. this morning and then went about our day. At around 1 p.m. we began to thaw the frozen dinner rolls in a greased muffin tin.

Once thawed, about 3-5 hours later, roll the dough into 6-inch circles. Now they are ready to fry or place on the griddle. We fried six of the dough circles in oil in a heavy skillet and cooked the remaining six on a greased griddle. Since the griddle makes this a much healthier meal, we figured that we’d test out the taste difference between the two cooking methods. If frying the dough, once the circles are golden brown, remove and drain on paper towels. For either methods it’s helpful to keep the cooked fry bread warm in the oven while cooking the remaining dough. Now, that’s it! They are ready to serve.

The taco toppings were perfect for the fry bread and truthfully we couldn’t tell a difference between the fried ones and those that were cooked on the griddle. They were equally delicious. Dad, Mr. N and I all helped ourselves to seconds and Miss A devoured her first serving.

As for the dessert, we have another winner on our hands. The cinnamon sugar was delicious and a nice contrast to the taco toppings. The fried version, however, was better this time.

Tonight’s dinner comes highly recommended. It’s very easy, very fast and very tasty. And if you opt to use the griddle, it’s also healthy. Tonight got 3 spoons all around. Maybe even a 4 from Miss A who was chanting, “I need more sugar! I need more sugar!”

Print this recipe: South Dakota Fry Bread

It’s Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Spring…in Russia

April 20, 2011April 13, 201320 Comments

Last week we celebrated spring Russian style with the traditional recipe from Shrovetide, Blini. Then, yesterday we woke up and wondered if we weren’t in Russia – snow covering the ground in April?! It somehow seemed fitting to be cooking up yet another dish from the country that’s home to Siberia. This time we chose a healthy version of a traditional Russian dish – Chicken Kiev.

We began by mixing melted butter with freshly chopped dill, garlic, salt and pepper. We then refrigerated the mix for an hour. In the meantime, the kids got to use a meat mallet again (yes, we finally bought a real one!) to pound the chicken breasts to a quarter of an inch thickness.