My in-laws were here for the weekend so I didn't have any time to write but did a lot of cooking.
On Thursday morning I was out shopping and at the bottom of the ramp up to the drugstore I saw a box with a help yourself sign sticking out of it. My first thought was that I've managed to declutter so much and don't want anything new in my flat so I shouldn't look. My second thought was that it probably just contained a few mildewy old books and/or chipped cups so I didn't need to look. I couldn't stop the collector in me looking in though - imagine my suprise to find that it was full of Martha Stewart Living magazines, fairly recent and in mint condition!!! (Bear in mind that I live in Germany.)
I managed to fit all the magazines under the pushchair and spent Thursday longing to lie on my bed and start reading. I've been flicking through them with pleasure at odd moments since then.
I don't even have to feel guilty about extra clutter because my dear friend Bettina wants to read them after me.
I'm sure that they'll give me loads of ideas for meals in the next weeks. The best thing we ate this weekend was a spontaneous experiment based on something I'd seen in one. I'm not sure where I saw it and it wasn't a real recipe in the magazine, just a hint. Unfortunately I didn't take a photo - it looked really pretty, but I'll make it again soon and next time get my camera out.
We were all too full of birthday lemon cheesecake to want my planned meal but I wanted to put something on the table and this was a great success.
I don't know how it was described in the magazine but I can call it "quick savoury tartlets". This is what I did. I took twelve pieces of sliced white bread, cut the crusts off and pressed them a flat as I could with my rolling pin. Then I placed the slices into the moulds of my muffin tin and put them in the oven at 180 degree Celsius = 356 degree Fahrenheit while I prepared the filling (maybe 10 minutes?).
I chopped 12 cherry tomatoes, sliced 12 stuffed olives and crumbled a bit of feta cheese and mixed with olive oil, tzatziki spice mix, rosmary and thyme.
My plan was to bake the filling as well but I worried that the bread might burn so just put it cold into the bread cases and served it like that.
I will definitely make these for a starter the next time we have visitors.
Here's my menu for this week
MONDAY Baked potatoes with hummus, salad, cottage cheese...
TUESDAY Potato, leek and mushroom bake with broccoli
WEDNESDAY Vegetable couscous (left-overs from the weekend)
THURSDAY Vegetable soup (from the freezer)
FRIDAY Savoury waffles
SATURDAY Nut roast (so I can make double mixture and freeze half for Christmastime) with red cabbage and lots of veggies
SUNDAY Pasta with vegetarian bolognese sauce.
I hope that the little monkeys will at least try a bit of everything.
4 comments:
What a delicious menu plan! I clicked over to your menu because you have such a cute name, and I was excited to see all the great meals. Yum!
I understand your feelings about the magazines- we lived in Japan for two years and I definitely had some exciting "finds" that reminded me of home during that time.
Hey, this is a little unrelated, but I think my husband and I are visiting Germany and Austria in mid to late December. Do you have any recommendations for things to do during the holidays, or any places in Germany (specific markets etc.) that we shouldn't miss? I'm worried everything will be closed on Christmas, and hope we can find something fun to do. Thank you for any suggestions!
I'll definitely be back to your blog. :)
-sea
www.bookofyum.com
I saw you on the menu plan monday list as vegetarian. Do you have a recipe for the nut loaf, or for the potato/leek/mushroom bake? We are *mostly* vegetarian, and I'm always looking for good recipes! Thanks!
Dear Sea,
About Christmas in Germany. Germans take public holidays very seriously so you'll probably find that everything is closed
on 25th/26th December. Advent is a really good time to visit though, the Christmas markets are so pretty.
I think the most famous ones are in Nüremburg and Dresden but I'm really not an expert. Here in North Germany Hamburg has lots of lovely ones and Lübeck is nice.
I hope you have a magical trip and that the weather is not too grey for you.
Sorry it took me so long to respond.
Dear Naomi,
My potato/leek/mushroom bake changes a little bit each time as I copied the recipe from friends years ago and never had anything written down. I fry sliced leeks and mushrooms and layer them with sliced cooked potatoes then cover with a white sauce (Hollandaise is the best)and top with grated cheese. Bake until browned. Very delicious - my parents have copied it from me.
The nut roast is from a Christmas recipe book, I'll try and put it or a similar one on my blog one day.
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