Karma

This is what you get for ignoring your cold. You get the worst sore throat that you've ever had in your entire life. I had to spend another day in bed, but not because I had vacation or because I could, but to crash course my throat back into health. I lived off fresh orange juice and mostly tea today and watched 20 Sex and the City episodes - anything to keep my mind from the excruciating pain. It is literally so bad, that I am unable to speak, and not in the cute "I am a 21-year-old sorority girl who just had a wild night" kind of way. Jochem has given me a spoon to bang with on the bed frame in case I need him and we have been communicating with pen and paper all day. Oh, and did I mention that because of this I missed another lunch date with my friends who may now barely remember me or recognize me as I pass by? Plus, it has been raining all week during this vacation, which is just not fair because it had been sunny while I was still working. I believe that that was all that I wanted to get off my chest. Here are some pictures of the view on my sick day.

"What I Cooked Today" Day 13

Despite my cold I traveled to Tilburg today after work to cook dessert. Every few weeks Jochem and I get together with two of my old girlfriends from high school and their boyfriends. It started out a while back as a one night type of thing, but has turned into a nice tradition. We always try to impress each other with new recipes and it's a great opportunity to catch up. Jochem and I cooked a dessert that I had wanted to make for a while. I believe it is called sand cake. Jochem made the dough at home and we prepared the rest in Tilburg. We made whipped cream with vanilla and chocolate and strawberries with mint and brown sugar. I really wanted to use peaches, but they are not yet in season, unfortunately. I believe that it was quite a heavy dessert, but everyone finished it so I assume it was a success!

Source: Jamie's America by Jamie Oliver

"What I Cooked Today" Day 12

I am sick. I have a pretty bad cold which is not going away no matter how much I ignore it. I'm afraid it might turn into an even worse flu, but since I've got work tomorrow and a dinner afterwards, I'll ignore it for at least a day longer. I guess I'm bad like that. Anyway, since I spent my entire day in my pajamas in bed watching old episodes of Sex and the City, Jochem was kind enough to make me dinner. I can therefore take no credit whatsoever for how this dish turned out, apart from the fact that I picked it out because we had some left-over asparagus. Jochem made a quiche with potatoes, asparagus and cheese and it was very good.

Source: Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver

"What I Cooked Today" Day 11

Today Jochem spent the entire day in the Hague for his exams and decided to spend the night at his friend's place because he has to be in the Hague again tomorrow morning. I decided to make Bic and Mar a funky dinner. I have really been getting into the whole cooking with the seasons theme, and decided to cook three dishes around one central ingredient (of course inspired by my good friend Jamie Oliver): RHUBARB!

I started the evening by giving my girls a rhubarb bellini made from Prosecco, sugar and (of course) rhubarb.



Source: Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver

For my main dish I prepared noodles with crispy pork (which had marinated in the oven with the rhubarb for an hour and a half) and lots and lots of fresh herbs and spices.



Source: Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver

For dessert I made rhubarb crumble with clotted cream.

Source: Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver

Home Sweet Home

Something horrible has happened. Our tree has been cut down. Officially, it is not 'our' tree - it stood in the small garden of the lady living on the first floor of our hourse. Complaints had been raised about this tree for years, but in the Netherlands you can't just cut down a tree, no matter how annoying it is. Or so I thought. Because even though our landlord had informed us that the tree would be cut down, imagine our horror when we returned home Tuesday evening from a long weekend in Almelo and found out that our tree was gone! I am heartbroken - I loved that tree, since it constituted a big part of our house's charm. Many people claim to be jealous of our apartment. Of course I love my apartment as well, or else I wouldn't still be living here after five years. The thought of leaving this place in a year STILL makes me sad, even though I've had almost two years to get used to the idea. We live in a beautiful neighborhood surrounded by parks, families, dogs and cats just a couple of minutes removed from downtown Utrecht. There are great shops in the neighborhood where you can still buy authentic food and thus avoid the supermarket as much as possible, including a great vegetable and fruit selling familly across the street. Our house has some pretty nice thirties features, but let's face it: our apartment is a dump. Years of student dorm living has left its footprint. We tried to make it look nice by using lots of paint, but deep down, it's still a dump. Our apartment is very old, badly insulated and not well-kept. During the winter it's so cold that it's common for the heater to break down, which has already happened several times. During the summer it gets so hot that not even opening up all of the windows gives relief, if we are able to open the windows at all, because it's hard to sleep with your windows open when you have two cats who leap at every opportunity to spent some time outside. Things keep breaking constantly around here - a couple of weeks ago Jochem opened the door to the study too quickly and part of the doorpost came off. Our bedroom window is so dirty that no amount of water, soap or scrubbing can clean it (and we've tried several times). If you look closely, there is an actual hole in our bathroom wall (if you can even call it a bathroom), from which you can look outside. So why do love it here? First of all, you do get used to the cold and heat and try to make it work as well as you can. We have a small heater to warm our feet and we have a wide collection of woollen vests and Uggs to keep us warm. Other things we have come to treasure about this place. Like the big windows in our living room, which make the room light even during dark wintery afternoons. Or our crappy roof which makes the rain sound very loud when you lay in bed (of course, we did NOT appreciate the waterfall in our bedroom that was coming down from a leak in our wall a couple of weeks ago). Or the fact that the big tree in the yard created a beautiful Renoir-like sunlight effect in our kitchen and bedroom. And now that tree is gone. At least it should make it easier to move.

"What I Cooked Today" Day 10

Sorry folks, no cooking today either. Jochem and I had left-over lasagna for dinner. I didn't even make my own lunch but went out instead. I did, however, discover my new favorite thing: coconut brownies. I should definitely learn how to make those - no: I should learn how to make proper brownies period. That's as far as my food wisdom will take you today. I feel a bad flu coming my way and am saving up all of my energy wishing it to go away.

"What I Cooked Today" Day 9

Today I really didn't cook anything. Instead, we enjoyed my mom's cooking: good old boiled potatoes with red beets, meat balls and lots and lots of gravy - a typically Dutch dish. We did, however, find our little baby inside this roasting tray when we were cleaning the dishes this morning. Go, Manchego, go!

"What I Cooked Today" Day 8

I honestly didn't expect to be cooking so much during our stay in Almelo, but when opportunities present themselves, I tend to leap at them. Yesterday, for example, my mother was looking though our Jamie at Home cookbook and asked me to cook this cannelloni recipe. Jochem and I absolutely adore this dish - it is incredibly quick and easy to make and made from fresh ingredients and lots of veggies. I first made it for my friends Bic, Mag and Mar a couple of weeks ago and since then Jochem and I have made it several times. We usually make a big batch and freeze in any left-overs so that whenever we are too busy to cook, we can still have a decent meal. You are supposed to stuff the cannelloni with a mixture of cauliflower, broccoli, anchovies, chilis, garlic and thyme. On the bottom of the roasting tray you put homemade tomato sauce, on top of which you put the stuffed cannelloni. On top of that you put creme fraiche mixed with Parmesan cheese. Finish the dish by putting some mozzarella cheese and some more Parmesan on top. When you remove the roasting tray from the oven, put some basil and a little bit of olive oil on top. If you can't find cannelloni, you could also use lasagna leaves. Try it some time!

Source: Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver

"What I Cooked Today" Day 7

Sometimes, usually on Sundays, my dad likes to cook for dinner. He always makes a big deal out of it; today, for example, he spent a considerable amount of time on the living room couch with several cookbooks trying to decide the best way to prepare the big hump of meat he bought. Whenever my dad cooks, it always involves a big hump of meat, and today it was lamb. He prepared the lamb on the grill with patatoes and an assortment of vegetables. Jochem and I were left to prepare dessert. We decided to make something in line with the season: a souflé made from rhubarb, ginger and custard.

Source: Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver

"What I Cooked Today" Day 6

Today Jochem and I took over my mom's kitchen and cooked goulash from spicy pork with red, yellow and green peppers, tomatoes, red onions and chilies. We served it with white rice and creme fraiche with lemon zest and parsley. It took the pork 3 hours to cook in the oven!

Source: Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver