"What I Cooked Today" Day 258

Today we made these tortillas because Jochem had been craving them for some time and finally convinced me to make them again. They're quite simple - just filled with some creme fraiche, homemade guacamole, grated cheese, chili and coriander and topped with homemade tomato sauce, but they're really fresh and tasty. I feel quite alright today although my throat still hurts, but my headache and cold seem to have dissolved some. Tomorrow I'm back at work!

Source: Jamie's America by Jamie Oliver

"What I Cooked Today" Day 257

Today Jochem and I traveled to Tilburg for one of our traditional dinner dates with Erik, Marjolein, Michiel and Marije. I love these dinner dates but lately they've become a little bit difficult to organize because planning a Saturday night with six very different schedules is not as easy it once was. But we planned this date and we went. Yes, we went, even though I am still sick. There were of course lots of reasons not to go today:
- cold: check
- sore throat: check
- headache: check
But then there were also some indications that I was not as sick as I have been this week:
- no fever
- no sore muscles
- no nausea
And, more importantly, I HAD TO GET OUT! For someone who loves being at home, doing nothing, I could not spend another second being at home, doing nothing. I needed a reason to take a shower, wash my hair and put on new clothes. I needed more interaction than Jochem's tired mumblings after work (and the cats really don't make very good conversational partners). So I went to try and lift my spirits and I just hope that it didn't make me any sicker. But whatever happens I'm going to work on Monday because I can't take this nonsense anymore. As for tonight, Jochem and I found some random recipe online (since neither Jamie nor Nigella has a recipe in the books that we own) for creme brulee. I wanted something a little festive for our post-holiday dinner date, but let me tell you: creme brulee is one high-maintenance little dessert. We made one with dark chocolate and used a burner and everything. Unfortunately, the burner didn't come with its necessary gas included, so we had to make do with some gas that Michiel miraculously found somewhere. This definitely did not give us our desired result, so the top of the creme brulee was not at all creme brulee-like. Luckily the pudding itself was very nice, so I guess we'll just try again another day. Jochem and I did leave quite early because my head started to hurt after a while, but it was great to be outdoors and enjoy the company of my friends. Thanks for the Mexican American tortilla soup and the India curry - it was lovely!

Oh, and the reason that there's no picture here is because the camera didn't work either. Sorry!

"What I Cooked Today" Day 256

Today is day 5 of the flu and I am still sick at home. I've lost the will to live. I put in my contacts but that's just so that I can continue watching bad TV. Other than that, I've lost the motivation to take care of myself. My throat still hurts and no matter how much medicine I stuff down there, the phlegm is not going anywhere but staying put. My head has been killing me for days. I loved having my ex-colleagues over for some much-needed company yesterday, but it seems as if now I have a cold added to the overall misery. Jochem has a new job, which is good for him, but bad for me, because I am bored to death and the new romantic comedies that he got for me are really bad, unfortunately. I may be done with the genre after all. The highlight of my day was the wonderful garlic soup that we made at night. It was so easy that I didn't even need to buy groceries for it at all, since it was just some old bread, some garlic, a couple of herbs and spices, and an egg. Bliss in a bowl!



Source: Jamie Magazine Issue 15 January 2011

To top it off, Jochem made merengue with some leftover egg whites. We added some chili, some lemon zest, some melted dark chocolate and a few roasted hazelnuts. We then proceeded to eat almost the entire thing! Sugar crash of course, but totally worth it.



Source: Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver

"What I Cooked Today" Day 255

This is the fourth day that I'm sick and the third day that I've spent at home alone and, let me tell you, I am way beyond any level of contentment one might enjoy while being home alone for a couple of days. I am tired of coughing my guts out, waking up every morning thinking that I feel better only to spend the afternoon feverishly sweating in bed, and wearing the same sweats every day. I need a shower. My hair has turned into one big knot. My doctor was quite concerned and made me take a blood test to rule out malaria, where a kind yet surprisingly strong little woman took two viles of blood from my arm and then pricked me in the finger before pressing two more vials of blood from said finger. But luckily the results are in and I do not have malaria. I decided to go to the Chinese centre to get a massage for my sore body, but it was closed (of course). But since I refused to spend another day watching TV (I actually finished all of Dawson's Creek y'all, not kidding), I bought groceries and made a soup from southern Italy with lentils and pasta. I also prepared crostinis to go with the soup. I made them for my ex-colleagues who are coming by tonight to watch Wie is de Mol?. Although I'm still kind of sick, I decided to have them over anyway, because I could really use some company.

Source: Jamie Magazine Issue 15 January 2011

To try to make myself feel even better, I also decided to buy some mushrooms and make bruschetta for lunch. That did help for a while. Now if only this damn flu would go away and bug someone else.

Source: Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver

"What I Cooked Today" Day 254

Still sick. Still at home. Still eating mac 'n' cheese for dinner.

Ugh.

Source: Jamie's America by Jamie Oliver

"What I Cooked Today" Day 253

Today I spent another day at home to really get the flu out of my system. I feel better than yesterday, although I still feel very weak. At times like this I wish we had a real bathroom with an actual bathtub and fruity bath salts. Instead, I made do with a leftover Christmas tree, one leather sofa and cups of herbal tea with honey. I indulged in the ultimate guilty pleasure by watching the annual All You Need Is Love Christmas Special. For those of you who do not live in the Netherlands and who are unfamiliar with this piece of epic television: All You Need Is Love used to be a weekly TV show by Robert ten Brink ('Doctor Love') in which family, friends and, of course, loved ones are reunited. The weekly shows stopped years ago, but every year on Christmas Eve there is an annual Christmas Special that lasts up to two hours. I was in Palolem at Christmas Eve, enjoying my sea food platter and secretly feeding the hotel's stray cats, so I decided to watch it today and it was just beautiful. A real tear jerker and better than any movie since these are real people. It is like chicken soup for the soul.

And on that note: today I enjoyed a lovely dinner of leek soup and mac 'n' cheese. The mac 'n' cheese was leftover from a couple of days ago and Jochem was kind enough to make me soup yesterday because I always crave soup when I don't feel well, and he was so smart to make enough soup to enjoy today. Plus: you know how much I absolutely love leek, so to have leek soup with cream and fresh herbs is just heaven in a bowl for my rotten self.

And before I forget I simply have to share this quote by Ashley from Not Without Salt about homeschooling:

"I mean really, most of what you need to know in life can be taught through baking right?! – fractions, chemistry, patience, persistence and the importance of using good chocolate."

So true.

Source: Jamie Magazine Issue 13 September/October 2010

"What I Cooked Today" Day 252

Be careful what you wish for. I love my job, but sometimes I find it a little bit difficult to get excited about having to start again after the weekend. I guess it's like going to the gym (for those people who actually go to the gym, which is certainly not me): you always have to motivate yourself to go, but once you're there, you enjoy it a lot. That's what my job is like for me. But after our holiday in India, I wished that I'd had just a couple of days more to just relax and do nothing. And I got my wish in the form of one nice and lovely flu attack. This sucks majorly, because I'm really never so sick that I actually need to spend time in bed, and I was kind of hoping to finish those short ten months at the job I love without ever having to take a sick day. But, alas, my immune system had other plans. I went to work in the morning because I 'only' had a sore throat, but you can only take so much medical advice from complete strangers on the phone without thinking that maybe you are indeed too sick to be answering the phone at all. For a minute there I was afraid that I might have malaria (which is NOT a hypocondriac move, since I did get bitten by mosquitos in Goa and, according to my tropical doctor, ANY flu up to two months after your return could be malaria (God, malaria is scary!)), but since I already felt better after a couple of hours, I'm guessing that it's probably not malaria. Anyway, by 4 PM I decided to call it quits and head home, where I spent the remainder of the day drooling, aching and asking for tea and meds in incomprehensible words and phrases. Luckily, there were also a few nice things about spending some time at home:

- spending hour upon hour in bed with two cats draped around me

- watching six episodes of Dawson's Creek in one go

- opening my belated Christmas package from work, which, when I was a tutor, used to be a bottle of Fair Trade wine, but, as an assistant office manager, is a box stocked with Fair Trade food (I love my job, I love my job, I love my job!)

- having my boyfriend feed me homemade grilled cheese sandwiches

- not having to feel guilty about asking for massages 'because I have the flu and I hurt'

It doesn't really take much to make me happy.

"What I Cooked Today" Day 251

No cooking today. Mom and dad came by to bring Bicho and Manchego back home. We showed them our pictures from India and then we went downtown to have some Mexican food. I am now in bed with a cup of tea and am about to watch Top Chef All Stars. All is well.

"What I Cooked Today" Day 250

Today was a lazy day, as January firsts should be. We spent the morning and most of the afternoon in Amersfoort, where we had spend the night with our friends. In the morning Jochem and I made coconut and raisin pancakes for everyone. After a long bath we finally came home and decided to order pizza for dinner. So far, so good. I just really miss Bicho and Manchego and I can't wait for my parents to bring them home tomorrow.

Source: Happy Days with the Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver

"What I Cooked Today" Day 249

Today was New Year's Eve. We spent it in Amersfoort with friends, who, by the time we got there in the late afternoon, had already been slaving away in the kitchen for hours to make us all sorts of snacks and bites. We contribited by preparing chicken from the oven. This recipe is incredibly simple: just stuff the chicken with lemon, bay leaf and garlic, rub the skin of the chicken with sea salt, black pepper and olive oil, and then pop in the oven for 1,5 hours. Happy New Year!!!



Source: Jamie's Italy by Jamie Oliver