A Mini Saturday Trip

It hasn't been an easy few days with personal sadness and the heavy heart and fear for Japan right now. We're looking for some bright spots and optimism and on Saturday we decided to just get out of Munich for an afternoon and get away from things. We hopped in the car and took off to a sleepy little town called Wasserburg am Inn. It's nestled in the middle of nowhere and the landscape is so unique:

Photo courtesy of www.wasserburg.de

This small town is one of the oldest in Bavaria and it's definitely apparent when you walk around. It was a very important spot for salt trade in early days. With being on a main water way, it was an important trade area with the Balkans, Austria and Italy. The village is tiny and you can walk around the old center in about 1 hour and see absolutely everything, but it is definitely worth taking your time and taking in all of the old architecture and history. Of course, stopping for a coffee or a good lunch is always on the agenda.

I want to share a few photos I took. The weather was lovely and we couldn't have asked for a more relaxing day.

This is a gate leading into the city from a bridge. It's a combination of being a little imposing, but a signal of strength, history, and mystery that lies behind those walls.

You can see the city is built up to be rather tall. This is to avoid flooding when the river swells. The inside of the city is also built up on small hills and you can spend the day walking up and down hundreds of stairs to get different views of building and the village itself.

This is the town hall. Of course, there is a bakery on the ground floor and outside people are sitting and enjoying coffee and cake.

German cities always have an abundance of churches. They are most always the biggest and tallest buildings in cities, towns, and villages. It is not any different here.

This is another church was stumbled upon when walking up a long flight of stairs. The church had a date on it that was back from the 1400s. It was clear looking at it that it was worn and has stood the test of time.

One thing I loved was the brilliantly colored buildings all in a row. This was on one of the main streets through Wasserburg.

Another street (this one was very narrow) with the bright colors.

There were all sorts of fascinating architecture in nooks and crannies. You just have to keep your eyes opened.

After walking through the streets, we headed towards the river to see if there were any nice views we could find.

We were not disappointed. Even though the trees haven't turned green yet, it was still breathtaking.

We walked down to the river and we could see the water was at a pretty low level and we were walking on the river bed.

I thought the low water level was nice for such wonderful views.

We ended our small journey by walking along the river for about an hour. Every minute was enjoyable. After, we headed back home and spent a quiet evening together.

I'm so glad we took this day to cherish our time together. These are moments we never take for granted.
xoxo

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First Signs of Spring

Spring has arrived! Of course, I say that with a great deal of caution because in March and the early days of April, winter can always rear its ugly head and dump a ton of snow on the city. But for right now, the skies are heavenly blue, the temperatures are warm, and the city is pulsing with life. Everyone is itching to get outside and enjoy the nice weather with walking, running, cycling, or just sitting outside having a coffee or a beer.

We took our bikes out and headed down the cycle paths next to the Isar river. During our ride, I spotting Mother Nature's first clue that spring is definitely on its way.

Amongst the mostly brown soil that has yet to grow any form of life, there was a small patch of the most beautiful, delicate purple wild flowers.

They were so pretty and sweet. I'm always so happy to see things such as this. It reminds me of new life and renewal. That things are cyclical and appreciating small things like this is important.

We continued our journey by heading towards a beer garden and having our first Maß of the season. A Maß is a measurement in German. This measurement is one liter. Yes, that's a lot of beer; however, this is the sort of thing you spend hours drinking while soaking in a much sun as possible and having wonderful conversation.

As the shadows became longer and the temperature started dropping again we headed back home.

This was a day that was perfect for sitting and talking about life, loss, and dealing with hardship. I know everyone has heard and seen the devastation and loss Japan is experiencing right now. I'm hoping that the country can heal and for those that have been impacted by this in any way are in my thoughts.

More personally, we lost a dear family member a couple of days ago. He was a loved man and he will be missed tremendously. After a long struggle with illness, I know that he is in a better place. Now, it is our turn to come to terms with the loss and try to heal. There will always be a part of me that misses him and I will always think fondly of him with happy memories. Rest in peace, Uncle Bob. We all miss you.

Support and love one another.
xoxo

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My Dirty Little Secret... Help!

See it up there? Looming over my kitchen sink? Okay, so it's not as severe as the title makes it sound, but I'm becoming more and more aware of this fast growing problem I have. Now, I'm aware that I'm not the more organized person when it comes to my personal life (see? self-awareness is good!) but when it comes to work I am 120% organized. So much so, that I can't leave work if there is one loose piece of paper on my desk... it just drives me crazy.

Oh, if only I could channel this power into my personal life, but that hasn't happened yet and as I was trying to find something to cook one evening, I realized how big my problem is... RECIPES EVERYWHERE! I have hundreds of recipes that I've printed out, jotted down, scrawled, drawn, etc. I have recipes that I've tried and ones that I haven't. Ones that I love and ones that need some tweaking. The bottom line is that I have no idea what to do with all of these recipes and I need help! How do you organize your recipes? Are you über organized or completely chaotic (like me)?

I have a black binder that I attempted to start organizing my recipes in. I even have 3 spiral-binded notebooks with even more recipes.

My black binder was a good attempt. I even bought plastic sheets to store recipes. Fancy, hu? Even that has become entirely too disorganized with all of the crumpled sheets that stick together. But, that isn't the biggest problem.

The biggest problem? That dreaded pocket in the binder. This is where I stuff all of the extra recipes that won't fit anywhere else.

See everything I have stuffed in there?

Then, I've got the spiral-bound notebooks with endless notes, reminders, and recipes.

So, what's the solution? What do I do? Do you have any suggestions? If you do, share them please! I'm drowning in recipes!

Forever grateful and forever disorganized....

P.S. By the way, this doesn't even include the countless recipes I have bookmarked online and have no idea what to do with those, either. I won't worry about these for right now... baby steps :)

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Our Light Sunday Dinner

Although it's really nice to spend all day cooking on Sunday, my husband just got back from India on Saturday and he had been eating very heavy, spicy food for a week. He was in the mood for something lighter and I felt like I hadn't had a proper piece of fish in a while, so we went grocery shopping to see what we could find.

We made our way to a large department store that sells just about any type of food you can think of and they have these wonderful counters for cheese, fresh pasta, seafood, meat, and even champagne. We approached the seafood counter and there was some beautiful wild salmon we couldn't pass up. It was definitely not the cheapest filet of fish we could have chosen, but it was totally worth it. The fish was beautiful bright pink and the flavor was intense and delicate. I was glad we paid the extra for it.

One of my favorite ways to do fish is quick, easy, and completely fail-proof. I wrap the filets in individual foil packages and bake it. This is super easy and the fish steams in the foil and the end result is perfectly cooked, flaky, tasty fish. Don't be afraid to cook fish, especially like this... it will turn out fantastic every time.

I made a quick polenta with goat cheese and dill to go along with it (I love fresh dill). It paired with the salmon really well and I think next time I'll even add a little bit more dill!

What's really nice about this meal is that it is completely doable on a weekday. It takes no time to put together, and who doesn't want a meal that takes about 30 minutes to prepare, but tastes like you spent an eternity in the kitchen?

Salmon Filet with Goat Cheese and Dill Polenta
Serves 2

For the Salmon
2 salmon filets (about 6-7 oz, each)
2 tablespoons butter, divided
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2-4 sprigs fresh parsley
4 sprigs fresh dill
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper

For the Polenta
2 servings polenta
3-4 oz soft goat cheese broken into small pieces
2 heaping tablespoons chopped, fresh dill
salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 375F.

Take a piece of foil that is large enough to hold 1 filet of fish and place 1 tablespoon of butter into the direct center of the foil.

Remove the fish from the fridge and place it skin side down.

Season it generously with salt and pepper.

Place one filet on the foil on top of the butter.

Place 1 sprig of rosemary. 1-2 sprigs of parsely, and 2 sprigs of dill on top of the fish. Squeeze half of a lemon over the herbs and fish.

Wrap up the fish, ensuring it's closed completely. Place the package on a baking sheet.

Prepare the other filet in the same way. Place the fish into the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Prepare the polenta as directed on the package. I use quick polenta that can be prepared with boiling water from an electric kettle. Make the polenta the consistency you prefer.

Add the crumbled goat's cheese and mix thoroughly until everything is smooth and melted.

Chop the dill for the polenta.

Mix the polenta well and season with salt and pepper.

When the fish is finished, remove it from the oven and let it sit in the foil for 5 minutes.

Once the five minutes is finished, open the packages and remove the cooked herbs. Discard these because they've given up all of their flavor to the fish.

Plate the polenta and place the fish on top. Don't discard the lemon, butter, herb sauce! This stuff is delicious!

Carefully pour the butter sauce into a small serving dish and serve this on the side with the dish.

Put a little fresh dill on top of the salmon and serve. I made a few peas on the side to finish off the dish.

The fish was so flaky and tender, but not mushy. This was a perfect way to enjoy a light meal and spend a limited amount of time in the kitchen. Try this out... you can't go wrong with it!

Happy Eating!

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Perfect Tuna Salad without the Tuna

Do you like canned tuna? I used to love it. My mother would make the most wonderful tuna salad that I could eat by the bucket-fulls when I was younger, but the older I've become, the more and more I dislike canned tuna. Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE fresh tuna: sushi, sashimi, seared, any way you can think of ... except for canned. Because I have such good memories of the tuna salad my mother made I always end up trying to recreate it and I always use canned tuna. However, I can't ever get it right and my confidence in my tuna salad-making abilities withers away. I've all but given up.

Tonight, I had a breakthrough! I made a wonderful salad perfect for toast, wraps, on crispy greens, on crackers, or any other way you can think of. The breakthrough you ask? Get rid of the tuna and replace it with chickpeas! Yes, you read that correctly... chickpeas. I love chickpeas and with the variety of ways they can be prepared I could probably eat them everyday and never get tired of them. This chickpea salad was so great! Light and a little bit unexpected, but creamy, satisfying, and perfect. This will from now on be my go-to salad for sandwiches. Sorry, canned tuna, I'm leaving you and not looking back.

Chickpea Salad
Makes 2 sandwiches, or 2 servings

1 15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 very small onion, finely diced
1 small rib celery, diced
1/4 cup mayo
1 tablespoon yogurt
1 tablespoon grain mustard
handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
1 fat pinch of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

Put the chickpeas in to a bowl and mash them. You can mash them as little or as much as you want (or, you could even put them in a food processor if you want them completely smooth). I mashed them about 'half way', keeping about 1/2 of the chickpeas whole.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix everything well to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

I toasted a bit of wheat bread and piled up the salad to make a sandwich. It was fabulous!

I am so happy with this I could eat it tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after... no joke. I can't wait to have it again.

And don't be too upset over the breakup, canned tuna. My husband loves you and will definitely keep you around for a long-lasting relationship :)

Happy Eating!

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Fancy Quesadillas

My husband has been gone for almost a week and I'm definitely ready for him to be back. He'll be back in a couple of days, so it isn't so bad, and while he's enjoying some absolutely wonderful, authentic Indian food, I made a pretty good dinner, myself. Tonight I cooked up a quick, easy, and light quesadilla with all sorts of delicious stuff inside. This really came about just because I really didn't feel like running down to the grocery store and I just gathered up what I had in the fridge and freezer. Don't you love when something you quickly put together without much thought ends up being great? I know I do, and this is what happened tonight! With the combination of flavors, this was an absolute treat and it didn't take any time to make at all. Try this out when you want a quick meal, or if your just trying to clean out the fridge and freezer :)

Shrimp, Balasamic Caramelized Onions, Arugula, and Goat Cheese Quesadillas
Serves 2

1 tablespoon olive oil
8 oz frozen shrimp, defrosted
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium red onion, sliced
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
goat cheese, crumbled
arugula, washed and stalked trimmed off
4 small tortillas
salt and pepper
cherry tomatoes, quartered (optional)

First, start caramelizing the onions.

Slice the onions and get a heavy bottom skillet on medium high heat. Add the butter and once it's melted, add the onions.

Once the onions are in the pan, add the sugar and mix everything together. Turn the heat down to very low and allow the onions to cook on very low heat for 20 minutes.

Once the onions are very soft and start picking up some dark color, add the balsamic vinegar. Let the onions cook for an additional 10 minutes.

While the onions are cooking, put the defrosted shrimp into a bowl and add the olive oil and plenty of salt and pepper. Heat a skillet (preferably non-stick) over medium heat.

Once the skillet is hot, add the shrimp. Cook the shrimp on medium-high heat, turning once (about 7-10 minutes, total) until they are thoroughly cooked through. Remove the shrimp from the pan and turn the skillet down to low heat.

By this time, the onions should be finished. Turn off the heat. Now we're ready to put our quesadillas together!

I used the pan that I cooked the shrimp. Put a tortilla into the warm pan (keep it on low to medium-low heat).

Put some of the onions on the tortilla.

Add the arugula, shrimp and optional tomato to the tortilla.

Sprinkle the top with the crumbled goat's cheese.

Add the second tortilla on top and allow the quesadilla to cook on low heat for 2-3 minutes, or until the bottom tortilla becomes brown and the goat cheese becomes soft and creamy.

Carefully turn the quesadilla over and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Move the quesadilla over to a plate and cut into 4 pieces. Serve immediately with a little raw arugula on the side.

The flavors in this were so good and really came together beautifully. The onions were soft a sweet, while the shrimp were firm, the goat cheese was creamy and tart, while the arugula was peppery and perfect. I loved how all of the elements came together with the tortillas. This was a great dinner, if I do say so myself (well, and there wasn't really anyone here to disagree...hehe). Try this out... they are fantastic!

Happy Eating!

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