hostel living and what i ate

 living in hostels is always interesting but my personal favorite thing about a good hostel is the kitchen. in hostels, the kitchen is the place you make your friends and share your food. 

pasta is always a hostel staple food, and in queenstown {pictured} i made a yummy and quick pasta one evening. it was a lovely little meal with an even more lovely view! 

i threw together penne pasta then made a tomato sauce with additional vegetables {red pepper, spinach, and zucchini} and i topped it all with bits of pepperoni and feta cheese crumbles. 

simple and perfect for the hostel life! 

more food from new zealand and nepal coming soon.

* grace, currently in kathmandu, nepal

sweet potato ravioli

no photos (my hands were full of flour/ it was too good to take a photo before devouring), but this is the most delicious meal i've had in a LONG time.

hubs and i have a favorite restaurant in jerusalem. well, a few of them. the one i'm referencing here is called spagettim, and it has the most delicious pasta i have ever eaten. in an attempt at hubs' favorite item on their menu, we attempted sweet potato ravioli in garlic cream sauce. verdict? DELCIOUS.

*kandyce in denver, CO

missing india meal

the week before i left home, i made chicken tikka masala, {recipe from allrecipes } chapati {also from allrecipes}, jasmine rice, cucumber-mint raita, and red lentil dal {cannot remember where i got the recipe}. 

because i made the meal after work we ended up eating around 10:00. it would have been much later without all of my kitchen help! thanks for your  help everyone : ) 

sorry the pictures are lame {i was too excited about eating}. the last one makes me laugh. abby is being abby, guion is only focused on one thing, sam is excited he finally gets to use his fingers instead of a utensil at the dinner table, kels is snacking on a piece of mango, and alex is anxious to try his meal {he stirred the chicken for a good hour!}. mom and dad were somewhere else at the time the photo was taken. . .

i will most definitely make this meal again!

*grace in wellington, nz

eggs benny

i've never been a big fan of hollandaise sauce {for two reasons really, 1.) it reminded me of asparagus & 2.) it has mayonnaise in it}, but this was really delicious the other day over at the greasy spoon. the sauce wasn't overpowering, so i enjoyed every bite. 

so far i haven't had anything too strange to eat here. the house in newtown is close to a grocery, so i primarily eat dried mango, chocolate, broccoli, chips, etc! 

i'm planning to make a meal for my housemates tomorrow night but i haven't the slightest idea what to make. i need ideas people! 

*grace in wellington, nz

p.s. kandyce pinckney, you're amazing. thanks for sharing all these great recipes! i'd kill for an orangette right now! 

orangettes!

{image from smitten kitchen}

i made some of these the other day to give as christmas gifts. if christmas doesn't come soon, hubs and i (and all of my coworkers who hover over my desk and ask if i'm "going to eat that") just may eat them all.

*kandyce in denver, CO

a kingsley favorite

grama k's wallbanger wassail

2 cans frozen orange juice

1 can frozen lemonade

12 cups water

6 cinnamon stick

2 c vodka

1/2 c galliano (or cheaper substitute sambucca or neopolitan)

1/2 cup sugar (+/- to taste)

orange slices (rind on)

mix water, juices and sugar in large saucepan and let simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. add galliano, vodka, cinnamon sticks and orange slices. heat and serve.

and sing:

Here we come a-wassailing

Among the leaves so green;

Here we come a-wand'ring

So fair to be seen.

*kandyce in denver, CO

side note: this recipe is the only thing which leads me to brag about the olde english side of my family.

cheddar broccoli soup

{image from shutterbean}

the yummiest you'll ever eat.

i happened upon this blog via it's a hunt life and immediately printed off 7 soup recipes. we've made this one twice in a exactly week. it's that good.

what are you waiting for?? go make it!

*kandyce in denver, CO

picnics in paris {what else would you expect?}

k & i fell deeply in love with nectarines in paris {and later in venice too}. . .

*grace from davidson, nc

smoothies and such

a little while ago, mom and i experimented living without dairy. she lasted two weeks, while i started a week later and caved in after a week. 

i'm not going to lie, it was really, really hard. i like dairy too much and i know i need to cut back. 

we both couldn't bear to let the boys eat pizza in front of us!

one of the things i learned through this is that you can still eat things like smoothies without yogurt, etc. 

this smoothie involved: 

- trader joes pure mango juice

-frozen mango

-frozen bananas

- fresh spinach

and that was it. it was super creamy and tasty. 

today i made a smoothie that involved: 

- flax seed

- plain yogurt

- frozen mango

- trader joes pure mango juice

-frozen bananas

and to top it off, i added a couple sprinkles of cinnamon. i wish that we had cardamom too, but cinnamon certainly worked at bringing out the flavor. 

try it sometime! 

*grace from davidson, nc.

fabulously easy pumpkin chocolate muffins

ready for this? 

the only ingredients are: 

- 1 box of devils food cake mix

- 1 c. mini chocolate chips 

- 2 cans of pumpkin

c'est tout!

mix together. cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. . . enjoy!

isn't that incredibly simple? 

plus, they're fabulous. i'm eating one as i write. . . {mom just said that she is already on number 4!}

* grace from davidson, nc.

an all-time favorite - garbanzo bean salad. 

today i used: 

- garbanzo beans 

- chopped red pepper

- chopped celery

- parsley

- 2 T. olive oil

- 1 T. lemon juice
- salt and pepper

- two cloves of garlic

mix together and put in the fridge. please try this, i guarantee you'll love it! 

*grace from davidson, nc

saturdays are for making applesauce

 farmer's market apples + pinch of sugar + toss of cinnamon + lemon rind 

*grace from davidson, nc. 

food in london

we certainly did not eat like royalty in london the first time around!

we lived of a steady diet of clementines, cornish pastries, carrots, and crackers. by the time we reached france, we were ready for real meals.

that said, we did experience a fair amount of pub grub {including overpriced and somewhat flavorless fish and chips!}.

*grace from davidson, nc.

pad thai

the future scares me, but the one thing that excites me is the hope computers will one day spit out a free sample of the food you read on blogs! i wish that everyone could try this right now.

mom's pad thai

1 {12 oz.} pkg. rice noodles

2 T butter

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces

1/4 c vegetable oil

1 T white wine vinegar

2 T fish sauce

3 T white sugar

1/8 T crushed red pepper {i always add a lot more to mine}

2 c bean sprouts

1/4 c crushed peanuts

3 green onions, chopped

1 lemon, cut into wedges

soak rice noodles according to pkg. drain and set aside. 

heat butter in a wok or large, heavy, skillet. saute chicken until browned. remove, and set aside. heat oil in wok over med-high heat. crack eggs into hot oil and cook until firm. stir in chicken and cook for 5 min. add softened noodles, vinegar, fish sauce, sugar, and red pepper. adjust seasonings {add more red pepper!} to taste. mix while cooking, until noodles are tender. 

add bean sprouts, peanuts, and the lemon to finish off.

enjoy!

*grace from davidson, nc.

weekend plans

spiced apple cake, from joy the baker (photo also from joy the baker.)

she's funny. and her recipes are almost always delicious.

OR

chocolate raspberry swiss cake roll, from food and wine (photo from the village cook).

requested by one of my co-workers, because his mom used to make it back home in iraq.

(i probably can't prevent my co-workers from burning out with baked goods, but why not try??)

also, photos and a review of the guinness cake later this weekend. it was delicious.

*kandyce in denver, CO

funny moments in paris

out of all the incredible, world-renowned food in france, {in particular, PARIS}the only thing k specifically requested was a hot-dog with cheese! i know, i couldn't believe it either, but i agreed. 

it was just a disgusting as we thought it would be. 

this still makes me laugh and i doubt either one of us will eat another hot-dog again for a long, long time.

more interesting recipes to come, i promise.

* grace from davidson, nc.

guinness cake!

i tried to make (excuse the offensive title) irish car bomb cupcakes over saint patrick's day, and, well, they were a bit of a failure. they bubbled up all over the stove, spilled out of their muffin cups and then, after pulling them out of the oven, flattened out and looked rather unappetizing.

this guinness cake, though, looks ridiculously good (and, when hubs finds out about it, i think he'll revisit his request for cheesecake.)

i'll probably be reviewing this recipe next week after making it this weekend. :) it just looked too good not to share right now!

*kandyce in denver, CO

best pizza ever(well, except for Italy)

Imagine this:


Fresh corn, zucchini, mozzarella and feta cheese, cilantro pesto + roasted garlic = absolutely most delish pizza ever. 


Looking through some old pictures, I found this gem from my trip to Berkeley, CA visiting one of my best friends. If you are ever there, you MUST try cheeseboard Pizza. 
They only have one pizza a day, you have to get roasted garlic on the side, and the line is always out the door. But it is absolutely 100% worth it. 


mmmm pizza. :)

* Dana- Burlington, VT

fresh tomato sauce

i'm very type a. surprisingly, my tomato sauce isn't.

you need:
a crap ton of tomatoes (i had a huge bag of free beefsteak tomatoes. i'd imagine this would be even better with heirlooms.)
a head of garlic (we like garlic. if you don't maybe add a little less. but who doesn't like garlic?!)
a medium/ large onion

the loot.

fresh basil

fresh rosemary
some sugar
some salt
some olive oil
some oregano
i usually like to add a can of fire roasted tomatoes to my sauce, but we were out.

saute onions and garlic in olive oil until onions start to brown a little.

sorry for the bad lighting.
cool cutting board though, eh? :)

blanche tomatoes (a fancy way of saying, 'boil them, and when they start to peel, run them under cold water and try not to burn your fingers while trying to get the skin off.') and peel completely. dice and add to pot.

add spices.

simmer for about a half an hour, or more, depending on how soft tomatoes were when you diced them and also the size of your pot.

i cooked up this pot of sauce in anticipation of sunday night dinner, where our very own dear paul uncle will be visiting us from india. we're hoping a lot of our friends show up and enjoy his company as much as we will!

*kandyce in denver, CO

cheesecake! [recipe review]

faulty recipe. delicious graham crackers.

a recipe review and, well, the story of my first cheesecake.

for one of our most unique and creative wedding gifts, my friends gave hubs and me a mason jar filled with slips of paper, each with a cute little something on it: something i do for j, something j does for me, or something we do for each other. last week's slip was that i'd bake j man his favorite cake.

after much deliberation, he settled on a cheesecake. i have never made a cheesecake before, and had recently read/ drooled over a recipe review posted over at one of the food blogs i frequent. i decided i was up to the challenge and that new york cheesecake sounded both the tastiest and most fool-proof.

not sure why this is rotated? delicious: 2.5 lbs of cream cheese.

our oven set to prove me wrong. but i'll get to that in a bit.

the review i read said that the recipe from cook's illustrated was delicious, and, cheapskate that i am (i blame my dutch heritage), i was not about to pay for a recipe directly from their site that i could find elsewhere via some random googling. so, i found what i was looking for here, made a trip to the store and got started.

so i'm following, i'm following, i'm following the recipe and then, i realize, i get to the end of the directions and have all these ingredients left. mr pro chef joe forgot about the egg yolks, etc in his directions. i threw everything in my mixing bowl that i had left over and hoped for the best- the crust turned out so delicious that i ate it with a fork. (hard to go wrong with graham crackers, sugar and butter.)

the batter was so good we ate it from the bowl. with spoons.

directions for baking: put the cake in the oven at 500 degrees. after 10 minutes, WITHOUT OPENING THE OVEN!!!!!, turn the oven down to 250 and bake for an hour and a half. why the caps? because my cheesecake was doomed. our oven started billowing smoke due to some leftover oven-fry residue (that recipe for another time.) aka, sticky, blackening oil. all over the bottom of our oven. needless to say, we opened the oven. we even took the cake out. we then brought it over to our neighbor's and borrowed his oven for an hour and a half. at this point, i figured it was screwed up but maybe salvageable. hubs went over to get the cake when it was supposed to be done and brought it back over- it was still liquid lava. i popped it back in our oven for a half an hour (no smoke!) and figured it was a crap shoot. the cake billowed up and cracked, and when i pulled it out again it was still liquid lava.

i almost trashed it. hubs, though, is more level headed than i am. i went to bed. he set an alarm for 2 hours and got up to put this in the fridge after it had cooled. much to my surprise, the next morning we had a cheesecake! and it even looked pretty! AND, it tasted delicious! no oven-fry smoke, no dried out cheesecake, nothing!

i will definitely make this again. i will find another version of the recipe so as to add everything in the correct order, make sure the oven is clean, and definitely do it again. and next time, i want to add graham cracker topping, because the crust really is my favorite.

and apparently, these little buggers are much heartier than everyone who writes about them thinks they are. :)

*kandyce in denver, CO