Chufi

Good morning everybody! Between the Dutch Cooking thread, the Amsterdam thread and my regular postings on the Dinner thread, I feel that my daily food-life is pretty well-documented here on Egullet. (too well, some of my friends might say). So when I was thinking about doing another foodblog (after the fun I had doing the first one February 2005), I wanted it to be really special. I was very happy when it turned out I had the opportunity to share one of my favorite weeks in the year with you all! I have a lot of fun things planned for this week. I have shuffled my workweek around a bit so I only have to be at the office 1 day during this blog, on Friday. The rest of the week will be devoted to food and festivities Tomorrow is my birthday. I love my birthday. I usually manage to get a whole week of celebrations out of it, and this year is no exeption. On Sunday I had the first birthday dinner for 10, with family. Tomorrow I’ll start the day with coffee and cake with a friend, then do a bit of shopping and sightseeing in Amsterdam, and have dinner at one of my favorite places with my husband and some friends later. On Sunday the 30th, there’ll be a party for about 18 people at my house! Lots of Egulletters have helped me plan the menu over on this thread, and I’m sure it’s going to be great! On Monday, I’m baking somethng to take to work on Tuesday and treat 20 or so co-workers. Now that’s the Birthday Cakes part of the blog title explained. I’ll talk about the Royal Celebrations part later… or maybe some of you already know what I'm referring to? If you have any question, things you would like me to eat or do, let me know. (but please don't say frites ) It looks like it's ging to be a nice, moderately sunny day in Amserdam today. I'm going to go out for some air & a little excercise. See you later!

Thanks, Sandy, for a great blog. From your fridge to the shops & streets and back again to your kitchen, it was all good. Especially the cheese. All those lovely cheeses.. sigh. Thanks for sharing it all with us.

I can find fresh favas at my market, but they are usually in pretty bad shape - old and mealy. I get a nice supply from an aunt with a large vegetable garden. She picks, blanches and freezes the beans within a couple of hours. I feel that those frozen ones are infinitely superior to the old and wrinkled 'fresh' ones I can buy! If only I lived closer to my aunt, I could have really fresh ones one day..

Well, I know I am not being very oroginal here, but believe it or not, I had never made amatriciana sauce so for me, this was a first.. Here it is, with bucatini and pecorino.. a very satisfying bowl of pasta!

Ann your pie is beautiful! I also made this rhubabr/orange/almond cake this weekend. It was good but not really rhubarby enough for me.. more like a very good cake with a rhubarb touch.. I like it the other way around see this post for picture of cake

the best thing I made with rhubarb the past week is this: rhubarb orange compote, layered with whipped cream, crystallized ginger, and crushed meringues. and this is just to show how pretty it is.. I'm afraid the days of those lovely slender pink stalks are already over.. the ones I saw at the market today were thicker, and greener.. I still love those.. but nothing is as good as the season's first..

Living in an apartment myself, I've thought about getting one of those. Doesn't the kitchen get very smoky?

I'm really enjoying the pictures of the streets and the shops. I love it when blogs feel like a trip to the other side of the planet! And I really like it that one of your cats has my initials...

racheld, thank you.. I'm going out now to buy a bottle of bourbon and you've inspired me to do some Southern cooking tonight!

Thanks guys! I knew I could count on EGullet to inspire me! So, I was thinking about beans and thinking about soup, and then my thoughts turned to beansoup So here's what I have figured out: appetizers: cheeses, breads, some sausage maybe or pate. Possibly Susan in Fl.'s cute zucchuni/prosciutto rolls. Chickpea rosemary soup Pork sandwiches with tarragon mayo coleslaw (I really like Snowangels recipe with the dried cranberries) sweet potato chips. I'm thinking of baking them, like these, but I've never done that before and I will have to do a test batch for that. Some kind of pickle. Sweet and sour onions maybe. Something tomato-y would be good, but decent tomatoes are very expensive at the moment. This way, I have the hot soup, the warm sandwiches, and cold slaw & pickles. I think that would be a nice balance. And not too much last minute preparation.

Thanks everybody there are some wonderful ideas here! Coleslaw would be great. It's really unknown here - so that's why I never thought of it myself. Snowangel that recipe with the dried cranberries sounds wonderful. Those beans also soud good and woud be a good way to get something bulky and filling into the meal.. my friends eat a lot Pickles and chips also sound great. What I love about all your ideas is that they are easy, and within my budget. I have lots of new things to think about now! Thanks!

So those zucchini are salted overnight, but not cooked in any other way? sounds easy, simple and I bet those bundles look cute! In the past I have done buffets with sometimes up to 10 different dishes, meat, seafood etc., but I promised myself (for various reasons, one of them that I won't have a lot of time for prep) to keep it simple this time. So I am looking for 2, or 3 sidedishes, so people can have a plate of food with different things that taste good together.

I'm having a party in 2 weeks, I expect I'll have to feed about 16 people. I'm going to make a large batch of coddled pork (pork shoulder very slowly cooked in olive oil, from Paula Wolfert's Slow Meditteranean Cooking) and serve this in sandwiches with a bit of lettuce and tarragon mayo. I recently made these when I had some of that pork left over, and they were so fantastic that at the first bite I said: that's what I'm going to make for my party! Anyway, I'm really stuck when I think of the other dishes. The sandwiches will be warm, so I think I need one cold, and one hot side dish. At this point I feel that with an average of 4 of these parties a year, for the same group of friends, I've done every single salad and gratin imaginable... So, I need help. What goes well with warm pork sandwiches, can be prepared ahead, and will wow my guests? edited to add: this won't be a formal dinner obviously, but I will have enough space for everybody to sit while eating, so it does not have to be finger-food.

Never think "I'll leave the cake in the oven just one more minute while I quickly make some custard". 7, 8, 10 minutes later you have custard, and a very heavily caramellized cake. Wrong timing is one of my favorite stupid kitchen mistakes. Not so easily avoided. Ah well with the recent posts on this thread, I feel lucky that at least I still have all my fingers

looking forward to seeing the inside of your fridge!

I almost forgot, but I made these about a week ago! Mine were spinach, mushrooms and gouda. Thanks for this great tip Pille!

More rhubarb: Rhubarb compote layered with whipped cream, homemade meringues, and crystallized ginger. The combination of the tart, zingy rhubarb, spicy ginger, crunchy sweet meringues and soft cream is absolutely heavenly. The recipe (although it's more an idea, really) is in May's issue of Good Food magazine, they call it Rhubarb Eton Mess.

Thanks for that link Michelle.. it loks like a gorgeous cake! I am still contemplating making something like this for my birthday.. hmm what to decide.. btw it links to a video and I had great fun watching Martha Stewart and Fran Drescher make this cake, slathering the chocolate crepes with hazelnut cream whilst discussing the joys of dating younger men

Cadbury, you win the award for Most Creative with Traditional Dutch Cuisine!! What's next, I wonder? Hmm.. split pea soup croquettes.. oliebollen gnocchi Seriously, they look great, and the port must have been wonderful with it!

I just prepared another batch of rhubarb. This time I did bake it in the oven because that was on for something else anyway, and it does make a really good compote with the pieces of rhubarb holding their shape. Just toss the cut up rhubarb with sugar and orangezest, put in a baking dish, cover with foil and bake in a moderate oven for about 15 minutes. The pieces should be soft but holding their shape. ha, I couldn't let this day go by without talking about rhubarb

Blanched, then sauteed in butter until slightly golden, finished with a little fresh butter, lots of chopped parsley, and lots of lemon juice. I also like mint with carrots, and dill. Dutch classic: carrots mashed with potatoes and onions (and optional parsnips) to make hutspot I recently braised them with white wine and olive oil, and added salted capers at the end. Very good with fish.

it's in the book The Top One Hundred Italian Rice Dishes by Diane Seed, which, despite it's suspicious title, is really a very good cookbook with lots of interesting ideas for rice. Don't run off to the library though, because within 10 minutes or so, you'll have the recipe by PM edited to add: the chocolate risotto recipe is here

I think those are used as a sweetener for hot drinks? Test one by putting it in your mouth If it's rock hard (i.e. you need to suck on it to make it melt and biting it would cause you a filling ) then it's not really suitable. The lovely thing about this bread is the soft crunchy lumps of sugar. So, if your sugarchips are hard, it's better to use ordinary lumps of sugar, crushed to coarse lumpy bits in a mortar. I am so going to make my own preserved ginger this weekend!

there's a picture of it in the very first post of this thread (when I made the gingercake). Over here, you can also buy bottles of just the syrup, without the ginger in it. Very good drizzled over icecream! edited to add: thanks lexy for explaining while I was watching tv..

Oh my, Pam, so much food! So much of everything! You must be really, really tired. Your blog got me in the mood for matzes today, but my supermarket was all out I hope to find some tomorrow! Wish I had access to your matzo tasting table!!