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friday things: hello, 2017
maybe i am just one of those perpetually upbeat people. even when things are going kind of rough or i’m wearing an all black ensemble, i can’t really help but be a bit peppy. even in january. the change to the new year always puts me in a great mood of new beginnings and usually brings icy wintery weather to budejovice. (a view from this morning, above) so! i thought i’d put in motion the first ‘friday things’ of the year! just some things that i’ve been into lately or have been making me happy. 1. this coat i’ve decided this year i stop worrying about trying to blend in…
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sunday cookin’: spicy & sour zucchini stir-fry
(okay, i’m aware it’s not sunday this time, but i hope this brings a bit of that sunday feeling to your day!) last summer, we started getting loads of zucchinis in our csa share box “bedynka”, as it’s called here in czechland. they are definitely not one of my favorites, in fact, they induced a few groans to see them week after week. alex was pretty happy, having no problem with this vegetable, because i would never buy them before. so i thought: how can i make these as appetizing as possible? answer: sauté them in soy sauce and some other delicious ingredients and serve with asian-style noodles. so, i…
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march noms
this past week, having almost half of my lessons cancelled for all kinds of different reasons, i had time. oh, sweet time. and i embraced it: long-ish yoga sessions, walking to lessons across town instead of taking the bus because of the sunny spring weather and the want to get moving a little bit more as we get closer to spring. but my favorite way to celebrate a nice relaxing weekday? make a weekday cake! i adored this weekday cake (raspberry ricotta) of molly’s– very moist and took less than thirty minutes to whip up! just as she described herself, there is something that makes you feel really put together…
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january noms
//i have been continually surprised by the amount of excellent meals i’ve been cranking out these days, if i do say so myself. i haven’t even felt particularly inspired or full of ideas, but day after day i’ve found myself plating up some serious photo-worthy meals. woohoo! (unfortunately, the photos aren’t turning out so worthy of the meals)the beginning of the month took us on a trip to globus where we stocked up on some serious mexican ingredients. oh, refried beans! cilantro! real salsa! how i’ve missed thee! i cranked out this huevos rancheros type meal one sunday brunch and felt pretty dang proud. so full of flavor… and enough…
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september noms
it’s the time of the month that i talk about what tasty goodness i have been creating! even for all of the budget measures that had to be taken, we have done quite well for ourselves.last night, knowing it would be my last very free evening of the week, i went on a three hour cooking “bender”. (woooooo) i turned on a couple of podcasts (rick steves, this american life) and finally prepared my second annual kimchi canning, this time with almost two kilograms of delicious spicy cabbage. last year i made one jar and it lasted until spring with no problem! looking forward to eating even more delicious fermented…
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Sunday Cookin’: Borscht Soup
this week was full of downtime compared to the weeks that are to come, so i wanted to make sure to cook a lot of healthy and delicious meals. and man, did i ever. i picked up a couple of beets at the farmers’ market last weekend specifically with the intention of making a huge pot of borscht for the coming week. you know, that funny pink eastern european soup that nobody really seems to like. well, after eating my way through poland last month, i vowed that i would make my own after i got home. i found polish barszcz to be a bit sweeter and more brothy than i…
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may noms
normally i like to write travel related posts on tuesdays. ah, but not this week. i’ve been concentrated more on blowing my nose and drinking “fizzy drink” (vitamin tablets). herbal tea with local czech honey has been a mainstay the past weekend… then i ran out of herbal tea. i purchased this aptly named herbal tea (for 10czk!) yesterday, and it’s been doing the job alright. may has had some great noms, so far. on my birthday, a stop at starbucks inspired me with one of the breakfast sandwiches on offer: a fried egg on belgian toast with ham and gravy. yes, yes, and yes. what makes the dish is…
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march noms
a low-key, windy weekend here in south bohemia: i focused most of my time and effort on planning the epic slovenia trip in june. and have realized, dang, slovenia is AMAZING! a country half the size of switzerland with so much to offer: alps, adriatic beaches, caves, glacial rivers, countryside, karst plateaus, national parks…. i am really looking forward to it. and with the recent acquisition of a blender last month, i tried my hand at making delicious creamy almond milk– a drink which i would buy exclusively instead of milk while living in the states but never have been able to find it here. fortunately, it is so easy…
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cooking in the CR
food, food, food. i love food. living in seattle, i got pretty dang good and cooking asian food and had some great resources– uwajimaya, huge asian superstore in south seattle. living near the ballard market was a big win for cooking in general as well. so after alex and i were finished with our work-stays in scotland and arrived in paris, we were now on our own for cooking. i fell into the cook position at that point and have been cooking almost all our meals ever since. i’ve never cooked consistently for two people before– as before i would feel free to make whatever super crazy healthy concoction i…
