Stuttgart or Bust!!

As I write this I am shoveling in a plate of spaghetti with peas and a side of broiled onions. In an attempt to clean out the pantry as today was supposed to be moving day. But of course since the Army is involved it has been postponed till monday. All I can say is aaaaahhhhhhh! This has been the most stressful couple of weeks imaginable, and filled with, I hate to admit with nasty fast food. Every morning before the fella and I venture off to the post to chase people down for signatures or amendments to documents, we enjoy an unnecessarily large bowl of Cocoa Puffs. (What am I thinking) You know its important to have a nourishing breakfast before a hectic, busy day! Ha! Yea right my body hates me right now. I am also ashamed to admit between meetings and appointments, we ate at Popeyes for lunch every day last week. The first time I was excited to try something new, tasty red beans and rice. The second time, still pretty good. Everyday following my body made sure that I felt like crap. To make it utterly clear I was feeding it total garbage and in return make me feel like John Goodman at a buffet at Sunday brunch. I am on a steady diet of over processed sugar and tortured chicken!  And apparently highly influenced by the fellas need for kid like cereals. Thighs be damned. I still have yet to receive my passport which means I might not fly over to Germany with the fella. I would have to go later by myself with both dogs, which would really suck. Its always more fun to fly with a buddy, especially when I have the dogs to worry about. I sobbed my eyes out at the vet the other day, when these two beautiful animals were tortured with the needle that administers the microchip.

I think I stumbled out of the vet office a bit more traumatized than the dogs. Despite the fellas attempt at humor to stop the tears and anxiety. This has Been one Incredible roller coster. We are headed home early next week to see the family and make sure we can get those last tastes of our favorite foods. I am very excited about posting about my favorite burrito place in Boston, stayed tuned for that gem. Hopefully soon we will be settled in Stuttgart. I have been working on learning German I hope I can come home after these 3 years fluent in German and Italian. We ran into a Major at the company the other day who is also going to Stuttgart. He said we can live right in the middle of downtown! So I can take a walk with the dogs to the outdoor market pick up some sausages than meet the Fella for a pint after work I can't wait! It will be my European NYC. I am so excited to start this new adventure with my favorite fella and the 2 pups that make us a family. Stuttgart or bust baby! Auf Wiedersehen!

Moving to Germany, Under the Army's Heavy Thumb!

I just wanted to drop a quick note to those few wonderful readers that I have. It has been somewhat hectic around here. We are moving to Germany! May 10th. But in the meantime I am struggling with the ridiculousness of moving with the army. I am praying my "special" passport comes by May 6th so I can actually fly with the fella to Deutschland. In the mean time we are suppose to be out of our house by this friday the 15th and not one box is packed not one picture unhooked from the wall. We of course can't call the movers until the fella gets his orders, which hopefully come in on the 13th. UGH! And somewhere in between there, the dogs are to be microchipped which I feel so strongly against. Visit his family in Massachusetts and fly to Florida to see mine help plan my best friends wedding as I am her Maid of Honor, quite a crappy one at that for the time being. And squeeze in seeing those friends that mean so much to me. I am so excited that we have the chance to live in Europe. But,.... traveling that treacherous road, riddled with totally unnecessary obstacles the Army loves to stick if front of you, as it seems, just to make your life a living hell, and test your will to see if you have the guts and mental restraint to make it to the other wonderful European side! Please excuse my run on sentence and breathless rant. Never fear I am still cooking when I can. Though we have been eating nasty, piggish food lately and that will likely continue for the next month or two bouncing from hotels and houses and being without my wonderful cookware for an unknown length of time once arriving in Germany. I'm photographing everything (even the crappy tacos I scarfed down from the corner shop) so when I have a minute when I don't feel I might jump out of my skin, or kick the receptionist in the DEERs office out of her chair. I will get back to writing regularly. And I must announce that any day now my hero ( call me lame if you will) Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook is hitting the bookstore shelves!!!!! I feel like George Costanza my worlds are colliding, but in this case its a good thing! I can't wait to pick it up and I think you all should to. In case you are interested its called My Father's Daughter Delicious and Easy Recipes Celebrating Family and Togetherness. I will be reading it from cover to cover under the sheets of the local Best Western, that is if our little family can get on the same page as the United States Army and get us out of this house. I'll be in touch, and of course I'll be eating see you on the flip side, fingers crossed!

I Love Food

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well."
- Virginia Woolf

Strawberry Jelly

 This recipe is easy, and how great would it be to have jelly in the fridge that you made instead of some jar filled with high fructose corn syrup ( don't get me started on those ridiculous hfcs commercials that the government is funding) among the other crappy ingredients they shove in there, with fruit being one of the last ingredients. Sorry was I ranting? Lets get back to the jelly. The hardest part of this recipe is chopping up your chosen fruit (strawberry is the fellas favorite), throw it in a pot with sugar and water enjoy the latest episode of the Jersey Shore or any other guilty pleasure you chose to immerse yourself in for 45 minutes to an hour. Lets keep in mind here that I am not canning. This jelly is meant to be used up right away.

Happy St. Patty's Day

I'm only into St. Patricks Day for the food. The only time I went out to celebrate was with one of my wonderful friends, as I call her Jonnah Millah. We went bar hopping through Boston and got caught in the midst of a fight in a a bar the size of a shoe box. I will no longer celebrate this day, other than eating the traditional fare. Being tossed amongst over-weight drunken fellas is not my idea of a good time.

Homemade Ricotta Cheese......Finally

Sorry for the delay in delivering the word about the ricotta cheese.I'm sure you all were waiting on the edge of your seats. Unfortunately, I tend to procrastinate sometimes its a horrible quality that I would love to shake. Anyway, the cheese was awesome, so fresh creamy and delicious. I slathered my first taste on a crusty piece of bread and then I used the rest of it added with parsley to my lasagna. This is so easy. Totally simple, there is no reason not to try this! Unless, of course you don't really care for ricotta cheese, in which case you should try it anyway. Because, it is so much better than anything you buy out of a tub from your local grocer.

This is all you need to make your own cheese.  11/2 cups of milk and 1/2 a cup of heavy cream.  The juice of 2 lemons and the zest also if you would like. I left it out this go round. 1/4 tsp salt and sugar. 

While you bring the milk up to just a simmer juice and zest your lemons.  I don't have photos of the milk simmering cause the stove shots always seem to be awful so we'll skip that shot.  

Line a strainer with cheese cloth and put it in a bowl. 

When your milk and cream are just beginning to simmer, not boil! add your lemon juice , salt, and sugar. and give a  stir then pour into the cheese cloth lined strainer. 

Let is sit for at least 2 hours if you make a bigger batch I would let it sit over night. Otherwise I think about 2 hours does the trick. 

All the moisture will sink into the bowl and leave you with this!  

Its so beautiful!  Peel it away from the cheese cloth and revel in the magic you have just created. I think its best to enjoy it in its simplest form. Spread it on some bread or stir it into some hot pasta with a splash of pasta water.  The lemons give the cheese a hint of lemony tartness and makes it taste so fresh. You could also use white wine vinegar and get the same results I would use about 3 tablespoons if you go the vinegar route. You have got to try this!

I Love Food

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating." 
-Luciano Pavarotti