Weekend Tidbits
June 19th, 2006

The heat has gotten to us. After its long anticipated arrival, we already wish for a bit less. Ironic? Anyway, it made us stay clear of the kitchen for the most part this weekend. Did it keep us from finding good things on the net? No way.


Currently discussed:

Irrespective of being a meat-eater or not, Barbara makes a good point: Why Do People Only Love Cute Animals?

Food politics comprehensively edited to advise the everyday food shopper: An interview with “What we eat” author and nutritionist Marion Nestle.

Macht des Guten (in German), a witty write up on bio food and motivations for buying it: mostly for ones health, often because it tastes better and sometimes to save the world, all in an effort to maintain LOHAS – lifestyle of health and sustainability.


High up on the wish list:

With outside temperatures over 30 °C (86 °F+) for almost a week now, consequently our ice cream consumption has gone through the roof. Why not make it yourself? It’s shiny, it’s expensive and I WANT TO MUST HAVE IT: A very elegant looking ice cream maker, something to scoop and funky anodized bowls, everything with the ONE purpose, to finally serve all these fancy creations in. And besides, our old one really has gotten a bit long in the tooth.

Oh, and in case store-bought pints are the ice cream of choice, empty them with style.


Around the corner
:

The FIFA Worldcup is all over Germany and the atmosphere here in Munich is fantastic! Go Ghana. Well, and Go Germany of course ;)

Good news for food magazine junkies like myself: Thanks to good friends like Stephanie and Hande or my better half (aka the business traveler) I’m always well stocked with international food magazines. Although I was pretty happy to discover that Sussmann’s INTERNATIONALE PRESSE (at the Munich main station, track 24) finally offers a broader selection of English/anglophone magazines like Olive, BBC’s Good Food, Gourmet Traveller, Food + Travel, the French ELLE à table and a variety of Italian/Spanish ones, too. Only downer: An obscene markup, prices are almost double the original prices.

Over the last years one of the most wanted travel souvenirs from the US have been Microplane graters. Once you worked with them, you know why they’re so popular, they’re super sharp, handy and very durable. So in case we do need a replacement or addition we now know where to look for in Munich. Or we’d place an order here!


A little blog talk:

My weekly excursion through food blog land made my mouth water when I spotted a chocolate drowned panna cotta * A pure and simple combo made me crave asparagus again * Plums made it on my shopping list * By the way, Sam, can we – PLEASE – swap pantries?


Too hot?

Here is a cool tip for a hot day: granita, easy to make and so refreshing. No detailed instructions and ingredients are given, since the method is straightforward: mix your favourite fruit puree with sugar and – depending on the choice of fruits – water or lemon juice until smooth, then freeze in a flat container. Stir occasionally with a fork.

Granita is actually not so different from sorbet. It’s mainly the freezing method & the amount of sugar you use in proportion to the liquid – and of course the texture of the ice crystals.

How much fruit puree, water (if any!) and sugar is dependent both on how sweet your fruit already is and what texture you are going for in the finished product. The possibilities are endless, you could even replace the fruit/water with any other flavoured liquid. There is little that can go wrong, just give it try! Below our weekend version with both water melon (could have used a bit more sugar) and charantais melon. The only caveat: beware of brain freeze…

Melon Granita

Comments
sam

Jun 19th,
2006

Jun 19th,
2006

Jun 19th,
2006

Jean

Jun 19th,
2006

Jun 19th,
2006

Jun 19th,
2006

Jun 19th,
2006

Jun 19th,
2006

Jun 19th,
2006

Sascha

Jun 20th,
2006

Jun 21st,
2006

Michaela

Jun 21st,
2006

Rika

Jun 21st,
2006

Jun 21st,
2006

Jun 21st,
2006

Jun 21st,
2006

Jun 22nd,
2006

Isa

Jun 22nd,
2006

Kat

Jun 23rd,
2006

mae

Jun 23rd,
2006

Jun 24th,
2006

Jun 25th,
2006

Jun 25th,
2006

Belma

Jun 26th,
2006

Belma

Jun 26th,
2006

Jun 28th,
2006

Jul 2nd,
2006

bexs

Jul 27th,
2006