Bickbeerpfannkuchen (Bilberry pancakes)

The Real German Cooking Challenge, hosted by Amiexpat had us cooking Bickbeerpfannkuchen (Bilberry pancakes) pancakes this week. Bilberry is also known as a European blueberry.

I had read a comment about how to weigh ingredients for recipes (very common in Europe to go by weight instead of volume).

Here is my solution: A kitchen scale! This has been invaluable for me during this challenge to ensure that I have the correct amount of ingredients. I highly recommend one if you cook alot of international recipes - make it soooo much easier!

The pancakes were easy to make. Unlike American pancakes - they cooked thinner and were more eggy. I personally like this taste - and by the empty plates, the kids liked them too! (Made them for breakfast, so DH didn't get to try them).
I did find that I had to add the blueberries AS SOON as I put the batter in the pan or else they didn't stick to the batter when I flipped it. I did notice that the larger blueberries were the worst offenders - I think that I would use wild blueberries (found in the freezer section of most stores) would work better since they tend to be much smaller in size.

I found that having the burner set at medium was the perfect temperature for cooking them. The skillet/ladle I used made 10 pancakes - enough for 5 servings (even my 7 y.o. ate 2 of them!)

Nice recipe to give us a different type of pancake than we normally make/eat!

Rote Grütze (Red Fruit Jelly)

One word to describe this dessert: YUM! No - that isn't right - it is actually - OH.MY.FREAKIN.GOD.YUM!!!

I can totally see why it is the favorite dessert of Christina's husband!! (Christina is the blogger who has coordinated the Real German Cooking Challenge at Amiexpat.com)

The title of the recipe brings up images of the jelly that we use on our toast - but instead, I discovered that is more like the fruit in a cobbler recipe - thickened but not as much a true jelly as we "know" it.

Rote Grütze (Red Fruit Jelly) calls for red currants, along with cherries and raspberries. I was lucky to be able to visit several supermarkets this week, but none of them had fresh currants! (Whole Foods said that they had some a few weeks back, but didn't know when they would get more in stock). Thank God for foodsubs.com - they recommend using raspberries as a substitute - so that is what I did!

I was afraid that the cinnamon stick would overpower the fruit flavor in this dish - the cinnamon stick cooks with it almost the entire time - but it didn't at all - just a subtle flavor. One of those ingredients that you would try to guess to see if you could identify the flavor (if you didn't make the recipe, that is!)

The final product turned out so good - I was kind of glad that no one was home when I made it - I almost thought about eating it all! But I didn't..!

I didn't wait for it to cool completely - I had it warm with the cool cream on top - I completely recommend this way of eating it! The cream on top added the perfect complement with the sweetness of the fruit - it really did make me think of a cobbler without the dumpling part of it - sooooo good!

I did see jarred Rote Grütze at Whole Foods - and almost thought about buying it see how it compared to homemade - but then my common sense came to me and I realized that homemade always wins - so why even bother?!? I would be curious to know if the jarred version is adequate or not - might be something that I would keep on hand for those sweet tooth emergencies!

Next week: Bickbeerpfannkuchen (Bilberry pancakes) - or blueberry pancakes!

Another Fountain!

Here is a picture of a fountain located near the Reedy River by the Lazy Goat and the Children's fountain. It is very dramatic lit up at night!

*** I will be taking a break from posting on the blog during the summer. I want to enjoy the time with the kids being home - but I will be back! I may post periodically - as I plan on continuing to be a part of the Real German cooking Challenge***

Scheiterhaufen (Apple-Bread Casserole)

I made it back from our family vacation and am refreshed and ready to cook again! Christina (Amiexpat) chose a comforting dish for this week, Scheiterhaufen (Apple-Bread Casserole). Most people would refer to this dish as a bread pudding. I was fortunate that I already had all of the ingredients on hand for this dish except for the rolls!

I am a bread pudding fan - there is something about the slight sweetness of the dish (and knowing that you can use pretty much anything to flavor it AND you can use old bread!) that is very satisfying.

It smelled and looked yummy to me before baking! I have never grated apples for a recipe before - thank God for the food processor to make that job easier than it would have been by hand!

The recipe stated to half each roll and soak them in the milk and egg mixture. As you can see by the photo on the right - it looked a little "lumpy" going into the oven. I checked the dish after 30 minutes of baking and noticed that the tops were already very brown. Because the dish needed more cooking time, I took the top rolls off and cubed them and added them back on the top. I think that this helped the dish evenly cook for the remaining cooking time.

Everyone enjoyed this dish - very tasty!

Stampin' Up Decor Elements

Here is another video from Stampin' Up on our awesome Decor Elements line - perfect for adding some flair to your living space! I love this line!

Lieu's Chinese Bistro

On a recent evening, DH and I went out to try Lieu's Chinese Bistro (1149 Woodruff Rd; 864-675-9898).

At first appearance, this restaurant is similar to the popular PF Changs chain. We even started our meal with the chicken lettuce wraps! They were good - full of ground chicken and complemented with vegetables -not the other way around.

Since we weren't hungry for a full meal after that - we ordered the Salmon Firecracker rolls and soup - for me, Hot and Sour, for DH - Wonton soup. Both soups were very good - typical of what you expect with those soups.

The Salmon rolls were okay - definitely full of salmon - but other than that, just a wrap of spinach around it - not really adding to the flavor. The dipping sauce was very good - I actually used it as a dressing to eat with the red cabbage left on the plate!

I still like going to ethnic places where you are assured that those preparing the foods are truly that ethnicity - but we enjoyed our visit here to Lieu's - and wouldn't object to returning!

Cops

Rest assured - our friendly neighborhood cops are available when needed! These 3 men took down a drunk/high/combination of both? man who was causing trouble outside of Falls Park.

The funny part of this whole event was that the drunk man kept trying to escape! Very comical to watch him try to make his get away (didn't work!)