I have been craving meat lately, and my husband is over the moon because it’s his favorite food group. He only needs potatoes and maybe a small side of veggies. I’m more of a veggie, potato, and gravy kind of person, with less meat. While searching for dinner ideas, I found some delicious pork loin chops at Whole Foods. I love their pork. When I was a kid, my grandpa raised pigs on our family farm in Germany. The pigs had huge stalls and spent their days outside foraging in the garden. Nowadays, they’d be called heritage pigs. I wish I could find that quality of pig meat here; it’s incredible.

Once I got home with my pork chops, I looked for a new recipe and found a good one on a German website. It had all my favorite ingredients, including a light, nicely flavored gravy. Let me tell you, it was a hit! The meat was moist and tender, and the sauce went perfectly. It was so good that I tried the same boneless chicken breast recipe. The chicken breasts turned my salad into a meal and were great on a sandwich. 

I served my pork chops with mashed celeriac root and potatoes. I will share the recipe the next time I prepare them. The reason is that I did not measure the ingredients. I still have Swiss chard in my garden, and I prepared my Swiss chard with raisins; I did not add the pine nuts to the Swiss chard. The Swiss chard with raisins made this meal complete. 
The original recipe called for Caraway seeds. You will find them quite often in German dishes like sauerkraut and sauces. I left them out, but feel free to add them. Toast 1 TBS of caraway seeds in a dry pan until they change color. Then, grind them with a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder. Germans believe that caraway seeds help you digest your food. 

There are a few things to consider for this recipe. You'll need a meat thermometer to measure the temperature. The pork is done when it reaches 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from the oven, cover it, and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes. The chicken breasts must reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit on the thermometer. Again, allow the meat to rest for 5 to 10 minutes, and cover it to keep it warm. This recipe can be easily doubled.

Ingredients:
Recipe for two
2 boneless pork loin chops 
or 2 boneless skin-on chicken breasts
1 large red onion 
2 TBS dried marjoram
4 TBS olive oil
2 TBS butter  
1 TBS tomato paste 
½ to 1 tsp. sugar 
½ tsp. sweet paprika 
2 bay leaves 
1 ½ cup vegetable broth
Directions:
Remove pork chops from the refrigerator 30 minutes before roasting. Cut the onion into quarters and then into thin strips. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat an oven-proof dish in the oven.
Slightly slice the fat edges of the pork chops and season the meat with salt, pepper, and one teaspoon of dried marjoram. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and sauté the meat on all sides for 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to the heated ovenproof dish. Add one teaspoon each of butter on top of the two pork chops and finish cooking in the hot oven on the middle rack for 10 minutes or until the meat reaches the internal temperature of 145 degrees. Cover the meat and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. 
I used two boneless skin-on chicken breasts and cooked them the same way I cooked the pork chops. I took them out of the oven when the internal temperature reached 165 degrees. I covered them and let them rest for another 10 minutes. These succulent chicken breasts will turn your favorite salad into a meal or make a great sandwich or snack.  I like eating them with my Romesco sauce.  
For the sauce, add 2 tbsp olive oil and 2 tsp butter to the pan, add the onions, and sauté for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add 1⁄2 tsp sugar and 1 tbsp tomato paste; roast briefly. Season with salt, pepper, and a little hot paprika. Deglaze with 1½ cup of vegetable stock, add 1⁄2 tsp dried marjoram and two bay leaves, and let it cook uncovered for 5 minutes., reducing the liquid. Season the sauce with salt and pepper. If you prefer a thinner sauce, add more broth. 
​
This is a recipe from Essen und Trinken
Adapted by Sonnycovechef.com

 If you prefer Schnitzel ( breaded pork chop) with or without a tasty mushroom sauce, this recipe is for you.  Click here!

I have been searching for easy yet delicious recipes. Since mussels and clams are in season and among my favorite shellfish, I couldn’t resist trying this recipe from Real Simple Magazine. The first time I made it with mussels and clams it turned out fantastic. The chorizo added a subtle smokiness and richness, while the leeks provided substance and extra flavor. The best part? It comes together quickly.

For my second attempt, I doubled the recipe and used only clams. I also used Mexican chorizo, which added some spice to the dish. My husband made his famous garlic bread, and we had a warm, spicy dish for six people on a rainy, cold night. A green salad with fennel and grapefruit completed the meal. For dessert, I made my marzipan cake with raspberry sauce. Everyone went home with a full belly.

​I never had any leftovers when I made this dish. Since I had to quickly snap a photo to share with you while dinner was already on the table, I apologize for the poor quality of the picture. I will switch the photo the next time I make it. If you prefer pasta instead of crusty bread, feel free to try it. It should be ok, but I haven't tried it. Adjust your seasoning according to your taste. I used whole canned peeled tomatoes and squeezed them with my hands into small pieces. The sauce can be prepared ahead of time. Just reheat it before adding the clams.
​ 
Ingredients:
3 Ib. clams or mussels or both
½ TBS. olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
4 oz. Mexican  or Spanish style chorizo, depending on your taste 
1 ½ cup leeks from one large leek
1 ½ cup dry white wine
1 cup canned, chopped tomatoes
1 tsp. salt 
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp.sugar
2 TBS. butter
chopped fresh chives, or parsley  

Directions:
Put the clams or mussels in a large container of cold water and let them soak for about 30 minutes. When ready to take them out, rinse them in cold water and scrub them clean if necessary. Discard all calms that are not closed. 
Cut the leeks in half and thinly slice them. Rinse them in cold water until all the dirt is removed. Dry them in a colander. 
Remove the casing from the chorizo, half them, and then cut into ½ -inch pieces.
In a large pot, slowly heat the olive oil, add chorizo, and saute at medium heat, stirring often until the chorizo begins to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the leek and garlic, stirring often until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the wine and reduce and cook it for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes and spices and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring often. Adjust the spices according to your taste. When you are ready to serve, add the clams and cook them over medium heat for about 7-9 minutes with the pot covered. When the clams have opened, remove them with a slotted spoon into warmed serving bowls. Discard all unopened clams.  Add the butter to the sauce and stir until dissolved. Pour the sauce over the clams and sprinkle with chives or parsley. Serve immediately. 

Guten Appetit!
Recipe from Real Simple Magazine
Adapted by ˚Sunnycovechef

Here is another seafood recipe that might tickle your fancy. It's halibut with  butternut squash, seasoned with ginger and cumin,and served with a shiitake, edamame bean,  mushroom sauce. The perfect Spa food. 
​Click  here for the recipe

How about a sheet pan dish with salmon and fennel? It's a super easy dish with a French twist.
Click here for the recipe

These eggless hazelnut cookies are super delicious  little treats and can be enjoiyed anytime of the day, but especially with a cup of  tea, coffee or any other beverage enjoy.
  Click here for the recipe 

I have been searching for a chocolate cake recipe for a long time. I wanted a rich, European-style cake with chocolate as the main flavor. Every bite should be a moment of pure bliss and joy. I was looking for a simple cake without frosting or glaze. Eventually, I chose a recipe from Lia Linster, a Michelin-starred chef from Luxembourg. I found the recipe in a German book that she co-wrote with a doctor and an evolutionary biologist who is a professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Heidelberg. I love the title of the book, "Carrots Love Butter" (Karotten Lieben Butter). This book discusses the importance of reviving good cuisine and learning to enjoy traditionally cooked dishes without guilt. This is right up my alley. I believe that eating should be a pleasurable experience, and that's excactly what this book is all about. Trust me when say that indulging in this cake is an absolute delight. 

This is not your typical chocolate cake with frosting, the ones my husband likes. He compared this cake to a brownie and wasn't crazy about it, but he managed to eat the last piece, which I had saved. Small pieces or even slivers of this cake will satisfy your sweet tooth. I baked this cake for my German friends, who I invited to our yearly feast of Königsberger Kloopse (meatballs in a tangy white sauce) We had a lot of fun drinking champagne and enjoying our meal. I served the cake with soft whipped cream, which I flavored with maple syrup . The next day I decided to serve it with whipped cream and raspberry sauce. Click here for the raspberry sauce recipe.

This cake serves small portions and will feed a crowd; you will have 12 regular pieces. My cake lasted a few days on my kitchen counter, during which time I satisfied all my sweet cravings with a little sliver here and there.

Remember to take the butter out the night before; it needs to be very soft. I also let the eggs sit out to reach room temperature. I splurged on good chocolate, buying Valrhona 70% dark chocolate, which I believe makes all the difference in this cake. I ground the almonds in a food processor. This is an easy cake to bake.
​

Ingredients:
7 ounces ( 200g) 70%dark chocolate
6 eggs at room temperature
9 ounces (250g) sugar
4.5 ounces (125g) ground almonds 
9 ounces (250g) soft butter
3.5 ounces (100) g flour sifted
A pinch of salt

Directions:
Grind the almonds in a food processor until they are very fine
Prepare a  9-11 inch cake pan with a removable buttom by buttering it, then add some flour. Shake off all excess flour. 
Melt the chocolate in a warm water bath. Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites with two ounces (50g) of sugar and a pinch of salt. I always beat the egg whites first because I use the same mixer (KitchenAid) for the cake. Place the beaten egg whites in a bowl to use later.
Beat the egg yolks with the remaining 7 ounces (200g) of sugar for about three minutes until all the sugar dissolves and the mixture turns pale. Then, stir in the melted chocolate, ground almonds, and softened butter. Once well mixed, gently fold in the sifted flour. Carefully fold in the egg whites with a spatula. 
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake for about 40 minutes. Insert a toothpick in the middle of the cake to test for doneness. 
Place the baked cake on a rack to cool, then dust it with dark cocoa powder before serving. I served my cake with semi-stiff whipped cream flavored with maple syrup and raspberry sauce. 

Guten Appetit! 
Recipe from Lia Linster from the book Karotten Lieben Butter
Adapted and translated by the sunnycovechef.com

​

Here is a chcocolate tart I posted in 2014. It has a buttery crust with an orange flavored chocolate ganache.
​ Click here for the recipe.

Here is a recipe for a walnut pie, which is more like a German chocolate tart. I shared this recipe back in 2013. I made it for my mother's birthday in Germany and it received great revies.
​Click here for the recipe

If you are looking for a special meal to please your loved one on Valentine's Day or any other occasion , try this scallop dish. It will make you look like a gourmet cook.
Click for the reipe here.

It all started when my butcher shop in Santa Cruz sold delicious German hot dogs. They are almost as good as the ones I get at my favorite butcher in Germany. I needed a potato salad to go with these hot dogs. As you know, potato salad comes in many forms, and everyone has their favorite. I prefer a version without mayonnaise. As in the US, Germany has different potato salad recipes. There’s the heavy one with mayo and those made with vinegar and oil. This particular German potato salad is made with beef or other broth that is seasoned with vinegar and mustard. The potatoes are soaked in the broth and vinegar mixture, allowing them to absorb the flavor. You’ll find this salad in the southern part of Germany, in the states of Schwabia and Bavaria. I was born and raised in the northern part of Germany, and I don’t recall my family ever eating this kind of potato salad, but I learned to love it later in life. 

I’ve been obsessed with finding a recipe I like. It has taken me far too long to come up with this recipe. I had some help from a new cookbook I bought for myself and all my friends who like German cooking. The book is called Classic German Baking by Luisa Weiss. She published a German baking book a few years ago. I have also watched more than a few YouTube videos of German cooks making potato salad. I have my favorites, and they entertain me quite often.

Here are a few things I learned while making the salad. First, you’ll need waxy potatoes. I used Yukon Golds. Don’t worry if the sliced potatoes fall apart a bit. That adds more flavor! However, you don’t want mashed potatoes. I ordered some German pickles on Amazon and used them in this salad and my Herring recipe. They are sweeter and have more flavor.  As for the broth, I used beef broth, but you can also use vegetable or chicken broth. 
When combining the potatoes and broth, make sure they’re both hot. This helps the flavors meld together and the potatoes absorb the broth. Don’t worry if some of the potato slices break apart. The salad develops its flavor after sitting at room temperature for an hour or longer. It’s fine the next day, although you need to refrigerate leftovers. You can easily double this recipe. Some restaurants in Germany make huge amounts of this salad. 

Ingredients:
This recipe makes 4 servings.
2 pounds Yukon potatoes
1 medium yellow onion, minced ( 1cup)
1 1/8  cup beef  broth 
1 TBS sunflower oil
3 TBS  champagne vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1 tsp.  sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
⅓  cup diced diced pickles 
3 TBS chopped parsley 

Directions:
Start by giving the potatoes a good rinse and placing them in a big pot. Fill the pot with water and add a tablespoon of salt. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Once it’s boiling, turn down the heat and cover the pot partially. Let the potatoes simmer for about 20 to 25 minutes. Keep an eye on them and check if they’re done by poking them with a sharp knife. If they’re soft, they’re ready! Do not overcook them, or they will get mushy. Peel the potatoes while they are still hot. 
Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the onions. Cook the onions over medium-low heat until glassy, but you do not want to brown the onions. This will take between 5 to 8 minutes. Whisk the mustard into the onions and continue to whisk for about a minute. Add broth, vinegar, salt, sugar, and pepper, and boil. Put the hot mixture over the hot potatoes. Gently combine them with a large spoon. Some of the potatoes will fall apart, and that’s OK. You will also have quite a bit of liquid left in the salad.  Add salt, pepper, and sugar if needed. Add the pickles and the parsley. Cover the bowl and let the salad sit for an hour or longer at room temperature. Most of the liquid will have been absorbed by the potatoes. Any leftovers can be refrigerated, and the salad is just as good the next day.
  
​Guten Appetit!
Recipe by Sunnycovechef and many German Cooks

This delicious breaded porkchop, or Schnitzel as we call it in Germany, goes perfectly with the potato salad. Here is the link to the recipe.

German burned almond or gebrannte Mandeln, are a cherished staple in German Christmas markets. They instantly transport me back to my childhood with their captivating aroma of caramel, almonds, and cinnamon. These irresistible treats make the chilly winter months more bearable. They are a favorite treat during the Advent season and are often served in paper bags.

After weeks of baking Christmas cookies, I tried new recipes but found none blog-worthy. These new recipes for cookies didn’t live up to the cookies that I had made for years. I would love to add a new recipe to my old loved ones. I’m still searching, and maybe next year I will find some that I really love. So, I went back to baking cookies I have made for years, some for decades. My gluten-free chocolate almond  Basler Brunsli cookies disappeared quickly. These Swiss cookies are a delicacy .

My chocolate-walnut bars, richer and sweeter than most of my cookies, are always a hit. They’re easy to make and are the first ones to disappear from my cookie plate.

My hazelnut meringue cookies are unlike ordinary meringue cookies. They are delicate, dense, frosty, and chewy, more like a macaroon. Quite a few of my friends declared them their favorite cookie .

Christmas is next week and my tins are filled and  ready to share with friends and family. 

This simple recipe for burnt almonds needs only four ingredients and a frying pan. Just be careful when cooking them, they can burn easily. Follow the recipe and use a wooden spoon to stir. The whole process takes about 20 minutes, from start to finish. The almonds cool down pretty quickly, and you can easily separate them with your hands. You’ll probably end up eating a lot while doing this (I did). They’re really tasty when they’re warm. It might take a few tries to get the hang of it.This could be a fun project for teenagers.

Ingredients:
1 ¾  cups raw almonds ( with skins)
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup water +2 Tsp.
1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon 
1 tsp.vanilla extract or paste 
Directions:
Prepare a  baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper
Combine sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and water in a large non-stick pan and bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Stir in almonds and bring to a boil again over high heat. As you stir,the mixture will became thick,and the water will evaporate. The sugar will start to crystallize and adhere to the almonds, giving them a dry, sandy appearance. This will take about 6-8 minutes.
Continue stirring and the crystallized sugar will begin to melt and caramelize, coating the almonds with a shiny glaze. Be vigilant to prevent burning; adjust the heat if necessary.Once the almonds are evenly coated and have a shiny appearance, spread the roasted almonds on a parchment-lined baking sheet, separate them with two forks, and your hands and let them cool completely. Store in an airtight container for weeks
Guten Appetit !
Recipe adapted from several different recipes
by the©Sunnycovechef.com 

Dear blogging friends, I hope this holiday season finds you and your loved ones surrounded by love, laughter, and the comforting warmth of togetherness. I truly appreciate your presence on my blog and look forward to sharing more recipes and travel adventures with you in the coming New Year. Happy Holidays from my house to yours .

. Last year I posted a faux red currant jam recipe using cranberries and pomegranate juice. It became one of my favorite jams. I already have a recipe for Linzer Torte on my blog, but I decided to add an additional one. It is slightly different, but I am posting it because I can freeze the dough and make small tortes quickly. I have the jam and the dough available whenever I need a special treat, and can be creative with the recipe. Over the last two years, I  have made this Linzer Torte in many different variations. 

After reading the book, Lessons in Chemistry, ​(and watching the series on TV), I am not surprised that this recipe has some scientific components that allows the dough to be frozen without losing its taste. The recipe is from the same book as the cranberry jam, Baking at the 20th Century Cafe by Michelle Polzine.

Even though I am not a cake decorator, I enjoy playing with different tart sizes and cookie cutters. My husband loved the torte I made for him with a wine bottle cookie cutter and two different jams. Talking about jams, my apricot jam was delicious on the torte. If you decide to make this, try your favorite jam. 

 Ingredients:

I coarsely grind skinless toasted almonds in a food processor. (The original recipe uses almond flour). I often skip the egg wash and sugar coating. You can use different jams or marmalades if you don’t have red currant or cranberry jam. I used apricot jam for one torte and it was delicious.

1 ½ cup (248g) all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1 cup ground almonds 
18 TBS (250g) soft unsalted butter 
½ cup (150g) plus 1 TBS sugar
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs, hard-boiled 
1 egg, beaten for egg wash
2 tsp. sugar for dusting
about 2 cups of jam for the filling

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325˚ degrees Fahrenheit. 
Generously butter or spray whatever tart pan you use. 

In a medium bowl, sift together, flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon and salt. Add the ground almonds.

Using an electric mixer or a stand-up mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, and lemon zest for about 3 minutes on medium speed until fluffy. Remove yolks from the hard-boiled eggs and press through a fine-mesh sieve. Save the whites. Add yolks to the butter and mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Add dry ingredients all at once and pulse until dough becomes  homogeneous. 

Divide  the dough into 4 rectangular pieces, cover tightly in plastic wrap and freeze until you are ready to use it. If you want to make one torte, use my other recipe. I have used different tart pans for the torte (or is it a torte pan for a tart?). I have a rectangular one that I like to use. Partially defrost the dough, then press the dough into the tart form and freeze for about 5 minutes. Spoon the jam into the tart and decorate the top with whatever decoration you choose (made out of dough). If you like, brush the top with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in a preheated oven until the filling in the center bubbles. The baking time depends on the size of the tortes (30 to 45 minutes).  Cool the torte on a rack and transfer to a serving plate. The dough tends to be a little crumbly. 
​
Guten Appetit!
Recipe  from Baking at the 20th Century Cafe by Michelle Polzine
Posted by ©Sunnycovechef.com
​

This is the original recipe for the Austrian Linzer Torte that  I posted in 2016
​ Click here for the recipe.

This is my version of one of my favorite German dishes. I made it for some of my friends a couple of weeks ago, and they seem to like it.
​​Click here for the recipe.

Cruising means going from port to port and getting off the boat to explore a given area for one or two days. The cruise line offers many excursions and I prefer booking through them because it guarantees that you will not miss the boat if your group is late. That is very important because the ship will not wait for you beyond their given departure time.  I have seen and heard some horror stories. This is especially important when you embark on the boat for your cruise. My husband and I arrive at least two days ahead of time just in case the flight is canceled or delayed. I have talked to several disappointed people who have had family members miss their cruise. Enough of this, let's go to the fun part.
We boarded the Queen Mary 2 in New York and spent the first day at sea. Read about it here. Our first stop was Rockland, Maine. We took a bus ride to Camden. The local library in Camden is worth a visit. The picturesque scenery of the Maine coastline always intrigues me. My husband and I had visited Bar Harbor several years ago and loved it. I hope to visit again and stay a little longer. We had a delicious lobster roll in Rockport.   

Our next port was Halifax, Nova Scotia, it was here that Samuel Cunard was born. He later moved to the United Kingdom where he set up a joint venture with several other businessman to bid on the right to run a transatlantic shipping company between the UK and North America. These days, Cunard is owned by the Carnival group.
​We visited Peggy’s Cove, a magnificent lighthouse built on the rocky coast of the Atlantic Ocean. The scenery was beautiful and the lobster delicious.

The Queen Mary 2 anchored in Sept-Îlles in Quebec. It was raining that day and there was little to see. We took the HopOnHopOff bus, but never got off and returned to our cozy ship for tea time. 
Our next stop was Saguenay, a nice town in the province of Quebec. The city can be described as an isolated oasis in the middle of the vast remote wilderness of Northern Quebec. It was here that my husband and I flew in a helicopter for the first time. It was a great experience. I enjoyed walking through this small town and buying some handmade gifts 

We finally arrived in Quebec, the second most populous province after Ontario.  Quebec City is the only fortified city north of Mexico and has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1985. Everybody in Quebec City speaks French and it feels a bit like Paris. Every cobblestone street, corner, and plaza tells a story. We visited the iconic Fairmont Hotel, Le Château Frontenac, and were able to enjoy the lobby. It is supposed to be the most photographed hotel in the world. The cobblestone streets have many restaurants, cafés, and stores. I was just glad I didn’t walk these steep streets during a rainstorm or in winter when it is icy. I asked myself, how do people do it? We found a little restaurant that served my husband‘s favorite dish, Foie Gras.

The following day, we visited Montmorency Falls, located 8 miles from Quebec City, this waterfall is 30 meters higher than Niagara Falls, but not as impressive because it is much smaller. My favorite stop that day was visiting a place where we learned the history of maple syrup and how it is harvested. I loved the samples.

After two days in Quebec City, we sailed away, which was quite an event. There is something about a ship leaving the harbor which always amazes me. Our last port before returning to New York was Sydney, Nova Scotia. There are many churches including St. Patrick's, the oldest Roman Catholic Church in Cape Breton. We opted to hire a taxi driver for a couple of hours to show us the area. He drove us along the Atlantic Coast and showed us a lighthouse and a museum from World War 2 where the Canadian military was sinking German U-boats. When we returned to town, three other boats had pulled in and the town was filling up. I visited a local store that had items made by local artists. There was some astonishing yarn and weaving work that I hadn't seen for decades. The tapestry was amazing. I bought some hand-knit socks and gloves.  

And just like that, our 12-day cruise on the beautiful Queen Mary 2 was over. I would love to go on another trip with any of the Queens.

My husband and I celebrated our 47th wedding anniversary on the beautiful Queen Mary 2 on a 12-day cruise from New York to Quebec and back to New York. When we flew to New York, we spent three days before boarding the ship. New York did not disappoint, although I thought it had too many security guards standing in the hotels and stores. One evening, we enjoyed the musical Water for Elephants and another evening we ate at Bourbon Steak New York, one of Chef Micheal Mina's restaurants, located in the Essex House. We both loved our visit to the MOMA. Before we knew it, our three days were over and we boarded the beautiful Queen Mary 2.  

A few hours after boarding the ship, we sailed away under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge with only 8 meters separating the top of the ship from the bridge.
There is a pilot who guides the ship in and out of the harbor. I always love watching the pilots jumping off and onto the ship. I am amazed how skillful they are when maneuvering these large ships. This was the first time I sailed out of New York and seeing the Statue of Liberty is quite a moving experience. It is a touching and special moment that makes you wonder about all the people who came to this country to build a new life for themselves and their families. 
We returned to New York 12 days later. It was early in the morning and New York offered a great light show as the sun rose. I am happy I didn't miss this; it was worth getting up early in the morning. 

Our first day on the Queen Mary was a sea day. I love these days. We explored the ship, from the incredible library (the largest library at sea), where my husband loved looking at old maps and atlases to the spectacular Queen's room. If you like ballroom dancing, you are on the right ship. For the young and young at heart, there is a late-night disco where you don't have to be a ballroom dancer. There was  plenty to do and I enjoyed being on the high seas. I never got bored and was able to relax and enjoy all the different activities.

The Queen Mary 2 is not a cruise ship, it is an ocean liner, built for trans-Atlantic crossings. It is a throw back to the 19th century ocean liners. It even has a kennel for 24 animals. It is one of my bucket list items . I hope I have the chance to do it. ​

I will write  about our excursions in my next blog post. 

I hope you all enjoyed my previous post about Wilder Ranch and maybe some of you who live nearby have visited this spectacular place. 

Years ago, some docents at Wilder Ranch State Park wrote a cookbook that is now for sale. We use the recipes from this book to cook in the old fashioned stove in the Victorian Kitchen. The visitors are amazed when they see this antique beauty. We tell them how we light the fire and how long it takes to heat the oven (when the water on top of the stove starts boiling). There is no temperature gauge and more than once, the cookies got burned. My friend and fellow docent, Georgia, does it the best. I love being in the kitchen with her. My favorite recipe is the one for gingersnap cookies. They disappear very fast when visitors come through the kitchen, and I always save some for my husband who likes them too. ​

Here is a little history about molasses. Molasses is a thick, dark syrup produced during the refining process of sugar cane and sugar beets. Molasses was the primary sweetener used in America (and in Europe) until the 1880s, as it was more affordable than sugar. It contains vitamins and minerals and is nutritionally better than refined sugar. Molasses was a staple in the Victorian kitchen.

Ingredients:
This recipe makes about 34 cookies. 
Preheat the oven to 375° Fahrenheit
¼ cup butter 
1 cup sugar
1 egg
¼ cup molasses
2 cups white flour
2 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp.salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. ground gloves 
1tsp. ground ginger

Directions:
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and molasses and beat well. Sift flour and mix with baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and salt. Sift again and then add it to the creamed mixture. Shape the dough into one-inch balls and roll them in a bowl of sugar. Set them two inches apart on an uncreased cookie . Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until just set and surface cracks. Cool on wire racks.  


Guten Appetit!
Recipe from the Wilder Ranch State Park Cookbook
Posted by Sunnycovechef.com

Wilder Ranch State Park is located on the Pacific Ocean coast north of Santa Cruz, California on scenic Highway 1. It has about 7000 acres with 34 miles of hiking, biking and equestrian trails. The 17 different trails range from easy to moderate, with a classic grassland, oak and redwood riparian landscape. For breathtaking scenery of surf crushing against the rugged cliffs, take the Old Cove Landing Trail along the bluffs. Hugging the coast, it has windswept beaches and is stunningly beautiful, with birds and other wildlife. You might catch a glimpse of migrating whales or watch a flock of pelicans flying just above the horizon. When visiting this park, you will experience the California coastline at its best. It is one of my favorite walks and I take it when I volunteer at the old ranch that is also part of Wilder State Park, and where the park gets its name.

For over five years, I have been a docent at this beautiful place. Wilder Ranch is a state historical park and cultural preserve. Step back in time and visit a late 19th century dairy farm with living animals, a restored Victorian house, a Gothic Revival farmhouse, a barn, a dairy, a working blacksmith shop, and a tool shed powered by a Pelton water wheel. The historical buildings are often open to the public and cater to school groups. My favorite holiday celebrations are the 4th of July and Christmas. As a docent, you can find me in the Victorian kitchen baking cookies on a 100-year old wooden stove that is very temperamental.

I love being out there on foggy mornings and sunny afternoons. Its ideal for children and leisurely picnics under the trees. During the school year, I volunteer when schoolchildren come to learn about life in the late 1800s. We milk fake cows (the children love it). We play old-fashioned games and feed the real cows that live on the farm. All the volunteers dress in clothing of the time period.

 Come visit—and bring your family and friends. Check the website for events and tours.  

We are surrounded by Mexican food where I live, which I have come to appreciate over the years. So, when I was given Gordon Ramsay’s Healthy, Lean, & Fit book, I was immediately drawn to the recipe for a Mexican shrimp cocktail. I have made this recipe several times and it is a winner on my table. It is made with a tangy tomato-based sauce. 

My husband and I enjoyed this dish with a white Burgundy and some crusty bread (or tortilla chips). It is perfect for a warm summer evening or lunch on the balcony. Life is good when you can enjoy a meal like this. If you are ambitious, you can cook the shrimp yourself. I didn’t, as I am at a certain age where I get tired after awhile. To simplify, I buy already cooked shrimp. 

I made some changes to the recipe, using cherry tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes. I substituted a Meyer lemon for the lime because I have a lemon tree. I peeled the cucumber.  

This recipe is a dinner for two and an appetizer for four. 

Ingredients:
1½ TBS ketchup
Juice of ½ orange
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Juice of 1 lime 
¼ cup cilantro, roughly chopped  
4 medium-sized tomatoes 
1 small white onion, finely diced
1 cucumber, finely diced 
14 ounces cooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 ripe avocado, diced
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Lime pieces to garnish

Directions:
In a large bowl, mix the ketchup, orange juice, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice. Add the cilantro, tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the shrimp and coat with the sauce. Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary. 
Serve the shrimp cocktail in a pretty glass or bowl with the avocado slices over it, topped with a slice of lime. If you want to add some hot sauce, go ahead (but I didn’t). 
​
Guten Appetit!
Recipe by Gordon Ramsey
Posted by © sunnycovechef.com
​ 

Here are some of my other shrimp recipes.  

This easy to make avocado salad with tiny bay shrimp has been a crowd pleaser in my house for years. It's a light meal for either lunch or dinner. You can prepare this in no time at all.
click here for the recipe

This baked shrimp with Quinoa, feta, and peas makes a scrumptious meal. 
​click here for the recipe

This salad is made with a celeriac root and could be a distant cousin of a Waldorf or a Caesar salad. It's a delicious combination.
​click here for the recipe

This apricot jicama salad is flavored with ginger . A perfect summer salad for a hot day. 
​click here for the recipe

When I first came to California I couldn’t stop eating all the fresh fruit that grows everywhere. My boyfriend (now husband) had an orange tree and every morning when the oranges were ripe, I had a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice. Maybe that is why I married him 46 years ago.
​My favorite fruits to eat are peaches and nectarines. There is something about these sweet and juicy fruits that I can’t resist. I don’t want to cook with them, I just want to eat them with their juice dripping down my chin. Apricots, I prefer in cakes, ice cream, and especially marmalade.

I always know that summer has arrived when I see the first peaches and nectarines in the Farmers Market. And I eat them until the season is over. Several years ago, my niece gave me a cookbook called The Forest Feast Gathering, Simple Vegetarian Menus for Hosting Friends & Family by Erin Gleeson. The artwork in this book is stunningly beautiful and invites you into the redwoods near where I live. The vegetarian recipes are simple but delicious. The Peach Panzanella salad I made was mouthwatering and fantastic. My husband and I loved it.

A classic Tuscan bread salad is made with ripe tomatoes, dried Italian bread, and a simple tangy dressing. The best bread for this salad is a crusty loaf with a chewy center and a good crunchy crust. I used a baguette I already had, but might use ciabatta the next time. You want the bread to absorb the dressing without it becoming too soggy. It will help if you cut the bread into pieces and let it dry overnight. Salt your tomatoes first to draw out the juices. This intensifies the flavors in the tomatoes and gives you some juice for the dressing. This salad makes a perfect lunch or light dinner. We had it with oysters. 
​

Ingredients:
½ to 1 crusty baguette cut into 1-inch cubes
3 peaches or nectarines, cubed
3 tomatoes 
8 oz (225) fresh mozzarella cubes, halved 
15 basil leaves sliced 
⅓ + 3 TBS  olive oil
3 TBS red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Dry the baguette cubes for a few hours if you have time. Preheat the oven to 350° (175 Celsius). Drizzle the bread with 3 TBS olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. Cut the tomatoes, sprinkle them with some salt, and drain them in a sieve. Make the vinaigrette by mixing the olive oil with the vinegar and the garlic. Toss all the ingredients with the vinaigrette and tomato juice from the drained tomatoes. Let the salad sit for about 15 minutes, then serve. 

​Guten Appetit!
Recipe from the Forest Feast Gathering 
Adapted by © sunnycovechef.com
​

 I have been home and cooking up a storm. I love cooking. Apricots are in season and I made my apricot marmalade. It's a lot of work but worth every minute.
​Click here for the recipe

I have some Apricots left from my marmalade and I will bake my apricot, berry cobbler with them. This is a real summer treat. Don't forget the ice cream.
​Here is the recipe

This yummy apricot jicama shrimp salad will not expand your waistline.
​Here is the recipe

If you are interested in a recipe for roasted apricot sorbet, an apricot galette, a German apricot cake ( easy to make) and apricot dumplings click here.

There are some days when you are tired, lazy, or whatever you want to call it. I had one of those days a few weeks ago watching cooking reels on my phone. I came across an Italian Chef named  Luca Pontanarosa. He owns a restaurant called Ristorante Corleone in Point Saint Lucie, Florida. One of his recipes got my attention. He called it: paccheri with cream of asparagus and burrata cheese with crispy speck. Paccheri is a large rigatoni-like pasta. I used a smaller tube pasta  and hickory-smoked bacon instead of Speck. I wish I had had Speck, but it’s not readily available. 

It turned out to be a delicious creamy pasta that will have a permanent place on my table. The combination of asparagus with burrata, basil, and parmesan cheese is amazing. It is rich and full of flavor. The bacon adds a lot, so I wouldn’t skip it. My husband calls this the Italian version of macaroni and cheese. He suggests the following wine pairing: a crisp white Bordeaux and a tantalizing pinot from Burgundy. Sorry, he prefers French wines. 

I used my Vitamix because I wanted a smooth sauce. I don’t like to have any stringy asparagus pieces in my sauce (a personal preference).  A blender would do the same thing. The original sauce looked more chunky. 

 We invited some friends and my husband grilled his famous rack of lamb. I made my tomatoes stuffed with zucchini and button mushrooms. Most of the time, I use shiitake mushrooms with this recipe, but the button mushrooms were just as good. Here is a link to the recipe. It was a delicious meal. 

This  pasta dish is the perfect comfort food and vegetable haters will eat some of the green stuff. I am thrilled to have found this recipe. The amount of pasta is up to you. If you want more sauce, cook less noodles. Add pasta water if you want a thinner sauce. This dish feeds 4-6 people comfortably, depending on individual appetites or what it is served with it. 

Ingredients:

¾ lb. tube pasta 
1 lb. green asparagus
1 large burrata cheese piece
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
⅓ cup basil leaves , sliced 
4 strips hickory-smoked bacon
3 TBS butter
2 TBS  or more olive oil 
1 cup or more hot pasta water
Salt and pepper 

Directions:

Put on some Big Night Italian music and heat up the pasta water. Add 1 TBS of salt to the pasta water.
Cut off the tips of the asparagus and put them aside. Break up the woody end of the asparagus and discard. Slice the asparagus stems in 1-inch pieces. Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan with a lid. Add the asparagus and sauté for a few minutes.  Add 1 cup pasta water and simmer covered for 20 minutes. Most of the liquid will evaporate after 20 minutes. While the asparagus is cooking, grate the parmesan cheese. I use a micro plane. Put the bacon in a cold frying pan and sauté until crispy. Discard most of the bacon fat and sauté the asparagus tips in the pan. Break the bacon into little pieces and restrain yourself from eating too many. 
Put the asparagus pieces, the burrata and parmesan cheese, the basil leaves, salt and pepper into a Vitamix or blender. Start with the lowest setting and then increase to more until the sauce is smooth. Taste the sauce, add salt and pepper, some more pasta water and a shot of olive oil. You want a thick and smooth sauce. In the meantime, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the bag. Taste for doneness. Mix the drained pasta with the sauce. Add the asparagus tips and bacon. Taste for seasoning and add more pasta water if necessary.  

Buon Appetito!
Recipe by Luca Pontarosa
Cooked by © Sunnycovechef 
​

Here are some more asparagus dishes
​

This soup has a permanent place in my kitchen. It is made in 20 minutes and so delicious. A nourishing healthy soup that I can wholeheartedly recommend.
​Here is the recipe.

A vegan asian salad that will please anyone's palate. Perfect for a picnic or party. Here is the recipe

This tart flambé or Flammkuchen as we call it in Germany is a pizza-like delicacy for the young and not so young. 
​Here is the recipe

This simple but tasty frittata is on the table in 20 minutes. 
Here is the recipe

In the world of food you are either a rhubarb lover or hater. I love rhubarb and when I see it in the store I start baking and cooking with it. When I was a child in Germany rhubarb grew wild in the fields and I remember eating delicious rhubarb cakes. Raw rhubarb makes your mouth pucker but once you cook this vegetable and add sweetener, it turns into a culinary delight, at least for me. It tastes like a green apple with a tiny hint of celery. 

Red rhubarb stalks have a stronger sweeter flavor. The green stalks are fine if you can’t find the red ones. When you buy them in the store select the larger stalks that are not curled or limp. Tenderness is not related to size. Look for stems without visible blemishes. 
Rhubarb is a vegetable. It is a member of the buckwheat family. The ancient Chinese used it as a medicinal herb over 5000 years ago. Rhubarb is a native of Siberia and got its name from the Rha River which is now called the Volga. The English were the first to eat rhubarb in the 17th century but started eating the leaves which contain a toxic amount of oxalic acid. It took them 200 years to figure out that they could eat the stalks. American settlers brought the plant to the US. 

I planted three plants in my tiny garden, which have survived gopher attacks and neglect. Even though my plants are several years old they produce just a few thin stalks with giant toxic leaves. 

I use the peel from the rhubarb and some tiny stalks to make the most delicious juice. I added the peel to a pot of water  (3 cups)  with a few tablespoons of sugar and cooked them for 20 minutes. I end up with a tasty juice to add to my sparkling or plain water.  It would be great for exotic cocktails. ​

Soon after we returned from our trip, I  hosted our book club and made this cake for dessert. For a main dish, I  prepared my chicken fricassee with fresh green asparagus baked in a dish covered with puff pastry. It was delicious, I started from scratch by making my chicken broth. It does make a difference. I put all my vegetable and bone scraps in the freezer and use them for my broth when the time comes. Click on the photos for the recipe.

This cake is not rich and sweet, it’s like a coffee cake you can enjoy any time of the day. It is good for a couple of days and feeds a crowd. You determine the size of the pieces you want to cut. I served it with vanilla ice cream but prefer it with whipped cream. I used my Kitchen Aid for this recipe.

Ingredients:
The crust:
(220g) Butter at room temperature 
1 ¼ cup (200g) powdered sugar
4 eggs at room temperature 
a pinch of salt
1 ¾ cup (220g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
​The Streusel:
9 TBS ( 20g) butter 
1 ⅓ cup (170g) all-purpose flour
a pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla  sugar 
1 scant cup (150g) sugar
The Rhubarb Filling:
1 ¼ pound rhubarb
¼  cup (30g) sugar 
¼ cup (30g) flour
Directions:
Preheat the oven to  350˚ degrees 
Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
The Streusel:
Melt the butter and let it cool. I used my KitchenAid to mix the chilled butter, powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, and flour with the hook attachment until the dough turned into streusels. I put the streusels in a bowl and used my hand to make them even and loosen them before I returned them to the refrigerator.
The Crust
Cream the soft butter and powdered sugar for about five minutes until the dough has doubled. Add one egg at a time. Mix and sift the flour with salt and baking powder and add to the dough. Mix the dough until the flour is incorporated. Spread the dough evenly onto the prepared baking sheet.

Wash and peel the rhubarb. Slice the rhubarb into ¼ inch slices and mix with the flour and sugar. Spread them evenly over the cake.  Sprinkle the streusel over the cake and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Cool the cake before serving.
​.
Guten Appetit!
recipe by from 
​https://www.sweetsandlifestyle.com/rhabarberkuchen-mit-streusel/#google_vignette
translated by Sunnycovechef.com

​

Here are some of my other Rhubarb recipes I posted over the years

A stunning strawberry rhubarb cake topped with meringue . 
​click here for the recipe

A  healthy  yogurt mousse with rhubarb compote
click her for the recipe

An easy to make rhubarb and strawberry crisp
​click here for the recipe

Roasted rhubarb and strawberry ice cream, a refreshing and  tasty treat .
​click her for the recipe 

A recipe for rhubarb and strawberry pie from my friend Robert
click ​here  for the recipe

It is raining and storming her at my little cove on the Pacific Ocean. My suitcases are packed for another adventure. We are emptying our fridge, which includes some bacon. So, my husband volunteered to make his famous BLT sandwich. What a wonderful guy I have! The day before, I made some homemade mayonnaise with just five ingredients. At first, I was skeptical because there was a most unusual ingredient in this recipe. This mayonnaise is made with water from garbanzo beans, and it has no eggs in it. Unbelievable but true, and it is delicious. It has a light and subtle tangy flavor and tastes like real mayonnaise. I love it. The recipe comes from one of my favorite German YouTube channels, Thomas kocht. I posted his recipe for Flammkuchen (flatbread ) on my blog. I tried other recipes from him, and they are all good.

So far, I had the mayonnaise with my artichokes and on my sandwiches. The wonderful thing is that it is made in a few minutes with very few ingredients. The first time I made it, I used my mini food processor, because I couldn’t find the container for my immersion blender. It worked, but I preferred making it with my immersion blender after I found the container. This is really amazing and I hope you try it. 

I have been tinkering with different sauces and herb butter, but the results have not been blog-worthy. This recipe, however, was a winner the first time I made it.
​So, with no further ado, here is the recipe. All I can say is, please try it the next time you open a can of garbanzo beans. You won’t believe how good it is.

Ingredients:
This recipe yields a scant cup of mayonnaise. One 15-ounce can of garbanzo beans has enough juice for two batches of mayonnaise.
¼ cup (50g) liquid from a can of garbanzo beans
½  tsp salt
¾  tsp mustard 
A splash of lemon
⅔ cup and 4 TBS (200 ml) sunflower oil

Directions:
Put all the ingredients (except, the oil) in your immersion container. Mix to combine the ingredients. Now, slowly add the oil while moving the blender up and down. Stop when it becomes solid. 

Guten Appetit!
The recipe  is from Thomas kocht
Posted by ©sunnycovechef.com

What to do with the actual garbanzo beans? Make humus, put them in a salad, or roast them for a snack. Here is Melissa Clark’s recipe from the NYT for roasted chickpeas using Za’atar, a Middle Eastern spice mix made from dried thyme, sumac, and sesame seeds. This gives the chickpeas a tangy bite. I enjoy snacking on them. 

Ingredients:
​1 15 ½ ounce can of garbanzo beans 
½ TBS olive oil 
1 TBS. Za’atar
¼-½ tsp. salt
Directions: 
Rinse the chickpeas, pat them dry, and let them dry for an hour.
Heat the oven to 400 degrees. 
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, spreading the beans evenly. Bake them in the center of the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until they are crunchy, shaking and rotating them every 10 minutes.
Place the chickpeas in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, za’atar, and salt. Store them in an airtight container for up to a week.
​ Recipe from Maureen Abood, written and adapted for the NYT by Melissa Clark
Adapted again by Sunnycovechef.com

The wind is blowing my hair all over my face while I am trying to write about my cruise on the Queen Elizabeth from San Francisco to Fort Lauderdale via the Panama Canal. I am sitting on a balcony in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, sailing by the coastline of Colombia, passing the towns and cities of Cartagena, Barranquilla, and Santa Marta before reaching the Guajira Peninsula. This peninsula is split between northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela and is the northernmost peninsula in South America. Every day of our cruise, we get a ship program with information like this from our navigator. It is an adventure but a comfortable one because I am on a beautiful ship with excellent food, exquisite surroundings, and British flair. Every night, I am entertained by different artists or favorite music and can dance the night away. The day is filled with dance classes, exercise, reading a book from the 3000-book library, or relaxing on a deck chair. I am ten days into my 15-day journey, and it has been wonderful. There are people on this ship who have gone around the world.

Unfortunately, I didn't do much writing. I just had too much fun while cruising. Now, several months later, I have to rely on my memory. The highlight of this cruise was going through the Panama Canal, which was on my bucket list. Our speaker was Richard Wainio, who was extremely knowledgeable about the history of the canal and anything else you want to know about Panama. He had many personal stories to tell because he lived and worked as the director of the canal board during the transition from the American to the Panamanian government, which took many years. It was a privilege to transit the Panama Canal after a lifetime of hearing about it. 

We embarked in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, for the day. Even though I only saw it for one day, I got a feeling for the island. We hiked through the jungle, and I had a great conversation with an American who had lived in Costa Rica for many years and owned a botanical garden. 

An earlier stop on our journey was Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. While, there we took a small boat ride through Lovers Beach and Los Arcos, a natural archway. 

How can I describe the Queen Elizabeth? It is sassy, elegant and relaxing. I loved the daily talks, the food, the dress standards, the shows, and the service. I enjoyed mingling with different people from all around the world. I rarely, if ever, get to dress for special events at home, so on this ship, I finally had the opportunity. It was so much fun. I only wish I was a better dancer. I apologize to all the people that I stepped on. However, if you want to relax and unwind, this is the perfect way to do it. I fell in love with cruising, and I am fortunate that I am about to embark on another cruise on this beautiful boat. Stay tuned. 

Last week, my girlfriend Diane surprised me with a bag of chanterelles she found on her mountain in Corralitos. Corralitos is in Santa Cruz County’s southern region. This idyllic area, known for its orchards and redwood-covered hillsides, is a tranquil place to enjoy the countryside. 

I was in cook’s heaven when I saw these freshly picked chanterelles. I thought about sautéeing them in a little butter with shallots and cream and having them with crusty sourdough bread. What a treat! Chanterelles are great in a creamy pasta dish or an omelet for breakfast. Creating a dish with these beautiful and delicious mushrooms has so many possibilities. I chose a galette from Dorie Greenspan’s cookbook Everyday Dorie. I have used this book for several recipes and have not been disappointed yet.

The galette was a culinary treat, with the filling full of different flavors complemented by a flaky crust. It is an all-butter crust, which I like, and comes together quickly in a food processor. Of course, it can also be made by hand. I put the butter in the freezer for about 25 minutes. Instead of chanterelles, you can substitute other mushrooms. When the chanterelles are no longer available, I might try a mixture of shiitake and button mushrooms. The galette is delicious, warm, or at room temperature. Serve it with a salad, and you have a delicious lunch, dinner, or snack.

Life in Sunny Cove has been good. We have been busy with visitors and enjoyed reminiscing about old times and contemplating whatever future we have left. It has been raining on and off, so it's time to curl up in front of a fire and slow down. 

Don't omit any of the ingredients, Dorie Greenspan did a wonderful job creating this dish. The walnuts add an extra crunch to the galette.
​

Ingredients:
The crust:
1 ½ cup ( 240 grams ) all-purpose flour 
½ tsp. fine sea salt
2 TBS sugar
8 TBS (4 ounces, 113 grams ) cold (almost frozen) butter, cut into 16 pieces
¼ cup (60ml) ice water

Directions for the crust:
Put flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor and pulse a few times to blend the ingredients. Scatter the pieces of butter over the mixture and pulse until you have small-sized pieces with some larger ones. Add more of the water and pulse again, continuing with more water scraping down the sides of the food processor. Pulse until the dough comes together. Turn the dough onto a piece of plastic food wrap, flatten it to a disc, and roll the dough into a 12-inch circle between two pieces of plastic food wrap. Refrigerate for at least two hours. 

The filling:
1 TBS olive oil 
½ pound (227 grams) mushrooms 
4 slices bacon
2 leeks, white and light green parts only
1 garlic clove finely chopped
 fine sea salt
3 TBS dry white wine
2 TBS heavy cream
3 TBS walnuts 
¼ cup (24 grams) finely grated parmesan 
1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves 
Freshly ground pepper 

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Center the oven rack in the middle. Roast the walnuts for about 10 minutes. 
Cut the leeks in half and thinly slice them. Wash them and let them drip dry in a sieve. 
My chanterelles were very dirty, so I rinsed them quickly under cold running water and patted them dry with a paper towel. Cut off the bottom of the stem and slice the rest of the chanterelles into bite-sized pieces.
Cut the bacon into ¾-inch slices and sauté over medium heat until crisp. Transfer the bacon to a platter covered with a paper towel. Pour off all but 1 TBS of bacon fat from the pan. 
Pour the olive oil into the frying pan with the bacon fat. Heat on medium, toss in the leeks, and fry for a few minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook for about five minutes or until the vegetables are softened. The mushrooms will release water, but it will evaporate as you continue to cook. Season with salt and add the wine, stirring and scraping the pan until the wine has evaporated about two minutes. Pour in the cream and cook until it is mostly absorbed. Remove the pan from the heat and add the bacon, walnuts, 2 TBS parmesan, thyme, and pepper. Taste for seasoning. You can make the filling ahead and keep it in the fridge for a couple of days. 
Take the dough out of the fridge and let it sit for a few minutes. Peel off the plastic wrap and put the dough on a piece of wax paper on a cookie sheet. Scrape the filling into the middle of the dough and spread into a 9-inch circle. Fold the bare border over the filling. As you fold the dough, it will pleat on itself. Bake the galette for about 30 minutes until golden brown. Sprinkle the remaining parmesan over the galette and enjoy this special treat.

​Guten Appetit!
Recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s cookbook Everyday Dorie
Posted by the ©Sunnycovechef 
​

Think stuffed mushrooms with an Asian twist. The shiitake mushrooms are stuffed with ground pork, water, chestnuts, and ginger. Your football fans might like these little morsels. Click here for the recipe.

This is one of the first recipes I posted on my blog. It could be a special treat for Valentine's Day if you have a vegetarian sweetie. The crepes are filled with shiitake mushrooms and goat cheese.  Click here for the recipe. 

I have always loved this chocolate tart. It doesn't have a lot of sugar, and the chocolate and crust complement each other nicely.
​                                             Click here for the recipe.

I am not a big breakfast person. Give me a glass of water, a nice cup of coffee, and a piece of toast, and I am satisfied. But lately, I discovered homemade granola, and it has become a game changer. It is my go-to breakfast. Trust me, homemade granola is so much better than the store-bought kind. For me, the store-bought ones are too sweet and often have things added that I don’t like. With homemade granola, you can choose your own nuts, seeds, dried fruit, sweetener, and flavoring. You can control whatever you want to add. Once you make it, it lasts for weeks in the pantry. I have been playing with various ingredients for a couple of months. Every homemade granola recipe I have come across uses coconut flakes. But I don’t like coconut. I recommend adding them if you like them. If you have the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perlman, check out her granola recipe. She likes her granola in clusters and adds a whipped egg white to the granola mixture before she spreads it out on the baking sheet. I have not done that. Whatever you do, you will end up with a jar of crunchy, chewy, and lightly sweetened granola. This is also a wonderful project to do with children, that way, they can create their own breakfast.

Life at Sunny Cove has had its ups and downs. I find solace in the kitchen as long as my husband cleans up my mess. I have slowed down tremendously. I need breaks now, so no more multitasking. I am fortunate that I have family and friends who support me.

Be creative and design your own granola: add your favorite nuts and seeds, but remember that they need to be roasted before adding them. Use a sweetener if you like and however much you like. My preferred choice for sweeteners is honey and maple syrup. For dried fruits, I use raisins, cranberries, cherries, or a mixture of all. Deb Perlman from Smitten Kitchen adds roasted wheat germ. For fats, I use sunflower oil, but you may also use olive oil, coconut-, or canola oil. Some recipes call for melted butter. 

Ingredients:
This recipe makes about 4-5 cups of granola

3 ½ cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup toasted hazelnuts
¼ cup ground flax seeds
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp.salt
½ cup pumpkin or sunflower seeds  
⅓ cup sunflower oil
⅓ cup honey
2  TBS maple syrup
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup (or more) dried cranberries, raisins, cherries, or other fruit

Directions:
Preheat the to 300˚ F (150˚C)
Cover the baking sheet with waxed paper
Combine the oats, hazelnuts, and flax seeds in a large bowl. 
Combine the wet ingredients and spices in another bowl.
Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ones. Spread them out on the cookie sheet covered with wax paper and bake until golden, approximately 40-45 minutes, tossing occasionally. Add the dried fruits and store them in an airtight container.
​
Guten Appetit!
Recipe from the sunnycovechef.com
​

Here are some more recipes for breakfast or brunch. 

These  healthy savory  muffins will give you energy for a long time.
Click here for the recipe

Avocado toast with homemade preserved lemons. 
​Click here for the recipe

Healthy banana pancakes
​Click here for the recipe.

It has been a while since my last blog post. Time seems to just run away from me. I spent two wonderful weeks in Germany for a family event. I am always happy when I see my family and friends and reconnect with them, even if it is only for a short time. What a privilege. After five days in my village, I drove with my niece to Lüneburg, which is my favorite town in Germany. I ended my trip In Berlin with my niece and her family. We had a great time at the Berlin Zoo and Aquarium with my two-year-old grand niece. I returned several weeks ago, and I have to say that this time, I had a bad case of jet lag for a week. Age may have something to do with it. 

​A couple of years ago, I bought this wonderful cookbook called Baking At the 20th Century Cafe by Michelle Polzine. The author specializes in baked goods from across the former Austro-Hungarian empire. I cannot resist these delicious delicacies. What I especially like is that she substitutes domestic ingredients for the often hard-to-find European ingredients. I love this, and I find her recipes exquisite.  I posted her recipe for roasted strawberry ice cream in September.
​

Two of my favorite jams are sour cherry and red currant. Both fruits are rarely available here in California, and if you find them, they are expensive. This faux red currant jam is made from cranberries and pomegranate juice and comes very close to the real thing. I have made it for three years now, and everyone seems to like it. And it is perfect on baked brie or pears. And it is delicious with duck or on any cake or cookie, like Linzer torte. It also makes a great gift for the holidays. I have doubled and tripled this recipe. I learned a new way to prepare the jars for the jam by putting the clean jars in a warm oven.

Ingredients:
This recipe makes about three 8-ounce jars

3 cups (300 grams) fresh cranberries
2 cups  (390 grams) sugar
2 cups pomegranate juice

Directions:
Put a small plate in the freezer
Preheat the oven to 250˚ F (120 Celsius). 
Put the clean canning jars on a sheet pan lined with a damp towel and transfer it to the oven. Put the jar lids, funnel, and tongs in simmering water on the stove.
Wash the cranberries and discard any squishy ones. Put them in a large pot with the juice and sugar and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, skimming off the foam that rises to the top. Reduce the heat so that the mixture simmers until the berries pop. Stir with a whisk to break up the berries. I use a masher to smash the berries. Continue cooking until the mixture has thickened and registers 221˚F (105˚Celsius) on an instant-read-thermometer. It will take about 10 to 15 minutes. To test, drop a spoonful on the chilled plate and see if it has thickened. 
Remove the jars from the oven and ladle the jam into them, filling each one within a millimeter of the top. Wipe the rims of the jars with a wet paper towel, and seal the jars with the lids and rings. Invert the jars and let them cool.
After a few hours, test the jars to make sure they have sealed. And tighten the rings. If they are not sealed, put them in a water bath for 10 to 15 minutes and boil them until the tops pop. You know your jars are sealed when the lid doesn't move when you press on it. To be totally safe, follow the manufacturer's instructions that come with the jars.
​
Guten Appetit!
Recipe by Michelle Polzine from her book Baking At The 20th Century Cafe
Posted by the Sunnycovechef.com

My cranberry ketchup is perfect on any sandwich but will elevate a turkey sandwich to a different level.
​Click here for the recipe.

In 2016, I posted this recipe for Linzer Torte. The cranberry-pomegranate jam will be perfect for it. 
Click here  for the Linzer Torte recipe 

Whenever I visit Germany, I have to have Matjes herring. It is a northern German dish that I absolutely love. I have discovered a way to make it here at home. 
Click here for the recipe. 

Next week, it is my turn to host our book club.  Because it's the holiday season, I am treating them to a cioppino dinner. Cioppino is a medley of fresh seafood in a rich wine and tomato broth. This has been my go-to dish for many years when entertaining during the winter months. 
Click here for the recipe.

Several weeks ago, I came across this recipe in the Wall Street Journal. I knew right away that I had to try it, and I am so glad I did. It turned out to be a winner. My hubby, who prefers steak over chicken, loved it and ate it with gusto. This recipe has a sweetness with a lot of added flavor. Let’s face it, chicken can get boring, but this recipe livens it up with the sauce. The figs and grapes add a luscious taste. You could omit the fruit,t but I wouldn’t. I might add prunes instead of figs or use just grapes. I made this for my Sunday dinner with rice and spinach. What a treat!

Life has been very good here at Sunny Cove. The weather is perfect, except for a 3 -day heatwave that brought over crowds from the Bay Area wanting to cool off in the ocean. I was busy in my kitchen making Königsberger Klopse, a yearly event for my German girlfriends. I also prepared a salmon dinner for five of my Swiss friends. My husband got a special treat when I made him my herring recipe. I have been experimenting with different recipes, some of them ended up not being blog worthy. There are some other great recipes I can’t wait to post. However, I might be running out of time, because I am leaving for Germany for a family event: my grandniece is being baptized. It’s a joyful event and I will see all my relatives.

This chicken dish will be on my table often. When figs are no longer in season, I will experiment with different fruits, although I think grapes add a wow factor to this dish. The sauce is definitely a winner. I have frozen a couple of the thighs for my husband to eat when I am gone.  However, I made a few minor changes, I poured off most of the chicken fat before frying the onions, leaving about 3 tablespoons in the pan. In the original recipe, the dish is baked at a high temperature for 15 minutes. I reduced my cooking time to 10 minutes or less. I prepared the dish in the morning and reheated it at dinner time with the high heat. I didn’t cover my dish with foil but instead used the lid for my pan. I used regular Dijon mustard instead of grainy mustard. I bought my date syrup at Trader Joe’s. When I cooked it again, I substituted blue agave syrup for the date syrup.

Ingredients :
This recipe serves 6
¾  cup chicken stock
1 TBS cornstarch 
1 ½ TBS mustard 
2 TBS date syrup
1 TBS honey
1 TBS fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. salt plus more for seasoning 
½ tsp. freshly ground pepper
¼  tsp. chili flakes
6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (2½ pounds)
2 TBS olive oil
2 red onions cut into small wedges
¼ cup white wine
8  medium figs
½ pound red grapes
6 thyme sprigs, plus chopped thyme for garnish 

Directions:
Set the rack 8 inches from the broiler. Preheat oven 400˚degrees F. 
In a bowl, whisk together broth and cornstarch until dissolved. Add in honey, mustard, date juice, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and chili flakes.
Generously season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Wash and cut the stems off the figs. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the chicken skin-side down for 5 minutes or more until the skin is crisp and golden. Flip and cook one more minute. Transfer the chicken to a platter and cover with foil. Discard most of the chicken fat, leaving about 3 tablespoons. Add onions to the skillet, and cook until slightly browned, 3-4 minutes. Put the cooked onions on the platter. Add the wine to the skillet, stirring and scraping up bits from the pan until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add the broth mixture, bring it to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until thickened slightly for 2-3 minutes. Return the chicken and onions to the pan with the accumulated juices. Nestle the figs and the grapes among chicken pieces and scatter the thyme sprigs around. Spoon some of the sauce over the chicken. Cover the pan with foil (or a lid) and bake the dish for 20 minutes or until the grapes and figs begin to soften. When you are ready to serve this dish, spoon some more sauce over the chicken and bake it in a preheated oven at 425˙ Fahrenheit for another 10 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped thyme.


Guten Appetit!
The Wall Street Journal adapted the recipe from a cookbook called Shabbat: Recipes and Rituals from My Table to Yours by Adeena Sussmann.
Posted by sunnycovechef.com 

We are still getting the sweetest strawberries here in Santa Cruz. I have been buying them from Ron, my Dutch buddy, at the farmers market for many years. He grows and sells them only at local farmers' markets. Sometimes, I buy too many, and they start looking sad in my fridge. What am I to do? I hate throwing good food away. Several years ago, I bought a great cookbook called Baking At The 20th Century Cafe by Michelle Polzine, who used to own a cafe in San Francisco that made Austrian-Hungarian delicacies. The cafe has since closed, but her book has been one of my favorite cookbooks. She substitutes local ingredients in her baking. I made several of her recipes, and they are all very good—and you can’t tell the difference from the original Austrian recipe. I know because I had both. She was nominated for the James Beard Pastry Chef Award.

In her book, she makes cream puffs filled with strawberry ice cream and chocolate sauce. I made the strawberry ice cream. The roasted strawberries are out of this world. I kept some for my morning yogurt, and just thinking about them makes me hungry.

The amount of sugar you will need depends on the sweetness of the strawberries. Her recipe calls for ⅓ cup, but I reduced mine to 3 TBS of sugar. I cut her recipe in half and ended up with a generous cup of roasted strawberries and 4 cups of ice cream.
My tasters approved of the richly flavored ice cream, even though my 40-year-old ice cream machine is having issues, and I think I need to replace it with a new one. I liked the ice cream best when it was soft after just a few hours in the freezer. However, most of it was eaten when it had been in the freezer for days. I made my own version of a banana split with it for some Swiss friends. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did.

Ingredients for roasted strawberries:
This amount makes a little more than 1 cup.
1 pound strawberries
3 TBS sugar
Preheat oven to 300˚F Fahrenheit  (150˚Celsius)

Directions for the roasted strawberries :
Arrange the strawberries in a single layer in a glass dish or baking dish and sprinkle the sugar over it. Roast the strawberries for about 3 hours, stirring every hour, until the juice has been reduced to a syrup. After the berries have cooled, transfer them with their juices to an airtight container. They will last in the fridge for several days. 

Ingredients for the ice cream:
2 cups strawberries
1 cup heavy cream
4 egg yolks
¼ cup granulated sugar
¾ -1 cup roasted strawberries

Directions for the ice cream:
Wash and hull the strawberries. Puree them in a blender or food processor. You should have about a cup and a half. 
Heat the cream in a heavy saucepan until it begins to bubble at the edges of the pan. Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl. Gradually whisk some (about ⅓) of the hot mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Be careful, or the mixture will curdle, and you will have to start all over again. Pour the mixture back into the pan with the remaining cream and cook, stirring often, until it registers 170˚F (200 Celsius) on an instant-read thermometer. Pour the mixture through a sieve, stir in the strawberry puree, cover, and refrigerate overnight.  Process the mixture in an ice cream maker. Follow the instructions for your machine. When the ice cream is completely frozen, add the roasted strawberries with some of the syrup and continue churning it for a few minutes. Transfer the ice cream to a container and freeze. 
Guten Appetit!
Recipe from Baking at the 20th Century Cafe 
By Michelle Polzine
Posted by the Sunnycovechef

We are having a  Pinot Noir wine tasting at our house next week. I am thinking of serving the following recipes.  

These salmon miso rillettes make a great snack or appetizer.
Click here for the recipe

Flammkuchen or flatbread makes a great snack with a glass of wine.
​Click here for the recipe

I think that these little cheddar cheese puffs will taste good with a glass of wine.
​Click here for the recipe

This cake is the quintessential German sheet cake. When the Zwetschgen are in season, you will find this cake in every bakery. It is always made with Italian plums, or Zwetschgen, as we call them in Germany. Read more about the Zwetschgen here, where I posted a delicious cake recipe for them. For this recipe, I decided to try a different dough using yeast, which is the traditional way in Germany when baking Zwetschgenkuchen. It is customary to bake the Kuchen on large baking sheets. The dough is drier and uses only 3 tablespoons of sugar. Think of pizza dough. My husband says this is not a Safeway cake (which is his favorite), it is dense and heavy but tasty. He approved, after all. (He has to.) There are many different recipes, but I decided to use Luisa Weiss’s recipe from her Classic German Baking book. She did all the homework for me, adapting the sheet cake to American ingredients. Thank you, Luisa! By the way, if you enjoy German sweets, this book is fantastic.

Luisa’s recipe only uses one half-sheet, which will make enough for 10-12 pieces. That’s great because this sheet cake is best when freshly baked and still okay on the second day. It tastes twice as good with whipped cream. Don’t skimp on the plums (you barely want to see the base of the cake). The next time I bake this cake, I will use more plums and maybe a little more sugar and butter. The streusel adds sweetness and richness. My godmother, a gifted baker, would often bake the cake with a custard on top. I loved that. Try omitting the streusel and sprinkle some sugar over the plums before baking it. Then, you could call it a plum pizza. Please try this cake with whipped cream. It makes all the difference and elevates this cake to a different level.

Ingredients:
The Dough:
7 ounces (200 g) of all-purpose flour, more for kneading
3 TBS sugar 
1 tsp. Instant yeast
½ tsp. lemon zest
pinch of salt
3 TBS (40g) unsalted  European butter
1 egg yolk
The Plums:
2 -2 ½ pounds Italian plums
The Streusel:
4.2 ounces (120 g) all-purpose flour (about a cup)
⅓ cup (70 g) sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
pinch of salt
5 TBS. (70 g) unsalted European-style butter softened 

Directions:
Melt the butter and let it cool. Bring the milk and egg yolk to room temperature. (Milk should be warm to the touch). 
Line a 9 x 13-inch metal baking sheet with parchment paper, letting the sides hang over the edges.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, yeast, lemon peel, and salt. Mix in the butter, milk, and egg yolk. Once the dough is formed, dump it on a floured work surface and knead it for 5 minutes. It should be silky smooth. Add a little bit more flour, but not too much. The dough should still be soft and slightly floppy. 
Form the dough into a ball and place it in a buttered bowl. Cover the bowl with a dishcloth and place in a warm, draft-free location for about an hour or until the dough has doubled in bulk.
Preheat the oven to 350˙ Fahrenheit (180˙C )
Prepare the topping, halve and pit the plums, then quarter them. For the streusel, mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and add to the flour mixture. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour mixture until you have bean-sized streusels. Cover and refrigerate the streusel mixture until ready to use. 
Gently deflate the dough with your fingers and push it evenly to fit the pan, creating a 1-inch edge. The rest of the dough should be about 1/8 inch thick.
Starting at the edges, push the plums skin-side down into the dough. The plums should be snug together so that no dough is showing. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the cake. Bake the cake on the middle rack of the oven for 40-45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the edges of the streusel are turning colors.
Cut this cake into serving pieces. It is best served the same day or the next. It tastes great when it is still warm, smothered with whipped cream.

Guten Appetit!
Recipe by Luisa Weiss
Posted by Sunnycovechef.com

This plum tart has a buttery crust . Click here for the recipe.

Marian Burro's recipe for plum cake was printed in the New York Times for years. Click here for the recipe

My favorite recipe for spiced plum butter. We call it Zwetschgenmus in Germany. Click here for the recipe

Whenever I arrive in Germany I seek out one of my favorite meals. It is Matjes herring with fried or boiled potatoes. Matjes herring is a young female herring with silvery skin that has not yet laid eggs. They are caught in the North Sea at the end of May and beginning of June while they still have some of their winter fat. The word Matjeshering is borrowed from the Dutch word maatjesharing and from the middle Dutch word medykenshering, which translates to “maiden herring”.

During the pandemic, when I wasn’t able to travel, I recreated my favorite dish at home, and to my surprise, my husband loved it. I have been making it ever since. In the beginning, I ordered Matjeshering, but it was very expensive for just a few pieces of herring. It had to be shipped cold, which meant a lot of packaging. Honestly, I love the Matjes herring I get in Germany, but I couldn’t tell that much difference from the pickled herring that you can buy in jars everywhere here in California. I buy two 12-ounce jars of herring in wine sauce. Make sure you get large pieces of good-quality herring. My husband bought a jar that had tiny little pieces of herring, which was not very good.

On a personal note, for quite a few months, I lost interest in my blog. It was like I lost an old friend when I had my blog redone. But slowly, I am getting back into posting more recipes. The recipes in my blog are still there. Family and friends enjoy them, and occasionally, I get a notice that my niece or some other person has used one of my recipes. This keeps me going, and it gives me something else to think about other than dealing with age-related illnesses, family problems, and the political situation in Europe and elsewhere in the world.

Let’s return to my Matjes herring. The last few times I made it, I bought a large jar of herring in wine sauce at Costco and used it for this recipe. If you are a purist, go ahead and order the Matjes herring from Amazon or other sources. I was told that IKEA sometimes has it. I found a store in Brooklyn that also has it and will ship. Let Mr. Google help you find a source, but watch the quantity of the actual herring.

There are different recipes for serving Matjes herring. My favorite is the one I am posting here. The herring is served in a cream sauce with onions, apples, and pickles.  I like to serve my herring with fried potatoes, but boiled potatoes are just as good.

The Herring needs to be refrigerated for a few hours for all the flavors to blend. This recipe makes 4 generous servings.
​

Ingredients :
​
1 lb. (500g) herring in wine sauce 
1 medium-sized crunchy apple  
1 cup thinly sliced onion
1 cup chopped dill pickles 
½ cup (150g) crème fraîche  
4 TBS heavy cream
1 TBS champagne vinegar 
½ tsp sugar 
½ -1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper 
2 juniper berry kernels 
2 allspice kernels 
1 TBS mineral water
1 TBS fresh lemon juice
​

Directions:
Rinse the herring and let it drip through a sieve. Only use the herring and discard the rest. Cut the onion in half and thinly slice it, soaking it in a bowl with lemon juice while you prepare the sauce. Mix the créme fraîche, cream, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, juniper berries, allspice kernels, and mineral water into a smooth sauce. Core and cut the apples into bite-sized pieces. You can peel them if you wish. Chop the pickles into bite-sized pieces. Add everything to the sauce and taste for seasoning. Add additional salt, pepper, and sugar as needed. Keep the dish covered in the fridge for about three hours, which will improve the flavor. 

​Guten Appetit!    
Recipe from the Sunnycovechef.com
​

Here is a French version of a salmon sheet pan dish with vermouth and fennel. Click here for the recipe.

Here is an easy to make but delicious baked shrimp dish with Quinoa and peas.
Click here for the recipe.

Poached halibut with apricot salsa , a light dish for a hot summer day.
​Click here for the recipe.

It has been over a month since I blogged. There is a reason for that. I visited my family in Germany and took my computer thinking that I would find time to write and blog. I was wrong, I never turned on the computer. Being with my family was more important. The sun didn’t set until 10:00 pm and those long evenings were spent visiting with each other. There were the family problems, the political situation, and so much more to talk about. Here is an update on my brother’s Ukrainian women. Last year my brother hosted a grandmother, mother, and 14 year old daughter. The girl is going to school, the mother is working in a factory nearby and the grandmother returned to Kharkiv to her apartment and dacha. There is some damage to the dacha but her apartment is still standing. The mother and daughter are now speaking some German and studying German at night. They do not know how long they will have to stay. They are adjusting. Both of them would like nothing more than to return home. I understand why the mother is keeping her daughter safe in Germany. They prepared a meal of borscht and dumplings for the entire family. Let’s wish them the best.

While in the village my girlfriend took me on a little outing to the historical town of Hann Münden. Here the rivers Fulda and Werra meet to form the Weser, one of the larger rivers in Germany. The town is famous for its half-timbered houses, some over 600 years old. I spent time here as a young girl visiting distant cousins and I have some fond memories.

After a few days in the village staying at the tiny house I visited my niece and her family in Lüneburg

After a few days in Lüneburg my niece’s family and I rented an apartment on the Eastern Sea near Wismar. My grand niece was happy to play in the sand all day. One day we visited Wismar and got a great tour from my niece’s former professor.

t

Another day we visited a castle that is now used as an art gallery. My niece had done some of her work there as a student. It is a beautiful place with a nice garden cafe nearby.

After our relaxing stay at the beach it was time to return to Lüneburg and I returned to the village. One day I  visited an old friend in Kassel. On another day my girlfriend Monika  and I visited her daughter‘s new family and home. It was here that I had the best herring meal on the trip. We went to a linen factory that makes the most beautiful linen. I bought way too much and had trouble getting it all on the train. 
Talking about German trains. Don’t count on them being on time. Twice my train was canceled and I had to wait at the station for an hour. My girlfriend Monika and I were going to visit Leipzig for a weekend but there was the possibility of a strike by the Bahn. We canceled our trip.  So much for  German punctuality.

I had some good and some not so good food while visiting Germany. It was asparagus season and I had the most wonderful salad and soup with my niece’s in-laws. They had an asparagus pizza and it was quite good. My niece  had never been a cook before she became a mom. She made delicious spinach and bread dumplings in a creamy tomato sauce in a thermo mix. This machine is currently the rave in Germany. 

My last meal was at the Pauliner Restaurant at the Frankfurt airport. I had the white asparagus salad with a grilled chicken breast. It was the perfect meal to say goodbye to Germany.
After returning to Santa Cruz I was glad to be back cooking in my kitchen. I made a German rhubarb sheet cake that was ok but not good enough to put on my blog.

Here are some of my recipes for the month of July. Click on the photos for the recipes. You will find more recipes if you type whatever you are looking for into the search bottom of my blog which is located above my photo.

Has it really been 10 years since I started my little blog? Wasn’t it just yesterday that my girlfriend suggested that I organize my many recipes into a blog to share them with friends and family. This blog has become my baby, my creative outlet. It challenges me to expand my knowledge and keep on learning. I do have issues with the technical part of it. Like everything in life , nothing is perfect. Even I use this blog myself quite often, as the recipes are like my old and most trusted friends. The most enjoyable part has been connecting with other bloggers and people around the world. This community has given me support and positive input and I thank you for being part of it. I hope that I can blog for a little while longer, and find some new and interesting stories and recipes to share. I appreciate your loyalty and taking time from your busy life to read my blog.
The recipe for duck confit quesadillas is one of my older recipes. If you click here
you will not only find the recipe but a write-up of one of my favorite restaurants  in Capitola called Shadowbrook. 

In a few days I will be flying to Germany to visit my family and friends. I have my railroad pass (read about the German railroad system here) and will be traveling by train. I will be staying in my nephew’s tiny house while at our farm since my brother still has 2 Ukrainian women and a teenager living in my niece’s apartment where I usually stay. Then I will take the train to go to Lüneburg, a beautiful historical old salt town near Hamburg, where my niece and her family are living (click on this link to read about my previous visits). I will also take a short vacation to the Eastern Sea near Wismar. I have never been there and I am looking forward seeing something new. Before I know it, my three weeks will be over and I will be back home with my husband.

Here are some of the recipes I have made in the last couple of months. My seafood pasta is a dish I have made for years.  It comes together quickly, I freeze my pesto when basil is plentiful. I like to serve this dish with asparagus, steamed or roasted. My husband likes it steamed, but I prefer it roasted with some walnut or hazelnut oil, sprinkled with garlic salt and pepper. I roast the asparagus for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Last time I omitted the scallops and used only shrimp. which was  just fine. I like to serve this dish on a large platter., which makes a lovely presentation. Click her for the recipe.

I have to say, I love my banana bread, especially when it is freshly baked. I made my last batch using frozen bananas. Once I defrosted them I got rid of all the juices that had accumulated. Click here for the recipe.

My husband and I are at an age where we gain weight easily, so I try to make some dishes that are light and not loaded with extra calories. My lentil salad fits that bill. Especially since  I can eat it for several days. I had some leftover homemade duck confit that I added as a protein. This  recipe I have for duck confit is great. Thank you Bon Appétit. It is a great  weekend project with little effort; it just takes time to bake slowly in the oven. I did some much-needed gardening while it was cooking.
Click here for the lentil salad recipe.
Click here for the duck confit recipe

Let’s return to eating healthy. For a quick , tasty and healthy dinner this fish dish baked in parchment is a winner. You can use any white fish and spruce up the flavors by adding anchovies, tomatoes, and capers, giving this dish a Mediterranean  twist.  The last time I added some sliced cooked leftover potatoes. It was super delicious. Click here for the recipe.

Thank you again my dear blogger friends for all your support and loyalty. Stay healthy and well.