A bit of this and that

The last two weeks have been a bit of a mixed creative bag. I'm not a great cook, and it's not something I particularly enjoy. I cook because I prefer home cooked food prepared with fresh ingredients instead of processed, pre-packaged ready to make food. I've become much better at it in the past few years, but I don't really quite know what I am doing. What has become more and more important for me recently, is that I use as much local and seasonal ingredients as possible. My recipe need to be quick and easy, and to require as few pots and pans as possible - three is definitely the absolute limit I can handle. I like using the oven. Shove it in and wait till i'ts ready. A couple of years ago, I started an illustrated recipe book, to collect recipes that work for me. I call it "The Onion-free Cookbook", because I hate onions, and I've never bought an onion in my life. Me and onions, we really just don't get along. It's enough for a waiter to walk past my table with freshly cut slice of onion for my eyes to start to sting and burst into tears. I haven't got very far with my recipes, but I've finally added an other one. Puff pastry pizza.

I haven't been very successful with my daily faces project. It seems that whenever I enjoy doing something and turn it into a little project or challenge, I immediately lose interest in it. I have been drawing faces, just not every day. But I've drawn other things too, so it's alright, really. At the moment, I love using all kinds of black pens.

They both look a bit grumpy and disapproving. I can relate to that. I'm not happy that there is no sign of snow yet. And when you do some lettering, it's always a god idea to really concentrate on what you're writing, and not let you get distracted...

These two pages started with the cup of tea on the left, but I thought that just adding "Earl Grey tea" was a bit boring, so I looked up some facts about Earl Grey tea and added them. I so much enjoyed doing that page, that I decided I wanted to do another one next to it. At the moment, you can get "Grittibänze" everywhere. They are a bread roll shaped like a little man. They're traditionally eaten on the 6th of December, but these days, it's more than just the one day. And since I had just bought one for my breakfast, I thought that would make a good page. I'm still trying to decide if I want to add some colour to the cup of the and the Grittibänz, or if I should just leave them as they are, black and white.

Two weeks ago, I finally started working on my Christmas cards for this year. Since I was a bit late, it had to be quick and easy. A little Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer-Robin was quickly carved, stamped and painted. 

Then I stamped the text. The Swedish version is definitely the easiest. The English isn't too bad either, but the German one definitely the trickiest and needed a lot of concentration. Unfortunately, most of my cards are in German.  The writing is the hardest part of all, but I'm glad to say that they've all been sent now.

And for the first time ever, I've made some "Wienachtsguetzli". In the German speaking countries (and probably in some other countries too), it is customary, to bake Christmas biscuits in December. There's a whole range of them, and many people bake different varieties. I decided that two were enough. The first ones I made (on the right below) were "Mailänderli", which are probably the most popular ones ever. They're a bit like shortbread. The traditional glazing is egg yolk, which gives them a rich golden colour, but you can add a bit of variation. I used lemon icing on some of them (top ones), which is why they look a bit pale. The other ones (on the left) are "Zitronestärnli". They were a bit of a pain to make. The dough is made of ground almonds, sugar, lemon zest and a bit of egg white. Try ot roll that out! I'll probably never do them again, but I'm glad I tried. And I'm happy to say that they all taste quite alright.

At the end of November, I spent a day in Schinznach. It was a beautiful autumn day, and I went for a walk along the river, taking some photos.

Noodle Soup Addict

Hello, my name is Katja, and I'm a noodle soup addict...

I absolutely love soups. And most of all, noodle soup. I've been addicted to noodle soup ever since I can remember and have been cooking noodle soup on a regular basis for the last 25+ years or so. I also always have a supply of packs of instant noodle soups (nowadays you get great ones which don't even require cooking!) both at home and at work for emergencies.

When I was in my late teens/early twenties, I was famous for my noodle soup. I love my noodle soup to have lots, and I really mean LOTS, of noodles in it. I used to be exceptionally bad at getting the balance of noodles and soup right. I usually ended up with just some kind of wet noodles and next to now soup. 20 years ago, after a concert, when it was still too early to just go home and to bed but too late to really go somewhere else, someone would often come up with the suggestion: let's go to home to Katja's and have some soup! I remember one night, when someone had brought a friend along who hadn't had a taste of my soup before. When he looked at his bowl full of wet noodles, he remarked: "Either there's too much noodles or too little soup", at which all my friends cried "that's how it has to be, that's what's so special about Katja's noodle soup!!!".

These days, my soups have a bit more soup to them, but still more than plenty of noodles :).

~ a first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting (abraham maslow) ~

About 20, 15 years ago, I used to cook noodle soup almost daily. When we visited relatives in Germany, my cousin suggested cooking noodle soup one night - she was as addicted to it as me. And then my uncle told me that my Dad, when he was about our age, used to cook noodle soup all the time. I never knew that, but it amused me no end - a hereditary noodle soup addiction, running through several generations and branches of the family :-).

My basic and established recipee for noodle soup can't really be called a recipe, it's more of a quick fix:

0.5 dl water

1 cube of chicken stock

a very generous helping of any kind of (soup) noodles

1 cube of frozen spinach

some pepper, soy sauce and one or two drops of sesame oil

This is quick and easy to do and just perfect for when you come home after a long commute on a full and cold train and in desperate need of something hot but in no mood for some elaborate cooking.

There are of course hundreds of variations of noodle soups and plenty of recipees around. When I have more time I like to make a big pot and add all kinds of fresh veggies and mushrooms (although I'm too lazy to do a real proper soup, I always rely on my good old chicken stock cubes).

I also like to collect recipes when I come across one which sounds delicious. As long as their simple and easy, like for example Nigella Lawon's Noodle Soup for Needy People or Thai Chicken Noodle Soup or Noodle Soup with Udon Noodles (oh, I love them!). Well, there are lots and lots more yummy recipes (indlucing many not from Nigella Lawson ;-) ), and I'm sure you also have your own special and favourite way of cooking noodle soup.

Hmmmmmmm, what should I do for dinner tonight? I think it'll have to be a nice bowl of hot and steamy noodle soop after this post!