How do you test out brand new knives?
By cutting, obviously.

How do you get people to eat anything?
Fry it!

An apparently known Italian saying is ‘Fritta è buona anche una ciabatta’, Laurens’ grandma used to tell him that. It means ‘even a (house)slipper is [...]]]>

How do you test out brand new knives?
By cutting, obviously.

How do you get people to eat anything?
Fry it!

An apparently known Italian saying is ‘Fritta è buona anche una ciabatta’, Laurens’ grandma used to tell him that. It means ‘even a (house)slipper is tasty when fried’. (Never knew the tasty bread was named after house slippers, or would it be the other way around? And why?)

Now I don’t know about frying shoes, or slippers. I doubt that’d be really tasty, not even if they’ve only been used indoors. But we all understand the essence of the saying. Frying foods makes an instant treat.

So that giant banana squash that never got finished, I made fries out of it. Healthy, happy, wonderful fries. No sauce needed! I also had a red pepper left that wanted to be used, so some pepper fries were added too.

I just cut fries-size strips of the squash (And pepper) and fried it in vegetable oil. That’s it! Super-dooper-easy. And tasty too. L and I actually debated whether kids would be angry because they got served vegetables, or happy, because they looked like fries. Since we don’t have kids, we couldn’t try it out, but my almost-4-year-old cousin is coming over Sunday, so I bet we can test it out then (and have his mom be happy we’re not just feeding him candy and chips.)

Now I really don’t think I should start frying everything, as it’s still not the healthiest way of preparing foods. But once in a while, or when there are picky eaters around, I’ll definitely make these again.

[print_this]Squash fries

• squash
• flour
• microwave
• big pan
• oil for frying

Cut the squash in strips that resemble french fries. Put them in the microwave for a minute to pre-cook it a bit. Sprinkle a little flour over them, for added crunch. Fry in hot vegetable oil until nice and crispy. Enjoy!
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Looking online I found tons of pumpkin bread, squash bread or zucchini cake recipes. I [...]]]> With the ginormous banana squash in Hand I had to figure out what exactly to use it for. Surely, we eat squash, but this was enough for about a week. So I needed to change things up.

Looking online I found tons of pumpkin bread, squash bread or zucchini cake recipes. I figured I’d be able to do something like that with my giant squash as well.

My beloved new knife cut off a giant piece of squash. I peeled it, seeded it and shredded it. Let the fun begin.

Let me start by saying, I don’t know why people call something that contains 2 cups of sugar a bread. It’s not bread, it’s cake. To me the term bread means something savory. A pinch of sugar to help yeast or enhance flavors, is all fine. I figured I’d still make it, but think of it and treat it more like a cake. And I was right. In taste and consistency the end result came out a lot like my mom’s age old spice cake recipe. Served with some whipped cream, or ice cream, it’s a tasty treat. But it sure as heck isn’t a bread!

I liked it though. In taste and texture, which means I probably won’t be making my mom’s spice cake again, as this is a little healthier and tastes the same. Go figure.

Also, the recipe is meant for a BIG loaf pan. Or at least that’s what I assume as my regular sized one filled up really high. The middle took forever to cook and I was afraid of burning the sides. Fortunately that didn’t happen, but still, the cake could’ve used another 10 minutes and then surely the bottom and sides would’ve been too dark. Next time I make it, I’ll use a large springform, and maybe put a nail (the ones you use to make buttercream flowers) on the bottom to help distribute heat to the middle. It worked like a charm for my tiramisu cake, so why not here?

All in all, the cake worked out, but next time I’ll make a smaller recipe and/or use a bigger pan and make sure there are more people to share with. This was a little too much for just the 2 of us.

[print_this]Banana squash cake (recipe adapted from allrecipes.com, makes 1 giant loaf)

• 2 cups shredded banana squash
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup half melted butter, half oil (any liquid fat is okay)
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp nutmeg (or if you can get ‘speculaaskruiden’, change 1 tsp nutmeg for the speculaaskruiden)
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325/165 F/C. Beat the eggs until they mix together well, then beat in the sugar, oil/butter and vanilla. Gradually mix in the flour, baking powder and spices. Then slowly mix in the shredded banana squash.

Pour the mixture into a buttered baking dish and place in the oven. After 45 minutes check for doneness by putting a skewer in the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done. (Mine took about 75 minutes to come out pretty clean, but could’ve gone a little longer. Rather go too long than too short, no-one likes uncooked cake (unless it’s batter straight from the mixer!)

Serve with whipped cream, ice cram, or just by itself!

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Oh, and this is what happens when you’re impatient and remove it from the pan within a couple of minutes. (Truth be told, we had an appointment and NEEDED to leave…)

Last summer, in Colorado, I went to a farmer’s market. Everything was fresh and wonderful. It was a Sunday morning and I couldn’t [...]]]> It’s amazing how used we get to unripe, not so fresh vegetables. Especially during the ‘off-season’ vegetables just aren’t that great. And the old-fashioned produce stores seem to have disappeared.

Last summer, in Colorado, I went to a farmer’s market. Everything was fresh and wonderful. It was a Sunday morning and I couldn’t have been happier with the quality of all the foods that were for sale there. Not just the veggies, but also meats, breads, pasta. It was all amazing.

We do have farmer’s markets (or at least something like that) in Amsterdam. However those markets either aren’t in my neighborhood, or are on weekdays. Which is when I’m at the office and unable to go there.

When we moved to our new home, I was researching the area a bit. Since we’re the last urban street and behind us there’s either industry and the airport (a little ways back though!) or farmland. I read about a ‘care farm’ not even 5 minutes away from the house. Now this ‘care farm’ as they call it, is really a produce farm. It’s run by a foundation that helps people with social/emotional or mental difficulties. A team of social workers/farmers guides the people who need some special care while they take care of the produce they grow. Everything they grow is fully certified organic and seasonal. They exchange some of their veggies for meat from a nearby organic farm.

They have a farm store. There they sell the produce they grew and some extra’s. They sell the meat they’d exchanged (which is, like everything, subject to availability). On Saturdays an organic baker brings some bread, which they sell as well. They import a few things they can’t really grow themselves, all organic.

I’d been meaning to check out the farm store. Last Sunday I finally did. And I wasn’t disappointed.

The vegetables were all so fresh and ripe. Even though there isn’t that much in season, they still had a nice selection and everything looked and felt good. Ripe and fresh. L actually mentioned we should eat the veggies quickly, because they were at their prime right when we bought them. I agreed, however, there’s no way I’ll cook up a weeks supply of veggies in one night. They deserve better. And since they’re so fresh, they’ll still be tasty in a couple of days.

I can’t believe it took me so long to finally visit the farm store. Yummmm, fresh veggies! I love it!

Some types of ‘pumpkin’  are hard to come by in Holland. Spaghetti squash, for instance, is something I’ve never ever seen in a [...]]]> Almost everything in the pumpkin and squash family in Holland is called pumpkin. The only exception I know of is zucchini. So tonight we ate pumpkin, also known as butternut squash.

Some types of ‘pumpkin’  are hard to come by in Holland. Spaghetti squash, for instance, is something I’ve never ever seen in a grocery store here. Last week I browsed around online and found that there is a ‘pumpkin farm’  in the eastern part of Holland that does sell them while supplies last for a maximum of 2 months out of the year. I’m hoping that some time this summer we’ll have time and be willing to drive an hour and a half or two both ways to get me one!

Last week the grocery store had a big pile of butternut squash laying around though. Since squash keeps very well for fairly long, I decided to pick one up despite the fact that I wouldn’t have time to cook it until tonight. Add a couple of steaks and you’ve got yourself a meal. Since the thing was fairly big for 2 people, I omitted the carb dish that I would usually include. There’s rarely a dinner without carbs for me, I detest Atkins with a passion! Fortunately L agrees on that!

I got home fairly late and tired from a very busy week. Fortunately my favorite way of preparing pumpkin is easy. It took about 3 minutes preparing, after which I just popped it in the oven, finished my book and when it was soft, we had dinner. What a wonderful way to spend a Friday night!

Tomato and garlic pumpkin

• 1 pumpkin (butternut squash, or any kind)
• 1 large tomato
• 1 bulb of chinese garlic, or 2 or 3 cloves regular garlic
• parsley (or any dried green herb you like with squash)
• pepper
• salt
• butter
• olive oil
• water

Cut the top off the pumpkin, then cut it in half (lengthwise if applicable for the kind of pumpkin you’re using). Scoop out the seeds and place in an oven dish. Dice a tomato and the garlic, put tomato and garlic in the now empty seed cavity. Sprinkle salt, pepper and parsley over pumpkin and tomato/garlic mixture. Pour a little water in the dish, add a couple small pats of butter to the dish and to the pumpkin (really just a little pat), drizzle some olive oil over the tomato/garlic mixture and place the dish in a hot oven (about 200 degrees celsius). After about 30 – 45 minutes when the pumplin isn’t soft yet, pour a little more water in the dish and cover with aluminum foil. Set the oven a little higher (225-240) and leave it, covered for another half hour or so. When the pumpkin is soft, remove the aluminum foil and if possible, change the oven setting to grill. Leave it to grill and darken a slight bit for another 5 minutes.
You can also add onions, peppers, nuts or mushrooms to the tomato and garlic mixture. Whatever veggies you have will work. Definitely use tomato and garlic though, for flavor and moisture!