Que Pasa

Recommended Restaurant: Que Pasa
Being an American it's always nice to find something that reminds me a little bit of home- like feeling like you're in chilli's or like a restaurant that acts like it's mexican but in reality- not really!
Here's one we just went to:
Great food!

http://maps.google.de/maps?client=safari&rls=en&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=mexican+restaurants+berlin&fb=1&gl=de&hq=mexican+restaurants&hnear=0x47a84e373f035901:0x42120465b5e3b70,Berlin&ei=vx-ET7jeG-fm4QSmwuHNBw&sa=X&oi=local_group&ct=image&ved=0CBsQtgM

Flammkuchen

Hey! I made Flammkuchen yesterday for my husband and I for Easter Monday. It's a Southern French/German recipe.  Germans love it and so do I!  It's super yummy and delish!

I used an online recipe but instead of sour cream I used cottaged cheese but it turned out great.

Here is the recipe: 

http://www.food.com/recipe/tarte-flamb-e-els-sser-flammkuchen-365298

Lentils and No Lights

So we have an interesting situation in our kitchen.  If there are too many things running on electricity all at once the fuse blows.  This has happened like 20 times (almost not exaggerating) - Many times.  Now, we only have one fuse left- and its already in the wall being used!
Tonight I really wanted to make some bread and cook some soup.  We just can't chance anything with the last fuse so I turned the lights off to use the microwave oven and the burner at the same time.  I lit some candles so that I could kind of see.  Actually kind of nice cooking with candlelight.  All things were going well until I stretched underneath onto a shelf to get the lentils and the lentils spilled everywhere all over the floor and inside the basket they were in.  Anyways had to clean it up but thankfully there were some lentils left over to be cooked.  I just had to laugh because here I was cooking lentil soup in the dark- Oh the charms of living in a European apartment.
Well, the soup turned out great!  with some carrots, spices, cooking wine and SHARP white cheddar it turned out soo yummy.
One thing that didn't turn out so great was the spelt bread..dun dun duuun.  It was rock hard in the middle and hardly raised!  Next time I'm throwing in some extra yeast or somethin.  I've been experiencing with spelt lately- some things go well some things don't :( Oh well 

Dining on top of the world

Live in Berlin and haven't gone to the top of the TVtower?  Do it!  Some friends and I took one of our very few rain-less days and went and dined in the rotating tower.  The food was also an experience.  Not the best flavors but defiantly a taste of East Berlin.  A little pricey but worth the experience.  We topped it off with excellent cappuccinos. 

Grilled veggies with organic pasta and toast with avocado and sharp cheddar

Spinach Rice Noodle Dish

Hello! It's been a while as I have been in the United States and in Finland. By the way, there were a lot of good things that we ate along the way! But I want to share with you something I whipped up yesterday.

I wanted to eat something on the healthy side since we..huh-hum..put on a few pounds while traveling. It was a Spinach Rice Noodle dish. Forgive me for not having exact measurements but that's how I role when I'm cooking (definitely not when I'm baking)

First put oil

Put garlic in now if it is fresh but later if it is frozen

If you have frozen spinach put that in first to thaw (and on high heat) and after noodles if it is fresh

Then put some water (about 1 1/2 cup)

Throw the rice noodles in and give them enough time to cook

Mean time put a little dark soy sauce, table spoon of peanut butter (might want to put that in at the end because it makes it more difficult to stir), chives, dill, white pepper, little bit of Cayenne, and about a teaspoon of chicken or vegetable bullion and then the garlic (if it dry-mentioned above)

lower the heat and keep mixing (perhaps put some more water in) until the noodles are done!

And you have yourself a yummy healthy dish.

If you're looking for a good place to eat thai food- we can definitely recommend Sweet Cocos in Shoeneberg!

We even had our family dinner here!

Taco Salad!

All ingredients found with an affordable price a Lidl!

Lovin' Lidl

Although it ended up being a "rough" fall for my husband and I, I still had the chance to enjoy the delicacies of an autumn market and a Thanksgiving meal!

Here is some open flame and oven roasted cooking:

Although, sadly this is all I have to bake with (even though it's better than no oven at all!)

I still managed to make apple cinnamon muffins and they were delish!

(sorry no post baked pics!)

Now, thanksgiving is a touchy area for an American living in Berlin. Of course, we want to celebrate it. But who with- will it be traditional? Here was a little compromise that I made on Thanksgiving day since we celebrated later on another day.

I was given a box of classic stove top dressing from a traveling friend and made a casserole out of it. First bake chicken or turkey in a casserole dish with cream of mushroom soup (or cream of something else if you don't have mushroom- we used cream of asparagus). Bake the two together then put the stuffing mix on the top. I then made some home made cranberry sauce. It was an awesome very quick compromise!

(Thanks for the stove top delivery!)

Cooking in foreign Berlin

So here's a recap on some things. I feel like I'm finally getting the idea of shopping here. It is such an international country/city that there is so much freedom in cooking international foods. Recently I've been getting in touch with the local Asian market. Also, here's a tip: have a friend that cooks good as well :) Here's Mattheus's sushi masterpiece:

We had a neighbor over to enjoy the sushi feast and everybody was happy.

Well, I know fall is long gone and we are not looking forward to it here- for sure for a long time-

but here are some things I managed to make that turned out pretty good.

Using a local squash I made some squash soup: not too hard to make with a little milk, butter, sugar, garlic, salt and pepper. Topped with walnuts!

And to make sure there was no more leftover hunger I threw in some pre-cooked bulette with lettuce and quark dip. It ended up being a great combination.

Introduction

Hello, I have been living in Berlins for almost two years. When I was newly wed to a German and had just started to live in Berlin there were some things that I found very tricky here. One of them was cooking in Berlin. Being from America I had a background of shopping and cooking there for quite a few years so to be in a new country was a challenge.

I thought I would write this blog to share some things I've cooked or great places to eat for a reasonable price.

So, unless you want to eat a döner everyday for the cheap price of 1.50-3 Euros or a Wurst

then watch this blog- or share your ideas in the comment area!

(don't get me wrong- this is our friendly neighborhood döner guy :)