Happy food

Before the long drive through construction back to Grand Forks Jeff and I stopped for one last "ethnic" treat of the trip. Victor's 1959 Cafe offers Cuban goodness for any time of the day. Colorful and happy place with food that tastes almost sweet is a perfect beginning to any day.Too many tasty choices!

Jeff's choice - scrambled eggs with spicy sausage. And mine - eggs with beans, plantains and Cuban toast with guava jam. My taste buds were happy.

Platanos fritos were definitely my favorite! Sweet and delicate.

Little Poland

You don't have to go to Chicago to taste all the goodies Poland has to offer. Kramarczuk's store in Minneapolis on Hennepin serves Eastern European dishes for lunch in the restaurant section and the store section offers sausage from all over the world, along with cookies and sweets from my childhood. Unfortunately, I could not buy any sausage as we were staying in a hotel, BUT I did eat a plate filled with stuffed cabbage and sauer kraut and almost asked for seconds!

The stuffed cabbage (or golabki) with tomato sauce and sauer kraut. Yummers!
Guy Fieri knows good food!

Little Szechuan

I thought I knew Chinese food. That's until I ended up in this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant at 422 University Ave W, St Paul, MN. I also used to think that I didn't like Chinese. Oh, was I wrong!
Mapo Tofu, Jeff's choice. Although it was delicious, I think Jeff makes it better!
Jelly fish and noodles with pork for an appetizer. Jelly fish had a consistency of... well, I don't know! It tasted exactly what I thought it would taste like!
My favorite dish, Szechuan Tofu. It was perfect. And spicy! Definitely the star of the night.

The best hot chocolate

While in Jackson, WY my family and I visited the new chocolate shop Atelier Ortega opened by a chocolatier and pastry chef from Mexico. In addition to beautiful pastries we also enjoyed a cup of Mexican hot chocolate on an equally hot summer day; but it was worth it!

Make your own pickles day!

Don't google the holiday, I just made it up to celebrate my pickling skills. Now, these are not your regular vinegar pickles - they are salt water pickles. Just add 2 tablespoons of non-iodized salt to a liter of water and boil. Pour over pickling cucumbers, garlic and fresh dill packed in jars. It takes just couple weeks to marinate and they are ready to eat!

Hot summer nights

Don't complain of the hot weather outside, in no time there will be blizzards and below zero temperatures. Where are you going to grill out those delicious footlongs then? That's right, I said footlongs. Our favorite grocery store decided to humor us and carry footlong hotdogs. Jacob was quick to notice the newest products and that night we enjoyed delicious beef with BBQ sauce and coleslaw right on top. Mmmm...

Not so fast, Sam! Put some coleslaw on it first!
There ya go!
Jeff's BBQ ribs. Now, that's a topic for another whole post...
Beer brats from Wisconsin.
Jackson's appetite grew as we were eating. So much that he decided Bocce balls were a good snack.

The worst thing I ever ate...

... was Limburger cheese. Excited to try something new, and encouraged by my love to all cheese, I purchased Limburger and decided to give it a try. Let me tell you something about Limburger - it's nickname is stinky cheese and it is so due to bacteria Brevibacterium linens, which is also present on human skin and responsible for the body odor.
Needless to say, my adventure with the new cheese ended in my defeat. Perhaps one day I will grow up enough to give it another try and enjoy it, as it should be, I am sure. But probably not.

Twarozek and Nalesniki - try pronouncing that!

When asked about my favorite foods I often forget about this one - "twarozek" or farmers cheese. And no, it isn't the yellow farmers cheese in a plastic wrap that you can find in a store. It is so much more than that!
Unfortunately, the grocery stores up here do not carry it. Apparently there aren't enough Polish people around! Thinking I could make couple people convert to natural farmers cheese, I decided to make it myself. Gallon of milk and half a cup of vinegar later, voila, I am now a proud farmers cheese maker! I boiled the milk and added the vinegar, which created slimy curds. You need to make sure that you stir it well so that all the milk fat is creating the curds and the fluid left around the floating soft curds is very watery. Pour the fluid onto a cheese cloth spread on a coriander and squeeze gently to get the watery fluid out. The mass you're left with is the Polish farmer's cheese. Now it wasn't that bad, was it!
Next I made some "nalesniki", or Polish crepes, and filled them with the mixture of the farmers cheese, sugar and raisins.To make the crepes you will need:

•  2 eggs
• 1 cup flour 
• 1 cup milk 

Simply mix the ingredients and fry on an olive oil prepped pan. Polish crepes are thicker than the French ones, but you can make them any way you'd like!
Now, that's the flavor of my childhood!

Schrimp Tacomania

I am a big fan of shrimp and even a bigger fan of grilling them! One of many ways to eat them is to make delicious shrimp tacos, which will make you feel as if you were right next to the ocean, while, in reality, you are right in the middle of the continent... But let's dream on!
I grilled he shrimp after brushing some olive oil and bay seasoning on them and started building the tacos. I added some spring greens, avocado, salsa, fresh cilantro and plain yogurt - a healthy alternative to cream.

Shrimp Gumbo Jumbo

Hmmm... what's better than shrimp? Having your friend make a shrimp gumbo, that's what! Meal was courtesy of Jacob's Hungarian grandma who lived in Alabama and taught him everything he needs to know about cooking yummy food!

Mexican Corn

My friend Jacob's ideas have been an inspiration for many dishes at my house, many of which are a regular item on our menu. One of my favorites is the Mexican Corn - perfect for summer grilling! Jacob stopped by a street vendor once while in Mexico to purchase a corn snack and asked them about the recipe. Here it is!
Soak corn with husk in water for about 15 minutes. Cook it directly on the grill without the use of tin foil - soaking in water will prevent the husk from getting burnt too soon. Next, mix some mayo with crushed garlic, salt and cayenne pepper to your taste. There is no exact proportions, just spice it to your liking! Make sure you have enough to spread a thin layer on the corn. Next, grate some cotija cheese. It is a dry and firm Mexican cow's milk cheese, which is pretty salty in taste. The consistency reminds me of feta cheese, only a little firmer. Spread the cheese on a plate and roll the mayo-mix covered corn to cover it evenly with the pieces of cotija. Now, enjoy!
Make sure you have some napkins ready! It gets so messy that the photo above does not do it justice. Just deal with it and eat it!Pair up the corn with a rib eye steak for extra flavor!

Breakfast of champions

Watching the FoodNetwork early Sunday mornings usually results in very delicious breakfast ideas, and here is one of them. Don't worry - it's calorie free!
Cut some potatoes up and fry them with bacon, to assist the flavor. Season to your liking, then transfer to a casserole dish. Cut off the bottom of a round Camembert's rind and put it in the middle of the potatoes - exposed part of the cheese down. Bake at 350 for however long it takes for the cheese to melt.
There are no words to describe it; you have to try it yourself! Now, make sure you take your dog for a long walk afterward!

Piece of Italy

Thank you, FoodNetwork, for this little piece of goodness...
6 egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar
1 pound mascarpone cheese
1 1/2 cups strong espresso, cooled
2 teaspoons dark rum
24 packaged ladyfingers
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate shavings, for garnish
Giada De Laurentiis' directions are as follows; beat egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. Add mascarpone cheese and beat until smooth. Add 1 tablespoon of espresso and mix until thoroughly combined.In a small shallow dish, add remaining espresso and rum. Dip each ladyfinger into espresso for only 5 seconds. Letting the ladyfingers soak too long will cause them to fall apart. Place the soaked ladyfinger on the bottom of a 13 by 9 inch baking dish, breaking them in half if necessary in order to fit the bottom. Spread evenly 1/2 of the mascarpone mixture over the ladyfingers. Arrange another layer of soaked ladyfingers and top with remaining mascarpone mixture.
ANNA'S TIP: When Giada says that dipping ladyfingers too long will cause them to fall apart, she means it, people! Take that advice to heart, especially if you're unable to purchase ladyfingers and need to settle for nilla wafers - dip for 3-4 seconds. Otherwise, you will end up with a tiramisu soup... Also, the directions state to keep in the fridge for at least 2 hours; I think it takes more than that for the mascarpone mixture to settle. I have tried to cut it up before after 2 hours and ended up with a soupy cake - leave it in for at least 3 to 4 hours!

Do they have these in Heaven?

Or maybe only Canadian Heaven? Nanaimo bars' deliciousness is well known for over 40 years when a house wife submitted a recipe for a magazine contest. I had the joy of enjoying these little delectable bars during our trip to visit the Canadian side of the family. I was lucky to take this photo before I devoured it!
The recipe according to the city of Nanaimo website (http://www.nanaimo.ca/EN/main/visitors/NanaimoBars.html) is as follows:

Bottom Layer
½ cup unsalted butter (European style cultured)
¼ cup sugar
5 tbsp. cocoa
1 egg beaten
1 ¼ cups graham wafer crumbs
½ c. finely chopped almonds
1 cup coconut

Melt first 3 ingredients in top of double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, coconut, and nuts. Press firmly into an ungreased 8" x 8" pan.

Second Layer
½ cup unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. and 2 Tsp. cream
2 Tbsp. vanilla custard powder
2 cups icing sugar

Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light. Spread over bottom layer.

Third Layer
4 squares semi-sweet chocolate (1 oz. each)
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Melt chocolate and butter overlow heat. Cool. Once cool, but still liquid, pour over second layer and chill in refrigerator.

Vietnamese Adventure in Canada

While in Alberta, we tried Vietnamese cuisine for the first time. While hesitantly walking into the restaurant I asked a couple walking out about their opinion and they couldn't have loved it more! Assured, we continued with our adventure and ordered meals from a very nice and outgoing waitress, who corrected our orders claiming "we can't handle it"! Jeff stuck by his choice, however, and ordered a traditional Vietnamese Pho noodle soup with raw beef, tendons, and whole lotta deliciousness, which he very much enjoyed! I loved my noodles on a bed of vegetables covered with shredded beef.