we are now with cat

my husband and i finally got two kitties! the striped one is seven of nine and the black one is uhura. i am so in love with them, even though their little claws are constantly marking their territory (me and husband included..) and their shenanigans wake us and they kick litter around like they hate it... but the thing that probably stresses me out the most about them is, you guessed it, their food.


i've owned two cats before, but that was back in california where my parents did most of the important stuff for them. though i gave them their hated baths and brushed them and fed them, it was my parents that bought the cat shampoo and food and hair cuts. now that it's me who is purchasing, i did a bit of research and at first i wanted my cats to have a raw food diet. i've come to realize that doing it in copenhagen is insane. there is no way i could afford to keep up with a diet like that! but when you think about it, cats should be eating wet food, chasing down their prey a bit, getting nutrients from bones, liver, etc. i feed them a 50-50 mix of hill's food for kittens and sterilized young cats, as recommended by the cat shelter we bought our kittens from. though it is a bit more expensive than whiskas or whatever is in the supermarket, i feel good knowing that they aren't ingesting crap made mostly of vegetable protein and e-numbers. and it is way more affordable than buying fresh meat and bone meal for them.


occasionally i give them some meat chopped into little pieces, but only if we are going to have it for dinner. i have also treated them to cod roe and sardines, which they are crazy about. if they smell a chicken roasting or some stock being simmered, they think it's treat time and the meowing symphony takes off. i really hope they are getting all the nutrients they need.. and i cringe to think of how i'll be if/when i have a kid. i'll be drawing up charts and sorting food based on most efficient nutritional intake. i'll have to quit my job to keep up with all the research... hmm, maybe it's best that crazy people like me don't have children. ^^;

so what do you feed your cats?

please excuse my meat

up until now i've been posting a bit more about meat since i have pretty much just learned how to cook it. but recently i finished reading eating animals. now i'm a bit wary of consuming meat and cheese. of course the day i finished the book i had some idealistic thoughts of maybe turning vegetarian. but all those kind ideas fell apart (as many people predicted!) within just two days. it happened when i was over at a friend's place for lunch and she served a (free-range) chicken salad. mind you, it wasn't the only thing available to eat and there was even a vegetarian there who ate well. but i really love chicken! i felt extremely guilty for the following days but then i decided it's okay to eat meat as long as one does it responsibly. so no more buying meat or cheese unless it's free-range or something like it. less animal suffering (but still killing) and less harm to the earth (but still damaging). less is better than nothing, i guess. ):

right, enough with this silliness and onto the food!



there were two days out of this crappy, rainy week where the sun was shining and it was perfect grilling weather. luckily, my friends had the same idea and as i was cooking up my bbq-friendly food on the stove, i invited to their picnic. what you see above is jackfruit carnitas! although it may seem kind of strange, taste it before you knock it. the flesh of the jackfruit would have looked even more like shredded pork if i took out the seeds and pods encasing them. but when it comes to canned green jackfruit, you can eat the seeds and all. sadly we had no corn tortillas to put them in, so we ate them with rice and grilled vegetables. this is definitely a recipe i'm going to make again. the only thing i added was a bit of chopped chipotles and the adobo sauce in the can. unfortunately there wasn't enough left for my husband to try but i think he would have enjoyed the meaty texture.

last night, however, i made some mexican-ish bean mixture out of green mung beans. hey, i was in a hurry to make dinner and i wasn't about to soak some pinto beans right as my stomach started to grumble. and good luck finding canned pinto beans in denmark... anyway i boiled them with a bay leaf until soft, drained them, and added them to some minced garlic, cumin powder, and chopped chipotles that were frying in a pan. i think it tasted great and the silky texture of the mung beans was exactly what i was looking for to go in my whole wheat tortilla. i quickly chopped myself a salsa and wilted some spinach. my husband looked interested but didn't bite until later in the evening when all the ingredients were put away. "can i try a bit of that?" whenever i hear him say that, i get so happy! (i blame my korean roots for making me into a wife who yearns to please her man. =_=) i chucked together a burrito for him and he liked it so much that he made two quesadillas after that.

home-cooked vegetarian food - 1
pizza/falafel/sandwich takeaway - 0

chicken!

i'm not vegan. i'm not even vegetarian. but when it's not there, i never miss meat... except fish and chicken. and don't give me that crap that i would still be considered a "vegetarian." those people do not eat chicken. they also do not eat fish. stop putting that on your menu and labeling it as a "vegetarian dish." sorry about that rant, i'm sure i've mentioned it before but i keep seeing it! if i am annoyed by that, imagine how the vegetarians feel. fix it. *huff* anyway! /:',


roast chicken could easily be my last meal. i'm not sure what exactly makes me drool when i think of it, but i am almost always in the mood for a plate of it! recently, a friend of mine was ordering a bunch of chickens from hopballe; a mill which keeps free-range, GMO-free, almost CO2 neutral chickens here in denmark. i asked that she place an order for me so we could save on shipping, but my friend ended up giving it to me as a belated wedding gift. i wanted to treat this wonderful present as respectfully as possible; so rather than chopping it up and turning it into a burning thai curry or korean fried chicken, i decided on a subtle, simple roast.



i served it to my husband with this white wine. why have i been avoiding chardonnays for so long? this wine was fantastic with the chicken! not too dry and the mild sweetness cut through the salty skin and somewhat oily bits. this would be a great wine for bbqs as well, i imagine. as for the bird, the skin came out wonderfully crispy and the meat was incredibly moist. i should have used a flakier salt, though; it seemed a bit uneven. next time!



even the second and third days, the meat was still very moist. surprisingly i only ended up making one chicken sandwich, instead opting to use most of the leftovers in a vietnamese-style salad based on this recipe. i switched out the onions and mint for bell peppers and danish cucumber. the salad was very refreshing for the warm spring days that are finally hitting copenhagen. i almost want to roast another chicken right now, just to make this salad! this is definitely not the last time i'm getting one of these hopballe chickens. thanks, L! (:

tuesdays are my favourite

about a month ago i began working at a soup kitchen here in nørrebro called kafa-x. every tuesday, i go over there around 4pm and chill out while waiting for the others to arrive. usually it is about 4-8 of us feeding at least 50 people (we haven't taken to doing headcounts yet, but i guess it might be a good idea at some point). around 4:30 we split up and go to two green grocers nearby; they will give us whatever fruit and veg that's about to get binned. occasionally what they give us is too rotten or mouldy to work with, but for the most part it's some very decent stuff that only needs a good peeling or picking at.


once we gather the donated roughage, we pretty much just stand there and figure out what we'll make for dinner. everything served is vegan and and gluten free, except the two huge bags of bread that the local organic bakery donates to us. usually we make brown rice and a dhal or a big soup with lentils as a main since it cooks quickly and fill you up. since we get mostly vegetables, we'll also have a salad of some sort. this week we got a LOT of tomatoes so one of the girls decided to make a delicious roasted tomato sauce. the way we work together is something i really like; the first day i walked in there, i was asked to start making the lentil soup. none of the other volunteers met me before, and yet i was trusted with the main dish! all of us volunteers are equal, no leaders, all ideas valid. the more culinary backgrounds, the better!


at around 7, dinner is served. but i suggest you get there earlier if you'd like someplace to sit. it's a tiny, cozy 'cafe' and sometimes it gets so full that patrons have to eat outside. with a healthy meal like that for 20kr, it's easy to see why so many show up. a couple of the regulars did some advance planning the past two times and soaked beans overnight. last week it was made into chili sin carne and this week was refried beans. one of the girls cooked and then mashed the beans with a healthy amount of chili pepper plus tomatoes and stuck it all in the oven to get a nice crust. that was honestly my favourite part of the meal. along with lentils and rice we also had the tomato sauce, beans, cabbage salad, and fruit salad. not pictured is my effort of the 'poor man's pesto' with parsely and toasted sunflower seeds, but i wasn't very happy how it turned out. the handblender is a bit weak so the consistency stayed pretty grassy... /:


yesterday i think our closest green grocer threw in some fresh herbs just for the hell of it. there was nothing wrong with most of them. fresh sage, what a treat! we weren't able to use it all so i got to take a bag home along with some bread and a croissant for my husband. whatever perishables that are left after dinner are up for grabs to volunteers and diners alike. there is always so much bread left, i never buy it anymore. (:

with a cheap meal like this, you can't expect to be served. we hand you a plate of rice and the main, and you can choose how much you want of everything else. sadly we do sometimes run out before everyone gets a plate. the thing is that you gotta wash your own dish and listen to whatever activist, anti-facist, feminist crap we want to say. that's all. and of course, if you want to come help cook at 4, your meal is free.

kafa-x
korsgade 19, basement
every tuesday at 7pm
dinner costs 20kr, tea/coffee are free

it's good to be a blogger

this past weekend i was privileged enough to become the last person on the list for the danish foodblogger symposium. i've been to a couple conventions in my life but this one didn't involve college kids dressed up as storm troopers or the sale of risque comics. the big surprise was seeing so many attendees! i have only seen a handful of food blogs in danish so where have all these ladies (and several guys) been hiding?


after a few speakers we started with (get this) danish white wine. here jennie is demonstrating how to aerate it; shake the glass with your hand over the top. from what i gathered, the grapes are grown in lillø, denmark and taken to germany to be turned into wine since winemaker anders selmer does not yet have the means to do it himself. for now. but after tasting four of these wines and knowing the danes' pride in their land and own products, i can see this taking off. do i need to spell it out? these wines are GOOD.


lunch came immediately after the wine tasting. i quietly thanked god for that, since i was feeling the buzz from about 3 sips x 4 glasses of wine at 11am. a legefrokost (play lunch) was given to each of us and the chef, mads nybro, instructed us how to eat it via skype. i love playful/surprising dishes and this was no exception! this can looks exactly like the ones that house the poorman's lunch of mackerel in tomato sauce. we heated the cans in a tub of hot water and after 15 minutes we opened them to realize that they contained a really deep, flavorful broth with one big, fat noodle. while we waited for the soup, we ate salad with rygeost (smoked cheese) foam and breadrolls with foie gras from the tube. oh, those scandinavians and their tubes. it was really good. so good that i'm adding a new tag to my blog, MEAT. sorry to any vegans that have taken the time to read my blog. ;_;

there was a marzipan mix covered in white chocolate to finish. marzipan has not yet become my best friend but this was a fine dessert. at the bottom of the bag, we found vanilla popcorn dust to cleanse our palates before the chocolate tasting. this was a very thoughtful and well-presented lunch which was just the right size.


i was in heaven. these chocolates were unbelievably good; dark yet creamy, sweet and bitter and one was even a little sour. the only time i can remember tastes like this was with valrhona and scharffen berger. so it's no surprise that chocolate man mikkel friis-holm has worked with the latter for years. the beans are grown in the usual faraway lands and turned into chocolate in germany. hopefully mikkel can also soon find the means to produce his wonderful chocolate here in denmark.

after the fooding came more speakers. claus meyer and charlotte mithril gave a great introduction of the new idea: new nordic everyday food. even though there were workshops afterward on how to get more readers and write better recipes/posts, i was most inspired by claus and charlotte's presentation. here are the roughly translated principles and ingredients that will shape new nordic everyday food:

• danish fruits; apples, pears, plums, quince, cherries
• more berries; blackcurrant, raspberries, redcurrant, strawberries but also the wild berries.
• danish vegetables in general; leafy vegetables, beets, and squash.
• more cabbage year-round; (pointy?) cabbage, summer cabbage, (palm?) cabbage, kale, etc.
• root vegetables; jerusalem artichokes, parsnips, celery root, and carrots.
• legumes; more protein from plants, split peas, broad beans, etc.
• more herbs and spices in food
• potatoes
• plants and mushrooms from the wild landscape; ground-elder (wtf?), stinging nettle, wild garlic.
• whole grains; especially oats, rye, and barley.
• nuts; hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, etc.
• fish and shellfish; abundant species and bottom-feeders
• seaweed
• meat of higher quality, but less of it; animals that graze.
• wild game; deer, ducks and pheasants.
• organic; at least 75% - grains, vegetables, and dairy products.

after the meeting i felt... honestly quite ashamed of my blog. i have decided to put more effort into writing, not be afraid to take photos of my food (even when my husband is telling me how embarrassed he is), and, above all, be adventurous! after all, what is the point of doing something like this if you don't put your back into it? so now this blog has reached a turning point. it will no longer be all whining about having moved to denmark and missing food and friends in bountiful california (well, maybe once in a while), but now i will set the spotlight on ny nordisk hverdags mad. all of the points i can whole-heartedly agree with, so why not make it the focus of my little blog in this little country? i will try to learn new things everyday and step outside of my comfort zone. hmm... should i change the name of my blog now? ^^;

my favourite colour!

i bought some nice danish sweetcorn and other nice grilling vegetables for our wedding reception, hoping the clouds would part and the sun would shine. too bad hoping for the best never got anyone anywhere... it rained almost the whole evening! so only a fraction of the corn was used that night; roasted in a very humid kitchen and chopped for a bean salad. corn didn't turn out to be the simple star of the show as i had hoped, but its day came eventually.


my chinese friend served corn soup as an appetizer one night and i was floored. soup isn't really something that i expect to taste so good, especially with such a humble ingredient as a base. when i asked her for the recipe i was a little surprised to see the seasonings were the usual suspects of garlic, onion, oregano, thyme, and lemon juice. maybe i was expecting some ancient chinese secret? me being arrogant and crazy and all, i wanted to try to asian it up a bit. that's right, i just verbed 'asian.' that's how crazy i am.


i boiled the corn lightly, no more than 9 minutes, before blanching them in cold water. after cutting off all the kernels, i threw the empty ears back into the pot to make stock. we're not wasting food. (:

---

corn stock

3-4 ears of corn, kernels already removed
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
5cm knob of ginger
6 cloves
2 star anise
1 tbsp peppercorns
pinch of salt

quarter the onion and coarsely chop the garlic. skin the ginger with a spoon and cut it into nice, thin slices. throw everything into a pot, add enough water to cover the corn in one layer and bring to a boil. simmer for 15 minutes. strain when cool enough to handle.

---

kinda chinese corn soup

corn stock
kernels from 3-4 ears of corn
1 tbsp oil for the pan
1 medium onion
2 clove garlic
2 tbsp soy sauce
sesame seeds
sesame oil

dice the onions and fry them in oil over medium heat until they soften. add the corn and saute for a minute or so. mince the garlic and add that in, frying it only for about half a minute. you don't want to taste burnt garlic (or do you?). add the stock, soy sauce, and salt if needed. simmer for 10 minutes and bust out the immersion blender. puree the hell out of the soup (with caution!) or leave it a bit chunky like me. serve with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and sesame oil, maybe some black pepper too.

if you've got a lovely standing blender like i have recently acquired (thanks, girls!), it would be a good idea to wait until the soup is reasonably cool before pouring it in. unless you like the potential of cracked glass and hot soup all over your kitchen. as for the end result, it was not quite as good as my friend's original... next time i better just stick to the recipe. /:

mawwige...

see my wooden ring? i'd like to say that i haven't posted in a while because of the stress of planning our wedding, but i really have no excuse. between then and now, i've been cooking up a storm and going to dinners and all the normal things... i've just been too lazy to edit/photograph the actual food. hmm... let me retract that first statement; i am glad that we didn't stress out!


honestly, there was very little work and money put into our big day but it turned out perfectly! my dress cost around $100 and i'm definitely not planning to let it rot, unworn, in my closet. i made the bouquet from flowers in our garden, wrapping it in packaging that the rings were delivered in. and of course we took the bus to city hall! the most costly part was easily my parents' flight tickets; it was their first time in scandinavia and i'm so happy they could be a part of the wedding here in copenhagen. my man's parents drove down from århus and met us at city hall. the official 'read us our rights' in about 2 minutes so we got the formal stuff out of the way quicker than i thought.


following a raging photoshoot from friends and tourists alike on the front steps, my man's parents took us to the quiet garden behind city hall and presented kransekage and some bubbly. we got to chat a bit with our friends and mooooore photos. afterwards, we took a few of our friends on a very touristy boat tour of the copenhagen canals! it was a lot of fun and i was so happy to share this unique moment with friends and family. after all, it's not about the glitz and glam and how much you spent on the wedding... right? (;




the night ended on a very high note with dinner at our favourite japanese restaurant in denmark; bento! it was me, my new husband, and our folks. we had arranged earlier to have a selection of different dishes, but they just kept coming with more and more! our table was absolutely inundated with food. everything was so good... in addition to our own bento boxes we had kabayaki eel, agedashi tofu, gyoza, breaded pork cutlet, and chicken karaage-style. when the server announced that sushi was coming, we sadly groaned and had to ask for a reduced selection...


but there's always room for dessert! although i tried my best, it was unfortunately the first time in years that i couldn't finish my sweets... i was so sad! the cupcake was especially delicious. the service there was so wonderful, moreso than usual! the chef came out to congratulate us and his mother even took some photos of us with her own cameraphone. i even got my own bouquet from them; it was an extra sweet touch.

like i said, everything turned out the way i wanted. and i even got to wear my dress the whole day; on the bus to city hall, on the boat tour, at the restaurant... and i was never afraid to get it dirty. so that was my penny-pinching, tree-hugging wedding. ^^

the v-word

it sucks being a vegan in denmark.

well, at least i'm assuming. two of my (unsurprisingly non-danish) friends are vegans and i can't imagine how they don't go nuts living in a country that is famous for its pork and dairy products. the meat section in a supermarket here is usually larger than the fruit/veg sections combined; it seems like it's almost next to grains in their food pyramid. sorry for the poor image quality, but that photo above was taken by my cellphone in stockholm. do i spy (with my tiny eyes) two types of kimchi? and multiple varieties of non-dairy milk? denmark... you have a long way to go.



what with all the barbecues at summer parties, or at least attempts at them despite lack of sunshine, there is usually several kinds of you-know-what sitting on the grill. i often think of my vegan friends getting their daily nutrition at these parties from just beer. and some potatoes, if they're lucky.

sometimes i eat vegan for a day, just because i'm bored or even too lazy to make something. the photo up there is a vegan stuffing i made from leftover homemade (duh) bread and rescued celery. who says you gotta wait 'til thanksgiving? anyway the branching-off from traditional cooking and especially baking methods genuinely interests me and i can certainly stand by the ethics standpoint of being vegan. but i can't bring myself to give up cheese and fish forever. sorry, guys. ):

better birthday

why is it taking me so long to post when i already have the photos edited and ready to upload? it's not like i am busy or anything... i have work and school but there is plenty of free time in between. no excuse; i feel uninspired. but pretty good!

last year i spent almost my entire birthday cooking japchae, baking a 3-layer cake and a pie, only to find out that most of the people i invited didn't show up. several of my boyfriend's (very sweet) friends were in attendance, but i had no friends of my own at that time. to add insult to injury, i cleaned everything up on my own the next morning before my flight to norway. it was not what i was hoping for at all. ):


this year i celebrated my birthday in the shared yard of our apartment complex. i was crossing my fingers for good weather since a) it's denmark and b) it had been overcast/raining in the days leading up to the party. but it was mostly sunny with good food and even better friends. another plus was that i did minimal preparation; the vegan cupcakes were made the day before and the dough for the bread was sitting in the fridge, as always. on the morning of the party i just mixed up some buttercream for the cupcakes, baked the refrigerated bread dough, and cut some veggies to dip.


i was really surprised when three of my neighbors walked into the yard and presented me with a pair of big balloon bouquets. they had seen my birthday notice and thought it was a kid's party, haha. i'd never met them before so i thought it was extremely sweet of them. my friends brought two(!) chocolate cakes, candy, pasta salad, beetroot hummus, chips, fruit, and obviously beer. seems like no party in denmark is complete without beer. is that sad, or is it just me?

another sad thing was the paper plates and plastic utensils. though they did grant me a LOT less clean-up afterwards, of course i feel bad about the waste. anyone know where i can find some more environmentally-friendly, single-use plates and utensils here in denmark? if i was at my parents' house, i might have used a couple leaves from their grapevine on top of a flat piece of wood. maybe that would look too pretentious though. anyway, help! though it's a rainy june, i have hopes for a warm summer and many meals eaten outdoors in good company. (:

thanks to everyone who made my year was awesome as it was. there's been some hurdles and growing-up, but i think 24 was one of the best years of my life. ^^

carrot tops

my vendetta against carrots is over, but i am still no fan of them. however, when i found some bunches with the greens still on, i couldn't help but take two. once i got home i realized i have no idea what to do with the tops. it would be a damn shame if i just picked the carrots for the lovely tops that would just end up back in the bin. those greens sat in the crisper all night but they were in my thoughts up until i fell asleep. probably in my dreams as well. YES, i do sometimes dream about food. you can stop laughing now. :P



after a good washing, i ate a few leaves raw. tasted a bit like carrot and parsley but not as strong. so i took the easy way out and made it into a soup. sauteed some onions in butter (no garlic, as the dane is still avoiding it. so sad!!), added the greens, and then some vegetable stock. then came some diced carrots and potatoes and sun-dried tomatoes and leftover rice. immersion blender. i know i am getting a bit lazy in the kitchen lately but it's just so instinctive to make soup! and also a good way to get all my vegetable servings for the day. the soup was an awful colour so no photo. but it tasted really good, probably because of the butter and marmite. i had a tiny bit left in the jar that i've had for over 2 years now but i just swished some stock in there and poured it into the soup. added a really nice oomph of flavour. (:

conclusion: do NOT toss those tops! there are some good-looking ideas here but i haven't tried any of the recipes. and of course, save that little bit of marmite or off-wine (or what have you) to add to soups. ^^

dumpster diving

i found this spidskål (some kinda pointy cabbage? help me out there) in a bin, along with a massive amount of potatoes, some carrots, and 2 yellow peppers. the peppers got roasted first, then everything was thrown into a pot, boiled, pureed into oblivion, and hit with a generous handful of chili flakes. how's that for veggie torture?



the result was a hearty soup for a rainy spring day. i topped it off with a bit of yogurt but i guess it wasn't really necessary to un-veganize it. bottom line is; it was good and so cheap. all i paid for was the onions, chili, and garlic. it's not that i'm poor (yet). it is simply amazing the amount and quality of foodstuffs that danish supermarkets throw out. but now i am taking advantage of it. (;

vegan sushi

though i have eaten a lot of sushi over the years, i could never call myself a sushi connoisseur. there are so many choices that i have not been offered and probably won't ever be; at least not outside of japan. and we're not just talking about fish here. most people instantly think of fish when the word "sushi" comes up, but it is really all about the rice. but it certainly proves a challenge to prepare other ingredients that are as wonderful in taste, texture, and presentation as fish. especially in denmark, which may not offer all the 'exotic' vegetables that one may find in america or asia. which is part of the reason why i wanted to do a vegan sushi night for my vegetarian friend.


it is cheaper, better for the environment, and good for you to eat vegan sushi instead of the usual. but hey, who am i kidding? fish is amazing and is the biggest reason i am not a vegetarian. yes, i am a bad person. sorry, vegans. ):

that being said, this night was a lot of fun. my vegetarian friend likes to eat sushi once in a while but it is almost always rolls. not that i have anything against rolls (i believe they have their time and place...) but i wanted her to have a choice between maki and nigiri for once. also i think the latter looks much more beautiful. i have never attempted anything like this before, even though the dane and i have cut sashimi a dozen times at home. a lot of time and consideration had to be taken in preparing this menu but i think it just may have worked out. ^^


cucumber and daikon marinated in rice vinegar, steamed leek with sesame seeds, roasted red pepper, roasted beetroot, miso-marinated fried tofu with a garlic chip, roasted mushrooms, and of course avocado. the beetroot must have been my least favourite; mainly because of its crunchiness. i don't know about you, but i like eating softer things as nigiri. the winner in my mind was the mushrooms, but that's pretty biased since i am a mushroom fiend. after roasting, they were meaty and a little chewy, but not in a once-living-flesh kind of way. i'll definitely be making those mushrooms again. (:

leftovers? well i threw the veg into a flatbread and had myself a wrap for breakfast the next morning. with a generous swipe of chili paste in there, it hit the spot. P:

badass

who took kimchi and doenjang in her worklunch today? that's right, MINA did. and i do know that microwaving frozen rice in a plastic bag will leak toxins... but find me a better way to make near-perfect rice at work! thanks to my mom for the tip. comes out right every time. (:

doenjang is great for mixing into rice to give it a bit of flair. and no one in the breakroom said anything about the rancid kimchi smell. with a bit of blanched kale, i think this was a pretty healthy lunch. not that there's anything unhealthy or gross about the food served in our hospital's kantine, but i just prefer to save money and (lunch)time by bringing my own.

second month on my own

unfortunately there haven't been too many gastronomic feats in my kitchen recently. i blame lack of time with work and school, and of course my own laziness. and when i have a tub of tofu sitting in the fridge and a jar of peanut butter at the ready, there isn't too much much of an urge to cook. most of the drive lately seems to come from trying to use up ingredients before they go off. i just hate hate hate to waste food! both for the 'big picture' and also for my small wallet. /:

this shepherds pie was conceived solely to take care of some potatoes and parsley roots that my roommates had brought for our dinner gathering. though it wasn't really much more than the sum of its parts, it was still pretty good. after i got tired of this mash, it became soup with a couple more cloves of garlic and a handful of herbs. which was what it should have began as since it tasted so much better. ):


to end on a lighter (and less healthy) note, here are some cookies! two types;
world peace a.k.a. korova and plain ol'slice-and-bake. i made them for a friend's birthday since i'm lame and i couldn't think of anything to buy for him. both were light (at least in the hand... maybe not so much in the stomach) and crisp. i'm more a fan of fudgy cookies but these vanished in no time. (:


the world peace cookies had a slight edge on the plain ones. i guess the chocolate chips and a dash of sea salt won the extra points! i remember when i was younger, i hated getting a bite of salt in my sweets. that was around the same time that i claimed i was allergic to onions, egg, and crab. good thing my taste buds eventually woke up!

taste of home

though it looks pretty lame, this comfort food totally hit the spot. i've been coughing disgustingly for almost 2 weeks now but it doesn't stop me from having fun on the weekends. the morning after i was so happy that i was able to eat this for breakfast. our rice cooker always leaves a layer of hard, crispy rice at the bottom which is very unpleasant to have among the properly cooked grains. finally i decided to save that ugly layer like my mom does and toasted it in a pan. when boiling water is poured over it, somehow it's a little bit more than just the sum of its parts. perfect to eat with something super spicy; like the kaktugi i made last week. match it up with a cup of green tea and you're on the road to recovery. (:

leave it up to a korean to use up every last bit of food and cut down on waste.

not airplane food

at this moment in time, i am in two places at once.

one mina is sitting on a flight to los angeles; picking at terrible airplane food thanks to SAS and trying to make her lower back ache slightly less by squirming in her seat. there is a middle-aged woman sitting next to her but mina doesn't want chit-chat. she wants to sleep, blocking out discomfort, until someone tells her to raise her chair back to an upright position because the plane is landing. but the lady prods until mina stops pretending to be asleep; she needs to borrow a pen because she filled out the US customs form in pencil. as mina looks through her backpack for a government-approved writing utensil, she thinks about how many trees would need to be planted to offset the carbon blah blah blah of this long and unpleasant flight.


this mina sat in a proper chair to eat her dinner; and not at some retarded (both at country of origin and destination) hour that airlines believe, with great conviction, is a proper feeding time. it was her very first attempt at caramelized onions. as mina shoveled the equivalent of 3 medium-large onions into her mouth she thought how strange it was that a year ago she claimed to be allergic to onions, she didn't give a damn about cooking, and she certainly didn't think she would be living in a strange country called denmark. after dinner (and much brushing of the teeth), she bought two cantaloupe melons with her danish mastercard. this was the first time using it and she did a stupid little hop and dance in the shop, elated that the transaction went through.

by the way, those onions were ridiculously good. i see them in my near (breakfasty) future.

roskilde

surprise! the past several days i haven't even really been thinking about food. it's been about music, friends, and having fun. and also some beers here and there but you can blame that on the brilliant summer heat.. (;


roskilde is a nonprofit festival that is well-known for environmental and humanitarian concern. and of course there are some notable bands every year like kanye west, pet shop boys, and oasis. the ones i looked most forward to seeing was nick cave and the bad seeds and tony allen. they didn't disappoint! especially tony allen; it was one giant dance party with great sound.


the most memorable show was alamaailman vasarat (can you say it 3 times fast?); an unusual band from finland. this was their first time playing in denmark. the electricity blew out halfway through the set but luckily the roskilde crew got everything back in order quickly. also in each tent/venue there is water given out at the front of the stage so everyone can keep hydrated. have i mentioned how efficient denmark can be?


of course i had to eat something eventually. this humble offering was a gift from one of my roommates who happened to be working at the milkshake stand. penne and olives with some pretty decent bread. substantial, to say the least! there was a wide array of sustenance offered; african food, burgers, soup, sandwiches with freshly baked bread, salad, hummus, and even some dubious-looking sushi. not exactly orange county fair fare. in fact the only fried foods i saw were fries and falafel.


three days, fifteen bands, and many beers later i am officially pooped. i wouldn't have lasted as long if i had camped onsite. copenhagen is blessedly close and i got to go home every night and take a hot shower and sleep in a bed. yay! big thanks to tigerspring and i got you on tape (who received good reviews for their roskilde performance!) for giving me a chance to experience such an amazing festival. hope to do it again next year! :D

yogurt... in a BAG

holy... cow! yoghurt. in a bag. milk and chocolate milk also come in the same packaging from osted mejeri. the handle is just a pocket filled with air and i think the bag is biodegradable. only in scandinavia, man.

the only problem is that the bag doesn't quite close in the fridge. with one unintentional squeeze, there could be organic yogurts all ovah! ):

p.s. it tastes great.

p.p.s it's almost twice the price of the organic milk i normally buy. x:

hypocrites are not hip

rainy, windy, cloudy copenhagen. at least it's getting 'warmer.' i want to cook something extravagant and warm but i don't want to spend a lot of money. roasted vegetables are getting a bit boring... two pretty (and cheap) aubergines found their way into my backpack so maybe baba ghanouj will mysteriously appear tonight. the dane is gone all day, working from morning til midnight. i tend to eat a lot more fruit and vegetables when he's not around. boys.

man, it is creeping me out how much waste we make. out of the seven of us living in the collective, i think there's at least like 5 kilos of trash every day. at least we could use the coffee grounds (many cups a joe run through this apartment) and vegetable peelings for the potted plants in here. why can't i just take my milk bottle back to fakta on monday and ask them to fill it with skim? how about taking a bowl from home to carry the kilo of flour that i'll buy from superbrugsen? i still eat all those 'bad' things like non-organic pomelos from china and black beans from who-knows-where. "my conscience wants vegetarianism to win over the world. and my subconscious is yearning for a piece of juicy meat. but what do i want?"

it pisses me off when my drinks come in bottles that can't be recycled but i am still gonna drive a car in california and i am still gonna take a plane to norway. boo.