Miso Hungry
I’m sure most of my loyal blog followers thought I fell off of the earth… Well, I didn’t! I’ve just been insanely busy the past month. First, Stephan’s parents were here visiting from Germany for three weeks. Then we sent them on a cruise for my father in law’s 60th birthday. We figured they would want company on the cruise so we went with them… :P Lastly, we booked a commercial shoot at Atlantis in the Bahamas… we had to be there five days… it was just awful. By awful, I mean awesome! If you haven’t been to Atlantis, add it to your list of must see places! During the shoot, we were lucky to find the time to have dinner at Nobu and Mesa Grill. I highly recommend both! Now we’re home and pretty much plan to be here for a while.
In keeping with our new health kick, Stephan and I joined a gym. Can you believe I’ve gone every day since I joined? The fact that I joined two days ago is a minor detail. lol! On a whim, we tried spinning for the first time yesterday. I don’t know how many spin enthusiasts there are out there, but what’s up with the butt pain afterward? I think I might need to order one of those embarrassing inflatable donuts to sit on! Yowsers! All jokes aside, I truly enjoyed spinning and definitely plan to continue with it.
Now on to the food… This is a very quick miso glazed salmon. It’s flavorful and oh so healthy! Next time I make this I want to grill the fish instead of broiling. I think it would be even better! Oh yeah, and those gorgeous salad greens…… I grew them!! :::patting self furiously on the back:::
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EuroTrip 2009
We just got home from our annual trip to the Fatherland (Germany) to visit Stephan’s family. Its a really good thing to have in-laws who live in Europe… I’m a lucky gal! We always do a little side trip somewhere during our visits… Last year was Rome and this year was a East European road trip. We started our road trip in Frankfurt and drove to Prague, Vienna and Munich. As usual, our traveling consists of two things… eating traditional food and photo taking. Or as the Germans say… <insert German accent here> Photoshooting. Check out some AMAZING non-food images that Stephan took from our trip.
This is us in Prague, close to the Castle and the Famous Charles Bridge
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Check out Chica
I’ve been known to be a bleeding heart when it comes to animals. I have a major soft spot them… I’ve even stopped several times to remove turtles from the road. I just feel the need to do what I can for animals. A friend of mine came across this little tiny (5 pound) chihuahua a few days ago. Stephan and I just couldn’t let her go to animal control. She looked as if she had been well fed, but had not been to a vet (or bathed) in many years. She was quite the stinker. Its sad that someone can neglect such a precious creature.
We’ve named her Chica temporarily because it seemed wrong to keep calling her “the other dog.” She is an absolute sweetheart…. but definitely categorized as special needs. She is partially blind and has difficulty walking due to hip dysplasia, but she hobbles around. Her disposition, however, is very sweet… and I’ve done some unspeakable things to her like forcefeeding her pumpkin and yogurt with a syringe. I won’t go into why I was doing this… after all this IS a food blog! lol!
We currently have her in our home in Ft Lauderdale. We would love to keep her, but we already have 2 chihuahuas and just don’t have room for another. Also, with our busy schedules and traveling, we don’t have the time to give her the attention she needs. If you know someone who would like to adopt a special needs pet, please email me at candace at maloman.com. She would be the perfect lap dog for an elderly woman or man who needs companionship.
I’d like to give a big thank you to Dr. Loeser, my fantastic vet, who donated her time to run tests on little Chica. Check out this beautiful image Stephan took of little Chica.
Golly Jeepers… Happy Holidays!
Today is a very special day… my hubby’s birthday! Happy Birthday honey! I’m so excited because we’ll be celebrating tonight at our favorite Ft. Lauderdale Restaurant, Cafe Martaranos. You’re the best husband a girl could ask for… I’m truly blessed to have you in my life. Thank you for being you, and always putting up with me!
For everyone else, Happy Holidays!!! Every year, we create custom Holiday Cards, and this year is no different. When I saw this blog post, I knew what our 2008 theme had to be. This is my favorite card we’ve ever done, and now we have the pressure to top this next year. So here’s our version of a 1970ish Olan Mills portrait…
4 Years
It is amazing how time flies… Today is our 4th wedding anniversary! I dedicate this post to my hubby, Stephan. We have a good thing going… we laugh together, we work together and we argue like the Costanzas! :P I wouldn’t want it any other way. Thank you for always being so supportive of me, in every thing I do. You’re the best fan club a girl could ask for.
Here’s a few pictures from our wedding… no food shots today! Tonight, we’ll be going to my favorite Miami restaurant… Joe’s Stone Crab for a decadent dinner to celebrate. Before drinking too much wine, hopefully we can get some pictures of the amazing food there!
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Bacon Butter
I’m finally clawing my way out of the turkey coma and blogging about my Thanksgiving. We’ve been unusually busy the past few weeks with weddings. Last weekend, we photographed a wedding in Miami Saturday night and then hopped on a plane four hours later at 6:00 the next morning to shoot another one in Cape May, New Jersey. Returned home late Monday night, and started Thanksgiving cooking on Tuesday. Needless to say… I’m still catching up on my sleep!
As I was flipping through my plethora of cooking magazines, I came across a recipe that piqued my interest. It was for a turkey flavored with Bacon Butter. Yes, you heard me right. That’s bacon and butter, thrown in the food processor and pureed. Seriously… its so wrong, it’s right. The original recipe called for mustard, but I omitted it and added fresh herbs instead. I did my usual brine, but instead of boring old butter under the skin, I made the bacon butter and schmeared it between the skin and meat. My arm still hurts from repeatedly patting myself on the back. This was the best tasting turkey I’ve ever made. The flavors of the bacon and herbs infused the meat and also made it oh so juicy.
You can find most recipes here, from last year’s post. I tend to make the same recipes every year, with one or two new ones. The bacon butter is a new addition that I’m pretty sure I”ll be making again! Check out some pics of our Thanksgiving spread. As usual I have to thank Stephan for documenting the whole cooking process.
Happy Halloween – Now GO VOTE!
Now I’m not going to get all political on my blog, because it is a food blog. I won’t even tell you who I’ve voted for.
But… I found this site, Yes We Carve, and knew I had to join in the festivities. I’m not usually one to carve a pumpkin because, honestly, I’m not that creative. In the past, when I did carve one, it was just a sad slash mouth with two teeth and triangle eyes/nose. Not pretty. But now that I’ve discovered Jack O’Lantern templates, I plan to do more carving in the future. It was actually lots of fun.
Now for the moral of the post. If you’re an American, it is your duty to vote. Of course… I’d like everyone to vote for the candidate I support. Again, since I’m not going to get political, I won’t say who Stephan and I voted for a few days ago during early voting. :)
Have a safe and fun Halloween and weekend! Please vote on Tuesday, November 4th!
American As Apple Pie
Many of my regular readers know my husband, Stephan, grew up in Europe, and is a Ferrrner (aka foreigner.) Well… not any more. This Saturday, at the ungodly hour of 7 am, my husband became an American Citizen. The swearing in ceremony was a bit like a bad televangelist sermon. I got a very good chuckle when they started the program with Hero by Mariah Carey and ended with Proud To Be An American whilst waving American flags. I could just imagine my husband rolling his eyes… :P Poignant moment, but loaded with cheese.
When Stephan came here, he was a young 20 year old with a few thousand dollars in his pocket and a drive to succeed. Now he’s the Principal of his own company, Maloman Photographers. I’m so proud of him and dedicate this post to him. I know he will never be as American as Apple Pie because he takes immense pride in his European heritage, but now he’s officially home. Of course, if the upcoming election doesn’t turn out like he hopes, we may move to Canada… just kidding, well, maybe not.
This apple pie is very easy and pretty foolproof. I like to saute the apples just a little before baking because it helps to avoid crunchy apples and soggy bottom. Goodness gracious, no one likes a soggy bottom. :P If you use a more mealy apple, you should definitely skip this step. Also, I prefer to use a Pate Brisee, which is made like regular pie dough, but uses butter instead of shortening… you just can’t beat the flavor of butter.
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Things Could Be Worscht
Today is the day all of the Daring Bakers post their monthly treat for all to see. Since I’m out of the country right now, I haven’t been able to do mine. I actually made the lavash (crackers) here, but I just don’t have the time to get the post done. But things could be worscht..
I’ve come to think of Germany as “The Land of Sausage.” Well… that is because it is. The variety of tube-steak here is utterly mind boggling. Just in the regular grocery store, you can find hundreds of different weiners. You can find it in the refrigerated area, the fancy stuff in the butcher area… even suspended in liquid and unrefrigerated. This one scares me a bit. Meat that doesn’t need refrigeration makes me think of spam. Spam is bad… on many levels. This is where I found a peculiar shape of weiner. Balls. Yes, in Germany, you can find weiners in the shape of balls. I can just imagine the lovely display you could create with weiner balls (appropriately called Party Balls.)
Due to the immense worscht eating society, I’ve noticed a peculiar by-product… a phenomena, if you will. Worscht Air. The air is scented with it. You can be having a nice walk in the neighborhood, and it is possible to catch a whiff. Walk in the city, and you definitely smell it, coming from the grills at the outdoor worscht stalls. I think the frankfurter sellers here have found a way to release the smell into the air, so people constantly crave it… Anyone else that has been in Frankfurt know what I mean?
We’re leaving first thing in the morning for Miami…. it was a fabulous vacation, and three weeks suddenly seemed too short… :(
Eating our Way Through Roma
As you can see, I’ve put blogging on the back burner… I’m just entirely too busy relaxing and doing the tourist thang. However, between waking up at noon and eating like a swine, I have found the time to blog about our time in Rome. Yes, its tough being me… but once we get home, Stephan and I will be working non-stop for several months.
Rome is an amazing city, and the history there is just fascinating. When you see the Colosseum, which is probably one of the most well known structures in the world, it takes your breath away. You just sit back and wonder how the hell this was built back circa 70 AD. The architecture of Rome is simply gorgeous. Every direction you looked, there is a beautiful sight. We touched on all of the main tourist spots, Colosseum, Vatican, St Peter’s Basilica, etc… but spent the majority of our time on the side streets, just wandering and drinking in all that is Rome. Four full days was the perfect amount of time to spend there and see everything we wanted to see. Also, the weather in September is magnificent in Rome!
One of the totally unexpected moments of our trip was seeing Al Pacino and Robert De Niro at the Rome Red Carpet Premier of Righteous Kill. The event was held in the theater around the corner from our hotel, and we were fortunate enough to arrive there right before Pacino and De Niro arrived. What are the odds of seeing two of my favorite actors TOGETHER… in Italy… bliss I tell ya. I can’t wait to see the movie now!
About the food… Although I did tons of research beforehand, it was difficult to stick to the list of restaurants I had hoped to try. Unfortunately, when you’re walking around Rome, looking at the amazing sights, you get hungry and it is easy to make the mistake of stopping to eat somewhere that preys on tourists. This is where you will get a mediocre meal that costs MUCH more than it should. We found that if we got hungry in a heavily tourist area, it was better to grab a gelato and take time to find a good place to eat. Perhaps this is not the healthiest alternative, but it sure was yummy!
In choosing restaurants to eat, we were looking for traditional but casual Roman fare, preferably with good prices. Its easy to find good restaurants that cost an arm and a leg, but my mission was to find some that were actually well priced. Our best meal was at Antica Boheme, which was just one block from our hotel. We had an amazing dinner with three courses including wine for about 35 Euros per person. Trattoria Lilli was a very close second. Two traditional dishes to try are gnocchi and spaghetti carbonara. I tried them both… a few times. It just so happens they are two of my favorite pasta dishes.
Check out some photos we took of food below, and more amazing photos of Rome on Stephan’s blog.
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