liisamarja's trials and efforts in cooking baking garden travel occasional crafty moments life, and the dog, too
Mar 15, 2013
Mar 5, 2013
braised red cabbage & duck breast
had some red cabbage in the fridge and a duck breast in the freezer (i'm constantly trying to empty it). in days gone by we used stay at the taverna hotel (now called mercure budapest) in budapest. their restaurant used to serve the best goose leg and braised cabbage. oh well, maybe once again one day...
i've tried to braise red cabbage "their way" but obviously never got it just right. nevertheless, i love braised red cabbage, even my way. this time i wanted to try cooking the cabbage in the pressure cooker, to save time, for one. i did some googling and found lobstersquads (fun drawings!) recipe for it. and made this dish my way...
my way really isn't a recipe, sorry about that. in addition to cabbage i used 2 red onions, an apple and 2 dl apple juice (lobstersquad doesn't use any liquid in her recipe). i added red wine and raspberry vinegar, you might want to skip the raspberry vinegar, i don't know what i was thinking...
my mom shreds cabbage with a cheese slicer which does make the cabbage a lot juicier, but i made a mess, i continued with a knife.
dump everything into the cooker...
...mix the ingredients somewhat. i took my potato masher to pack everything, did not want a purple explosion on the walls...did add some salt and black pepper before pouring the apple juice and 2 tbsp vinegar in.
after a mere 8 minutes of phiffing and whisling later...all done!
now that i look at the picture i remembered that i should have scored the skin...
fried the breast on medium for 6 mins per side, then foiled it for 10 mins.
very red but don't let that bother you, green salad would have been a nice addition.
the sun shone for a few hrs last week, it was nice on the deck.
sun was melting ice and snow, but we just got 20 cm more snow...
i'm going thru my seed collection and wondering what all should i grow this year.
however, the sun needs to get pretty busy melting all this before i can hide any seeds in the garden.
i've tried to braise red cabbage "their way" but obviously never got it just right. nevertheless, i love braised red cabbage, even my way. this time i wanted to try cooking the cabbage in the pressure cooker, to save time, for one. i did some googling and found lobstersquads (fun drawings!) recipe for it. and made this dish my way...
my way really isn't a recipe, sorry about that. in addition to cabbage i used 2 red onions, an apple and 2 dl apple juice (lobstersquad doesn't use any liquid in her recipe). i added red wine and raspberry vinegar, you might want to skip the raspberry vinegar, i don't know what i was thinking...
my mom shreds cabbage with a cheese slicer which does make the cabbage a lot juicier, but i made a mess, i continued with a knife.
dump everything into the cooker...
...mix the ingredients somewhat. i took my potato masher to pack everything, did not want a purple explosion on the walls...did add some salt and black pepper before pouring the apple juice and 2 tbsp vinegar in.
after a mere 8 minutes of phiffing and whisling later...all done!
now that i look at the picture i remembered that i should have scored the skin...
fried the breast on medium for 6 mins per side, then foiled it for 10 mins.
very red but don't let that bother you, green salad would have been a nice addition.
the sun shone for a few hrs last week, it was nice on the deck.
sun was melting ice and snow, but we just got 20 cm more snow...
i'm going thru my seed collection and wondering what all should i grow this year.
however, the sun needs to get pretty busy melting all this before i can hide any seeds in the garden.
Feb 27, 2013
lots of snowy pics, some of sun, the dog and birdies
whoa...i guess i should have kept up with blogger. there's been so many changes i almost just gave up. anyways, it seems darkness of the winter got me big this year, hence the long pause on this blog. i have been missing the sun. the statistics people have gathered that this winter has been cloudiest in 25 yrs, and third in 50, with mere 50 hrs of sunlight between first of december and mid february. i rest my case.
this sight was welcome this morning, despite the fog and thin clouds...
the dog seems to not have minded the darkness, he naps a lot, winter or summer
the full moon on monday night, snow moon some call it
here's what the sun does! past few evenings the sunsets have been glorious.
the fluctuating temps make fog, and if someone has a more scientific explanation, please fill me in.
i don't know what little bird this is. i only know little birds, medium birds, large birds, black birds, gulls, eagles and woodpeckers.
there was a lot more snow last year...
pod of...gosh...i forgot! fox something comes to mind...
this is a woodpecker who demonstrates acrobatics at the feeder meant for LITTLE (hint, hint) birds. whether this woodpecker is a great, middle or lesser spotted woodpecker i don't know...
UPDATE: an ornitholigist friend of mine told that this is great spotted woodpecker
UPDATE: an ornitholigist friend of mine told that this is great spotted woodpecker
these are little yellow birds, certain someone thinks they are siskins (carduelis spinus)...
UPDATE: these yellow shrirpers are yellowhammers
UPDATE: these yellow shrirpers are yellowhammers
along the cottage road
this was taken on planet earth, and you can ask my mom, she saw this, too. weird sunrise indeed.
from another point
enjoy the snow while it lasts!
Jan 4, 2013
Dec 30, 2012
oh boy, time flies...
...even thought it's not been all fun and games. well, some of the time it has. this here is the last full moon of 2012.
i don't know where the last six months vanished. most of the time it seemed there were way too many things going on and that i had time for nothing, besides work (and on most days that ain't a picnic). instagram swallowed me and as posting there is instant (duh!) the more time consuming blogging was moved to the back burner. also, i noticed that my real cameras started collecting dust...
these two furry friends are patu from next door and the dog. patu isn't a year old yet and was only recently introduced to the dog. they've been barking at/with each other for months, though, much to the dismay of other neighbors i'm sure.
this year winter came pretty early and took a very cold start. it is unusual for the temps to drop to -20C (and below) this early in the winter. helsinki area almost broke the record of amount of snow by the end of december (record high was in 1965, 85 cm). the city of helsinki seems to take her time figuring out what to do with the accumulating snow and side streets are getting narrower and narrower and parking without a 4wheel drive and shovel are, shall we say, challenging.
but the snow, freezing temps and scarce daylight make great pictures, this one taken at the cottage.
how the squirrels at the cottage are able to haul themselves up this high on trees is beyond me. their midsections are getting huge with all the bird food they eat.
the dog has taken to sleeping on his chair, he rarely does that in the summer.
i'm not sure which one of these guys is more codependent...
some chocolate? i personally can't have another bite...
this was supposed to be the xmas card picture but...well, i noticed that the cards wouldn't arrive in time, not even for new year's, so there.
most of my moving boxes are where they are meant to be (at the new apt, at the shack, the cottage and mom and dad's garage...) and most of the things at the new apt have found their place. i'm still waiting for my murphy bed as there were unexpected difficulties in getting one (only one manufacturer in whole of finland, can you believe!) my books will need a home, i have a bookshelf designed, i only need to find someone to make it, or a workshop to do it myself (which, obviously, would the coolest option).
A THANK YOU FOR ALL MY VISITORS FOR 2012 AND
HAPPY NEW YEAR FOR 2013!
i don't know where the last six months vanished. most of the time it seemed there were way too many things going on and that i had time for nothing, besides work (and on most days that ain't a picnic). instagram swallowed me and as posting there is instant (duh!) the more time consuming blogging was moved to the back burner. also, i noticed that my real cameras started collecting dust...
these two furry friends are patu from next door and the dog. patu isn't a year old yet and was only recently introduced to the dog. they've been barking at/with each other for months, though, much to the dismay of other neighbors i'm sure.
this year winter came pretty early and took a very cold start. it is unusual for the temps to drop to -20C (and below) this early in the winter. helsinki area almost broke the record of amount of snow by the end of december (record high was in 1965, 85 cm). the city of helsinki seems to take her time figuring out what to do with the accumulating snow and side streets are getting narrower and narrower and parking without a 4wheel drive and shovel are, shall we say, challenging.
but the snow, freezing temps and scarce daylight make great pictures, this one taken at the cottage.
how the squirrels at the cottage are able to haul themselves up this high on trees is beyond me. their midsections are getting huge with all the bird food they eat.
the dog has taken to sleeping on his chair, he rarely does that in the summer.
i'm not sure which one of these guys is more codependent...
some chocolate? i personally can't have another bite...
this was supposed to be the xmas card picture but...well, i noticed that the cards wouldn't arrive in time, not even for new year's, so there.
most of my moving boxes are where they are meant to be (at the new apt, at the shack, the cottage and mom and dad's garage...) and most of the things at the new apt have found their place. i'm still waiting for my murphy bed as there were unexpected difficulties in getting one (only one manufacturer in whole of finland, can you believe!) my books will need a home, i have a bookshelf designed, i only need to find someone to make it, or a workshop to do it myself (which, obviously, would the coolest option).
A THANK YOU FOR ALL MY VISITORS FOR 2012 AND
HAPPY NEW YEAR FOR 2013!
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