It’s become a vast classic in our house: Hot Cheese Dip. Not hot as in ‘spicy’ (though that is a possibility of course), but rather as in ‘very warm’. That’s because this dip is served straight form the oven. For those of us who can’t wait (not mentioning any names), this may result in a burnt mouth. I mean, this is really, really good, you won’t be able to wait that it’s cooled down just a tiny bit.
Do you ever do that, buying way too much if something is on sale, without thinking about what you’ll with all of it? No? Well, I do (unfortunately). Just recently, I bought buckets full of blueberries, just because they were extremely cheap. Yes, buckets, two of them. Way too much of course, because after baking muffins with blueberries and putting loads of blueberries in my yogurt and smoothies, there was still about a bucket left.
Cheese – that’s this month’s theme at the FOODBLOG EVENT organized by Foodbloggers BENELUX. And that theme can be interpreted in the broadest sense of the word. So, anything goes. I’ve thought long and hard about what I could make with cheese. Should I make something sweet of rather go for savoury? What kind of course will it be? Should I cook or bake? What kind of cheese should I use? There are so many ways to go with cheese!
It’s almost April and King’s Day is approaching fast. Many schools in the Netherlands have held the King’s Plays last Friday and everything turned orange. We are not such King’s Day fanatics, partly because we are living in Belgium since a couple of years and the kids attend school here. The 27th of April is just a normal day for us.
That doesn’t mean we’re not participating in all that orange madness, though. I am again participating in the Foodblog Event organised by Foodbloggers BENELUX and the theme this time (obviously) is: King’s Day. The colour orange is quite essential then. And I came with a recipe I had never made before: Roasted Carrot Hummus.
Tomorrow is Halloween night. Whether you celebrate it or not, it’s hard to ignore all the Halloween-accessories, costumes and candy that’s available in the stores. Now that it’s almost Halloween night, they sell everything at high discounts, as they won’t be able to sell anything after the 31st. Very tempting to buy all that stuff. But you can also make cute Halloween treats yourself. If you’re looking for some last-minute inspiration, I have a few nice ideas for you.
Apricots – the season for this summer stone fruit is in full swing. They are juicy and full of flavor. Funny enough though, I don’t like them fresh that much. While I prefer most fruits and vegetables fresh over the canned ones, I do like canned apricots better. And I like them dried. Both not the best options when it comes to sugar, of course. The canned apricots are happily soaking in sugar syrup and the dried ones are (just like any dried fruit) little sugar bombs. So I try to avoid both (not always succeeding).
Spring is well on it’s way and summer is around the corner. That means fresh fruits, berries in particular, are available in abundance. I love to eat all kinds of berries just plain. This time of year, they are so juicy and sweet, absolutely delicious. But I also like to cook and bake with them. One of my favorite things to make? Jam! It preserves the vibrant colors and the sweet taste and I can enjoy them a bit longer. I recently bought 1 kg of blueberries. I know, that’s a lot of blueberries, but they were so good. I simply could not resist. But eating a whole kilo straight up was a bit too much. So I made me some blueberry jam!
A new way to use up overripe bananas: BANANA WAFFLES!
Yes, you read that right: banana WAFFLES. I have made a fair share of banana bread, bars and muffins in my life. I’ve used loads of (overripe) bananas in smoothies and ice cream (my freezer is filled to the rim with frozen banana). Or pancakes.
Not only do I love the taste, I also love the fact that bananas naturally sweeten your baked goods or other ‘concoctions’, which means no or less sugar has to be added. Always thinking of new ways to use up overripe bananas. But never did it cross my mind to make waffles out of bananas. No idea why not.
This is one of the kid’s favorites when it comes to dessert. This Greek Yogurt Mousse is light and fluffy and comes together in just minutes. I often use raspberries in this mousse, but you can easily swap for other fruits. Strawberries, cherries, pineapple, blueberries, banana or no fruit at all, like plain vanilla.
Now with Valentine’s day just around the corner, I decided to do something special. Not that we really celebrate Valentine’s day. The day is surrounded by marketing, flowers are more expensive than usual and why should we celebrate love just this one day a year? But I somehow do like all those heart shaped foods and sweet colored decorations. So I decided to serve this mousse in pink, edible, heart shaped dessert cups ?
Dark Chocolate Covered Mixed Nuts with Sea Salt. That’s a almost whole sentence for a tiny snack. No, not tiny, it’s a mighty snack. And I’ll better warn you straight away: these are highly addictive!
I’m kind of embarrassed to actually post a recipe for this. Can’t really call it a recipe, but they are so good, I just have to share this with you.
It’s really just a bag of mixed nuts (take whatever nuts you like), dumped in a bowl of melted chocolate, stirred to get all covered, spread out on a tray, sprinkled with sea salt and voilà… your snack is ready.
Say what?!?! Yes, it is a thing. Homemade peanut butter combined with white chocolate… this is heaven on earth!
Yep, you read that right. White Chocolate Peanut Butter. Outrageous? Yes. Good? Definitely!!
Peanut butter and chocolate. Familiar combo. But peanut butter and WHITE chocolate? Never had it, never even heard of it. But with so many things, once you google it, you get I don’t know how many hits. But I didn’t dare google this. Maybe I am the first, maybe there have been many many before me who have tried and tested this combo. Which most likely is the case. I’d like to be the mastermind behind this, though I seriously doubt that. But hey, I can have those dreams just once in a while. Because, really, this is good. I’m so chuffed!
While I could eat anything pumpkin all year round, fall and winter especially call for pumpkin recipes. Over the last years, pumpkin has become more popular around these parts, but it’s still a fairly unknown ingredient. Many people simply don’t know what to do with it. And it’s so versatile! Soups, stews, roasted, grilled, sweet, savory, drinks… The list is endless.
But… cutting and peeling a pumpkin is a tedious job. And potentially dangerous! Seriously dangerous. My knife (huge, sharp chef’s knife) often always gets stuck halfway through and as I can’t seem to move the knife in any direction, I end up ‘banging’ the pumpkin on the counter, like I was cleaving a piece of wood with an axe. I’m sure I’m not the only one. Right? Anyway, dangerous. In my mind, I already see a pumpkin flying through the kitchen. A disaster waiting to happen.
