Check out the Blog of my friend Rachel Lamb.... it sheds some light at Dog Rescue

It's All About the Dogs: The first time I was reprimanded by the woman I af...: The first time I was reprimanded by the woman I affectionately call Mien Frau (MF) was for posting on Facebook pictures of dogs that I was w...

Do you have unclaimed Money too?

I really didn't know that there is a search engine out there for this purpose. Do you think you might have forgotten an account you had somewhere, or maybe someone didn't pay you in time? Had a pension, bought a stock.... Here is a search you can use to check if you have money somewhere..... and then you can claim it!

GO to the NAUPA (National Association of Unclaimed Property Administration) website, by clicking on this link http://unclaimed.org or check out MissingMoney.com !! Get your $$$

Chicken-Salad Spring Rolls

Do you sometimes wonder what to do with your left-over chicken? Sure you do and so do I. A lot of times, I'm sure it's Chicken Salad, but how about making a quick easy to take along snack or meal with that Chicken Salad.

Add a avocado, some sprouts, maybe some quinoa or wild rice, and salad, roll it up and Voila!

Chicken Salad Spring Rolls! Yum!

Just shred your left over chicken finely, mix it with rice and quinoa (if you want some carbs in your filling) and then add a tablespoon or two of mayo, season with salt and pepper (or whatever you fancy) and maybe some lemon juice for a bit of acidity. Set aside.

Prepare your other items, like avocado slices, lettuce leaves, sprouts, shredded carrot and arrange them in bowls.

Cover your counter with cling film, set out a plate with water to soak the rice paper wrappers. Just place the rice paper wrappers in the water maybe 30 seconds or less, then lay them onto the cling film.

Starting with the lettuce begin filling your wrappers and roll them up like a little burrito. Start by folding down the top, then fold in the sides and then wrap as tightly as you can. Put on a plate and EAT!

These stay fresh for a day or two, just place in a container with a moist paper towel.

Bon Appetite!

You could do this as well with tuna, crab, tofu, salmon or whatever other filling comes to mind.



PS: My next favorite hobby are horses.... volunteering at this rescue is one of my favorite things to do. Can you help us to keep these seniors well? Check us out at The Golden Carrot  or if you like to donate to the cause and support The Rescue Train Race for the Rescues.

Visit to "The Golden Carrot"

Wow it has been a long time since I wrote something here, but honestly I was busy and also distracted. We bought a house, we moved and we did some renovations with the help of my parents. They were so gracious to come visit and actually did most of the work, while Patrick and I were at work. Thank you so very much!

I also had some very sad things going on..... My favorite horse "Zeppelin" is no longer with us. I tried my best to get him to a sanctuary, but I was lied to and even though I tried my best, I never really had a chance at making it happen. The time I was told to find a "Retirement Home" for him, the owner had already scheduled the vet, for him to be put down..... It might sound strange to people, but it was devastating to me, it's like loosing a friend.... Had I know this, I would have just put a halter on him and take him across the street to a different stable and boarded him there for a few weeks, because the rescue just needed a little bit of time.

But good things can come out of bad situations, which now brings me to "The Golden Carrot"! While I was looking for a Rescue to find "Zeppelin" a new home, I discovered their website and started communicating with Casey. What a wonderful person she is! She immediately contacted her supporters and many of them were willing to help me! People I never met, were willing to pull together for a horse, that wouldn't be of any "use" to them... Amazing!

SO, even if I couldn't save Zeppelin, it brought me to this awesome Charity and I want to help them in any way I can. Regular visits to help with whatever is needed, raising funds, building awareness.... we cannot just discard our animals after a lifetime of service.... They love you, depend on you and trust you, how can you betray them??

Well I want to help out and my friend Jocelyn and I went to Anza, what a pretty drive, to meet Casey and the Horses! Some great dogs too! What a warm welcome! Casey showed me around the ranch and then we started mucking out stalls, not a small feat in the scorching sun. It must have been 90 degrees up there, well it was a great workout! After working a little, we got to cool down a little and started bathing some of the horses... They just loved it! And Gideon the new pup, loved rolling around in the mud. And he dried of clean.... don't know how that worked, but he didn't have any visible dirt on him after drying off.... go figure!

After all the hard work, Casey rewarded us both with a riding lesson... she is an amazing teacher and so kind! I can't wait to visit again.

In the meantime, help me help them! Can you donate a $1 or $2 (or more) to save the life of a horse? Buy some hay? Some grain? Help with vet bills? Even a small donation helps! We're not asking you to give a large amount..... but if you do that' be awesome!

Please check out my fundraiser at crowdrise 

Cold or Warm Cabbage Salad

Grilling Season is here and 4th of July Celebrations are only a week away, so I thought I'd post a recipe from Austria, that will give you an alternative to the true and sometimes tired Cole Slaw everyone serves with BBQ.

A "Krautsalat" or Cabbage Salad is something you would find everywhere in Austria, maybe even Bavaria and it just goes great with any kind of grilled meat, but especially well with ribs and sausages. You can even prepare it a day in advance and it's going to be even better.

Krautsalat, is somewhere in between a Cole Slaw and a Sauerkraut, it's not entirely raw, but also not cooked fully. Its still crunchy! It's slightly tangy, but not sour like Sauerkraut, it has a refreshing taste and isn't loaded with Mayo! I think you'll have to try and you will love it.

Here is what you need:

1 1/4 lbs of finely cut white cabbage
3 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar
6 TBSP Vegetable Oil
1 TSP Cumin
1 TSP Salt
2 fl oz water

Bacon bits (optional)

Place the finely cut cabbage in a bowl, sprinkle with the salt and mix well with your hands (kinda knead it a bit like a dough), let stand in the fridge for about an hour.

Then again, using your clean hands, squeeze out some of the liquid and drain the excess water.

Mix the water, vinegar and cumin and bring to a boil. Then pour the vinegar mixture over the cabbage and add the oil, mix well and maybe add some pepper if you like. Or toss in some bacon bits and serve with your favorite BBQ.

 You can make this the day before and just do the marinade the day of the BBQ.

A variation to this is a warm version, it differs from it in the way that the cabbage is blanched/boiled. And it definitely calls for the bacon.

You'll need:

1 1/4 finely cut white cabbage
3 oz of smoked bacon cut in small cubes
4 oz water or soup stock (any kind you like)
3 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar
3 TBSP Vegetable Oil
1 TSP Cumin
Salt

As in the previous recipe, add the cabbage to a bowl, sprinkle with salt and knead. Set aside. Bring the stock or water, the cumin and vinegar to a boil, then add the cabbage and let cooking the covered pot at a rolling boil for about a few minutes. Remove and drain the excess liquid.

While it is boiling, render your bacon in a pan, then pour all of it (even the fat) over the cabbage, add the vegetable oil and mix well. Salt and pepper to taste and serve!

Delicious!

Gluten Free Crepes ~ Savory and Sweet

I love Crepes, who doesn't? As Children we would often eat them for lunch or dinner. Mostly the sweet variety. Spending summers at my Grandma's in Austria, we had the all the time, because they were easy to make and she would let us eat them with our fingers.... Ah she was so quick making them too.....

In and out of the pan, filled and in our hands in 3 minutes flat.... and the leftover ones, were kept plain, cooled down, cut in thin strips and then added to a broth the next day or so...... Delicious. "Palatschinken" is what we call them in Austria!

Here's what you need for the gluten-free version:

1 1/4 cup rice flour (I use Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour from Koda Farms)
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 tbsp melted butter (or you could probably use coconut oil too)

Put all above ingredients in a blender and blend well, or you can do this in a mixer too, then let the batter sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes. It thickens a bit!

For the savory filling I used:

1 large leek, cut in rings
8 oz chopped mushrooms
2 shallots minced (you can use chopped onion)
3 cloves garlic minced
dash of gluten free soy sauce (try Kikkoman)
salt & pepper
red pepper flakes

 In a lightly oiled pan, sautee the minced shallot and garlic, add the mushrooms and the leek, and sautee until the mushrooms are cooked, if it gets to dry add a little white wine or broth. Season with salt & pepper and a dash of soy sauce, add the red pepper flakes if you like it spicier, turn down the heat as far as you can to just keep the filling warm.

Make your crepes. Its best to use a flat crepe pan, as its easier to flip your crepes, but you can use any nonstick pan you have. Heat the pan with just a little bit of oil and pour in a little bit of batter, swirl it around so you have a very thin layer of batter. Let cook until the crepe batter has no more "liquid" spots and the edges look golden brown, then flip over and let cook on the flipside.. once cooked transfer onto a warm plate.... do so with all of the batter.

Once you are done, fill the crepes with the prepare filling, transfer on dinner plates, garnish and serve.

For dessert I filled mine with Nutella and Raspberries! Yummy!




You can fill these with anything you like, all veggies, meat, chicken, tofu or any kind of preserves, applesauce, fruit, whatever.... the variations are as limitless as your imagination.

Gluten-Free Carrot Cake

I've been juicing a lot lately with my new Breville Juicer and I've always had such a bad conscience to trow away all the fruit and vegetable pulp, so I thought there must be a way for me to at least use some of it.

So I thought of making a carrot cake, as you'll need shredded carrot for it anyway, might just as well use the pulp right.... So if you are juicing carrots and you want to use your leftovers this is for you.

You will need the following:

200 g butter softened/cubed
100 g finely shredded carrots (or more if you like)
100 g ground almonds
200 g superfine sugar (I like C&H Sugar Products)
100 g sweet rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
5 eggs
1 lemon (finely grated zest)

Grab a large mixing bowl and start out by beating your softened butter until it makes little peaks, then add the sugar and keep beating, mix in a little bit of lemon juice and the lemon zest, then while beating on medium speed add one egg at a time. Once you added all your eggs and everything is nicely combined you will slowly add the shredded carrot and the almond meal.

Make sure to scrape down the edges of your bowl so you get all the buttery taste into your batter.

Then slowly and gently fold in the rice flour (I prefer Koda Farms Mochiko Sweet Rice Four), which has been combined with the baking powder.
 
I do this by hand, as over mixing will make the cake rubbery. Then transfer the batter into a 8" / 20cm spring form pan and bake at 375F/200C for about 60 - 70 Min or until wooden pick comes out clean.

If in doubt it's better to bake gluten-free recipe's a bit longer especially the ones without any gum (guar gum / xanthan gum) in them.

Once your cake is done, let it cool and you can either frost it or do a glaze like I did.

For the white sugar glaze you'll need:

200 g powdered sugar sifted
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp lemon juice

Mix the above ingredients to a very thick syrup (think thick honey), set a little aside and color with a few drops of food coloring or with some cocoa powder (you might have to add a little liquid) so you can draw circles on top of the cake to create the "Spiderweb".

To create a smooth surface for your glaze, take about a spoon of apricot jam or any jelly you like, heat in the microwave and brush on the cake with a pastry brush.

Add the with glaze and smooth with a large knife or spatula and tilting the cake. Before it sets, pipe circles in the reserved colored icing on the cake and with a wooden pick pull lines across the cake, just like you would cut your slices. If you like you can add little Marzipan Carrots too.

Let the frosting 'dry' and enjoy!

I know it's been a while

and I haven't posted yet this year. Well things are a bit busy around these parts. My husband and I have finally found a house we're in the process of buying and any homeowners out there probably know how stressful it is to buy one's first home.

On top of that I got in a car accident, yep, on the 405 freeway! A 18-Wheeler misread the speed traffic was going at and BAM...... slammed in the car behind me, which in turn slammed into me. So ever since then I'm at the doctors office 3 times a week, for electromagnetic treatment and all that fun stuff. I could have done without it. Thank GOD, nothing worse happened. I'm also sending good vibes to the lady in the small car that got wedged between the truck and I, she broke her wrist and I don't know what else, but she got the short end of the stick as her car was just done for.

I applaud DODGE for their great product, my Magnum only needs a new bumper and some paint.... End of story. Too bad you took that beautiful car out of your line-up!

A big Thank You also goes out to Progressive Insurance that handled the claim speedily and professionally.

All there is to do now is fix the car and get all the expenses paid the the other insurance company!

Hope none of you have to deal with anything like that, an accident on a busy freeway is very scary!

Gluten Free "Amaretti" / Almond Cookies Crispy on the outside and soft in the Center!

Thanksgiving is almost here and Christmas is not far behind, so it's time to bake cookies. Loads and loads of cookies. This year I'll be making many varieties and most of them will be GLUTEN FREE. Oh and we're making Amaretti to start, let me tell you, these babies are super delicious, easy to make and yippeeh they are gluten free too.

Amaretti are a staple in Italy, they have a distinctive Almond aroma and are nice and crispy on the outside but have a wonderful soft and chewy center. Wonderful with some hot chocolate or a hot cup of java.




Here is what you need:

400 g ground almonds
300 g superfine sugar
3 tbsp sweet rice flour (I use Koda Farms Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour)
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp cinnamon
3 large eggs
2 tsp almond flavor
1 sprinkle of salt

powdered sugar to roll your cookies in


Pre-heat your oven to 325F / 150 C

Once you've weighed out all your ingredients, start by separating your eggs and whip the egg-whites with the salt until very stiff.

Combine all the dry in ingredients in a large bowl, mix the almond flavor and the egg yolks well and ten add to the dry ingredients. Then add the egg whites, combine everything well and form a big ball of dough.

Pour some powdered sugar into a shallow dish and prepare your cookie sheets (I like to line them with wax paper). With moist hands start forming walnut size balls and roll lightly in the powdered sugar, then set them on your baking sheets.

Once you used all your dough and placed the little balls on your bakin sheets, take a glass or a spatula and press down the cookies slightly. Then bake in the pre-heated oven for about 25 minutes. The cookies should be nice and crispy on the outside and chewy and soft on the inside.


These cookies are great fresh but keep beautifully for up to a week in a tin or other storage container.
Oh and if you don't have to eat gluten free, you can use regular flour, no need to buy rice flour just to make cookies one time.

ENJOY! And let me know what you think!

Tip: if you want a little surprise inside, put little morsels of chocolate on the inside of the balls and bake as normal.

Semi-Homemade Coconut-Lemon Cupcakes

Now and then we all want something sweet and cupcakes are the perfect size to satisfy that craving for cake. Last night I didn't feel like weighing out all the ingredients so I just thought I'll do something semi-homemade.

After all nobody will notice if you don't tell and you save a ton of time, by using a box and just switching out some of recommended ingredients and adding to it.



Here is what you need for these Semi-Homemade Coconut-Lemon Cupcakes:

1 pkg. Pillsbury Super Moist Yellow Cake Mix
3 Eggs
1 Cup finely shredded Coconut, dry
1.5 cups Coconut Milk
1 tsp. Coconut Flavor
1 Lemon, just the zest
1/3 cup of oil

For the Lemon Glaze:

1 cup  C & H powdered sugar
1 Lemon, juice from the lemon you just zested

To decorate:
Icing (going with the semi-homemade I used store bought)
Coconut flakes
C&H powdered sugar

Prepare the cupcake batter just as described on the package, but instead of the water, use the coconut milk and then add in the coconut flakes, lemon zest. Divide the batter evenly in 2 twelve count cupcake pans and bake as instructed on the package or until a wooden skewer comes out clean.

While the cupcakes are baking prepare a lemon glaze with the powdered sugar and the lemon juice. The consistency should be like a thick syrup. Once the cupcakes are baked, remove them from the oven, prick them allover with a toothpick or a skewer and immediately brush with the lemon glaze, so the tops are coated and the glaze will be absorbed into the cupcakes.

Let the cupcakes cool, top with icing and coconut flakes. I found it easiest to dip the iced cupcakes into a small bowl with the coconut flakes, that way you don't get the flakes all over your kitchen.

If you want, sprinkle with a little powdered sugar and with a kitchen torch, toast the coconut slightly. Make sure you set the flame to low otherwise you are going to burn the coconut. I got my torch at

Now arrange on a nice plate, make yourself some coffee and dig in! Bon Apetit!

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Home made fruit infused Vodka

I had a lot of raspberries, some watermelon and cherries sitting in my fridge and couldn't decide what to do with them so I thought I'd make some fruit-infused vodka. Of course you can buy them in the store, but trust me those don't taste nearly as good as what you can make at home.

Sure you need a little patience, but it is so totally worth it!

What you need is a bottle of decent vodka, some sugar, fruit like raspberries, watermelon, cherries, blackberries etc., maybe some mint leaves and a few empty jars.


For the Raspberry/Mint Flavor:

Rinse the raspberries and a few mint leaves, put them in a jar, add 2 tbsp of sugar and then top off with vodka until all the berries are covered, close the lid and shake lightly so all the sugar dissolves. Store in the fridge for about 4 to 5 weeks and it's ready to use.







For the Cherry Flavor, wash your cherries, cut in half and discard the pit, then add them to the jar with the sugar (you can leave that out if you don't want it) and proceed the same as with the raspberry flavor)








 
So all in all I made 3 flavors: 

Raspberry Mint
Cherry
Watermelon

And for Labor Day I made myself a refreshing drink!


Add a few ice cubes to a glass, a shot and a half (or so) of the raspberry vodka (that all depends on how strong you like your drink) add a few of the drunken berries, a spritz of lime, and top of with tonic water! 


Delicious and very refreshing! Also the vodka tastes GREAT just as a shot as well!


Try it, it's easy and adds some personality to your vodka. On top of that you'll get to brag on how you made an Artisan Product!