moroccan chickpea soup

I was a bit under the weather last weekend and I made this soup in hopes that the garlic and spices would chase my cold away, and it did!

olive oil

1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, pressed
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1 t ground cumin
1 1/2 t smoked paprika
cayenne pepper
4 cups cooked chickpeas
14.5 oz canned diced tomatoes
4 cups vegetable stock
1 t dark brown sugar
fresh spinach

Hit a bit of olive oil over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions until they're translucent, then add the garlic and sauté a few more minutes. Add the spices and cook for another minute or so.

Add the chickpeas, tomatoes, stock, and sugar. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes or so.

Puree about half of the chickpeas and add them back to the pot. Stir to reincorporate, then add a few handfuls of fresh spinach and cook until the spinach wilts.

Season with salt, pepper, and maybe a little more cayenne. Viola! Delicious :)

obligatory thanksgiving post

Last year, Thanksgiving week hit me unexpectedly hard. I’m not a fan of excess, or of dead birds, which are in my view, pretty much the pillars of this holiday. But for some reason, I felt oddly out of touch and even a bit sad.

This year, I’ve barely given Thanksgiving a thought. I don’t feel the sense of disconnect I felt last year. Maybe I’ve finally landed and settled here.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d relish the opportunity to throw a vegetarian feast, but it’s not really worth the effort for myself. But perhaps next year I’ll have someone with whom I can share this American tradition ;)

This year, I’m thankful for the opportunity to see Thailand, London, Amsterdam, and the Norwegian Fjords. I'm thankful for the Buddha. I’m thankful for my amazing job at a fabulous company that uses my strengths and is about to get a whole lot more exciting. I’m thankful for my beautiful home, for Opie, and for the courage to follow my dreams. I'm thankful for the bumps and bruises that have made me who I am, and for the fact that I'm resilient and able to shrug off most of what comes flying at me.

And I'm really thankful for my pretty arms & shoulders!!!
I've been working very hard :)

dummy 246

The graffiti, the wide-neck green top, the turquoise scarf, and her stiff Aqua Net coif unwittingly give me a video killed the radio star vibe :)

This is why I love fleamarket mannequins almost as much as the fleamarkets themselves.

Albert Cuyp Market, Amsterdam

london lovelies

I know I promised Amsterdam mannequins in my last post, but this isn't entirely off topic :)

I just had to post this photo of the beautiful vintage 1960's clip-on earrings I found in London at Portobello Market...

When I was a little girl singing along with Bedknobs & Broomsticks, I never dreamed I'd grow up and actually go shopping for "the riches of ages" on Portobello Road :)

They're fabulous with my new little black dress... très Audrey Hepburn!!! I'm so ready for the holiday party circuit... or maybe not, given the rumours of what goes on at Danish Christmas parties.

I also scored a vintage 1960's faux leopard fur coat, which sort of makes up for the vintage Valentino coat I had to pass up in Siena last year.

I have the best life! And a pretty cool wardrobe :)

for the love of dummies

Flea markets are one of my favorite things. Some people look for museums, some look for restaurants, but when I travel, I look for flea markets.

Flea market mannequins are one of my favorite photographic subjects, and it started in Bangkok's Chinatown...

What's not to love?

veggie korma

Where have you been all my life?

I cannot get enough of the creamy flavor of coconut milk and exotic spiciness of madras curry powder, fresh ginger, and garam masala. It makes me want to go to India, just to eat :)

This is a soul warming on cold fall/winter evening, eating next to the fire kind of dish. And it's easy to improvise with what's on hand.

vegetable oil

1 medium/large onion, chopped
1 t minced fresh ginger root
2 garlic cloves, pressed
4 - 6 potatoes, cubed
5 carrots, cubed
3 T ground cashews
2 t salt
2 T curry powder
1/2 t garam masala
1/2 t turmeric
hot chili powder
1 cup frozen green peas
1 red pepper, chopped
400 ml coconut milk

Sauté the onion in a bit of oil over medium heat, until it softens. Add the ginger and garlic, sauté for a few seconds, then add the potatoes, carrots, cashews, salt, curry powder, garam masala, turmeric, and hot chili powder to taste.

Cook, stirring occasionally until the potatoes are becoming tender, 10 minutes or so, then stir in the rest of the ingredients. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for at least 10 minutes. I think it's best to turn the heat to very low and simmer longer to develop the flavors, but 10 minutes should be enough if you're in a hurry. Though you should strive for slow food over fast food ;)

I served it over not so properly cooked brown rice; someday I'll get the cups to ml conversion right :( It's even better the second day! Other things I would add to this dish are cauliflower, green beans, and chickpeas.

Make it, you will thank me :)

new mattress

I've been putting off buying a new mattress mostly because I had no clue how to do it. There's one place in bikeable distance that sells mattresses and they pretty much cost as much as all of my furniture combined. On principle, I had to find an alternative.

So, I ended up ordering a mattress online and I was feeling pretty accomplished... finding it, ordering it, scheduling delivery in Danish all went very well, until...

It was a cold and rainy night (really, it was!)...

When I answered the door, the mattress was leaned up against my mailbox and the delivery guy was making a quick get away. I called after him, "Undskyld," and he came back, but that's pretty much the extent of my Danish in this situation, so I asked in English if he was going to bring it in and he said he couldn't because it's "against the rules."

And then he was on his way again. Wait! What "rules"? Oy vey! Where I come from, they bring the mattress in, even to a second floor, they set it up, and they even make the bed for you!

I missed the fine print which said that they only deliver to the front door. It was there, but I didn't bother to translate that bit, so it's my own fault. Another lesson learned about life in Denmark.

I'd like to say I was calm in this situation, but I had a real Princess-style meltdown.

What? It was raining, I'm 157 cm tall, and the mattress is 140 cm x 200 cm. I seriously had no idea how I was going to deal with this. It's not like I have a small army of people I can call to come running over spur of the moment to help me lug a mattress inside.

Really, it's moments like that which remind me how truly alone I am over here. The internet makes it easy to forget that, but when it comes down to it, who am I supposed to call in a crisis?

After I got my Princess in check, I slid it inside and pushed and dragged it down the hall. All of those before the crack of dawn weight training sessions finally paid off! I got it into the bedroom, assembled the legs, and flipped it all by my tiny self, and without cracking the wooden legs :)

It's hard as a freaking rock, which will teach me to buy a mattress without trying it, but whatever. Another dreadful task is off of my "to do" list. Next!

turkish green lentils

I'm back from London! I picked up some vintage lovelies of the leopard print and rhinestone persuasions at Portobello Market, will post photos soon, but there's so much to do before winter arrives!

There's wood to stack and supplies to procure. The other day, I was riding home with 10 kilos of cat food on the back of my bike, the weight shifted, and the basket flipped off the back. Luckily, it was only raining. On ice, it would've been much worse, so it's definitely a good idea to stockpile the heavy things before the ice comes.

Last month, my Turkish friend (and London travel buddy) invited me for lunch and served the most delicious lentil dish. She was nice enough to give me the recipe and now I'm giving it to you.

I love this recipe because it's delicious, healthy, inexpensive, and so very simple...

2 cups green lentils
1 large onion, chopped
2 T (or so) olive oil
1 T flour
1 small can tomato paste
water
2 t cumin
hot chili pepper
salt

Wash the lentils and add them to a pot of boiling water. Boil them for 3 minutes or so, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook them until they begin to soften. I cooked mine for about 15 minutes, but the cooking time will vary based on the age of your lentils. You're going to cook them again, so they should still be firm at this point. Drain them.

In a large pot, sauté the onion in the olive oil until it begins to soften, sprinkle it with the flour and continue to sauté until the flour begins to brown.

Add the lentils, tomato paste, and enough water to cover the lentils. Add the cumin, a bit of salt, and a bit of hot chili. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer 15-20 minutes, or until the lentils are tender and most of the water is absorbed.

Adjust the salt and chili... viola! This recipe nearly filled my 2.5 quart Le Creuset casserole, I've been eating lentils since Friday, and I'm actually sad that they're gone. I'll be making this again very soon :)

P.S. After freaking out about my pink living room, I've come full circle and have fallen back in love with it. Phew! I was not looking forward to repainting ;)

P.P.S. I'm also at peace with my decision to paint the chairs white. The table will stay as it is and I'm searching for the perfect pink and white fabric for the chair cushions. I should have some before & afters soon :)