12/8/10

Shivering in the Kitchen

Ah, my first real winter in Berlin. So far I've been torn between thinking, "Bah, I hate this weather, these gray skies, the fact that I can't understand Celsius enough to figure out what to wear, I hate this continent! winter!" and thinking, "SNOW! Pretty." But I suppose so long as I can reconcile myself to a lot of time spent indoors wearing German military grade long-underwear, I will eventually make it through to the other side. (I guess you can only imagine how I look sitting around all day in men's long underwear, swearing at the cold and applying to an ever broadening selection of jobs. Its pretty damn attractive, let me tell you.)

In the meantime, I'm trying to bring in sunshine via baking! What you see above is yet another batch of bagels (although that one has no hole, interesting) topped with peanut butter, bananas, and a drizzle of maple syrup, the very best thing about winter. I also attempted to make pumpkin cinnamon rolls the other day, as promised, but oddly the dough never rose! I tested the yeast so it should have, and I'll have to chalk this one up to the mysterious different flours in this country and their vastly different rising properties. Oh well.

Another delicious recent meal was the potato-mushroom enchiladas (rather than kale) from Veganomicon complimented, just for fun, with Venezuelan black beans and Orange rice from Viva Vegan. This wasn't exactly the kind of meal that you whip together in a few minutes, but I had some hungry friends coming over and suspected that Enchiladas alone would not do. (I usually make two batches and its still not enough for a small group.) I may have used every pot and pan in the kitchen, but everything turned out delicious- spicy, savory and sweet. And let's face it, as an unemployed and freezing cold American I have lots of time to spend in a nice toasty kitchen.
Song of the Day: The National- Conversation 16

From the Archives:
More Bagels!
More Enchiladas!
More Viva Vegan!

6 comments:

Sara said...

Could the non-resurrecting dough be due to the cold? I learned a tip the other day about proofing dough. You can make a "proofing pot" by boiling three cups of water in a big stock pot, then add 3 cups of cold water, and rest the bowl with your proofing dough inside, and cover with a tea towel. Should keep your yeast nice and comfy as it rises ;)

Mihl said...

Dud, I feel exactly the same about winter and I've been living here my whole life. The snow makes everything light and that is a plus!

Sorry about your bagels. What kind of flour did you us?

Unknown said...

I'm loving baking right now, because then I can sit in my toasty-warm kitchen and not need to use the heating! I'm also torn between loving and hating the snow... it's great fun right now, but I'm going to hate it eventually. And I'll especially hate it if it rains in a few days, as the forecast has said... :(
Keep warm!

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry about the weather! I know it's very snowy in Paris right now, too, but it's so sunny & warm here in the south. We would actually like some snow!
Sorry about the bagels - but was it really cold? Sometimes that can make a difference.

Vampire said...

Celsius is much more logical than Fahrenheit o.O

jd said...

I have a feeling you look adorable sitting around in long underwear, baking bagels, and applying for jobs :)

But when you just can't take it any more, give in to the cold, jump on the tram to Alexanderplatz, and catch a movie (and a few beers) at the cinema. It's a no-fail method for warmth!