Home Cooking

Belgium doesn't have as many convenient, prepared foods as the U.S. Sure you can find frozen pizza and cheese croquettes, but we don't have a freezer--we only have a little dorm-sized fridge. This means that I spend more time shopping and cooking, which is sometimes frustrating, but we've probably also been eating healthier too.

Sometimes it's a struggle to find ingredients (especially of the Mexican variety) but for the most part I've learned how to find what I need and I've had fun improvising and trying new things. Endive and Brussels sprouts are vegetables we had hardly eaten before coming here, but I've learned to prepare both in delicious ways.

In honor of St. Patrick's Day I tried my hand at a new soda bread recipe. Even though I couldn't find cream of tartar, it turned out really well.

Last night I made some terrific portobella mushroom burgers with homemade aioli. Troy brought home frieten with samurai sauce (spicy and creamy fry sauce) to go with them. Mmmmm...

Food can be a powerful thing. I credit the homemade spring rolls I made last week with ushering in warm temps and sun this week!

Orchid

Belgians are crazy about flowers. There is a weekly flower market in Ghent that has all kinds of fresh cut flowers and plants. Plus, there seem to be lots of flower shops around. I've been coveting the many lovely orchids I see around town. But it seemed like a big splurge to me to get one...

...until Troy presented me with this one on Valentine's Day.


It's nice to have a little greenery and color around in this long waiting period before spring!