Dino´s and pumpkins

We are very lucky here in Berlin, on the outskirts of town there is a huge pumpkin farm. Well, to be honest, it is not just a pumpkin farm, in the spring you can get all the fresh aspargus you want along with strawberries and later in the year blueberries....not too mention the play area for the kids and my favorite the replica of the Santa Maria! For the past 7 years we have been making a trip out to the farm to buy our pumpkins. It is always a treat! The crew goes all out and makes incredible creatures out of pumpkins....this year dino´s are everywhere!

Reunions.....

Reunions.....

I guess the most popular "reunion" is the class reunion. But this past Friday I did  not attend one of those, in fact I have been now out of high school for over 30 years(yikes...I am old!) and have not made one of my high school reunions. It is not that I did not want to go, but for one, I live in Berlin Germany, so NOT quite right around the corner from my hometown Pontiac Illinois USA, and secondly, it seems that past reunions always were in the same year as an important family event, for example my dad´s 80th birthday.

The reunion I would like to tell you about today, was with my other set of parents---also known as my landlords from Cloppenburg where we lived for over 10 years. We lived in a great upstairs apartment and our landlords Berni and Lisa, lived downstairs with their 3 daughters and son. Over the course of the 10 years we got to know them well and saw their children, grow into the wonderful adults they are today. The oldest, Gaby also lives with her family here in Berlin--only 20 minutes away from me! In fact, my first nights in this city were spent with Gaby and Detlef. Well, last Thursday I got a call from Gaby asking if we were busy on friday night, her parents were coming into town and she wondered if we would like to get together for dinner.  Instead of going out to dinner, I had them all come over to the house for homemade pizza! Turns out Berni and Lisa were only in town for one evening, and Gaby was kind enough to share  her parents with us! I feel very blessed and honored.

 The bookcases....were built by Berni! I will always treasure this piece of furniture... very blessed to have a Berni Orignal in our home.

the little porcelain pumpkin....found that at IHR in Cloppenburg, you know that store where I get all my great napkins...

Not sure if I told you all about the tablecloth in my last post, but it was made from the curtians that hung in my office when we lived in the apartment in Berni and Lisa´s home!

 I love my colored wine glasses. I found some on ebay and my mom gave me a few of her own! These wine glasses have traveled now from Cloppenburg(where we used to live) to Chicago and now back to Berlin!

The whole gang!

Many thanks for the wonderful flowers and a great evening!

Posting to: http://thetablescaper.blogspot.de/

http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.de/

Herbs-I love you, let me count the ways

This morning I did as other bloggers have told me, and I harvested the herbs in my garden. They say you should harvest in the early hours of the day, so there I was in my pj´s harvesting Tarragon, Oregano, Lemon Balm, and Thyme! I am sure the neighbors got a kick of me, running around the yard in my pj´s!

I decided to dry the Lemon Balm and the Thyme, the Tarragon is going to be frozen. Now, to the Oregano, I have an abundance in Oregano this year so I am drying a large bunch and with the rest I made oregano salt! Once again I my kitchen smells so wonderful. I look forward to trying out all my new salts in my recipes.

Freshly harvested herbs out of my very own garden.

Herbs in brown bags, hanging to dry

Oregano! Ready for the Thermomix!

 Oregano, next I added the sea salt and after just a few short seconds, the thermomix made Oregano Salt!

The salt needs to dry, so I put in the oven at 140° for about 20-30 minutes.

The next step is to package the oregano salt.....pictures to follow!

cook bake love

Yep, you read correctly, my blog got a new name today! Cook Bake Love. 

Thanks to my niece Heidi for coming up with the winning new title. My Niece Mareike  and I had some good ideas too but when i awoke this morning and read the text message I knew this was the one. This Blog as well as my face book page are meant to reflect my passions in life and that is as you can read cooking and baking and everything that goes with it. So, I hope you will continue to stop by and take a look and perhaps let yourself be inspired!

Basil Salt

I have joined the group of salt lovers! Not just regular salt, but amazing salts like "Magic Salt" and Fleur de Sel. Recently I discovered Basil Salt! I found the recipe online and thanks to my thermomix, within minutes I had amazing Basil Salt. Just fresh basil and some good quality kosher salt and you have it!

Healthy Choices

For this weeks `"New Recipe Sunday" Recipe I would like to share with you a healthy choice recipe. I found this recipe in Taste of Home, Dec/Jan 2009 Issue.

baked veggie chips

1/2 lb. fresh beets --about 2 medium

1 medium parsnip

1 medium sweet potato

1 medium potato

1/2 tsp dried oregano, garlic powder,salt

2 Tbsp. canola oil, parmesan cheese

Peel veggies and cut into very thin slices. Place in a large bowl and drizzle with the canola oil. Combine the other ingredients and sprinkle over the veggies--toss to coat.

In a single layer arrange the veggies on  ungreased cookie sheets and bake for 15-20 minutes at 375° F. 

Important: Time may vary, so watch your oven.

My favorite time of year

      it is that time of year again.....leaves are beginning to fall, the front lawn is covered with acorns and it sure is chilly in the mornings now. Yes FALL 2012 has arrived in Berlin Germany.
      Inspiration has we know can come from just about anything and this week my inspiration came from some old curtains. In our apartment in Cloppenburg I had my own office.(How sweet it was) I needed to section off a part of the room and found some material on a trip to Chicagao that would blend right it in. For the years we lived in that apartment it served me well, so when we moved I of course could not just throw the material away---it got packed up with the rest of our stuff and now some 11 years later it is again helping me out!
      Take a break from your day, brew a pot of tea and enjoy the pictures!

Salt and Pepper Shakers....found at IHR in Cloppenburg!

the first pumpkins of the season.  Can not wait to get more!

Hershey´s Kisses in fall colors! Thanks Miss Kim for bringing me these great treats. The porcelain leaves come from NaNu NaNa.....one of my favorite stores(yes I have many). I had bought 3 of these long ago and  found them to be a perfect fit for my table. My only problem....I only had 3. So, off I went on a leaf hunt to every nanu nana till  I found 3 more.

Wishing Everyone a great week!


This week I am linking to the following blog parties..


Tablescape Thursday
Wow us Wednesday
Feature yourself Friday
Seasonal Sunday
Show and Tell Friday
Masterpiece Monday
lets dish wednesday