Bisquit Cake or Angle Food Cake

This time the cake would have risen nicely if the baking oven hadn't thrown a tantrum. Or maybe I accidently pushed the "broil" button, I don't know for sure. But the cake turned dark brown on the surface before the temperature even reached 375ºF! Something went wrong. I quickly covered the cake with aluminum foil and started the process again. In the end it was not so bad all circumstances considered.
Ingredients:
(A combination of Aunt Inge's and my dad's recipes)
4 eggs
4 Tblsp warm water
150 g sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
100 g flour
100 g starch
3 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
Directions: 
Divide eggs into yolk and whites. Add a tiny pinch of salt to the eggwhites and beat until stiff peaks form. Set aside in the fridge.

In a large bowl beat egg yolks with sugar, water and vanilla essence to a foamy consistence. With a wooden spoon carefully fold the beaten eggwhites into the egg and sugar blend.

Mix flour, starch and baking powder and sift over the egg blend.

Gently fold the flour into the blend. Do not stir!
Pour cake mix into a cake form and set it into the cold baking oven. Turn heat to 350 - 375˚F and bake for 20-30 minutes.

Let cake cool in the form for 15 minutes before loosening off the rim with a knife.
When thoroughly cool the cake can be cut into layers and decorated.
That will happen tomorrow morning.
To be continued .........

se nedenfor (read more)

Heute habe ich einen Bisquit gebacken, der mir auch gelungen wäre hätte der Ofen nicht verrückt gespielt.

An all-day-laptop-marathon

Apple Oatmeal Crisp

The day started grey and rainy. Later a nasty wind arose, and walking the dog became a challenge. We therefore sat each in his/her chair and stuck our noses close to the laptop screen. All day long.
No, not quite true for my part. I got up twice, and baked an apple crisp for coffee,

and later i was supposed to get supper on the table.

Hubby got his plate filled with a familiar combination of potatoes, veggies and a fried pork chop.
For myself I tried a dish with quinoa (keen' -wah).

Heute war das Wetter wieder grau und regnerisch. Zum Nachmittag hin erhob sich auch noch ein ekliger, kalte Wind der das Spazierengehen mit dem Hund nicht gerade angenehm machte. So saßen wir jeder in unserer Sofaecke mit der Nase dicht über den Laptop gebeugt. Den ganzen Tag lang.
Nun ja, nicht ganz. Zum Nachmittagskaffee habe ich eine Art Apfelstreusel gebacken und dann war es auch wieder Zeit für´s Abendessen. J.P. hatte seinen Teller voll gewöhnlicher Dinge wie; Kartoffeln, Gemüse und ein Schweinekottelet.
Für mich habe ich ein Gericht mit Quinoa (sprich: Kinwa) gekocht. Das ist ein kein Getreide, sondern verwandt mit den heimischen Knöterichgewächsen.
Sehr nussig im Geschmack. Hat mir sehr gut geschmeckt.

Saint John and back

I feel too exhausted to write much today. Travelling to Saint John, NB and back took the most of the day. Additionally the Doc stuck a needle in my throat. Ugh! Taking a biopsy he called it. The results will take two to three weeks.

I am out of here and go read a book.

Lower part of King Street, Saint John, NB

There was a fresh breeze blowing and all the outdoor restaurants were empty.
 Some "tourists" where "frozen" in time...

Garage clean-up

The big garage clean up. We were probably inspired by other bloggers who cleaned their garages and garden sheds already. :))
Today it was our turn. When J.P. set up his new work bench, I thought for a moment:

that could have been my gardening table...

Pottering with seedlings and so on. But no, it is hubby's territory.
It is like in corporate world. The boss gets the corner office with lots of windows. 
Do I sound frustrated? Yeah, maybe a little. 
I got a mere bookcase and a dark corner behind the door for my tools and stuff. No window space. But if I need to, I will sneak in some pots. He will not be working there every day.

While he was busy bringing everything outside I dug up the spot by the garage door and made a nice flower bed. A friendly neighbour visited and later donated a piece of a "bleeding heart" to plant, and I divided some "Shasta Daisy" (Ox Eyes) and got that in as well. One little rose bush is sitting there already.

before and ....

...after

After all was done it did look not bad at all.
Hubby wanted a hamburger and cabbage in white sauce today. No problem.

Tomorrow we have to go to St. John and visit the endocrinologist.

Kale/Spinach Combo

Kale and Spinach

Today the sun was out by noon. All clouds gone.
The ground was soft and there is predicted more rain. This was the chance to transplant lilac runners, rose bushes and other shrubs. A bald patch, where our cargo trailer sat, needed to be sown with lawn seed as well.
Done that, I made a spinach/kale combo.
There was not enough from either, so I decided to cook the two together. I was just the right combination. J.P. got soft boiled eggs, and I had scrambled tofu with it.

kale/spinach with scrambled tofu

Ingredients:
1 package spinach, roughly chopped
1 bunch of kale, leafy part only, roughly chopped
1/2 onion, minced
1/4 cup bacon bits (optional)
1 cup broth
garlic salt
pepper
1/4 cup cream (optional)
Directions:
Sautée onion in very little butter, add bacon pieces if needed.
Add chopped spinach and kale leafs and fill up with broth. Steam for about 20 minutes on medium heat, or as long as it takes to boil potatoes.
Season with garlic salt and pepper. Add cream right before serving.

Norsk tekst se nedenfor (read more)

Zu Mittag hatten wir schon wieder den schönsten Sonnenschein. Weil aber weitere Regenschauer angekündigt sind..mehre siehe (read more)

Storm, Rain and Vegetable Stew

I just came back from a short walk with the dog. The rain finally ceased, but the wind still roars through the trees, and makes them swaying like crazy.

Torrential rainfall
The temperature jumped from around 34°F in the morning to 55°F by afternoon, the air warm and humid.

I didn't walk far because I am afraid of falling trees and branches. Just far enough for the dog to to what it has to do.

We survived five hour power outage and hours of torrential rain earlier the day.
When it came to supper time I really felt for something comforting.
The fridge was raided and a nourishing vegetable stew was cooked.
J.P. comment:  "That's a h... of a good soup!"
I had counted of having some leftover for tomorrows lunch, but no, everything disappeared. Not a spoonful was left in the pot.

Hearty Vegetable Stew

Ingredients: 
3 potatoes, peeled, cubed
3 carrots, peeled, sliced
2 stalks of celery, sliced
1 small wedge of white cabbage, chopped
1 stalk of kale, only the leafy part, chopped
1/2  onion, chopped
1/2 cup scallions, chopped
2 cup of broth/water
1/4 cup of bacon bits (optional)
1 cup of cooked squash ( used my home made acorn squash preserve)
1 tsp mustard seeds, ground
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tblsp. vinegar
1 tblsp butter (optional)
Salt, Pepper to taste
Directions:
Fill a larger pot with the chopped vegetables, kale on top. Add broth and seasonings and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Sauté onions and bacon in butter and add to the stew. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve with croutons.

Zum Deutschen Text siehe (read more).

Norsk tekst se (read more).

The Strawberry-Nightmare Cake

The Weather Network yesterday evening...

We got some rain, but not so much as we need. The most of the weather front seemed to hit the mainland.  Now they are talking of snowstorm for Eastern Canada. But I don't believe that will hit the coastal region.

...and this morning.

I was wrong big time! Petrus read my blog and saw that we did not get as much rain as we need..... 
Be careful what you wish for. See:

Update: for our area!
http://weatheroffice.gc.ca/warnings/report_e.html?nb20

Warnings

Grand Manan and Coastal Charlotte County
3:32 PM ADT Sunday 22 April 2012
Rainfall warning for
Grand Manan and Coastal Charlotte County continued

Up to 100 millimetres (3,93 inches) of rain is expected by Tuesday morning!

So we got a rest from garden work, and J.P. tried to bake a sponge cake. This is a tricky thing. When I tried to use my German recipes it always failed. My guess  is that there is something wrong with the american/canadian flour types. 

I have given up to use my old recipes and started on the american versions. Then it works fine. Not sponge cake but other recipes.Today it was J.P's time to try his luck.

The first of J.P's version was about 1'' thick. 

(Same thing what happened when I tried). 

Something went wrong there, but never fear. He transformed the thing into "Rum-Balls". Something you can do if you have dry cake or cookie leftovers. 

Ingredients
2 cups cake, cookies, crumbled up
1 tsp. rum essence
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tblsp. cocoa powder
1   egg
1 tblsp. sugar
coconut flakes.
Direction:
Break and crumble up the cookies or dry cake  leftovers, mix with rum essence or a shot glass real rum. Melt butter and mix with cocoa to make cocoa butter.
Beat egg and sugar until foamy and add cocoa butter one tablespoon at a time.
At last carefully fold in cake/cookie crumbles. 
Set to cool into the fridge for about an hour. 

"Rum-Balls"

The next version of a sponge cake was a little more successful. It was served with whipped cream and strawberries.
Ingredients for the sponge cake
4 eggs 
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp cold water
1 cup flour
3/4 cup corn starch
1 tsp baking powder (optional) 
1 cup whipping cream
strawberries, rinsed, sliced 
Direction
Beat eggs, sugar and water to a foamy cream.
(One can also beat the yolks with sugar, and beat the eggwhites separately)
Mix flour, starch and baking powder. Fold into the egg-foam one tablespoon at at time. Bake by 350 F for 20 - 30 minutes. Cool completely on a rack.
Cut cake in layers. Two or three layers.
Wisp cream an fill the first layer with strawberries and a thin layer of cream.
Put the second layer on top and decorate with more cream and strawberries. 
If there are three layers: 
Bottom layer: spread red marmalade or nut butter (almond, hazelnut) on this layer.  Put the second layer on and proceed as shown above. 

Peter's Strawberry-Nightmare

Well, the second try was only enough for one layer but it tasted good. 
His comment: "What a nightmare! You will never see me bake a sponge cake from scratch again ever! I will only use ready mixes hereafter!" 
Welcome to the club!
And welcome to Michael and Dee for joining in on my blog. They are still travelling. My advice: take your time it's way too cold in Canada!

Es hat etwas geregnet, aber nicht so viel als wir erwartet hatten. Wir haben eine Pause in der Gartenarbeit einlegen müssen.
J.P. hat versucht einen Bisquit zu backen. (mehr..)