The Westmonster Daily

I’ve made it a goal in my life to find yummy vegetarian alternatives to meat-containing classics. In this spirit, I have thought long and hard about spaghetti carbonara today, a dish I have always loved and don’t usually dare to order in a restaurant with the addendum “but please make it vegetarian”. In very high-end Italian restaurants they might come up with a tasty alternative to the bacon, but usually, there would be only the eggs and sometimes *gasp* cream (heresy, I say! Heresy!!), which is money and calories right out the window. No, wait, the calories would go to the hips,of course, but without a tasty experience! That’s just wasteful. Wasteful of calories.

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So, yeah, I decided to come up with my own yummy, vegetarian version. Today was the first test run with garlic (always good) and sundried tomatoes (also always good and one of Hubby’s faves; also, they kinda look like bacon). It went over really well! I don’t envy my colleagues, though, because I had no parsley to fight the garlic-stench…

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The other day I was feeling peckish. Like I usually do when I get that feeling, I opened the fridge to see what I could see. What I saw was a whole lot of things not fit to fight my peckishness, eggs, no milk, sparkling wine, butter, tomatoes (next to the fridge <– valuable piece of information… no?) and a toastable pita pocket. So I made a scrambled-eggs-stuffed-pita pocket. End of story, hope you liked it.

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Actually, wait – there’s more! (more…)

So I have this pie dish. I ordered it online after a month-long obsession with owning a pie dish (I blame that on having previously vacationed in the US) and a few futile searches for one in local (in)convenience stores.

You see, Germany has never really gotten the hang of pies. We make cakes and tortes, we build cars and highraise buildings, we don’t bake pies. So yeah, I got it online, eventually. It’s deep dish, light green on the outside, cream colored on the inside, and has this lovely rippled border (yes, I could just take a picture and show it to you, like I did with the hasselback potatoes, but seriously: where’s the fun in that?).

So it’s just delicious in itself. My mouth waters whenever I look at it. Or think of it, for that matter. Right now, for example, I’m practically drooling all over my keyboard, which is mildly upsetting because it’s not even actually mine. (more…)

Hasselback Potatoes are one of those dishes I’ve been meaning to try out for a while now, but never got around to it because it always seemed easier to just boil and mash the potatoes I had. And I adore mashed potaoes. They’re my favorite food at the moment. Especially with some roast garlic and cream cheese in them. And nutmeg. I love nutmeg. It’s important.

Anywho, I finally made Hasselback Potatoes last week, and since they were a success and are bound to be made again by me, I thought I’d share. Because sharing is nice. And being nice is important. Like nutmeg.

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Something good happened to me today.

Very spontaneously, I went to a spice exhibition with Hubby and a couple of friends. Yes, spices. Exhibited. When my friend first mentioned it I didn’t really know what to expect, because… spices!? I mean, you could just go to the supermarket and have a good look without paying 10,-€. She was a bit offended when I told her this, I’m afraid. Well, she’ll forgive me. And I have to admit it was a worthwhile experience (okay, “experience” is a bit of an exaggeration but you know what I mean). (more…)

You know those days when you wake up thinking ‘Today is the first day of the rest of my life, man. I am going to start it with a healthy breakfast’. And then you walk to the fridge, open it and remember why you never actually eat anything healthy: It’s just too much darn work. (more…)