vosges | Katharina's Food Adventures

Hello everyone! Let me tell you… last week was anything but ordinary! My mom came to visit me for a whole week, and my step-dad was in town on business as well. I know I’ve mentioned my stresses about being financially dependent on my parents on my blog before. Recently, I’ve been having to make conscious effort to stay away from bleak utilitarian ways. Whenever I’m around my mom I’m reminded that it’s nice to treat ourselves just because, so her visit couldn’t come at a better time.

My parents enjoyed the delicate candies I made.

Moms are wonderful at French braiding!

A loaf of freshly baked bread...

And this is what happens on the way home.

Chocolate!

And...

More chocolate!

What surprises are in here?

Mmm truffles.

Tiramisu, cookies and cream, blueberry cheesecake, dark chocolate sea salt caramel, and black forest cake.

A blast from the past.

And one of the best ideas I've come across: honeycomb covered in milk chocolate.

My mom got some filled chocolates to try too.

I love that she enjoys so many things about life.

And she has a taste for colorful food as well!

She's the queen of salmon.

More colors!

I made Aggie’s Last Minute Sesame Noodles for me and my parents to enjoy during the week. I loved the sesame oil in this dish! It felt special when I packed this for me and my mom in my little lunchbox, since she went to my classes with me while she visited. I also packed some for my step-dad to take with him to work. He was also in town on business that week. It’s quite a rarity that my parents are in Richmond at the same time, so I wanted to treat them as much as I could!

Since my mom was in town, she whisked me away to Trader Joe's.

I usually make my own hummus, but since my mom was in town I wanted her to try the Triple Layer Hummus. There are no Trader Joe’s stores in Florida so this was a little special something something.

And she brought something special up from Florida... papaya from our tree!

Simple, delicious, and convenient "mush"

This is Joy’s recipe for gluten-free chickpea and apple slaw. I accidentally processed it in the food processor for too long, but it still tasted delicious! Tangy and sweet, like what the recipe says, with dried cranberries and a Granny smith apple in the mix.

On a slice of "Seeduction" bread.

Oh my goodness this is the kind of bread that is so good that you could finish the whole loaf without putting anything on it.

My version of a bento box--Rotkohl (German recipe for red cabbage), leftover red lentil burger tipped with vegan mayo, avocado slices, and coconut milk basmati.

Random, yes. Delicious, yes. YES!

While my mom visited she also made her classic recipe and one of my favorite desserts: tiramisu.

Proud of her creation!

As she should be.

We were looking forward to having the girls over that night!

Beautiful ladies all around!

Dainty dishware was appropriate.

The best tiramisu my mom has made to date!

And a night isn't complete without dancing, or salsa in this case!

But wait, was there more fun to be had?

Précisement, mes ami!

We went out to dinner at one of my favorite hang out spots, Balliceaux.

It has the neatest decor.

To start off we ordered tandoori fried cauliflower with a chickpea salad and pickled cucumbers.

I want to learn how to make cauliflower taste this good! The chickpea salad and cucumbers added a refreshing touch to the crispy battered cauliflower.

I also ordered a cup of roasted pumpkin-mushroom and barley soup.

This tasted so much like a soup my grandma use to make when I was little!

I couldn't put my finger on which recipe I'll have to ask my grandma for.

Aromatic steamed salmon with black bean paste, scallion-celery stir fry with house made bacon, and fragrant jasmine rice for the sir.

I’ve never heard of cooking celery. Curious, eh?

Southern fried Twin Oaks tofu with red beans and collard greens for the queen.

Twin Oaks makes the best tofu EVER! And the way that they prepared it here was reminiscent of a typical southern dish with fried fish. I thought it was adorable that my mom, queen of salmon, decided to get this vegetarian dish. I may have done some influencing though because I also wanted to try this, but I had something else in mind for myself…

A hearts of romaine salad with a creamy hazelnut dressins and crunchy ZUCCHINI BREAD CROUTONS!

As soon as I saw the words “zucchini bread croutons” I knew that would be my choice. Oh my goodness. If salads could be desserts this would be it. I kept gushing about how wonderful of an idea it was to do this! It was so delicious that I sat there thinking of all of the wonderful breads I could make into croutons. The waitress exclaimed, “you can make them out of any bread!” And right she is. Next time you have a sweet bread in your home, I advise you make them into croutons. Actually, I urge you!

After dinner we met up with some wonderful people.

My mom got a taste of Ipanema's homemade soy ice cream and their vegan apricot almond blondie.

We had a feeling that the dessert made us extra hyper.

The past week was a memorable one indeed. It was so much fun having my mom go to my classes, and she got to see what her daughter does in art school. I’m sure a lot of parents would like to have that experience. She got a better understanding of what my life is like for most of the year. Looking back on her visit I see that she’s become a more flexible person, or maybe she just really likes being around me? I think it’s both!

p.s. I’ll be announcing the winners to my last two giveaways very soon, so keep an eye out for that! My apologies for keeping you all waiting.

I’m glad you all enjoyed the fun bachelorette party pictures and the Bakery on Main review! I loved reading about your memories of these crazy little shindigs that are in honor of a bride-to-be. Before I forget, I realized that in my last post I forgot to share the recipe for the red lentil burgers! So here it is: Nora’s red lentil burgers. Oops!

: I’m actually going to make another batch this week!

Ever since I’ve been back in Richmond I have been trying to use up the things in my pantry. I try to do this most of the time, but now I’m making more of a conscious effort. Why? Well, I’m graduating at the end of the semester, and one of my plans is to head back to Europe. That means I don’t want to lug so many things overseas with me. Although it seems that there are many goodies over in America that they don’t have in Europe. I know that I can make do without fancy store bought nut butters and treats. Actually, I am pretty sure I can make a lot of them on my own anyway, and I already do! That’s one of the great things about making things… whether it’s cooking, building, or what have you; most of the time you can figure another way around an “obstacle”.

So onward with Project Clean Out as Holly says! Actually, that’s not set in stone…

: Well, this was sent to me… so that doesn’t really count.

I typically am not a big fan of Luna bars since they taste a bit on the metallic side to me. Sure, iron is great, but I don’t want to actually taste it. However, I got a chance to try out their newest flavor through a newsletter. The new flavor? Chocolate Dipped Coconut! Did somebody say coconut? I was willing to give it a chance. It surprised me in a delicious way! Most importantly, it didn’t taste like metal. I’m pretty sure that this flavor is in stores now so if you are curious to try it, then by all means go for it! On a little side note: I thought it was interesting that they used almond butter.

: Who was excited about this incredible chocolate find?!

: I was!

: Yes, this exists.

Ever since I saw this bar on Megan’s blog I have been on the look out! It just sounded so good, and you know what? It is! As I was checking out of Whole Foods I saw that they had mini Vosges bars at the front, and I asked the cashier if she knew if they had the gingerbread toffee kind. She wasn’t sure, but she said that all of the cashiers have these bars at the front. My step-dad went to search for it, and he came back with it in hand! Success! Now I’m hoping that the local candy shop, For the Love of Chocolate, has a full-sized version.

Here’s Vosges‘ description: The scent of classic gingerbread spices will have you dreaming of snow dusted pine trees in no time. We begin with the same melt-in-your-mouth, burnt sugar and butter toffee and add a touch of ginger, Ceylon cinnamon, Grenadian nutmeg and Jamaican allspice to put you in a holiday frame of mind. A generous coating of dark chocolate completes the affair on your palate.

Wow, did they just describe some kind of sultry vision from a James Bond movie? No, that’s just love for chocolate.

Another sweet find, but this one came from the Indian store.

I asked someone at the store if they had a recommendation, and they said I should try these!

He told me that when he was little he would lick the filling and put the biscuits back in the box.

It seems as though everyone in the world does this with creme filled cookies.

So that's what I did, except I ate the biscuits too.

They kind of remind me of the Hit cookies, which are one of my nostalgic childhood treats.

: Have you all tried them?

: Oh yes, and “Project Clean Out” has been underway.

You know… using up my pantry’s goods!

: M’mm what was baking?

As soon as I saw Averie’s Cheezy Vegetable Bake I knew I had to make it. Now that I’m busier, any tasty recipe with leftovers is a blessing for me!

: What I love about Averie’s recipe, aside from how good it tastes, is that it can be varied.

For the veggies I used sweet potatoes, yellow squash, broccoli, and mushrooms. I used cream of mushroom soup, and from my pantry came the extra addition of gluten-free brown rice macaronis! Oh and my roommate let me use her Bragg’s sprinkle seasoning. It’s really flavorful! Next time I’d like to make the bake with a chunky tomato bisque, and whatever vegetables I think would go well with it.

: Where does this bite belong?

: Ah yes, into my mouth it goes!

Like I said, leftovers are a blessing!

: Last but not least, I got a very thoughtful surprise in the mail!

My dear mind-reading friend (oftentimes when I read her posts I swear she does!), Lauren, saw that I had posted about Justin’s unfortunate discontinuation of the cinnamon peanut butter. She was lucky enough to have one of these rare buggers, and kindly sent it to me along with a beautiful card. Thank you so much, dear! Ever since I’ve known Lauren I’ve felt an instant connection. When I read what she wrote to me in the card I was overjoyed with the thought of meeting her one day, and experiencing all of her kindness in person!

What was something thoughtful someone’s done for you lately? Or perhaps you’ve brightened someone’s day!