Federweisser and Zwiebelkuchen

In southern Germany in the fall, there is a delicious tradition celebrating the early wine that is sold only at this time of year in Germany. Federweisser (feather white) is a sweet, bubbly almost-wine that is served before full maturation.

The wine is traditionally served with zwiebelkuchen (onion cake). I wanted to recreate the experience here. The federweisser is not shipped because the bottles cannot be fully corked. So, the only way to experience the sweet nectar is to find a winery in the states that has adopted the tradition. In order to simulate the idea, I bought a nice light muscat and surprised my German hubby witha homemade zwiebelkuchen.

I started by sautéing 6 onions, thinly sliced. I stirred in a cup of sour cream and 4 beaten eggs. Typically, there is also bacon included in the mix. Sometimes caraway seeds are added, but I wanted the pure sweetness of the onions to shine. I made a simple pie crust and rolled it out on parchment paper.

I mounded the onion mixture on the crust and rustically folded the crust over.

I also made a simple lentil soup to accompany the lovely onion cake.

Delish!

Fall upon us

I am posting a lot of food pics at once. I sort of forgot what this meal was, but obviously see some roasted butternut squash, brown rice, greens of some sort, chick peas, and pan roasted figs, drizzled with a little honey.

Watermelon update!

10 minute dinner

All local and organic dinner! This is swiss chard from the csa, sauteed just to wilt with a little white wine vinegar and some celtic salt. I topped the swiss chard with a poached egg, also from the csa. I found a blog that suggested swirling the water before dropping in the egg and that worked well. The meal is garnished with assorted chopped tomatoes, parsley and some borage flowers picked out of my garden.

It was good and satisfying.

Watermelon from our yard -

The watermelon that grew from someone's spit out seed next to our patio, was HUGE!!!!

The stem never turned brown, but I couldn't wait any longer.

It was the best, sweetest watermelon ever!!!

It was too big for us to consume, so I made some watermelon granita with part of it.

Yummy and sweet.

Gazpacho

When we were in Spain this summer, I learned to truly appreciate the joy of freshly made gazpacho. Everyone has their specific recipe and thinks theirs is the best.

I couldn't resist trying one with all the lovely tomatoes and peppers from the csa. Those vegetables are begging to be made into gazpacho.

I made enough to put in the fridge for later!

Birthday Cupcakes

First I baked a bunch, at least a million mini cupcakes . . .

Then I made marshmallow. I hate to use gelatin, but I was afraid to use a substitute for an important event such as a 15 year old girl's birthday party . . .

Then I covered the white fluffs with a dark chocolate coating . . .

Decadent!