Hi Blog

Hi Blog

Well… Kelly keeps telling me to write something on the blog. I don`t know what to write, since I am not such a good storyteller as Kelly.

I never wrote something on a blog, so where can I find the inspiration?

I told Kelly yesterday that it was easier to take beautiful pictures before I started following my photography classes. Now that I follow the class, I am more stressed about making a nice picture. I have a thousand technical things that I`ve to check, before making a picture, like: shutterspeed, distance, symmetry, etc…

I feel that my pictures are not that good anymore.

I just need time, and more practice in order to make really nice pictures :-D

Gudrun…

Spiderwebs

Gudrun is a pretty big scardey-cat when it come to spiders (sorry, honey, but its true).  So I was a bit surprised when she sought out big scary spiderwebs to take pictures of.  There must be something Zen than can be said about finding beauty in your fears,... moving past your fear to appreciate the present.... yada yada. 

In any event, scared or not, she did manage to take some really really awesome spiderweb shots.  Here they are (all the way from "The Funny Farm" - Bellingham Washington).

Engagement :)

One of the most special things about our last trip to the States was the fantastic support the entire family showed for our engagement.  My sister and parents threw a wonderful engagement party, and all the folks who couldn't make it to the party still found amazing ways to show their support.  Some people sent touching emails and a lot of folks signed the matted picture of us (that my mom put together) with inspirational quotes. It was just truly amazing.

My Aunt and Uncle in Washington state greeted us on the other coast by throwing a mini-celebration in their beautiful garden, complete with local champagne and a fantastic dinner.  Here are a few photos from that celebration.   Gudrun took the pictures of the bottle and the cork in the bushes (a personal favorite of mine - she really does have a good eye).  I took a the picture of Aunt Peggy's pretty mise en place.

Thanks for the great celebration Aunt Peggy and Uncle John.... and Chris and Mom and Dad..... and EVERYONE else who took part!  It really really meant a lot to us.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Gudrun and I are thankful for YOU - our awesome friends and family. 

Enjoy your Thanksgiving and this pretty pumpkin picture that Gudrun took!!

Pumpkin in the morning dew - Bellingham, Washington

Plans and recipes!

Well, we are still getting used to this whole "blog" thing.  In the mean time, I've written some extensively rambling posts. Sorry for that (well, I'm not really sorry. ha!). We've learned how to post pictures, and I figured out how to add extra authors to a single blog.  So now Gudrun and I have our own accounts.  It felt a little weird and looked like I was speaking for her, since it was listed as being written by "Gudrun and Kelly."

Now that we've gotten the bus up and running, so to speak, it is time to get the show on the road :)
 

from Curious? Read

Gudrun is busy thinking about what she'd like to post, photographically speaking.  She has a couple ideas in mind, so if you wait patiently and/or ask her nicely, I'm hoping we can get to posting those soon.

In the mean time, I have big plans to make Shephard's Pie tonight in the wood burning stove.  Going to give the "aluminum foil ball trick" a try - thanks Jeff for giving that suggestion in a comment a couple days/posts ago.  I'll  give a full report and recipe of how that works out later.

FYI - we've put a poll on the blog on the right hand side just under our picture.  Fill it out, so we can see what you are interested in. 

Finally - calling for vegan recipes!  Leave your amazing recipes in a comment, and I'll review them and write a post about how awesome you are.

Vegan 101: Nutrition and supplements

DISCLAIMER:  I am not a doctor or a nutritional advisor.  The following is from my own experience.  Your needs might (probably will) be different if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have any underlying medical conditions.  Consult your doctor if you have personal nutritional concerns. 

From:  theveganproject.ca
Click image to see a larger version...

 

If I had a dollar for everyone who was really really worried about my nutrition, I could start my very own Vitamin Shoppe.  Seriously.  Most of the time, I take it as a compliment:  "Awww... thanks for caring about me so much that you don't want me to die of anaemia or scurvy.  It means a lot!"  (Ok, no one is really worried about me developing scurvy, but it is a funny word and conjures images of pirates.  Aye matey.) 


The reality of the situation is, that vegetarians (and yes, even vegans) can easily get enough nutrition from their diets, that they should never need to enter a GNC (although, unless you are a body builder, or having a mid-life crisis, who actually goes in there anyway???).

Anyway, I've mentioned before that I've been a vegetarian for nearly 20 years, and my doctors have always been really happy with my health.  But still, every time I get a little tired and run-down, I hit the doctors office for an iron test (you people with all your concerns have me really paranoid!).... but every time it comes back OK. 

While it is absolutely not necessary to take a bunch of pills and powders to supplement an animal-free diet, there are a few things that vegetarians and vegans do need to pay attention to.  I list them here in terms of increasing order of importance or significance.  Oddly, the things that people are always the most worried about appear first in the list - meaning they are actually no-brainers for anyone eating a sensible balanced diet.  

Protein- if you eat enough calories (and they don't come from candy bars and soda) than you are getting enough protein by default.  It is a basic part of living cells, be it plant or animal.  Some plants deliver more protein (per calorie) than others.... these would be:  soy beans, other beans and lentils, chickpeas, nuts, seeds, mushrooms, quinoa, whole grains, oatmeal, rice, broccoli and corn.   Many plant sources provide more protein (per calorie) than meat.... and they also offer way more fibre, vitamins, and antioxidants than meat, and way less fat and cholesterol.  And since they have fewer calories per volume than meat, you actually get to eat more food volume.  Score!

Unless the majority of your calories come from high fat or sugar containing foods (in which case you are either very very hungry all the time - eating 2000 calories with very little nutrition and fibre, or gaining weight rapidly - eating to fill you up, which will amount to a TON of calories), you do not need a protein supplement.

Iron  - Iron should be no problem for a healthy vegetarian or vegan.  Excellent sources of iron include:  spinach, beans, lentils, oatmeal, quinoa (a yummy grain),  chickpeas, nuts, sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast, molasses.  Make sure you eat enough foods with vitamin C to help with iron absorption.  If you are worried about it, as I sometimes am, it is an easy blood test to check.  However, I have NEVER had a problem... even in college when probably 50% of my diet was pizza shop take-out.

Calcium - is found in abundance in dark green leafy veggies, like kale, broccoli, and collard greens.  It is also found in some seeds like sesame (tahini) and almonds.  Soy milk is generally fortified with additional calcium, and tofu is sometimes fortified.  Calcium is (logically) absolutely no problem for vegetarians.  Vegans need to be a little vigilant to eat enough dark green leafy veggies, and buy a calcium fortified milk substitute (i.e. soy or rice milk).  But again, this is pretty darn easy.   I would guess that pregnant or breast feeding women need to discuss this with a doctor, and temporary supplements might be necessary (but hey, just add it to the list of other pregnancy supplements).

Omega-3 fatty acid - is an essential fatty acid, meaning it is necessary for life, but not produced by the human body.  It is only found in oily fish and in a couple grains like flax and hemp.  I could write a mini-thesis on omega-3, but I am trying to keep this to a paragraph or less...  suffice it to say that Omega-3 FA is good for your cardiovascular system, joints (especially for anti-inflamitory effects for the joints), it helps guard against cancer, and supports the immune system and brain function.  You should be eating some.

If you are a vegetarian or a vegan, or you just don't like fish, you should be getting Omega-3 fatty acid from plant sources.  Luckily, flax seed is 600% more rich in omega-3 fatty acid than fish, so you only need to eat 7-15 grams of flax seed a day - this translates to 1-2 spoonfulls of nutty, delicious, ground flax seed sprinkled on your oatmeal, salad, steamed broccoli, baked potato, or granola. Flax also comes in a pressed oil, which can be made into a healthy powerhouse salad dressing.  It's nutty flavor makes a really delicious topping to baked potatoes or any kind of vegetable.  Just make sure to drizzle it on after cooking, because even medium heat destroys the healthy omega-3 fatty acid.

There are other omega fatty acids, omega-6 being the next important.  This, however, is found in most nuts and seeds - and the typical American diet (even vegetarian) contains too much omega-6 due to the oils used in many processed foods.  It is important to maintain your ratio of omega-6 : omega-3 at about 3:1.  Adding flax seed or flax oil to your diet (even you non-vegetarians!) will help you balance this ratio.... and it will make your hair shiny :)

B12- is not produced by plants OR animals. It is produced by bacteria. Animal sources (meat and dairy) contain B12 through their consumption of it.  How do they consume it?  well, either they have stomachs in which plant food can ferment (bacterial culturing) before the area of the GI tract where B12 vitamin is absorbed (like cows), or, if the bacteria ferments the food after the GI tract can process B12, some animals get it by re-ingesting their own feces (ew.)  Or, they eat other animals who have gone through these processes.

Since humans don't have extra stomachs, and tend to shy away from eating feces, there is only one option for vegans - supplements....

.... however, B12 is already supplemented to many commercial breakfast cereals and soy milk.  Most people will get enough or nearly enough B12 from these sources (you don't need much - a couple micrograms'll do it!).   If you worry that you don't have enough, you can add a fortified nutritional yeast.  Nutritional yeast will be discussed shortly.   If you or your doctor is still concerned that you are B12 deficient, a vitamin supplement might be a good idea. 
Another pregnancy warning:  Folic Acid needs B12 and B6 to function properly.  We all know the necessity of Folic Acid during pregnancy, so make sure your supplement also includes B12 and B6.


So, what supplements do I take?
I have just shown that a balanced vegetarian or vegan diet doesn't really need external suppliments in the form of pills and powders.  That said, what supplements do I take?


B12:  I do not currently take a B12 supplement, however, I can not find a B12 fortified nutritional yeast in Belgium.  Nutritional yeast is a yeast that has been grown and processed for direct. consumption (i.e. not for beer or bread - those would be brewers yeast and baking yeast respectively).  In the US, Red Star brand makes a nutritional yeast that has been shown to have high levels of B12.  I can not find it in Belgium, and all the labels I read do not include B12 in their nutritional information.   I do get B12 from my soy milk and my breakfast cereal (All Bran), but with winter approaching, I want to eat more oatmeal (no B12 fortification) and I am thinking of starting a supplement for that purpose.  Off to the internet for some research for me :)

Vitamin-D:  This is not a "vegetarian" issue, but one for everyone, which is why it is not listed above.  Current research suggests a daily intake of 1000 IU of vitamin D.  This is a 5x increase from what was recommended last year.  Even with the lower previous recommendation, most health professionals recommended that people of all diets (unless you live on the equator and spend most of your time in a bikini, or live in an Arctic culture that gets most of it's nutrition from fish) supplement their diets with vitamin D.  I live in overcast Belgium, and don't eat fish 3 times a day... therefore, I supplement.   I take a big dose once a month... it is fat soluble, so your body stores it for when you need it.  I hate taking daily supplements, so I like this once a month plan.  The dosage for one month (about 25-45000 IU per month) is not dangerous if spread out monthly.
Here is a paper that says just that.



The "not" supplements mentioned above that I recommend to everyone from vegans to meat-eaters, and luckily they are unbelievably delicious:
Flax seed or oil - delicious foods that pack a powerhouse punch of omega-3.  Nutty flavor gives fantastic flavor to salad dressing (oil) or a crunchy nutty texture to other things like oatmeal, soup, salads (ground seed). 
Nutritional Yeast - source of B-vitamins and Iron, these little flakes have a kind of cheesy, nutty, beer-y taste.  They go great sprinkled on everything savory from pasta to mashed potatoes to soup.  You can dissolve them in sauces to give a cheesy, beer-battered taste.   Absolutely fantastic.  


Note about vitamins and other supplements:  If you are going to take a vitamin supplement, make sure you get a good one, and make sure you read the ingredients.  Many vitamins include crazy daily values, like 4000% RDA of something.  You are paying for this, and it is obviously not necessary.  If it is a water soluble vitamin you will just pee it out (literally flushing money down the toilet), if it is fat soluble, it may build up in your body and cause toxicity.  Many minerals can be dangerous if taken at high concentrations.  Reading labels and research is key.  KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TAKING!  For me personally, I stay away from vitamins sold at the local drugstore, like Centrum, or big vitamin retailers like GNC.  I find that they often have odd amounts of vitamins and minerals (and are often times not vegetarian).   My personal favorite supplement brand is Solgar.  I find that they have excellent products and a WIDE range to choose from.  They are a little pricy, but I think it is worth it.   Whatever you choose, just make sure you read it, research it, and understand it.  Talking about it with your doctor is also not a bad idea.

DISCLAIMER:  I am not a doctor or a nutritional advisor. Your needs might (probably will) be different if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have any underlying medical conditions.  Consult your doctor if you have personal nutritional concerns.

Wood burning stove

Hello friends.  Those of you who have been to our apartment, especially in the winter, know that we have a wood burning stove as our primary heating source.  We also have inefficient electric wall heaters, but they dry out the air, smell bad, and burn money.   So, we never really use them.

Our wood burning stove is very cute and romantic and lovely, but boy, it is a lot of work.  Gudrun does most of the fire starting and tending, but still...

Picture of the wood burning in the stove.  Gudrun took this picture with a long shutter speed to capture good detail in the wood and flames that have a "flowing" characteristic look. 
Photo unedited.

A couple months ago, Gudrun wanted to try experimenting with cooking in the stove.  Our friend Jeff successfully made boyscout orange cakes (hollowing out an orange and filling it with cake mix, wrapping it in aluminium foil and tossing it in the fire).  So anyway, she started researching other ways to cook in a fire...  our stove is rather small, so things like putting a cooking stand for a stew pot inside would be impossible.  We had almost given up hope when Gudrun decided to open the stove from the top.  I had assumed that this was just an easy access point to clean the stove from the top (shows how much I clean it!).  But, it turns out that the door on the top is actually a baking compartment!!   It is about 6 inches deep, and big enough to hold a tray of cookies or a casserole dish.

This is double good news - it satisfies Gudrun's boy-scout desire to cook on the fire, and it opened up our baking possibilities!   We don't actually have an oven in the house (they aren't common in apartments in Belgium), we only have a stove range and a microwave with a very basic baking function (basically only good for cooking frozen pizza).

For that reason, you will only see me making oven dishes in the winter months.  So if you want to send me baking recipes, do it before March :)   Also, baking in the wood burning stove is a little adventurous... there is no temperature control, and thus no way to know what cooking times will be.  The adventure appeals to me.  I think I like baking more since it is literally a "black box" process, than I would if I were baking in a conventional stove.

Anyway, for that reason, when I post baking recipes on here, I can not give you exact temperatures or times... so you will have to get as adventurous as me to recreate them :)

Note: regarding Gudrun's photo above, as mentioned, it is unedited.  This, mainly because we don't have any editing software yet.  We are looking at buying either Lightroom 3 or Photoshop CS5 (both Adobe products).  If anyone out there has any experience with these or other editing software, Gudrun would be more than happy to get your feedback/suggestions.  Since I'm a student, we can get the software on incredible student prices... so that is an opportunity that we shouldn't miss out on.

Testing 1-2-3

Pretty picture of a flower that Gudrun took while hiking in Seattle.  Week 1 of photography.

I'm just testing the photo uploading feature.  Will it work??  I guess we'll see!  Exciting.   I'll start writing real posts.  In the mean time, what do you think of Gudrun's flowers?  :)

Introduction part 2: The Switcheroo

Ok friends, when we last left off, we were talking about how Gudrun is an enthusiastic experimental chef and how my interest in photography goes back at least 15 years. Neither one of us thinks that we are particularly good at these hobbies (Gudrun thinks she can't make basic sauces, and my artistic eye for photography is significantly lacking). Nonetheless, we love our hobbies and invest time and money into them.

...that is, we did, until our hobby equipment was forcibly removed from each of us by the other.

The Camera:

To take it chronologically, we'll start with the camera. I bought my lovely Canon T1i on my last trip to the US - it was as good a time as ever to buy it. I had considered buying it for about 6 months, and things are cheaper in the US. So, I bought the camera, got it home to charge the battery, took it for a test drive of 20 or 30 shots or so, when I heard a "hey, can I try it out?" from Gudrun. I gave her a quick tutorial of the basic camera functions and she took her first shot - a still-life of my Nalgene water bottle using a long shutter speed.

The picture was blurry and the white balance was all wrong (the ambient light looked orange instead of natural). Instead of handing my camera back to me frustrated (like most people do), she started examining the buttons and trying to figure out how to fix her failed still-life. She eventually figured out a solution, and, armed with the confidence of accurately capturing the Nalgene, she promptly left the room to find other light conditions and subjects to take new shots.

After a few trial shots of convenient subjects, she moved on to more insightful compositions and artistic shots. What quickly became apparent was that Gudrun has the natural eye that I never had for photography. This should not surprise me, as she is an incredibly visual person with an astounding attention to detail. I think she would make a good detective or inspector. She would also, it seems, make a good photographer.

Over the next week of our holiday, Gudrun took about 2000 photos, mostly of natural subjects (spider webs, acorns, mountains), and really started to develop her eye.

She has signed up for a photography course in Antwerp, and she is already learning a lot. I think after this course she will know more than I do about digital photography, and maybe she can help me develop my artistic eye a little bit. One thing is for sure, though. I can't call it "MY camera" anymore. It seems that, much like Harry Potter and his magic wand, the camera has chosen her. I now have come to call it "THE camera."

The Cooking Pot:

My intrusion into her kitchen started a little more darkly and more out of necessity. I've been a vegetarian since before I can remember. My Mother remembers the story of me connecting the chicken on my plate with chicken the animal. She remembers the look of disgust on my face as I asked tentatively... "You mean the walkin' around chicken?" I was 2 years old. My parents forced me to eat meat until I was 10 - it was a good decision, considering that until that point, I also hated all vegetables except potatoes. I couldn't really live life on potatoes alone. When I was 10 years old, my Father made fish sticks for dinner, and I remember vividly turning them down in favor of green beans.

Let me stop just here to explain something...because you might be getting nervous. I am NOT, and never have been an evangelical vegetarian. I do not care what your personal dietary habits are, and I will not send PETA after you if you eat meat. I am only telling this story because it is critical to understand what happens next.

Ok, so 19 years after officially being given the green light to become a vegetarian by my parents and pediatrician, I stand before you a healthy and happy person. I am not dying of anaemia or B12 deficiency. I get more than enough protein and I certainly eat well in terms of food enjoyment. I mean, hey, there is always cheese!

Or at least there WAS cheese.... until about 3 weeks ago when I ended up stumbling on a PETA-type website and saw some things about dairy that changed my perspective on milk, cheese, and all things dairy (I already thought that eggs were kind of slimy and gross). I am NOT going to list them here, because, like I said, I am not a proselytizing vegetarian (if you want to know, send me an email and I'll tell you). I did some independent research (off the PETA-type website), and corroborated what I had just learned. And that was that.

Suffice it to say, I have had another "you mean, walkin' around chicken?" kind of moment, and my world view will never really be the same.

So now, faced with the prospect of having to find a way to enjoy food without cheese, I was kind of forced to start cooking. What happened then surprised me. The task that I always looked at as a chore - cooking - has become a delightfully interesting challenge. Recipes become like chemistry experiments, and it is a fun challenge to find ways to adapt my previously vegetarian recipes to vegan.

Gudrun has been standing by my side explaining how to roast peppers or cut onions efficiently, and i've been teaching her how to make the vegan sauces that I learn from my cookbooks or experiments.

Gudrun has been my willing guinea pig through this process, and has been really supportive (despite being a meat-eater herself). I have tried a few recipes out on her including: vegan fettuccini alfredo, butternut squash baked cannelloni, brazillian chilli with mango and sweet potato, squash soup, roasted red pepper "cream" pasta, tahini-maple sytup-oat cookies, and vegan mac and "cheese". Everything made from scratch. So far, according to her, I was a bit too overenthusiastic with the cardamom in the squash soup, and the mac and "cheese" was way too heavy (it really was). However, everything else has passed her approval with flying colors, and Gudrun has even really enjoyed the dishes that had significant amounts of tofu in them (a huge achievement if I do say so myself).

So what is the point of my part of this blog? I am going to report here the recipes that I try out or make up. We'll post my adaptations of the recipes, my notes and ideas, challenges, tips, etc. We'll also post Gudrun's authentic evaluations... being a meat-eating culinary expert, she should be a pretty good critic. I hope you will enjoy hearing about my successes, and learn from my failures and frustrations. I also hope that you will try some of the recipes and let me know what you think of them... which brings us to you.

YOU:

What is YOUR roll in this blog? Comment!

Let us know what you think of Gudrun's pictures, give her suggestions on ways to edit, techniques to use, and fabulous praise on her awesome shots.

For me: try out the recipes. give me tips. tell me your thoughts. send me recipes!! help me problem solve (what made my mac and cheese so heavy?) etc...

You don't have to have any experience to give suggestions... the point of this blog is to learn something from each other and to also involve YOU in the process. Amature help is super welcome (we, ourselves, are amatures). Think there is something else we should include in the blog? Let us know!

Next time we talk, we will have some pictures and recipes to share... in the mean time, leave some comments, and if you live in Belgium, come on over for dinner!

* no-cook burrito recipe

*This is the easy recipe referenced in the first introductory post on the blog.

This has been my go-to meal since I worked at a health food and herb store in 2001. The burritos cost pennies to make, and they sold each one at the store for 8 bucks a pop (no wonder they went out of business). If you wrap the tortilla up tight (with both ends folded in instead of just one), you can wrap them in plastic wrap and they transport really well for a brown bag lunch. They are high in protein, and low in fat and calories (read the labels of your tortillas... some brands are healthier than others).

1 can black or pinto beans
1 can of corn
1 bottle of medium salsa
package of burrito tortillas
salt to taste

Instructions: Dump can of beans into a strainer, rinse well. Open and drain can of corn. Toss both into a large mixing bowl and pour salsa over top. Mix well. You might want add a few pinches of salt (depending on how salty the salsa is). Glop the mixture onto the burritos cafeteria-lady style. Roll up the burritos, tucking one side in so that the mess won't fall out during eating.

Enjoy!

Tips... sometimes I throw some fresh greens in the tortilla or add fresh tomatoes or bell pepper to the mix. Think Mexican, and it will work out OK. Guacamole, cilantro, chilli pepper.... yum!

Click here to see how to wrap a tortilla.

Like I said above, if you close off both ends instead of just one, you can wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and it makes a fantastic brown bag lunch for work.

Introduction part 1: A not-so-brief Introduction

Hello internet, Kelly here… I’d like to tell you a story.

This is a story about switching places. Kind of like those cheesy Disney movies like “Freaky Friday” and “It’s a Girl Boy Thing” where the main characters find themselves magically transformed into the body of a person that they do not understand very well. According to the prescribed Disney movie formula, the characters are then forced to live life in the other person’s shoes for awhile, overcoming obstacles and preconceptions until they learn some valuable life lessons. They then return to their own shoes with a broader view of the world and strengthened relationships. Awwwww….

Ok, our story isn’t quite as magical, but Gudrun and I did find ourselves suddenly (and unintentionally) waking up in each other’s hobbies. This blog will tell the story of Gudrun’s exploration of photography (one of my hobbies), and my journey into the culinary arts (Gudrun’s specialty). To understand the hobby switcheroo, I guess I should probably tell you something about us if you don’t know us already (I’m not expecting anyone other than our immediate family and friends to read this, but hey, you never know….).

I have never been a cook. I survived university on pre-packaged pre-baked tofu, no-cook burritos* (which are, however, surprisingly delicious), and take out. Occasionally I cleaned enough cat hair off the stove to cook something, but it was usually just pasta with canned sauce. I guess it isn’t that I can’t cook, but rather that I had a ton of other things that I would rather be doing. Things like yoga, volunteer work, and photography.

Speaking of photography, my experience with cameras started in middle school when my dad started giving me lessons on my Grandfather’s old Nikon F-1. It was a good education. Since the F-1 was fully manual (didn’t even have a working built-in light meter!) I quickly learned the mechanics of taking pictures. I learned about the methods and techniques and soon I graduated to developing my own film and prints. I took some photography lessons and I signed up to take pictures for the school newspaper and yearbook. In college, I bought my very first camera, a Canon AE-1… It was also fully manual, but had the added luxury of a built in light meter (the thing that measures the amount of light in a setting and helps one determine what camera settings to use on a manual camera). I continued taking pictures, and I have albums full of black and white photos of my university experience. The problem was, I was never really “artistic.” I can take a technically good photograph, but they are normally pretty boring.

Once I moved to Belgium, and lost access to a darkroom, and the price of film doubled and the price of developing increased by a few hundred percent (from pennies for self developing to about 30 Euros a roll), the cost of photography quickly became prohibitive. I found myself questioning whether each frame was “worth it” or not, and that took a whole lot of the fun away from photography.

Skip ahead to a couple months ago when I finally decided that I would go digital. Despite my romantic feelings toward film, and the nagging sensation that I was cheating on “real” photography, I finally broke down and bought a Canon T1i (or 500D if you live in Europe). Cue the romantic slow-motion “falling in love” movie montage. The camera is amazing. If I could marry it, I would. I am kicking myself for holding out this long… I just LOVE it!! It is so…………………… hey Gudrun, give me back my camera!!!

Speaking of Gudrun, one of her passions is cooking. She’s a professional cook (chef de partie) in a hotel restaurant, but that isn’t really the end of the story. Her job bores her because she has to follow orders and recipes. Her true passion comes out at home in the kitchen – whether it is experimenting with Indian-Mexican fusion (ok, that one didn’t work out so well), or making awesome kiwi sorbet on the first try, she is always trying something new. She is a very experimental cook, and while her bookshelf is full of cookbooks, most of her creations come out of her own imagination.

She learned to cook when she was 12 years old. At the time, her simple goal was being able to help her overworked Mom. Her first dish was carrots cooked with onions and sugar… a typical Belgian side dish. Her Mom taught her many more traditional Belgian dishes along the way, like steak with fries and pancakes (in the US, we would call them crêpes).

These days, while she still likes the Belgian standards, she is more interested in branching out - she is especially fascinated by foreign fare and finding ways to make “traditional” food healthier or more interesting. For instance, she’s planning the “aperitiefhapjes” or cocktail food for her family’s Christmas party this year, and the theme is “edible dishes” - she’s making little salads and so forth in cups and plates made of home-made baked bread or various vegetables. In my opinion, it is bound to be excellent (Note: at this point, due to her humility, I am supposed to apologize to Rita, Catherine, Joke, and the rest of Gudrun’s family for being the guinea pigs for this experiment).

I suppose the conclusion to this story is that she is a daring and experimental cook. She likes to try new things, and explore new territory. She is extremely shy and modest about her skills (which is why I am writing this blog). For instance, she is convinced that she is not good at making “sauces” (I disagree). Although not everything she makes turns out great, most of the time she is breaking new ground and learning a lot. Needless to say, I eat very well.

So… WHAT in the world would possess me to try to take over the kitchen from her? It must be insanity!! In the next post, find out why in world I would want to kick my own personal chef out of the kitchen (I don’t have time to explain now, I have a roasted red pepper sauce on the stove)…. In the next post, you will also find out how Gudrun managed to steal my camera from me, and how she shows way more artistic skill than I ever could dream of having.

After we finish up the introductory stories, we’ll jump right in to all the hobby stuff. I’ll be posting my recipes (with Gudrun’s critiques), and we’ll be posting her pictures. Sometimes our hobbies will even intersect (she’s taking pictures of me cooking tonight in my pyjamas)… we don’t promise that everything will be perfect, but we do promise to have a sense of humor about our learning curves.