Light at the End of the Tunnel?

Hi, Y'all

make yourself comfortable, get yourself a cup of tea, or - in my case - hot lemon with lots of honey: 

It's getting quite nasty outside, isn't it? Suitable for fall, but nevertheless I'm very thankful for our functioning heating system and a stash of chopped wood. Due to their advanced age, our two furbabies also prefer a cosy pillow by the fireplace over a walk through wind and rain. 

And when it's ugly, wet and cold outside, I am not very tempted by salad & co, I have to say. I'm turning more to soulfood that warms not the belly alone, but also makes you feel good. In order to avoid making the same old, same old cakes every weekend, I tried something new (at least for me): Buchteln or Wuchteln. I know, it's difficult to pronounce and sounds funny (even if you pronounce it correctly), but that is caused by it's Bohemian origin. And by Bohemian I don't mean the buzzword "boho", but the historical region as part of the Czech Republic. Basically, Buchteln consist of a yeast-based dough with a filling. 

The recipe calls for an egg, and as I think that this is quite reasonable, I didn't substitute it. Nor did I replace the butter and milk, although you surely could use vegan alternatives. Anyway, to make these Buchteln you prepare a sweet yeast dough similar to Brioches, and separate them into small portions, which will be formed into balls. Then you have to flatten the balls and fill them with whatever you like, and then you form them into dumplings again. In my recipe they should be filled with Nutella, but I had plum jam at home, so that's what I used. Furthermore, there was a handful of fresh plums lingering in my fridge, which had to be consumed rather sooner than later, and so I cooked them into a fruit sauce. Vanilla sauce would have been a good alternative, too, but as the plums had to be used, I did exactly that. With a hint of cinnamon it was perfect. 

Saturday evening we were in the mood for fish, and I had Pangasius in the freezer. After defrosting I gave it the classic treatment, which means: clean it, pour lemon over it and sprinkle it with salt. Then I placed the fillets into a baking dish and covered it with a mixture of chopped hazelnuts, grated cheese and cream cheese. While that was baking in the oven, I prepared some red lentils and leek with mustard, creamcheese and some lemon juice. Please disregard the optics which are only average, but the taste was delicious. 

On Sunday evening I prepared a fall pizza which you might remember from last year. But this time I didn't use poultry salami but a veggie one from a brand which is pretty well-known here in Germany. Originally they were manufacturers of meat and sausage products, only, but in the meantime they generate more revenue with their vegetarian alternatives. I was curious and therefore, I tested a variety of their charcuterie products and was deeply impressed by their taste. And what comes in addition: They are low in calories and fat, as well - awesome, right?

Well, that's it for today. At the moment I'm waiting for my mega-delivery of fusable fleece to turn my fabric scraps into mosaics. Other than that I won't be doing a lot of DIY projects, because I don't want to add any more stuff to our moving goods. Because there might be light at the end of the tunnel, and we may be lucky to get our farm, after all - who knows...

Stay safe!!!