Dumplin'

 Hi, Y'all!

In my German Blogpost I started with a reference to some bavarian thriller series and that pun is almost impossible to translate. Don't judge a book by its movie, but in this case the books and the movies are deadly funny. One of them has dumplings in its name which leads me right to my first project. For international reference I used the title of a Netflix movie about a teenage girl that gives a sh... about conventions and beatuy standards. Nothing Oscar or Pulitzer-worthy but nice. And it also leads me to my first project :-)  So, there we are...

A friend of mine made some prime boiled beef and handed me some of the broth in a tupperware container - that's what friends and tupperware are for. My original plan was to add some veggies and noodles and be done with it. But hubby wanted dumplings, and his wish was my command. Besides, that was the ideal opportunity to try something I've never cooked before. Semolina is a staple in my pantry (for pasta and cheesecake), so let's try!

Thus I prepared a dough from semolina, butter and egg and spiced that with nutmeg and S+P. The mass had to rest for half an hour (in order to let that gluten develop its power, I guess), and then I formed the dumplings with two spoons.

Then they get thrown in boiling water and have to stay there until done - that takes about 15 - 20 minutes depending on their size. You could boil them in the broth, but then the broth doesn't stay clear. If you don't want your broth to be cloudy, boil the dumplings separately and add them to your broth afterwards. 

So I heated the broth, added some carrots, leek and some noodles, said dumplings and some spring onions on top. Not bad, right? 

And after a long tedious period of rain and cold, there is finally some sun! Therefore, I don't need hearthy warming souldfood any longer but lean more towards light dishes like salads and such. 

For example, I had a cucumber in my fridge and loads of garlic (aka hypertension prophylaxis). The perfect basis for Greek zaziki, don't you think? But you cannot live on zaziki alone, you have to add some ouzo! Just kidding! Instead, I baked two flat breads with yoghurt and sunflower seeds, and with some feta cheese, olives and roasted bellpeppers that made a delicious dinner. And we had no vampires visiting that night...

As we are in the middle of asparagus season in Germany, here are two recipe ideas for the green one:

First idea is an asparagus salad. I blanched the asparagus for about three minutes and then dumped it in ice water to keep the color and to prevent it from getting too soft. I added a diced onion, cherry tomatoes and feta cheese. A dressing I mixed from lemon juice, maple syrup and mustard. Awfully yummy!

Second variation is pan-fried asparagus. I cut the spears in bite-sized portions and threw them in a frying pan together with chopped onions, garlic and brown mushrooms. Stirred it well, fried it well and deglazed it with a healthy dash of balsamic vinegar. It was delish! Please ignore the massacre on top of the veggies - fish and pan didn't ever want to part...

But as I spent most of the time in the kitchen, I'd like to change into my office/guest room now. After we dumped our futon we designated two mattresses as guest bed. They are quite comfy but with a colorful quilt and tons of mismatching throw pillows it didn't go with my aesthetics. Therefore, I bought some fabric and a nice bedspread. First I made some matching pillow covers and then some kind of fitted sheet for the piled mattresses. With that I don't have to re-tuck the spread every time someone sits on the mattresses. And I even had some leftover fabric which I turned into another cushion I filled with fabric scraps. Killed to birds with one stone, if you will. And now my mattress pile almost looks like a proper sofa:

And once I had my sewing machine on the desk, I decided to make a birthday present for my brother in law. Pouches and baggies for girls I made galore, and therefore I chose something more rough and robust this time. Took some denim and canvas and adorned it with a leather patch from a pair of jeans. Wanted it in portrait instead of landscape format because I thought shampoo and shower gel could stand in it. This is how it turned out:

My little sis has her birthday only a few days after, and therefore I took out my crochet hook and made this ombré shawl for her. 

The colors might look good on her and I hope she might like it.

I especially liked it because it doesn't look like the typical crochet stole from the seventies and therefore, I instantly made another one. Some time ago, our youngest gave me a skein of yarn and I crocheted a dragon tail from it- sounds funny but is in fact a scarf with spikes. Looked weird, I had to admit, and it has been staying in my drawer since the day it was finished. Thus I tore it apart and crocheted a shawl with a similar pattern as my sisters' because the colors are beautiful. And I think I actually might wear this one:

Stay safe and soak up some sun!!!