Stay cool

 Hi Y'all,

During his daily Mediterranean meditation Heinrich recently realized: Long time, no see - we have to change that! 

Since four months we have been living in our new flat, and the close proximity to the sea is still exciting. In the meantime we received a key to the garage (just without a garage space, but that's ok) which provides us with a shortcut. Which means our walk to the sea is now a whole 100 meters long! Which means everyday after work we head to the beach and float for half an hour in the lukewarm Mediterranean. Life could be worse, right? 

The last weeks Malta experienced a genuine heatwave. I know, I know - we should have expected something similar when moving to Malta. Yes, you're right. But you know what? I'm at that age where heatwaves collide with hot flushes - and this is no fun, I can tell you! Of course we have A/C in our flat, but we do not want to keep it running all the time. Therefore I was very grateful to cool off naturally.

And can you think of something else which makes you bear the heat? Exactly - ice scream! But to get it from the shop to your very own freezer and keep it in its desired aggregate state might pose a challenge when it's 38 degrees celsius, which is why I either had to buy a cooler or had to come up with an idea. 

Just at that time I laid my grubby little hands on some merch issued by my friendly employer - namely these sun protection shields for the car. And I thought: challenge accepted, let me tinker a cooling bag out of that stuff. 

My first attempt was to recycle an existing shopping bag (also merch, which bears the very fitting tag "fabric instead of flowers", obviously not by my employer), because the cut was plain and simple and the outer material pretty sturdy. And so I only sewed some sort of lining for this shopper from this sun shade foil material, because I wanted to test how you can cut and sew it. To close it I attached some velcro and I turned out pretty well. 

As I had still some leftover sunshade material and the the bag was limited in size, I wanted to try a cooling backpack. The outer material I had to buy, because my Mount Scrapmore is completely used up, but at least I had some webbing and a buckle. Saturday I managed to get hold on some nice curtain fabric - could have beed a bit more sturdy for my liking, but in connection with the sunscreen material I thought it might work. 

So I started cutting the shades - easy peasy using an all purpose scissors.  

My tried and tested sewing machine bravely worked through all of it. To be on the safe side I switched to the highest stitch length, the material needed some support in guiding it under the foot and admittedly the handling was a bit stubborn, but all in all I was pleasantly surprised. 

It was not planned as a highly sophisticated picnic backpack, thus I designed it quite simple and uncomplicated. First I built the inner body:  

Then fitted the outer fabric:

My plan was to stick to a simple foldover version to close the backpack - and if I needed a bit more space I could easily leave it open to accommodate my pistachio ice cream shopping spree :-) Where I attached the buckle and the handles I enforced the fabric with SnapPap: 

I shortly considered a transformer version, which means switch between a backpack with two straps and a shopper with one carrying strap, but the lenght of my webbing did not allow this option. Therefore I added a shorter handle which should do the job just as well.  

After that I simply folded the outer fabric over the brim of the silver material and attached it with the machine and like this outer and inner bag were connected. The buckle straps and the carrying straps I also attached to the silver foil to have them double secured.

And this is how it looks like from the back:

...and front... 

I think I am going to quilt the two layers in a few places, maybe do some hand stitching outlining the pattern of the fabric for example, but that will be it. It might not be stable enough to carry half a cow, but as I like my cows whole, that should be fine. And after all, I prefer ice cream :-) 

On that note I send you this earworm:

Like ice in the sunshine, like ice in the sunshine

I'm melting away on this summer day...

Stay cool and hydrated!

All new in May!

Hi, Y'all!

I like May - it's spring, everything in nature starts growing brand new, lots of  people near and dear to me have their birthdays in May, the hubs and I celebrate our wedding anniversary in May, and at least in Germany there are two very conveniently located public holidays on Thursdays.

And this year something else was added: We moved house! We had a rental contract that was limited to two years, and if you've lived in it for a certain amount of time, you can leave earlier. We learned that at the beginning of the year and kept our eyes and ears open to see if we could find a nice new place to live.

Then we learned something else straight away, namely that these notice periods of three months or more, which are familiar from Germany, have no relevance here. Of course, you would actually have to give the landlord two months' notice before moving out, but as is so often the case, this is a mere recommendation :-) As soon as you tell the landlord that you want to move out, you can basically start packing. We weren't aware of this at first, and when I responded to the first apartment ads and said that we wouldn't be able to move in for another two months because of the notice period, we were always told: "Then come back to us later, the apartment here will be rented out tomorrow and the new residents will move in the day after."

Oookay, we then agreed with our landlords that we would move out at the end of April and I looked at a bunch of apartments around Easter. In the meantime, we had briefly considered moving to the sister island of Gozo, because it's a bit quieter and more unspoilt there. But that would have lengthened our commute so much that it's only really worth it if you can work completely remotely. So I limited my search to our current place of residence, because we really like it. 

And it's like everywhere else: there are nice and less nice apartments, sometimes the location is right but the size isn't, sometimes the furnishings are very nice but the price is completely over the top, sometimes the location and furnishings are great but then there's no elevator to the fourth floor - there's always something. But if you're prepared to make the odd compromise, you can find some great things. And that's exactly how it went! 

After browsing through a bunch of ads on Facebook Marketplace and looking at a good ten apartments, we almost said yes to one. Nice view over the town, new kitchen, modern furnishings, space for an e-bike, and Heinrich was welcome. There were only two (bedrooms), but we would squeeze a desk into each one and then it would be fine. 

Then a real estate agent called me, who had already shown me two apartments that were out of the question, and told me she had something I might like. I didn't hesitate for long, and at 8:30 on Easter Monday morning (which is not a public holiday here) I had the viewing appointment. It turned out that the estate agent was a niece of our old landlords (El Mundo es un Pañuelo...), and also the proud dog mom of a Frenchie named Louis :-) If that's not a good omen... And what can I say? I walked into the apartment and instinctively knew it had potential. 

Just as big as the previous apartment, namely 3 bedrooms (approx. 140 m²), more or less the same layout, i.e. a long hallway (Apple Fitness will be pleased), from which the rooms lead off, and which then ends in the open living room and kitchen area. It's on the third floor of an apartment complex that looks a bit like a former hotel, has an elevator (with a working emergency service :-D ), a nice balcony with a great view (He fählt nur vum Balkon die Aussich op d'r Dom. [This is a quote of a well-known song in cologne dialect which means "Everything here is just like home, only the view of the cathedral is missing".]- well, actually we do have a nice view of the church, so we can't complain at all).

There is also a Mediterranean tiled floor, which is very handy in contrast to the previous high-gloss tiled floor. In other words, you don't immediately see every water stain when Heinrich has had another sip of Eau de Tap. There's also air conditioning and a brand new 8 kilo washing machine (Alex thinks I can fit a whole parallel universe in there, like in my handbag). By the way, the washing machine is located in a built-in cupboard on the balcony, which is very common here. Of course, it never gets cold enough here in winter for the pipes to freeze over. 

The kitchen doesn't have a dishwasher, but it has everything else you need, especially storage space - which I really like, because we do have a lot of stuff. And since the day before yesterday, we also have a brand new stove and oven, and - another first for me - both run on gas. This is also very common here, as you can see from the numerous frog-green gas cylinders on the terraces and balconies everywhere. After some initial hesitation (won't anything explode here???), I have to say that I can understand why professional chefs swear by gas. 

The furniture, especially the kitchen and the living room wall unit in rustic oak remind me a bit of a 70s cellar bar - a little alcohol and I start dancing disco fox :-D OK, that falls under the aforementioned compromises that you have to make. But to be honest: If you painted the kitchen cupboards and the living room wall with a light cream colored chalk paint, it would look really good, I am definitely sensing vintage/shabby chic vibes. Here's a picture from the chaos of the move so you can get an idea...

But what really speaks for the apartment is the location. When we walk out of the front door, we are right by the sea in just three minutes! That was a thing in the last apartment: we had a fabulous view of the bay, but to be able to dip our feet in the water, we either had to take the car or the bus. It's a bit like holding a lollipop in front of a child's nose but not letting them lick it. 

And now every day the two gentlemen (two-legged and four-legged) spend their lunch break by the sea. It gives us such an incredible quality of life that we can now imagine settling here permanently. It is indeed beautiful!

The journey to work has remained more or less the same - the bus takes exactly 2 minutes longer, but the bus stop is much closer than before. And the view from there is also very nice:

Well, and in the meantime we have also re-registered - you have to do this here just like in Germany every time you move. However, they do not simply put a sticker on the ID card, but they even issue a complete new ID card. As an EU citizen, this is not a problem, the only thing that was problematic was getting a parking space nearby! And because I also have a small educational mission, here's a bit about Maltese addresses: The zip code in Malta consists of two components, namely three letters representing the city area and then four numbers. That's pretty precise; the hotel two blocks away, for example, has a different postal code to our building. What is not handled quite so precisely, however, is the house number. Many buildings here have a name - ours is called Halcyon, for example, and that's enough, there's no house number. You don't necessarily need a name on the doorbell or letterbox either. It's enough if it has the apartment number on it, then the postman knows where to ring the bell.

By the way, we had completely underestimated the effort involved in our move :-D We thought it would be a walk in the park, after all we wanted to move without furniture and had done a proper clear-out before moving to Malta. But miraculously, our household has exploded again and my little blue beetle has bravely transported box after box to the new apartment. Now we feel really comfortable, but we don't want to move again for the next few years (at least two)!

With this in mind - have a good time and enjoy May!

I spy with my little eye...

Hi, Y'all!

lately I was craving something typically German - Kirschstreusel! And then I realised that the most important ingredient is nearly impossible to get hold of. Sour cherries in a jar are only known to the immigrated Germans around. Therefore, I was very happy when Lidl offered preserved sour cherries and even plums (went by Alp Cuisine, haha). 

Thus last Sunday we had a classic crumb cake and our Maltese family really liked it! And the oldest daughter of our friends could impress her German class with new vocabulary :-)

My grandpa always made a foundation of yeast dough and he only spread the drained cherries on top of it, whereas I made the base and the crumbs from the same dough. I only pressed the crumbs into the bottom of the pie pan and I thickened the cherries including their juice with some vanilla custard powder before I buried them under loads of Streusel. 

Oh, btw there are a few cherry trees on the island (although I'v never seen one), so you are in fact able to buy them fresh, but the only cherries in a jar you get are either the insanely sweet cocktail cherries (Maraschino) or the other Italian Amarena cherries you use for the ice cream cups (also insanely sweet, to be honest). 

And therefore I thought about a list of German pantry staples you can't get in Malta. Besides the aforementioned sour cherries Quark instantly came to my mind. Maltese (and also Americans) do not know what it is - some kind of curd cheese, and therefore they prepare their cheesecake either with ricotta or cream cheese. Apart from cheesecake I love Quark with herbs as a dip to oven roasted potatoes, vegetable fritters and so-on, but have been using yogurt instead. Somewhere on an expat-blog I found a recipe to make your own Quark (I think she used buttermilk), but I could not make myself do it - and moreover, I am not sure if you can get buttermilk here... 

Another thing I could not find at first, was the good old custard powder. Although I know how to make custard (the Germans call it Pudding) without the help of Dr. Oetker, but I assumed there are lazy people even in Malta... And after questioning my beloved Maltese colleague I learned that of course you get custard powder. Only that the Maltese Dr. Oetker is called Foster Clark, and he packages his custard mix in tin cans instead of the single portion paper bags I knew from Germany. And because I was fixated on that kind of packaging I did identify the tin can as the item I was looking for only on the second glance. 

Lidl (who can't hide it's German roots) also is the only shop offering the small bags with vanilla sugar, baking powder and instant yeast, us Germans are very much used to. If you want vanilla sugar here, you either have to prepare it yourself with real vanilla pods and granulated sugar (or buy the little pouches at Lidl), because otherwise you only get highly concentrated artificial vanilla powder or liquid vanilla extract. Baking powder and dry yeast you normally get here in much larger portions, 500 g for example. This comes in very handy! With my large numbers of bread and pizza I usually bake, these small bags wouldn't get me very far. And less packaging by larger portion sizes is always a good thing. 

Another thing I think is very German is our attachment to fruit infusions (or fruit tea). Surely we drink our fair share of black or green tea, but when I think of the huge shelves filled with Teekanne and Messmer, that's a whole other story. Here in Malta you clearly can sense the British influence: You can purchase an abundance of black tea (Earl Grey, English Breakfast just to name a few), a large variety of green teas and a reasonable amount of herbal teas like camomile. But camomile is yucky! I'd rather drink hot water only than camomile tea! Which reminds me of Asterix with the Brits: "Would you like a droplet of milk in your hot water?" :-D 

Hot Love (aka raspberry-vanilla), Spanish Orange, Winterdream (aka spiced apple) or Rooibos-Vanilla is much more up my alley. Therefore I am very happy when I can manage to grab a pack of fruit infusion/tea that is not peppermint or mixed berries. But this is whining at high level, of course!   

Having said that I wish you a hoppy Easter - stay safe and have a cuppa!

Soul Food

Hi Y'all!

Long time no see, I know, I know... But you might also know that my dad went on his very last journey, and I did not feel like blogging at all. 

I still miss him, but right now I'm at peace with the situation, and therefore, it's time for a new blog post with lots of comfort food or sould food - basically food which warms the belly and the soul. Dad surely would have liked it... 

We never ate tons of meat, but since living in Malta, we reduced it even more. Once a week we have fish on the menu, but currently we are not missing anything. Moreover: Spices are incredibly affordable in Malta, and therefore with a little bit of creativity you can produce incredibly delicious things. 

A few weeks ago I bought a large piece of pumpkin and wanted to try something other than the usual cream soup. So I cooked the pumpkin with some potatoes, mixed it with spices, herbs and flour and the result was a giant batch of gnocchi: 

Some we had instantly with pesto, and the rest I divided into small portions and put them in the freezer. Pro-tip: Throw them in water while they are still frozen, otherwise you end up with one giant blob. I mixed the blob with some more flour and then cut again - so the gnocchi were still delicious. But you could save that extra step. You can even shallow fry them after cooking, and I found that especially yummy. 

And of course pumpkin is perfect for filling ravioli - therefore one Sunday the hubs and I donned our aprons and made a huge batch of pasta dough. Below you can see said ravioli - once uncooked and once with sage butter: 

You can freeze ravioli quite easily. Simply place sheets of parchment paper in between the ravioli layers and then boil them without thawing (and without the parchment paper, haha). Like this they don't stick together and won't break. And after all they only take a few minutes to cook. 

And then we planned to make tagliatelle - which we did. And without a proper pasta drying rack we just placed them on the cooking grate of our oven. But I have to admit that's a true labour of love! The single pasta strands get longer and longer while hanging and once they are dry they break if you only look at them. So, it's not worth the hassle - just make them fresh and boil them directly. The dough is prepared in a few minutes anyway.

Pasta dough is for dummies btw - In Germany I used special flour for Swabian pasta which you obviously can't get here. But the combination of simple wheat flour with semolina works like a charm. Add in a bit of salt, olive oil and water, and your DIY pasta is done! 

And while we're talking about pasta: My usual lasagna has a filling made of spinach, cream cheese and tomato, but even here I wanted to experiment a bit. The first one was pretty straightforward. I simply cooked a Bolognese ragu, only with red lentils instead of minced meat. As vegetarian option I topped it with shredded cheese, and for the vegan alternative I used oat cheese (not goat cheese, haha). In case you are wondering: In principal it's oat milk with herbs and spices (and nutritional yeast, if you can get hold of it) and cornstarch and when you boil it, it thickens. The result is a relatively firm cream cheese which can be cut into slices. It melts only a bit, but the taste is delish. Top is vegan, bottom vegetarian:  

And this is what they look like after being baked in the oven:  

And since I developed a sincere and true love for eggplants here in Malta, I had to try a lasagna with these purple beauties: 

So I peeled and shredded the eggplant (unpeeled shredding doesn't work), mixed it with tomatoes and herbs and placed it between the lasagna sheets. I topped it with some fried and caramelised onion rings (with lots of thyme) and some shredded cheese. Note to self: Don't be stingy with spices, and then it is uber delicious! 

One of my staples on the menu when I don't have too much time: chickpea curry. Start boiling some rice (Jasmin or Basmati), and add some diced onions, garlic and ginger to a well oiled pan. Make it spicy with curry powder, paprika, turmeric and cumin until it reveals its fragrance. Add two tablespoons of tomato paste and a whole can of coconut milk. Mix well and throw in two cans of rinsed chickpeas - easy peasy!

Do not throw away the chickpea water (aka aquafaba), because you can whisk it like eggwhite (and it doesn't taste like chickpeas at all). Gently fold in some powdered sugar and molten chocolate and let it get firm in the fridge. This is Mousse au Chocolate's little vegan sister! Tbh it's more like the brother from another mother, but there is no need to hide it either. Unfortunately there is no picture, sorry!

Now let's get to the last hearty dish which is inspired by the spanish albondigas - just that I made them of white beans instead of minced meat. I combined it with a light sauce with onions and white wine - olé!

But you know me - you won't leave this post with a sweet finale. If life (or your co-worker or neighbor) gives you lemons, start baking!

Muffins are a no brainer, but I wanted to try something I hadn't done before - Lemon Crackle Cookies. You prepare a rather unspectacular dough but with loads of lemon zest and lemon juice, roll it into little balls and cover them with powdered sugar. Unfortunately I used all my powdered sugar for the muffin glaze, and so I had to improvise. Put one cup of normal sugar together with a teaspoon of cornstarch in a food processor and blitz it for 30 seconds or so. And like this you have powdered sugar in no time and effort. Bake the cookies for 12 min at 180 degrees Celsius, and then they show a cracked surface, but inside they are fluffy and wonderfully citrusy - will definitely make them again! 

Stay safe and enjoy the spring!