It's 4:30am, do you know where your head's at?

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There’s nothing like the sore hips and weird sleep you get from sleeping on a night train. If you take this particular line the police wake you up sometime between 11pm and 1am for a ticket and passport check. Now it’s 5:45am and  minutes ago I awoke up with that weird body paralysis where you start to panic because your brain wants to move but the body can’t cooperate. I always think of Kill Bill when Beatrix Kiddo wills her legs to work—“Wiggle your big toe”. The appropriate Ohrwurm for today would be Night Train. Now I am just passing through Hünfeld, Germany, some 200km from my final destination of Stuttgart, for a month of fine weather and a tortuous class. The too bitter taste of German coffee sits in my mouth as I am reminded of their lack of coffee culture. Nonetheless, I’m here to report the newest recipes!

Breakfast

bananatella

·      mush a banana in its skin and add to a bowl, mush further

·      mix in kakao powder

·      top with a few müesli flakes + ymer drys (these are like rye bread crumbs + brown sugar)

fruit salad

·      toast coconut + nuts of choice

·      meanwhile chop fruit and reconstitute some dried fruit with hot water

·      juice of some citrus, I like lime best

·      cinna ‘mon

·      mix together

·      drizzle honey on top

toastettes

·      small toasts

·      spread butter on first, you’re not European if butter isn’t on the bread

·      topped with roasted red pepper (RRP) spread (not self made) + white cheese (aka cow feta) and/or miso paste, beet root spread—you get the idea

Lunch

pan fried gnocchi + veg

·      pour hot water over some chopped broccoli and let sit while you do the rest

·      sauté chopped onion, garlic, RRP, grated carrot, capers, chopped olives

·      add gnocchi and sauté until a bit toasty

·      serve over a bed of raw spinach + parboiled broccoli florets

·      if desired top with lemon, parmesan, crème fraiche, red pepper flakes

Dinner

to-go train dinnerà

apple + peanut butter (PB)

warm veg + fruit salad

·      sautéed cabbage or other greens + dried figs + orange + toasted nuts

·      top with a little white cheese if desired

Events

today marks the start of my ultimate couch-surfing adventure

Ohrwurm is German for Ear Worm

And ear worm is English for having a song stuck in your head, which is the case for me every morning. Good thing we have youtube so I can spend 4-10 minutes watching music videos right? This morning though, I have to admit it was a show tune called Cold Feets from the play called The Drowsy Chaperone. Right...so anyway, what about the food?

Breakfast
* kiwi
* apple
* Justin's honey nut peanut butter squeeze pack

It seems like the peanut butter ship must have sunk on the way to Denmark because until yesterday I couldn't find it anywhere. It's probably better because it's an addiction and at nearly $6 for a small jar, it's enough to break my non-working income bank. But, addictions are addictions and as such, we must feed them. Lucky for me I had a secret stash hidden away for desperate moments. 

Lunch
*left-over gnocchi + beet root pesto + olives

red herring soup
* herring boiled, cooled then de-boned
* strain stock to remove bones
* sauté onion, zucchini, cabbage + any other veg you want
* add spices, especially paprika + bay leaf
* add fish + stock + milk and boil until achieve desired taste

My friend had me for lunch. Her husband caught these herring fishing somewhere near Copenhagen. Here's a link to fishing near CPH, can't wait to try this! 

Dinner
left-over gnocchi two ways

Russian John Style
* gnocchi + butter + pepper + sour cream + parmesan

my way--gnocchi salad
* gnocchi + chopped fresh spinach + chopped raw zucchini + chopped yellow bell pepper + lemon + capers + olives + beet root pesto

note: I've packed gnocchi once again for my train ride tonight, but now that we're over it, we froze the rest.

elderberry juice aka hipster mixer of choice
* a little dab'll do ya when you add it to water

dessert
square of Choco love chocolate, also stashed away from the States

Tasks
* farm work resumes June 2nd, heading to Deutschland tonight

Events
* there is a world of fermented goods around me these days--kombucha, water kefir, pickles, sauerkraut, sourdough. All to be discussed in detail eventually. And, as my friend Fiona says, "Ferment the world!"

It's like this and like that and like this and a...

                   make-shift greenhouse
My mom has been reading along with the new recipes and she seems to think all I do is eat! At first I thought, geez, maybe she's right. But then I realized that we all eat roundabout 3 times a day, I'm just preparing it all and writing it down. The other thing is that I eat meals, especially dinner, with people everyday so full meals are prepared. It's all pretty normal and I hope to inspire readers to prepare more simple, seasonal(ish), vegetarian(ish) meals. So without further adieu, I bring you today's recipes and I'll just highlight dinner today...

Dinner

fraîche salad

* crème fraîche 

* dill

* pepper 

* cucumber

* spinach 

* green onion (early onions from farm)

* toss

beet root pesto

* roasted beets--I boiled and it worked okay, roasted is better. (over-wintered from farm)

* toasted sunflower seeds + roasted or fresh garlic + oil + salt + parmesan + balsamic vinegar
* food process

roasted veg
* thinly sliced potatoes (over-wintered from farm)
* sliced pepper and eggplant
* bake 200C (400ishF)until roasty

celery root + potato gnocchi

* peel then roast one celery root + potatoes (over-wintered from farm)

* get a pot of water boiling

* mash with fork

* add salt

* add 1/2 or more flour until doughy

* flour surface and roll into logs (think play-doh)

* cleanly cut into 4 cm (1in-ish) pieces

* toss into boiling water and cook until float to top  

(note: I boiled celery root and potatoes to try to make it faster and it was a fatal mistake--the dough was WAY to watery and took more flour than usually needed. In the end, it also took longer and more effort. Also, normally I would add egg to help bind things together but one of the dinner-eaters doesn't eat eggs.)

topping for gnocchi
* you can get this going whilst gnocchi cook
* sliced and sauteed leeks (over-wintered, in ground from farm) 
* throw in some capers + bag of frozen peas
* squeeze lemon juice on top
* salt + pepper
* serve with parmesan or other cheese crumbles or no cheese

apple nut crumble
* sliced apples--I leave skin on (over wintered from farm)
* throw a bit of sweetener (honey, sugar, etc) on top + cinnamon
* mix oats + ground nuts + bit of salt + cinnamon + bit of sugar + oil + water and top apples
* bake with other oven goods that are baking--which is a bit too hot for the crumble so make sure to keep an eye on it

cooking note: I tried to organize in order of what would take longest to cook since my goal is to create the simplest shortest cooking times. I put the baking stuff in first, then peeled things to boil, but again should have just roasted, then started to work on slicing things for the topping and salad. Because of the gnocchi, it still took too long though and was a really big clean-up. It'll be awhile before I make gnocchi again.

Oh and just because... just because this bourbon was recommended and I didn't like the flavor I infused it

infused bourbon

* just add sugar + coffee beans

* shake every so often for three weeks 

Tasks
* homework
* thesis meeting about developing country field work--holla!

Events
* what's in season in Denmark? Greenhouse-spring lettuces, green onions, herbs, radishes are just beginning. Outside, nettles and anything we dig up that was over-wintered.

Sharing is caring
* Bidder 70--watch online for free
 "Bidder 70 centers on an extraordinary, ingenious and effective act of civil disobedience demanding government and industry accountability. In 2008, University of Utah economics student Tim DeChristopher committed an act which would redefine patriotism in our time, igniting a spirit of civil disobedience in the name of climate justice."
http://www.bidder70film.com/

* Food Policy for Thought blog https://foodpolicyforthought.wordpress.com/