Luxembourg!

What a delightful place Luxembourg is. It is so beautiful; both clean, and green! :D (Imagine a big cheesy grin here). It is so peaceful and serene there. The countryside is beautiful and the towns are sparkling clean, with neat houses and beautiful flowers and yards. I enjoyed every part of our visit. We went to 2 different castles and toured them. One was out in the country surrounded by hills and forests, and another was situated in the middle of a town. We were very close to Belgium when we were in Luxembourg, and we decided that it would be a shame not to visit Belgium, too. So we drove into Belgium a little, stopping to get some frites at a roadside stand (a friterie). They are so good- I believe they are doubled-fried fries, and they are so crispy and yummy. Since we were already on our way to a heart attack, we figured we'd try the traditional dip- mayo. (But the kids preferred ketchup. Every tiny serving of dipping sauce cost 50 Euro cents there... which is about $.75)**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

Lemon-Dill Salmon with New Potatoes

We've been really busy sight-seeing lately. Hopefully I'll get to that later. For now, here's a recipe that I made for our dinner last Sunday (actually, 2 Sunday's in a row because we liked it so much). I took a big Norwegian salmon fillet and topped it with butter, lemon juice, dill weed, salt and pepper, and baked it. The base recipe is adapted from a really yummy salmon my Aunt makes. I didn't measure, so use everything to your liking. I boiled some tender, French new potatoes, (purple, yellow and red) and topped them with fromage frais (with herbs and garlic added) from France. (There are recipes for a homemade version online, if you're interested). We had lemon/garlic broccoli, and fresh strawberries, on the side.

Lemon-Dill Salmon
1 large salmon fillet- 1-2 lbs.
2 TBS. melted butter
1-2 TBS. lemon juice
1-2 teaspoons dried dill weed (use more if fresh)
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (about 200 degrees C). Grease a large baking sheet (with sides) with cooking spray and lay salmon fillet in it, skin side down. Mix together lemon juice and butter and pour over salmon. Sprinkle dill, salt and pepper on top. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until salmon flakes easily with a fork and is opaque throughout (may take longer if your fillet is very thick). **This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

Cologne, Germany

Last Saturday we took the train up to Cologne, Germany. We went to see the huge cathedral there and the Lindt chocolate museum. It took a lot longer than we had anticipated to get there, but at least we got to travel along the Rhine River. We saw a ton of castles, and hills covered in vineyards. It was very scenic. We saw the Rhine river and its castles 2 years ago, so I didn't get many pics of the castles, except for this one we saw while we were waiting for our train at one stop. (Sorry the pic is so grainy!)

We left home at 7:30am and didn't get home until right before midnight; we were exhausted!!!

We went to the Lindt Chocolate museum first, which was so crowded we could hardly see anything in there. So, I don't have harldy any pics of it. I wish there hadn't been so many people so we could have enjoyed it more. We did get a little sample out of the chocolate fountain. We didn't even buy anything in the Lindt store because it's readily available in grocery stores here.

Next we walked to the huge Dom Cathedral. It's so huge that it's hard to judge how big it is by photos. You can read more about it here. The outside has been blackend by pollution, but I think that adds to its "look".

Here is a cuter part of Cologne:

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

Tarte Flambée or Flammkuchen

Tarte Flambée, or Flammkuchen, is a dish from the Alsace region of France. The French word is Tarte Flambée, and here in Germany they call it Flammkuchen. It's a very simple and delicious dish. It is an extremely thin crust pizza, topped with crème fraîche, a shredded white cheese, and onions and bacon.

For my homemade version, I just bought some pre-baked Flammkuchen crusts from the grocery store, and topped them with some crème fraîche I got in France, some German shredded white cheese (I forgot what kind I used- oops!), and some cooked bacon. I omitted the usual onions that are supposed to top this dish, and used fresh chives on top after it came out of the oven. (I thought it would be more kid-friendly without the onions). It was delicious and flavorful.

We had this last night for dinner with Insalata Caprese (using heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil from a plant I just bought), and a fruit salad. We had bought some local berries earlier (strawberries, blueberries and raspberries) and we mixed them with some delicous, creamy, German vanilla-bean yogurt. Everything was very good!
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Tarte Flambée or Flammkuchen
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2 pre-made Flammkuchen crusts (or roll out pizza dough as thin as possible)
1 cup (or a little more) crème fraîche
2 cups shredded white, mild cheese
8 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
4 tablespoons fresh snipped chives

Preheat oven as hot as it will go. Place crusts on pizza pan or stone. Spread the crusts with crème fraîche, and top with shredded cheese. Then sprinkle bacon on top, and cook until cheese is starting to brown and bubble; 5-10 minutes (depending on the heat of your oven). Remove from oven, and top with fresh chives. Serve immediately.

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

French Peace Gardens

We keep returning to France; we can't help it. The little French towns on the German border are so quaint and the area is just beautiful. Last week we went to Bitche, France (yes, Bitche!), to visit the fortress (citadel) and the Peace Gardens. The citadel is an amazing sight from far away. Unfortunately, we forgot to take any pics of it as we approached it. It is so huge that you're just trying to take it all in the first time you see it.

The view from the top is awesome too; you can see the cute little town of Bitche and the surrounding French countryside is full of forests that stretch as far as the eye can see.

My fave part of Bitche (besides buying some cool stuff at the French grocery stores... that will be another post, I hope) was the Peace Gardens on the grounds right under the citadel hill.

The garden contained beautiful flowers, of course, but also different sections that were decorated according to a theme.

The lavender room- that colored glass on the top makes the tree look like it has purple leaves.

The painter's room- the floor is made of seashells here.This room had a banana tree, lily pads, and a floor made or blue bits of glass. It was like sea glass, and it was beautiful. It was my favorite part.

The garden wall with a church spire in the background.

We finished off the visit with a glace in the garden's cafe.

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

Fourth of July Pie! (Fruit Pizza)

Actually, it's a fruit tart. Well really, it's a fruit pizza. And I know I'm almost a week late for this, but I have a hard time getting on the computer lately. I wanted a patriotic fruit pizza, so I used strawberries (that we picked ourselves!) and blueberries. The frosting was a white chocolate/cream cheese mix, and it was delicious. The crust was shortbread-like. I liked it, but I think I prefer a softer/chewier base to my fruit pizza. I got most of the recipe (the crust and frosting) from Taste of Home. I brushed the fruit with my parent's homemade currant jelly- a very nice touch, if I don't say so myself!

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Fourth of July Pie
Adapted from Taste of Home

Crust:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

FILLING:
10 ounces white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate, melted and cooled
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream (I used 1% milk and it was just fine)
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

3-4 cups fresh strawberries
2 cups fresh blueberries
2-3 tablespoons currant jam, warmed in microwave 15-25 seconds

Directions: In a small bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add flour; mix well. Press into an ungreased 12-in. pizza pan. Bake at 300° for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

For filling, in a small bowl, beat melted chips and cream. Add cream cheese and beat until smooth. Spread over crust. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Arrange the fruit over filling. (Slice strawberries if desired). Brush warm jam over fruit. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.
**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

Pictures From France

On the day that we went to the bakery in France, not only did we get some delicious pastries, but we walked around the beautiful and quaint French village. We saw historic old buildings, a beautiful park, and a canal running through the town with houses and businesses on either side to it. The day was beautiful, and these are some of the sights we saw.

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

French Bakery

Last week, our parents took us over the German border into France, to visit their fave French bakery. I can't remember if it was actually a pâtisserie or not. I actually don't remember the name of the place; I was just so excited to lay eyes on it! It was beautiful. We tried the chocolate and vanilla eclairs, croissants, and meille feuilles. We got a baguette too. It was quite a big haul, but we went there twice in 20 minutes- when I realized I hadn't taken any photos, we just had to go back so I could get some, and we justified our second visit with the purchase of even more pastries.

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The chocolate eclairs were just a touch too rich for me; they were very good, but they were too chocolatey for me. I loved the vanilla ones- they were filled with a vanilla pastry cream that had vanilla bean specks in it- I love vanilla bean specks! I have a plethora of pics to share with you. The light in the shop was very complimentary to the pastries, but not so good for taking pics, so these aren't the best pics ever, but they still show how wonderful everything looked.

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

Red Currant Pie

I thought I'd break up all the travel talk with an actual recipe! Currently, we're staying at my parent's house in Germany, and they have a red currant bush in their yard. It recently bore fruit, and I looked for a recipe to use up thier crop. The little bush produced 1 1/2 cups of berries. This Currant Pie recipe from Allrecipes was the perfect use for them. I had to change it a little, including the directions, but I'll just write the recipe out below, the way I made it. The little blurb on Allrecipes says that it is a German recipe, and my mom says that is indeed very German.

This "pie" is more like a crumbly, melt-in-your mouth sugar cookie crust, accompanied by a sweet meringue with tart little berry explosions. It is very, very good, and I think some almond extract would make it taste even better. :)

Red Currant Pie

from Allrecipes.com

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 egg whites
1/2 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 1/2 cups fresh red currants, stemmed and rinsed

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly butter a 10-inch pie plate. To Make Dough: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder. With electric mixer, mix in butter, sugar, egg yolks and lemon zest until mixture forms dough.

2. Pour dough into greased pie plate, and pat down into place with a fork. Bake in oven for 25 minutes, or until golden yellow. Remove pie plate from oven and allow to cool slightly. Turn up the oven heat to 400 degrees F (around 200 degrees Celcius).

3. To Make Filling: In a medium bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Gradually stir in sugar and cornstarch; beat for 5 minutes. Fold currants into mixture and pour into pie crust, spreading evenly. Bake in oven for 10 minutes, or until top of meringue is lightly browned.

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **