Soup was a tomato and roasted red pepper soup from the PC blue menu. I added some fresh basil to give it that edge. We had some fresh buns that went really well with the soup.

The entree was a pan-seared chicken breast topped a balsamic vinegar sauce with [...]]]> Let me tell you about dinner.

Soup was a tomato and roasted red pepper soup from the PC blue menu. I added some fresh basil to give it that edge. We had some fresh buns that went really well with the soup.

The entree was a pan-seared chicken breast topped a balsamic vinegar sauce with garlic and onion. This was accompanied by steamed asparagus, mashed potatoes, and a trio of butter sauteed shrimp. The sauce turned out really nice: while searing the chicken breast I added garlic and sliced red onions, then added a 1:3 balsamic vinegar:chicken stock mix (1 cup for 4 breasts), some fresh basil and thyme. After the chicken was cooked I removed it and reduced the sauce, adding a bit of butter to the mix.

For dessert I served fresh strawberries and blueberries with a chocolate sauce and whipped cream. To my surprise we ate all of the fruit. It was delicious.

That was the theme of a small dinner I hosted yesterday. After many months of talking about it I finally put my words into action and I made a pumpkin pie. I admit to doing so using a can of pumpkin mix, but think that’s [...]]]> Germany, I would like you to meet Pumpkin Pie.

That was the theme of a small dinner I hosted yesterday. After many months of talking about it I finally put my words into action and I made a pumpkin pie. I admit to doing so using a can of pumpkin mix, but think that’s completely fine. It was the first time I made a pumpkin pie.

But before I get to the pie I think it’s important to talk about the dinner. Germans love pork. I like pork, but don’t cook with it that often (bacon being the exception). I thought that I wanted to use pork but didn’t have a recipe in mind. I found a recipe for pork chops with apple curry sauce and–let me tell you–it was great. The flavour combination of apple and curry was really quite tasty. I used thinner pork chops so I did cook them for a shorter time and they were okay, but the sauce was really the star.

To go along with the pork chops I tried a recipe for fried rice. I had some variance: the bacon here is much, much thinner than in Canada so I didn’t have nearly enough bacon grease; I used a spot of vegetable oil to supplement. I also didn’t use the fresh carrots and peas; I think the mixed veggies were enough. Because of this I fried the combination for about half the times listed. I used an “Asian” frozen vegetable mix. The rice was super, and it was my first time making fried rice.

To complement this were some snow peas, flash-fried in some butter with salt. These were delicious and popular. They also looked amazing.

After a short break to let our stomachs settled we tried the pumpkin pie. I was really excited to try it; it smelled like pumpkin pie, and looked like pumpkin pie. Certainly the real test was the taste. I was excited both to eat pumpkin pie myself, but also to share its deliciousness with Germany.

The pie was delicious. It was really a pumpkin pie. I was so pleased. We definitely also had the whipped cream from a can to supplement it. The conversation while tasting the pie was pretty interesting, too, as the native Germans tried to place it on their own pie scale.

It felt really good to have such a great dinner with such a great finish. The company was excellent as well, and they even ate everything so I didn’t have to eat leftovers all week! It makes me a little sad that I have only a few weekends left, and no real opportunity to do something like this again while I’m here.