Category Archives: Drinks & Food

Miracle on Milk

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נס על חלב

Nes al Chalav - Miracle on Milk - נס על חלב

Nes al Chalav – Miracle on Milk – נס על חלב

The word for “miracle” in Hebrew is nes, which also means “instant coffee.”

Nes al Chalav – Miracle on Milk – נס על חלב
Nes al Chalav – Miracle on Milk – נס על חלב
Nes al Chalav – Miracle on Milk – נס על חלב
Nes al Chalav – Miracle on Milk – נס על חלב
Nes al Chalav – Miracle on Milk – נס על חלב
Nes al Chalav – Miracle on Milk – נס על חלב
Nes al Chalav – Miracle on Milk – נס על חלב

Read more about this coffee here: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/on-root-from-cups-to-coups-1.463840

 

You can also check out Paula’s blog for more photos of this & that:
https://bopaula.wordpress.com/2016/11/10/thursdays-special-pick-a-word-in-november/

Thursday’s Special

Absinthe 1020598

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Enjoying a glass of Absinthe in Prague.

Enjoying a glass of Absinthe in Prague.

Some Absinthe info from Wikipedia:

Absinthe is historically described as a distilled, highly alcoholic (45–74% ABV) beverage. It is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from botanicals, including the flowers and leaves of Artemisia absinthium (“grand wormwood”), together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs. Absinthe traditionally has a natural green colour but may also be colourless. It is commonly referred to in historical literature as “la fée verte” (the green fairy). Although it is sometimes mistakenly referred to as a liqueur, absinthe is not traditionally bottled with added sugar; it is therefore classified as a spirit. Absinthe is traditionally bottled at a high level of alcohol by volume, but it is normally diluted with water prior to being consumed.

Absinthe originated in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland in the late 18th century. It rose to great popularity as an alcoholic drink in late 19th- and early 20th-century France, particularly among Parisian artists and writers. Owing in part to its association with bohemian culture, the consumption of absinthe was opposed by social conservatives and prohibitionists. Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust, Aleister Crowley, Erik Satie, Edgar Allan Poe, Lord Byron and Alfred Jarry were all known absinthe drinkers.

Absinthe has often been portrayed as a dangerously addictive psychoactive drug and hallucinogen. The chemical compound thujone, although present in the spirit in only trace amounts, was blamed for its alleged harmful effects. By 1915, absinthe had been banned in the United States and in much of Europe, including France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria-Hungary. Although absinthe was vilified, it has not been demonstrated to be any more dangerous than ordinary spirits. Recent studies have shown that absinthe’s psychoactive properties (apart from that of the alcohol) have been exaggerated.

Etymology
The French word absinthe can refer either to the alcoholic beverage or, less commonly, to the actual wormwood plant, with grande absinthe being Artemisia absinthium, and petite absinthe being Artemisia pontica. The Latin name artemisia comes from Artemis, the ancient Greek goddess of the hunt. Absinthe is derived from the Latin absinthium, which in turn comes from the ancient Greek ἀψίνθιον apsínthion, “wormwood”. The use of Artemisia absinthium in a drink is attested in Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura (I 936–950), where Lucretius indicates that a drink containing wormwood is given as medicine to children in a cup with honey on the brim to make it drinkable.

Absinthe’s popularity grew steadily through the 1840s, when absinthe was given to French troops as a malaria preventive. When the troops returned home, they brought their taste for absinthe home with them. The custom of drinking absinthe gradually became so popular in bars, bistros, cafés, and cabarets that, by the 1860s, the hour of 5 p.m. was called l’heure verte (“the green hour”). Absinthe was favoured by all social classes, from the wealthy bourgeoisie, to poor artists and ordinary working-class people. By the 1880s, mass production had caused the price of absinthe to drop sharply. By 1910, the French were drinking 36 million litres of absinthe per year, as compared to their annual consumption of almost 5 billion litres of wine.

The drink was banned in France in 1914.

Absinthe has been consumed in the Czech countries (then part of Austria-Hungary) since at least 1888, notably by Czech artists, some of whom had an affinity for Paris, frequenting Prague’s famous Café Slavia. Its wider appeal in Bohemia itself is uncertain, though it was sold in and around Prague.

In 1905, it was reported that Jean Lanfray, a Swiss farmer, murdered his family and attempted to take his own life after drinking absinthe. The fact that Lanfray was an alcoholic who had consumed considerable quantities of wine and brandy prior to drinking two glasses of absinthe was overlooked or ignored, therefore placing the blame for the murders solely on absinthe.

In May 2011, the French Absinthe Ban of 1915 was repealed following petitions by the Fédération Française des Spiritueux, who represent French distillers.

A water carafe is the most basic and original way to add water. As with other items, many have been found with brand names on them. The carafe is held above the glass and water is delicately added in a thin stream.

Fountains appeared in bars and bistros in the late 1800s as absinthe gained greater popularity. Most often it was a large glass globe on a tall metal stand that held between two and six spigots. It allowed a small party of drinkers to accurately prepare their absinthe all at once with a slow, thin stream of cold water but did not require the steady hand required by a carafe.

You can read more about the interesting history of Absinthe on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe. This is my entry for WordPress’ Weekly Photo Challenge: Face

Now you can follow me on my public and official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cguzmanofficial/

The Changing Seasons: April 2016

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“The Changing Seasons” is a little bit late this month. I messed up the dates, got busy writing on a long post and suddenly the 20th of April had passed already… Oops!

I had to hurry up and get this post ready this morning and here is the gallery for April:

Big hill for a small guy.
My son modelling for my spreadshirt shop (see link at the bottom of this post).
Things are tuning blue and green.
Good morning Oslo.
April: blooming “Russeblåstjerne”. Scilla siberica (Siberian squill or wood squill) in English.
Good afternoon Oslo.
Slivovice
We celebrated my son’s birthday.

I’ve been playing a lot of guitar this month. Both alone and with other people. There was a jam-session with some couchsurfers earlier this month (you can check it out in one of my previous posts) and I’ve been jamming with an ukulele playing friend of mine. That’s why this guitar is my V2 photo this month.

One of my guitars.

One of my guitars.

What’s this «Changing Seasons» blogging challenge?

«The Changing Seasons 2016» is a blogging challenge with two versions: the original (V1) which is purely photographic and the new version (V2) where you can allow yourself to be more artistic and post a painting, a recipe, a digital manipulation, or simply just one photo that you think represents the month. Anyone with a blog can join this challenge and it’ll run throughout 2016. It doesn’t matter if you couldn’t join the first month(s), late-comers are welcomed. These are the rules, but they’re not written in stone – you can always improvise, mix & match to suit your own liking:

These are the rules for Version 1 (The Changing Seasons V1):

  • Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons
  • Each month, post 5-20 photos in a gallery.
  • Don’t use photos from your archive. Only new shots.

These are the rules for Version 2 (The Changing Seasons V2):

  • Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons
  • Each month, post one photo (recipe, painting, drawing, whatever) that represents your interpretation of the month.
  • Don’t use archive stuff. Only new material!

Links to participants: 

Also make sure to out my spreadshirt shop:

kvinner-spreadshirt-1123203

Norwegian shop (NOK):
https://shop.spreadshirt.no/1123203/

English (EURO):

http://shop.spreadshirt.no/100035802

Featured in a Japanese Cooking Magazine | 素材のちから

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This was a great surprise to wake up to today!
In this gallery you’ll see excerpts from a Japanese cooking magazine for professionals (素材のちから), where I’m featured in an article about wild versus farmed salmon. My insanely tasty gluten-free bread is also mentioned.
Sozainochikara is a free magazine for people involved in cooking.
Wild versus farmed salmon. Photo and text by Romi Ichikawa.
At the fish market. Photo and text by Romi Ichikawa.
Cooking with the family. Photo and text by Romi Ichikawa.
Wild versus farmed salmon / some of my salmon dishes. Photo and text by Romi Ichikawa
My world famous gluten-free bread. Photo and text by Romi Ichikawa.

There will be another article published later that’ll probably have some of my recipes in it (?), but I’m not sure when this will be published. I’m not sure if the article will be a portrait or recipe based either. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Tons of respect and thanks to Romi Ichikawa for the article.

I just have to visit Japan some day, I love Japan!

Japan. Endless Discovery.

Strawberry, Chili, Ginger & Mint Jam

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This is my recipe for jam with strawberries, chili, ginger, mint, vanilla, lemon, lime, pepper, cloves and star anise.

Click your way through the gallery to see and read about the process.

Wash the berries.
Remove stems & cut them into smaller pieces.
Make sure you have enough clean jars.
Lemon, lime, ginger, chili, pepper, cloves, cinnamon, star anise.
Put the small spices in a tea thingy..
Use the blunt end of a vegetable peeler (or you can use a teaspoon) to peel off the skin of the ginger.
Cut the ginger julienne (into thin strips) and then brunoise (into tiny cubes). You can also grate the ginger.
This is 70 grams of pectin.
This pectin also contains some sugar and citric acid.
300 grams of stevia ( a sweetener and sugar substitute).
Vanilla pod. Cut it in half and rub the vanilla seeds in some sugar. That way you spread the vanilla seeds evenly and avoid big lumps of seeds.
If you want the chili to be less spicy, rub it before you cut off the stem. Then you can easily knock the seeds out.
Chop the fresh mint.
Make spiced simple syrup: Boil one cup of sugar with one cup of water. Add the ginger and chili plus the cinnamon sticks. Boil until it’s lightly browned.
Boil the berries for 5 minutes, add the vanilla sugar, stevia (or sugar) and pectin. Put the tea thingy with spices in there too. You can also add the vanilla stem and cinnamon stick for extra flavor, but you’ll have to remove these afterwards. Let it boil for a couple of minutes with all the ingredients added.
Grate the lemon and lime skin. Add this to the berry mixture after you’ve boiled the berries & spices.
Then add the chopped mint leaves.
Put it in jars & let it cool off before you put them in the freezer. Don’t fill the jars totally.
Do the dishes.
Enjoy your homemade jam.

Ingredients: 

  • 2 kilograms of berries.
  • 300 grams of stevia, alternatively 500 grams of sugar (choose the amount of stevia/sugar after your own taste).
  • 1 red chili (with or without seeds)
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 lime
  • 1 vanilla pod
  • 1 star anise
  • 70 grams of pectin (I use one bag, 70 grams, plus a bit more so that the jam turns a bit firm – easier for kids to handle. Also the pectin that you buy in Norway isn’t 100% pectin, but contains sugar, pectin, citric acids etc.)
  • a lump of ginger
  • some pepper corns
  • some cloves
  • a cup of water
  • a cup of sugar
  • a handful of freshly chopped mint
  • clean jars

Fiskmarkaðurinn – Fish Market Restaurant – Reykjavik, Iceland

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Fish Market, Reykjavik, Iceland: The restaurant itself looks very anonymous from the outside, just like any ordinary Icelandic building, but once inside you’ll discover a beautifully designed restaurant. The Asian-inspired cuisine is from Chef Owner Hrefna Rósa Jóhannsdóttir Sætran and it almost seems like it’s from out of this world (actually even Iceland itself feels like it’s another planet).

Iceland_6564

«Fiskmarkaðurinn notar fyrsta flokks hráefni í sköpun frumlegra rétta. Við verslum afurðir okkar m.a. beint frá bónda og varðveitum þannig sjálfbærni og gæði rétta okkar.
Njótið vel.» http://fiskmarkadurinn.is/

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Habit

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On Friday I posted an entry for the Weekly Photo Challenge in my secondary blog. The quality of the photos were what Senator Clay Davis from the TV-series The Wire would have aptly called: “shameful shit”. Later I realized that I actually do have some interesting alcohol/nargileh/sheesha related photos, so I decided to share them:

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/weekly-photo-challenge-habit/

C8H10N4O2

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C8H10N4O2? The chemical formula for caffeine: Carbon 8, Hydrogen 10, Nitrogen 4, Oxygen 2.

Caffeine is the world’s most used drug: 90% of North American adults consume caffeine daily. For a long time I was planning to shoot these photos, the only thing I had to do was to go and buy some beans, so when Pierre from South Africa sent me coffee beans I had no reason to postpone it.

April: Coffee

The organically grown beans Pierre sent had a very mild and fruity flavor and they were roasted at Espressolab Microroasters in South Africa. After the beans were grinded, we had to mix it with some locally roasted, strong, black coffee, in order to give it the kick that we need. Coffee is definitely a drink that has changed the world.

Check out Pierre’s blog: vasgevang.co.za
Pierre and I were connected through Jen: ohmyomiyage.wordpress.com
Wikipedia on caffeine: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine
WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Change

Weekly Photo Challenge: Foreign

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The Weekly Photo Challenge theme this week is «Foreign» and it’s a perfect theme for me this week: The theme and the timing couldn’t have been better!
A few days ago, my uncle returned from a trip to Japan. Before he went we asked him to bring us some stevia. An easy task? Not necessarily. Because of the language barrier he had some difficulties explaining in the shop what he was actually looking for, but he came back with whatever it is that you see on this photo (which is hopefully Stevia…)

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A glass of port with a view

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I’ve already posted this on Google+ and now it’s time to share it in the blog. 

This is my second entry for the Near & Far weekly photo challenge at WordPress. The photo was shot at Hotel Do Caracol in Terceira, Açores, Portugal. In the background you can see Monte Brasil, a peninsula located on the south coast of Terceira Island in the central Azores Islands, near the city of Angra do Heroísmo.

Here’s a few randomly selected other blogs: 

Google+ links & hashtags:
#LandscapePhotography
Landscape Photography
Thanks to my G+ mentor: +Zack Cluley
#Portugal
#portwine
#Terceira

Cardinal Guzman on G+

You know I have a pickle heart…

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“…and bitterness. And a wandering eye, and cucumbers in my head.

Don’t you remember?”

You'll need some clean, dry jars.

You’ll need some clean, dry jars.

Yes kids. Today we’re gonna learn how to pickle our own cucumbers. “Why?” you might ask.. Well it’s so that when the war & famine breaks out, you’ll have some pickled cucumbers to suck on while you’re hiding in your basement, listening to the bombs fall over the city. The screams of fright and terror from your neighbors might seem disturbing, but you won’t mind, because:

You’ve got pickles! (yay)

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Indulge before your flight (Weekly Photo Challenge)

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For this weeks Photo Challenge, WordPress writes:
“Indulge. When we think of the word indulge, food often comes to mind, but indulging isn’t always about food. You can indulge in moments, feelings, emotions, places, and more! It can be a private moment rocking on a hammock, watching a movie on a work day, eating that second piece of chocolate cake, reliving a memory, fantasizing about the future, or treating or pampering yourself.”

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Jalapeño Corn Bread & Vanilla Rum Extract

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Some years ago I wrote this recipe on Jalapeño Corn Bread and I figured out I could post it here in the blog (my other option would be to post it at the post office, where one used to post things back in the old days, but it’s too much of a hassle to drag my ass down to the post office). Anyway, as it turned out the photos weren’t suitable, which meant that I had to remake the cornbreads to be able to capture some new shoots.
 
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