Continent Hopping, Accidently Of Course

Today I was going to eat breakfast with a friend and then do work at an archive. Much needed and delayed work. So what did I end up doing? Walking around half of Philadelphia and having much needed catching up and fun with an old friend.

We began at Parc. (I know that I'm beginning to sound like their spokesperson.) Then we moved onto Locust St. I must say, it almost felt like being back in Europe. The old historic houses stood cloaked in snow. The air was crisp.

Along the way, my own roots managed to reach out:

The eagle is a Polish emblem, and it says "The Irish Pól," which in full English would mean: "The Irish Half." Very cute. I should have gone in to see what that's about. But that'll be for another adventure. Looks promising. Anything half Irish half Polish has got to be exciting.

We went on to see The King's Speech. Quite an inspiring movie.

But then, the most food exciting thing occurred! I had not been at Reading Terminal, an indoor farmers market, in a couple years. I was just in awe of the food there. The choice was limited, but much more than what I was used to being accommodated with in my neighborhood.

For example, (let the drool begin):

Isn't this beautiful?

But then... I came stumbled upon this..

I can't help but harp on the necessity of fresh, organic meat/fish. When I saw this excellent variety, I almost squealed. I was way too happy when I saw Scottish fish, which explains the lack of photo. I have to go back with a cooler and buy up!

And to end on a sweet note...

Sugar cane! How neat is that? I was very tempted to buy it. It was only 99¢!

What a day!

Occupation: Foodie

This morning was dedicated to celebrating one of my closest friend's birthday by taking her out for brunch. We had wanted to go to Parc, a French brasserie,located in the Rittenhouse section of Philadelphia. It has a great olden feel to it with beaten down, dark wooden tables and mismatched chairs. Our reservation was at the time of their opening. I say that because the first song they chose to play was Polonaise by Chopin. We were seated by the window with a beautiful view of Rittenhouse Square. But what made the whole event was the truly decadent food that we ordered that put us into a state of awe.

We decided to order both a savory and sweet dish to get more for our money.

Before our food even arrived, we received our Cafes Vietnamese. They had a portion of frothed milk, strong coffee, with a generous amount of sweet condensed milk on the bottom. And, a sweet buttery chocolate cookie on the side.

The savory:
Poached Eggs and asparagus
(Mushroom velouté, grilled baguette, Parmesan)

Original Plating:

And then a closer look at the magnificentness... Rachel and I were both in awe of the beauty of the colors presented. It was almost too pretty to eat.

The sweet:
French Toast
(Brioche french toast, apples, hazelnut butter)

"May I help you?"

"No, thanks, I'm just food obsessed."

"Is that a good thing?"

Yes. Being a foodie is a brilliant thing, as I explained to a sales associate at a culinary shop downtown at the end of a food inspired day. All of this French dining has made my want to tackle my Julia Child recipe book.

Bread Baking, Take One

As a way of distressing, I have taken up baking, again.

Last night, I decided to bake some bread. I followed a recipe of Anne’s Food, Lazy Bread, but made a few alterations. And the result? Deliciousness. Best part about baking your own bread is that you know exactly what’s in it, and you get to be proud.

The recipe avec photos:

Lazy Bread
2 loaves

600 ml (2.4 cups) water
56 g fresh yeast
2 tsp salt (or sea salt)
1 tbsp cardamom
1 tbsp caraway seeds
1 tsp sugar
900 ml (3.6 cups) wheat flour
300 ml (1.2 cups) "rågsikt", sifted rye flour and wheat flour (which Anne defined to be 40% rye Flour, 60% whole wheat, Add the rye flour, because it gives the bread so much flavor!)

Flop everything into a bowl and crumble in the yeast. The water doesn’t have to be lukewarm or measured to a warm temperature. Mine was just below lukewarm. Mix it. Your dough shouldn’t be too dry, you want it to look like a gooey mess, but not a dripping gooey mess.

Cover it and let it rise for an hour, after which you should give it a good mix. Then give it another hour. And then pour it into already greased loaf pans (I used butter). Let them rest, uncovered, for about 20-30 mins. Then pop them into a 500 degree oven for around 12 minutes. Then lower the temp to 215 degrees and let them bake for around 70-80 minutes.

Anne pointed out on her food blog, that if you want a harder crust to let them out of their loaves around 50 minutes into baking them. I, however, put in a dish filled with water as I put the bread into the oven. Additionally, I removed the loaves 60 minutes into baking and let them bake for ten more minutes.

This recipe is pretty versatile and you can definitely play around with the spices. Next time I think I’ll omit the caraway and use anise.

Life According to me, or so I think

I have finally gotten around to waking up those rickety fingers that used to pound the computer keys in that made words flow. Poetic. / Ah yes, Zycie Wedlug Ani, Life according to Anna. Being me, I can't just have one blog dedicated to a niche. That's just not me. I think that the best thing will be to start off with a little bit of everything... and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I have thoughts of Sweden and Denmark streaming through my head. Especially now that I'm so much closer to actually graduating my university which allows me the freedom to simply up and leave. Oh there's so much planning in my head. Maybe I should take a year here and work, part time or full time, anywhere. Maybe as a legal secretary? Or maybe I should just book a ticket and figure out things in Sweden or Denmark? I was so positive on going on to grad school for a history degree. I do love history. It is my passion, and always will be. But every once in a while I feel as if my whole body has just been immersed in cold water and re-liven with the idea of moving to Scandinavia. And the weirdest thing is that I had never been there. Then again, I fell in love with London before I actually studied abroad there. Maybe its my inner European, longing for a country much closer to home... or what used to be home for me. Ah, yes, Poland. The land where the polar bears roam.

111 Days till graduation. It's a 111 days too long.