Cooking Adventures Abroad...

I have found that living in Israel has really made me branch out of my culinary- comfort zone and try new ingredients, and new combinations, it's quite exciting actually :)

I had mentioned the heavenly Shrimp that I had finally found in the market a few weeks ago - well, I decided it was time to purchase it again. Now, here it is fairly pricey and I didn'

t want to waste too much money on the Shrimp, So I decided to take the discounted road, by purchasing the Shrimp with the skins, legs and veins still in. Now, ladies and gentlemen - crawly things creep me out, but

when it comes to food the process, for me anyway, is the fun part so I can overlook the grossness of peeling shrimp because I know the end result is delicious and rewarding. However! I will probably never buy this shrimp like that again, because the work was long, taxing, and Gross!!! The deveining is the part that really gets me, I don't want to have to remove the excrement of anything that I eat...really...I mean..gross.

Anyway! After all that I mixed it with some peas, red wine, zucchini, and whatever else had to

be used up in the fridge, it was really a "garbage bowl" dinner, since there was no

recipe or any real inspiration other than the Shrimp and I just took it as an opportunity to use stuff up, Looks pretty good no? It was Deeeelish. The next adventure I took myself on, was a very different one - One that didn't

really include any effort on my part, just my brothers. He is a farmer in the North of Israel, and when I went to stay with his family this weekend, he had brought home Fresh Fresh Fresh! Carrots, Onions, Parsley, Garlic - and they were just amazing!! They were a different colour than the normal stuff you see in stores. The garlic was so so tender that you could throw them in

the pot with the skins on, and they would just melt a

way!! I had to step back and think to myself how lucky I am to be here, and how unique some of the experiences are that I am having here. I mean, how many times can I make a quick mid-week soup with fresh ingredients that my own brother brought home from the fields just hours ago? Not many!

Yesterday, I wanted to attempt to make something that I could take to Boyfriend's house for the Passover Seder that I am joining. I know that they keep Kosher, and there is a special Kosher for Passover, so I knew that what I could make was very limited. However, I thought of something Simple, Kosher and delicious! Kind of like Peanut Brittle I guess, but inst

ead? Dark Chocolate covered Matzo Brittle! :) Everyone said it was really delicious and it looked so pretty!

Also, I guess our Apartment was in the mood to make stuff - Elsa decided to take

some of the leftover plain sugar cookie dough that I had made a few weeks ago and just thrown in the freezer. Well, she took an over ripe banana that I had also saved in the freezer earlier for a time just like this, and mixed it into the cookie dough. Now, they didn't look very great in the sense that they didn't hold any real shape - However! They were SO delicious!! I cannot imagine ever eating a sugar cookie again without banana in it!! They were kind of pancakey because of the softness of the banana but that just made it so much better. I was very proud of her experimentation and so glad that they turned out so well!! It opens a whole new world of possibilities for me. Chocolate chip - Chocolate dipped Banana Sugar cookies? hmm....

Happy Passover Everyone!