Category Archives: Uncategorized

Sweet potato ice cream with date-caramel sauce

Share Button

Note: you need a strong food processor for this. Also, the sweet potatoes need to be frozen for at least five hours.

800 g sweet potatoes (unpeeled)

1 tsp coconut oil

80 g (after removal of stones) soft dates

300 g coconut milk

1 tsp cinnamon

1 pinch ground ginger

1 pinch seasalt

For the sauce:

1 tsp best quality cocoa powder

80 g date syrup

1 pinch seasalt

For garnish:

2-3 tsp cocoaniby

Cut the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise, smear with coconut oil and place them cut side down on baking paper and bake at 180 C for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Peel and place in a freezer bag and freeze for at least five hours, preferably overnight.

Soak the dates in water for abut two hours.

Mix the ingredients for the sauce.

Pre-cool the individual bowls in which you want to serve the ice cream.

Drain the dates and chop them. Blitz at full speed in the food processor with the potatoes (straight from the freezer), coconut milk, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Scrape the sides of the bow from time to time and add coconut milk if the texture needs adjustment.

Distribute the ice cream in the serving bowls and serve drizzled with the sauce and cocoa nibs.

New rule

Share Button

Don’t eat out, don’t order in, and don’t even go grocery shopping as long as the freezer and pantry are stuffed full of food. Just get creative and use up what is at hand.

Stuffed squid

I needed to make room in my freezer, and the fridge was pretty full to, so I stuffed some squid with what was at hand – some cooked lentils and cooked quinoa (could have been some cooked rice), some defrosted kale but could have anything chopped. I would have liked to flavour with oyster sauce so discovered on that occasion that I had run out. Anyway, after stir-frying it all together I stuffed the squid with the mixture, sealed them and pan-fried them. I would have preferred to served them on the proverbial “bed of ruccola” but I had run out of that too, so used some pea shoots of which I already have an abundance growing on the balcony. It is not the last time I have made sure to always have squid in the freezer.

Thursday is still my “day off” (and Max’s day off from me): Müggelsee

Share Button

Although my wonderful dogwalker is on holiday this week, my equally wonderful cleaning help – the only other person whom I trust to be able to handle Max in the “worst-case-scenario” (which fortunately becomes less and less frequent) agreed to put in an extra hour and take Max for a couple of “toilet rounds”, so that I was able to spend most of the day out with Mr Canon, this time walking along the southern shore of Müggelsee.

My route on Mapmywalk here.

Not really a long walk at all, and – worse – far from enough exercise for Max today, but weather permitting, we will make up for that at Bieselheide tomorrow.

Note to self: Next time, take bus 169 to the end stop (from either S Bhf Köpenick or bus 165 stop Krankenhaus Besuchereingang and check out the forest around there, the sanddune, and not least the waterfront restaurants.

A lot of nature left to its own devices, birdlife, and one mountainbiker whom I did not hear coming so he ended up in my ICM photo of some trees :-).

A couple of notes on Max for those who are still following him in his new life

Share Button

I really can’t sing. People run away screaming when I do. I myself feel like running away screaming when I sing. But Max calms down almost instantly and quickly falls asleep when I sing for him. So is that because it really has a calming effect on him, or is it because he thinks – oh no, not those insufferable noises again – if I pretend to be asleep pehaps she’ll stop?

But seriously, perhaps the one major change in Max is that when he moved in on 13 June last year, he had some quite serious leakage problems. More than just the occasional drip. I was told it could be behavioural, and also that it is a common problem in older, castrated dogs. And it could have something to do with his PH values, so his former foster parents passed on some pills, a natural medication, to give him.

I made a mental note to give it some time and if it did not improve, I would have him properly examined, which I think would be the first time. For example, I don’t think any bloodwork has ever been done.

Over time, the problem became less and less pronounced – he would leak a little bit indoors whenever he got excited about something – and he still is a very exciteable dog although less so by the day. And I would spot the occasional drop here and there, now and then.

Fast-forward to now – I am just realising that I had actually forgotten about it. I have not seen as much as one drop anywhere for months! I must be doing something right :-).

Back to Bieselheide sandtrail

Share Button

Also see previous post.

Determined to (re-)train Max to use public transport (sorry Max, but it has to be done), which for some reason is more difficult this time around, I took him on the same trip as on Sunday. He loved the area so I hope that if we do that trip regularly for a while, he will end up associating it with a fun and positive experience.

He was even more jittery on the train this time, and I had to keep a firm grip, since a couple of times he suddenly out of the blue lunged and barked at people who were standing completely still. This is new. Up to now, he has had problems with people moving quickly. Never a dull moment.

Anyway, it being Tuesday, there were not as many dogs around to play with as on Sunday but there were a few, and Max was in his element. This time, we walked a bit more in the forest, but he still kept an eye on me most of the time, and at one point where I lost sight of him, he appeared very quickly when I whistled. His recall is really good especially when he is not engaging with new canine acquaintances.

We walked around the small lake Hubertussee this time. I saw a lot of birds there, so I might even go back one day with my real camera and without Max (trying to focus on taking real photos with Max around is still not working – I am not sure it ever will, unfortunately, but we’ll see).

Our route on Mapmywalk here. The walk seems a little bit more tiring than just 8 km, since some of it is in sand which makes it feel a little heavy.

For me a new and unexplored area and for Max a challenging and eventful day

Share Button

A long-overdue in-person and in-dog meeting with Yasmina and Robert and their dog Alpha, also half-Podenco.

First, Max and I took the S train from Anhalter Bahnhof to Frohnau. It had been too long since we were last on public transport, so for Max that was almost like a new and, clearly not altogether pleasant experience. He remained relatively calm as long we remained standing, and preferably walking around a bit, but each time I tried to sit, he became more like an unruly horse and even started barking.

When we finally got off the train, we walked down Zeltinger Str. and Schönfließer Str. to the start of the Bieselheide sandtrail where we met the others, and a couple of the their friends and their dog, Iggy.

Except for the short walks to the car with Frank the dogwalker and his two dogs, it was the first time Max walked with other people and other dogs (none of whom he had met before), sometimes on the leash and sometimes off. It all went completely seamlessly, and Max played as well with the two dogs in our group as with random dogs met along the way and as he does with dogs at the dog park. The walks we did with the dogs leashed were also without incident.

Max did act up from time to time barking for either food or my attention but all in all, it was a good day, and Max probably did the most running he has ever done, certainly after I adopted him.

The area is lovely, with an interesting sand trail and a nice little lake, surrounded by forrest.

I was hoping Max would be so tired that he would let me sit down on the train back, but no, and it even took a while for him to calm down after we got home. A sure sign that it had been a day full of new experiences and impressions.

I forgot to start recording the walk on Mapmywalk already at the station in Frohnau, so here is a link to the second part of the walk.

First a video of a less than perfect recall 🙂, and then a couple of photos:

Photography: Personal Favourites 2022 March

Share Button

LUNCH!

Share Button

I first met Sulaiman in February 2016 when my new flat in Berlin was being renovated and he was one of the workmen. I learnt that he had fled from Syria in July 2015 and was curious to know more, also about his current situation, in case there was something I could do to help. Back then, between his almost-non-existent, and my rusty, German, communication was difficult but the other workmen helped, and I also got help from another Syrian who already had job, accommodation, and good German.

Sulaiman was desperately looking for somewhere to stay other than in a camp where life can be extremely difficult. His wife and daughters were in a camp in Lebanon, waiting for a visa to join him in Berlin.

It made a big impression on me that he was able to turn up every day with a smile on his face, and it was a pleasure to listen to the quiet Arabic-German language exchange whenever they were working in my flat.

Since then, I have heard more about his flight from Damaskus, where he had his life, and where he lost everything (except his wife and daughters of whom he is clearly very proud), and at one of my house-warming parties he told some of us about his gruelling journey – on foot, then like sardines in a tin in a truck for four days, then likewise on a boat until they were picked up by a container-carrier, then by train from Italy to Berlin, then “living” outside LAGESO (the German authority for refugees) for many days to have his case processed. In other words, a “classic” story which we all hear about all the time, directly and in the media.

His initial accommodation was in one small room which he shared with five other male refugees of different nationalities and without going into detail, tensions arose on a daily basis. The situation was becoming untenable and through his employer, he found a room which he was able to use all by himself, very small (from what I have heard, tiny does not cover it) but at least he could be private and get a full night’s sleep every night and thus be able to hold on to his job.

Sulaiman went to German class every day, but said that the teacher was not very good (there is a severe shortage of trained German teachers here) and he felt he learnt a lot more during the workday. Any which way, communication has become a lot easier.

Needless to say, he was sorely missing his family – wife and two daughters aged six and seven. Earlier this week, he sent me a text message to tell me that a couple of weeks ago, they were FINALLY reunited in Berlin. In terms of collecting heart-warming moments in my life, that one certainly comes close to the top of my list.

Today they are coming to lunch! I am so looking forward to meeting them. I also have not seen Sulaiman for a while since there is not much more work to be done in may flat, and the most recent house-warming party is already a couple of months away.

How do you pick up where you left off after 18 months, especially considering what they have been through in the meantime? How do you heal, individually and as a family, while at the same time tackling the emotional, practical and financial challenges ahead? How are the girls coping? How about accommodation? I am hoping to learn a lot more about that in the future while finding out how I can help. But first: lunch.

By the way, if you are in Berlin and looking for halal meat, Istanbul Supermarket, Kottbusser Tor, is good. There is also a butcher round the corner in Kottbusser Straße. (I am not sure I approve of the method, but until I know how strict – or not – my guests are, I am willing to use halal-butchered meat).

This is some of what we are having:

IN PROGRESS ……..

 CHICKEN BRAISED IN SPICES

Ten chicken pieces (I am using thighs and drumsticks)
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground Ceylon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
Olive oil
2 brown onions, sliced
100 grams ginger, cut into matchsticks
5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 small red chillies, or to taste
2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
5 sprigs thyme, leaves only
1 lemon, juiced and zested
2 tablespoons honey
300 ml chicken or vegetable stock
½ bunch coriander, leaves only

Coat the chicken pieces in the mixture of salt, cumin, cinnamon, pepper and turmeric.

Brown the chicken pieces on all sides in the olive oil. Remove chicken and add onion, ginger, garlic and chili and cook for a couple of minutes. Add tomatoes, cumin seeds and thyme and cook for another couple of minutes.

Return chicken and add the lemon juice and zest, honey, stock powder and enough water to just cover the chicken.

Cover and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes. Uncover and simmer for another ten to 15 minutes or until the chicken is tender and cooked through, and the sauce is slightly reduced.

Stir in the coriander and serve with couscous or rice.

 

AUBERGINE-DATE STEW

 

100 g onion, chopped

At least one clove garlic, chopped

1 chili, chopped

1 lemon

400 g aubergine, cut in 2 cm dice

50 g dates, quartered

50 g hazelnuts, coarsely chopped and dry-roasted

1 tsp cumin seeds, roasted and ground

1 tsp sumak

1/2 tsp cardamom seeds, roasted and ground

1 tsp coriander seeds, roasted and ground

Olive oil

1 tblsp tomato paste

300 ml chicken or vegetable stock

Heat the oil and lightly fry cumin, sumak, cardamom and coriander. Add onion and garlic and simmer for a couple of minutes. Add aubergine and chili for another couple of minutes. Add stock and tomato paste, stir, cover and simmer for about ten minutes.

Add nuts and dates, stir well, turn off heat and let sit for ten minutes.

Serve with rice or couscous and yoghurt mixed with herbs (f.ex. mint).