They Don’t Fit No More

That my friends, is a big old pile of clothes that no longer fits, and there is more where that came from.  After almost two months of my wardrobe arriving from its long voyage across the Atlantic to Zadar, I have decided to completely remove the items that are essentially useless.  This includes all things tight, unzip-able, unbutton-able, undoable, and abominable (abominable because of the way I look in them, not the clothes itself.)  I suppose this is ok because as they say “out with the old, in with the new”.  This is a new chapter in my life that apparently comes with a new body, so hanging onto clothes that no longer fits and reminds me of a time before is a bit ridiculous right? 

This doesn’t mean that the wardrobe left is something to be excited about.  I don’t know what it is but I dread getting presentable these days.  Comfort is my top priority and anything that is in the slightest bit uncomfortable seems to be unbearable.  So I do my best when getting ready in the morning, but it is somewhat of a dramatic scene.  This is a clip of what a typical morning getting dressed is like for me and my entourage.  I can totally relate to little Mackenzie.  “Take it off people!”

Nothing says “I Love You” like Fish and Crepes



D is making me dinner tonight and his choice of fare is leso riba, with boiled potatoes and a green salad.  He is boiling fish, with the head on my friends (there is a lot of deliciousness there), then adding garlic, parsley and olive oil to the mix.  Cooking fish is somewhat of a challenge for me because the meat is very delicate and temperamental, and I don’t do well with delicate and temperamental.  I’m no ballerina in the kitchen to say the least.  I like to get my hands dirty, and I like to cook food that is forgiving for my lack of patience and carefulness.  Good thing I have D because he is a true ballerina in the kitchen, and has the physique to boot (Natalie Portman eat your heart out, no pun intended.)  He takes time when making food and is very careful, so this is truly the perfect meal for him to make.  Just need to get him in a tutu and tights.



I on the other hand made strawberry and cream crepes, known as a palacinke here.  The recipe is fairly easy, but most important you need a good skillet/pan.  I received an actual palacinka/crepe pan as a gift for Christmas, but you can use any old (the older the better seems to be the case) non-stick shallow skillet.  Crepe recipes vary from place to place.  Here in Croatia we add rum extract and vegetable oil to a more watery batter, where in France butter replaces the oil and an extra egg does the trick.  The recipe I used for Strawberry and Cream Crepes can be found under the Recipe tab above.  Hope you enjoy it!         

Our dinner!  Happy Valentines Day to all, and to all a good night!

It's Valentines Day!

The day is gloomy here in Zadar, but my heart is anything but, and that’s all that matters on a day like today.  It’s Valentines Day, the day of love, romance, chocolate and flowers.  I’ll be lucky to get any form of the latter three because D is not a fan of the Americanized, moneygrubbing holidays (V Day being on the top of his hate list) but I’ve forced him into cooking me dinner and picking any flower from the side of the road to present to his pajama attired princess waiting patiently for him to get home from work.

This morning I decided to get all V Day crazy and have my usual cup of jo in an appropriately themed mug, with a side of cookies and chocolate, while reading my newest paperback.  I just finished reading “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson, a tale of travel on the Appalachian Trail, and thought what better way to start my next read “My Life in France” by Julia Childs, a story about her love of food, France and hubby Paul, on a day like today. 

After reading a few more chapters and doing my twenty minute workout with Gillian Michaels (my celebrity trainer for the week), I’m off to the market to buy something to make for dessert.  I’m thinking strawberry and cream crepes.  Sexy huh?  Be back to report soon.

You say tomato, I say growing tomatoes in my apartment!!!

I LOVE tomatoes/rajcice/pomadori, and every time I’m at the market I make sure to buy some since they are always fresh and always delicious.  I eat at least two a day.  I eat them with eggs, in sandwiches, in salads, with cheese, with fish, alone, you name it baby.  Recently a garden aisle has replaced the old Christmas aisle at my grocery store, this was sad at first because I never want Christmas to end, but it does mean spring is on the way and people are starting to plant, so I decided to start growing my own tomatoes.  I’m such a great story teller.

I had plenty of plants in my previous apartment, but those were so easy to take care of and basically refused to die on me, so to call that experience is somewhat of a joke.  I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to growing my own food.  Apparently tomatoes are really easy to grow, so that was a relief, and you can grow them indoors by a sunny window, another sigh of relief.  I can do this!

There were several varities to choose from, which did not make it easy to pick just one since I love all tomatoes, so I bought one pack of each, thinking this could also be a fun kind of experiment to see which one grows best in the conditions I provide.  My little tomato legion includes Rutgers, Marmande, Saint-Pierre and San Maranzo.  After taking five minutes to watch a couple how to videos online, I began planting my seeds, each in its own labeled pot. 

Today is day one of the germinating process.  Apparently a little stem with a couple leaves will grow in no time.  They need lots of sunlight and lots of heat which is why they work so well indoors by a window.  I’m so nervous!  “Please grow healthy and happily my amazing little tomato legion.”  I hear talking to plants helps them grow better.  Wish us luck!          

I Hate You Tracy Anderson

and so does Gwyneth

This is not food related, but I had to write about how soar my flabby arms, gut, and butt is after doing the Tracy Anderson Mat Method.  Recently I acquired some exercise videos to counter act the effect of eating things like potato burek (see last post.)  It’s still very much cold outside and running in such conditions is beyond discouraging, so I bought a few top rated workout videos online.  I started with Tracy Anderson’s workout as she promises a size two dancers body in just a few weeks (uh huh) as long as you’re consistent.  Half way through the first set of exercises I felt like puking then dying.  This stuff is hard.

Don’t be fooled by her “stand in one place and flap your arms like a bird” routine.  This may sound easy but after a minute of that, then another couple minutes of flailing your arms from left to right you begin to lose all feeling, and think “this b!tch is crazy!”  I have never in my life over exerted my arms this much.  I could barely lift a glass of water when the bit was finally over. 

She has a similar uncoordinated routine for abs.  At first glance it looks like she’s just sashaying her hips while doing a sexy little tummy roll to the new age elevator music in the background, easy peasy, but do that for a minute or two and you feel like puking and dying all over again. 

I should add that I am extremely out of shape, so this may be easier for some of you, but man did it kick my a$$.  My abs hurt when I cough and my arms are essentially useless, but I plan on staying consistent for the size 2 dancers body I’ve always dreamed of.  Longer legs would be nice too J



Carb Overload

I typically avoid the frozen food section when grocery shopping.  There is a much better variety of fresh food, so no need to waste my time there.  That is until I stumbled upon Krumpirusa, aka potato burek.  Burek is a fried filled pastry made from phyllo dough.  I am used to the cheese and apple variety, and I will most definitely be back with a post entirely dedicated to the two, but today we are talking about frozen potato burek.  When I first saw the box I laughed.  That’s like eating French fries with bread.  Why?  But of course, I bought it (3 bucks for 6 buns!)

I immediately wanted to try one when I got home, so I popped two in the oven and waited patiently for the dough to crisp up.  Twenty minutes later I had an apartment smelling like fried bread and hash browns, and a stomach growling for what was baking in the oven.  Out came these cute looking swirled buns, and just one bite made me a believer in the Croatian frozen food market.  This is not to say that I will eat frozen prepared food on a daily or weekly basis, but definitely more willing to try what they have to offer, and of course report back to you folks.  Until next time, I’m going back for my second warm potato burek.  See ya! 

Grocery Shopping

"that's it?"

A fully stocked fridge is not so common in these parts.  Generally speaking, you buy what you need for the days meal the day of and never buy in excess.  I’ve had a little trouble adapting to this style of food shopping as I come from a place where you visit the grocery store once a week, buy in bulk for that week, and load up the fridge.  I laugh to myself at the difference between my freezer here, and the stockpiled freezer I once had when I lived alone in San Francisco.  As my friend Lindsay once put it, “it’s like Tetris!”  Where to fit the next doomed frozen piece?! 

Here in Zadar most people don’t drive to the grocery store and/or outdoor market.  You walk, and walking restrains you from carrying more than a couple bags, so you buy what you need for the day, at most two days.  Luckily there is a grocery store or two on nearly every block.  No joke!  Of all the cities in Croatia, Zadar has the most grocery stores for its number of inhabitants.  

This makes grocery shopping for the day convenient, however limiting to a certain extent.  Most stores are small, so you aren’t going to get a whole lot of variety, especially when it comes to fresh produce and meat, so I find myself going to a couple of different locations to finish the job.  I try to shop at the open market for all its magnificent fresh food as often as I can, but I must admit it’s beyond intimidating.  The old pushy vendors just want you to but THEIR blitva (swiss chard), for example, not from the guy in the next stall, so you miss the opportunity to become comfortably acquainted with the local produce.

There are a few items I like to keep in the fridge at all times, mostly because it’s consumed on a daily basis.  This includes; tomatoes, sardines, chocolate, yogurt, cheese, eggs, lemon, milk, and a few condiments.  Everything and anything else I buy is on a day to day basis.  This keeps me from snacking, which WAS a huge vice of mine.  I sure do miss cheese puffs though L