Cinnamon Bun Cookies

Butter cookies swirled with cinnamon and a hint of orange--your favorite breakfast treat in cookie form! I'm very slowly packing up all my things, sorting what to mail home and what to drag about with me for the next six weeks.  What clothes to toss and what to donate.  What papers need to be kept…

Bulgarian Eggplant & Red Pepper Spread

My take on ljutenica, a classic Bulgarian spread made from roasted veggies and garlic! Since work finished on Monday for me, I literally have no where that I need to be for the next nine days.  It's weird.  No where.  In theory, I could run off and do whatever I wanted.  Unfortunately, the bad weather…

100% Whole Wheat Flatbread and Other Things

100% whole wheat flatbread or pita pockets!  A delicious and chewy way to get your serving of whole grains. Before we get to this week's installment of Bake on Saturday, let's get a couple of things out of the way first.  To start, I wrote a piece for McGill University Library's journal of cookbook history…

BalkanBites Free Food Tour

Happy Wednesday, Reader!  As promised last Wednesday, I've got more to share on my recent trip to Bulgaria's capital, Sofia.  If you're here for the first time, check out last week's post to read about why I went to Sofia and some of the things I did there.  If you're already caught up, settle in…

Baked Brownie Pudding

Rich and decadent chocolate brownie pudding from Ina Garten (aka The Barefoot Contessa).   Mid-May in Austria means the Eismänner arrive.  The Eismänner (literally, ice men) or Eisheilige (literally, ice saints) are a series of cold winds that come every year around this time bringing chilly temperatures, rain, and sometimes nighttime frosts.  They also make the weather rather temperamental, causing…

Snapshots of Sofia

Images and thoughts on my first trip to Bulgaria in May 2014. At every study abroad orientation and in every travel guidebook, there is some section devoted to culture shock.  It will happen, they tell you, no matter how much you're read or seen and how prepared you think you are.  No one is immune, they…