Humus

Today's recipe I want to share is Humus. Not only is Humus very delicious but also very healthy - especially compared to all the bought ones you get. They contain not only preservatives but also to add more weight a lot of fat. Enough of the small talk, let's get going:

1. Take about 500 gr of dry Chickpeas and let them soak in plenty of water for about 24 hours. Every now and then you change the water in which they soak.
2. After that you put them in a pressure cooker, add one whole pealed onion and fill the pot until the marking of your pot with water. (Take care not to fill too much!)
3. Let that cook for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. If you are unsure at the first time just open the pot after the 1 1/2 hours and check if the peas are soft. They should easily squash in your fingers. If not put them back for another half hour.
4. After the are soft (by that time they will have soaked up almost all of the water) take them out and put them in the Food Processor. Add 2 - 3 cloves of freshly minced garlic, about 1/2 cup or more of Techina (Sesame Paste - liquidity - also used to make Techina for eating), 2 or more ladles of the water the Humus was cooked in, 2 TB parve (not meaty) Chicken Soup Powder, 3 TB Olive Oil, some Tabasco, 1 TB ground Cumin and if you want 1/2 TB Curry Powder. Let it all process until its smooth.
5. Serve with some of the leftover Chickpeas and some Olive Oil. Best to eat when it's just freshly made and still warm.

Now some tips:

Because it takes a lot of time of soaking (24 hours) you can soak more in advance. Cook it all and before you put in the other ingredients just put in bags and store in the freezer. Like this you can just defrost a portion in a few minutes and have the Humus ready in no time! This is specially recommended if you have inpatient toddlers who suddenly demand Humus. They don't understand that it takes 24 hours to soak and another 2 hours to cook ;-) ....

The original way is without the Curry Powder. So if you don't like it this way just omit it.

The ready made Humus stores in the fridge for a few days. By then you probably have eaten it already...

Bete Avon! - Enjoy the meal in Hebrew...

My Pillow Quilt

I want to show you my first Quilt Project I made about half a year ago.



It's made out of 3 different cotton quilt fabrics and 1 dark blue corduroy fabric.
At the same time I made 3 more - they are almost finished. I should really finish them completely. Maybe soon.

But my plans for my next project I want to start today is a simple Baby Quilt. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Header Image in Blogger

Recently I found out how to put a Header Image into a Blogger Blog. I'll show you exactly how:
(by the way, I am using the new version of Blogger)

Before you start changing anything on the template, please make a copy!

First you have to find this kind of code:
/* Header

In between the line that begins with border ends with the curly brackets you copy:
background-image: url(http://www.photobucket.com/albums/xxx/xxx.jpg)
Instead of the demo link I provided you enter the web page where your picture is stored.

Have a look:

#header-wrapper { width:660px; height:250px; margin:0 auto 10px; border:none; background-image: url(http://www.photobucket.com/albums/xxx/xxx.jpg) }

#header { margin: 5px; border: none text-align: center; color:$pagetitlecolor;}

I also adjusted the dimensions and set the border to none.

Save it and you should be done.

Please leave a comment if you find a different way.

Move out the Family Section

I decided to move my Family section to another blog to keep it more private. The previous post explains why. This way I will be able to enjoy both topics and don't have to regret somethings I post.

Privacy with a Blog

Yesterday night I spent all time registering my blog with "Blog Traffic Exchange Directories" and "Blog Search Directories". But then suddenly I asked myself if I want to give strangers such a close view of my life. I post quite a lot of private pictures. That could in the end be harmful to me and my family.

So, after like spending a few hours setting everything up, I decided suddenly at midnight to take, all the links and connections I made, down again. I might decide to split my Blog into two - and just open another one for Public viewing, where I don't have to be too concerned with the privacy.

I also discovered something fun yesterday night:
These Blog Trafficking Websites work like this: You register your own Blog and make it visible and available to others, but in exchange you have to read and look at other Blogs so that they also get counts. That was actually quite fun to browse randomly different websites. That system works with a timer (like 20 seconds or so) where you have to look at it and then you decide if you want to stay or go on onto a different one.

If you want more information just have a look, there are several out there:
http://www.blogexplosion.com/
http://www.blogsoldiers.com/
http://www.blogazoo.com/
http://www.blogadvance.com/

Reports claim, that this system is not really working. OK, you will get more hits and exposure, but in the end the question remains: How many people will keep coming back to your Blog? You don't just want that someone blinks for a few seconds at your blog, but build a community with like minded people.

But I guess you could just as well be browsing Blog Search Engines. There are several out there as well. And there you can target probably better what you're looking for.
http://www.technorati.com/
http://blogsearch.google.com/
http://www.bloghop.com/
http://www.blogarama.com/
http://www.blogcatalog.com/

Have also a look at: http://www.weblens.org/blogs.html . This site has some good information about all these topics and more.

Birthday Delicious Chocolate Cake

preheat oven to 150 degrees Centigrade

2 c Flour

2 c Sugar

3/4 c Cocoa (dark unsweetened)

2 ts Baking Soda

1 ts Baking Powder

1-2 ts Instant Coffee

1/2 c Vegetable Oil

1 c Milk

2 Eggs

1 ts Vanilla extract

First mix the dry ingredients then add all the wet ingredients.

Don't over mix.

Pour into greased pan.

Bake for 1 hour.

After the cake cooled cut it through the middle and fill with apricot jam.

You can use any jam you want, but jams with some acidity give the cake the best taste.

Put back together and cover with Chocolate Spread like Nutella.

Best to put for a few hours or a day into the fridge before serving.

Potatoe Roesti from the Oven

Recipe for 2;

preheat oven to 200 degrees Centigrade

cut about 6-8 medium Potatoes into 1cm cubes

put in Pyrex dish and season with Olive Oil, freshly ground Black Pepper and coarse Sea Salt

bake for about 40 minutes until golden brown and done

don't forget to mix them up once or twice during baking!

for added flavor put some crushed garlic before serving over the potatoes