one of my favorite cakes to make on a Saturday are baked cheesecakes. this recipe was given to me by my Aunt, who is a fabulous and talented baker. This is a very light cake, airy and not too sweet like some of the heavy American Cheesecakes can be.

You will need:

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 kg cream cheese

200ml sour cream

3 cups self rising flour

for topping:

400 ml sour cream

2-3 TBSP sugar

separate eggs whites and blend them with most of the sugar til the mix is solid foam that doesnt move. make sure you add sugar slowly and not in one go. save a little sugar on the side for later.

Mix rest of the sugar with egg yellows to a creamy texture.Then add the sour cream, cream cheese and flour. Mix to a unified mixture.

Fold egg whites mixture to the cream cheese mixture.

Spray a round pan with PAM Butter and pour the mixture in. Put in an oven that was pre heated to 360 and bake until top is golden-brown, which is about 40-60 min.

For the topping, mix the sour cream and sugar to a solid cream and layer over the warm cake when the cake is done. Then bring back to the turned-off oven for 3-4 minutes in when the oven is turned on but still hot.

Very important to bake slowly in very low heat.

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Yesterday I discovered a treasure of a place in Hoboken – Ultramarionos “the marketplace for Latin Kitchen magic”. In this little gem of a place, hidden in 260 3rd street in Hoboken, one is welcomed by white walls of a small cafe, decorated with warm cocoa, red and green colors.  Ultramarinos is named after the old  19th century stores  “Cuban sugar, Colombian coffee, Venezuelan chocolate and myriad other foods, often considered exotic, were sold in Spain by specialty stores called Ultramarinos (OOL-TRAH-MAH-REE-NOS), a beautiful word which literally means “from beyond the sea.”" and indeed the smell of freshly ground coffee and hot baked bread that was seeded with chocolate are in the air. Beside various baking goods and warm unique truffles

Other Latin America treats include a wide selection of cheeses such as  ‘queso blanco’, Manchego and Torta del Casar; freshly made bread with olives and wild hot spices, or with warm cocoa; and other interesting local dishes you can discover in the menu, a menu that chances and updates daily.

Image via Wikipedia

This is a recipe originally given to me by a great writer and en even greater cook whom I have yet convinced to participate in writing this blog post, and so unfortunately you will have to get it second hand from me. This is the easiest recipe, perfect for cold wintry Saturday morning. It is bread disguised as cake, or cake disguised as bread… it melts in your mouth with a handful of butter and comforts a any tummy – hungover from a friday night out or dead tired from a long and exhausting week at work. or both. or neither.

What you will need:

3 cups of all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour (gives the bread its yummy crunchyness)

6 TBSP brown suger

2 TBSP white sugar

1 TBSP baking powder

1 TSP baking soda

1.5 TSP SALT

0.5 TBSP cinammon

6 TBSP cold butter

2 cups buttermilk

1 cup raisins that were soaked in hot water/brandy

My friend also insists on using Caraway seeds – she swears by it and claims one doesnt even notice it and it really gives a boost – up to you!

Here’s what you need to do:

Mix all dry ingredients: both flours, both sugars, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. With your hands, cut and mush the cold butter into the mixture, very important to have the butter cold and to not overdo the mixing of the dry ingredients with the cold butter – the less the better, this gives us the nice density in texture.The end result should be a crumbier version of the dry mixture.

Add buttermilk and raisins and mix together for a nice wet mixture.

Message the dough on a floured surface for 8-10 times – my friend the recipe originator insists on counting 8-10 times and claims more than that will ruin it. And I believe her – so 8-10 times and that’s it. Now let it rest for 10 minutes and then throw it into a nice round baking pan and draw and X on it with a knife.

Put into a pre heated oven of 375 degrees for 40 min and voila – your warm fudgy moist bread is here.

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I am not a physician or a pregnancy expert in any mean or way, and my tips and stories are a result of my private experience and reflect my own personal experience, they are by no means a professional advice. You should consult your doctor before making any decision around your pregnancy.

As I am progressing towards my 9th month of pregnancy, one of the things I found helps me tremendously, is Prenatal Yoga. I have had a very bad back injury a few months prior to getting pregnant, and am not your average slim person – I like to eat and play coach potato. I did always have a tendency to enjoy Yoga, from a very early age, so when looking a good exercise that wont hurt my back but will keep me in good form. I researched a little and landed with Jennifer Wolfe’s Prenatal Yoga DVD. I started with the 15 min session.

Looking back on my 8 months, Prenatal Yoga helped me with:

- Feeling physically and mentally calmer.

- Reduced my the swollen ankles and feet.

- Released tension in muscles which I believe prevented the night cramps.

I still have one month to go, and seems like everything has started bursting now, so who knows… wish me luck!

Banana bread can be painted in two ways: One is a romantic picture, where one of life’s greatest pleasures, as cliche as it sounds, is a nice cup of coffee served with a moist, sweet, banana bread. The other one, perhaps a more realistic one, is when you buy loads of bananas, which ripe in speed of light before anyone in the house gets a chance for a bite, you can take one and  half hours of your time to make this delicious treat. Here’s what you’ll need:

1 stick of butter

2 large eggs

1 cup sugar

4 ripe bananas – mashed

2 cups all purpose flour

1 TBSP milk

1 TBSP ground cinnamon

1 Tsp baking powder

1 Tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cream the sugar and butter to an airy fluffy mix. the more you mix the better as air will go into the mix. add eggs one by one, again,mix them into a cream one by one, so that each egg is well embedded into the mix.

Mash the bananas and add milk and cinnamon.

Mix all dry ingredients.

Slowly add the banana mix to the Butter and Eggs mix and stir until the two are one. Add the flour mix. Mix well until batter is one and pour into a well oiled loaf pan (9x5x3).

Bake for one hour in 325 degrees.

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One of the greatest things in Oregon is its incredible, wide, green, scenic views.  One of the greatest days we had in this trip was a day of phenomenal views including Crater Lake, Devil’s Lake and a drive along the grayish coast of the Pacific, even that, in a weird, dark way, was breath taking.  Crater Lake is by far one of the most beautiful spots in Oregon: a deep dive into earth, water clear and blue as the sky, and a beauty of nature as scary as if you are there to witness the explosion that created this place.

We then parked for a few days at the Resort at the Mountains, right next to Mt Helen. 4 days of view gazing, hiking and playing around with mini golf, bikes, crockett and… lots of doing nothing. simply relaxing.  Now I am not your average nature girl, so I had to overcome a few mental barriers of hiking in nature – I can definitely handle it to a certain extent, the beauty of forests, mountains and lakes draws me much, but at the end of the day I am not the one you’d take as a partner for the Amazing Race.

One pearl I did find was a coffee shop located between Grehem and Sandy, that has amazing coffee served along with healthy, rich sandwiches and muffins. No, I don’t know it’s name, but if you happen to get to the area, if you happen to see a small cabin-like coffee shop, one that offers toys and games, as well as good coffee, tasty sandwiches and gigantic muffins – that’s the perfect place for a nice snack.

The first stop in our trip to cover Oregon was Portland – this city cought me by surprise and shook my heart. Laid back, relaxed, cool. Most people wore tattoos, some more than others,  there was an air of freedom and cool. Hippie rich areas of forests, gardens, parks, dotted with shops, restaurants, bars and pubs. Felt like I could stay there forever. But clock was ticking so we had to cover the basics: first thing we did was to stop by visitors center that is located at center of downtown at Pioneer Courthouse Sq.  We wanted to get to the jet boat ride but it was too late and was already booked up. the Jet leaves every day at 11.25 ans 4.25 so if you want a guaranteed seat, better book it in advance (it leaves from the OMSI, which is a cool place in itself to visit) we ended up relaxing at the Chinese garden and Japanese garden, but the greatest surprise and win of the day was Jake’s Famous Crawfish where we literally dined our hearts with some Maui Maui Shark, Lobster Ravioli and a nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.  To our luck, it was happy hour so we added some Spinach dip in $1.95 and Sweet Potato Fries in $3 which were both good quality pub food.

Next day we kicked off with a drive through Mt Hood and Hood River – one of the most amazing views was revealed to us when we drove along Columbia river, visiting the Vista House and climbing Multnomah Falls. Well, to be honest – I didn’t make it to the top. My fear of heights was reintroduced to me, and though the path to to top of the mountain is easy to walk on and as I was calming myself down from the fear I could see kids, pregnant women and grannies pass me by. The View is amazing regardless of where you make your stop.

Fruit Loop – on our way to Sisters we stopped at this delicious area where fruit stands and vyniards are dotted all over the area. This was apparently the cherries season as every stand we visited had fresh, delicious cherries for $1 per Ib. W stopped over at Wy’east vine yard where we tried some Cabernet, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and some Port. Steve,  The owner, was lovely and warm and told us many stories of wine making. With all the fruits we had in the car we had to stop over at a grocery place to buy some ice. Turned out this was one of the best places I had ever had a Reuben in: the balance between the bread, beef, cheese and saor crwet was perfect.

Sisters is definitley a town to stop by in Central Oregon. We accidentaly passed by it on the way to Black Butt Ranch and were amused and amazed by the ‘wild western’ design of the small town: painted wood in pastels, local diners and pubs with fresh colored wood and ‘cowboys’ atmosphere, this town has character. we ended up the next two days hanging around Black Butte, mostly a family resort with plenty of activities and stuff to do, with wide and beautiful views of Mountains, even mid summer we could see them covered in snow.  One thing that stuck us was that past 9pm there was no where to wine and dine everything around Sisters as well as the Ranch was shut. A nite in the cabin with some Rice Cakes and Wine?

This weekend the hubbie and I finally stopped playing coach potatoes, rolled out of the sofa and went for a roadtrip in West Virginia. Why there? it’s somewhere where we have never been, it’s close enough to drive from NJ, we heard about its green scenic views and decided to give it a go.

Our first stop was a really disappointing Diner somewhere in Pennsylvania. Just to give you the background, diners to me are the peak of each roadtrip – quality greasy food is hard to find, and there is nothing like a nice fat mushroom omlette and fresh brewed coffee to kick off the day with! The Diner we kicked off with had machine made coffee and plastic omlettes and pancakes! I was devestated.

We continued our drive to Martinsburg, where a wine festival was held. Took us 30 minutes and instructions from 2 different people to find the place (when the village itself is no larger than Soho, NY) but was absolutely worth it: a corridor of paintings drawn on a large palette welcomed us into a circle of wine and food booths, in front of which a small stage was set, where people sat with their wine of choice, enjoying ol’ country music. sweet! and sweet it was indeed. most wines were dessert wines of blackberry and Currant. Not so much my taste. I ended up with a Pinot Noir and a Chambourcin from Potomac Highland Winery.

We continued down to Mountain Lakes area, where we found a really beautiful cabin on the river in Smoke Hole.  Finally after 7 years of marriage (this week actually) I finally got my honeymoon Cabin. The girl at reception recommended O’Neills, a local restaurant, for a good steak – after the morning’s diner disappointment I was ready for my steak! I am usually refraining from red meat, but I do have a passion for a steak that is done properly.  We ordered a Prime Rib and a Rib Eye, both medium-well. Disappointment number 2 was heading our way. Dry and well-done Meat with Balsamic sauce that was not cooked enough.

The following morning started with a trip to Gorge Bridge, where the plan was to get there early for some kayaking and bike riding. Well, too bad we got there too late for all of the above and had to settle for a walk around the river, which was nice, but not as exciting as some rafting would have been. To avoid any other culinary surprises, we stuck to Burger King, Arby’s and Wendy’s. yep, no surprises there!

Last day of our trip was an excruciating, yet dazzling, 7 hour drive back to NJ, but not before stopping over at the Black Rocks – a beautiful waterfall about 20 miles north of Petersburg and Smoke Hole.

Next weekend break is Washington DC, stay tuned!

10 min prep, 40 min bake

This is by far the easiest and yummiest cake to prepare. It tastes very much like a pound cake, but has no butter in it. As a baking explorer and student, this was one of the first successful cakes I have made, and with 2 “left hands” (i hate that expression, as a right handed person I KNOW lefties are more talented!) you can’t really ruin it. Credit to this is given to Karin Goren, the Israeli pastry maker that have triggered this baking passion in me. So, here’s what you need:

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons vanilla extract
450 ml sweet cream

Mix all of these for 30-60 secs.

Add 2 cups of all purpose flour mixed with 1 tablespoon baking powder. And mix until flour has assimilated into the cream mix.If you see pockets of flour just ‘fix/mix’ them locally, dont over mix the entire thing!

Now we’re creating layers of the creamy mix with cocoa powder. I use 1/3 cup cocoa power altogether, but you can use more or less, depending on how much chocolate you want layers and swirled in to your cake.

Spray a square deep pan with oil or coat it with butter, and pour a 1/3 of the mix into it. Then pour 1/6 cup cocoa powder. Then another 1/3 of the mix, and another 1/6 cup cocoa powder. finish with the final 1/3 of the creamy mix.

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Last week the hubbie’s daddy came over for a visit. I wanted to make something good and wholehearted, soul food, but, being 20 pounds heavier, swollen-legged and not as energetic as I was past6pm, I needed something quick. I found the following recipe at MS’s Living, that was really quick and easy to make, even for beginner cooks like me: Rack of Lamb with some fresh tzatziki.  You dont have to make the Tzatziki if you’re not a fan, and the lamb in its own is flavorful enough. For best results, put your favorite music in the background (my pick was

The Lamb part is easy, Mix together:

1.5 tbsp Sea Salt

2 tbsp fresh minced rosmary

3 garlic cloves

1/4 cup Mayonnaise (I used Wasabi Mayo)

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 racks of lamb

Now to the very simple preparation: Mix salt, rosemary, garlic  in food processor until minced, then add mayo and balsamic vinegar and process until combined.

Place the ribs in a roasting pan (curved with down) and coat with the mayo mix.

Roast the Lamb in a 450 degree  pre heated oven for 25 min for a nice medium roast, then remove from the oven and cover with Aluminium foil for 15 min. Now, with these 15 min you can prepare the Tzatziki:

14 Ounces of Greek Yogurt

1/4 cup sour cream

1 cucumber, unpealed and seeded

2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon

2 tbsp white Wine Vinegar

2 tbsp minced fresh dill

2 tbsp minced garlic

2 tbsp sea salt

1/2 tbsp ground pepper

Put the yogurt in a bowl and grate the cucumber, squeeze the water out of it and add it to the yogurt.  Add all other ingredients, and mix – and there you have it – fresh cold and summary Tzatziki.

Next to the lamb you can serve either a nice small portion of whole wheat rice, or freshly sliced veggies, which go really well with the juicy mix of Lamb and Tzatziki.

Enjoy!