Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Cooking With Us - E16 - Chimney Cakes

Working hard in Romania!
This time on Cooking With Us,
we "tried, tried again" to make the awesome dessert known as
Kürtőskalács or Chimney Cakes!  

So: 
Üdvözöljük!  To another episode of Cooking With Us!

A little background:

I first had the delicious treat known as 'Chimney Cake' when I visited Cluj-Napoca, Romania back in 2009. 

Cluj-Napoca is located in the Transylvanian region of Romania, where chimney cakes come from!

They now sell 'chimney cakes' in Prague, where my entire family recently tried them, but trust me - those chimney cakes are utter frauds!  So we just had to do something about it!

Luckily, after trial and error, we have a very good recipe to share with you!  And hopefully, some fairly entertaining photos:)

This is what success looks like, people!  - After many attempts, and buying a new 
rotisserie toaster oven, we ended up with a delicious chimney cake!


But back in 2009, it was by sheer luck (some may call it fate?) that on a random evening stroll, a couple of new friends and I happened upon a street vendor selling just that pastry! 

The Chimney Cake!

My search for this tasty treat would never end... and my life would never be the same!

 (Cue dramatic music!)

 Now, please enjoy the video below of our crazy endeavor to recreate the Chimney Cake.

As usual, I suggest watching it in high res and full screen - and share, share alike (or share and like?)!


I told you my husband is crazy - here he is with our second attempt at Chimney Cakes!
Granted, it was 2 in the morning!

You guys like the music I used?  Me too!
I will tell you more about the band and link to their page and music after the post! ^^


 Before you make your chimney cake, envision yourself in the region of its birth: Transylvania!
For me, that just meant having fun with my ani-matte and resize tools in Avid ;)

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Cooking With Us - E15 - Grape Leaf Casserole


Γεια σας!!
or Yassas! 
I love you, a bushel and a peck!

This 'Cooking With Us' Episode is exactly a year old! 

(As is evidenced by my hair color!)

I never finished it back then because I didn't like the ending.
Since then we've had plenty of odd endings to our show, so I thought - what the heck!

Watch it, read about it, and then make it!  (Just don't use too much lemon juice!)

It really is fairly simple, and absolutely delicious!

Per usual - UpRez, Full Screen, and share!
Photos, the recipe, and the transcript follow :)


And here is what you will end up with:


Trust me, it's scrumptious!