food

I've collected here print and online mentions of my English-language NAMI-NAMI foodblog as well as my Estonian-language NAMI-NAMI recipe collection , as well as direct links to articles written by me and food photos taken by me and/or K. Happy browsing! (UPDATED MAY 2009) Everyone's a Critic, October 7, 2008 Nami-nami foodblog was mentioned in Debbie Elkind's article Everyone's a Critic published in an Australian SBS Online. . 10 December 2007 Nami-nami foodblog was listed as one of the finalists in the 2007 Food Blog Awards Rural category , alongside Lucullian Delights, Farmgirl Fare and Garlic Breath. I did not win , unfortunately, but it was such an honour to be a finalist in the annual food blog awards. You can read more here . 9 November 2007 The food section of Guardian Unlimited Blogs , aptly named Word of Mouth , mentioned my K's cannelés post in "Our Faves" section :) 21 October 2007 Wynn Williamson of the Wide Open Education site mentions Na...

Did you know that Estonia has a 'national fish', in a similar vein to countries having chosen a 'national flower', a 'national drink', a 'national bird' etc? Well, we do since 2006 and it's a Baltic Herring ( Clupea harengus membras ). However, the big cousin on that tiny fish - Atlantic herring ( Clupea harengus ) is very popular as well, and here's the most popular way of serving Atlantic herring in Estonia. You need salted Atlantic herring filets for this dish, available either at deli or fish counters or in a canned versions in your supermarket aisle. If the fish is too salty, then soak it in milk or several rounds of cold water first. I must admit that I'm not a big fan of 'raw' fish, and salted herring belongs to that category of fish, too (I know it's cured, but it's hot heat-treated). But I served this at our Christmas Eve Dinner, where it was universally praised and finished very quickly. You cannot beat an old trad...

My buddy called me up this morning to invite me over for a play date with our kids; and to hand off some of this amazing honey he received as a thank-you from his elderly neighbors after shoveling their walk during the snow storm. The neighbors are backyard beekeepers! My friends are already concocting plans to have their own flock of backyard chickens in the spring, and trading eggs for honey. I am seething with jealousy, of course. So, I made it home with a large baby food jar of honey, and I haven't the faintest idea of what I'm going to do with it. I have all the time in the world, of course- honey lasts for years. But I'm so excited! Any type of backyard cultivation gets me pumped, homegrown eggs are delicious, everyone knows that backyard gardens are the way to go, and backyard honey! Oh, my lord. My friend was explaining to me the different flavor notes in the honey, (let's just say he has a very refined palate- he's a wine buyer.) and speculating on...

Merry Christmas! We're still alive, haha. And still snowed in, if you can believe it. Summer managed to make it to California, but my unplowed hill has kept me from driving anywhere for days and days. It's a miracle we managed to make it out yesterday (with lots of cursing, pushing, and shoveling) to get to my parents' house for Christmas, but I'm not trying to go anywhere else until this ice has melted. My little Subaru with no chains is no match for ARCTIC BLAST '08®!!!! I've never really understood why some people guard their family recipes so closely- the crotchety grandmas who won't give up the recipe for whatever awesome noodle casserole, or so-and-so's aunt who makes the best pound cake ever but won't tell anyone what the secret ingredient is. Is that kind of exclusivity really necessary when it comes to food? Maybe it's because I've grown up on the internet, where every kind of information possible is free and easy to find. So ...

It's the 2nd Christmas Day already, and finally I've got a spare moment to wish you all a Joyful Christmas and tell you a little about our Christmas meal. In Estonia, we celebrate Christmas Eve - that's when Father Yule (Jõuluvana) brings us presents (I've added a photo of my two nephews opening theirs a year ago). For a third year already, K. and I have had our families over for a big traditional Christmas meal. That's 10 persons altogether - my parents, K's mum and auntie, my sister with her family, and us two. Luckily we've got a big enough table to seat us all comfortably, and as we both enjoy cooking to our loved ones, hosting a Christmas dinner has been a pure pleasure. This year we decided to start with some fish dishes. There was salmon in a red wine vinegar (a Finnish recipe that translates as 'Glass-blower's fish'), as well as lightly-salted Atlantic herring with sour cream and onions (a VERY Estonian dish that I'll tell you more ab...

Yeah yeah yeah, soup. I don't even have anything funny to say about it. I'm just about all out of sense of humor after a few days of this: We're still huddled under layers of snow and ice (literally- outside it goes snow-ice-snow, and tonight we'll probably get a new layer of ice on top of that.) and trying to find ways to keep warm. A hot mug of cheddar soup definitely solves that problem. You'll need: 1 pound of cheddar cheese, grated finely (we used Tillamook.) 1 finely chopped onion 2 cloves of crushed garlic "a big chunk of butter" a handful of flour 3-4 cups of stock 1 cup of milk 3 smallish heads of broccoli, chopped into small bites bay leaf white pepper First, lightly steam the broccoli and then rinse in cool water to halt the cooking process. Set aside. In a large soup pot, melt a hunk of butter and saute onions and garlic until glassy. Toss in a few pinches of flour and whisk until you have a roux. Toast the roux lightly, then add stock ...

Oh, Portland- you've surprised us this year. Instead of the usual couple inches of snow during January, you have covered yourself with a very thick blanket of snow mid-December and have been wearing it for a week now. When I looked out our bedroom window yesterday morning, I couldn't believe it was the same old street I have been looking down upon the past few years. It looks like an image from an old Christmas movie: families bundled up in big coats and scarves, holiday lights strung on houses, and snow everywhere . I must say, I am quite smitten with this change in you and quite sad that I am going to be missing out on the white Christmas you are surely to bring as I pack up and head out to sunny California tomorrow. Do you know what's delicious during days like this? Homemade gingerbread cake with cups of black tea. I baked one a couple of days ago using one of my favorite recipes and have been enjoying it greatly. What better way to spend a snowy morning then with warm ...

How did I get so behind on my Christmas baking? Usually around this time of year I am a crazy baking machine, pumping out all sorts of festive cookies and spicy breads. Instead, I am all too behind on buying and wrapping presents, packing for going home for the holidays, and very slowly trying to put our all-too-messy home back together. It also doesn't help that there has been an unusual amount of snow and ice around town, resulting in poor driving conditions for Alice, my dear photographer, to make her way over to my house. And as much as I love the idea of baking during snowy weather, one will usually find me piled under soft blankets on the sofa, happily enjoying the beautiful view out the window. Yesterday, though, snow was replaced by rain and higher temperatures, so I caught up a bit on some baking and Alice was able to make it over in the early evening to photograph my sweets. I ended up making a couple things that usually always make me think of this time of year: chocolat...

Look, I'm going to be frank. I love vegetables, ALL vegetables, but do you know what else I love? Pig fat. The marriage of hearty winter greens and fat from some smoked pig is a thing of beauty, I have to say. So, yesterday afternoon, when my son asked for a bacon sandwich for lunch, I was happy to oblige. I had some leftover pancetta from pea soup the other night, and some unused kale from the wedding soup. I fried some pancetta for my son's sandwich and pulled it out, leaving a pan full of rendered fat. In that pan, I tossed some chopped garlic, and then a moment later, some chopped kale. I sauteed it for a few minutes and tossed in some chopped pancetta, because really- I was already halfway there, right? I really, really enjoyed eating this. What I'm not happy about is the blanket of snow on the ground that's keeping me from going jogging the morning after, haw haw.

Okay, okay- I swear we don't eat nothing but soup! Really! It's just been so cold and icy, and we've been all hunkered down in our little cave- soup is easy, healthy, and great leftover. So, here's another. Last night was my husband's company holiday party, and, well- to put it lightly, they know how to throw a rager. We stayed out late, stumbled out of our cab at 3 a.m., and I was feeling it pretty hard today. I didn't feel like making ANYTHING for dinner, but luckily my husband came home with the goods for this amazing soup. It was perfect- filling without being too heavy, brothy without being too weak, filled with healthy vegetables, but satisfying in a way that only meatballs made of sausage can be. I'd never even heard of Italian wedding soup before, but apparently it has tons of variations, with the main elements being meatballs and greens. We used pork sausage and kale for ours. Italian Wedding Soup 3/4 lb. bulk Italian sausage, or ground me...