.SOMETIMES RAW.

Hello!

Do you like to cook? Do you prefer to use butter or oil? I like to use Ghee or Coconut Oil. I talked about it in a bunch of recipes and that I love to use it instead of regular olive oil to cook. Read the article I wrote on my favorite oil – Linseed oil – here which should not be used for cooking. I have seen Ghee only at Trader Joe’s and at Whole Foods so far; however,  really expensive.

What is Ghee?

Ghee is clarified unsalted butter that has the milk proteins removed. Ghee (“liquid gold”) originally comes from India. The most important part about Ghee is that the smoke point is very high which makes it perfect for cooking and gives the food a nice buttery flavor. If you cannot eat dairy products, this is a great substitute for you.

Do you know that you actually should not heat olive oil? Whatever oil you use for cooking is supposed to be stable enough to through all type of chemical changes when you cook on high temperatures. Eating constantly overheated vegetable/olive oil could cause problems in your digestive system and might also convert good cholesterol into bad one. Usually, when the oil is heated and then mixed with oxygen it goes rancid. When I read this a while ago I said to myself that I have used regular olive oil for a long time now and nothing ever happened to me. But I have to say that I do indeed feel better when eating food cooked with Ghee. On the other hand, why not try something new once in a while, right? Cooking is just so awesome. I love it.

What benefits does Ghee have?

So, Ghee has been around for centuries. I love traditional food because I do believe that certain cultures just know special things about food that we here try to imitate or replace with chemical nonsense. I don’t even want to get started with  all the Fast Food, frozen food etc. The original Ghee from India is made with good, fresh butter and works well for hair, skin, nails and teeth. It also has a ton of Vitamin K which is great for liver, heart and digestion. You just need a tablespoon of Ghee to cook and you have more nutrients than if you would use olive oil. I love to cook in a Wok sometimes to make some simple stir fry and it works great with just ONE tablespoon of Ghee. I also put Ghee on a baking sheet when I make fries for my son.

How do I make Ghee? 

It is very simple. You do not have to refrigerate it. However, if I do make a larger amount I keep it in the fridge anyway.

Update: My mom just informed me that throughout the melting process of the butter, Ghee should under no circumstances cook/boil. Just turn the hot plate on very low/simmer for one hour. It is also important not to stir the butter throughout the melting process!

Thank you for reading my blog. 

“When the heart speaks, the mind finds it indecent to object.” ― Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Hello!

I would like to share a review of Milan Kundera’s “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”. This book has been on my bookshelf for a long time and I do re-read it here and there, simply because it is so well written and the story is amazing.

“The Unbearable Lightness of Being” is a love story that took place in Prague in 1968. Tomas is a Czech brain surgeon, an intellectual and has many affairs. It seems he needs to do this because he has no meaningful life and all these affairs give him freedom of some sort. One day however, he meets Tereza and falls deeply in love with her. Things change in Prague at this time when the Soviets are marching in and sent in their tanks. The war goes on and so does Tomas’ lust for women. Tereza and Tomas move in together and he even holds her hand at night, which he never did with other women. However, he has this emptiness inside himself, even though he is with Tereza, but he longs for other women. He has sex with them and leaves because he needs to be by himself after the act.

He commands his affairs to strip – sometimes complete strangers, and they would comply. Then again, I saw “50 Shades of Grey”  and even read all the books so nothing surprises me anymore.  Tereza of course knows that he has affairs and suffers but stays with him. While reading the book it felt that he is not capable to love anybody really.  He states that, “the only relationship that can make both partners happy is one in which sentimentality has no place and neither partner makes any claim on the life and freedom of the other.”

Tereza I loved. She is described as a small town girl who lives this somewhat lonely life. She seems sad but she loves reading because through books she can escape the suffering. When Tomas first met her, she read Anna Karenina which is a great book. While reading, I felt as the narrator would talk straight to me and offer me great insight about life, observations and the characters in the book. I found this novel very profound and unusual. Kundera keeps the chapters short so the book is easy to read and follow. I also do love how the novel portrays lust and love. How can we learn lightness for ourselves?

I have read other books by Milan Kundera that I can all recommend. Check them out here, here and here. Also, below is the trailer to the movie “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” I you would like to see.

Thank you for reading my blog. 

Hello!

This is another week that seems to fly by in no time. My husband is studying again at school for his course during the day but in the afternoon we worked on our land which is so much fun. He loves nature as much as I do! We came back from Mexico on Monday and it was awesome to be able to escape the cold for a bit, relax at the beach and enjoy the Mexican heat and food. You like the picture above? I got a message a while ago that my son never smiles in the pictures I post. And again, he does not smile in the one above  either we were on the plane back from Mexico. So why would you smile, right? No, seriously, he does smile a lot. He is a happy kid. But usually whenever I do have a picture with him smiling, something else bothers me about the shot so I post a different picture. He does have a serious side to himself for sure; especially when he tries to figure things out or analyzes (he got this from my husband). I think he looks cute either way. What else have we been up to? We have explored Ottawa more; the University and of course our land which is approximately 150 km away from Ottawa in the lake region. We took measurements and made some arrangements to see how and when we can start having the house built. Things are moving into the right direction, which is great. Permaculture and having my veggie garden – here I come! This is what I have been up to:

Reading: The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. There was a lot of hype about his book when it first came out. For whatever reason; maybe because with 600 pages,  it is pretty thick, I never picked it up. I thought it might be a great road trip read so I took it along. So far I can say that it is simply awesome. Murakami has a very special, beautiful way to describe things in thought-through details that blow you away. For example he describes how he cooks some spaghetti and believe me, I could taste them. I truly enjoy the book so far and don’t want it to end.

Watching: A movie I have watched several times already simply because it is so good. “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”. The book is even better. Isn’t this usually the case? I will write a review on the book soon! Check out the trailer here. 

Enjoying/Looking forward to: Traveling more with my family and our land in Canada. I also enjoy the Canadian weather. It is just very cold and crispy but the air smells so good. A little reminder: there is no bad weather, just the wrong type of clothing you wear! I am looking forward to see my family in Germany soon and of course the Christmas Market in Coburg  and the  Honey-wine (Mead) stand. (“Soon, Papa! Weil wir warn ja scho a Joar nimma!”)

Impressed by: the way Canadian Snowplow companies clean the roads. It is done very efficiently and it seems they clean the roads of snow if it didn’t even start snowing. They are ready and ready here! I spoke to a woman at the reception desk of a hotel we stayed at in Canada and told her that I am not very comfortable driving when the streets are icy or when it is snowing. She assured me that I do not have to be afraid or uncomfortable at all. “If something does work in this country, then it is that the streets are free of snow and ice no matter what”, she said. Good to know!

Working on: This huge review of the Hyatt Ziva Cancun. It is a lot of work because I try to cover every little detail. We travel a lot and I am looking into working with some traveling agencies to write reviews for them. Great projects you guys! It is just amazing how many opportunities and possibilities  are out there. One just needs to keep eyes and ears open. Especially your ears, if you would like to listen to this:

Thank you for reading my blog.