#bakeoffbakealong

hello all, happy thanksgiving week! it started snowing sunday night and there was a blanket of snow on the ground by monday morning -- and still snowing (despite what the photo above from a lovely day last month shows!). i really got in a more wintery mood in iceland as there were no leaves on the trees anymore and festive decorations all over the main streets, but there is absolutely nothing like a blanket of snow on a monday morning to get your week going! (if you like snow, that is)

since coming back from my trip, i've just felt like there are endless things to do -- catching up on cleaning, winter gardening preparations (which i shamefully still have not done, despite the first snow), an extra work project i've got on my hands this week, not to mention that it's time to start with some preparations for christmas, ordering things that need to be obtained, tickets to buy, and so on.

oh, did i mention that i am taking a czech proficiency exam next week for my visa next year? so yeah, there's that, too. it's a lot.

the reason why we're electing to take this czech exam is that passing it will make us completely eligible for the grand, much vaunted permanent residence visa. even though we just got our visas good for the next year, we intend to apply for this visa as soon as possible, mostly because we already know our financial information has been accepted and that we should have no problems. and hey... a smooth visa application would be everything.

although, i was joking that i think after all of the walking around to different offices i’ve been doing this week to get my documents in order for the exam and actual conversations i’ve been having, i think some sort of švejk character should pop out from behind the desk at the examining place, shake my hand, and give me the certificate. but that’s just me.

also, it is thanksgiving week! we're not having a dinner this year because a month or so ago, we were invited to a (non-american) friend's on the very day we always observe thanksgiving (the saturday after). my first inclination was: "nooooo! it's thanksgiving!" my next inclination was: "okay, but i'm bringing mashed potatoes and stuffing and no one's going to tell me otherwise." my third inclination was: "hooray, i don't have to host!"

even so, i still wanted to observe this thursday, although totally normal day here in czech republic, with some meaning. my plan is to whip up angela's lentil walnut loaf with some kind of vegetable side-dish, perhaps a squash. something doable after work on a weeknight. i have made some incarnation of this loaf before to sub as a veggie haggis for one burn's night a few years ago and it was quite good!

if you’re an american living abroad (or have in the past), how do(did) you observe thanksgiving? i love hearing about these things.

i also wanted to share with you my very final bake off bake along project.

the last bake i participated in was patisserie week. known as a somewhat challenging week (which i imagine, is why they leave it to the semi-finals), i was waiting all season for the opportunity to try my first patisserie. as the challenge this year was pretty flexible, i chose the eclair -- a standard of french patisserie, and i do say that i basically mastered it!

i made a standard choux pastry which came out absolutely gorgeously once i realized that you have to leave it in the oven for longer than you think or else it will deflate. the result was crispy and delicious, filled with a vanilla creme patisserie. no glaze. no fancy stuff. it was delicious in its simplicity, and it was undoubtedly my best bake all season.

it was good to go out with a bang.

i want to wish a happy thanksgiving to those celebrating this week! i'll leave you with an image someone shared online that i've been thinking about a lot today and i think is a great way to put your head in the right place going into this holiday season.

my second iceland post soon to come!

ps, you might like musings on identity and being an american (from this time last year) or thanksgiving weekend trip to vienna (two years ago).

a bake-off post! in case you still aren't sure what i'm nattering on about, i've been baking along this autumn to the show, the great british bake off (series 9) which just had the finale this week. as i know this series will hit the states several months later, i just want to say: i will mention the winner of this series sometime in the post (spoiler alert!), so if that matters to you, go ahead and skip to my bakes (below) or click out. but something has been rattling around in the old craw about this year's bakers that i just felt like i had to comment on.

i found the finale deeply touching this year, especially all of the scenes with rahul, giving viewers even more background and depth to his story. rahul is one of the three finalists -- he moved to britain eight years before to study for a doctorate degree. rahul is sort of the eeyore of this year's bakers. or maybe more of the piglet. but the point is, he happens to be an extremely endearing and likable person even though he admits the one word to describe him is "depressing", he can't at all handle the judgement, and seems to have a low opinion of his own abilities.

in this week's finale episode, we learn more about his background. we already know that he skypes with his parents back in india every day, but this episode, the contestants get talking about who will be there to support them at the finale garden party that occurs each season. kim joy's partner is coming, ruby's large family will be there, and then we meet rahul's two closest friends-- a couple in sheffield. he thinks of them as family, and it is touching to see how they've supported him in his expat journey to the united kingdom.

see, rahul is an expat. or immigrant; i'm not exactly sure as i don't personally know his intentions with how long he plans to remain in the UK (shorter term or indefinitely), but either case, he finds himself in his eighth year in his new country. his friends, the aforementioned sheffield couple, admit that they encouraged him to get into baking as a way to learn about his adopted culture. and now, here he is, one of the top three (if not the best) amateur baker (of traditional western baked goods!) in britain. can you even imagine the kind of talent and intuition that would take? it is incredible.

rahul says, during one challenge to the camera:

"nobody brought me [to the UK]. i came here myself, because i wanted to."

later, when rahul's name is called as the the winner, my heart just swelled with pride. the camera pans to his sheffield friends, looking at each other wide-eyed. his family, his parents in india weren't present at the party, but he had these sweet friends supporting him. from one expat to another, this entire episode was incredibly touching. rahul made a new life in this country halfway around the world and such sweet friends are supporting him, like family, in this huge success. i couldn’t help but relate it to my own experience -- having such wonderful people supporting us here in our own choice to move to a new country, no family around. it is friends like this that make everything worth it.

rahul holds the glass cake stand as he poses for the cameras and his hands won't stop shaking. "i've never won anything before." he calls his mum and tells her the result.

later after the series, we see that his parents in india finally visit rahul in the UK for the first time. he is shown sitting on the couch with them and his glass cake stand trophy; serving them a british cake in the kitchen. i just lost it. it must have meant so much to him to have his parents realize how important this competition was to him, to britain, to all the viewers around the world. it must be hard to have a child move around the world "because they wanted to". it can be also very difficult for one person, unsponsored, to make it in a new country. and now, rahul is introducing his parents the flavors of britain. it was a beautiful moment.

what an ultimate measure of success! on an expat level, i felt very much for the contestants this year.

now, i can talk about two bakes!

vegan week (week 7) was a breeze for me. i've been cooking vegan recipes for almost a decade and feel pretty confident about it... if i had to give one type of food i am good at cooking, it would be "asian" and vegan. i decided to opt for the signature challenge of the savory tart, which gave me a little problem because even though the vegan category doesn't scare me off, i've never blind-baked a tart before and i couldn't think of anything heat resistant enough to put in it to keep the shell from caving in a bit, which of course, it did.

in the end, i made a roasted red pepper and walnut tart with a coconut oil-based sage spelt crust. the filling was quite delicious and great for a tart -- i think the crust, however, i would choose to make with whole-wheat flour in the future instead of the spelt flour. still, it was full of autumnal flavor. roasted red pepper is almost always a win!

danish week (week 8) was exciting for me, and i was happy to bake my first ever loaf of danish rye, which came out quite nicely. i had to bake it much longer than directed to get the dense middle to finally cook, but i really enjoyed snacking on it throughout the week. it also made me appreciate all the rye bread that we have around here, whether i like it or not. i still prefer the more fluffier american-style bread but now i feel like i can finally eat rye without grimacing inside.

for my two smorrebrod (open-faced sandwiches) that were required in this signature challenge, i made a salmon and medium-boiled egg and spring onion on delicious homemade remoulade, and a "beet tartine" with giant capers (not shown). as the loaf wasn’t very tall, the slices are thin (but good).

the last challenge which i will be tackling this weekend: the world of french patisserie for the semi-final challenge. i can't recall having made french patisserie before, so i'm looking forward at finally trying my hand at it.

have you been watching the show this season? what did you think? curious if any fellow expats had similar feels as i did.

hi guys. it's been a strange start to the school year this time around. i've had a few work switcheroos and cancelled lessons throwing me for a loop -- not exactly the kind of thing you want to have happen a month or so before you go on a big trip.

ohhh, did i mention i was going on a trip next month? more perceptive readers will know i tend to post my travel plans on this page as soon as i’ve scheduled them, but i haven't yet got a chance to mention that next month, one of my biggest travel dreams is going to come true. one that i have hinted about on social media for months, actually! not only that, but i'm going to be able to see my family (mom + bro) because we're headed back to....

iceland!

i have been wanting to go to the iceland airwaves music festival even before the very first trip to iceland i took in 2011. for years, i have been watching the streams and following along with the icelandic music scene, thanks to my favorite seattle radio station and international pioneer of music, kexp. i don't know why, but i quickly developed a deep love for all things icelandic music related. maybe it's because the music scene there reminds me of the scene in my hometown of anacortes, wa.

whatever the reason, boy am i lucky enough to have my family join alex and i there! i feel like the luckiest gal in the world this year.

meanwhile, it's been a busy but lovely month as octobers usually are. we've had quite the "babí léto" this year (indian summer) and the past entire week has been gorgeous and warm. not complaining! sandals have even made a reappearance as you can see, above.

i've been thinking a little bit about ways we all, as different people, choose to spend our free time. on most days of the week (except for saturdays, which i tend to fancy as a glorious "do nothing" sort of day a lot of the time), i have an extremely structured regimen of how i prefer to use my time. if i have free time, the priorities for me are laying out the mat and doing some yoga (if it's morning), or cracking open the books and studying language (if it's any other time of day). other activities (herbal studies modules, reading, etc) take a back seat. because i'm doing the bake off bake along right now through the rest of the month, sunday baking is taking up those afternoons... it's all really quite regimented. 

on one hand, i prefer to pencil things in this way because i have so much i want to do and want to make sure i accomplish it all, but on the other, isn't it strange to plan so many things to do for yourself that you no longer even feel like doing them, even if they were supposed to be fun? 

the past couple sundays (don't know why it was on a sunday, pure coincidence) i hadn't been feeling that well, but the first of those days, i plunged ahead with my regimen, not realizing what poor shape my body was in and that i needed to take a time out for a bit of extra self care. (the second sunday, i was able to realize this in advance and take better steps) in the end, balance is always the key, isn't it.

do you prefer to have a more regimented daily routine or just do things spontaneously as they come?

speaking of sunday bakes, i have the past few weeks of bake off bake along to share! is anyone else immensely enjoying this season? i love the themed weeks so far and sandy and noel just really make it, for me, channel four switch be damned. rahul cracks me up on the regular -- the flavors he chooses are mesmerizing! but kim joy's my favorite. i am absolutely intrigued by the way her mind works, not to mention she is a fantastic artist and i dig her aesthetic. 

  for week #4, dessert week ("but isn't every week dessert week?" -- alex), i decided to go with the signature challenge of a meringue roulade... never having made meringue before. i have once attempted to whisk egg whites into stiff peaks (necessary for the creation of meringue) with utter failure. i don't own a stand mixer, so it all had to be by hand, but after some research and self-pep talks, i was absolutely successful and hand-whipping beautiful stiff peaks! the meringue was so pretty, i didn't want to roll it all up! 

i decided to make mary berry's classic strawberry meringue roulade recipe with only one tiny hiccup: i overwhipped my whipped cream. (doh!) i still used it, but it would have been tons better at the normal consistency. at least the meringue itself was up to snuff! the strawberries which i froze at peak freshness late last spring where absolutely delicious.

for week #5, spice week (perfect for this time of year, really), i chose the signature challenge (a ginger cake) and created a fantastic pumpkin ginger cake with speculoos crumbles! the icing wasn't so thick and lovely (surely i'd get marked down for a thin icing) because i outright refused to use another two sticks of butter in the icing when the cake already had plenty. but the cake was the real star here -- absolutely moist and delicious. it tasted very similar to my favorite pumpkin cookie recipe or the starbucks pumpkin scone. the photos were utterly horrible so i’ll spare you, but i highly recommend that recipe if you want to make the perfect, moist autumn-inspired dessert.

on week #6, last weekend, i just took a pass. i'm going to come out and admit it! it was pastry week, i had no idea -- choosing between an extremely complicated dessert, samosa (did not want to deep fry anything), or a hand-shaped pie -- and i wasn't feeling well. the rest instead of an afternoon in the kitchen was one hundred percent worth it, but i'll be back to try a vegan week (#7) challenge tomorrow.

going to try a thing and write more regular (but perhaps shorter) posts + i have one coming up combining a berlin + czech interest!  hope you all have a great weekend. 

well, we’ve made it to six years in europe, y’all. i don’t know how it happened and this year, it was certainly against all possible odds, but it did. that’s right! our major visa issues have been resolved thanks to the wonderful people we know here in budejovice and apparently, they are the right sorts of people to know. i am ever so grateful. i’ve heard about others in the same situation as us not having quite the luck we did and that it had been the end of the road. but for us, not today. cynthia and alex are going to keep this crazy thing going into year seven. hooray!

here’s a snapshot from down the not-so-distant memory lane.

ahh yes, the end of sweltering july. hot days for even hotter bureaucracy! a tote-bag to go to all of your government offices and keep your documents in tip-top shape! sunnies to keep you cool on that walk up the parking lot of the financial bureau! 

as much as i love summer (and oh, i do), the past week has been so refreshing, cool and rainy. we spent the last hot summer day at the edge of the malše river reading our books, one eye on the dog as he ran around the banks and chewed on sticks.

then, sweet delicious rain. it kind of crushed the spirit of the annual ‘end of summer’ block party, normally known for its wonderful temperatures, perfect for sipping mojitos on the lawn, it did lend a nice sort of autumnal character to last weekend.

we spent a slow sunday at our friends’ house, hiding from the rain snacking on freshly-baked apple bread pudding and swilling fresh apple juice -- it’s “apple time” right now! see how they’re just dripping off of the trees? we took a rainy walk with the dogs and became the recipients of far too many goodies. i am so excited about all the sage and lemon balm and all the things i’m going to make with them this season. currently, drinking the lemon balm as a tea which tastes fantastic.

the weekend was also a perfect time for the first great british bake off bake along of the year! some of you may recall how i participated in this ten(ish) week baking challenge three years ago. i needed exactly three years to recover from that, but now i’m ready to give it a go again and bake along with the program. i hope some of you will participate too! if you are, please let me know and i will definitely pop over and take a look at your bake!

week one is “biscuit” (aka cookie) week and i chose the signature challenge, to bake a british region-specific biscuit. naturally, to celebrate exactly six years since we stepped off the plane in glasgow, scotland, i had to choose a scottish shortbread. to properly send off the summer and as a nod to our holiday in provence this year, i chose to flavor the biscuit with lavender flowers and homemade lavender syrup. 

i noticed, as i loosely followed jamie oliver’s recipe for shortbread that he gave a warning: “go easy with the flavoring - a little goes a long way with shortbread”. i guess you got to hand it to that guy, but he was right. i added about two tablespoons chopped lavender flowers, and it could be that i’ve just had way too much lavender nibbles this year, but it was too much for me. it really could’ve done with just one tablespoon. but still -- if you love lavender, you’d really love these!

when all’s said and done, i wish i had chosen something slightly more complicated and used more adventurous flavors, but that’s what the following weeks are for, i suppose.