Tag: food

Palačinky Saves The Day

Published on by Grace10 Comments

It was a little bit rainy today, so Jakub and I stayed indoors through most of the day.  Since it’s Thursday, and we normally do shopping on Fridays, the food supply in our household was quite depleted.  He already ate up his favorite snack.  Thus, supermama had to make something for this picky little eater.    I checked out the cupboard to see what I have and was lucky to find that I had flour, milk and eggs –  the main ingredients for palačinky.

my palacinky

Out of all the Czech foods I’ve ever tried to make, palačinky is my favorite.  Not only is it very easy to make but it is also very flexible.  Palačinky is a thin pancake very similar to French crepes.  It is very popular in Czech and almost every housewife knows how to make it.    Palačinky is normally eaten with jam/jelly as a filling.  It can also be made fancier with whipped cream on the side and chocolate syrup drizzled all over it.  It can even be made as a main course when it is stuffed with meat and veggies.  But the best palačinky variation I’ve ever seen was at my in-law’s house where it was made as a birthday cake.  I thought that was pretty innovative.

Birthday cake made out of palacinky

It was very simple yet delish.  I would never have thought to make it for that purpose.

So, to appreciate this awesome food even more, I am sharing here my Palačinky recipe:

Ingredients:

2 eggs

200g flour

400ml milk

pinch of salt

Procedure:  Mix all the ingredients together.  Pre-heat a cooking pan. Add a little bit of oil to prevent the dough from sticking to the pan.   (If you are using a non-stick pan, there is no need to add oil.)  Take 4-5 tablespoons of the mixture and spread evenly on the pan.  Turn when the sides turn brown.

Yield: 10-15

Whatever the occasion, whether it is a simple afternoon snack, a main course or a party, rest assured that palačinky will always save the day.

Czech the Choco

Published on by Grace1 Comment

I am a chocoholic.   If there’s anything I love as much as rice, it’s chocolate.  Before coming to Czech we had to drop by Belgium, so I had a good dose of Belgian chocolates while we were there.

Now that we are here in CZ, I decided to try the local brands.  So this is what you will find in our cupboard.

Yes, I am a big Milka fan.  I think it’s one, if not the best, chocolate here in CZ.

And here’s one that’s purely local —as in Kolin local.  It is a chocolate for diabetics though, but it doesn’t taste too bad.  It’s good for dieters too.

When I used to work at Hostess, I thought I was in heaven when during the plant tour I saw the chocolate fountain used to enrobe the baked goods.    I thought to myself, “so I get to taste that everyday?  pure awesomeness!”   They told me I will get tired of it after some time.  But in my case, it’s not really true.  To this day, I still miss having to do daily product scoring with our chocolate hohos.

Wafers, Anyone?

Published on by Grace5 Comments

When it comes to food, the Czechs are never outdone in terms of flavor.  Among all the dishes I’ve tasted, there is not one dish that I didn’t like.  But I would say that their best specialty is in baked goods.    I love their cakes, pastries and biscuits.  However, this good flavor comes with a price — a good load of calories.

One weekend, my boys and I were taking our afternoon coffee and it was then when I realized how much calories those good stuff contain.  Take for example this tiny wafer, which is almost the size of a quarter, has a whopping  200 calorie load.  They come 5 in a pack.    Two packs of this and I’m done with my calorie requirement for the day.

"sinful" delight

When I was in California, I was working for the top producer of baked goods.  No bias, but we/they do make the best baked goods in America.  Hoho, one of our/their top-selling line, has 330 calories in a pack.  Size wise, the cake is twice the size of this cookie.  We almost got crucified for making a product that is loaded with too many calories.    Back there, never mind the taste.  It is the calorie count that matters.

Albeit now that I am here,  counting calories is not one of the things I consciously do.  When cooking or baking,  flavor is all that matters  ….  no wonder I am not losing weight.