It’s alive!!!! (and studying)
Still here, but silent and jealously reading the blogs of all the peeps who have been to the Foodbuzz festival!
I had my most difficult exam yesterday (or so I hope), so I’ve got a few “minor” ones to learn for now. Tomorrow it’s history and German – oh, joy! (note the sarcasm).
And I’d like to thank all you people out there for voting, it really helps me get a good idea of what you guys want, so I’ll be doing a lot of asking from now on, because after all: I aim to please 
But foodwise, I’ve been slightly frustrated lately, some of my creations just didn’t want to taste good!
Biggest downer was my soup!
Kinda cute with the basil, but nas-TAY!
It was supposed to be an Italian tomato soup, but I got the taste all wrong, it wasn’t sweet enough and nowhere near as tomato-ey as it should have been.
So I went to be comforted by a few good old friends…
Blueberry-banana smoothie – you’ll never fail me <3
But there were more disasters…
I decided to finish off the last few sheets of nori and I had some wakame (other seaweed) in the house, so… I thought: “Why not?” – unfortunately, I soon got the answer to my question.
Les ingredients.
So I decided to put in some cucumber (always good), red bell pepper (also good) and then I decided to get all “creative”, I had leftover failed tomato-kale soup (that disaster was so horrendous, I won’t even go into it) and wakame – yes, the slimy stuff on the pic.
Piled up
Rolled up
They were… BLERGH!
The leftover fail-soup totally overpowered the whole thing with spice and THIS wakame had a really funky taste to it – should have known, it smelt bad, but I decided to use it anyway. The only thing that could save it was wrapping it in another (couple of) layer(s) of nori…
Moral of the story: use bad/failed ingredients and you will create a nasty dish.
But there were some better things the past few days. Like this salad:
Bird’s eye-view of yumminess!
This was a kiwi-orange-spinach salad and it was exactly what my taste buds needed. I tasted something like this, almost a year ago, at someone’s house. It was originally a kiwi-mandarin/tangerine-lettuce salad and I advise all who have not tried this combo to go for it!
Seriously, memorize: Kiwi-Mandarin-Lettuce… very good! (My mom’s tasted it before and she likes to add salt and pepper, but I like it without).
And speaking of my taste buds, I think they’re changing… I don’t really like salty or spicy things anymore. They completely dehydrate me. And it’s very weird to me, cause I used to be all about the garlic/onion/Tabasco and now I’m in a sweet/juicy zone now…
Which can be very handy when you have a wonderful juicer!
The best orange juice I’ve ever had – no kidding!
I hear that it’s persimmon season and I’ve been having a few lately. Here they’re called “Kaki fruit”, so I’m not really sure which variety we have (I thought there were fuyu persimmons and uhm, another kind…).
But my issue with them, is that I don’t think the ones we have are ripe. I tasted one, with the skin and it made my mouth feel like I had just eaten a spoon of flour :S – anyone experience that with persimmons?
However, there was a way to fix that: not eating the skin. I peeled them and threw them into the blender and you know what I got?
Persimmon jelly!
This stuff is so good! If you have persimmons, try this! You’ll be amazed. I always had this love/hate relationship with jelly – I loved the juicy/jelly-ish texture but the flavours of commercial jelly’s just never tasted “right” , they were always kind of toxic. So this was like natural jelly 
I don’t eat persimmons often, but I’m all about trying new things. I read, think and act. Which lead to the following…
No she didn’t!
Yes – I did.
I took a bite out of a kiwi with the skin on. Maybe this is not so drastic for all you people over the world (as I have no idea how you eat kiwi’s), but in Holland you NEVER eat the skin of the kiwi. I’ve heard many horror stories (ok, maybe I’m exaggerating) about people who put that hairy ball into their mouth. But I read on Wikipedia, that you can eat the skin and as we all know, Wikipedia is law. But again I thought “Why not?”, but this time the outcome was more positive…
I washed it first, of course, and then I looked at it for a moment and I bit into it (small bite, mind you). It didn’t taste as weird as I thought it would, actually it was pretty “helpful”, in the sense that you didn’t get overwhelmed by the acidity of the kiwi. And apparently, the amount of vitamin C in a kiwi with the skin is 3 times higher than that of a kiwi without the skin – all wonderful bonuses.
Now, for all of you fellow crazy people who have always wondered what it would be like to eat a kiwi with the skin on (I know you’re out there), you’ve read my experience – now go try it out… it’s not that scary/tragic/horrible/traumatising.
And all you giveaway contestants – I’ve sent the packages!
All your goodies, next to my badass South Park Organizer
You should be getting the goods somewhere this week.
I leave you with a few questions:
How do you deal with it when your recipes fail?
I go have something that I know will be tasty (like my smoothies)
Have you ever had persimmons? Do you like them?
I like them, unless they taste like flour :S
Have your taste buds ever done a 180 on you?
Now, I don’t like salty/spicy things anymore! :O
And a few non-food related things:
Do you have a professional camera?
I’ve been thinking about buying one, cause those pics always seem so much better. But maybe it’s a matter of skill and not equipment…
How many minutes/hours do you spend blogging?
I spend a good hour or so writing/editing my posts and then some more commenting/reading.
Now I’ve got to go study for 5 more tests. Wish me luck.
Love,
Tina
A blog about the healthy, simple and delicious raw vegan food in the busy life of a would-be globetrotter. 
I also tried eating kiwis with the skin on thanks to foodblogs… I like them more that way. But people are really shocked if they spot you doing it!
Ate a persimmon yesterday, what a coincidence;) I did eat the skin but had to leave it for about a week after I bought it because it just wouldn’t get soft. A good persimmon has more of a ‘peach’ bite than an ‘apple’ bite.
Good luck with your exams!
Love,
Dame Noire
One whole week!?
Ok… no wonder my first few persimmons tasted like a ball of flour
xx
Ahh sorry about the not so great eats.. I hate when that happens!!
And yay for the packages!! Haha I see mine on the very top
You’re so sweet for doing this!!
And GOOD LUCK with studying!!
Thank you
and I’m glad to send you the present, can’t wait till you get it!
I had a failed soup recently as well. It crushed my confidence until I made another soup that was delectable a few days later. But I did end up throwing the first soup away, which I felt bad about.
I like persimmons, but you must let them ripen for a long time. Like, weeks sometimes.
My tastes have totally changed. I used to not like so many foods, but since becoming vegan I’m willing to try any food, so long as its vegan, which has really opened up my taste preferences.
I have an olympus 8 gig point and shoot digital camera. Not professional, but it goes underwater! Plus, I’m not blogging at the moment, so its good enough for me. After thanksgiving I’m thinking of starting a new blog, so we’ll see if my photographic needs change.
Weeks?!… again: omfg 0_0, I had no clue.
I hope to soon also have a soup-succes-story like you
and if you do start blogging again don’t forget to update me on it. Your presence in the blogosphere is much appreciated as commenter, reader and/or blogger 
Hi, Tina! I AM alive and blogging again, but we’ll see where this goes–life is crazy stressful as you know. Good luck with all of your exams!! I definitely feel you girl, believe me!
Your meals/snacks look so good, especially the kiwi/orange salad! I will have to try that soon now that I’m not afraid of fruit haha…I don’t even know how that happened–it’s so delicious, refreshing, and good for you!
Well, I await your next post. I hope you are doing well, Dear
<3 Sarah A.
Thanks so much Sarah!
I certainly know how much a fruit-lover like you can appreciate these eats
The support is much appreciated here at the studying front!
xx
I love love love persimmons! Yummy
I spend about an hour on a post and probably another hour or two commenting per day.
Good luck on your tests!
don’t even tell me you like southpark – just when I thought I couldn’t love you any more! I am OBSESSED! in fact, I have seasons 1-7. Me and Ginge watch it ALL THE TIME! dare I ask, what’s your favorite episode?
I try to salvage failed recipes by tweaking them, unless it’s horrible…then I treat it as a learning experience and prepare something else.
I L-O-V-E persimmons, but they have to be perfectly ripened or you will get the chalky sensation from the tannin.
My tastebuds have definitely shifted over the last couple years. I prefer mild, sweet flavors.
I do not have a professional camera, but have often wanted one.
I spend 1-2 hours at the minimum in blog land each day.
ahhhh i missed a couple posts – soooo sorry! i have to say, i do NOT like eating the kiwi with the skin on. the hairiness does not bode well for me.
i want a professional camera too. however, i suppose a girl has to have priorities and student loans are one of them.
persimmons…i keep seeing these. may have to investigate and try
linked back to your award – loves ya girl. have a good day!
Just came across your blog ~~
I just bought a box of persimmons! I have yet to try them…I’ll let you know
I like the idea of puree them! And love your smoothies
When I mess up a recipe, well…I wash every single trace of it. Otherwise, my mom will yell something like ”Oh stop wasting food, never go in the kitchen again, blablabla”…
Have a nice weekend!
Vanilla
Haha
I know exactly what you mean!
My parents are like that too (but they seem to temporarily forget their non-wasting ethics when throwing away pizza-leftovers themselves)
Thanks for stopping by