Salt And Rosemary Crusted Potatoes

Potatoes are a standard dish that I usually don't follow a recipe for and just cut them up put salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic and whatever else I feel like at the moment and let them sit in the oven for a while. But I have been wanting to make this standard dish into something more enjoyable and these potatoes are truly amazing. They turned out so soft in the middle but perfectly crunchy on the outside. 

See the recipe bellow...

  

Salt and rosemary crusted potatoes:
serves 6

• 6 large or medium sized potatoes
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 c. kosher salt
• 2 Tbsp. chopped rosemary
• butter for serving

Preheat the oven to 200° C (400° F). Scrub the potatoes clean and dry them with paper towel. Pierce the potatoes several times and brush with olive oil. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.

Combine salt and rosemary into a medium bowl, roll potatoes in mixture to create crust. After rolling all the potatoes in the mixture use the extra mixture to create six mounds on the lined baking sheet. Place each potato on a mound of the mixture. 

Bake for 1-11/2 hours depending on the size of the potatoes. Test with a skewer to make sure they are baked through, being careful not to damage the crust. 

Serve hot with a dollop of butter in the middle. 

Lessons from the Dutch

Cute typical Dutch home

Just as the year started my husband and I went to the countryside of The Netherlands for three months. We did a discipleship training school in the fields near a little village called Epe. It was a wonderful experience for us individually and as a couple. The Netherlands is a wonderful place, the people are super friendly and the country is beautiful and so peaceful. One of the many things I learned while living there is that the Dutch are super creative and warm people. They have this word "gezellig" (pronanouced ha-ze-lek) which really describes a lot about their culture. It means so many things and does not have an exact translation in English but it can mean cozy, quaint, a nice atmosphere, a good and warm feeling, a good time spent with loved ones or a feeling of general togetherness. I love this word. You can feel this "gezellig" atmosphere when you are with the Dutch. Their homes are always so cozy, they make sure that any space they are sitting in will have this feeling of coziness and warmth. They will turn on a bunch of candles, serve you tea and coffee with cute cookies and have wonderful home decor. Overall it is such gives such a wonderful feeling. I was inspired to have this atmosphere in my home as well. Now that we finally have our own apartment again I can't wait to create a "gezellig" feeling. 

Loved biking everywhere

Wind mill where we bought fresh flour!

The lanterns!

Beautiful countryside

And I'm back.

Hi there, it has been forever since my last post and I have missed blogging terribly! The last eight months took me through an amazing journey. I have gone through so many different experiences: traveling, learning, sharing, giving, receiving, teaching, helping and so much more. I can't even start to express in words all that I have been through but I can say it has been an incredible time. We are back in Israel and are happy to get back into a stable life and a home. I would love to share some of my journey and what I learned through it and continue to share inspiration!

Peanut Butter Cookies

What can be better than chewy soft peanut butter cookie? This is diffidently the cookie I make for comfort. I made these before we left Israel and I wish I could have one right now! It is the taste of home. Max loves peanut butter (I'm sure he is addicted) so these were a huge hit. This recipe is really easy and the cookies are so comforting. I love mine plain and simple but I also make some for Max and my family with dark chocolate chunks and some with white chocolate chunks. All the variations turned out great. I used this recipe from A Cup of Jo. I divided the dough into three and added dark chocolate chunks to one third, white chocolate chunks to one third and the rest I did plain. 

Chopped

I am falling in love with shoulder length hair! Four years ago I started to grow out my hair and since then have not had short hair. I love my long hair, but I really feel like having a change. So I have been looking for inspiration for my next cut. I think I would be doing one of these four cuts. Which one is your favorite? I love them all!! 

New Season

Sorry for the long time between my last post. It has been a crazy busy time!! Getting ready to leave for Holland, our first week here and getting used to everything! We are so excited to be here! We have has a wonderful first week here, getting to know our team and the area around here. It is so beautiful here, everything is so green and natural! We love it so far.

I am really hoping to be able to keep blogging in this new season in life. We have a really busy schedule, but hopefully I will be able to update the blog. So please forgive me beforehand if I have long times of silence in between posts!

xoxo

Happy first weekend of 2014!

This week has been very eventful! Last day at work, New Years, my brothers birthday and getting ready to leave! I feel so blessed! We still have some things to get and we have to pack but its come up really quickly! We are really excited for this new year and all the wonderful new things it will bring along with it. I hope you all had a wonderful start to your year! We are hoping to finish getting ready this weekend and enjoy our time with family and friends.

Some links I enjoyed...

Loved this video about the power of empathy

I want to try these overnight cinnamon buns

Great rules for getting you eyebrows in shape

19 signs you are doing better than you thing

A beautiful photography series called Flamboya, portraying Africa 

Love this free printable calendar 

Cheesy garlic pull apart bread looks amazing

Ten free apps that will make your life easier

Hope you have a great one 

Image via: Madewell