360. Tomato-Centred Carrot Star

I met with some friends to work on a project - but before we got started we had a lenghty brunch, including these carrots and tomato:

351. Bone Cracker Star

Um, no, I didn't break any bones. But on my wild quest of creating new food and recreating food that I found elsewhere, I made these little guys today:

I can't help it, they really do look like bones...

349. Remade Fruit Gum Star

Yesterday, my friend gave me this absolutely smashing examplar of fruit gum:

I really wanted to somehow incorporate it in a project, the only problem was: it was already a star...

So, today, I dissembled it and then reassembled it to make a different star:

345. Kunitzer Eierkuchen Star

I missed another day, so I used a star from today as I made several:

Once a year, the little village nearby (which is actually part of the town but every now and then they feel quite independent...) holds a little 'pancake festival'. The women there have a very traditional and very secret way of preparing pancakes, and on this one particular day they will stand in a screened kitchen area outside (so no one may spy on their secret methods) and bake hundreds and hundreds of those for visitors. You order your pancake, you get a number, and you wait for about 2 hours... It's madness really! But they are special, no doubt. They don't look like your ordinary pancake at all, and apparently they are deep-fried... But the insides taste like pancake - with lots and lots of eggs. :D

 There's no way anyone will ever tell me how they are made. But maybe, one day, I'll find a way to recreate them...

337. Almond-Milk-Pudding Star

Finally, this is the actual star for today:

Yes, I know, it looks somewhat disgusting... But don't judge a star by its... well... consistency. It was my first shot at almond milk pudding and it tasted rather delicious. Plus, it's very easy to eat with just one side of the mouth. I'll try to work on the appearance next time.

332. Fig Star on Fennel

Star-making has never been as irregular as over the past five days... But anyway, here they come:

A very delicious salad with fennel, figs, raisins, and cream:

322. Sourdough Bread Star

Okay, after so many late stars and catching up, this one was actually made early - meaning: yesterday. But it was such a great opportunity I couldn't let it pass:

This bread did not only get a star for decoration, it actually became my star of self-made bread so far: My very first real sourdough bread (I cultivated my own little sourdough starter baby :D) and it turned out fantastic!

321. Bell Pepper Star

Today was easy: When making my salad for lunch today, the bell pepper strips almost automatically formed a star - I helped only a little:

307. Watermelon Star

A little while ago, my friend Xin sent me a picture of a watermelon carving she had found on the web, suggesting I might make a star like that. So, here it is:

289. Star Quiche

Weeeelllll.... Yes, food.... Honestly, cooking and baking ist just so much more fun at the moment than making stars. So, all I can do to keep these stars going is to combine them with my current food obsession:

A friend camy by for lunch today, and we threw together a truly delicious quiche with goat cheese and lots of fresh herbs:

 

The star was better visible before it went into the oven:

287. Eglish Star Gum

To tell the truth, I am not a huge fan of wine gums. However, the first kind I discovered that I really liked and that didn't make my teeth ache right away were the original English wine gums - delicious!

A few days ago, I bought a package of those (German manufacturer, though...) and they're almost gone by now. I only just managed to find one of every colour:

286. Star Bread Reprise

Did I mention I'm out of energy here? The stars have been running on reserve for the past few weeks and no change in sight so far... Yesterday, I happened to make some stars when I meant to bake bread and I had too much dough for my small loaf pan. So I used my two little star-shaped moulds to make rolls.

I have done that before...

But due to a lack of energy and better ideas, I have to swallow my first pill of meaningless repetition. (There has been repetition before, but that was for important reasons...) - By the way: I could have gone for a different mould which I think I have not yet used on this project... But that's just how my brain works these days, I suppose...

And above all, I forgot to take a picture before I took a bite. So, here is the star hiding its mutilation at the side of a bowl of soup (plus some rather delicious self-made ginger butter):

284. Star on Toast

It's very rare that I have plain toast around - usually only if I need it for a special recipe. So I took this chance to have some personalised toast with my salad today:

282. Icing Sugar Star

Yep, a lot of baking lately:

280. Star-Cut Sausage

Last night, a friend had invited me over along with some others to eat Chinese hot pot. What a feast! I don't think I've ever had such a huge variety of hitherto unknown food in one night! Probably the most ordinary ingredient were those tiny sausages - cut on one end to pop open in a funny, flower-like way. I added some more cuts to mine and after a minute in the boiling water recieved something resembling a star enough to let it count:

 

I tried to compile a list of everything we threw in there, but I can raise no claims to completeness:

 

Surimi, shrimps, pork, bacon, meat balls, mini sausages, shiitake mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, cloud ear fungus, radish, potatoes, purple sweet potatoes, tofu, tofu skin, tofu bamboo, crisp tofu balls, rice cake slices, Chinese cabbage, iceberg lettuce, flat crystal noodles…

That might have been it…

It’s all cooked in water spiced with a rather hot (for Germans at least...) paste, tomatoes, and ginger. Then it’s dipped into a fantastic kind of sesame sauce before eaten.

 

It's like the ultimate fondue. I love this! :D

 

278. Berry Star Tartelet

What is it with those baked stars lately? They don't seem to want to last...

This time, however, I had taken precautions:

275. (Faded) Bread Crust Star

Oh dear, today's star has somewhat disappeared...

Well, if you know it's supposed to be there, you might still be able to see it...

I cut a star into the top of the loaf of this "German potato bread" before baking and the bread was supposed to crack open, but it didn't. Still, I made the star (even though it didn't last until after the baking and I forgot to take a picture before) so it counts. :)

265. Coffee-Cocoa Star

Looking at the number in the title, I have exactly 100 stars left to make. I wanted to do something special today to honour the occasion, but once again I returned home tired and uncreative... So, here is an attempt for a star I made on my coffee this morning using cocoa powder:

Perhaps I can still get myself to make something special tomorrow...

257. Sandwich Biscuit Star

You know how there are different ways to eat a sandwich biscuit? Well, I just discovered that my typical way tends to create a star-like shape...

The picture is still on my friends phone, I'll post it later. For now, you may try to figure out what I did, shouldn't be too hard. ;)

Update: Almost forgot about the picture...

 

255. Cantuccini Star

Again, late at night I remembered and used what I had in front of me right then: