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It’s Official…!

From Dill to Dracula is becoming a cookbook!

After over two years of hard work, I’m excited to share that From Dill to Dracula: A Romanian Food + Folklore Cookbook will be available in hardcover, paperback, and digital formats this coming Fall (date TBA).

I’ve packed 80 recipes into over 250 bright and colorful pages to whet your appetite and showcase the beauty of Romania’s history, culture, and people.

You guys—I can’t believe it’s finally happening!

Please stay tuned for the cover reveal and more information regarding the release. I can assure you: it’s well-worth the wait.

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Pasta de Cartofi cu Pâine și Zahăr {Romanian Potato Pasta with Bread and Sugar}

Bună băieți. De mult timp, nici un chat!

Hey guys. Long time, no chat!

I know it’s been a while since I’ve blogged. I could say life got in the way (it did), or I haven’t been cooking Romanian foods as often (I haven’t), but really I just didn’t prioritize blogging as much as I should have. I know my blogging schedule was lax to begin with (every/other Monday), but it became really lax, more like every/other half year.

So sorry. I hope to make From Dill to Dracula more of a priority in my life, because this food—and this country—really do fill me with happiness, joy, and warmth, and I still want to share these feelings and recipes with the world.

Guys… I’m back!

This past weekend, my little—but not so little—sister came to visit this past weekend. I like her more and more as we get older. Here we are out for drinks one evening:

Good people 🙂

And she brought with her the request to make this recipe during her visit. As kids, we affectionately called it Noodlies (pronounced: nude-lees), though I can tell you with great confidence that this is not the authentic name, no matter how fun it is to say. Noodlies. Noo-oo-d-lee-ee-ss.

C’mon, you know what I’m talking about.

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Romania Top 5 2017 — A Year in Review

Romania Top 5 2017 — A Year in Review | From Dill To Dracula www.FromDillToDracula.com

via Unsplash

An Nou Fericit!
(Pronounced ahn n-oo fair-e-cheat)

Happy New Year!

It’s 2018! We made it! Congrats to all! (Seriously, we could all use congratulations at this point. Last year was rough). A lot happened in 2017. Not just here in the U.S., but quite a few headlines from Romania reached our shores. Things I didn’t cover, and some things I did.

↓ Here are some of the top five events of 2017 in Romania ↓

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Tortul de Ciocolată din România {Romanian Chocolate Layer Cake}

Hi friends! *waves* This summer has been crazy and, for the majority of it, I haven’t even been home, so From Dill to Dracula has taken a hit. That being said, I have a lot of fun blog posts coming your way, and I’d like to kick it off with a series: My Cousin’s Cookie Collection.

Growing up, us four cousins on my dad’s side each had a cookie recipe named after each other. This recipe was always  called Heather’s Cookies, so named after my eldest cousin. Of course, the downside to this is that  I don’t have an official name for these cookies—lost in years and with age. And even though I’ve tried scouring the internet (and Pinterest) to find the proper name, I’ve come up empty handed.

Because this recipe uses biscuits, the only recipes that tended to come up were similar to my Salam de Biscuiti recipe, but this one is still… different. The addition of coffee (the instant variety) and a layering of cream to biscuit make it more of a cake than a cookie (even though that’s how we referred to them as kids).

Since I couldn’t very well title the recipe Heather’s Cookies, the best descriptor for this recipe I could come up with was Romanian Chocolate Layer Cake, or tortul de ciocolată din România (pronounced tour-tulle day ch-oh-k-oh-lah-tah dean Rome-ah-knee-ah).

This recipe is one of many I received from my grandmother in Romanian, and have since had my mom translate for me. Trying to translate recipes myself hasn’t gone so well in the past. Case in point:

(Shameless plug: If you don’t follow me on Twitter, please do!)

But I digress. It’s time for some food, right?

My husband likened this to a chocolate lasagna mixed with the texture of a tiramisu, and he’s pretty accurate on both counts. The layers of biscuit and cream are a lot like a traditional Italian lasagna, and because the biscuits are so porous, they absorb some of the cream and become soft, cakey bites. Yum! Enough talking. It’s time for some food, right?

Since there are four cousins, this will be the first of four recipes in my Cousin’s Cookies Collection. They’ll be posted in the order of the cousin’s age, so stay tuned for my very own cookies (“Ashley’s Cookies“) next!

↓ Recipe below ↓

—But first, some pretty pictures—

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When You Know, You Know

Header via unsplash.com

Today I’m mixing it up, breaking away from the typical culture or recipe posts here on From Dill To Dracula, though I promise Romania is still the thread that ties it all together.

I never made the official announcement here (though, if you follow my personal Twitter or Facebook, you’ve likely seen the postings): one month ago—today!—I signed with my lovely, dream-come-true agent, Mandy Hubbard (Emerald City Literary Agency), for my debut novel One Thousand Stars That Bind. As I’ve mentioned in other blog posts (like here, here and here), One Thousand Stars That Bind is set in Romania, and I’ve tried my hardest to feature the magic beauty and food (so much food!) the country has to offer. My book was one of the big inspirations for starting this blog, too. Now, I have multiple outlets where I’m able to share my culture with those who aren’t familiar with our little Eastern European country.

In celebration of being with my agent for one month, I wanted to share a blog post I had written soon after hitting send on the email that made our partnership official. I plan on an exclusive first look at One Thousand Stars That Bind right here on From Dill To Dracula soon (with Mandy’s blessing, of course). Promise 🙂

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Bucharest Off The Beaten Path

Image via My Wanderlust

Bucharest holds a special place in my heart, even though I may not remember my time visiting as a child. It’s the capitol city of Romania, featuring the second largest (but heaviest and most expensive) administrative building in the world and is steeped in culture. That’s one of the reasons it’s the setting for my new novel One Thousand Stars That Bind (currently seeking representation). Sure, I may have taken some creative steampunk liberties with the location, but there are parts of Bucharest that stray from what’s expected of Romania—off the beaten path, if you will. Since I won’t be visiting the city for a while I’m lucky to have found Kami at My Wanderlust‘s blog post showcasing this side to Bucharest, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

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{Entertainment} They’re Watching Review

I’m adding a new feature to From Dill To Dracula, which is reviewing forms of entertainment that have been created by or set in Romania. Interestingly enough, so far these tend to be movies of the horror variety, so they may not be everyone’s cup o’ tea. The first one I’m reviewing, in particular, They’re Watching, is more of a campy thriller, which is exactly my kind of horror movie. Think The Evil Dead meets Tucker & Dale vs Evil (also two fantastic movies if you have time).

Before I get into my thoughts, here’s the trailer to get you into the right mindset:

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{Feature} Double Fox Studio – Cluj-Napoca, Romania

via Double Fox Studio

Here’s a fun fact about me: I’m addicted to Etsy. I used to spend way too much at all the pretty shops, but now I tend to “window shop,” if you will, and save things to my never-ending favorites. During one of these bouts of window shopping, I stumbled upon Double Fox Studio, and just had to reach out to its owners Orka and Flavia to see if they’d let me feature their amazing artwork/pottery/jewelry on From Dill To Dracula. Thankfully, they said yes!

↓ Check out their interview and some of my favorite pieces below! ↓

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From The Archives // Mărțișor {Welcoming In Spring}

Martisor / Martisoare | From Dill To Dracula www.FromDillToDracula.com

Hello, and welcome to my first From The Archives post! And it’s a timely one. Last year—not around March, mind you—I couldn’t resist sharing one of my favorite Romanian traditions: the mărțișor. Since we’re now days away from March, I’m excited to re-share this post, and re-introduce this tradition to those who hadn’t seen in the first time.

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you enjoy this sweet spring activity 🙂

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