Imagining it’s happy hour: chilled white wine (or rosé wine) & smooth red wine are awaiting their destiny, gin tonics & vodka tonics are mixed or whatever else – in the very middle of all the drinks sits a plate w/ crispy crumbly cheesy spicy shortbread cookies … We’re only mixing flour, Parmesan, pepper & salt … & dried rosemary! So far nothing changed compared to my earlier approach … however, I used grated Parmesan…
We are now in Sérignan, in the Département Hérault. We left Carcassonne end of April to continue our travels in Southern France somewhat more eastward approaching the Mediterranean coast. Sérignan is a lovely village with a rather old centre characteristically proud of a central place and lots of narrow alleyways, small and high village townhouses … Around this centre there is a belt of modern houses, more spacious, more gardens … As you see the…
So we start w/ a bunch of beautiful fresh green beans … (no changes so far!) The main point I adjusted the salad was not creating my very own tuna cream, but relying to a cup of rilette de thon which I smoothened w/ some liquid cream. It worked well!
Whenever the weather now in spring is fine – i. e. blue sky & lots of sunshine – my better half & I like to make a short trip to an interesting spot near our home in Carcassonne. Unfortunately the weather is very shifting – from a fine day to a day filled w/ storm & rain showers overnight. There are lots of spot worthwhile to be visited around us especially lots of castles, churches,…
We made a trip (resp. some trips) to Toulouse from Carcassonne. It’s quite easy: take a SNCF train to cover the distance of about 100 km within 42 min. So you are transferred from downtown Carcassonne (i. e. La Bastide) to downtown Toulouse. One of the striking features of Toulouse is La Garonne flowing mightily, but smooth like a mirror straight through the city. Some impressive bridges control the traffic e. g. the Pont Neuf…
It’s pasta time: we often enjoy pasta dishes because they are so easy to create. I especially like the one pot pasta approach. It’s quite a long time ago that I posted about one pot pasta tomato, but it’s one of my favourites, although I adjusted the dish a touch. Back then I thought about my approach as the mother of all Italian pasta dishes. Generally we are talking about: Is there anybody out there…
Leaving „Megalopolis“ Bangkok we entered Cambodia & stayed in Siem Reap, the city near the Angkor area where you’ll find the largest religious site worldwide surrounded by lots of temples … ruins … more ruins … Sometimes we felt like diving into an archaeological adventure – well: not like Indiana Jones of course, but there were some sites & moments … Compared to Bangkok’s golden Buddhas there are only Buddhas made of stone in Angkor…
Bangkok – a megalopolis: people, traffic, business, shopping… & lots of temples! Visiting Bangkok on our trip to & from Cambodia in 2017 left us awestruck concerning the beauty & the splendour of Buddha’s temples. Our main impression: there are golden Buddhas – everywhere! These long rows of Buddha statues reside in Wat Pho lining the walls around a courtyard around a temple.
Happy hour is on the agenda … what about some homemade salmon paté? I found this easy approach to salmon paté years ago, worked then with the ingredients available at the moment in my kitchen … & we had a delicious happy hour snack! So for now I decided to do just the same once again – adjusting the recipe to what I had in my kitchen … Simply it’s just some cooked salmon w/…
About mid of March when returning to Southern France from a short trip to Germany we made a stopover in Lyon. We had a whole Sunday for discovering Lyon resp. a small part of it. We stayed in a hotel near the main station, Lyon-Perrache, which is located on the peninsula between La Saône and Le Rhône. We didn’t walk southbound towards La Confluence, a modern and stylish quarter (as I read …), where La…
We are still in Southern France in the region of Carcassonne … Saissac means – first of all – Le Château de Saissac resp. the medieval fortifications i. e. the ruins of it. (You may walk the site – unfortunately we went on a weekday when it was closed.) The ruins are surrounded by a village as ancient as the site – and furthermore there are some sorts of more modern suburban areas (which we…
We made a day trip to Narbonne. (To be honest: we made 2 day trips to Narbonne during the last weeks … there’s quite a lot to see & to visit or just to relax at the Canale de la Robine.) The main landmarks are the unfinished cathedral Saint-Just et Saint-Pasteur and the adjoining Palace of the Archbishop. From the channel you’ll only get a view of the towers. Another very interesting landmark is the…
Some years ago I posted a Shakshuka recipe – I think it’s time & appropriate to renew the post & add some simplifications fitting into our present-day life. Back then I stated: Shakshuka is everywhere!Then Shakshuka was some sort of It-meal because it seemed that any food blogger had just stumbled across Shakshuka. Then I created some Shakshuka from the scratch – today I live w/ some simplifications. Both versions will be found in this…
We made a trip to Saint-Hilaire, a former abbey near Carcassonne, managed by Benedictines. The earliest documentary evidence dates back to 825 – so we are again in the era of Charlemagne. Today there are no more monks or nuns – the buildings including the chapel, however, are restored and may be visited. Inside there is a beautiful fountain where a bunch of pigeons enjoy their bath in the sun. Coming now to the real…
Le Lac (the lake) and Le Boudin (black pudding): where is the connection?There isn’t any. On a rather cold day in February we went to Lac de Montagnès in Southern France in La Montagne Noir, the most southern part of the Massif Central. The sky was blue, the sun was brilliant, only the temperature was rather low. We were at about 600-800 m & some snow had survived here and there – not only on…