travelling

… travelling 2023 …

The South … The Mediterranean Sea … (Photo above: Sérignan Plage) Last year, end of December my better half and me started a long trip into the South i. e. Southern France and Northern Spain. We had shut down our house (a rented spot) and packed everything in a big container to chill in a storage facility (of course after having cleaned up the spot where we lived for more than 20 years – try…

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savoury delights soups

basic beef broth – basic soup!

Let’s proceed to the next basic cooking event: a beef broth & some ideas on simple consommé … or light soups … just a bowl filled w/ hot broth & some vegetables you’d like for a weeknight snack! Why do I keep myself busy w/ producing a beef broth? In general I’d rely on my trusted food store where there are different ready-to-use stocks (available as beef, chicken, duck, lamb, vegetable …) … I’d grab…

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sweet delights

ice age – outdoors & indoors!

It’s pre-Xmas season & the temperatures drop – we even already had some snowflakes (lasting for about 6 h!). Time to think about some pre-Xmas & Xmas treats … I decided on the spur of the moment to create a combined winter-pre-Xmas&Xmas ice-cream! I imagined some vanilla white ice-cream w/ specks of dark chocolate, w/ the nutty flavour of roasted almonds & orange aroma … no cinnamon, no nutmeg, no cloves, no coriander, no gingerbread…

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sweet delights

it’s just bread & butter, milk & eggs

I came across this simple treat years ago when watching Jamie Oliver in one of his early TV shows: Panettone in a bread & butter pudding provides a flavorful basis loaded with raisins & candied lemons & candied oranges  – so you only need to add eggs & milk & … I started w/ a medium size panettone of about 500 g bought in my trusted food store. At first I thought about using the whole…

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travelling

sur le pont …

This is the famous Le Pont d’Avignon – although the original name is Le Pont Saint-Bénézet. Also originally the bridge crossed 2 arms of Le Rhône and a small island in between – today only 4 of 22 arches are left. The bridge ends at the fortification wall – still complete – encircling Old Town Avignon at one of the gates heavily guarded in the past. The walled city is undisturbed disregard any new buildings resp.…

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savoury delights

the long story of hummus & me

It was on a birthday party night when I tried hummus for the very 1st time … everybody seemed enthralled by hummus, the new star of dip paradise. Well, hmmm … I wasn’t fond of hummus at all. It was tasteless & mealy. Okay: it was many years ago … the hummus era had just started. I always give any innovations in food universe a 2nd go – or even a 3rd go, or a…

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travelling

looking back … ubud & serenity 2019

As you already know my better half & I stayed in Bali for about 3 weeks. We made our home aka base of operations in Ubud. The photo above shows the view from our terrace. … & below there is a view of Ubud’s street life: scooters, cars, more scooters, lost tourists on narrow foot-walks … Well … I estimate that there are at least 5 – 10 scooters per car. Ubud: what is all…

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salads savoury delights

green peas & green spinach leaves

It’s mid of November: all over the internet food blogs indulge in Xmas cookies, Xmas cakes, Xmas whatever – Xmas dinner suggestions didn’t surface until now. I’m not so ready for this Xmas business at the moment … I think some fresh & easy to prepare weeknight dinner is also appropriate. I also didn’t start any Xmas baking so far. I’m not in Xmas mood so early in November – although everywhere in food stores…

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travelling

looking back … bali & its temples 2019

In October 2019 we went for 3 weeks to Bali & enjoyed each day of our holiday. We stayed near Ubud in a gorgeous small resort & started day trips all over the island from our basecamp. We visited temples & even more temples & rice terraces & beaches & of course Ubud … It was a holiday for relaxing & chilling out nevertheless fully packed exploring Bali’s culture. Most impressive? I think Bali’s temples…

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savoury delights soups

next try: pumpkin soup

All started w/ a pumpkin, a superb Hokkaido. (As you might know by now Hokkaido is my favorite pumpkin – next comes butternut.) In my trusted food store I got a Hokkaido of 1600 g which resulted in 1350 g after trimming & scraping out the seeds & the soft mess. What to do w/ such a lot of pumpkin? For a start I decided to bake the Hokkaido in my oven – only w/ some…

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travelling

la sagrada família – under construction …

When living in Castelldefels we liked to got to Barcelona – as you already know. It’s only about 30 min by suburban train into the heart of Barcelona … and some minutes more on a metropolitan train to La Sagrada Família, this monumental modern basilica. It’s impressive – simply impressive! I’ve seen lost of cathedrals & basilicas – maybe I’m somewhat obsessed with these constructions. Most of them going back to the Middle Ages, always…

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savoury delights

finocchio’s mess

One of my favorite blogs some years ago created a blog category called THE SHITS I EAT WHEN BY MYSELF. (Here she presents all the recipes she cooks fast & easy for herself when hungry, feeling cold, feeling alone, distressed, stressed out …) When doing this fennel mess for the umpteenth time I realized that this is a candidate for such a category – if I ever had such a category! What is it about?It’s…

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travelling

from the augustan temple to the cathedral

Voilà – the cathedral of Tarragona, a monumental building! When taking this photo I was on top of the ancient wall erected by the Romans near the Circus Maximus of Tarragona. When walking in Old Town Tarragona and beyond you’ll find quite a lot of relics of the Roman age sprinkled all over the city. Our visit to Tarragona started with walking into Old Town to the cathedral. It was one of these very hot…

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savoury delights soups

sauerkraut soup

Ever tried a sauerkraut soup? Years ago I got myself involved in a moving adventure. It was some affair like starting in the 4th floor of an apartment house & ending up in the 3rd floor of another apartment house w/ lots of boxes, however, only few standard moving boxes, lots of baskets, suitcases etc. I assume all of you know what I’m talking about! (No lifts!!!) Then … suddenly in the mid of all hauling…

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