The Italians invented aperitivo. When staying in Milan as well as in Rome some years ago we were happy about aperitivo. It starts in late afternoon & let you have some wine or Spritz or cocktails together w/ a selection of savory bits & bites usually presented as a buffet. Until early evening you may indulge in drinks & food … You get prosciutto, salame, green & black olives, marinated vegetables, small tramezzini, pizza bits, salads ……
Is there any surprise in a potato salad? Yes: you may add Mediterranean herbs for a delicious summer & holiday flavour … Some years ago I made this potato salad rather spontaneously because suddenly all the rainy weather in Germany cleared up & sun came back w/ fine temperatures fit for some last BBQ events in the garden. … & a real bit potato salad is always one of the best companions around (together w/…
We are still in the South – now in Northern Spain near Barcelona. It’s summer & it’s hot. So all we need for dinner is a pasta dish … Did I ever mention that we are true pasta lovers? All’ ammiraglio … Let this melt on your tongue! We are dealing w/ a very simple & very easy spaghetti dish – quick & dirty! … it looks so innocent! Be careful: it’s really hot &…
We are still in the south aka Mediterranean area … now in Northern Spain. So I made an approach to a vegetable casserole filled w/ Mediterranean vegetables – a simple dish you may prepare anytime & everywhere – as I did some years ago for the 1st time. So let’s start … Suppose you need a batch of vegetables for a roast or a BBQ or whatever. How to prepare it w/o too much trouble…
In the south – we are now in Northern Spain … & when roaming on my blog I found this recipe which I adapted somewhat for a dinner. (I worked w/ tortellini, Spanish bacon, white onions … & it was fine!) However, let’s start w/ a streamlined version of the original recipe! My very 1st encounter w/ one-pot-pasta: my better half & I got a food & wine basket as a present from friends containing…
When we started our trip to Southern France, end of 2022, we made a stop-over in Montpellier. If you like details: we arrived in the afternoon of 30th of December, stayed in Montpellier for New Year’s Eve and restarted to Carcassone on 1st of January. I remember that it was rather cold and rainy … except of New Year’s Day when suddenly the sun appeared on a blue sky. We then enjoyed a lazy coffee…
My standard information nowadays … We are still in Southern France resp. Northern Spain … It is hot, really hot … & for dinner it’s most of the days a cold affair: fresh bread, ham, cheese … & some dip (or more than a single dip!). So I remembered my aubergine dip … In the past: Aubergines (aka eggplant) & I – we did never become close friends. I’m fond of beautiful aubergines, but coming…
We are still in Southern France – and sometimes I reinvent a recipe from my blog. This time … Do you imagine that in Southern France there are lots of types of frying sausages? Honestly, I was surprised at the variety. There are thin sausages, thick sausages, short & longer than a meter … also gentle seasoned as well as really hot – and all spicy variations in between. So we often bought some sausages…
As I start usually these days … we are still in Southern France. However, we moved from Carcassonne to Sérignan meaning from Languedoc into Hérault approaching also the Mediterranean coast. For statistics: Carcassone is a town of about 47.000 inhabitants while Sérignan has got about 8.000 people i. e. a village. So now we are living in a small townhouse near the centre of the village – and enjoy the daily noisette resp. glass of…
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…
We are in Southern France, living for 4 months in a small house in Carcassonne. As I told you already: the kitchen is small & the kitchen equipment is limited. So cooking is somewhat of a challenge … However, what fits is Shakshuka. … & you may prepare it for breakfast as well as for dinner! (We almost never have lunch here, but of course it’s also a delicious simple lunch!) Some years ago I…
I wrote about this tomato tart some years ago … & in the meantime I made a lot of tarts similar to this very 1st approach. So now I like to re-write the recipe based on my experiences so far. Additionally … at the moment I like quick & dirty (aka easy!) dishes for my life in Southern France. One of my experiences is – at the moment – that a small kitchen w/ a…
Back now from Belgium for about 3 weeks & entangled in preparing the planned move. Did I mention that we lived in our house for about 20 years … a spacious house … enabling us to fill it w/ furniture, framed pictures, memorabilia, books, DVDs … whatever. We plan systematically – starting w/ a list of all our possessions, small & big … deciding what to do. Is it still ok, working, useful? Do we…
As I already announced – we’re planning to move. The present state of preparation involves a lot of discussing, clearing up, clearing out … So we are busy. Busy often means that cooking & baking get a raw deal. Some days ago I realized that it was about lunch time w/o having prepared anything … What about sandwiches? However, when peering into my fridge some leftover cooked potatoes caught my eye. So I thought: what…
What happened some time ago? My food blog came into life in 2015 – long ago. About 2 years ago or so I realized that there were (too!) many posts w/ lots of photos requiring more & more storage making e. g. updates of the data base somewhat tricky. So I decided to do an internal review resulting in deleting quite a lot of posts & trimming down my blog. (To be honest: when starting…