Happy New Year

Welcome to 2014 everyone. I hope you enjoyed some relaxation with family and friends over the holiday season. We had a bit of a break in the city and then to the coast. For Xmas Jerry gave me a swim with seals and dolphins - it was EXCELLENT.

Dining spanish style....and longing for salads!

Spain isn't the best holiday destination for vegetarians....there is a decided lack of salad or vegetable offerings However, as Jerry's favourite things are meat, cheese and potatoes he was in heaven - although after two weeks of green-free eating even he was feeling nostalgic for some vegetables or salad. Here's a sample of some of our holiday meals.

Apple stuffed with beef and lamb mince - I must try this now we are home as it was delicious. I followed it with cheese and quince paste at Origens in Gracia. We ate here twice and really enjoyed the food, wine and service.

 Tapas for lunch in Barcelona ...again :-)

Tapas Madrid style - croquetas, meats and ceviche, followed by mojitos. But not just any mojito, I ordered the regular one, but we also tried the watermelon and (award winning) banana version. The banana one was the hands down winner. Amazing

 The best chocolate pastry of the whole trip (and I tried a LOT in at least 4 countries!) in Madrid

 Meat and potatoes, Madrid style

 

Relaxing at Alhambra in Granada with tapas: eggplant and honey, and more croquetas

 

More Granada tapas, and finally churros and chocolate...not the healthiest breakfast :-)

Train food

While in Europe we took trains everywhere - far more relaxing and scenic (thanks to the man in seat 61 website for excellent train travel advice). The train from Paris to Barcelona was particularly enjoyable. We left Paris on a Sunday afternoon, so in the morning we went to the local market and bought a fabulous rotisserie free range chicken done with some magic herb mix, baguette (of course), tomatoes and lettuce.  A couple of bottles of wine and there's a perfect late lunch / early dinner while watching the scenery whiz by.

The next train trip long enough for a meal was from Madrid to Granada, a 4 hour trip arriving after 9.30pm so it made sense to pay the extra 20 euro to go first class and get a meal. Menu card and drinks card below. Dinner included an apperitif (cava for me) and a 250ml bottle of wine and three courses plus gazpacho. I wasn't hungry when I finished, and I've certainly had worse meals on airlines. The the little bottles of oil and vinegar for the salad that came around separately was a nice touch.

The most amazing thing about this train trip is that about half way to Granada the train goes from the main high speed line to a regional line - which has a different gauge. No mucking about changing trains though - the train goes through a shed where the undercarriage is adjusted, pop on a new engine and off you go, at an albeit more sedate pace!

I also travelled form Paris to Munich and back on theTGV to see friends - The smoked salmon blini was a bit much to stomach at 9am, but no complaints about the rest of brekkie (croissant, yoghurt and muesli, bread). Dinner on the way back was washed down with a light rose - menu below. This meal was particularly good, again consumed at 300+kph.

I really wish our trains were half...or even a quarter this good!

Brunch of champions

Literally...well, my german isn't fabulous but it translated into something like super healthy and yummy :-)

If you happen to be in Fürstenfeldbruck (near Munich) then I recommend the restaurant, Vierwasser (water view, I'm guessing!)

Normal-ish service will resume soon!

Back from our outrageously long holiday, having had a lovely time catching up with friends and family in Europe. The grass was knee high apparently (THANK YOU to the lovely neighbour that mowed our acre (!!) of grass down to walkable height before we returned) and I almost couldn't find the veg patch under the overgrowth. Time for a radical redesign I think!!

In the meantime, here are some highlights from my week in Paris.

All good breakfasts should involve chocolate.

Goat cheese and bacon "bruscetta" - french style at a cafe just near the Theatre de La Gaite, and fabulous pea patties with a fennel and grapefruit and a beetroot and quinoa salad at Merci (fabulous place with a heart).

After lunches out this is the ideal dinner - baguette, cheese, cheese, more cheese, and some salad for balance (oh, and wine, of course).

Technically not Paris - a fabulous duck salad (breast and gizzard) followed by strawberry tiramisu (delish) on a day trip to Lille. Added bonus for this lunch was the excellent cello player busking about 2m away on the footpath. The other dessert is pain perdu (forgotten bread / french toast) with salt caramel ice cream.

Duck pate and goose pate with champagne jelly, strawberry chutney (must try and make some) and balsamic reduction. Followed by the most expensive chocolate eclair EVER (with gold dust). It was amazing, and I never need to eat another eclair again because it will never be that good. My waistline will be grateful!

 Coffee and macaroons at the Grand daaaahlings...and some of the best frozen yoghurt and blackcurrant icecream ever

 

Ashmolean Dining Room, Oxford

You might know that earlier this year I spent 10 weeks in the UK for work (well, there was a bit of holiday at the beginning!). It was my first time back after 5 years of being home, and it was lovely to see friends and family again (hello friends and family!). I thought for a change of pace I'd do a few posts about my travels to intersperse with the regular gardening/cooking routine.

I spent my last weekend before flying home with my brother-in-law and my soon to be world famous author sister-in-law and my nephews in Oxfordshire. It was glorious, sunny and hot and we had a lovely time. I took myself up to Oxford one day for a last look around and a trip to the Ashmolean. It has been completely renovated since we left, and it's just stunning. There's so much light, and I love the interior use of glass - the exhibits have great new displays and the interpretive info is extremely good too.

To top off the decadence of a hot sunny day in Oxford (it got to 30) I treated myself to lunch at the Ashmolean Dining Room, on the top floor of the museum. Fortunately there was a table just inside the door so I could look out on the roof terrace and the view, but still be in the shade, and enjoy the breeze.

Some lovely sourdough bread with olive oil and butter to enjoy with a glass of wine while I was waiting for my char-grilled octopus with rocket and parmesan salad to arrive. Delicious and tender, and just perfect for a summer day.

But it is the dessert that I remember with the most fondness. A to-die-for strawberry and vanilla custard tart. I would love to find a recipe to reproduce it - the custard in particular which almost had the consistency of whipped cream - gloopy but without the gelatin-y "stodginess" that this kind of custard can have. Flecked with vanilla bean, it was the perfect foil for the strawberries. The pastry was light and almost flaky. I'm almost drooling just remembering how tasty it was!

Spring Holidays Part 2 - Wanderers Lodge

After our lovely bush retreat at Demole it was timeto move to D'Estree bay and Wanderers Lodge.

As you can see the view was rubbish...........   :)

The bay was lovely............

And no holiday would be complete without a rock star moment, and a Little Britain moment....

We watched some seal yoga ....

and saw some of the clearest, bluest water...why do people travel to the Maldives when it's on our doorstep??!

I could say that Papa Jerry caught this King crab himself....but I would be lying!  This one is only a tiddler at a mere 3.5kg.