food

Lunch

Posted on March 26, 2013March 26, 2013 by ghotiindustries

This is what it looks like when I throw you a birthday lunch.

We had non-traditional bruschetta made with toasted french bread-stick with pesto, sauteed mushrooms, and shaved parmesan cheese (top right). Prosciutto ham and Old Amsterdam cheese sandwiches on heavy Dutch brown bread (top left). Mini bacon and brie frittatas (bottom centre). And double chocolate cupcake/muffins (centre top).

We began with T2 Blue Mountain, before moving on the T2 Very Berry for dessert!

Delicious! Even if I do say so myself! And even if I did set off the smoke detector at one point …

Also, I’ve asked to join an expats blog community to share my experiences with a wider audience. They have a wonderful network of writers and I can’t wait to be able to contribute my own little slice of the world!

I’ll update with a link shortly if I get in!

Prague – Part 3

Posted on March 7, 2013March 7, 2013 by ghotiindustries

The food post. I’m going to try and do this only once, but I make no promises!

Czech food is like a lot of European food I’ve discovered so far. Quite heavy, filling, warming, and with lots of potato or bread carbs on the side. The Czechs have perfected the dumpling which is in fact a good combination of both spuds AND bread! Yay them!

The secret in finding a good place to eat is to find an alley which looks like it belongs in the Goblin City of the Labyrinth…

… and gets narrower, and narrower …

… and before you know it, you find yourself surrounded by locals in a room filled with ambiance!

Be aware that smoking is not only accepted to varying degrees all over Europe, but you can still smoke inside in designated restaurants in Prague. *cough* Haven’t experienced THAT in a few years!

Though happily, not where we chose to eat the first night! *grins*

To give you an idea of local traditional dishes, here’s this handy menu! The exchange rate is about CZK100 to AUD5 or EUR4. So, remarkably inexpensive!

Of course, it wouldn’t be a meal in Prague without beer. Our dinner companions, Rupert the Red Panda and Reginald the Meerkat, are pleased to meet you!

We opted to eat traditionally while in Prague, as all of us feel that part of the purpose of travel is to try new things! So the first night, one of us had the Pork Knuckle …

… there was hot wings with cheese sauce, pork tenderloin braid pierced with garlic and cheese sauce, and I went for the roast duck breast with blueberry sauce!

I will save myself the embarrassment of showing you all the picture my wonderful friend took of what the blueberry sauce did to my teeth and tongue. Something about blowing a Smurf … *pulls a face* It was delicious and I wouldn’t have changed my menu choice for anything!

For sides, because you can’t NOT have a side dish of carbs, we have potato with blue cheese sauce and garlic!

To DIE FOR!

Most of our dining experiences were variations on this theme, often with Himself ending with a traditional apple strudel. I should really bake more apples for him in Winter. Oh well, next Winter at this point! Now I’ll try not to put more posts up about food. But you know you wanted to know!

Out for Dinner

Posted on June 6, 2012June 6, 2012 by ghotiindustries

Amsterdam has an abundance of good restaurants, so one night after craving dumplings for the last 3 days, we made our way over to the Good Fortune Restaurant. We got the window seat.

I was too hungry to get a photograph of the first course, and of course that was when I had the dumplings I’d been craving. We had Gyoza, a Japanese style chicken dumpling, and some steamed pork buns which are one of my favourites!

For my mains I ordered Peking Duck on noodles, and it was one of the best dishes I’ve had in ages! Himself had Cuttlefish for starters and then a Szechuan dish with rice.

As you can tell by how little remains, it was delicious and we enjoyed it immensely!

And no washing up!

Himself had a birthday

Posted on May 30, 2012 by ghotiindustries

Himself had a birthday. We decided that in honour of this occasion, we would go somewhere we hadn’t been yet; Leidseplein!

With a high concentration of bars, pubs, clubs, and cafes, we knew we’d be sure to find something that suited us.

The first place that had looked likely in an online search provided us with pre-dinner drinks.

Not the cocktails we were hoping for, but it was the poor nervous barmans first night on the job and he was a touch clueless. Sweet, but clueless. By the way, that is how you get mixed drinks in Amsterdam. If you’re lucky it’s the liquor (vodka) in one glass and a bottle of what you decide to mix it with. If you’re unlucky it’s a glass of each. They turn up as 4 separate items on the receipt too!

We were the only patron in that bar and it was 8:30. It was also a Tuesday night. We shuffled on.

ambling up the road a bit we stumbled across an Italian Trattoria. You’d think after Leichhardt we would have had enough Italian food, but in we went. Himself likes Italian!

We began with a wine selection

Then antipasto

Followed by calamari fritti

And as usual, we were too busy eating it to get a photo of the veal saltimbocca. (Veal with prosciutto and cheese) Trust me, it was delicious.

We were the third couple in there. Of the other two, one were English tourists, and the other were American tourists, and as we were leaving another group of Americans came in for pizza.

The two staff who were on seemed very taken with the fact that we were practicing our overly rusty Italian on them. We all had fun. 🙂

The fountain outside hotel Americana puts on a good show too.

Then it was time to take in the final sights as we waited for the tram to take us home.

Thank you Leidseplein, it was a truly lovely evening.

And happy Birthday Himself. May the adventures only continue My Love. *smoochies*

Neighbourhood walks

Posted on February 6, 2012February 5, 2012 by ghotiindustries

It’s a beautiful day in my neighbourhood!

Oh my! Where have we ended up?!

A patchwork fabric shop you say?

I may have finally realised that I could goggle “patchwork fabric Sydney” and discovered two of the best and most amazing shops are in walking distance of our house. I may have asked Himself if he wanted to go on an adventure. I may have walked away with quite the stash of new and exciting fabrics … But I’ll leave those for another post!

One of the things I love about where we live is the diversity of the street art. This piece has been moving me for quite some time when I see it on my walks, and today I had the time to photograph it and share it with you.

We tried out a new café. One again it was one which I had been wanting to try for some time, and today it was not only open but we managed to walk in at a point where we could have eaten from the breakfast or lunch menus! (handy!)

I ended up with roasted field mushrooms, with sautéed spinach, Persian fetta, dukkah, on toasted olive bread…

And Himself went nuts and had the French Toast, with grilled banana, bacon, and maple syrup!

I can’t walk past the local nursery without going in and having a quick wander and a browse of all the plants that are flowering.

It made me wonder if hanging my plants would protect them from wayward kitties who like to eat my beautiful plants and then barf everywhere! (*looks at Oscar*)

Just so you’re aware, we made it into two more fabric shops before heading home. But I’ll spare you those details and instead share with you one last piece of local street art.

I know they’re fighting each other. But did you notice that they’re watching you?

*grins*

When was the last time you walked around your neighbourhood?

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