tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87268767212661396482024-02-19T12:42:08.615+01:00The Good SandwichTrial & Error and Learning Along the Waytaste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.comBlogger137125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-11810908300644111312013-03-25T22:03:00.000+01:002013-03-25T22:10:19.963+01:00Brunch: Pork-filled Muffins
This past Friday, a coworker asked the familiar Friday afternoon question: have any weekend plans? I replied that we were going for brunch in a small town in the area. This created interest. Where? What are their specialties? An implied "why have I never heard of this place before?" We were at the home of a former coworker of the Workaholic. We didn't really know what to bring. Bloody Marys? taste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-76645789265978790392013-02-15T14:43:00.001+01:002013-02-15T14:44:54.638+01:00Valentines Bouquet
For all those in North America, I understand you may be tired of bacon. Bacon has been everywhere - not only on burgers and in cheesecakes but it snuck its way into an envelope filled with lip balm. Germany is a little different. While the country is far from underdeveloped in the porcine-products, bacon is only one of many ways to eat a pig.
Hot on the heels of the 6th Bacon Festival, I taste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-73741127139039305642012-12-02T17:01:00.003+01:002012-12-02T17:01:37.746+01:00Fall Rolls
While planning lunch this week (there is an actual plan stuck to the fridge with a magnet eye from Malta), I decided to make Vietnamese spring rolls. I had the rice paper in supply, I knew that they are easy to prepare but I had one minor issue: it's cold outside and I don't feel that mint and coriander and shrimp are appropriate. So instead of spring rolls, I opted for a more taste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-33625373522929352002012-11-28T22:11:00.000+01:002012-11-28T23:48:50.941+01:00Things to do with Kale III: Salad
Kale salads abound on the internet: recipes for, health benefit claims of, adoration of - it's all there. Given my seasonal influx of kale, I thought I would give it a try. I "massaged dressing into the chopped leaves", and I allowed to marinate. It seems as though I did everything right. What I failed to do, however, was buy the right kind of kale. Kale salad calls for "dinosaur kale" or "taste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-44869568153230108082012-11-14T21:03:00.001+01:002012-11-14T21:03:32.289+01:00Things to do with Kale II - Kale Chips
Finally, I have been able to get on the kale chip bandwagon. For years, I have been unable to get my hands on fresh kale - something about German kale needing to be super-fresh before the vitamins self-destruct have kept it out of my reach. Perhaps there have been genetic mutations, perhaps the invention of refrigeration has finally broken into the mainstream - whatever the reason, I found taste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-67379225658208138972012-11-13T21:00:00.000+01:002012-11-13T21:00:09.612+01:00Things to do with Kale I - Caldo Verde
One winter night, long ago, a Dutch friend came back from a weekend trip from the Netherlands with a bag of greens. She invited us over to her place promising a Dutch specialty. Knowing what she had brought, I could barely contain my excitement. Borenkool, known as kale in English. It's very difficult to find this kind of kale because it grows best in cold weather and is best shortly after taste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-90204323181112136482012-11-05T20:18:00.001+01:002012-11-05T22:40:32.425+01:00Return from France
I insisted we spend the day in the supermarket. Not in France, but in a French supermarket. The goal was to get some wine, and maybe the odd pack of oysters or something. We did our regular shopping (wine and oysters and herbes de provence) and made haste towards the border. But wait! Can't we still have lunch in France? Lunch is a bit difficult in small towns at 5pm. We went window shopping in taste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-63233415198066283172012-10-05T23:31:00.000+02:002012-10-06T00:19:03.533+02:00Wine Week in France
There are many things to look forward to in the fall - the changing of the colours, the rain and rainbows, the crisp air, and the wine harvest.
In Germany, there are wine fests in nearly every wine-growing town. These fests are a wonderful thing, they are full of local flair and local pride. German wine fests are something I try to ignore each year but simply cannot. Skipping across the border taste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-91107919987154923232012-09-19T23:56:00.001+02:002012-10-06T00:18:43.274+02:00Harvest Season Begins - Clauer Hoffest
Somewhere I once read that in Japan, the women all change their outfits on one undeclared day, heralding the arrival or Spring. How a season can arrive on one day is a mystery to me; I'm used to seasons slowly creeping into the next. Take Fall for example. Fall is the harvest time in Germany, a season in which vintners go painstakingly through their vineyards to start production for thetaste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-56164928983149195012012-09-11T19:46:00.000+02:002012-09-11T19:56:19.379+02:00The Lady who Lunches
Last week, surrounded by great self-made fanfare, I returned to my blog. Now I am faced with a few harsh realities:
days are getting shorter leaving less daylight hours to take photographs of food
taking pictures of your food at the work cafeteria makes you look like a weirdo
the "Program" the Workaholic insists on following is restrictive (it's a program, not a diet)
I spend a lot of time taste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-32236724028377094572012-09-04T13:25:00.000+02:002012-09-04T13:26:47.183+02:00Reconnecting through lunch
Hello again!
It has been a while since I was last here. Eons ago, I took on a new job that allowed me to either cook or to write about cooking. If I gave up the cooking, I would have had the time to write about food but no material. An uncomfortable situation. I chose the food.
I'm back because an old friend, Emily, is running a contest of sorts on her site. She encourages everyone to get taste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-48043863040909675412010-08-24T18:20:00.007+02:002010-08-24T18:55:32.027+02:00Salmon Exchange I - Alaskan SmokedThere has been a long absence in my blogging. This may have been noticed by the astute, interested reader. This may have fallen by the wayside of readers who have found other blogs in the meantime. The absence, however, can easily be explained. I can have 2 of the following 3 things in my time: a stimulating job, fun food adventures or regular blog entries. Because blog entries require input, taste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-49843255229823187822010-07-23T12:38:00.001+02:002010-07-23T12:38:00.985+02:00Camp PaellaOne of the benefits of being in a vacation home as opposed to a hotel is the fact that there is a kitchen and you can cook the foods found at the local market. The down side of cooking in the kitchen of a vacation home is that the spice rack is often bare. My task was to make dinner for 6 people in a vacation home, a stone's throw away from a local farm, with only dried cilantro and a bag of ricetaste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-86713163262095860252010-07-13T09:57:00.000+02:002010-07-13T15:55:55.014+02:00Eating Out: Duff's Wings"Ooh, let's order 100 wings, all medium hot; that's only very hot, not very very hot!" screams out one of the 8 little league boys at a neighbouring table. We're at Duff's in Buffalo, who may not have the claim of being the home of the original Buffalo wings, that claim goes to the Anchor Bar, but was the recent host of president Obama.Of course you can make wings at home and you certainly don't taste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-52075197229790791772010-06-25T11:52:00.004+02:002010-06-25T12:08:08.390+02:00Football needs WingsIt's the World Cup of Football right now, and I can't stop watching matches. Last night , I cheered as Japan made it on to the next qualifying round. In a few hours, I'll put aside my things and watch Portugal vs. Brazil and North Korea vs. Cote D'Ivoire on split screens. But all this football is making me hungry.If you're from North America, you likely think of the game with quarterbacks and taste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-69211122055514187712010-06-21T21:57:00.000+02:002010-06-21T21:57:00.094+02:00Things That Come in the Mail: Green Tea Kit KatNot so long ago, a coworker announced that he was finally going to go for his dream trip to Japan. Happy that he was embarking on his adventure of a lifetime, I told him to try some Wasabi Kit Kats. At this point, all I really knew about the Japanese food that isn't really imported is: 1) you can buy nearly everything in a vending machine and 2) they really like their Kit Kats in Japan. Little taste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-1057455287540561982010-06-21T10:00:00.000+02:002010-06-21T10:02:48.216+02:00New Find: MSC Salmon SteaksAlthough I like to cook exotic things, I stay away from fish. There are two simple reasons for this: 1) I believe in sustainable fishing and try my best to support it, at the cost of popular, flavourful fish, and 2) I'm sort of allergic.After having seen fish in the seas, I was frightfully aware of the fact that they are not as numerous as in Jaques Cousteau films. I believe in sustainable taste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-4957945713789119972010-06-14T21:08:00.003+02:002010-06-14T21:21:17.057+02:00Daring Kitchen: June - Terrine Our hostesses this month, Evelyne of Cheap Ethnic Eatz, and Valerie of a The Chocolate Bunny, chose delicious pate with freshly baked bread as their June Daring Cook’s challenge! They’ve provided us with 4 different pate recipes to choose from and are allowing us to go wild with our homemade bread choice.An ideal challenge for someone who loves pate. Unfortunately, the free-range chicken taste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-66843140425593421582010-06-10T14:58:00.008+02:002010-06-10T19:23:57.322+02:00Paris: Le Bar a HuitresOne thing I really wanted to do in Paris was sit & have some oysters with my Workaholic. I had our getaway planned and oysters were scheduled for the first night. I booked a table at Le Bar a Huitres near the Bastille. We got out at the exact opposite metro exit, walked around the Bastille and found men shucking oysters on the street. That's how I knew that we were in the right spot.We taste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-12560557264111790842010-06-03T12:11:00.008+02:002010-06-10T15:25:18.630+02:00Paris: L'ArgumeL'Argume is a little out of the way but it offers food that encourages you to make the journey. I called the day before our arrival, shortly after our plans had been ironed out, in the naive hope that maybe there might possibly be a table for 2 free on a Saturday night. A table on a Saturday in a restaurant that seats 30 and serves 5 course meals for under €50/person. An amusing thought. Well, taste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-3244475320344999732010-06-02T14:06:00.009+02:002010-06-10T15:25:30.556+02:00L'As Du Fallafel, ParisWhat makes a good sandwich? I believe it to be a combination of personal attachments, the contents, and the environment. Personal attachments might be an odd criterion for some people, but think of the popularity of peanut butter & jam; for most people it is a memory that brings us back to a certain time. My personal attachments to falafel sandwiches go back decades as my sister would taste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-69548351932753352762010-05-14T09:42:00.008+02:002010-05-14T11:06:16.131+02:00Daring Cooks May - EnchiladasOur hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food have chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on www.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh.When I read about the enchiladas I had to make this month, I got unnaturally excited. I haven't taste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-29885998756167265642010-04-07T19:00:00.010+02:002010-04-07T20:17:55.708+02:00Things That Come in the Mail - Bavarian Alpine CheeseAside from monthly bills and the odd newsletter to my local wine store, I love love love getting things in the mail. Postcards, letters, packages, things I've ordered online - it's always a surprise when I come home after a day at work. I've come to value the merits of certain couriers over others. Hermes allows me to send anything back, DHL is the standard of the German Post and DPD - well, it'staste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-19181884124320733982010-04-06T18:21:00.007+02:002010-04-06T19:14:27.640+02:00Eating Out - McDonald's Deutschland CupcakesAfter years of trying to explain to Germans that there is life beyond muffins and its name be cupcakes, McDonald's has introduced cupcakes to its McCafé lineup. There are 4 flavours, all named after New York City areas - Chelsea Chocolate, SoHo Vanilla, Central Park Strawberry and East Village Cappuccino. I was slightly intrigued by this addition to the McCafé menu when I read heard about it lasttaste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726876721266139648.post-46558623358347180222010-04-05T12:28:00.008+02:002010-04-06T14:41:17.160+02:00Friendly Fish with Caramelized GarlicAs a diver, I love to see fish underwater. As a gourmand, I love to see fish on ice or a plate. It's not that hard to reconcile the 2 desires if you're responsible about it. Overfishing is an environmental and economic issue - if there are no fish, the environment suffers, as do the fishermen. Also, we suffer as we are no longer able to eat the fish we want. I've noticed that divers love to eat taste travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15602770847040045585noreply@blogger.com5