Joolez Talk

Wild Berries

Who could resist those berries. Especially when the loving man picked them for you, washed them for you and then brought them to you ...

Green Asparagus

I came across this idea, respectively a variation of it by watching a tv cooking show by Tim Mälzer I tweaked it to my likening and this is what came out of it:

To me is the best and simplest way to enjoy green asparagus. It's so simple it isn't even a recipe. You can get everything from your local organic food mart or market.

green asparagus
olive oil
sea salt
fresh italian parmesan
Serrano ham

Put asparagus in casserole pour olive oil on top and season with sea salt, then lay the Serrano on top. Put in preheated oven (same heat you would use for pizza or anything else) for approx. 10-15 mins (depending on how much asparagus you used)

Since I am german we use different stoves and different heating settings, but the "pizza setting" should be universal ;-))

Don't use the ground sea salt, use the "chunky" stuff. Before serving sprinkle parmesan shavings on top.

If you like it with sauce: use the olive oil from pan, pour some cream into it and stirr. Beware if you sprinkled too much salt on it, then the "sauce" will be inedible. So don't go overboard with the salt.

Eat pure like that or enjoy with boiled potatoes (best if you get new ones and boil them in their skin and have a little dab of creme fraiche with herbs on the side). Personally I like to sprinkle some paprika and salt on the potatoes.

Bon Appetit (Guten Appetit) :-)

Workers Deli

My singaporian colleague and I decided to have lunch in the office together, as there are only few people in the office today due to the holiday tomorrow.  So I suggested I drive to Workers Deli with my scooter to get us lunch. On the menue it said: "Risotto in Trüffelsahne mit Kirschtomaten" (risotto with a truffle-cremesauce and cherry tomatoes). We envisioned something decadent and rich and delicious and were salivating only at the thought of it.

We shouldn't have. Unfortunately it was a lot less spectacular than we could have ever imagined. The rice wasn't soft enough, neither creme nor truffles - especially not truffle - were teasing our tastebuds. It wasn't bad, but nothing I would recommend somebody to go and get. It's more alongside: ok.

We also got "Hähnchenbrust mit Schafskäse gefüllt auf Senfsauce mit gebackenen Kartoffelscheiben und Gurkensalat" (chicken-breast with a filling of sheeps cheese in mustard-creme-sauce, baked potatoe slices and cucumber salad). Well, I don't want to be overly critical, but we didn't manage to find or identify the sheeps cheese filling. The mustard-sauce was very good, the baked potatoe slices were mostly really raw slices of potatoe which didn't seem to have been either cooked nor baked. They were as crunchy, and colorless, as biting into a raw potatoe. The cucumber salad we didn't dare to try.

While everything sounded delicious and sumptious, luxurious and decadent for a simple office meal, we are sitting here now with stomach ache, due to raw potatoes and a risotto that's been a wee bit to crunchy instead of the slimy texture it is supposed to have. The chicken breast, apart from the lack of filling, looked a bit bland, whereas it should have had this nice dark appealing color from the pan. Needles to say we didn't finish. Good thing I have a glass of apricot-compote (apricot sauce) in my office, which we can dive into after our stomach pain is gone.

My conclusion:

Workers Deli is great for "Curry/Pommes" (bratwurst in curry-sauce and french fries), other stuff: not really a big fan of it. It sounds great but doesn't live up to the anything remotely resembling its description.

Moving up towards 50

It still takes me a moment to catch breath when I say: Now that I am 44 ...
Shocks! 44 .... can you imagine? Naw, probably not, unless you are also 44 or older.
It shouldn't be so shocking, I mean it's not like I turned 44 yesterday. Then again, it's not that long ago.

Good thing I always take a weeks vacation starting with my birthday. That way I can do all kinds of nice things to get my mind off  the "growing older"-part. My mother is always the best part: "What? Are you that old already?"  "Yes, mom. How about you?"  Tsss. After all, she is 26 years older. How about that! 44 doesn't sound that old, all of a sudden, when you turn 70! Hahah!

Today we grabbed the motorbikes, first stopping to get my passport from the Bürgerbüro in Neuhausen and then scooting off to Ludwigstrasse for breakfast at CADU. We've never been there before, but havewanted to try for a long time. Beware of the huge portions! We haven't eaten since.

I went with the Michelangelo, to prepare for tomorrows trip to Italy. Lots and lots of Salami and Serrano, as well as bruschetta with tomato and onions, oh, and don't forget the scrambled eggs! This breakfast will last you a whole day. I can assure you. And I am not your average 40 kg anorexic 20 year old who will chew on a salad leaf and then claim to be "full". Yeah, full of shit, baby!  Let me assure you I am a fully grown middle aged lady who can and will eat! But nevertheless, this is just too much! The next stop for food will be in Italy. I refuse to eat anything before we arrive. Basta, Pasta!

We'll be going to Lago di Garda. To be exact, to Torri del Benaco. Now this is what the hotel's website claims:
                                 
<<The peaceful bobbing up and down of the boats in the little medieval port, the romantic atmosphere of an evening's concert under the arches, the solemn presence of the turreted fourteenth century castle, the pleasure of a gastronomic evening on the terrace which overlooks the lake, the relaxed conversation between friends who meet at the bar to sip the specialities of the House in front of the unique scenery of the historic little square. All this surrounds the guest with magic charm like a dream.                                

Time passes serenely in the blue tranquillity of the lake. One forgets the stress  of frenetic everyday life and every problem seems easier to be solved. The modern comfort of the surroundings combined with the still evident reminescences of a glorious past creates a friendly atmosphere and makes one feel at home.>>

Well, if only half of it is true, then we are in for a treat. Off to pack my bag.

Coca Cola zero

just bought a small bottle, because I was curious.  Took one sip: disgusting!

Now, exactly how is "Coca Cola zero" supposed to be different from "Coca Cola light"? Both taste similarly appalling, I don't see a difference. Just a marketing ploy? Give "Coca Cola light" a new face and name, a huge marketing hype and hope that sales skyrocket.

Unless of course, the customer actually buys it and tastes it, then you are screwed, because they instantaneously realize: it's the same shit.  And that's it.

I doubt that "Coca Cola zero" will push sales. People who haven't bought "Coca Cola light" won't buy "Coca Cola zero" either. So there you go, same target group, meaning: sales won't climb, at least not for long.

Sorry, but there just is no substitute for sugar that actually tastes well. Apart from the fact that most sugar replacements give me a bad stomach ache and some even worse - but that's probably just me.

Either you drink the real thing, or just don't drink it at all.

Crepes

Today we had the most amazing and yummy crepes in a looooong time. See for yourself:

Sunday brunch

After a weeek of a whole lot of eating out. on Sunday - again - we decided to have breakfast at a nice place. So we went to Gerner, which has a nice breakfast menu. Single items to choose or a complete breakfast of any knd you can imagine. Gerner is not a fancy place where you will get blinis with caviar accompanied by a glass of fine champage. It's more the place for the younger crowd, students, alternative or so. But it has a nice bar and a cute beergarden to sit outside. We enjoyed it very much and here are some images.

After breakfast we decided to take some pictures at "Borstei", a building complex built in 1924-1929 which has a unique charme of its own. For a first impression go here

More to follow soon, on my photo albums

Tarte Tatin

Instead of dinner we are going to have Tarte Tatin tonight:

In the recipe it said to first melt the fat-reduced butter and sugar in a pan, then pour it in the tarte-cast and have it caramelize on the cast on top of the stove. Of course I thought I was smarter and let it caramelize in the pan and then tried pouring it in the cast, which was pitiful. The cast was cold - as opposed to the caramel - and naturally I had only small caramel pieces in the cast. Very clever, dimwit, moi.

So I tried again and this time I poured the sugar-butter mix in the cast right after it started melting and then put the cast in the oven. Hah! I outsmarted you! Beat it! Scram! I am soooo clever!

Of course now I had to stand next to the oven and stand there in the most awkward position, leaning down, completely turning my neck -ouch- so I did not miss the crucial point when the whole thing starts turning caramel-brownish. It went well. So then I -first- tried to neatly arrange the sliced apple pieces until I realized this is going to take hours, and we are going to eat it without praising the "art-work", so I decided -instead- to just pour the slices and "kind-of"-arrange it very quickly. It has to bake at 200° for 20 mins, before I have to add the "crust" (in this case: "mille-feuille").

So now this masterpiece is in the oven and - in 4 mins - I have to put the "mille-feuille"-dough on it. Ok, so I didn't do the "mille-feuille" from scratch. The ghost went to the store and bought it. But not the frozen kind. He got the "fresh" one. I rolled out the dough and now -in 2 mins- I have to top the cast with it and bake it another 10-15 minutes at 250° and then it's ready!

I have to admit, after laying the "mille-feuille" on top, right now it does look very nice and smells even better! Can hardly wait to taste it!

--- Good thing I looked after the tarte after 5 mins, because the mille-feuille had already turned almost black. So I took it out. I state: you only need 15 mins instead of 20 mins at 200° before you add the dough, and 5-10 mins at 250° with the mille-feuille suffice. Nevertheless it looks yummy and in a couple of minutes I know if it also tastes yummy. --

It tastes great, only it is really, really sweet! We didn't manage to eat more than one - admittedly big - piece.

Raspberries

This morning the ghost went raspberry picking and in return for the "labor" asked for a raspbery cake. So I made one and it was delicious. Raspberries sitting on a bed of chocolate and vanilla cream smothered with the remains of the cream. Yummy!

(No whipped cream, vanilla and chocolate cream were made with skim milk, so no regrets)

More Atkins Diet by Dave Barry

This Story has been sent to you by : Brummfisch:

Confessions of a closet carb fiend. I probably shouldn't admit this to you younger readers, but when my generation was your age, we did some pretty stupid things. I'm talking about taking CRAZY risks. We drank water right from the tap. We used aspirin bottles that you could actually open with your bare hands.

We bought appliances that were not festooned with helpful safety warnings such as ``DO NOT BATHE WITH THIS TOASTER.''

The full article will be available on the Web for a limited time:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/dave_barry/8292220.htm
(c) 2004 Herald.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.