Give me more peN.Ne

My current obsession: penne arrabiata! I just cannot get enough of this simple, yet delicious pasta with a tomato/chili sauce (and garlic!). I had this three times (in the same restaurant) last week! I also like ordering it because the name is fun / a challenge to pronounce. Can you roll your r's?

But more importantly, do say penne properly: pen-neh. If you just say pen-eh, it means something rather different (hint: male body part)...!

Pretty spring pasta

I had the prettiest lunch today. Look at this flower pasta! It's perfect for spring and it tasted wonderful, too. For a split second it even made me want to make my own pasta (do you?)... but nahh I'm too lazy.

I was equally impressed with the peppermint tea. They brought me a pot of hot water and... a bunch of leaves. I was a bit sceptical but it worked!

Croque Monsieur

It's only a toasted cheese and ham sandwich. But calling it a Croque Monsieur turns it into something a bit more chic (think cafés and Paris)! And you know what, it tasted so good (even if it was slightly over-toasted). Do you make this at home? (The key is to use Gruyère, it seems.)

Asian with a twist of French

I haven't done a food post in ages... so I thought I'd show you one of my all-time favourites: Vietnamese cuisine! Ahhhh... when I was pregnant I couldn't get enough of their curries! This is a restaurant I usually go to for dinner but this time it was lunch with a friend.

Jasmine tea... lots of it.

I usually prefer summer rolls but on the lunch menu they were only offering vegetable spring rolls. They were good, too. 

Then the 'usual' chicken curry with rice. Oh, see the carrot in the corner? Do you think that is supposed to be a butterfly? 

Vietnamese coffee. I don't even drink coffee normally so it's a bit strange that I like this: a double espresso with lots of condensed milk. I like to pour it over crushed ice. It's very sweet... this was basically dessert. My friend had never seen this before and she was quite fascinated! 

I need to branch out, though, and order something other than chicken curry next time. What are your favourite Vietnamese dishes?

P.S. When I think of Vietnam, what comes to mind is L'Amant (The Lover) by Marguerite Duras, the story of a young French girl and her Chinese lover... It is one of my favourite books.

Maybe you are familiar with the film...? 

French calories don't count

I love going out for a lazy lunch over the weekend (especially when I don't have to drive so I can have a glass of bubbly!). I was in the mood for some French goodness.

Starting off with a glass of crémant (a sparkling wine like champagne but from a different region) which slowed me down quite nicely... and some sparkling water (but I do not like Badoit. We should have ordered a Perrier)... The camel coat you see here is this one from Zara.

Bread, of course.

I had a delicious fish soup, served with grated cheese and rouille. It's one of my all-time favourites. It's filling and perfect in the colder months. 

This is what my husband ordered.

I knew I would be too full for dessert if I had a main course so after the soup I went straight for the tarte tatin. Clever me :-) This 'upside down' apple pie never disappoints.

Needless to say, I felt I had to burn off a few calories after that lunch so we went for a walk and enjoyed the beautiful colours of the season. 

Going Turkish in Zara

Am I the only one who gets upset when there are too many chunks of apple (and not much else) in a fruit salad (ordered in a restaurant)? Well, I was pleasantly surprised when my Turkish yogurt with fruit and honey turned out to be as delicious as it looks here. Not a slice of apple in sight.

I don't normally go to Turkish restaurants but it's worth going back just for the bread! I'm not sure what it's called but it had sesame seeds in it. I had this with butter and honey (it was breakfast/brunch, after all).

My husband ordered the kind of thing that I'm not too keen on eating myself. But he liked it - he said it was typical and it reminded him of his holidays (as a single man) in Turkey - so I thought it was worth showing you the photo! 

And just to throw in another fashion obsession that I'm currently having, here is a look at the military jacket (almost like a cardigan, actually) in navy blue that I got from Zara. 

A happy Monday!

My week is off to a good start! Yoga first thing in the morning, followed by lunch with a friend. It's actually sunny today! It has warmed up considerably (the last few weeks have been seriously cold) and we sat outside, enjoying the sunshine. My lunch today was a yummy avocado-mozzarella-potato salad with bread and a coke.

Followed by strawberries and vanilla ice cream!

What were / are your lunch plans today?

La tarte tropézienne

Have you ever heard of La Tarte Tropézienne? If you're ever in the south of France you should stop by their boulangerie / patisserie / salon de thé. 

It is also the name of their famous cake. I wanted to try it so I got the smallest one (they called it the bébé - the baby!). It was too sweet for me.

But some people love this stuff... that's why they also sell huge ones (on the left). 

They make everyone's favourite macarons, too. Don't they look good? With all the move-related stress we've had in the past few weeks, I'm so ready to go back for a short holiday!

P.S. We finally got internet in our new home! It's far from perfect - think: cable spaghetti - but I couldn't wait for the hi-tech solution that my husband's planning, I just had to get online. It was torture, not having proper access and I missed blogging. Thank you for coming to visit and comment, even when I couldn't return the favour. It will take me a while to get back into it because I'm still busy with the house but I look forward to visiting your blogs again! 

Beautiful + Delicious = Beautilicious, right?!

It was a while ago now... but we went to a fancy Japanese restaurant and had a five-course meal with lots of sake. Japanese cuisine always scores high points on presentation and taste, wouldn't you agree?

The sashimi (top right) was the first official course but they brought us a small plate of fried squid beforehand. We chose soup for the second course (it came in a teapot-type thing, how beautiful is that?), then we had prawns and pork for the third.

By the time they served the sushi, I was already full.

But of course I still managed to squeeze in the dessert! We had matcha (green tea) ice cream and matcha pana cotta. Delicious.

There is so much more to Japanese food than sushi! What's your favourite dish?  

Marmite love or hate?

I love Marmite. What about you?

Have you ever visited their website? It's really funny! First, you get to choose if you love or hate Marmite... (click to enlarge)

If you love it, they have ideas for Marmite sandwiches!

And if you think it's disgusting... you just go straight to the "I hate Marmite" site!! It's so funny, I had a really good laugh reading all this.

Have you ever tasted Marmite? I want to know if you love it or hate it!

Just can't say "no"

There are some things in life that we just cannot say "no" to... especially on a Monday (morning)! How often do you eat croissants for breakfast?

 

Say cheese!

I am seriously addicted to Parmesan!

I can't seem to live without it these days. I use it in salads, soups, pasta and risotto dishes obviously, and fish for (I think) the first time last night (it was a Jamie Oliver recipe). The official website says Parmesan is perfect as a starter, main and dessert! (See their serving suggestions here.)

Dessert? Yes, apparently you can have parmesan with fruit. Have you tried it? I'm not too sure about this.

But what I'm even more unsure about is parmesan ice cream. What do you think?!

Photos

Fancy Italian

We go to a lot of good Italian restaurants but few are really fancy like the one we went to recently.

It started with the raw vegetables that were brought to our table as soon as we sat down. Cooled with ice cubes - that was a nice touch - and served with a delicious mayonnaise-garlic-chili dip. And I was so thrilled to see 'Bellini' on the drinks menu that I ended up ordering two.

The pasta was cooked to a perfect al dente. It was with truffles, bacon and peas (also perfect, not mushy!). I had fish soup (actually a starter) for my main course (I often do this because I can't eat huge portions) and my husband had fish.

As if that weren't enough, the dessert was out of this world. It was a liquid dessert: sorbet with prosecco and vodka! Boy was I feeling rather *happy* by the end of this meal, if you know what I mean...

I liked the restaurant's modern decor, as well. Especially the tables that had special slits along the edges to tuck in the tablecloth.

Planning on going out to any restaurants this weekend? 

How vain are you?

Corn on the cob - yummy, right?

The question is, do you eat it when you are at a party?

I don't. It's not very attractive, having corn stuck between the teeth. I'm too vain.

And you?

A Thai weekend in Europe

I often wish I could fly to Asia for the weekend - think of the great food - but unfortunately it's too far.

This weekend I actually felt like I was on holiday in Thailand. Not only was it sweltering (like a real Thai summer!), I got to enjoy some Thai food that seemed pretty authentic to me.

The papaya salad, for example, was mixed together using this huge wooden pestle and mortar. I admit that I went twice this weekend and the first time I ordered just a 'normal' papaya salad, which was so spicy I started to sweat profusely, my nose became runny and my tongue and lips were on fire! The second time I was quite the wimp and asked for one without extra chillies.

I like the way they used banana leaves as bowls.

I also made the mistake of drinking a cocktail too many in the heat. I collapsed when I got home!

The hot papaya salad made me wonder if Thai children can handle the spiciness. I'm thinking they were probably fed spicy breast milk...!

Can you eat spicy food? Is that because you ate it as a child?