Mon, Aug 25 - Germany - Limburg

9am - a kiwi and some Reine Claude plums I'd picked up at La Grande Epicerie in Paris, at mom and dad's 9.02am - the Reine Claudes, with a picture of the guy who grew them...

9.07am - dad's home mixed muesli with oats, flaxseed, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and corn flakes, plus some kefir, at mom and dad's

11.20am - some wild black berries on the way to the train station to catch the train to Limburg

11.41am - hungry already for lunch... This is the original curry wurst with the best fries in Limburg (with ketchup and mayo), at Imbiss Schneider on the main market square

1.50pm - a new Russian Wildberry flavored Schweppes at the Karstadt restaurant.

3.02pm - some fabulous real Italian ice cream, at gelateria Venezia, on the old market square. Flavors are stracciatella and tartufo, with some real whipped cream on top, none of that spray can stuff they give you in the States...

7.10pm - lovely German dinner at Nadja's - fried eggs and potatoes, some Fleischkäse (the dictionary calls it a meat loaf) and some tomato salad with feta cheese - yum! The drink is not Coca Cola, contrary to what it may say on the glass, but an Apfelschorle, which is a mix of apple juice and sparkling water. Apple spritzer I guess you would call it in the States.
And in case you're wondering, this is a different Nadja from the one back in Los Angeles (who is spelled Nadya). This Nadja is my oldest friend in the world, going back to Kindergarten days, and also mother to my very adorable goddaughter Nathalie.

7.25am - and something sweet after dinner - some great German bread with quark (kind of like a very light and creamy cottage cheese) and Nadja's mom's fabulous home made redcurrant jam.

Sun, Aug 24 - Paris to Germany

10.02am - last morning in Paris, and a gray and rainy day...10.10am - omelette jambon, croissant and thé à la menthe, at Le Départ St. Michel, before heading over to the Gare du Nord to catch the high-speed train to Germany

10.35am - YOU try getting a tea to go at a Parisian bistro...

12.19pm - on the Thalys train Paris-Cologne, via Brussels. They had an online offer of a 1st class ticket for 2/3rds of the price of a regular 2nd class ticket. So here I am in first class, after an ample breakfast - and they're serving a full meal! Who knew?

This is a very fine marinated salmon, a clafoutis of courgette (zucchini) with pine nuts, asparagus spears with a lovely saffron dipping sauce, two anchovy-wrapped olives hiding under the salad, some warm olive bread plus some roquefort-style cheese to go with it, some tomato juice, and a panna cotta with red currants. Delicious. And yes, ahem, I finished all of it.

2.20pm - on the stretch from Brussels to Cologne, they only handed out chocolates...

3.16pm - I suddenly remembered I had some leftover macarons in my bag! These are not from Laduree, but from the fancy Grande Epicerie at Le Bon Marche, and they were nowhere near as good. Granted, they're a day old here already, and weren't kept in the fridge either. But they were about half the price of Laduree's (which are 1.5 Euros each, while these are sold by weight) - that must mean something, right? Flavors are raspberry-ginger, pineapple-lime, and apricot.

5.13pm - a croissant made from pretzel dough (these are amazing!!)) purchased at the Ditsch at Cologne Station, where I had to change trains, on the ICE from Cologne to Limburg. By the way, this is a fairly standard train in Germany, and by golly, it is wonderful. Clean, comfortable, modern, nice. Makes you feel bad for Amtrak back in the States.

6.14pm - German comfort food - pancake soup , with mom's homemade pancakes, at mom and dad's

6.31pm - mom's homemade apple sauce, made with nothing but apples from the garden, vanilla and cinnamon, at mom and dad's

9.02pm - a Botinchen, which is some neapolitan ice cream plus a chewing gum as the nose. Note that a Botinchen will always smile at you no matter what, which is not something that can be said of a lot of people. As such, it is always much appreciated.

Tues, April 29, 2008

8.2am - fresh squeezed orange juice, from the oranges from Nadya's garden, at home8.28am - chocolate hemp milk with sprouted grain cereal, at home

11am - almonds and dried cranberries, courtesy of Cecy, at work

1.22pm - avocado chocolate smoothie at Simpang Asia

1.25pm - Indonesian Gado Gado salad w/ shrimp crackers, at Simpang Asia

4.32pm - free cone day at Ben & Jerry's - this is the coconut-almond flavor, outside work, with Cecy

7.03pm - tuna salad made w/ leftover lemon aioli and apples, at home, with Ritesh

Sat, April 19, 2008

8.03am - pistachios for breakfast, at home8.56am - watermelon, at home

3.29pm - crepe with orange marmalade and Grand Marnier at the French Film Festival at the DGA, with Caroline

and the DGA (Directors Guild of America) itself, with the top of the crepe tent

4.56 - grilled ciabatta sandwich with mozarella and bruschetta, at home

8.11pm - champagne with blood orange juice and fresh berries, at Phinney's, with Phinney, Betsy, Sarah and Maiteny (same company for all the remaining pictures of today...)

8.54pm - grilled sandwiches (brie and bacon on left, turkey-pesto-red pepper on right), at Phinney's

9.03pm - spicy tomato soup, at Phinney's

10.03pm - a mojito, mixed by Betsy, with some blood orange juice, too, at Phinney's

10.47pm - a virgin mojito with blackberries

11.47pm - vanilla ice cream w/ baked banana and caramelized almonds, at Phinney's

Sun, April 13, 2008

11.24am - nothing like ice cream for breakfast - this is some of the homemade chocolate hemp ice cream, w/ whipped cream, at home11.37am - Ritesh's tomato omelette (quite unique, he actually fried up some cloves with the tomatoes and the onions), pita bread, at home

6.44pm - leftover fennel salad, not much orange left, and forgot the walnuts, at home

6.58pm - made some lime slushie w/ the new ice cream maker, at home

7.48pm - ingredients for my peanut-citrus soba noodle salad (note the two lemons from Nadya's garden!)

8.45pm - and here the finished product - actually turned out quite nicely