Weekend Market in Versailles, France

I could say I am so lucky, I was able to visit one of France weekend markets and taste some of their products. I am sharing now that very nice experience through my photos. I hope that you will enjoy them.

Haribo - Germany's World of Sweet

Haribo is a German brand ; a German confectionary company which has been producing gummy candies since 1922. It was founded  by  Hans Riegel Sr. in 1920 . The company's headquarters are in Bonn, in the Federal State of  North Rhine-Westphalen, Germany. Haribo is actually an  acronym for HAns RIegel, BOnn. Almost all of Haribo's products are my favorites and I never get tired of eating them. I always have a reserve at home. I am on diet, but I still can eat Haribo in moderation, just looking at their flavors, shapes and sizes makes me happy. I am dying to go home, Haribo is my son's favorite, too. This was actually one of the sweets I craved for when I was pregnant with him. Soon I am home and will be enjoying Haribo . It will really be a "home sweet home".

This Haribo Berries is my "soul" sister's favorite.

This Haribo "Sour Mangoes" I just discovered in a Gas station and have not tasted it yet. I want to eat it with my son.

Leberkäse /Leberkaese - German Food

Leberkäse is a traditional German food made from mixed ground meats baked into a loaf. Essentially, Leberkäse is the German version of meatloaf, featuring traditionally German ingredients. The basic ingredients of Bavarian Leberkäse or liver meatloaf are stripped beef, fatty pork, lard, water and salt.It is important to note that there’s no liver in Bavarian Leberkäse, although as a rule liver is present in examples made outside of Bavaria. Leberkäse is baked in a rectangular form with a rosé color  and with a dark crust.

 Leberkäse is also served in Austria and Switzerland. Although I am living now in Germany for about 5 years, believe it or not, it was  actually in Austria where I first tasted Leberkäse in one occassion  where I was forced  to attend a Gluhwein party one very cold winter night , where Semmel filled with a thick slice of freshly made Leberkäse and mustard sauce and Gluhwein were served to the guests. I devored it at once. I never thought it is tasting so good. Now it becomes a staple food in my home in Germany.

Food Travels

I am a Filipina residing in Germany, but  last week I ate bananas imported from Colombia and yesterday I was able to buy mangoes from Brazil.

People travel.... our food travels , too. South American fruits are here to stay with me in Germany. We are all imported from other countries.

Here I am eating German ice cream and my mango from Brazil

My cap says " I <3 (love) the Philippines, that is the map of the Philippines shown on my cap. "Ich habe heimweh"  (I am homesick). Right now, home is where my heart is.

Baumkuchen - German Cake

One of Germany's traditional cakes, the Baumkuchen  literally translated as "tree cake", because it really looks like a tree. This one that I bought is not as tall as the others, it has only 3 layers, but some bakers bake more than 3 layers and looks like a lot like a tree.

Austria's Tafelspitz

Tafelspitz is one of Austria's popular dishes which is also available in Germany. It is defined as boiled fillet of  beef, served with Meerrettich sauce, Apple sauce, etc.

I had been very curious about this dish, as I have heard about it and its popularity among the tourist coming to Austria, so I tried it, unfortunately, while I am in Austria, I failed to go to  Restaurant Plachutta which is said to be serving the best Tafelspitz in Austria.

I am excited to post my pictures of Tafelspitz, so you can enjoy it ,too. The details about it, I will try to post later.

I enjoyed this food at Wienerwald Restaurant in Vienna, Austria where it is called Wiener Tafelspitz
mit Cremespinat (cream of Spinach) , Rösterdäpfeln, Apfelkren (freshly grated horseradish)  und Schnittlauchsauce. So I will not forget  here is the website of Wienerwald Restaurant with 8 branches in Austria - http://www.wienerwald.at

Old Amsterdam - Cheese from The Netherlands

My luxury in life.... the best cheese I have ever found in my 5 years in Germany...

    Old Amsterdam, a cheee from the Netherlands.

When we were young and poor, we only got to taste good cheese during Christmas time, the cheese is called Queso de Bola. It is a ball.shaped cheese , covered by a waxy red thing. We all love cheese, especially my mom

OLD AMSTERDAM, you evoke many pleasant childhood memories. I am eating it for my mom and my sisters, too who all love cheese. I am sure, they will all love Old Amsterdam like I did.

My Old Amsterdam, you are the love of my life!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mohr im Hemd - Austria's Dessert

Mohr im Hemd is one of Austria's popular dessert which I have grown to love while living in Austria. Further description is found in http://www.glorious-food-glossary.com. It is delicious and I recommend it for those who will visit Vienna, this is one of the desserts found in the Menu of some restaurants. I always ordered mine without Schlagobers, Austria's word for whipped cream as it is already delicious without any. I present to you now "Mohr im Hemd"

My youngest brother - Alex and my 2 nephews (Xandre' and Xabier)

I am missing my youngest baby brother. Alex. I miss our days together exercising in the gym and brisk walking daily for 45 minutes around a big lake in San Pablo City and afterwards our nice Filipino breakfast. He helped me a lot to be fit , I was 73 kilos when he joined me in San Pablo and trained me until I reach my present weight which is 50 kilos. He is now a father of two (2)  boys, Xandre and Xabier. When I see Xandre, I see my little baby brother when he was a young boy...  when I carry him in my arms . I wish that he is doing ok, life is hard in the Philippines, he has a young family so he has to work double time to earn. I am praying for you and your family all the time, Alex. You must always take care.

                                                  Alex with his 2 boys - Xandre and Xabier

Little Xabier

received a lovely photo of my new nephew today, his name is Xabier. The name Xabier  is a Basque (Spain)  boy name and it means a "bright new house". I wish I am home to share the joy of having a new family member.
Xabier, welcome to the family. I am so happy to see you even in photos.

 Here is Xabier with Kuya Xandre and Tatay and Nanay, he is quite big!!!!!

Filipino Food - Relyenong Bangus

I posted about a German food - one of the many varieties of sausages which is Bockwurst, but I am actually missing foods and traditonal dishes from my country, the Philippines which I can not cook in Germany. I have been to some Asian shops in Bremen, where I am residing now, but whole milkfish for making a Relyeno is not available.

For now, I will just be contented looking at the pictures I made when I went home to my country 2 years ago for my nephew's wedding. We celebrated the pre-wedding party  with a reunion. My mom and my sister flew in from Houston, Texas and I sychronized my vacation to be able to attend the wedding, too as I was the wedding godmother. In the Philippines when there is a reunion, varities of traditional and  special dishes are prepared, too. Close neighbors, family friends and the important members of the bride's family also came to celebrate with the bride and the groom

This is the Philippines, Relyenong Bangus or Rellenong Bangus , Relleno (Relyeno) means stuffed or filled, a Spanish word which is still being used in the Philippines, considering that the Philippines was a former colony of Spain for many, many years. Bangus is the national fish of the Philippines and is called Milkfish in English.

Relyenong/Rellenong Bangus is thus, stuffed milkfish.

When I was still in the Philippines, I prepared this dish several times. In the wet market where I was going to, there was a fish vendor where I always ordered my fish and she was very good in preparing the bony Bangus for making Relyeno. She patiently remove all the tiny bones of the Milkfish. I miss the chance to make this delicious food for my step-children and my husband when we have parties in Germany. I am very, very sure that they will enjoy eating the dish, too.

For now, let us travel to my home country thru this hard-to-prepare, but delicious dish.

Slices of Relyenong Bangus (Stuffed Milkfish)

Deep-fried Relyenong Bangus 

Relyenong Bangus served with slices of cucumbers and lettuce and tomato ketchup 

This is how Relyenong Bangus is cooked in some parts of the Philippines, specifically in one shop specializing on selling the Relyeno, they wrapped the stuffed Bangus in banana leaves before deep-frying

German Wurst - Sausage - Bockwurst

For lunch yesterday, I served Bockwurst with sauerkraut and mustard. I did so many things around the house and Wurst is the most convenient and fastest food to serve. Bockwurst are just  boiled or scalded in a hot water for about 5 minutes and just like magic, I was able to serve a nice lunch.

Bockwurst is one of the many sausages (würst) in Germany. Sausages in Germany are categorized as Cooked, Boiled, and Raw.

Bockwurst is categorized as a Boiled Sausage. It is made from finely ground pork (Hackfleisch) or a pork and beef mixture, seasoned with variety of spices and then smoked. They are colored pink. In Germany, Wurst is always served with a mustard and sauerkraut (pickled cabbage). It is nice to serve it with the traditional bread called Brötchen, but yesterday, we ate it only with a pickled red cabbage (Rotkohl) , but my German husband preferred to eat Wurst all the time with a mustard.

Bockwurst is said to be created in 1889. They are already old, older than most of our great grandfathers, perhaps. We ate what our forefathers had eaten in the past.We ate "history".

Butterapfelplanke - German Cake

Found and bought a nice cake today, I want to indulge after almost 4 kilometers of walk using ma favorite machine. The gym where I go for my daily exercises is located inside a small mall nearby my home. It is in that mall where our favorite Turkish Restaurant is located and various bakeshops where we indulge on cakes and coffee once in a while after our 2 hours gym time  This cake is from a new bakeshop in Berliner Freiheit located in Neue Vahr in Bremen, Germany. The cake is called Butterapfelplanke , named as such in keeping with the motif of the new bakeshop which is "maritime" considering that Bremen is one of the biggest ports in Germany.

Butterapfelplanke is filled with butter cream with bits and pieces of cooked apples with sugar as toppings. The word "planke" means "board" in German and my husband told me that the floor of the ships are make of "planken" (planks/boards). The bakeshop named all their cakes after  their theme "maritime". My husband even noticed that the sales ladies are dressed in maritime uniforms and they greeted him with the word "ahoi", the greetings used by the seamen. Very interesting, indeed.

Here is the picture of  this delectable cake, does it look like a "board"?

Paella vs. Oatmeal

Yesterday, April 14 at home in Bremen, Germany, we had Paella for lunch and for dinner ,  we had sugarless oatmeal cooked with lots of  milk , called Haferflockenbrei in German  (porridge made of oatmeal). Oatmeal is called Haferflocken in German.

 This is my own-made Paella, one of Spain's popular food.

 My oatmeal porridge, haferflockenbrei, our diet meal



We travelled 2 countries, we hade lunch in Spain and enjoyed their Paella and we had dinner in Germany and enjoyed for dinner their Haferflockenbrei. This is the glory of food, we cantravel the world through food.

My Mommy... at 78

here is a great woman....
 industrious,
   creative,
     full of life,
      fighter,
        tough ,
          patient,
            resourceful ...

a great wife and mother,

 the best and the most creative cook in the world...

Mrs. Lidwina Gimaldo - Buenavista. Soon it is your birthday, mommy. You are a great mom. Thank you very much and may you have a great and happy birthday

Easter Sunday ... Bremen, Germany

Easter Sunday is celebrated in  Germany the  traditional way,  Kaffe und Kuchen (Coffee and Cake) . I got a nice Easter bunny  It was a simple and quiet celebration . Cakes were newly-baked which is always served  with a delicious schlagsahne as always. No matter how nice it is to have These Easter treats here, I always wish  I celebrated the Easter Sunday with my son in the Philippines and go to church for a midnight celebration called Pasko ng Pagkabuhay. For now, we only celebrated via skype chat.

Pinchos & Tapas Lounge Bar, Vienna, Austria

Pinchos & Tapas Lounge Bar , but I didnt have Pinchos or Tapas, as we were already so full from our dinner of Austrian savory dishes... only  Austrian Cafe Melange with a dessert of Crema Catalana and for my friend, Caffe Latte with  cripsy fried pototoes with paprika.

Pinchos and Tapas Lounge Bar has a good ambiance, but the Bar is full this night, so we didnt get to enjoy the music as recommended by Kevin, Remy's son.

I am missing my "family" in Vienna.

Pürstner Restaurant - Vienna, Austria

Pürstner  is an Austrian traditional restaurant in Vienna which serves incredibly good food, mostly local Austrian specialities. The restaurant “Pürstner” is located in a typical house build in the turn of the century. For three (3) generations the Pürstner family has been running the restaurant and has made it flourish.

I spent my last day in Vienna in this restaurant with my friend to celebrate her birthday and also for my despedida, as I was already set to leave Vienna some days later. Here I enjoyed Kalbsleber Geröstet with Buttereis (Roasted Calf Liver with Buttered Rice) and my friend ordered Kalbsmedallion, both very delicious dishes. Since I am also a lover of all things "old", I enjoyed the ambiance, too.

Linsensuppe - famous German soup cooked by a Turkish

Linsensuppe the German term for Lentils Soup made from Linsenbohnen . I do not know how to cook Linsensuppe, I had only tasted one time a Linsen dish in the Philippines in one of the seminars I attended in a  resorts in Pampanga where Linsen was served like rice and since then, I became a big fan of Linsen, however, Linsen is not a well-known food in the Philippines since we have the Mung beans we call Munggo.

In Germany, Linsen is widely used. Germans make it as a soup or stew with meatballs or sausage (Linseneintopf or Lentils Stew). I can buy different varieties of Linsen  in almost all supermarkets and even from the Asian stores here. I cook it once in a while like my mother  used to cook Mung Beans way back in the Philippines. My mom now  lives in Houston, Texas, how I miss the Pilipino Ginisang Munggo or Mung Bean stew with Aubergine.

But here, whenever I like to eat a very good Linsensuppe in my favorite mini restaurant standing outside of the grocery where I purchase our everyday needs. This Turkish restaurant is owned by a very warm and friendly family who makes a very good Linsen Soup and  other traditional Turkish dishes. Once I asked their secret, the owner just laughed, but I guessed it right, the best part of their Linsensuppe is the addition of finely chopped fresh mint leaves. Of course I made a photo of their Linsensuppe and here it is. Enjoy !

Karfreitag

Karfreitag in German is known as Good Friday, it is sunny but still cold for me, it is very quiet as usual around our community. Kingdom of Sports, the Gym (Fitness center) where I go for our daily exercises opened late than the regular opening time.  I am finished with cleaning and my laundry is now hanging on the backyard. I have now time to study about "Sauces", mother sauces, small or compound sauces, etc. Just for the different kind of sauces there is very much to read, to reseach, to study and to learn how to cook at least one of the many sauces I read about.I need to make Hollandaise sauce, I have white asparagus and here white asparagus is traditionally paired with Hollandaise sauce.

Soon I  am hitting the gym, it is getting sunnier, the news said there is much traffic in the Motorway. Everbody wants to have their Easter Holiday. I opted for the gym , I hate having a vacation when everybody also wants a vacation, when there are so many people on the streets , in cafes, and on the parks.

my favorite machine, the cross trainer for my cardio .

I am now a blogger

Today, April 5, 2012, finally I made my decision to make a blog about my glorious life in pictures which will include photographs of my everyday life, my travels and my passion for other cultures through my research about worldwide food and cuisine. My passion for old and new. My life in Europe, particulary in Bremen, Germany and my previous life in the Philippines will be chronicled using this blog with the use of the  pictures I have taken throughout the years.

This is my family's backyard, summer of 2011 in Bremen, Germany