Going Turkish... Lahmacun, the Turkish Pizza , Italian Pizza and Tea

It was a lazy and freezing Sunday and I am quite lazy to do my chores today, including cooking before doing my daily walking and cardio exercises. I spotted a clean and  quiet Turkish Bistro/Restaurant just about 30 minutes of walk from home during our earlier walk around our new community.  So today, we decided to go Turkish... no regrets. The place is clean, food is quite cheap with the large portion, and the tea is bottomless and free.  

Marmaris Bistro/Restaurant mostly serving Turkish foods, but also Italian Pizza and some German favorites, like Wurst and French Fries.

I ordered the Turkish Pizza with Lamb and Salad, an as always opted also for Pizza Hawaii

Showing what is inside my Turkish Pizza, Lamb meat and lots of greens and slices red onions. The flat bread is soft and newly baked. It was too large for me, so I brought home the rest and I still enjoyed it for dinner

Every table is supplied with this bowl of roasted crushed spicy chilies. I enjoyed it a lot, my nose watered, but it was super good with my Lahmacun

 Hot tea is free and bottomless and served in the traditional Tulip Glass, like they do in Turkey

Tenters Backhaus..My Favorite Bakeshop/Bakery (Bäckerie/Backhaus) in Germany

There are so many bakeshops/ bakeries in Germany. In every corner you face, there is a a very good bakery that produced lovely breads, sweets and goodies and just going inside a bakery here is a feast of the senses. The smell , the looks and the taste of these different goodies make me drool over and over again.

Going to a bakehop is one the best times of my life here in Germany, especially when I go to my favorite German bakeshops of all time, Tenters  Backhaus which produced my favorites Mohnkuchen (with Poppy seeds) which you will never find in the Philippines and the baked goodies called Victoria which melts in the mouth. I also love their very pillowy soft Quarkbällchen (small balls goodies made from quarks) and my not so favorite Mandelhörnchen also became my favorite the last time I tasted them.

Shown below ais my favorite Tenters Bakeshop walking distance away from home and my favorite baked goodies from them

Will not miss going to Tenters when ever I can or passby their shop

Forgotten the name, but it is made from very soft and not so sweet cream. I ate this for my breakfast while waiting for the result of my dog's operation.

Below are pictures of  baked goodies with orange toppings, one is filled with cream cheese or maybe quark and the other one is filled with Mohn (Poppy Seeds)

Two (2) pictures below is my most favorite, Mohnstreusselkuchen. Baked goodies filled with Poppy seeds. Yummy!

Me at Tenters buying our treat for ourselves to celebrate Valentines and the first time I return to my favorite Brisk Walking

There is just too much goodies,quite hard to decide so I opted for Victoria and I was delighted by my choice

Tenters Victorias are melting in the mouth... it is soft and seems to be that there is a bit cream inside which I cant explain. The round goodies is the Berliner, which is always available in any bakeshop around Germany

This is called Mandelhörnchen. Horseshoe-shaped baked goodies made from 100% Marzipan and coated with slivers of roasted Mandel (Almonds) . I never enjoy this particular goodies, but Tenters version became my favorite. It is not so sweet, it is soft and really made from Marzipan and maybe just a little portion of flour

Philippines Sweet Snacks (Merienda): From Saging na Saba (Cooking Bananas in Philippines) - Turon and Maruya

Saging na Saba is one of the varieties of bananas in the Philippines,  generally used to make sweet snacks especially when they are fully ripe. They are used as one of the ingredients for the famous Halo-Halo of the Philippines. They can also be simply boiled and dip in sugar and sometimes grated fresh coconut and also sliced into bite-size pieces and stewed with brown sugar until well done then serve with milk and crushed ice.

Moreover, two (2) of the most popular snacks from the Philippines made from Saging na Saba are Turon and Maruya.

Turon is made by slicing ripe bananas, wrap them in rice wrappers sometimes with some slices of ripe Langka (Jackfruit) meat , then deep-fried with brown sugar. Turon is best when eaten warm from the pan. It is one of the most popular sweet snacks sold as street foods in the Philippines. You will never miss Turon while walking along many busy streets in big cities all over the Philippines.

Maruya are small slices of ripe Saging na Saba coated in a batter made from a mixture of flour, egg, milk or water and some sugar. They are also deep-fried. Its sweetness usually comes from the natural sweetness of the perfectly ripe Saba. It is best eaten with coffee.

Bite-sized pieces of ripe Saba dipped into a batter. 

Deep-frying individual portions of battered Saba

Deep-frying until the batter turns golden brown

Maruya is read !!!!

A good friend of mine, Aileen prepares and cooks them very professionally. She might not be a professional Chef, but she prepares and cooks so many lovely Filipino dishes as well as sweet and savory snacks. Below is  my favorite  beautiful "Chef" Aileen showing off her crispy fried Turon.

Aileen, a happy "Chef", the reason why I think her food are all delicious

How I wish I can go home to my country now to be able to taste these fabulous snacks made by Aileen which I will never be able to make in Germany because to date, I have not found ripe Saging na Saba in all the Asian shops I visited in Bremen and even in Hamburg. The only available snack made from Saging na Saba which I bought once in an Asian near my language school were  the boiled one which are sold in vacuum packs which are imported all the way from Vietnam,  however the taste is very much different from the boiled Saba from the Philippines.

Philippines Food: Crispy Tilapia , The Pride of San Pablo City, Laguna

San Pablo City, Laguna, where I established my home in the Philippines. This is where my home in the Philippines is built. It is called the City of Seven (7) Lakes due to the fact that there it is surrounded by 7 lakes, the biggest of which is called Sampalok Lake which is the home of many Tilapia farms. 

Fresh Tilapia ready to be cooked in Coconut Milk called Gata in Philippines.

The famous and popular Crispy Tilapia from San Pablo City, Philippines, Almost all Filipino Restaurants in the city offer this special dish. It is made from butterflied Tilapia deep-fried until crispy and served with Sawsawan (dip) made from soy sauce, vinegar, chopped onions, crushed garlic, chopped Siling Labuyo and salt and pepper to taste. Almost all parts of the Tilapia can be eaten except from some bigger bones. Hmmm, what a glorious life 

Travels to the Province of Laguna, Philippines: Lake Pandin, San Pablo City